ttling in the Backwoods.--Appearance of the Country.--Rice
Lake.--Indian Habits.--Voyage up the Otanabee.--Log-house, and its
Inmates.--Passage boat.--Journey on foot to Peterborough.

Peterborough, Newcastle District.
September 8, 1832.

We left Cobourg on the afternoon of the 1st of September in a light
waggon, comfortably lined with buffalo robes. Our fellow travellers
consisted of three gentlemen and a young lady, all of whom proved very
agreeable, and willing to afford us every information respecting the
country through which we were travelling. The afternoon was fine--one of
those rich mellow days we often experience in the early part of
September. The warm hues of autumn were already visible on the forest
trees, but rather spoke of ripeness than decay. The country round
Cobourg is well cultivated, a great portion of the woods having been
superseded by open fields, pleasant farms, and fine flourishing
orchards, with green pastures, where abundance of cattle were grazing.

The county gaol and court-house at Amherst, about a mile and a half from
Cobourg, is a fine stone edifice, situated on a rising ground, which
commands an extensive view over the lake Ontario and surrounding
scenery. As you advance farther up the country, in the direction of the
Hamilton or Rice Lake plains, the land rises into bold sweeping hills
and dales.

The outline of the country reminded me of the hilly part of
Gloucestershire; you want, however, the charm with which civilization
has so eminently adorned that fine county, with all its romantic
villages, flourishing towns, cultivated farms, and extensive downs, so
thickly covered with flocks and herds. Here the bold forests of oak,
beech, maple, and bass-wood, with now and then a grove of dark pine,
cover the hills, only enlivened by an occasional settlement, with its
log-house and zig-zag fences of split timber: these fences are very
offensive to my eye. I look in vain for the rich hedge rows of my native
country. Even the stone fences in the north and west of England, cold
and bare as they are, are less unsightly. The settlers, however,
invariably adopt whatever plan saves time, labour, and money. The great
law of expediency is strictly observed;--it is borne of necessity.
Matters of taste appear to be little regarded, or are, at all events,
after-considerations.

I could see a smile hover on the lips of my fellow travellers on hearing
of our projected plans for the adornment of our