History of New Brunswick Part 2

As I observed before, several causes have been a.s.signed for the difference between the climate of Europe and America, by persons who have investigated that subject. But the causes of the alteration that has taken place in the seasons in North America, remain yet a desideratum with the learned. Whether the alteration is occasioned by the precession of the equinoxes, or by the position of our globe with the other planets, (for changes no doubt are taking place in the great system of the universe, which, though slow, must produce powerful effects,) or from whatever cause it may be, the effects are visible, and cannot reasonably be wholly ascribed to the improvement of the country, or any alteration that has taken place in it.

New-Brunswick appears to be but little liable to the great convulsions of nature, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, &c. There has been but one shock of an earthquake experienced by the present inhabitants since they have settled the country. This shock happened on the 22d May, 1817, at 25 minutes past three o'clock in the morning. The duration of the shock was about 45 seconds. It was attended with the usual rumbling noise, without thunder, the weather being very serene and pleasant. The appearances, however, usually indicating earthquakes, such as fiery meteors, the uncommon brilliancy of the aurora borealis, &c. had been frequent the winter preceding.

I shall now proceed to notice the princ.i.p.al grains, roots, and gra.s.ses cultivated in the Province, and give as correct an account of their produce, &c. as the imperfect state of the agriculture of the country will allow.

Wheat is sown from five pecks to two bushels to an acre, and yields from twelve to twenty-four bushels per acre. Twenty bushels is a good crop, on new land, although it sometimes produces more, when the soil is very rich and the season favourable. On old land the return is from ten to fifteen bushels per acre, the mean is about twelve. Rye is grown on inferior lands. It takes about the same quant.i.ty of seed to the acre, and gives much the same returns.

Oats are much cultivated in this country, and generally turn out a good crop. The quant.i.ty of seed is from two to three bushels, and the produce from twenty to thirty bushels per acre. Barley is not much cultivated, although it would do well as a subst.i.tute in frosty seasons.

Buckwheat is a grain that gives a large return for the quant.i.ty sown.

It is raised on lands that are too poor to produce good crops of the other grains, and sown later in the season, so that the greatest summer heat may be past before the grain is formed in the ear; for should there be a few very hot days when the grain is in the milk, the crop would be destroyed. The same would be the case, if a slight frost should strike it in that stage. If, however, it escapes these casualties, to which it is liable, it turns out a good crop, yielding from forty to sixty bushels to an acre. There is a species of wild Buckwheat, which is a surer crop, but of an inferior quality.

Millet has lately been introduced into the Province. It is said to do well on most lands, but has not been much attended to.

Indian Corn or Maize, flourishes in high perfection on the intervales, which are generally composed of alluvial soil. It is usually planted in hills nearly four feet asunder. Five grains is the usual quant.i.ty for a hill. It is a plant that requires a light rich soil, old manure, and hot seasons; should these requisites concur, a good crop may be expected. It is usually hoed thrice, and produces from twenty-five to forty bushels per acre.

Pease are a hardy grain, and produce from ten to fifteen bushels to an acre.

Beans are usually set in drills; they thrive well on light sandy lands, but are not much cultivated in the country.

Among the ground crops or roots, the most valuable is the Potatoe--a root that can never be sufficiently prized, as affording one of the most productive and surest subst.i.tutes for bread of any known, and without which it would have been extremely difficult to have colonized these Provinces. This may be reckoned the surest crop, and is peculiarly well adapted to new countries, as it thrives best on new burnt land. The usual and simplest method of cultivating this root is by planting cuttings of it in hills, about three feet asunder. This method is peculiarly convenient on land newly cut down, as the seed is set with the hoe between the stumps and roots with which the ground is covered, and where the plough or harrow could be of no service. They are generally hoed once in the season, and turn out in the fall a large crop of clean, smooth potatoes, of a superior flavour to those grown on old lands. The produce is from 150 to 200 bushels from an acre; although they sometimes greatly exceed that quant.i.ty.--They are an excellent crop for improving new lands; for as the culture is all performed with the hoe or hack, the small roots of the stumps are destroyed in planting and digging; for wherever there is room to drop an eye, it never fails to vegetate, working under roots and around stones, so that in the autumn the farmer has frequently to cut away or dig under roots for his crop, which often exceeds his expectation. In some parts of the Province, where the lands have been long in cultivation, drilling is practised, and the labour chiefly performed with the plough and harrow; and of late the Irish method of setting them in beds has been introduced. There are many varieties of this root cultivated in the Province; but no attention has been paid to renewing the seed from the ball, which no doubt would improve the quality as well as the produce.

