TORONTO OF OLD (continued 13)

Joseph Bouchette in 1793 must have been under twenty years of age. He was born in 1774. He was the son of Commodore Bouchette, who in 1793 had command of the Naval Force on Lake Ontario. When Joseph Bouchette first entered the harbour of Toronto, as described above, he was not without associates. He was probably one of an exploring party which set out from Niagara in May, 1793. It would appear that the Governor himself paid his first visit to the intended site of the capital of his young province on the same occasion.

In the Gazette of Thursday, May 9th 1793, published at Newark or Niagara, we have the following record:—"On Thursday last (this would be May the 3rd) his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by several military gentlemen, set out in boats for Toronto, round the Head of the Lake Ontario, by Burlington Bay; and in the evening his Majesty's vessels the Caldwell and Buffalo, sailed for the same place." Supposing the boats which proceeded round the Head of the Lake to have arrived at the cleared spot where the French stockaded trading-post of Toronto had stood, on Saturday, the 4th, the inspection of the harbour and its surroundings by the Governor and "military gentlemen" occupied a little less than a week; for we find that on Monday, the 13th, they are back again in safety at Niagara. The Gazette of Thursday, the 16th of May, thus announces their return: "On Monday (the 13th) about 2 o'clock, his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and suite arrived at Navy Hall from Toronto; they returned in boats round the Lake."

It is probable that Bouchette was left behind, perhaps with the Caldwell and Buffalo, to complete the survey of the harbour. (In the work above named is a reduction of Bouchette's chart of the harbour with the soundings and bottom; also with lines shewing "the breaking of the ice in the spring." His minute delineation of the pinion-shaped peninsula of sand which forms the outer boundary of Toronto bay, enables the observer to see very clearly how, by long-continued drift from the east, that barrier was gradually thrown up; as, also, how inevitable were the marshes at the outlet of the Don.)

The excursion from Niagara, just described, was the Governor's first visit to the harbour of Toronto, and we may suppose the Caldwell and the Buffalo to have been the first sailing-craft of any considerable magnitude that ever stirred its waters. In April, 1793, the Governor had not yet visited Toronto. We learn this from a letter dated the 5th of that month, addressed by him to Major-General Clarke, at Quebec. Gen. Clarke was the Lieut.-Governor in Lower Canada. Lord Dorchester, the Governor-General himself, was absent in England. "Many American officers," Gen. Simcoe says to Gen. Clarke on the 5th of April, "give it as their opinion that Niagara should be attacked, and that Detroit must fall of course. I hope by this autumn," he continues, "to show the fallacy of this reasoning, by opening a safe and expeditious communication to La Tranche. But on this subject I reserve myself till I have visited Toronto."

The safe and expeditious communication referred to was the great military road, Dundas Street, projected by the Governor to connect the port and arsenal at Toronto with the Thames and Detroit. It was in the February and March of this very same year, 1793, that the Governor had made, partly on foot, and partly in sleighs, his famous exploratory tour through the woods from Niagara to Detroit and back, with a view to the establishment of this communication.

On the 31st of May he is writing again to Gen. Clarke, at Quebec. He has now, as we have seen, been at Toronto; and he speaks warmly of the advantages which the site appeared to him to possess. "It is with great pleasure that I offer to you," he says, "some observations upon the Military strength and Naval convenience of Toronto (now York) [he adds], which I propose immediately to occupy. I lately examined the harbour," he continues, "accompanied by such officers, naval and military, as I thought most competent to give me assistance therein, and upon minute investigation I found it to be, without comparison, the most proper situation for an arsenal, in every extent of that word, that can be met with in this Province."

The words, "now York," appended here and in later documents to "Toronto," show that an official change of name had taken place. The alteration was made between the 15th and 31st of May. No proclamation, however, announcing its change, is to be found either in the local Gazette or in the archives at Ottawa.

Nor is there any allusion to the contemplated works at York either in the opening or closing speech delivered by the Governor to the houses of parliament, which met at Niagara for their second session on the 28th of May, and were dismissed to their homes again on the 9th of the following July. We may suppose the minds of the members and other persons of influence otherwise prepared for the coming changes, chiefly perhaps by means of friendly conferences.

The Governor's scheme may, for example, have been one of the topics of conversation at the levée, ball and supper on the King's birthday, which, happening during the parliamentary session, was observed with considerable ceremony.—"On Tuesday last, the fourth of June," says the Gazette of the period, "being the anniversary of his Majesty's birthday, his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor held a levée at Navy Hall. At one the troops in garrison and at Queenston fired three volleys. The field pieces above Navy Hall under the direction of the Royal Artillery, and the guns at the garrison, fired a royal salute. In the evening," the Gazette further reports, "his Excellency gave a Ball and elegant supper in the Council Chamber, which was most numerously attended."

Of this ball and supper another brief notice is extant. It chanced that three distinguished Americans were among the guests—Gen. Lincoln, Col. Pickering, and Mr. Randolph, United States commissioners on their way, via Niagara, to a great Council of the Western Indians, about to be held at the Miami river. In his private journal, since printed in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, Gen. Lincoln made the following note of the Governor's entertainment at Niagara:—"The ball," he says, "was attended by about twenty well-dressed and handsome ladies, and about three times that number of gentlemen. They danced," he records, "from seven o'clock till eleven, when supper was announced, and served in very pretty taste. The music and dancing," it is added, "was good, and everything was conducted with propriety." This probably was the first time the royal birthday was observed at Niagara in an official way.

Soon after the prorogation, July the 9th, steps preparatory to a removal to York began to be taken. Troops, for example, were transported across to the north side of the Lake. "A few days ago," says the Gazette of Thursday, August the 1st, 1793, "the first Division of his Majesty's Corps of Queen's Rangers left Queenston for Toronto—now York [it is carefully added], and proceeded in batteaux round the head of the Lake Ontario, by Burlington Bay. And shortly afterwards another division of the same regiment sailed in the King's vessels, the Onondago and Caldwell, for the same place."

It is evident the Governor, as he expressed himself to Gen. Clarke, in the letter of May 31, is about "immediately to occupy" the site which seemed to him so eligible for an arsenal and strong military post. Accordingly, having thus sent forward two divisions of the regiment whose name is so intimately associated with his own, to be a guard to receive him on his own arrival, and to be otherwise usefully employed, we find the Governor himself embarking for the same spot. "On Monday evening [this would be Monday, the 29th of July]," the Gazette just quoted informs us, "his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left Navy Hall and embarked on board his Majesty's schooner, the Mississaga, which sailed immediately with a favourable gale for York, with the remainder of the Queen's Rangers."—On the following morning, July 30, 1793, they would, with the aid of the "favourable gale," be at anchor in the harbour of York.

Major Littlehales, the Governor's faithful secretary, remains behind until the following Thursday, August the 1st, engaged probably in arranging household matters for the Governor, an absence from Navy Hall of some duration being contemplated. He then crosses the Lake in the Caldwell, and joins his Chief. At the same time start Chief Justice Osgoode and Mr. Attorney-General White for the East, to hold the circuit. "On Thursday evening, the 1st instant," says the Gazette of the 8th of August, "his Majesty's armed vessels the Onondago and the Caldwell sailed from this place (Niagara). The former, for Kingston, had on board the Hon. William Osgoode, Chief Justice of this Province, and John White, Esq., Attorney General, who are going to hold the circuits at Kingston and Johnstown. Major Littlehales sailed in the latter, for York, to join his Excellency's suite."

We should have been glad of a minute account of each day's proceedings on the landing of the troops at York, and the arrival there of the Governor and his suite. But we can readily imagine the Rangers establishing themselves under canvas on the grassy glade where formerly stood the old French trading-post. We can imagine them landing stores—a few cannon and some other munitions of war—from the ships; landing the parts and appurtenances of the famous canvas-house which the Governor had provided for the shelter of himself and his family, and which, as we have before noted, was originally constructed for the use of Captain Cook in one of the scientific expeditions commanded by that celebrated circumnavigator.

The canvas-house must have been a pavilion of considerable capacity, and was doubtless pitched and fixed with particular care by the soldiers and others, wherever its precise situation was determined. It was, as it were, the prætorium of the camp, but moveable. We can conceive of it as being set down, in the first instance, on the site of the French fort, and then at a later period, or on the occasion of a later visit to York, shifted to one of the knolls overlooking the little stream known subsequently as the Garrison creek; and shifted again, at another visit, to a position still farther east, where a second small stream meandered between steep banks into the Bay, at the point where a Government ship-building yard was in after years established. (Tradition places the canvas-house on several sites.)

We can conceive, too, all hands, sailors as well as soldiers, busy in opening eastward through the woods along the shore, a path that should be more respectable and more useful for military and civil purposes than the Indian trail which they would already find there, leading directly to the quarter where, at the farther end of the Bay, the town-plot was designed to be laid out, and the Government buildings were intended to be erected.

On the 8th of August we know the Governor was engaged at York in writing to the Indian Chief Brant, from whom a runner has just arrived all the way from the entrance to the Detroit river. Brant, finding the conference between his compatriots and the United States authorities likely to end unsatisfactorily, sent to solicit Governor Simcoe's interposition, especially in regard to the boundary line which the Indians of the West insisted on—the Ohio river. Thus runs the Governor's reply, written at York on the 8th:—"Since the Government of the United States," he says, "have shown a disinclination to concur with the Indian nations in requesting of his Majesty permission for me to attend at Sandusky as mediator, it would be highly improper and unreasonable in me to give an opinion relative to the proposed boundaries, with which I am not sufficiently acquainted, and which question I have studiously avoided entering into, as I am well aware of the jealousies entertained by some of the subjects of the United States of the interference of the British Government, which has a natural and decided interest in the welfare of the Indian nations, and in the establishment of peace and permanent tranquillity. In this situation, I am sure you will excuse me from giving to you any advice, which, from my absence from the spot, cannot possibly arise from that perfect view and knowledge which so important a subject necessarily demands."

