He had an uncle in England, who was very rich, and
who intended to leave him all his property. Some kind friend, to
whom M - - had confided his expectations, wrote to England, informing
the old man of his nephew's extravagance and hopes. The uncle
there-upon cast him off, and left his property, when he died, to
another relative.
As soon as the kind-hearted tavern-keeper heard of the poor fellow's
imprisonment, he immediately went to see him, and, though he had not
the slightest hope of ever being paid one farthing of his claim, Mr.
S - -, for many months that poor M - - lay in gaol, continued to send
him an excellent dinner every day from his tavern, to which he
always added a bottle of wine; for as Mr. S - - remarked, "Poor M - -,
I guess, is accustomed to live well."
As soon as Mr. S - - found that we did not belong to that class of
people who fancy they exalt themselves by insulting others, there
were no bounds to the obligingness of his disposition. As I had
informed him that I wished to buy a cleared farm near Lake Ontario,
he drove me out every day in all directions, and wherever he thought
farms were to be had cheap.
Before proceeding further in my account of the inhabitants, I shall
endeavour to give the reader some idea of the appearance of the
village and the surrounding country. Of course, from the existence
of a boundless forest, only partially cleared, there is a great
sameness and uniformity in Canadian scenery.
We had a stormy passage from Kingston to C - -, and the wind being
directly ahead, the plunging of the steam-boat between the sharp
seas of Lake Ontario produced a "motion" which was decidedly
"unconstitutional;" and, for the first time since we left England,
we experienced a sensation which strongly reminded us of
sea-sickness. The general appearance of the coast from the lake was
somewhat uninviting. The land appeared to be covered everywhere with
the dense unbroken forest, and though there were some gently sloping
hills and slight elevations, showing the margin of extensive
clearings, there was a general want of a background of high hills or
mountains, which imparts so much interest to the scenery of every
country. On reaching C - -, however, we found that we had been much
deceived as to the features of the country, when viewed at a less
distance.
Immediately on the shores of the great lake, the land is generally
flat for two or three miles inland; and as the farms are there
measured out in long, narrow strips, a mile and a quarter long, and
a quarter of a mile wide, the back parts of the lots, which are
reserved for firewood, are only visible at a distance.
