ization and Mud--Richmond Hill
without the Lass--The Rebellion and the Radicals--Blue Hill and
Bricks.

We reached Barrie safely that night, and slept at the Queen's Arms. Next
morning, I had an excellent opportunity of seeing this thriving village.

It is very well situated on the shore of Kempenfeldt Bay, on ground
rising gradually to a considerable height, and is neatly laid out,
containing already about five hundred people.

On the high ground overlooking the place are a church, a court-house,
and a jail, all standing at a small distance from each other, nearly on
a line, and adding very much indeed to the appearance of the place. The
deep woods now form a background, but are gradually disappearing. I went
about a mile into them, and saw several new clearances, with some nice
houses building or built; and particularly one by Bingham, our landlord,
a very comfortable, English-looking, large cottage, with outhouses and
an immense barn, round which the rascally ground squirrels were playing
at hide-and-seek very fearlessly.

The Court House contains the district school, which appears very
respectable, and is conducted by a young Irishman; it also contains all
the district offices, and is two stories high, massively and well built,
the lower story being of stone and the upper of brick, both from
materials on the spot.

The church is of wood, plain and neat. The jail is worth a visit, and
shows what may be done in the forest and in a brand-new district, as the
district of Simcoe is, although I believe about half the money it cost
would have been better employed on the roads; for it has never been
used, except as a place of confinement for an unfortunate lunatic.

It is formed in the castellated style, of a handsome octagonal tower, of
very white, shelly limestone, with a square turreted stone enclosure, on
the top of which is an iron _chevaux de frize_, and which enclosure is
subdivided into separate day-yards for prisoners. The entrance is under
a Gothic archway; and in the centre of the tower is an internal space,
open from top to bottom, and preventing all access to the stairs from
the cells, which are very neat, clean, and commodious, with a good
supply of water, and excellent ventilation. It is, in short, as pretty a
toy penitentiary as you could see anywhere, and looks more like an Isle
of Wight gentleman's fortress, copied after the most approved Wyattville
pattern of baronial mansion, with a little to