The controversy in the West, in relation to which the Governor is thus cautiously expressing himself to the Indian Chief on the 8th of August, was a subject for cabinet consideration; a matter only for the few. But towards the close of the month, news from a different quarter—from the outer world of the far European East—reached the infant York, suitable to be divulged to the many and turned to public account. It was known that hostilities were going on between the allied forces of Europe and the armies of Revolutionary France. And now came intelligence that the English contingent on the continent had contributed materially to a success over the French in Flanders on the 23rd of May last. Now this contingent, 10,000 men, was under the command of the Duke of York, the King's son, A happy thought strikes the Governor. What could be more appropriate than to celebrate the good news in a demonstrative manner on a spot which in honour of that Prince had been named York.

Accordingly, on the 26th of August, we find the following General Order issued:—"York, Upper Canada, 26th of August, 1793. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor having received information of the success of his Majesty's arms, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, by which Holland has been saved from the invasion of the French armies,—and it appearing that the combined forces have been successful in dislodging their enemies from an entrenched camp supposed to be impregnable, from which the most important consequences may be expected; and in which arduous attempts His Royal Highness the Duke of York and His Majesty's troops supported the national glory:—It is His Excellency's orders that on the rising of the Union Flag at twelve o'clock to-morrow a Royal Salute of twenty-one guns is to be fired, to be answered by the shipping in the Harbour, in respect to His Royal Highness and in commemoration of the naming this Harbour from his English title, York. E. B. Littlehales, Major of Brigade."

These orders, we are to presume, were punctually obeyed; and we are inclined to think that the running up of the Union Flag at noon on Tuesday, the 27th day of August, and the salutes which immediately after reverberated through the woods and rolled far down and across the silvery surface of the Lake, were intended to be regarded as the true inauguration of the Upper Canadian York.

The rejoicing, indeed, as it proved, was somewhat premature. The success which distinguished the first operations of the royal duke did not continue to attend his efforts. Nevertheless, the report of the honours rendered in this remote portion of the globe, would be grateful to the fatherly heart of the King.

On the Saturday after the Royal Salutes, the first meeting of the Executive Council ever held in York, took place in the garrison; in the canvas-house, as we may suppose. "The first Council," writes Mr. W. H. Lee from Ottawa, "held at the garrison, York, late Toronto, at which Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe was present, was on Saturday, 31st August, 1793." It transacted business there, Mr. Lee says, until the following fifth of September, when the Government returned to Navy Hall. Still, the Governor and his family passed the ensuing winter at York. Bouchette speaks of his inhabiting the canvas-house "through the winter;" and under date of York, on the 23rd of the following February (1794), we have him writing to Mr. Secretary Dundas.

In the despatch of the day just named, after a now prolonged experience of the newly-established post, the Governor thus glowingly speaks of it: "York," he says, "is the most important and defensible situation in Upper Canada, or that I have seen," he even adds, "in North America. I have, sir," he continues, "formerly entered into a detail of the advantages of this arsenal of Lake Ontario. An interval of Indian land of six and thirty miles divides this settlement from Burlington Bay, where that of Niagara commences. Its communication with Lake Huron is very easy in five or six days, and will in all respects be of the most essential importance."

Before the channel at the entrance of the Harbour of York was visibly marked or buoyed, the wide-spread shoal to the west and south must have been very treacherous to craft seeking to approach the new settlement. In 1794 we hear of the Commodore's vessel, "the Anondaga, of 14 guns," being stranded here and given up for lost. We hear likewise that the Commodore's son, Joseph Bouchette, the first surveyor of the harbour, distinguished himself by managing to get the same Anondaga off, after she had been abandoned; and we are told of his assuming the command and sailing with her to Niagara, where he is received amidst the cheers of the garrison and others assembled on the shores to greet the rescued vessel.

This exploit, of which he was naturally proud, and for which he was promoted on the 12th of May, 1794, to the rank of Second Lieutenant, Bouchette duly commemorates on his chart of York Harbour by conspicuously marking the spot where the stranded ship lay, and appending the note—"H. M. Schooner Anondaga, 14 guns, wrecked, but raised by Lieutenant Joseph Bouchette and brought to." (A small two-masted vessel is seen lying on the north-west bend of the great shoal at the entrance of the Harbour.)—A second point is likewise marked on the map "where she again grounded but was afterwards brought to." (Here again a small vessel is seen lying at the edge of the shoal, but now towards its northern point.) The Chart, which was originally engraved for Bouchette's octavo book, "A Topographical Description of Canada, &c.," published in 1815, is repeated with the marks and accompanying notes, from the same plate, in the quarto work of 1831—"The British Dominions in North America." The Anondaga of the Bouchette narrative is, as we suppose, the Onondago of the Gazette, which, as we have seen, helped to take over the Rangers in August, 1793. The same uncertainty, which we have had occasion repeatedly to notice, in regard to the orthography of aboriginal words in general, rendered it doubtful with the public at large as to how the names of some of the Royal vessels should be spelt.

It is to be observed in passing, that when in his account of the first survey of the Harbour in 1793, Bouchette speaks of the Lieutenant-Governor removing from Niagara with his regiment of Queen's Rangers "in the following spring," he probably means in the later portion of the spring of the same year 1793, because, as we have already seen, the Gazettes of the day prove that the Lieutenant-Governor did proceed to the site of the new capital with the Rangers in 1793. Bouchette's words as they stand in his quarto book, imply, in some degree, that 1794 was the year in which the Governor and his Rangers first came over from Niagara. In the earlier octavo book his words were: "In the year 1793 the spot on which York stands presented only one solitary wigwam; in the ensuing spring the ground for the future metropolis of Upper Canada was fixed upon, and the buildings commenced under the immediate superintendence of the late General Simcoe, the Lieut.-Governor: in the space of five or six years it became a respectable place."

Bouchette was possibly recalling the commencement of the Public Buildings in 1794, when in his second work, published in 1831, he inserted the note which has given rise, in the minds of some, to a slight doubt as to whether 1793 or 1794 was the year of the founding of York. The Gazettes, as we have seen, shew that 1793 was the year. The Gazettes also shew that the so-called Public Buildings, i. e., the Parliamentary Buildings, were not begun until 1794. Thus, in the Gazette of July 10, 1794, we read the advertisement: "Wanted: Carpenters for the Public Buildings to be erected at York. Application to be made to John McGill, Esq., at York, or to Mr. Allan Macnab at Navy Hall."

On the 23rd of February, 1794, Governor Simcoe was, as we noted above, writing a despatch at York to Mr. Secretary Dundas. So early in the season as the 17th of March, however, he is on the move for the rapids of the Miami river, at the upper end of Lake Erie, to establish an additional military post in that quarter, the threatened encroachments on the Indian lands north of the Ohio by the United States rendering such a demonstration expedient. He is, of course, acting under instructions from superior authority. In the MS. map to which reference has before been made, the Governor's route on this occasion is marked; and the following note is appended:—"Lieut.-Governor Simcoe's route from York to the Thames, down that river in canoes to Detroit; from thence to the Miami to build the fort Lord Dorchester ordered to be built; left York March 17th, 1794; returned by Erie and Niagara to York, May 5th, 1794."

In the following August, Gov. Simcoe is at Newark or Niagara. On the 18th of that month he has just heard of an engagement between the United States forces under General Wayne and the Indians, close to the new fort on the Miami, and he writes to Brant that he is about to proceed in person to the scene of action "by the first vessel." On the 30th of September he is there; and on the 10th of October following, he is attending a Council of Chiefs in company with Brant, at the southern entrance of the Detroit river. A cessation of hostilities on the part of the Indians is urged, until the spring; and, for himself, he says to the assembly: "I will go down to Quebec and lay your grievances before the Great Man [the Onnontio probably was the word]. From thence they will be forwarded to the King your Father. Next spring you will know the result of everything—what you and I will do."

On the 14th of November the Governor is at Newark embarking again for York and the East. In the Gazette of Dec. 10, we have the announcement: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left this town (Newark) on the 14th ultimo, on his way, viâ York, to the eastern part of the Province, where it is expected he will spend the winter." He appears to have left York on the 5th of December in an open boat. The MS. map gives the route, with the note: "Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's track from York to Kingston in an open boat, Dec. 5, 1794." On the 20th of the same month he is writing a despatch at Kingston to the "Lords of the Committee of His Majesty's Council for Trade and Plantations;" and we learn from the document that the neighbourhood of York, if not York itself, was becoming populous. The Governor says to their Lordships: "Having stated to Mr. Secretary Dundas the great importance which I attached to York (late Toronto), and received directions to give due encouragement to the settlement, it is with great pleasure that I am to observe that seventy families at least are settling in its vicinity, and principally on the communication between York and Holland's River, which falls into Lake Simcoe." (The German families these, principally, who were brought over by Mr. Berczy from the Pulteney settlement in the Genesee country, on the opposite side of the Lake.)

The proposed journey to and from Quebec may have been accomplished after the 20th of December.

In June of the following year, 1795, the Governor is at Navy Hall, Newark. He receives and entertains there for eighteen days the French Royalist Duke de Liancourt, who is on his travels on the American continent. The Duke does not visit York; but two of his travelling companions, MM. du Pettithouars and Guillemard take a run over and report to him that there "had been no more than twelve houses hitherto built at York." The barracks, they say, stand on the roadstead two miles from the town, and near the Lake. The duke adds: "Desertion, I am told, is very frequent among the soldiers."

