On The 21st Of May Of This Year, My Second Son, Donald, Was Born.
The Poor Fellow Came In Hard Times.
The cows had not calved, and our
bill of fare, now minus the deer and Spot, only consisted of bad
potatoes and still worse bread.
I was rendered so weak by want of
proper nourishment that my dear husband, for my sake, overcame his
aversion to borrowing, and procured a quarter of mutton from a
friend. This, with kindly presents from neighbours - often as badly
off as ourselves - a loin of a young bear, and a basket, containing a
loaf of bread, some tea, some fresh butter, and oatmeal, went far to
save my life.
Shortly after my recovery, Jacob - the faithful, good Jacob - was
obliged to leave us, for we could no longer afford to pay wages.
What was owing to him had to be settled by sacrificing our best cow,
and a great many valuable articles of clothing from my husband's
wardrobe. Nothing is more distressing than being obliged to part
with articles of dress which you know that you cannot replace.
Almost all my clothes had been appropriated to the payment of wages,
or to obtain garments for the children, excepting my wedding dress,
and the beautiful baby-linen which had been made by the hands of
dear and affectionate friends for my first-born. These were now
exchanged for coarse, warm flannels, to shield her from the cold.
Moodie and Jacob had chopped eight acres during the winter, but
these had to be burnt off and logged-up before we could put in a
crop of wheat for the ensuing fall.
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of 181664