Several kinds of Turnips are cultivated in this Province; the best of which is the ruta-baga, or Swedish turnip. This is an excellent root and cultivated with great success, particularly on new lands. They differ from the common field turnip, being of a firm texture they keep the year round; while the common turnip turns soft and unfit for use after the winter sets in. They, however, answer a good purpose for early use and for cattle, being sown late in July, after the other crops are out of the way. The Swedish turnip is sown early in June. All the sowing in this country is broad-cast, the method of drilling being scarcely known.

The other roots are, beets, carrots, parsnips, onions, radishes, &c.

which are chiefly cultivated in gardens. There are a variety of cabbages, sallads, cauliflowers, squashes, &c. which are also cultivated in the gardens with great success.

The princ.i.p.al gra.s.ses produced in the country, are white and red clover, timothy, lucerne, browntop, &c. Good uplands produce one and a half tons per acre, and the intervale from two to three tons. There are several species of wild gra.s.s, such as blue-joint, &c. found in meadows, in the woods, and along streams, which make very good food for young stock.

As no regular catalogue of the various species of indigenous plants has yet been made in this country, it would be useless to attempt anything like a correct, minute enumeration of them in this concise sketch. I shall, therefore, prosecute this part of the subject no farther, as I think the time is not far distant when this branch of the rural economy of the Province will be particularly attended to; and that the Societies which have lately been formed for that purpose, will not only develope and improve the native productions of the country, but introduce different species of exotics, as they find them answer the soil and climate.

CHAPTER IV.

PRINc.i.p.aL RIVERS AND TOWNS.

_River St. Croix. St. John. Miramichi. Mars-Hill. City of St. John.

Fredericton. St. Andrews._

Having in the preceding chapters given a brief sketch of the settlement and face of the country, and noticed its climate, productions, &c. I shall now proceed to give a short description of the princ.i.p.al rivers, mountains, and towns, beginning with the

RIVER SAINT CROIX.

This river was made the boundary between the territories of His Britannic Majesty and the United States, by the treaty of 1783 which describes the bounds as follows, viz. "That angle, which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix river to the Highlands, along the said Highlands which divide these rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river; thence down along the middle of that river to the 45th degree of north lat.i.tude, from thence by a line due west on said lat.i.tude until it strikes the river Iroquois, or Cataraquy," &c.

The boundaries thus described, have caused considerable difficulty between the two Governments, in discovering which is the height of land mentioned in the treaty; and in regard to the St. Croix, it is supposed that the British Commissioners were totally unacquainted with the river in question, and not aware that the lines proposed, if run according to the American construction of the treaty, would separate the British Provinces of New-Brunswick and Canada. It is also probable that it was not precisely known at that time what river was meant by the St. Croix, but that another river, more to the westward, might have been intended.

This uncertainty about the rivers at that time might have arisen from the general name of St. Croix, which was given by Europeans to all the rivers falling into the Bay of Fundy, occasioned by the French on their first landing in the country, having erected crosses at different points, and named the places from that circ.u.mstance, the country of the Holy Cross. However it may have happened, difficulties ensued in ascertaining the precise Islands in the Bay of Pa.s.samaquoddy belonging to each power, and the Highlands meant by the treaty of 1783. This induced the Commissioners of the two Powers at the treaty of Ghent to provide against any misunderstanding on these points for the future, by the fourth and fifth articles of that treaty. The fifth article, bearing particularly on this point, states that "Whereas neither that point of the Highlands, lying due north from the source of the river St. Croix, designated in the former treaty of peace between the two powers, as the north-west angle of Nova-Scotia, nor the northwesternmost head of Connecticut river, have yet been ascertained: and whereas that part of the boundary line between the dominions of the two powers, which extends from the source of the river St. Croix, directly north to the above-mentioned north-west angle of Nova-Scotia, thence along the said Highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river, thence down along the middle of that river to the 45th degree of north lat.i.tude, thence by a line due west on said lat.i.tude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy, has not yet been surveyed, it is agreed that for these several purposes two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn, and authorized, to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the present article. The said Commissioners shall meet at St. Andrews, in the Province of New-Brunswick, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said Commissioners shall have power to ascertain and determine the points above-mentioned, in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of 1783, and shall cause the boundaries aforesaid, from the source of the river St. Croix to the river Iroquois or Cataraquy to be surveyed and marked according to the said provisions: the Commissioners shall make a map of the said boundary, and annex to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifying it to be the true map of the said boundary, and particularizing the lat.i.tude and longitude of the north-west angle of Nova-Scotia, of the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river, and of such other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boundary. And in the event of the said Commissioners differing or both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be made in all respects, as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained."--The fourth article here alluded to provides that "such sovereign or state shall decide ex-parte upon the said report alone, and His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the United States engage to consider the decision of such friendly sovereign or state to be final and conclusive on all matters to them referred."--Notwithstanding these precautions on the part of the Agents of the two Governments, the points alluded to are not yet ascertained or settled.

