REMOTE AND ELEVATED COUNTRY. 395 



only that the land is naturally good, but that this 

 northern climate must be far more propitious to vegeta- 

 tion than is generally believed. 



One thing the traveller through a region like this 

 is surprised at, when he stumbles on a settled and culti- 

 vated tract of land, such as I was now passing through. 

 He wonders how the people came to find it out. Who 

 induced all these men and women to leave remote corners 

 of Scotland, and settle in this remoter corner of south- 

 eastern Canada ? The Avhole line of country is a terra 

 incognita at Quebec and at Fredericton. At the seats of 

 Government of both provinces, where they complain of 

 how little we know of their geography at home, the spot 

 I speak of was absolutely unknown ; and yet humble 

 Scotchmen and their families had made choice of it, and 

 already fixed upon it their future homes. There is an 

 under-current of knowledge flowing among the masses, 

 chiefly through the literary communications of far dis- 

 tant blood relations, of which public literature knows 

 nothing, and even Governments are unaware. 



To Dixon's, which is four miles from the first clearing, 

 we passed through a succession of new farms — for all this 

 tract is newly settled — for the most part upon good land, 

 and descended about 200 feet, being now on the slope 

 towards the Restigouche. On approaching his house 

 and farm, which are still 1000 feet above the level 

 of the sea, the view of the mountainous regions towards 

 the south and west was truly beautiful. *Trap rocks or 

 mountains, in this direction, rise up among the stratified 

 deposits, and give a new and magnificent character to 

 the landscape, as seen from this comparatively lofty eleva- 

 tion. An amphitheatre of peaks stretches almost as far 

 as the eye can reach ; while, in the foreground, single 

 elevations cheered the eye with the warm tints of the 

 hardwood growth that covered them. I regretted that I 

 could not spare even a single hour at Dixon's, to enjoy 



