and Northampton, sixty-three miles above Fredericton, and on opposite sides of the river, where many beautiful islands are also situated. The banks of the St. John have, above Fredericton, besides these places, on each side, farms and settlements; but the houses are very thinly scattered, when compared to the St. Lawrence. In the rear of Woodstock the Americans have established themselves, and formed an extensive settlement, which they have named Houlton Plantation. The river, indeed, approaches within a few miles of the American line, from Eel river, about forty miles above Fredericton, to Mars' Hill. This height of land forms the point of dispute between the British and Americans, as to the boundary question; the latter claiming the vast and valuable country lying to the north-west of this eminence, which was undoubtedly the height of land understood by the British commissioners at the treaty of Ghent. At Presque Isle, appear the ruins of a garrison, which has been long mouldering to dust, accompanying, as it were, the fate of all those who formerly planned, occupied, and maintained it. The scenery up the river, from this place to the Grand Falls, assumes a bolder character than below. The banks are frequently abrupt, and the rugged bed of the river, in many places, from the Grand Falls to within a few miles of Fredericton, renders the navigation dangerous. The part most dreaded, is the Maductic Falls, or rather rapids; yet rafts and bateaux are dexterously navigated through the unbroken channels that divide the foaming torrent. On ascending Mars' Hill, we have on all sides an extensive prospect of uninhabited country. The scope of vision, however, only ranges over the sur face of boundless woods, varying in shade from the funereal green of the firs, to the bright verdure of the birch. Imagination alone penetrates underneath the silent indomitable covert, amidst the intricacies of which, the traveller may suddenly wander into bewildered paths, and lose his way for ever, in perplexing ignorance of the course that will lead him back to civilisation. Within these forests the moose, carriboo, and bear, safely feed and wander, until pursued by the wants, and ensnared by the wiles of man. Ascending the river until we reach the latitude of 46° 53', our progress on the water is arrested by its turbulence; and we stop at a cove or small bay, the usual landing-place of the bateaux and other craft that come up the river; and which, to avoid the falls, are often carried across a neck of land to another small bay, a little above the mighty turmoil of waters. Immediately below this bay, the river suddenly contracts between rugged cliffs, overhung with trees, and sweeping along a descent of several feet with furious impetuosity, until the interruption of a ridge of rocks, close to the edge of the Grand Falls, changes the hitherto unbroken volume into one vast body of turbulent foam, which thunders over a perpendicular precipice, about fifty feet in height, into a deep vortex among huge black rocks, where the magnitude of the waters is for a moment partially lost ; but, still whirling and roaring, rolls out impetuously through a channel, still more confined in width; dashing along afterwards with inconceivable velocity, over a succession of falls of some feet each, for more than half a mile. The cliffs on each side in this distance overhang and frown over falls and rapids, in terrific sublimity, and in some places, so far do the rocks project, that the waters are nearly hidden from view.. Although these falls (hitherto, I believe, scarcely ever described by any traveller) bear in magnitude no comparison to those of Niagara, yet there is a tout ensemble of tremendous rocks, gigantic woods, and a continuity of cataracts and broken waters, below the Grand Falls of St. John, which impart much greater variety to the magnificent scene, than the otherwise unparalleled Niagara can boast of...".. Proceeding up the River St. John, from the cove above the falls, its waters become smooth, deep, and sluggish. The boats and pirogues of the Acadians, and occasionally the white bark canoe of the Indian, appear now and then on its surface, while we pass for some miles along the wild but fertile lands through which it flows, until we arrive at the straggling settlement of Acadian French at Madawaska. This is comprehended within the vast rich country claimed by the Americans, which if we be so supine as to relinquish, farewell to firmness in the councils of Great Britain. ! The Acadians of Madawaska are even more simple in their manners, and much more limited in the extent of their intelligence, than those I have described in a former book. This arises from their situation: living since their childhood along the banks of an unfrequented river, which flows through an almost boundless forest, they have had no intercourse with the rest of the world, unless it were once a-year to Fredericton, to sell their surplus grain. They are descendants of the original French settlers in Nova Scotia, who retreated here to avoid the English. A few families from Canada also joined them; and since that period they have remained a quiet, loyal people, confined to their own means of procuring subsistence, and to their local resources alone for social enjoyments. They have a chapel, and a priest from Canada officiates among them; they live by agriculture, but they are slovenly farmers, and regardless of cleanliness or comfort in their houses. Their wants are, however, so few, that little serves them; and as their wives make, of the wool of their sheep, and the flax they raise, all the clothes they require; and being ignorant of the luxuries of the world, and what we are accustomed to call comforts, they are, therefore, independent of them, and live among themselves happy, and comparatively free from the cares which accompany the refinements of civilisation. They are hospitable to strangers, chaste, strongly attached to hereditary customs, strict in their religious observances, and very superstitious. Some miles above the Acadian settlements, the St. John receives the waters of the Madawaska, which previously winds through the forest, about thirty miles after issuing from the Lake Tamisquata. This lake, which is about twenty-three miles long, and in some places two and a half miles across, and in many parts deep, receives numerous streams, several of which issue from smaller lakes. In 1823, the principal proprietor (Mr. Frazer) of the surrounding lands, which are Canadian fiefs, established his residence on the shore of Lake Tamisquata, and named the village Strathern. The country surrounding these waters appears to be very fertile; the mountainous ridge of the Alleghany chain lies between them and the River St. Lawrence; and by this route the courier with the mail for Canada travels by way of Kamouraska to Quebec. Leaving the Madawaska, the River St. John winds to the westward, branching over an extensive and fertile country into numerous streams, the largest of which, except the main river, is the St. Francis. It approaches within a mile or two of those falling into the St. Lawrence. The St. John issues from some small lakes near the source of the River Penobscot; and, with its tributaries, waters the disputed territory. |