THE EMIGRANT'S HAND-BOOK. 11 



and canals which are to be found in the various places to 

 which the purchaser's attention will be likely to be di- 

 rected, render access to markets tolerably convenient. 

 In those portions of the country which furnish good sleigh- 

 ing (sledding, as it is called in England,) in the winter, 

 as in the most northern States and Canada, he will be 

 pretty sure of finding a tolerably convenient market, 

 wherever he may settle. The winter sleighing is a valu- 

 able accommodation, counterbalancing the inconvenience 

 of bad summer roads. During the three or four months 

 in which the snow lies on the ground, the settler is fur- 

 nished with a beautiful natural turnpike, better than any 

 macadamized road in the world ; and this occurs at a 

 season when he has abundant leisure to take his produce 

 to market, and to visit his friends at a distance. A merry 

 matter is this sleighing, to say nothing of its usefulness. 

 With the bracing cold of a settled winter, a clear blue 

 sky, and the face of the groun'd covered with a mantle of 

 the purest white, the settlers enjoy their heaven-made 

 turnpike with great zest. The cheerful bells resound 

 through forest and field, and the once dreaded winter is 

 rather desired than disliked. But to return from this 

 digression. 



It is important, also, in making choice of a location, to 

 have an eye to the convenience of churches, schools, 

 medical men, a post-office, and the like. All these things 

 are very desirable, and to secure them it were better to 

 take up with a less quantity of land, or that of a poorer 

 quality. Let the settler make particular inquiries on 

 these points. It will not be difficult to find locations with 

 all these advantages ; but as land may be offered where 

 they do not exist, it is well that proper inquiries be made. 

 The reader should not take it for granted, that they are 

 to be found in every place to which his attention may be 

 directed. 