While staying at Navy Hall, the Duke de Liancourt was taken over the Fort on the opposite side of the river; he also afterwards dined there with the officers. "With very obliging politeness," the duke says, "the Governor conducted us over the Fort, which he is very loth to visit, since he is sure that he will be obliged to deliver it up to the Americans."—In fact it was made over to them under Jay's Treaty in this very year 1794, along with Oswego, Detroit, Miami, and Michilimackinac, though not actually surrendered until 1796. And this was the somewhat inglorious termination of the difficulties between the Indian allies of England and the United States Government, which had compelled the Governor again and again to undertake toilsome journeys to the West.—"Thirty artillerymen," the duke notes, "and eight companies of the Fifth Regiment form the garrison of the Fort. Two days after the visit," he continues, "we dined in the Fort at Major Seward's, an officer of elegant, polite and amiable manners, who seems to be much respected by the gentlemen of his profession. He and Mr. Pilkington, an officer of the corps of Engineers, are the military gentlemen we have most frequently seen during our residence in this place, and whom the Governor most distinguishes from the rest."

In 1796 Governor Simcoe was ordered to the West Indies. He met his Parliament at Newark on the 16th of May, and prorogued it on the 3rd of June, after assenting to seven Acts.

In the Gazette of Sept. 11, 1796, a proclamation from Peter Russell announces that "His most gracious Majesty has been pleased to grant his royal leave of absence to his Excellency Major General Simcoe," and that consequently the government pro tem. had devolved upon himself.

In the November following, Mr. Russell, now entitled President, comes over from Niagara in the Mohawk. The Gazette of Nov. 4, 1796 (still published at Niagara), announces: "Yesterday (Nov. 3), his Honour the President of the Province and family sailed in the Mohawk for York. On his departure he was saluted with a discharge of cannon at Fort George, which was answered by three cheers from on board." (Fort George, afterwards famous in Canadian annals, and whose extensive remains are still conspicuous, had now been constructed, on the west side of the river, close by Newark or Niagara, as a kind of counterpoise to the French Fort on the east side of the river, immediately opposite, which had just been surrendered to the United States.)

It is briefly noted in the Gazette of the 26th of January in the following year (1797), that the President's new house at York had been destroyed by fire. This may account for his being at Niagara in May (1797), and sailing over again in the Mohawk to York, apparently to open Parliament. The Gazette of the 31st of May, 1797, says: "On Saturday last, sailed in the Mohawk for York, his Honour the Administrator, and several members of the Parliament of the Province."

(The Mohawk had come up from Kingston on the 27th of April. On the 28th of that month a vessel had arrived at Niagara, bearing the name of the late Governor. The Gazette of May 3, 1797, thus speaks: "On Sunday last, arrived from Kingston his Majesty's armed vessel the Mohawk; and on Monday last, the Governor Simcoe, being their first voyage.")

The Gazette of the 31st, in addition to the departure of the Mohawk for York, as above, gives us also the following piece of information whence we learn that in the trade of the Lake, a competition from the United States side was about to begin:—"On the same day (the day when the Mohawk sailed for York), arrived here (Niagara) a Deck-boat, built and owned by Col. John Van Rensselaer, of Lansingburg, on the North River. This enterprising gentleman," the Gazette says, "built and completed this and one other of the same bigness (fifty barrels burden), and conveyed them by high waters to Oswego, and arrived there without injury this spring. They are to ply continually between Oswego and this place and Kingston."

On July the 3rd, 1797, the return of President Russell to Niagara in the Mohawk is announced. (The exact situation of Mr. Russell's house at Niagara may be deduced from a memorandum in the papers of Augustus Jones, the surveyor, dated Aug., 1796. It runs as follows:—"S. 61 W., 34 chains, 34 links from the north-west corner of the Block-house above Navy Hall to the S. E. angle of the Hon. P. Russell's house: at 24 chains, a fence.")

During the stormy season at the close of the year 1797, a momentary apprehension was felt at Niagara for the safety of the Mohawk. In a Gazette of December in this year we read: "West Niagara, Dec. 2. Fears for the fate of the Mohawk are entertained. It is said minute guns were distinctly heard through most of Thursday before last; but we hope she has suffered no further than being driven back to Kingston. The Onondaga," it is added, "which was aground in Hungry Bay at our last intelligence, was in a fair way of being gotten off." In the next Gazette, the number for Dec. 9, it is announced that "since our last, arrived here the Simcoe, from Kingston, by which we learn that the Mohawk had returned there, after having her bowsprit and a considerable part of her sails carried away in the storm." It is also stated of the Onondaga, that "she had gained that Port without material injury sustained in Hungry Bay."

In the Gazette of May 19, in the following year, 1798, the Simcoe again appears. At the same time the name of the commander of the vessel is given. "West Niagara: By the arrival of the schooner Simcoe, Capt. Murney, from Kingston, we are informed that upwards of a hundred houses in the Lower Province have been carried away by the ice this spring." The Capt. Murney here mentioned, as being in command of the Simcoe, was the father of the Hon. Edward Murney, of Belleville. He built and owned in 1801 another vessel named the Prince Edward, capable of carrying 700 barrels of flour in her hold. We are told of this vessel, that she was built wholly of red cedar.

In the Gazette of May 26, 1798, we hear of a "good sloop" constructed of black walnut. She is about to be sold. "To be sold," the Gazette says, "on the stocks at the Bay of Long Point (near Kingston), at any time before the 28th of June next, a good sloop ready for launching, in good order, and warranted sound and masterly built. She is formed of the best black walnut timber, 38 tons burden, and calculated for carrying timber." We are told further in respect to this sloop, that "she will be sold by consent of Mr. Troyer, and a good title with a warranty given on the sale. The conditions are for cash only; one-half down, and the other in three months, with approved security for payment. Wm. Dealy." J. Troyer adds: "I approve of the above." Again, it is subjoined: "All persons having demands on said Dealy are requested to exhibit them before the 28th of June, that the same may be paid one month thereafter. May 24, 1798."

On Monday, the 14th of October, in the year just named, a Mr. Cornwall was drowned by falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison at York. In the Gazette of the 27th it is noted that "on Monday last the body of Mr. Cornwall, who was unfortunately drowned the 14th instant, by falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison, was taken up at the Etobicoke. The coroner's inquest sat on the body," it is added, "and brought in a verdict 'accidental death.'" (In this Gazette Etobicoke is curiously printed Toby Cove.)

Boisterous weather gave rise to the usual disasters and inconveniences in the autumn of 1798. "During the heavy gales of wind," says the Gazette of Nov. 24, "which we have had, a vessel loaded with sundry goods was drove on shore at the Mississaga point at Newark (Niagara), and another vessel belonging to this town (York) was drove on a place called the Ducks, where she received considerable damage."

In August, 1799, Governor Hunter, lately appointed, arrived in York Harbour in the Speedy. The Niagara Constellation of Aug. 23, 1799, gives us the information. It says: "His Excellency, Governor Hunter, arrived at York on Friday morning last in the Speedy. On landing," we are told, "he was received by a party of the Queen's Rangers; and at one o'clock p.m. was waited on at his Honour's the President's, by the military officers, and congratulated on his safe arrival and appointment to the government of the Province."

On the 5th of September he has gone over to Niagara. The Constellation of the 6th thus notices his arrival there: "Yesterday morning, arrived here from York his Excellency Governor Hunter. He was saluted by a discharge of twenty-one guns from Fort George. His early arrival in the morning prevented so great an attendance of inhabitants to demonstrate their joy, as was wished by them." He probably crossed the Lake in the Speedy.

The departure of Governor Hunter from Niagara is noted in the Constellation of the following week. "On Saturday last," the Constellation of Sept. 13 says, "His Excellency sailed for Kingston and the Lower Province (probably again in the Speedy). On embarking," we are informed as usual, "he was saluted from the Garrison;" and it is also added that on passing Fort Niagara "he was saluted by the American flag, which had been hoisted for the purpose." On which act of courtesy the Constellation remarks that "merit is respected by all countries." It is then added: "We learn that his Excellency has committed the administration of the Government, during his absence, to a committee composed of the Honourable Peter Russell, J. Elmsley and Æneas Shaw, Esquires; and the Hon. J. McGill, Esq., in the absence of either of them."

Under date of York, Saturday, Sept. 14th, 1799, we have mention made in the Gazette of a new vessel. "The Toronto Yacht, Capt. Baker," the Gazette announces, "will in the course of a few days be ready to make her first trip. She is," the Gazette says, "one of the handsomest vessels of her size that ever swam upon the Ontario; and if we are permitted to judge from her appearance, and to do her justice, we must say she bids fair to be one of the swiftest sailing vessels. She is admirably calculated for the reception of passengers, and can with propriety boast of the most experienced officers and men. Her master-builder," it is subjoined, "was a Mr. Dennis, an American, on whom she reflects great honour." This was Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the place where the vessel was built was a little way up the Humber. (The name Dennis is carelessly given in the Gazette as Dennison.)

The effects of rough weather on the Lake at the close of 1799, as detailed by the Niagara Constellation of the 7th of December, will not be out of place. "On Thursday last," the Constellation says, "a boat arrived here from Schenectady, which place she left on the 22nd ult. She passed the York sticking on a rock off the Devil's Nose: no prospect of getting her off. A small deck-boat also, she reports, lately sprung a leak twelve miles distant from Oswego. The people on board, many of whom were passengers, were taken off by a vessel passing, when she instantly sank: cargo is all lost." The narrative then proceeds to say: "A vessel supposed to be the Genesee schooner, has been two days endeavouring to come in. It is a singular misfortune," the Constellation says, "that this vessel, which sailed more than a month ago from Oswego, laden for this place, has been several times in sight, and driven back by heavy gales."

In the same number of the Constellation (Dec. 7th, 1799), we have "the well-known schooner Peggy" spoken of. A moiety of her is offered for sale. Richard Beasley of Barton, executor, and Margaret Berry of York, executrix, to the estate of Thomas Berry, merchant, late of York, deceased, advertise for sale: "One moiety of the well-known schooner Peggy: any recommendation of her sailing or accommodation," they say, "will be unnecessary: with these particulars the public are well acquainted, and the purchaser will, no doubt, satisfy himself with personal inspection. For terms of sale apply to the executor and executrix."

