thence through Sussex Vale, and across Hammond river to St. John, is the best I know of, and the bridges it crosses are tolerable.

The road from St. John to St. Andrew is truly bad and dangerous. The road opened at Carleton, opposite St. John, by the way of the River Nerepis, to Fredericton, is particularly bad from the Nerepis to Oromucto; and from Fredericton to the Canada line there is only about 65 miles on which we can attempt to drive any sort of carriage. The distance from St. John by this route, which follows the river to the falls of Madawaska, and from thence across the high lands to the St. Lawrence below Kamouraska, is 347 miles, from which, by an excellent road along the banks of the St. Lawrence, the distance to Quebec is 107 miles.

The road from opposite Fredericton, along the Nashwaak, and thence to Miramichi, is also very bad; as is also the road from Fredericton to St. Andrew. There is a pretty good road from the Petit Coudiac to Chediac, on the gulf coast, by which hay is frequently hauled to the latter place. The road from Chediac to Miramichi is, particularly from Richibucto to the last place, abominable. Several paths, which are misnamed roads, have also been opened between the various settlements.

The Legislative Assembly have certainly at different times appropriated large sums in aid of the statute labour, for the purpose of opening and improving the roads of the province. But, somehow or other, roadmaking was, until lately, either not understood, or the labour and money must have been misapplied, as good leading roads were, at least three years ago, an essential desideratum in New Brunswick. The ex

pense of making a good road through a forest will be about 100l. per mile.

An object of paramount importance and convenience to the lower and upper colonies, would be to open a good carriage road from Nova Scotia to Fredericton, and thence to the River St. Lawrence. It should be made at the joint expense of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, as all would derive equal advantage from accomplishing an undertaking that would open a direct line through all the British colonies. The tardy conveyance of the mails is one of the great evils under which Canada and the lower province labours, in consequence of there being no proper route for travelling rapidly from Nova Scotia to the St. Lawrence.

Another line of road, and certainly a most desirable one, was pointed out by Governor Sir Howard Douglas, as a great military road from Halifax to Quebec. This line would be a continuation of the road from Halifax to the bend of the River Petit Coudiac, thence to the gulf coast, to the River Miramichi, and thence, by the way of the River Ristigouche, to the St. Lawrence at Metis, about 200 miles below Quebec.

The benefits of such roads would be great. The colonies would be connected so much closer in their interests by greater facility of communication; the military forces could easily and speedily move whereever required; the crown lands would be disposed of at a much better price; and, by throwing open the rich lands of the interior, they would be settled upon rapidly.*

Several small settlements along the roads in New Brunswick appear to be in a flourishing condition. Disbanded soldiers do not generally make good settlers, unless placed under proper officers or superintendents. On the woodlands, along the road from the Nashwaak to Miramichi, I observed several untenanted huts, which were occupied by disbanded soldiers, who had the lands granted them, but who deserted their habitations as soon as they expended the rations received from government.

While travelling over this province we cannot help being amused at the names given to many places in the colonies by the whim of the first settlers. It is natural for people to cherish associations connected with their birthplace, and we are not surprised, on arriving at a fine thriving settlement, inhabited by Welshmen, who planted themselves amidst the forest about fifteen miles from Fredericton, that it is named Cardigan; nor that an equally thriving settlement of industrious Irish, on the shores of the Bay Chaleur, is called New Bandon; but we can hardly repress a smile on hearing places through or by which we pass, called Canaan, Mount Pisgah, &c.

CHAP. VII.

COAST OF NEW BRUNSWICK WITHIN THE GULF SHORE. - MIRA-
MICHI RIVER AND SETTLEMENTS. - CHATHAM, NEWCASTLE,
ETC. OCCUPATIONS OF THE INHABITANTS.
TIMBER TRADE.

- CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. - SALMON FISHERY. -TREMENDOUS FIRE OF 1825. - EFFECTS ON THE SOIL. - HARBOURS ON THE GULF COAST, ETC.

MIRAMICHI * River enters the province of New Brunswick in latitude 47° 10′ N., and in longitude 64° 40′ West. From Point Erscuminac, forming the south side of the bay, a dangerous reef extends three miles into the gulf. There is a sand bar across off the entrance, but the channel over it is broad, with water for ships of from six hundred to seven hundred tons; and vessels entering the river seldom meet with any accident. The land near the sea, like the whole of the north-east coast of New Brunswick, is low, and clothed near the shore with dwarf spruce and birchtrees; beyond which the whole country is covered with heavy timber. This magnificent river divides into two great branches, and these again into numerous streams. It is navigable for large ships for about forty miles. The south-west branch winds from its source, in a small lake near the Tobique Hills, 189 miles before it joins the north-west branch, which is about 100 miles long. Each receives several large streams of from 20 to 40 miles in length.

The importance attached to Miramichi has arisen within the last thirty years, in consequence of the vast quantities of pine timber exported from thence.

It was scarcely known thirty years ago, except to a few adventurers, who traded with the Indians for furs; and those who first settled on the banks of the river were attracted thither by its plentiful salmonfishery, which formed for some years a profitable source of enterprise. The French, when the country was possessed by their government, had temporary establishments on the islands at the entrance, for trading with the Indians for furs and salmon. Some small settlements were formed at Bay des Vents, at Negowack, and one said to contain two hundred houses, but this is likely an exaggeration, on Beaubair's Island. All the French posts were, however, nothing more than entrepôts for the fur trade. The first English vessel that entered Miramichi, was the ship that carried the remains of General Wolfe from Quebec, and driven in by stress of weather. Part of her crew, while ashore for water, were massacred by the Indians. The first British settler was a Mr. William Davidson, a Scotchman of enterprise and intelligence, who planted himself on the banks of this river in the year 1765, when there was not an European living in the whole territory between the Bay of Fundy and the Bay des Chaleurs.

In 1790, Mr. Davidson, on account of government, exported three cargoes of masts and spars from Miramichi. From that period the exportation of timber has superseded almost every other pursuit; and the