But to resume the description of the river. The St. Croix has two main branches, one inclines to the eastward, and communicates with a chain of lakes, some of which are of considerable extent, and lie near a branch of the Pen.o.bscot river. The other turns to the westward. From this branch there is a route by a succession of lakes and short portages to the waters that fall into the river St. John. The lands on the banks of this river are of good quality, and have been well timbered; most of the pine has been cut off, but there is still abundance of other timber, consisting of the harder woods, spruce, firs, &c. There are mills erected on different parts of this river, which furnish a great quant.i.ty of sawed lumber annually.

There are several falls in the river, which obstruct the navigation.

There are, however, several fine settlements along its banks, and the adjoining country is first improving.

RIVER SAINT JOHN.

This n.o.ble river encircles a large portion of New-Brunswick, and may be considered as the princ.i.p.al drain of those numerous rivers and streams with which the Province is intersected. Winding in an irregular semi-circle, it traverses an extent of about five hundred miles, and falls into the Bay of Fundy nearly in the same parallel of lat.i.tude in which it takes its rise.

It may not be improper to observe, that most of the rivers and streams in this country were originally named by the Indians, who generally, by the names they give, wish to signify something peculiar to the thing named; consequently the Indian name of this river, which they call "Looshtook," signifies long river.--It rises from lakes near the head of Connecticut river, between the 45th and 46th degrees of north lat.i.tude, and stretches to the northward, beyond the 47th degree of north lat.i.tude, where it receives the waters of the Madawaska river, which rises near the St. Lawrence. It then inclines to the southward, and continues its course uninterrupted, receiving several large streams, till it arrives at the Grand Falls, in lat. 46 54'. Here its channel is broken by a chain of rocks, which run across the river at this place, over which its waters are precipitated with resistless impetuosity. The river, just above the cataract, makes a short bend of nearly a right angle, forming a small bay a few rods above the precipice, in which there is an eddy, which makes it a safe landing place, although very near the main precipice, where canoes pa.s.s with the greatest safety. Immediately below this bay, the river suddenly contracts. A point of rocks project from the western sh.o.r.e and narrow the channel to the width of a few rods. The waters thus pent up sweep over the rugged bottom with great rapidity; just before they reach the main precipice they rush down a descent of some feet, and rebound in foam from a bed of rocks on the edge of the fall. They are then precipitated down perpendicular cliffs of about forty-five feet in height, into an abyss studded with rocks, which nearly choke the pa.s.sage, leaving only a small opening in the centre, through which the water, after whirling for some time in the bason, rushes with tremendous impetuosity, sweeping through a broken rocky channel and a succession of falls for more than half a mile, being closely pent up with rocks, which in some places overhang the river so as to hide most part of it from the view of the observer. Trees and timber, which are carried down the falls, are sometimes whirled round in the bason below the precipice till they are ground to pieces; sometimes their ends are tapered to a point, and at other times broken or crushed in different places. Below the falls there is another small bay with a good depth of still water, very convenient for collecting timber, &c. after it has escaped through the falls. Here the canoes and boats from Fredericton and different parts of the river land, and if bound for Madawaska they are taken out of the water and carried or drawn, as well as their loads, across the isthmus to the small bay above the falls before mentioned, where they are again put in the water, and proceed without any farther interruption to the upper settlements and the Canada line.