In the Constellation of the following week is the mysterious paragraph: "If Jonathan A. Pell will return and pay Captain Selleck for the freight of the salt which he took from on board the Duchess of York without leave, it will be thankfully received and no questions asked."

The disastrous effects of the gales are referred to again in the Gazette of Dec. 21st, 1799. "We hear from very good authority," the Gazette says, "that the schooner York, Captain Murray, has foundered, and is cast upon the American shore about fifty miles from Niagara, where the captain and men are encamped. Mr. Forsyth, one of the passengers, hired a boat to carry them to Kingston. Fears are entertained for the fate of the Terrahoga." (A government vessel so named.)

XXX.

THE HARBOUR—ITS MARINE, 1800-1814.

n the 15th of May, 1800, Governor Hunter arrives again in York Harbour. The Gazette of Saturday, the 17th, 1800, announces that "on Thursday evening last (May 15th), his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of this Province, arrived in our harbour on board the Toronto; and on Friday morning about 9 o'clock landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside." On May 16th in the following year Governor Hunter arrives again in the Toronto, from Quebec. "Arrived this morning, Saturday, May 16th, 1801," says the Gazette, "on board the Toronto, Captain Earl, his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, his Aide-de-Camp and Secretary, from Quebec. We hear," continues the Gazette, "that his Excellency has ordered the Parliament to meet on the 28th instant for the actual despatch of business."

In the Gazette of Aug. 29th, in this year (1801), we have the appointment of Mr. Allan to the collectorship for the harbour of York. Thus runs the announcement: "To the Public.—His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased to appoint the subscriber Collector of Duties at this Port, for the Home District: as likewise Inspector of Pot and Pearl Ashes and Flour. Notice is hereby given that the Custom House for entry will be held at my store-house at the water's edge, and that I will attend accordingly, agreeably to the Act. W. Allan, York, 25th Aug., 1801."

In this year, it is noted in the Niagara Herald (Nov. 18th, 1801), the people of Niagara saw for the first time flying from Fort George the British Flag, as blazoned after the recent union of Great Britain and Ireland. "On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 12 o'clock," the Herald says, "we were most agreeably entertained with a display from Fort George, for the first time, of the flag of the United Kingdom. The wind being in a favourable point, it unfurled to the greatest advantage to a view from the town. Its size, we apprehend, will subject it to injury in the high winds that prevail here." It was possibly the Royal Standard.

In the following year, 1802, Governor Hunter arrives at York on the 14th of May, and again in the Toronto. "It is with infinite pleasure," (such is the warm language of the Gazette of May 15th, 1802), "we announce the arrival of his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, and suite, in a very short passage from Quebec. His Excellency arrived in the harbour late yesterday evening (May 14), on board the Toronto, and landed at the Garrison at 9 o'clock. We understand he left Quebec the 27th ult." The officer in command at York on the occasion of Governor Hunter's visit in 1802 was Captain Æneas Macdonell. We have before us a note from him, dated York Garrison, May 15th, to Lieut. Chiniquy at Fort George, in which he speaks of this visit. "General Hunter appeared off this harbour," he says, "at 4 o'clock yesterday, with a Jack at his main-top-mast head. A guard of two sergeants, two corporals, and thirty men," Capt. Macdonell continues, "was soon ready to receive him, which I had the honour to command; but I had not the pleasure to salute him, as he could not land before 9 o'clock last night." (At the close of his note, Capt. Macdonell begs Mr. Chiniquy to send him over from Niagara some butter,—such a luxury being, as we must suppose, difficult to be procured at York). "If you will be good enough to take the trouble," Capt. Macdonell says, "to procure me a few pounds of butter and send it over, I will willingly take the same trouble for you when in my power."

In the Gazette of the preceding April a boat is advertised as about to make trips between York and the Head of the Lake. This is the advertisement: "The subscriber will run a boat from York to the Head of the Lake once a week. The first departure will be from York the 31st instant (on Wednesday), and from the Head of the Lake on Saturday, every week. Any commands left with Messrs. Miles and Playter, and Mr. Beaman at York, and at the Government House, Mr. Bates; and Richard Beasly, Esq., at the Head of the Lake, will be attended to with confidence and despatch. Levi Willard, York, 30th March, 1802."

So early as Jan. 18, in this year (1802), the following notice appeared in the Niagara Herald;—"The sloop Mary Ann will sail from this town (Niagara) on first favourable day."—In August of this year a young Scotchman falls from the sloop and is drowned. The Niagara Herald of Aug. 21, 1802, notes the incident:—"On Monday last, James McQueen, a native of Scotland, aged about 20, fell from the Mary Ann and was drowned. The vessel being under sail, with wind and current in her favour, could not put about in the very short time he remained above water."—In 1802, "Skinner's Sloop" was plying occasionally between York and Niagara. We have a letter before us from Capt. Æneas Macdonell to Ensign Chiniquy, dated York Garrison, 28th March, 1802, acknowledging a budget of news received by "Skinner's Sloop."

In 1803, on the 13th of May, the arrival at York of a Government vessel named the Duke of Kent, with troops, is announced in the Gazette. "This morning arrived at the Garrison the Duke of Kent from Kingston, having on board a detachment of His Majesty's 49th regiment, which is to do duty here in place of the 41st regiment, ordered to Lower Canada." This same vessel arrives again in the harbour on the 27th of the following July. She now has on board "The Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec."—"On Thursday, the 27th," says the Gazette of the 29th of July, 1803, "arrived here (York), the Duke of Kent, having on board the Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec. We understand," the Gazette adds, "his Lordship intended first to visit Detroit, but, owing to contrary winds, was necessitated to postpone his journey. His Lordship will leave town for Niagara shortly after the Confirmation, which will immediately take place."

We hear of casualties on the Lake towards the close of the year. We read in the Gazette of Nov. 16, that "it is currently reported, and we are sorry to add with every appearance of foundation, that the sloop Lady Washington, commanded by Capt. Murray, was lately lost in a gale of wind near Oswego, on her passage to Niagara. Pieces of the wreck, and her boat, by which she was recognized, together with several other articles, are said to have been picked up. It is yet uncertain," the Gazette says, "whether the crew and passengers are saved; among the latter were Messrs. Dunn and Boyd, of Niagara."—Again: the Gazette of Dec. 10, 1803, reports that "a gentleman from Oswego, by the name of Mr. Dunlop, was on Wednesday last accidentally knocked from on board a vessel near the Highlands by the gibbing of the boom, and unfortunately drowned."

The disappointment occasioned to merchants sometimes by the uncertainty of communication between York and the outer world in the stormy season, may be conceived of from a postscript to an advertisement of Mr. Quetton St. George's in the Gazette of Dec. 10, 1803. It says: "Mr. St. George is very sorry, on account of his customers, that he has not received his East India Goods and Groceries: he is sure they are at Oswego; and should they not arrive this season, they may be looked for early in the spring." It was tantalizing to suppose they were so near York as Oswego, and yet could not be had until the spring.

The principal incident connected with the marine of the harbour of York in 1804 was the loss of the Speedy. We give the contemporary account of the disaster from the Gazette of Saturday, Nov. 3, 1804.

"The following," the Gazette says, "is as accurate an account of the loss of the schooner Speedy, in His Majesty's service on Lake Ontario, as we have been able to collect. The Speedy, Capt. Paxton, left this port (York) on Sunday evening, the 7th of October last, with a moderate breeze from the north-west, for Presqu'isle, and was descried off that island on the Monday following before dark, where preparations were made for the reception of the passengers, but the wind coming round from the north-east, blew with such violence as to render it impossible for her to enter the harbour; and very shortly after she disappeared. A large fire was then kindled on shore as a guide to the vessel during the night; but she has not since been seen or heard of; and it is with the most painful sensations we have to say, we fear is totally lost. Inquiry, we understand, has been made at almost every port of the Lake, but without effect; and no intelligence respecting the fate of this unfortunate vessel could be obtained. It is, therefore, generally concluded that she has either upset or foundered. It is also reported by respectable authority that several articles, such as the compass-box, hencoop and mast, known to have belonged to this vessel, have been picked up on the opposite side of the Lake.—The passengers on board the ill-fated Speedy, as near as we can recollect," the narrative goes on to say, "were Mr. Justice Cochrane; Robert J. D. Gray, Esq., Solicitor-General, and Member of the House of Assembly; Angus Macdonell, Esq., Advocate, Member of the House of Assembly; Mr. Jacob Herchmer, Merchant; Mr. John Stegman, Surveyor; Mr. George Cowan, Indian Interpreter; James Ruggles, Esq.; Mr. Anderson, Student in the Law; Mr. John Fisk, High Constable, all of this place. The above named gentlemen were proceeding to the District of Newcastle, in order to hold the Circuit, and for the trial of an Indian (also on board the Speedy) indicted for the murder of John Sharp, late of the Queen's Rangers. It is also reported, but we cannot vouch for its authenticity, that exclusive of the above passengers, there were on board two other persons, one in the service of Mr. Justice Cochrane, and the other in that of the Solicitor-General; as also two children of parents whose indigent circumstances necessitated them to travel by land. The crew of the Speedy, it is said, consisted of five seamen (three of whom have left large families) exclusive of Captain Paxton, who also had a very large family. The total number of souls on board the Speedy is computed to be about twenty. A more distressing and melancholy event has not occurred to this place for many years; nor does it often happen that such a number of persons of respectability are collected in the same vessel. Not less than nine widows, and we know not how many children, have to lament the loss of their husbands and fathers, who, alas, have, perhaps in the course of a few minutes, met with a watery grave. It is somewhat remarkable," the Gazette then observes, "that this is the third or fourth accident of a similar nature within these few years, the cause of which appears worthy the attention and investigation of persons conversant in the art of ship-building."

