The Backwoods of Canada written by Catharine Parr Traill

C >> Catharine Parr Traill >> The Backwoods of Canada

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Total expense from Albany to Buffalo, by canal, exclusive of victuals
for an adult steerage passenger--time going about 7 or 8 days--3 dollars
63 cents; ditto by packet-boats, and found, 12-1/4 dollars, 6 days
going.

"Ditto do. by stage, in 3-1/2 and 4 days--13 to 15 dollars.

"Ditto do. from Albany to Oswego by canal, 5 days going, 2-1/2 dollars.

"Ditto do. by stage, 2 days--6-1/2 to 7 dollars.

"No extra charge for a moderate quantity of baggage.

"Route from New York to Montreal, Quebec, and all parts of Lower
Canada:--

"New York to Albany, 160 miles by steam-boat, 1 to 3 dollars, exclusive
of food.

"Albany to Whitehall, by canal, 73 miles, 1 dollar; stage 3 dollars.

"Whitehall to St. John's, by steam-boat, board included, cabin 5
dollars; deck passage 2 dollars without board.

"St. John's to Laprairie, 16 miles per stage, 5 shillings to 7 shillings
6 pence.

"Laprairie to Montreal, per ferry steam-boat, 8 miles. 6 pence.

"Montreal to Quebec, by steam-boat, 180 miles, cabin, found, 1 pound, 5
shillings; deck passage, not found, 7 shillings 6 pence.

"Those proceeding to the eastern townships of Lower Canada, in the
vicinity of Sherbrooke, Stanstead, &c., &c., will proceed to St. John's,
from whence good roads lead to all the settled townships eastward. If
they are going to the Ottawa River, they will proceed from Montreal and
Lachine, from whence stages, steamboats, and batteaux go daily to
Grenville, Hull, and Bytown, as also to Chateauguay, Glengary, Cornwall,
Prescott, and all parts below Kingston.

"Emigrants can avail themselves of the advice and assistance of the
following gentlemen:--at Montreal, Carlisle Buchanan, Esq.; Prescott,
John Patton, Esq."

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Number of Emigrants who arrived at New York from the United Kingdom for
six years, from 1829 to 1834:--

[TABLE]

[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the
conventional tabular row / column format.]

Row 1. Headings
Column 1: Year.
Column 2: England.
Column 3: Ireland.
Column 4: Scotland.
Column 5: Total.

Row 2
Column 1: 1829
Column 2: 8,110
Column 3: 2,443
Column 4: 948
Column 5: 11,501

Row 3
Column 1: 1830
Column 2: 16,350
Column 3: 3,497
Column 4: 1,584
Column 5: 21,433

Row 4
Column 1: 1831
Column 2: 13,808
Column 3: 6,721
Column 4: 2,078
Column 5: 22,607

Row 5
Column 1: 1832
Column 2: 18,947
Column 3: 6,050
Column 4: 3,286
Column 5: 28,283

Row 6
Column 1: 1833
Column 2: -
Column 3: -
Column 4: -
Column 5: 16,000

Row 7
Column 1: 1834*
Column 2: -
Column 3: -
Column 4: -
Column 5: 26,540

Row 8
Column 1: Total
Column 2: -
Column 3: -
Column 4: -
Column 5: 126,464

* The returns for 1834 are made up to the 20th November of that year.

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III. AMERICAN PASSENGERS' ACT.

The 9th Geo. IV., c. 21, commonly called the "American Passengers' Act,"
was repealed during the Session of 1835, by an Act then passed, the 5
and 6 Will. IV., c. 53. The intention of the new Act is, of course, to
secure, as effectually as possible, and more effectually than the
previous Act did, the health and comfort of emigrants on board of
passenger ships. By a clause of the Act, copies or abstracts are to be
kept on board ships for the perusal of passengers, who may thus have an
opportunity of judging whether the law has been complied with; but the
discovery of any infractions of the Statute may be made at a time when,
in the particular instance, it may be too late to remedy it, so far as
the comfort and even the health of the passengers are concerned. It is
to be hoped, therefore, that the humane intentions of the legislature
will not be frustrated by any negligence on the part of those
(especially of the officers of customs) whose business it is to see that
the regulations of the Act have been complied with before each emigrant
ship leaves port.

No passenger ship is to sail with more than three persons on board for
every five tons of registered burthen. Nor, whatever may be the tonnage,
is there to be a greater number of passengers on board than after the
rate of one person for every ten superficial feet of the lower deck or
platform unoccupied by goods or stores, not being the personal luggage
of the passengers.