The distance of the portage, including the windings of the road up the hill is about 100 rods from water to water. Flat bottomed boats, from fifteen to twenty tons burthen, can come from St. John to this place, which is a distance of about two hundred and twenty-three miles. No larger craft than canoes have as yet been used above the falls. This has not arisen from any defect in the river, which above the falls is smooth and of sufficient depth for large vessels; but from the habits of the French settlers, who are partial to canoes, which they set through the rapids with poles at a great rate, and with which they shoot the cataracts and rapids with great address.

About a mile below the landing place a succession of rapids commence.

The first from their appearance are called the white rapids. The banks are here every high, and the water being pent up by a narrow channel, rushes through the beds of rocks which nearly cross the river, and whirling about in their pa.s.sage are forced over and around the crags in sheets of foam. A few miles below the falls the river is increased by the junction of the Salmon, Restook, and Tobique rivers, which will be noticed hereafter. It then continues its course without interruption, receiving every few miles some considerable streams, till it reaches the Maductic Falls. Its course is nearly south, and its width about a quarter of a mile, occasionally widening and contracting from the Grand Falls to Woodstock, where it widens to near a mile and forms several fine Islands. It afterwards diminishes, and strips of intervale narrow its bed.

At the Maductic Falls its channel is again nearly choked up with rocks.

The navigation, however, is not totally interrupted, for rafts, boats, and small craft in their descent are run through the falls by persons well acquainted with the channel; and in their ascent they are towed through with men or horses, and but few accidents happen, considering the numbers that navigate the river.

As the bed of the river is frequently enc.u.mbered with rocks and sand-bars, the navigation is very difficult at the dry time of the year. The current is likewise swift in many places, and rapids are frequent, till within six miles of Fredericton, where they end.

About nine miles above Fredericton the river suddenly widens and receives the Madam-Keswick. Here is a group of fertile islands, some of which are over a mile in length, and nearly as broad. At Fredericton the river is about three quarters of a mile wide, and flows with a beautiful unbroken current to the falls near the City of Saint John.--A number of fine Islands are scattered in different parts of its bed.

These Islands are composed of rich alluvial soil, and produce large crops of gra.s.s and grain. Being formed by the washings of the river, they are like garden spots scattered through the country. About nine miles from St. John the river widens into a bay nearly six miles long and three wide. The river Kennebeckasis falls into this bay. At the foot of the bay it suddenly contracts, and winds through a crooked pa.s.sage called the narrows, and again opens and forms a small bay directly above the falls. Here the current is again broken by a bed of rocks, and suddenly contracted by the near approach of the banks which appear to have been formerly united and forced asunder by some convulsion of nature. From the appearance of the rocks on each side it is probable that the water having been pent up in the small bay just noticed, have in their efforts to escape undermined the land and rocks at this place, and forced a subterraneous pa.s.sage, which by wearing, aided by some violent concussion, has caused the rocks to fall in, when the earth being washed away by the rapidity of the current, has left the present pa.s.sage open, and that the split-rock and the bed of the channel is part of the former overhanging rocks.

For that the bed of the channel consists of cragged rocks of various shapes and sizes, is evident from the whirlpools and eddies at that place. These falls make a tremendous roaring at certain periods. After pa.s.sing the falls, it forms the harbour of St. John, and falls into the Bay of Fundy in lat. 45 20' N.

The spring tides at St. John rise from twenty-four to twenty-eight feet. The body of the river is seventeen and a half feet above low water mark. When the tide has flowed twelve feet, the falls are smooth and pa.s.sable from fifteen to twenty minutes. They are level three and a half hours on the flood, and two and a half on the ebb, and pa.s.sable four times in twenty-four hours. Above the falls the tides rise four feet. At Maugerville, seventy miles up the river, they rise from one to two feet; at Fredericton from six to ten inches, and are perceivable nine miles above that place, varying according to the phases of the moon. In the spring, the river, swoln with rains and the melting of the snow and ice, rises higher than the tides, which prevents vessels from ascending the falls for some weeks.

RIVER MIRAMICHI.