Two of the disasters to vessels probably alluded to by the Gazette were noted above. In 1802 the Lady Washington, Captain Murray, foundered in the Lake, leaving scarcely a trace. And three years previously, the York, in command of the same Captain Murray, was lost at the point known as the Devil's Nose, not far from the entrance to the River Genesee. And again, some years earlier, in 1780, before the organization of the Province of Upper Canada, the Ontario, Capt. Andrews, carrying twenty-two guns, went down with all on board, while conveying troops, a detachment of the King's Own, under Col. Burton, from Niagara to Oswego. One hundred and seventy-two persons perished on this occasion, Capt. Andrews was, at the time, First Commissioner of the Dock Yard at Kingston, and Commodore of the small flotilla maintained on the Lake, chiefly for transport service. (For several of these particulars we are indebted to Capt. Andrews' grandson, the Rev. Saltern Givins.)

As to the apparent fragility of the government vessels, on which the Gazette remarks, the use of timber insufficiently seasoned may have had something to do with it. The French Duke de Liancourt, in 1795, observed that all the vessels which he saw at Niagara were built of timber fresh cut down and not seasoned; and that, for that reason, "they never lasted longer than six or eight years. To preserve them for even this length of time," he says, "requires a thorough repair: they must be heaved down and caulked, which costs, at least, from one thousand to one thousand two hundred guineas. The timbers of the Mississaga," he says, "which was built three years ago, are almost all rotten."

A particular account of the homicide for which the Indian prisoner, lost in the Speedy, was about to be tried, and of his arrest, is given in a subdivision of one of our chapters, entitled "Some Memories of the Old Court House."

Of the perils encountered by early navigators of Lake Ontario we have an additional specimen furnished us by the Gazette of Sept. 8th, 1804. That paper reports as follows: "Capt Moore's sloop, which sailed from Sackett's Harbour on the 14th July for Kingston with a load of pot and pearl ashes, struck on Long Point near Kingston in a gale of wind; and having on board a number of passengers, men, women, and children, he was under the necessity of throwing over forty-eight barrels of ashes in order to lighten the vessel." It is then briefly added: "She arrived at Kingston."

We hear of the Toronto Yacht in 1805, casually. A boat puts off from her to the rescue of some persons in danger of drowning, near the Garrison at York, in November of that year. "On Sunday last, the 10th," says the Gazette of Nov. 16th, 1805, "a boat from the River Credit for this place (York), containing four persons, and laden with salmon and country produce, overset near the Garrison, at the entrance of this harbour; and notwithstanding the most prompt assistance rendered by a boat from the Toronto Yacht, we are sorry to add that one person was unfortunately drowned, and a considerable part of the cargo lost." At this date, the Toronto Yacht was under the command of Capt. Earl.

In December, 1805, a member of the Kendrick family of York was lost in a vessel wrecked on the New York side of the Lake. "We understand," says the Gazette of Feb. 15th, 1806, "that a boat, sometime in December last, going from Oswego to Sandy Creek, was lost near the mouth of Salmon river, and four persons drowned. One of the bodies, and the articles contained in the boat, were driven ashore; the remainder, it is supposed, were buried in the sand. The persons who perished were—John McBride (found), John Kendrick of this place (York), Alexander Miller and Jessamin Montgomery."—In November of this year (1805), Miss Sarah Kendrick was married. It will be observed that her taste, like that of her brothers, of whom more hereafter, lay in a nautical direction. "Married, on Tuesday, the 12th inst., by licence," records the Gazette, "Jesse Goodwin, mariner, to Miss Sarah Kendrick." (This is the Goodwin from whom the small stream which ran into York Bay at its eastern extremity used to be called—Goodwin's Creek.)

In the Gazette of Oct 11th, 1806, it is noted that Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara in little more than four hours. The vessel is not named. Probably it was the Toronto Yacht.

In 1807, Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara to hold a levee, on the King's birthday. The vessel that conveyed him again is not named. The following notice appears in the Gazette of May 16th, 1807: "Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. The Lieut.-Governor will hold a levee at the Commanding Officer's Quarters at Niagara, at 2 o'clock on Tuesday, the 4th of June. Wm. Halton, Secretary." Then follows a second notice: "Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. There will be a Ball and Supper at the Council House, Niagara, on his Majesty's Birthday, for such ladies and gentlemen as have been presented to the Lieut.-Governor and Mrs. Gore. Wm. Halton, Secretary."

An accident to the Toronto Yacht is reported in the Gazette of Oct. 17th, 1807. That paper says: "The Toronto Yacht, in attempting her passage across on Wednesday or Thursday last, met with an accident that obliged her to put back to Niagara, which port, we understand, she reached with difficulty."

The Gazette of October 31st, 1807, speaks of the inconveniences to itself, arising from the irregularity in the communication between York and Niagara. "The communication with Niagara by water," it says, "from being irregular lately, has prevented us receiving our papers this week. The Indian Express," the Gazette then adds, "having commenced its regular weekly route, our publishing day will be changed to Wednesday. We have nothing of moment or interest. Should anything occur we will give an extra sheet." On the 18th of November the Gazette appears printed on blue paper, such as used to be seen on the outside of pamphlets and magazines. An apology is offered. "We have to apologize to our readers for the necessity of publishing this week on an inferior quality of paper, owing to the non-arrival of our expected supply." The same kind of paper is used in a succession of numbers. It is curious to observe that the effect of time has been to produce less disfigurement in the bright appearance of the pages and print of the blue numbers of the Gazette, than in the ordinary white paper numbers, which have now assumed a very coarse, dingy, inferior aspect.

In 1808 the important announcement is made in the Gazette of March 16th, that a lighthouse is about to be immediately established on Gibraltar Point, at the entrance of York Harbour. "It is with pleasure we inform the public," the Gazette says, "that the dangers to vessels navigating Lake Ontario will in a great measure be avoided by the erection of a Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, which is to be immediately completed, in compliance with an Address of the House of Assembly to the Lieutenant-Governor."

We have understood that a lighthouse was begun at the point of York peninsula before the close of the last century; that the Mohawk was employed in bringing over stone for the purpose, from Queenston; and that Mr. John Thompson, still living in 1873, was engaged in the actual erection of the building. It was perhaps then begun. In 1803 an Act was passed by the Provincial Legislature for the establishment of lighthouses "on the south-westernmost point of a certain island called Isle Forest, situated about three leagues from the town of Kingston, in the Midland District; another upon Mississaga point, at the entrance of the Niagara river, near to the town of Niagara; and the other upon Gibraltar point." It was probably not practicable to carry the Act fully into effect before 1806. According to the Act a fund for the erection and maintenance of such lighthouses was to be formed by levying three-pence per ton on every vessel, boat, raft, or other craft of ten tons burthen and upwards, doubling the point named, inward bound. That lighthouse duty should be levied at ports where there was no lighthouse, became a grievance; and in 1818 it was enacted that "no vessel, boat, raft or other craft of the burthen of ten tons and upwards shall be liable to pay any Lighthouse Duty at any port where there shall be no lighthouse erected, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."

Mr. Cartwright (Judge Cartwright) built in 1808 two vessels on Mississaga Point at the mouth of the Cataraqui, one for himself, the Elizabeth; the other for the North-West Company, the Governor Simcoe. The North-West Company had previously a vessel on the lake called the Simcoe, which was now worn out.

In June, 1808, Governor Gore departs from York for a tour in the western part of the Province. The Gazette seems mildly to rebuke him for having swerved from his first design in regard to this tour. He had intended to proceed via Lake Huron; that is, by the Yonge Street route, but he had finally preferred to go via Lake Ontario. "His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor left this place, York," the Gazette announces, "on the 15th instant, on a visit to Sandwich, etc. We are sorry," the editor then ventures to observe, "that he did not, as he originally destined, proceed by Lake Huron, according to his amiable intention and view of promoting the first interests of this province."

In the Gazette of October 22nd, in this year, we hear once more of the Toronto Yacht.—Governor Gore has returned to York in safety, and has left again for Niagara in the Toronto. "On the 17th instant," the above-named Gazette reports, "his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and Major Halton sailed for Niagara in the Toronto Yacht. It was his Excellency's intention to have gone there on Monday last." The Gazette says: "He embarked for the purpose, and received an honorary salute from the Garrison. Excessive gales and a succession of violent head winds delayed his proceeding until Thursday morning." (He returned in the Toronto on Tuesday, the 6th of November.)

On the 14th of December in this year, the editor of the Gazette again announces a change in the day of publication, in consequence of the suspension of water communication between York and Niagara. "The suspension of our water communication with Niagara at the present season obliges us to alter the day of publication, which will now be on Wednesday. John Cameron."

A postal notice issued in the Gazette of Jan. 4th, in the following year, 1809, is interesting now. It reads thus: "For General Information. The winter mail will be despatched from Quebec for Upper Canada on the following days: Monday, 2nd Jan., 1809: do. 6th Feb.: do. 6th March: do. 3rd April. Each mail may be looked for here (York) from 16 to 18 days after the above periods. The Carrier from Kingston (the Indian Express probably of which we have heard already) is to go on to Niagara without making any stay (unless found necessary) at this place; so that all persons will have time to prepare their letters by the time he returns from Kingston again. W. Allan, Deputy P. M., York, 2nd Jan. 1809." The mail between Montreal and Kingston was carried on the back of one Anderson. Between these two places the postage was nine-pence.

Between 1809 and 1812 we do not light upon many notices of vessels frequenting York Harbour. In 1810, a schooner called the Lady Gore or the Bella Gore, commanded by Captain Sanders, and plying to Kingston, was a well known vessel. (It may be noted that in 1811 Governor Gore left York for England, on leave of absence, and was away during the four eventful years that followed.) In 1812, and previously, a sloop commanded by Captain Conn was running between York and Niagara. From some peculiarity in her contour, she was popularly spoken of as "Captain Conn's Coffin." Another sloop, commanded by Captain Grace, was plying between York, Niagara and Kingston about the same time.

