BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXvii 



lived with Mr. Strickland, during which time Mrs. Traill 

 became initiated into the ways of life in the bush. In her 

 " Backwoods of Canada," there is a very pretty description of 

 these first few months of life in Canada, and of her acquaint- 

 ance with the natural history surrounding her new home. 



On the 11th of December, 1833, they moved into the new 

 house, which was duly named " Westove." Here they lived 

 seven happy years, for though they had to endure all the hard- 

 ships and trials inseparable from the early settlement of the 

 bush ;/ they yet were busy and hopeful, happy in the society of 

 each other and the neighborhood of her brother and his family. 

 Mr. Moodie had also moved up from his first location near 

 Cobourg, in February, 1834, and bought land on the Douro 

 side of the lake, about a mile beyond Mr. Strickland's 

 homestead. 



The erection of a good saw-mill and a bridge over the river 

 a lso gave them readier access to a market at Peterborough 

 and to their friends, and tended to lessen the loneliness of the 

 situation. They all had suffered at times from the low fever 

 and ague, and the various vicissitudes of farm-life, but were 

 always ready to help each other or their less fortunate 

 neighbors. 



In 1835, Mrs. Traill again took up her pen. The "Back- 

 woods of Canada" was written, and in 1836 was published in 

 London by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street, for the "Library 

 of Entertaining Knowledge " Series. This volume contained 

 much valuable information for intending emigrants, and had 

 a wide circulation. Though all the hardships and discomforts 

 of life in the bush were told with graphic fidelity, they were 

 described with a cheerful and optimistic pen, as of one who 

 had a far-seeing eye into the future capabilities of the country 

 and a present knowledge of its boundless resources and value, 

 so that the picture of the rough life did not deter many from 

 venturing to embark their all in the effort to make a better 

 home for themselves and their children in the New World, but 



