length and is claimed by the United States, although some of
the British settlers have lately commenced establishing themselves on
the river and are making very free with the pine. Three miles below the
Restook, the Tobique, named for its red pines, brings its tribute to
the St. John. This is another considerable river, being upwards of two
hundred miles in length. Its banks to a good distance back have been
covered with pines of the finest growth, which have been mostly cut
off. The soil in the pine districts is not favorable for farming
pursuits, but would require much labor to bring it to a state fit for
cultivation. There are, however, some good Islands in the course of the
river, and strips of rich land intermixed with the pine districts, and
the lands adjoining the Tobique lying along the banks of the Saint John
are of the finest quality; and where cultivated produce the most
abundant crops. A district comprising ten miles extending along the
river Saint John and embracing both sides of the Tobique is reserved
for the Indians. This tract is certainly not inferior to any land in
the Province, and it is a pity it should remain in its present
unimproved state. The Indians have only a small clearing at the mouth
of the Tobique, where they have a hut which is reserved as a Chapel,
and where one or two Indians generally sit down as they term it, to
watch a small crop, and keep possession.
After the peace with America in 1814, a number of disbanded, men of the
8th, 98th, and 104th regiments, and of the West-India Rangers and
New-Brunswick Fencibles, were settled on this part of the river Saint
John, chiefly between the military post of Presqu-Isle and the Indian
reserve. Many of these settlers have made good improvements, and have
already secured a comfortable independency. The wilderness has been
converted into cultivated fields, covered with habitations; and the
district formed into a Parish, and named after his Royal Highness the
late Duke of Kent.--It extends on both sides of the river from the
Grand Falls to the Parish of Wakefield. The land is of a superior
quality, covered with a variety of timber of the tallest growth, and
unincumbered with much undergrowth; the trees standing in most places
so far apart, that a man on horse-back would be but seldom incommoded
by them. This is of great advantage to the settler, as it relieves him
from the great labor of clearing away the under brush, which is so
troublesome in s
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