The Government vessels with whose names we have become familiar were now either unseaworthy or wrecked. The Mohawk, the Onondaga, the Caldwell, the Sophia, the Buffalo, are no longer heard of as passing in and out of the harbour of York. It had been the fate of the Toronto Yacht, while under the command of Capt. Fish, to run on the sands at Gibraltar Point through a mistake as to the position of the light. Her skeleton was long a conspicuous object, visited by ramblers on the Island. This incident occurred just before the outbreak of the war.

Most of the vessels which had been engaged in the ordinary traffic of the Lake were, during the war, employed by the government in the transport service. Captain Murney's vessel, the Prince Edward, built, as we have already heard, wholly of red cedar, and still in good order in 1812, was thus employed.

In the fleet on Lake Ontario in 1812-14 new names prevail. Not one of the old titles is repeated. Some changes made in the nomenclature of vessels during the contest have created confusion in regard to particular ships. In several instances which we shall specify immediately, in the following list, two names indicate the same vessel at different periods of the war. The Prince Regent, the commodore's ship, (Capt. Earl), the Princess Charlotte, the Montreal, the Wolfe, the Sir Sidney Smith, the Niagara, the Royal George, the Melville, the Star, the Moira, the Cherwell, the Gloucester (Capt. Gouvereau), the Magnet, the Netley, the St. Lawrence; and the gunboats Cleopatra, Lais, Ninon, Nelly, Regent, Thunderer, Wellington, Retaliation, Black Snake, Prescott, Dreadnought. In this list the Wolfe and the Montreal are the same vessels; as also are the Royal George and the Niagara; the Melville and the Star; the Prince Regent and the Netley; the Moira and the Cherwell; the Montreal and the Wolfe; the Magnet and the Sir Sidney Smith.

The Moira was lying off the Garrison at York when the Simcoe transport came in sight filled with prisoners taken on Queenston Heights, and bringing the first intelligence of the death of General Brock. We have heard the Rev. Dr. Richardson of Toronto, who at the time was Sailing Master of the Moira, under Captain Sampson, describe the scene.—The approaching schooner was recognized at a distance as the Simcoe: it was a vessel owned and commanded, at the moment, by Dr. Richardson's father, Captain James Richardson. Mr. Richardson accordingly speedily put off in a boat from the Moira, to learn the news. He was first startled at the crowded appearance of the Simcoe's deck, and at the unwonted guise of his father, who came to the gangway conspicuously girt with a sword. 'A great battle had been fought,' he was told, 'on Queenston Heights. The enemy had been beaten. The Simcoe was full of prisoners of war, to be transferred instanter to the Moira for conveyance to Kingston. General Brock was killed!'—Elated with the first portion of the news, Dr. Richardson spoke of the thrill of dismay which followed the closing announcement as something indescribable and never to be forgotten.

Among the prisoners on board the Simcoe was Winfield Scott, an artillery officer, afterwards the distinguished General Scott. He was not taken to Kingston, but, with others, released on parole.

The year following (1813), York Harbour was visited by the United States fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels. The result other pages will tell. It has been again and again implied in these papers. The government vessel named the Prince Regent narrowly escaped capture. She had left the port only a few days before the arrival of the enemy. The frames of two ships on the stocks were destroyed, but not by the Americans. At the command of General Sheaffe, they were fired by the royal troops when beginning the retreat in the direction of Kingston. A schooner, the Governor Hunter, belonging to Joseph Kendrick, was caught in the harbour and destroyed; but as we have understood, the American commander paid a sum of money to the owner by way of compensation.—At the taking of York, Captain Sanders, whom we have seen in command of the Bella Gore, was killed. He was put in charge of the dockyardmen who were organized as a part of the small force to be opposed to the invaders.

We can imagine a confused state of things at York in 1813. Nevertheless the law asserts its supremacy. The magistrates in sessions fine a pilot £2 15s. for refusing to fulfil his engagement with Mr. McIntosh. "On the 19th October, 1813, a complaint was made by Angus McIntosh, Esq., late of Sandwich, now of York, merchant, against Jonathan Jordan, formerly of the city of Montreal, a steersman in one of Angus McIntosh's boats, for refusing to proceed with the said boat, and thereby endangering the safety of the said boat. He is fined £2 15s. currency, to be deducted from wages due by Angus McIntosh."

It was in May the following year (1814), that Mr. Richardson, while Acting Master on board the Montreal (previously the Wolfe), lost his left arm in Sir James Yeo's expedition against Oswego.—The place was carried by storm. After describing the mode of attack and the gallantry of the men, Sir James Yeo in his official despatch thus speaks in particular of the Montreal: "Captain Popham, of the Montreal," he says, "anchored his ship in a most gallant style; sustaining the whole fire until we gained the shore. She was set on fire three times by red-hot shot, and much cut up in her hull, masts and rigging. Captain Popham," he then proceeds to say, "received a severe wound in his right hand; and speaks in high terms of Mr. Richardson, the Master, who from a severe wound in the left arm, was obliged to undergo amputation at the shoulder joint."

The grievous mutilation thus suffered did not cause Mr. Richardson to retire from active service. Immediately on his recovery he was, at his own desire, appointed to a post of professional duty in the fleet. In October, when the great hundred-gun ship, the St. Lawrence, was launched at Kingston, he was taken by Sir James Yeo on board that vessel, his familiarity with the coasts of the Lake rendering his services in the capacity of Acting Pilot of great value.

In the record of disbursements made by the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada in 1815, we have the sum of One Hundred Pounds allotted on the 22nd of April to "Mr. James Richardson, of the Midland District," with the following note appended: "This gentleman was first in the Provincial Navy, and behaved well: he then became Principal Pilot of the Royal Fleet, and by his modesty and uncommon good conduct gained the esteem of all of the officers of the Navy. He lost his arm at the taking of Oswego, and as he was not a commissioned officer, there was no allowance for his wounds. The Society, informed of this and in consideration of his services, requested his acceptance of £100."

By a curious transition, instances of which are now and then afforded in the history of individuals in every profession, Mr. Richardson became in after years an eminent minister in the Methodist Society; and at the age of 82 was known and honoured far and wide throughout Upper Canada as the indefatigable bishop or chief superintendent of that section of the Methodist body which is distinguished by the prefix Episcopal.

In 1814 it would appear that Commodore Chauncey and his fleet were no longer dominating the north shore. The Netley, formerly the Prince Regent, is mentioned as being again in the harbour of York. On the 24th of July she took over Lieut.-General and President Drummond, when on his way to support General Rial at Lundy's Lane. "I embarked," General Drummond says in his despatch to Sir George Prevost describing the engagement at Lundy's Lane; "I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner Netley, at York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant (July), and reached Niagara at daybreak the following morning." He then pushed on from Niagara to Lundy's Lane with 800 rank and file, and was the undoubted means of preventing a hard-contested fight from ending in a defeat.

On the 24th of December in this year the Treaty of Ghent was signed, by which, to adopt its own language, "a firm and universal peace was re-established between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and people of every degree, without exception of persons or places."

XXXI.

THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE, 1815-1827.

oon after the close of the war with the United States in 1814, the era of steam navigation on Lake Ontario opens. The first steamer, the Frontenac, was launched at Ernesttown, on the Bay of Quinté, in 1816. Her trips began in 1817. The length of her deck was 170 feet; the breadth, 32 feet; her burden, 700 tons; her cost, £15,000; her commander, Capt. James McKenzie, a retired officer of the Royal Navy.

In 1818 we observe an enactment of the Provincial Legislature, having reference to steam navigation. It is decreed that the usual space occupied by the engine and machinery in a steam vessel, with the requisite stowage of wood, should be taken to occupy one-third of such vessel, and that such vessel should only pay Lighthouse or Tonnage Duty on two-thirds of her admeasurement.

In successive numbers of the Kingston Chronicle, the advertisement of the Frontenac, occupying the width of two columns, conspicuously appears, with a large rude woodcut of a steamer with two smoke-pipes at the top. For the sake of the fares and other particulars, we copy this document (from the Chronicle of April 30, 1819). "The Steamboat Frontenac, James McKenzie, Master, will in future leave the different ports on the following days: viz., Kingston for York, on the 1st, 11th and 21st days of each month. York for Queenston, 3rd, 13th and 23rd days of each month. Niagara for Kingston, 5th, 15th and 25th days of each month. Rates of Passages: From Kingston to York and Niagara, £3. From York to Niagara, £1. Children under three years of age, half-price; above three, and under ten, two-thirds. A Book will be kept for entering the names of passengers, and the berths which they may choose at which time the passage money must be paid. Passengers are allowed sixty pounds weight of baggage; surplus baggage to be paid for at the usual rate. Gentlemen's servants cannot sleep or eat in the Cabin. Deck passengers will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions, or be furnished by the Steward. For each dog brought on board, five shillings. All applications for passage to be made to Capt. McKenzie, on board. Freight will be transported to and from the above places at the rate of four shillings per barrel bulk, and Flour at the customary rate delivered to the different consignees. A list of their names will be put in a conspicuous place on board, which must be deemed a sufficient notice; and the Goods, when taken from the Steamboat will be considered at the risk of the owners. For each small parcel, 2s. 6d., which must be paid on delivery. Kingston, April 28th, 1819." Capt. McKenzie has acquired confidence in himself and his vessel in 1819. An earlier notice in the Chronicle, relating to the Frontenac, was the following. Its terms show the great caution and very salutary fear which governed the action of sea captains, hitherto without experience in such matters, when about to encounter by the aid of steam the perils of a boisterous Lake. "Steamboat Frontenac will sail from Kingston for Niagara, calling at York, on the 1st and 15th days of each month, with as much punctuality as the nature of the Lake navigation will admit of."

