VIEW ON THE RIVER. 399 



We devoted this forenoon to an excursion up the 

 river six or seven miles, to what are called the Flat Lands^ 

 par excellence. These consist of about five hundred 

 acres of alluvial flats and terraces, which skirt the river 

 chiefly on its left bank, forming fine arable farms. The 

 day was fine, the air clear, and from some of the hills 

 v*^hich skirt the road along the river, the view was very 

 beautiful. At the head of the tide-water, where the 

 harbour narrows into the river, its bosom is studded 

 with upwards of twenty small islands. These little 

 sunny wooded islands immediately beneath our feet ; the 

 interminable river stretching upwards, now seen, now 

 lost amid the hills and forests ; the far view to the right, 

 carrying the eye beyond the harbour and river-bay till 

 it lost itself towards Miscou Island, where the waters of 

 the Bay de Chaleur intermingle with those of the Gulf 

 of St Lawrence ; and more near, the Sugar-loaf 

 Mountain lifting its solitary bulk on the right bank 

 between us and Campbelton ; while lower down, on the 

 Canadian side, the loftier Tragadegash, wooded to the 

 very summit, towered over the entire channel : all this, 

 in the clear sunshine of this climate, formed a delightful 

 picture. And the beauty of this picture was heightened 

 by the frame-work of high lands on each side, between 

 which it was all enclosed. Enlivened by the autumnal 

 tints which characterise the hardwood forests of North 

 America, the mountain-ranges on either hand seemed to 

 rejoice in the bright warm rays from the sunny sky, 

 while they spoke to the instructed observer of agricultural 

 capabilities in the yet untouched wilderness, which we 

 Europeans are little accustomed to look for in so remote 

 a region as this. 



The settlers on the front Concession along the river, 

 above and below Campbelton, are chiefly from the 

 Scotch island of Arran ; and they are all thriving — not 

 laying up money, but independent — and bringing up 