Ships with more than one deck to have five feet and a half; at the
least, between decks; and where a ship has only one deck, a platform is
to be laid beneath the deck in such a manner as to afford a space of the
height of at least five feet and a half, and no such ship to have more
than two tiers of berths. Ships having two tiers of berths to have an
interval of at least six inches between the deck or platform, and the
floor of the lower tier throughout the whole extent.

Passenger ships are to be provisioned in the following proportion:--pure
water, to the amount of five gallons, to every week of the computed
voyage, for each passenger--the water to be carried in tanks or sweet
casks; seven pounds' weight of bread, biscuit, oatmeal, or bread stuffs,
to every week for each passenger; potatoes may be included to one-third
of the extent of supply, but seven pounds' weight of potatoes are to be
reckoned equal to one pound of bread or bread stuffs. The voyage to
North America is to be computed at ten weeks, by which each passenger
will be secured fifty gallons of water, and seventy pounds weight of
bread or bread stuffs for the voyage.

Where there are 100 passengers, a medical practitioner is to be carried;
if under 100, medicines of sufficient amount and kind are to be taken
out as part of the necessary supplies.

Passenger ships are not to be allowed to carry out ardent spirits as
merchandise beyond one-tenth of the quantity as would, but for this
restriction, be allowed by the officers of the customs upon the
victualling bill of such ship for the outward voyage only, according to
the number of passengers.

[An important restriction, which ought to be enforced to the letter of
the law. The strong temptation which the tedium of a voyage presents to
numbers pinned up in a small space to resort to drinking, has frequently
made sad havoc of the money, comfort, and health of emigrants, when,
especially, the ship steward has contrived to lay in a good stock of
strong waters.]

In the enumeration of passengers, _two_ children above seven, but under
fourteen, or _three_ under seven years of age, are to be reckoned as one
passenger. Infants under 12 months are not to be included in the
enumeration.

Passengers are entitled to be maintained on board for 48 hours after the
ship has arrived at her destination. [Emigrants whose means are limited
may thus avoid much inconvenience and expense, by planning and executing
with promptitude the route which they mean to take, instead of landing,
and loitering in the expensive houses of entertainment of a sea-port.]

Masters of ships are to enter into bonds of 1,000 pounds for the due
performance of the provisions of the Act. The penalty on any infraction
of the law is to be not less than 5 pounds, nor more than 20 pounds for
each offence.

[The government emigration agents at the various ports, or the officers
of customs, will doubtless give every facility to passengers who seek
their advice relative to any violation of the provisions of the Act, and
point out the proper course to be taken.]

If there be any doubt that a ship about to sail is not sea-worthy, the
collector and comptroller of the customs may cause the vessel to be
surveyed. Passengers detained beyond the time contracted for to sail,
are to be maintained at the expense of the master of the ship; or, if
they have contracted to victual themselves, they are to be paid 1
shilling each for each day of detention not caused by stress of weather
or other unavoidable cause.

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IV. TRANSFER OF CAPITAL.

It is, of course, of the greatest importance to emigrants that whatever
capital they may possess, over the necessary expenses of the voyage,
&c., should be remitted to Canada in the _safest_ and most _profitable_
manner. Both the British American Land Company and the Canada Company
afford facilities to emigrants, by receiving deposits and granting
letters of credit on their agents in Canada, by which the emigrants
obtain the benefit of the current premium of exchange. It is unsafe and
injudicious to carry out a larger amount of specie than what will defray
the necessary expenses of the voyage, because a double risk is
incurred,--the danger of losing, and the temptation of squandering. The
emigrant, therefore, who does not choose to remit his money through
either of the before-mentioned companies, should procure a letter of
credit from some respectable bank in the United Kingdom on the Montreal
bank.

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V. CANADIAN CURRENCY.

In all the British North American colonies accounts are kept and prices
are quoted in pounds, shillings, and pence, as in England. The accounts
are contra-distinguished by calling the former currency, or Halifax
currency, and the latter sterling or British sterling.

The one pound Halifax currency, or currency, as it is more commonly
called, consists of four Spanish dollars. The dollar is divided into
five parts--called in Spanish pistoreens--each of which is termed a
shilling. Each of these shillings or pistoreens is again subdivided into
twelve parts, called pence, but improperly, for there is no coin
answering to any such subdivision. To meet the want a great variety of
copper coins are used, comprising the old English halfpenny, the
halfpenny of later coinage, the penny, the farthing, the American cent.;
all and each pass as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen or colonial
shilling. Pence in fact are not known, though almost anything of the
copper kind will be taken as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen.*

[* The Americans also have their 1 shilling, which is the eighth part of
a dollar, or 12-1/2 cents. It is no uncommon thing to hear the emigrant
boast that he can get 10 shillings per day in New York. He knows not
that a dollar, which is equal to eight of these shillings, is in England
equivalent but to 4 shillings 2 pence, and that the American shilling
is, therefore, when compared with the English shilling in value, only
6-1/4 pence, and consequently, that 10 shillings a day is, in fact, but
ten 6-1/4 pence or 5 shillings 2-1/2 pence. This rate of payment it may
be said is still great; so it is, but it is not often obtained by the
labourer; when it is, it is for excessive labour, under a burning sun in
sea-port towns, during the busy shipping season.]