The ordinary sailing craft of the Lake of course still continued to ply. We hear of a passenger-boat between York and Niagara in 1815, called the Dove; also of the Reindeer, commanded for a time by Captain Myers. In 1819-20 Stillwell Wilson, with whom we are already acquainted, is in command of a slip-keel schooner, carrying passengers and freight between York and Niagara. The Wood Duck was another vessel on this route. (In 1828 the Wood Duck is offered for sale, with her rigging and sails complete, for Four Hundred Dollars cash. "Apply to William Gibbons, owner, York." She is afterwards the property of Mr. William Arthurs.) The Red Rover, Captain Thew, and the Comet, Captain Ives, were others. The Britannia, Captain Miller, was a visitant of York harbour about the same period; a top-sail schooner of about 120 tons, remarkable for her specially fine model. She was built by Roberts, near the site of what is now Wellington Square, and was the property of Mr. Matthew Crooks, of Niagara.

Captain Thew, above named, afterwards commanded the John Watkins, a schooner plying to York. Captain Thew encountered a little difficulty once at Kingston, through a violation, unconsciously on his part, of naval etiquette. A set of colours had been presented to the John Watkins, by Mr. Harris of York, in honour of his old friend and a co-partner whose name she perpetuated. It happened, however, through inadvertency, that these colours were made of the particular pattern which vessels in the Royal Service are alone entitled to carry; and while the John Watkins was lying moored in the harbour at Kingston, gaily decorated with her new colours, Captain Thew was amazed to find his vessel suddenly boarded by a strong body of men-of-war's men, from a neighbouring royal ship, who insisted on hauling down and taking possession of the flags flying from her masts, as being the exclusive insignia of the Royal Navy. It was necessary to comply with the demand, but the bunting was afterwards restored to Captain Thew on making the proper representations.

In 1820, Capt. Sinclair was in command of the Lady Sarah Maitland. We gather from an Observer of December in that year, that Lake Ontario, according to its wont, had been occasioning alarms to travellers. An address of the passengers on board of Capt. Sinclair's vessel, after a perilous passage from Prescott to York, is recorded in the columns of the paper just named. It reads as follows: "The subscribers, passengers in the Lady Maitland schooner, beg to tender their best thanks to Capt. Sinclair for the kind attention paid to them during the passage from Prescott to this port; and at the same time with much pleasure to bear testimony to his propriety of conduct in using every exertion to promote the interest of those concerned in the vessel and cargo, in the severe gale of the morning of the 4th instant (Dec. 1820). The manly fortitude and unceasing exertions of Capt. Sinclair, when the situation of the vessel, in consequence of loss of sails, had become extremely dangerous, were so highly conspicuous as to induce the subscribers to make it known to the public, that he may meet with that support which he so richly deserves. The exertions of the crew were likewise observed, and are deserving of praise.—D. McDougal, James Alason, G. N. Ridley, Peter McDougal."

This was probably the occasion of a doleful rejoinder of Mr. Peter McDougal's, which became locally a kind of proverbial expression: "No more breakfast in this world for Pete McDoug." The story was that Mr. McDougal, when suffering severely from the effects of a storm on the Lake, replied in these terms to the cook, who came to announce breakfast. The phrase seemed to take the popular fancy, and was employed now and then to express a mild despair of surrounding circumstances.

In 1820 a Traveller, whose journal is quoted by Willis, in Bartlett's Canadian Scenery (ii. 48), was six days in accomplishing the journey from Prescott to York by water. "On the 3rd of September," he says, "we embarked for York at Prescott, on board a small schooner called the Caledonia. We performed this voyage, which is a distance of 250 miles, in six days." In 1818, Mr. M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, was two days and a-half in crossing from Niagara to York. "My first visit to York," Mr. Whitehead says in a communication to the writer, "was in September, 1818, crossing the Lake from Niagara with Dr. Baldwin—a two and a-half days' passage. The Doctor had thoughtfully provided a leg of lamb, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of porter: all our fare," adds Mr. Whitehead, "for two days and a-half." We have ourselves more than once, in former days, experienced the horrors of the middle passage between Niagara and York, having crossed and re-crossed, in very rough weather, in the Kingston Packet, or Brothers, and having been detained on the Lake for a whole night and a good portion of a day in the process. The schooners for Niagara and elsewhere used to announce the time of their departure from the wharf at York in primitive style, by repeated blasts from a long tin horn, so called, sounded at intervals previous to their casting loose, and at the moment of the start. Fast and large steamers have, of course, now reduced to a minimum the miseries of a voyage between the North and South shores; but these miseries are still not slight at the stormy seasons, when Lake Ontario often displays a mood by no means amiable—

It is some consolation to reflect, that with all the skill and appliances at the command of English engineers and shipbuilders, it has been found hitherto impossible to render the passage from Dover to Calais a luxury; nor possibly will that result be secured even by the enormous ferry-steamers which are projected. In 1791, twenty-four hours were occasionally occupied in the passage from Dover to Calais. "I am half-dead," writes the learned traveller Dr. E. D. Clarke, at Calais, to his mother; "I am half-dead with sea-sickness: twenty-four hours' passage from Dover."

Again, the mode in which the first Lake steamers were made to near the landing-place in the olden time, was something which would fill a modern steamboat captain with amazement. Accustomed as we are every day to see huge steamers guided without any ado straight up to the margin of a quay or pier, the process of putting in seems a simple affair. Not so was it, however, in practice to the first managers of steamboats. When the Frontenac or William IV. was about to approach the wharf at York, the vessel was brought to a standstill some way out in the harbour. From near the fore and after gangways boats were then lowered, bearing hawsers; and by means of these, when duly landed, the vessel was solemnly drawn to shore. An agitated multitude usually witnessed the operation.

In the Gazette of July 20, 1820, we have the information that "on Saturday evening, a schooner of about sixty tons, built for Mr. Oates and others, was launched in this port (York). She went off," the Gazette says, "in very fine style, until she reached the water, where, from some defect in her ways, her progress was checked; and from the lateness of the hour, she could not be freed from the impediment before the next morning, when she glided into the Bay in safety. Those who are judges say that it is a very fine vessel of, the class. It is now several years," continues the Gazette, "since any launch has been here; it therefore, though so small a vessel, attracted a good deal of curiosity." This was the Duke of Richmond packet, afterwards a favourite on the route between York and Niagara. The Gazette describes the Richmond somewhat incorrectly as a schooner, and likewise understates the tonnage. She was a sloop of the Revenue cutter build, and her burthen was about one hundred tons. Of Mr. Oates we have had occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street.

In an Observer of 1820, we have the first advertisement of the Richmond. It reads thus: "The Richmond Packet, Edward Oates, commander, will commence running between the Ports of York and Niagara on Monday, the 24th instant (July), as a regular Packet. She will leave York on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9 o'clock a.m., precisely; and Niagara on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 10 a.m., to the 24th of September, when the hour of departure will be made known to the Public. The Richmond has excellent accommodations for Ladies, Gentlemen and other Passengers, and nothing will be omitted to make her one of the completest and safest passage vessels of the class in America, being manned with experienced mariners. Rates of passage: After Cabin, 10s.; Fore Cabin, 6s. 3d. Children under twelve years, half-price. Sixty pounds baggage allowed to each passenger; above that weight, 9d. per cwt., or 2s. per barrel bulk. For freight or passage apply to John Crooks, Esq., Niagara; the Captain on board; or at the Subscriber's store. Ed. Oates, York, July 17, 1820."

Captain Vavassour, commandant at Fort George, presented Capt. Oates with a gun and a set of colours. The former used to announce to the people of York the arrival and departure of the Richmond; and a striped signal-flag found among the latter, was hoisted at the Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point whenever the Richmond Packet hove in sight. (For a considerable period, all vessels were signalized by a flag flying from the Lighthouse.)

Two years later, the Richmond is prospering on the route between York and Niagara. In the Gazette of June 7th, 1822, we have an advertisement of tenor similar to the one given above. "Richmond Packet, Edward Oates, master, will regularly leave York for Niagara on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Niagara for York on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from the 1st of June until the 1st of September." The advertisement then goes on to say: "Edward Oates respectfully informs his friends and the Public, that his Packet shall leave York and Niagara on the above days, either in the morning or evening, as the wind and passengers may suit; and that passengers may depend on a passage on the above days. The superiority of sailing and accommodation for ladies and gentlemen are too well known to the public to make any comment upon. York, June 1st, 1822." By the following year, however, the Richmond's occupation was coming to an end. Steam on the route between York and Niagara had its effect. From the Gazette of Jan. 16, 1823, we learn that Mr. Oates is about to dispose of his interest in the Richmond; is virtually about to sell the vessel. In the paper just named we read the following advertisement: "Auction. Fifty Shares, or three-quarters and two sixty-fourths of that superior vessel the Richmond Packet, will positively be sold by auction, at the Town of York, on Saturday, the 25th instant, together with all her tackle, apparel, stores and furniture; an inventory of which may be seen on application to R. Coleman, Esq., York; Mr. Edward Oates, Niagara. N.B.—Terms of sale: one-third down; the remainder in two equal payments at three and six months, with approved endorsers. York, Jan. 6, 1823."

In a Gazette of this year we have a pleasure boat offered for sale at York, apparently a bargain. In the number for May 15, 1823, is the following advertisement: "Pleasure-boat to be sold: built of oak, an extremely fast sailer, and in every respect a complete vessel of the kind. It is rigged with jib, foresail, mainsail, and driver. Original cost, upwards of forty guineas (and not more than four years old). It will now be sold, with everything belonging to it, at the low price of fifteen pounds currency. Enquire at the Gazette Office, York. 7th May, 1823."

