XXVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



fire illumined' the room, showing every available space 

 occupied almost to the very verge of the hearth. Men, 

 women and children were sleeping on improvised beds, 

 bundles of ■ all sizes and shapes forming pillows for their 

 shaggy heads. Some lay on the long dresser, some on. the 

 bare floor beneath it — all sleeping the sleep of the weary. 



" As soon as she saw I was warm and more comfortable, 

 my hostess showed me to the only place in the house that 

 they had to give us. It was a tiny dormitory, more like, a 

 bird-cage than anything else. The walls were lathed, but 

 without plaster, and both air and light were freely admitted. 

 However, it had a clean bed in it, and I was glad to lie down 

 and watch the river dancing in the moonlight and listen to 

 the rush of the rapids until I fell asleep. 



" The following morning a message was sent to my brother 

 to let him know of our arrival, and that evening he ran the 

 rapids in his canoe, and we met again after seven long years 

 of separation." 



Mrs. Traill remained in Peterborough with their kind friends, 

 Mr. Stewart and his family, while her husband returned with 

 Mr. Strickland to his clearing on the shores of Lake Katche- 

 wanook, the first of the chain of lakes of which the Otonabee 

 is the outlet. Mr. Strickland had taken up land there for the 

 many advantages the locality offered. There was good soil, 

 fine timber, excellent water-power, rich mineral deposits, and 

 the probability or remote certainty that at some future date 

 the lakes would be connected by canals, the river made navi- 

 gable by the construction of locks, and a water highway be 

 obtained from Lake Huron via Lake Simcoe to the Bay of 

 Quinte and the St. Lawrence, an expectation which appears 

 about to have the first steps taken towards its accomplishment. 



Mr. Traill drew his Government grant of land in the neigh- 

 borhood, the principal portion being in Verulam township, the 

 smaller in Douro, and by the purchase of an additional grant 

 secured a water frontage. Until he could build a house they 