At a time when the Spanish dollar, the piece of eight, as it was then
called, was both finer and heavier than the coin now in circulation, its
value at the mint price of silver** was found to be 4 shilling 6 pence
sterling. Accordingly, the pound currency was fixed at 18 shillings
sterling, and 90 pounds sterling was equal to 100 pounds currency, the
rules of conversion being, _add one-ninth to sterling to obtain
currency, and deduct one tenth from currency to find the sterling_. This
was called the par of exchange, and was so then. So long as it continued
correct, fluctuations were from a trifle above, to a trifle below par,
and this fluctuation was a real _premium_ or _discount_, governed by the
cost of the transportation of bullion from the one to the other side of
the Atlantic, an expense which now does not exceed, and rarely equals, 2
per cent. 4 shilling 6 pence has long ceased to be the value of the
dollar. Both the weight and purity of the coin have been reduced, until
its value in the London market*** is not more than 4 shillings 2 pence,
the pound currency being consequently reduced to 16 shillings 8 pence
sterling and 100 pounds sterling become equivalent to 120 pounds
currency, or 480 dollars, the common average rate now given for the 100
pounds sterling bill of exchange in England.

[** The mint price then coincided more nearly with the market price than
at present.]

[*** It is necessary to use the market price, as the difference between
the mint and the market price is 4 per cent., and as the Spanish dollar
possesses no conventional value, it is only worth what it will bring as
an article of traffic.]

The Government, however, still sanction, nay, will not change, the old
language, so that the difference is made up by adding what is commonly
termed a _premium_. The difference between the _real_ par, 4 shillings
2 pence, and the nominal par, 4 shillings 6 pence, is 4 pence or eight per
cent. Thus the fluctuations, instead of being from 1 to 2 per cent.
below, to 1 or 2 per cent. above the _real_ par, are from 1 to 2 per
cent. below, to 1 to 2 per cent. above 8 per cent. _premium_ as it is
called on the _nominal_ par, or from 6 or 7 to 9 or 10 per cent.
_premium_ on the par. This leads to gross deception, and the emigrant in
consequence is not unfrequently outrageously cheated by parties
accounting to him for money obtained by sale of bills, minus this or
some portion of this nominal premium. Nothing is more common than to
hear the new comer boast that he has sold his bill on England for 8 per
cent. premium, while in fact he has not received _par_ value. As by the
above changes 100 pounds sterling is shewn to be equal to 120 currency,
or 480 dollars, the rule of conversion, in the absence of a law, where
no understanding to the contrary existed, should be, _add one-fifth to
sterling money, and currency is obtained, or deduct one-sixth from
currency, and sterling is found._ An examination of the exchanges for
ten years has proved this to be correct.

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VI. THE CANADA COMPANY.

The Canada Company was incorporated by royal charter and Act of
Parliament in 1826. The following are extracts from the prospectus of
the Company:--

"The Canada Company have lands for sale in almost every part of the
province of Upper Canada, on terms which cannot fail to be highly
advantageous to the emigrant, as from the Company requiring only one-
fifth of the purchase-money to be paid in cash, and allowing the
remainder to be divided into five annual payments, bearing interest, the
settler, if industrious, is enabled to pay the balance from the produce
of the land.

"The lands of the Canada Company are of three descriptions, viz.--

Scattered reserves:
Blocks or tracts of land, of from 1,000 to 40,000 acres each;
The Huron tract, containing upwards of 1,000,000 acres.

"_Scattered reserves_. The scattered crown reserves are lots of land of
from 100 to 200 acres each, distributed through nearly every township in
the province, and partaking of the soil, climate, &c., of each
particular township. These lands are especially desirable for persons
who may have friends settled in their neighbourhood, and can be obtained
at prices varying from 8 shillings 9 pence to 25 shillings currency an
acre.

"_Blocks of Land._ The blocks or tracts lie entirely in that part of the
province situated to the westward of the head of Lake Ontario, and
contain lands which, for soil, climate, and powers of production, are
equal, and perhaps superior, to any on the continent of America. These
are worthy the attention of communities of emigrants, who from country,
relationship, religion, or any other bond, wish to settle together.