As the Richmond Packet filled an important place in the early marine of the harbour, it will be of interest to mention her ultimate fate. While engaged, in 1826, in conveying a cargo of salt from Oswego, she was wrecked near Brighton, on the bay of Presqu'isle, towards the eastern part of Lake Ontario. The Captain, no longer Mr. Oates, losing his presence of mind in a gale of wind, cut the cable of his vessel and ran her ashore. The remains of the wreck, after being purchased by Messrs. Willman, Bailey and Co., were taken to Wellington, on the south side of the peninsula of Prince Edward county, where the cannon which had ornamented the deck of the defunct packet, and had for so many years daily made the harbour of York resound with its detonations, did duty in firing salutes on royal birthdays and other public occasions up to 1866, when, being overcharged, it burst, the fragments scattering themselves far and wide in the waters round the wharf at Wellington.

Just as the Richmond disappears, another favourite vessel, for some years distinguished in the annals of York harbour, and commanded by a man of note, comes into the field of view. "The new steamer Canada," says the Loyalist of June 3, 1826, "was towed into port this week by the Toronto, from the mouth of the river Rouge, where she was built during the last winter. She will be shortly fitted up for her intended route, which, we understand, will be from York and Niagara round the head of the Lake, and will add another to the increasing facilities of conveyance in Upper Canada." The Loyalist then adds: "Six steamboats now navigate the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, in this Province, besides the Canada, and a boat nearly ready for launching at Brockville." We shall presently hear much of the career of the Canada and her commander.

The Toronto (Capt. Shaw), named above as towing the Canada into the harbour, was a steam-packet of peculiar make, built at York. She was constructed without any difference of shape at the bow and stern, and without ribs. She was a shell of successive layers of rather thin boards placed alternately lengthwise and athwart, with coatings, between, of stout brown paper pitched. She proved a failure as a vessel for the Lake traffic, and was speedily taken down the river, where she was also unfortunate. We hear of her in the Loyalist of June 17, 1826. "By a letter," the Editor says, "received from Kingston we are sorry to hear that the steamboat Toronto, on her first trip from that place to Prescott, had unfortunately got aground several times, and that in consequence it had been found necessary to haul her out of the water at Brockville, to be repaired. The damage is stated not to be very great, but the delay, besides occasioning inconvenience, must be attended with some loss to the proprietors." The Editor then adds: "The navigation of the St Lawrence, for steamboats, between Kingston and Prescott, is in many places extremely difficult, and requires that the most skilful and experienced pilots should be employed." In the same number of the Loyalist is an advertisement of the Martha Ogden, a United States boat. "Notice. The steamboat Martha Ogden, Andrew Estes, master, will ply between York and Youngstown during the remainder of the season, making a daily trip from each place, Saturdays excepted, when she will cross but once. Hours of sailing, 6 o'clock in the morning and 3 o'clock in the afternoon. To accommodate the public, her hours of departure from each place will be changed alternately every week, of which notice will be regularly given. This arrangement will continue in effect, weather permitting, until further notice is given. Passengers wishing to cross the river Niagara will be sent over in the ferry-boat free of charge. Cabin passage, two dollars. Deck passage, one dollar. Agents at York, Messrs. M. and R. Meighan. June 13, 1826."

The Frontenac is still plying to York. In 1826 she brings up the Lieut.-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, from Kingston. The Loyalist of Saturday, June 3, 1826, duly makes the announcement. "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor arrived here (York) on Wednesday afternoon, on board the Frontenac, Capt. McKenzie, from Kingston. His Excellency landed at the King's Wharf under a salute from the Garrison. Major Hillier and Captain Maitland accompanied his Excellency. On Thursday morning, his Excellency embarked on board the Frontenac for Niagara."

The following week she brings over from Niagara Col. McGregor and the 70th Regiment. The Loyalist of June 10, 1826, thus speaks. "We have much pleasure in announcing the arrival in this place of the Head Quarter Division of the 70th Regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col. McGregor. They landed from the steamboat Frontenac yesterday morning, and marched into the York Garrison." The Loyalist then proceeds to eulogize the 70th, and to express satisfaction at the removal of that regiment to York. "The distinguished character of this fine regiment, and the honourable testimony which has been given of their uniformly correct and praiseworthy conduct, wherever they have been stationed, affords the most perfect assurance that from the esteem in which they have so deservedly been held, during a period of more than thirteen years' service in Canada, their stay at this Garrison will be rendered highly satisfactory to the inhabitants, and, we should hope, pleasant to themselves." It was on this occasion that many of the inhabitants of York beheld for the first time the impressive sight of a Highland regiment, wearing the kilt and the lofty plumed cap. A full military band, too, which accompanies only Head Quarter Divisions, was a novelty at York; as previous to this year Niagara, and not York, was regarded as Military head quarters. The Pipers increased the excitement. The band of the 70th displayed, moreover, at this period further accessories of pomp and circumstance in the shape of negro cymbal players, and a magnificent oriental-looking standard of swaying tails surmounted by a huge glittering crescent bearing small bells.

In the down-trip from York, the same week, the Frontenac took away a detachment of the 76th Regiment. "The detachment of the 76th Regiment," the Loyalist of June 10 reports, "under command of Lieut. Grubbe, embarked on board the Frontenac yesterday, on its destination to join the regiment at Montreal. Lieut. Grubbe takes with him," the Editor of the Loyalist says, "the cordial regard of the inhabitants of York; and the exemplary conduct of the detachment under his command has been such as to merit from them their best wishes for their future prosperity."—During the same week the steamer Queenston had arrived at York, as we learn from the following item in the same Loyalist of June 10: "The Rev. Mr. Hudson, Military Chaplain, who accompanied the Lord Bishop from England, arrived here in the Queenston on Tuesday last. Mr. Hudson is appointed Chaplain to the Garrison at York." (In August, 1828, Mr. Hudson must have been in England. We read the following in the Loyalist of Oct. 11, in that year:—"Married, on the 12th of August last, at Crosby-on-Elden, Cumberland, by the Rev. S. Hudson, B.A., the Rev. J. Hudson, M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and Chaplain to the Forces at York, in Upper Canada, to Barbara Wells, second daughter of the Rev. Thomas Lowry, D.D.") In the Loyalist of July 29, in this year (1826), we hear of "the new steamer Niagara, built at Prescott, John Mosier, captain." This new steamer Niagara was in reality Capt. Mosier's schooner The Union of Wellington Grove, turned into a steamer. Some error had been committed in the build of the Union, and she suddenly capsized in the river near Prescott. Capt. Mosier then cut her in two, added to her length thirty feet by an insertion, and converted her into the Niagara steam-packet. Her arrival at York is announced in the Loyalist of July 29, and her return thither from Niagara with American tourists on board. The Loyalist says: "The new steamboat Niagara, built at Prescott, John Mosier, captain, arrived here (York) on Monday last, the 24th instant. She proceeded the same day to Niagara, and returned on Tuesday afternoon, with a number of American ladies and gentlemen making the Northern tour. This arrangement," continues the Loyalist, "of visiting York twice on the route round the Lake will be continued, we hope, as the number of persons travelling at this season of the year, having an opportunity of seeing York, will tend to enliven the town. The Niagara" it is added, "is a handsome and well-built boat, with a powerful engine, and most excellent accommodation for travellers." A Loyalist of the following month (the number for Aug, 12, 1826) reports the Niagara as bearing another kind of freight. She has on board, for one thing, 60 hogsheads of tobacco. "The steamboat Niagara, Capt. Mosier, arrived in port on Monday last from Prescott via Niagara. On going on board," says the Editor of the Loyalist, "it afforded us much pleasure to find that her cargo consisted in part of sixty hogsheads of Leaf Tobacco for the Montreal market, the produce of the western part of the Province. The cultivation of this article of consumption," continues the Loyalist, "is attracting the attention of the farmers in the Western District, and a large quantity of it will be offered in the market this year. The next season it will be very much increased. The soil and climate of that part of the Province is represented as being well adapted to the growth of the tobacco plant, and the enterprise which is exhibited to secure the advantages thus held out, gives fair promise that the article will before long be added to the list of the staple productions of our country, and afford not only a sufficient supply for home consumption, but also form an important item in the schedule of Canadian exports."

In the same number of the Loyalist we hear again of Capt. Richardson's new steamboat, the Canada. We read of her first passage across from York to Niagara, thus: "The new steamboat Canada, Capt. Richardson, made her first trip to Niagara on Monday last, and went out of the harbour in fine style. Her appearance reflects much credit on her builder, Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the machinery, manufactured by Messrs. Wards of Montreal, is a specimen of superior workmanship. The combined excellence of the model and machinery of this boat is such," says the Loyalist, "as will render her what is usually termed 'a fast boat.' The trip to Niagara was performed in four hours and some minutes. Her present route, we observe, is advertised from York to Niagara and the Head of the Lake. In noticing this first trip of another steamboat," continues the Loyalist, "we cannot help contrasting the present means of conveyance with those ten years ago. At that time only a few schooners navigated the Lake, and the passage was attended with many delays and much inconvenience. Now there are five steamboats, all affording excellent accommodation, and the means of expeditious travelling. The routes of each are so arranged that almost every day of the week the traveller may find opportunities of being conveyed from one extremity of the Lake to the other in a few hours. The Niagara and Queenston from Prescott, and the Frontenac from Kingston once a week, and the Canada and Martha Ogden between York and Niagara and the Head of the Lake every day, afford facilities of communication which the most sanguine could scarcely have anticipated at the period we speak of. Independent of these boats, it must be mentioned that the Cornwall on Lake St. Louis makes a trip every day from Côteau du Lac to Cornwall; the Dalhousie runs between Prescott and Kingston twice a week and conveys the mail; the Charlotte and Toronto once a week from Prescott to the Head of the Bay of Quinté; thus affording to every part of the country the same advantages of convenient intercourse. These are some of the evidences of improvement among us during the last few years which require no comment. They speak for themselves, and it must be pretty evident from such facts as these, that those who cannot, or will not, see the progress we are making, must be wilfully blind." (The closing remark was of course for the benefit of contemporary editors at York and elsewhere, who, from their political view of things, gave their readers the impression that Canada was a doomed country, going rapidly to perdition.)