384 



BRITISH AMERICA. 



rence. On the river, there are steamboats, and where they cannot ply, long pirogues, which 



are not unattended with danger. The taverns 

 are not distinguished for accommodations, 

 but the people are so hospitable, that a tra- 

 veler is generally welcome at a private house. 

 Winter is the season when there is the most 

 traveling, for pleasure or business. The 

 provisions and products of farms are then 

 carried to market on sledges or carioles, 

 which are small sleighs, and generally drawn 

 by the small but spirited Canadian horses, at 

 a rapid rate. In the unsettled parts, dog- 

 sledges are used for traveling in winter, and 

 travelers pass the night in the woods, where 

 they kindle fires and cook their provisions. 



12. Character J Jikinners^ ^x. The char- 

 acter of the people of Canada is as much 

 mixed as that of the United States. There 

 are many elements, that it is the work of time 

 only to mingle in one mass. The French 

 Canadians, how'ever, form a separate society, 

 marked with its own peculiarities. They are 

 volatile, social, cheerful, and hospitable to a 

 great degree. They seldom remove from the 

 neighborhood in which they were born, where 

 they prefer to live for the sake of the society, 

 that has more charms for them than wider pa- 

 trimonies. Several generations often live un- 

 der one roof. There is among them, as well as 

 throughout Canada, great equality in property. 

 Sunday is the gi eat fete on which the French 

 make their display ; though in the long win- 

 ter, every day seems devoted to amusement. 

 Dinner-parties are constantly held, and no 

 sooner is the cloth removed, than the sound 

 of the violin summons all to the dance. 

 Among the French and some of the other inhabitants it is common to see females laboring in 

 the fields or gardens, bronzed by the sun, while in the United States, a woman is seldom seen 

 thus employed, or even standing long in the sun without the defence of a sun-bonnet. Many 

 of the Canadian females, therefore, though handsome while young, soon become coarse and 

 masculine. There are few crimes cominitted in Canada ; few personal disputes that are settled 

 by blows ; and property is so safe, that it is not a general practice to fasten the doors at night 

 The most reckless class are the rafters, who float timber down the streams when they are first 

 open in spring. Their employment compels them sometimes to stand in water for a day at a 

 lime, and no one ever saw an aged raftsman. Health is soon sacrificed, and it has grown into 

 a common saying, that a raftsman has, at the end of summer, " a ruined constitution, spend- 

 thrift habits, a blue pair of trowsers, and an umbrella." 



13. Amusements. The chief amuseinents are in winter ; the principal one, which is pur- 

 sued with great spirit, is to ride fast in carioles. One family has sometimes several of these. 

 Dancing is a favorite amusement, and is more general among the common people than in the 

 United States. Spearing fish by torch-light is one of the most attractive of the active sports of 

 the Canadians. 



14. Education. The means of education are very limited ; comparatively few of the natives 

 can read and write, and the remark apphes to some of the members of the House of Assembly. 

 Among the French, more females than men can read. The arts and sciences are not, of 

 course, in a flourishing condition. 



15 Religion. All creeds have unlimited toleration, though the Catholics are the most nu- 

 merous. The Jesuits were formerly wealthy. In both Canadas there are about 20 clergyman 

 of the English church. There are Presbyterians, and divers other sects. 



Travelers resting at Kight. 