This is one of the finest rivers for lumber in the Province. Its banks as well as the banks of the numerous streams that fall into it, are covered with pines of the finest growth, which appear to be almost inexhaustable, for although lumbering has been prosecuted on this river to a great extent for a number of years past, there is still abundance found by going a little back from the water. It is indeed the main source of the trade of the large County of Northumberland. One hundred and forty-one thousand three hundred and eighty-four tons of timber were shipped at the port of Miramichi in 1824. Rafts are taken down this river with the greatest safety to the shipping, which load at different places from the mouth of the river up to Fraser's Island. It has two main branches called the north-west and south-west, which run a great way into the country, and with their numerous streams lay open the inmost recesses of this extensive County. Several fine islands lay in the course of this river, covered with elm, ash, b.u.t.ternut, &c.

which invariably denote the most luxurious soil. Its waters are well stored with excellent salmon and other fish, which are caught here in great abundance. There are several settlements along this river, none of which merit a particular description, the improvement of the country being neglected for lumbering. The branches of this river approach in several places very near to streams falling into the river St. John, which communicate by short portages. As I have never been able to procure correct information about the sources of this river or its length, I have not the means of satisfying the reader on these points, but must dismiss the subject with these few particulars, being all I could obtain.

As was observed in the commencement of this work, this country is so intersected with rivers, streams, and lakes, that with small portages persons can go to most parts of the Province in a canoe. There is a route from the Madawaska river to the Bay of Chaleur, and another from the river St. John by the Grand River, which is fifteen miles above the Great Falls, to the Ristagouche. The river Chicktahawk, which falls into the St. John near the Presque-Isle, runs near a branch of the Miramichi; a short portage connects the route. The route from the St.

Croix to the St. John is first by a chain of lakes with short portages, and next by Eel river, which falls into the St. John about fifty miles above Fredericton. There is another route from the St. John to the Miramichi, by the way of the Jemseg, through the Grand Lake and up Salmon river, from whence there is a short portage to the river Etienne which falls into the Miramichi; with several other such communications where the streams of the different large rivers nearly approach each other.

The Mountains and Hills with which the Province is diversified, have nothing peculiar to merit a particular description, except Mars Hill, which has excited considerable interest, being supposed by the British Commissioners under the treaty of Ghent to be the height of land intended by the treaty of 1783, and that consequently the boundary line between the territories of the United States and the British Provinces should take a new direction at that place. This is resisted by the American Commissioners, who wish to prolong the line beyond that point.

This is an object of great importance to the two powers, for should the line be continued in the old direction, which at this point approaches very near the river St. John, it would cross that river a little above the Grand Falls, and would not only separate New-Brunswick and Canada, but likewise give the Americans the upper part of the County of York which joins Canada, with a large Settlement of French at Madawaska--Mars Hill lies about six miles from the river St. John, on the western side, about one hundred miles above Fredericton. It can be seen from the high lands on the opposite side of the river, and appears at that distance majestically towering above the adjacent country. On approaching the mountain the woods are open and the ascent commences with an easy swell about half a mile from the main hill, after which the ascent is more abrupt, and in some parts nearly perpendicular.

Having reached the crest, the spectator has a clear expanse of horizon, being completely above the surrounding country. From hence he views a boundless forest beneath his feet. The hills appear like waves covered with their green foliage of different shades, from the various sorts of trees with which their brows are covered. In different places the more elevated hills appear rising above the others like towers. Facing the river St. John, he beholds Moose Mountain at about nine miles distant on the opposite side of the river, which is nearly as high as Mars Hill, and perpendicular on the north side. To his left are a range of lofty hills on the Restook; to his right he has a distant view of Houlton-plantation, and in his rear, as far as his eye can reach, are the lofty Catardhan Mountains on the Pen.o.bscot river; the intermediate s.p.a.ce exhibiting an undulating forest of boundless variety of hills and vallies, lakes, &c. The whole forming a grand and interesting spectacle. The Mountain is about three miles in length, very narrow, and divided by a hollow near the centre. A small spot has been cut down on each end of the hill, and a temporary observatory erected by the Commissioners under the treaty of Ghent.

The Americans have laid out a settlement in this part of the country, which takes in Mars Hill. The base of the mountain is washed by the Presque-Isle river, and other streams which fall into the river St.

John.

The princ.i.p.al Towns in New-Brunswick are SAINT JOHN, FREDERICTON, and SAINT ANDREWS; which on account of their importance and situation will be treated of separately. Leaving the other places to be noticed as they occur in the description of the several Counties, I shall proceed to give a short description of the situation, trade, public buildings, and inst.i.tutions of the places just mentioned; commencing with the