t ocean port. The teams got started early in the afternoon, but
the road was rough and the horses had to walk all the way. It was
growing dark when we reached the shanty, from whose one window gleamed a
light, and at the door were Ailie, Alice, and Robbie, who had spent two
days cleaning and making the place as decent as possible. A table of
boards, with benches at its side, was spread with supper. A joyous hour
was cut short by the teamsters crying out horses were fed and they were
ready to return. They dropped us at the end of our lane.

July 26--Finished cutting the oats on the swamp while green and stacked
them. There is a fair catch of grass.

Aug. 4--All the grain is ripe; cutting is slow on account of the stumps.
Today there were four of us busy with the hook. Oats are not as plump as
in Scotland; they fill too quickly.

CHAPTER IX.

THE AFTER YEARS

Further extracts from the master's diary would not help the story I am
telling you, for it becomes such a record as many farmers keep,--when
they sowed and reaped, what they sold and bought. Having completed the
account of his first year's experience in the bush for his friend in
Scotland, he ceased noting down his daily happenings, which for him no
longer had the interest of novelty. The forest had been sufficiently
subdued to enable him to gain a living from the land, and his life
partook more and more of the routine of Canadian farmers. He was,
however, much more successful than the majority of them, due to his
energy and skill. His first decided start was due to the existence of
that swamp whose discovery filled him with dismay. The forage he got off
it enabled him to start keeping stock long before he otherwise could
have done. In the fall of 1826 he bought a cow and a couple of two-year
old heifers, and the following spring there was enough milk to enable
the mistress to make a few cheese. These gave the farm a reputation
which established a steady demand at a paying price. More cows were
got, no grain was sold, everything was fed, and the master, with the
help of the mistress, led in dairying. In Ayrshire she had the name of
making the best cheese in the parish and her skill stood the family in
good stead in Canada. That second summer the entire swamp was brought
into cultivation, and it proved to be the best land on the farm for
grass. When other pastures were dried up, cattle had a bite on the
swamp, for so it continued to be called long after i