ble hints as to the planting of
fruit trees, etc. Mr. Work, of Hillside, also sent me a fine lot of
young ornamental trees, which flourished well. A good gardening book
was loaned me of the company--a long loan, I think, as I have
possession of it still.

So the garden, though nothing to boast of in the artistic point of
view, yielded abundance of fruit.

[Portrait: Bishop and Mrs. Cridge.]

But if it were pleasant to get into the Parsonage, it by no means
follows that life in the Fort was dreary; on the contrary, some
of our happiest hours were spent there. Besides my satisfaction with
the present and hopes for the future, coupled with the companionship
of one who had full possession of my heart and life, we were forming
and cementing friendships which were to endure for many a long year.
Not only this--there were pleasant musical and social evenings. There
were voices and instruments; Mrs. Mouat, with the piano brought out
with her from England; Mr. Augustus Pemberton, lately arrived from
Ireland with his flute; Mr. B. W. Pearse, with his violin; I did what
I could with my 'cello, the instrument my father had and played when
a boy.

It was also during those early days that we, my wife and I, had our
first experience of the Governor's delightful riding parties on
Saturday afternoons, when the officers of the Company and friends,
their wives and daughters, rode merrily across the country unimpeded
by gates or bars. I remember the first, when my wife, who did not
ride, had her first drive in the Governor's carriage--a homemade
vehicle, without springs, as befitted the times and the place; our
destination was Cadboro Bay, which we reached by a trail which,
beginning near the Fort, lay all through open country without a house
or field till we arrived at the Company's farm at that beautiful
spot; and though I cannot remember what we did there on that day, I
remember well that on many another day I had to send man and horse
there for meat for my family.

On another occasion our ride lying along the Saanich trail, when near
the North Dairy farm the Governor called a halt; a man stepped out
and fired up into a tree and a grouse fell dead; he reloaded and
fired up into the same tree again and another grouse fell dead.
I, if no one else in the party, was astonished at conduct so
different from that of birds in civilized countries. Whether it was
the proper time for grouse-shooting I know not, for I have no record
of the