Forest Scenes and Incidents, in the Wilds of North America: Being a Diary of a Winter's Route from Halifax to the Canadas, and During Four Months' Residence in the Woods on the Borders of Lakes Huron and SimcoeJ. Murray, 1829 - 362 páginas |
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Forest Scenes and Incidents, in the Wilds of North America: Being a Diary of ... Sir George Head Sin vista previa disponible - 1829 |
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altogether animal Annapolis river appearance arrived banks bark batteau bay of Fundy birch bird breakfast buffalo skin Canadians canoe clear clothes cold commenced covered deep distance door extremely eyes Fahrenheit feet felt fire fish foot forest Fredericton frost frozen ground Halifax hard head heavy Holland River horses hour Indian John's journey Kempenfeldt Bay labour Lake Huron Lake Simcoe land Libertè log-house logs looked Madawaska river miles mocassins morning nearly neighbourhood Newmarket night numbers o'clock paddle party passed Peter Robinson piece Presque Isle proceeded Quebec rapid ready rest road seemed servant shore shot side sleigh snow shoes soon sort spear spot spruce boughs squaw surface thick thing tion tobogins town travelled trees tremely walk warm weather whole wigwam wild fowl Wilmot township wind woods yards
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Página 16 - Their limbs were not arranged \vith decent regularity, and they appeared to have given up the ghost in the act of squalling, and at full gallop. Some were placed standing at the doors in the streets, like rocking-horses before a toyshop, upon their four legs, just as if they had been alive. This mode of keeping a pig for a winter without giving him a grain of any thing to eat, or being subject to his noisy, illmannerly conduct, — nay, to be enabled to eat him piecemeal without even the trouble...
Página 259 - ... industry must meet its sure reward. The exuberant abundance of wood for fuel renders the fire-side of the peasant, during the long evenings of winter, a solace equal to that of many a wealthier citizen of the world; and as his children, with united strength, drag in each log to the hearth, he rejoices in the clearance of the encumbered earth, when those of the civilized world pay dearly for the enjoyment of warmth. An emulative feeling stimulates the natural industry of his constitution. The...
Página 156 - ... their knees in water, sometimes up to their hips, while they used their utmost strength to drag the canoe forward by the rope. Although the surface gave way continually under their feet, letting them down upon the large slabs of ice which were floating underneath, they managed, by pulling and hauling, and with their axes occasionally cutting and breaking away the obstructing blocks which stood in their way, to get free of all impediments, and gain once more a channel of clear water. ' While this...
Página 159 - ... no sort of apprehension of absolute danger, owing to the vast thickness of the floating substance, a comparatively small part of which was, as they knew, that which appeared above the water ; and there was invariably a lower stratum, upon which they were received and supported as often as they sank in. ' Such was the manner of making the passage across the river St. Lawrence, at the season of the year and under such circumstances as it happened to me to undertake it ; and I have only to add,...
Página 123 - ... from the fallen trees. The fibrous bark of the white cedar, previously rubbed to powder between the hands, was ignited, and blowing upon this, a flame was produced. This being fed, first by the silky peelings of the birch bark, and then by the bark itself, the oily and bituminous matter burst forth into full action, and a splendid fire raised its flames and smoke amidst a pile of huge logs, to which one and all of us were constantly and eagerly contributing.
Página 355 - Every climate is unhealthy where men are insufficiently protected from the weather ; on the contrary, the being well housed and provided with fuel is more than an equivalent for extreme severity of cold. To some of the hardiest animals nature assigns the warmest habitations. As to the human race, in appreciating the value of warmth, we need not go farther than take the peasantry of England and Ireland. Why are the poor of the latter country confessedly more robust although more ill fed, than the...
Página 122 - We turned our shoulders to the blast, and, comfortless and weatherbeaten, sought our refuge. The scene, though changed, was still not without interest ; the frequent crashes of falling trees, and the cracking of their vast limbs, as they rocked and writhed in the tempest, created awful and impressive sounds. But it was no time to be idle ; warmth and shelter were objects connected with life itself, and the Canadians immediately commenced the -vigorous application of their resources. By means of their...
Página 10 - The sun, however, before the end of the month, shews gradually his increasing power, and icicles are seen hanging from the roofs of houses in sheltered situations. In March, clouds of hail and sleet sweep along the streets with a force hard to be withstood by man or beast. Cold must be endured in all its variety. On one day the ground presents to the eye a surface of deep fresh snow, to wade through which nothing but sheer necessity would drive a man abroad.
Página 124 - One side of our square was bounded by a huge tree, which lay stretched across it. Against this our fire was made ; and on the opposite side towards which I had turned my back, another very large one was growing, and into this latter, being old and decayed, I had by degrees worked my way, and it formed an admirable shelter. The snow was banked up on all sides nearly five feet high, like a white wall ; and it resolutely maintained its position, not an atom yielding to the fierce crackling fire which...
Página 127 - I mused on past gone times, till my eyes became involuntarily attracted by the filmy, wandering leaves of fire, which, ascending lightly over the tops of the trees, for a moment rivalled in brightness the absent stars, and then — vanished for ever ! . . . I became overpowered with sleep, and, wrapping my buffalo skin around me, sank down to enjoy for several hours sound and uninterrupted repose. I slept heartily till day-light, when I awoke feeling excessively cold, and found the whole party sitting...