"The largest block of this kind in the Company's possession is the
township of Guelph, containing upwards of 40,000 acres, of which the
greater part has been already sold, and, in the space of a few years
only, a town has been established, containing churches, schools, stores,
taverns, and mills, and where there are mechanics of every kind, and a
society of a highly respectable description.

"_The Huron Territory_. This is a tract of the finest land in America,
through which the Canada Company have cut two roads of upwards of 100
miles in extent, of the best description of which a new country admits.

The population there is rapidly on the increase.

"The town of Goderich, at the mouth of the river Maitland, on Lake
Huron, is very flourishing, and contains several excellent stores, or
merchants' shops, in which any article usually required by a settler is
to be obtained on reasonable terms. There is a good school established,
which is well attended; a Church of England and a Presbyterian clergyman
are appointed there; and as the churches in Upper Canada are now
principally supported by the voluntary subscriptions of their respective
congregations, an inference may be drawn of the respectable character of
the inhabitants of this settlement and the neighbourhood. The town and
township of Goderich contain about 1,000 inhabitants; and since the
steam-boat, built by the Company for the accommodation of their
settlers, has commenced running between Goderich and Sandwich, a great
increase has taken place in the trade and prosperity of the settlement.
In this tract there are four good saw-mills, three grist-mills, and in
the neighbourhood of each will be found stores well supplied. And as the
tract contains a million acres, the greater portion of which is open for
sale, an emigrant or body of emigrants, however large, can have no
difficulty in selecting eligible situations, according to their
circumstances, however various they may be. The price of these lands is
from 11 shillings 3 pence to 15 shillings provincial currency, or about
from 11 shillings to 13 shillings 6 pence sterling per acre."

Emigrants wishing to communicate with the Company should address the
secretary, John Perry Esq., St. Helen's-place, Bishopsgate-street,
London, or the Company's agents at outports.

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VII. THE BRITISH AMERICAN LAND COMPANY.

The British American Land Company state, in their prospectus, that they
have purchased from the British Government "nearly 1,000,000 of acres in
the counties of Shefford, Stanstead, and Sherbrooke," in what are termed
"the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada." These townships comprise "a
tract of country, lying inland, on the south side of the St. Lawrence,
between 45 degrees and 46-1/2 degrees north latitude, and 71 degrees and
73 degrees west longitude. This tract, containing between five and six
millions of acres, is divided into eight counties, and these again are
subdivided into about one hundred townships. These townships enjoy an
important advantage in their geographical position. On the one side,
they are of easy access from Montreal, Quebec, and Three Rivers, the
shipping ports and great markets of the Canadas; on the other, from New
York up the Hudson River and through Lake Champlain, as well as from
Boston and other parts on the seaboard of the Atlantic. By their compact
and contiguous position, facility of intercourse and mutual support are
ensured throughout the whole, as well as a general participation in all
local improvements."

The terms on which the Company propose to dispose of these lands "vary
according to the situation, quality, and advantages which the different
lots may possess; but in the first instance they will generally range
from 4 shillings to 10 shillings currency per acre, and in all cases a
deposit of part of the purchase-money will be required, viz.:--On the
higher priced lots one-fifth; on the lower priced lots one-fourth.

"The terms of payment for the balance will be six annual instalments,
bearing the legal interest of the province from the date of sale; but
should purchasers prefer anticipating the payments, they will have the
option at any time of doing so.

"The price of a building lot at Port St. Francis, for the present season
(1835), is 12 pounds 10 shillings, payable 5 pounds cash down, and the
balance in one year, with interest.

"Deposits of purchase-money may be made with the Company in London for
lands to be selected by emigrants on their arrival in the country.

"By the agreement between his Majesty's Government and the Company,
upwards of 50,000 pounds of the purchase-money paid by the latter are to
be expended by them in public works and improvements, such as high
roads, bridges, canals, school-houses, market-houses, churches, and
parsonage-houses. This is an extremely important arrangement, and must
prove highly beneficial to settlers, as it assures to them the
improvement and advancement of this district. The formation of roads and
other easy communications are the great wants of a new country; and the
application of capital on works of this nature, which are beyond the
means of private individuals, is the best mode by which the successful
settlement may be promoted and accomplished.

"The expenditure of the large sum above mentioned, will offer at the
same time an opportunity of employment to honest and industrious
labourers, immediately on arrival."

The office of the British American Land Company is at 4, Barge-yard,
Bucklersbury, London: they have also agents at the various outports.

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Transcription note: Except for the tables in the Appendix, which have
been reformatted to accommodate the presentation of tables in plain text,
this transcription attempts to faithfully reproduce the text and
punctuation found in the 1836 printed version of the book. As a
consequence, numerous instances of spelling and punctuation may appear
incorrect by current standards.

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