The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Strickland Traill
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The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Strickland Traill
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AMONG the numerous works on Canada that have been published within the last ten years, with emigration for their leading theme, there are few, if any, that give information regarding the domestic economy of a settler's life, sufficiently minute to prove a faithful guide to the person on whose responsibility the whole comfort of a family depends— the mistress, whose department it is "to haud the house in order."
The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Strickland Traill- Amazon Sales Rank: #2922029 in Books
- Published on: 2015-06-23
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .32" w x 6.00" l, .43 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 138 pages
About the Author As one of the first voices to write from the wilds of newly-settled Canada, Catharine Parr Traill s books continue to be considered important sources of early Canadian history. In particular, The Backwoods of Canada, first published in 1836, details the everyday life of Canada s founding communities. Together with her sister, Susannah Moodie (who penned the equally historically significant Roughing it in the Bush), Traill became an important resource for settlers arriving in Canada during the nineteenth century. Continuing to write and publish well into her nineties, Catherine Parr Traill is celebrated as one of the first authors in Canadian literary history. She died in 1899 at the age of 97.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Letter I Departure from Greenock in the Brig Laurel. – Fitting-up of the Vessel. – Boy Passenger. – Sea Prospect. – Want of Occupation and Amusement. – Captain’s Goldfi nch. Brig Laurel, July 18, 1832. I received your last kind letter, my dearest mother, only a few hours before we set sail from Greenock. As you express a wish that I should give you a minute detail of our voyage, I shall take up my subject from the time of our embarkation, and write as inclination prompts me. Instead of having reason to complain of short letters, you will, I fear, fi nd mine only too prolix. After many delays and disappointments, we succeeded at last in obtaining a passage in a fast-sailing brig, the Laurel, of Greenock; and favourable winds are now rapidly carrying us across the Atlantic. The Laurel is not a regular passenger-ship, which I consider an advantage, for what we lose in amusement and variety we assuredly gain in comfort. The cabin is neatly fi tted up, and I enjoy the luxury (for such it is, compared with the narrow berths of the state cabin) of a handsome sofa, with crimson draperies, in the great cabin. The state cabin is also ours. We paid fi fteen pounds each for our passage to Montreal. This was high, but it includes every expense; and, in fact, we had no choice. The only vessel in the river bound for Canada, was a passenger-ship literally swarming with emigrants, chiefl y of the lower class of Highlanders. The only passengers besides ourselves in the Laurel are the captain’s nephew, a pretty yellow-haired lad, about fi fteen years of age, who works his passage out, and a young gentleman who is going out as clerk in a merchant’s house in Quebec. He seems too much wrapped up in his own affairs to be very communicative to others; he walks much, talks little, and reads less; but often amuses himself by singing as he paces the deck, “Home, sweet home,” and that delightful song by Camoens, “Isle of beauty.” It is a sweet song, and I can easily imagine the charm it has for a home-sick heart. I was much pleased with the scenery of the Clyde; the day we set sail was a lovely one, and I remained on deck till nightfall. The morning light found our vessel dashing gallantly along, with a favourable breeze, through the north channel; that day we saw the last of the Hebrides, and before night lost sight of the north coast of Ireland. A wide expanse of water and sky is now our only prospect, unvaried by any object save the distant and scarcely to be traced outline of some vessel just seen at the verge of the horizon, a speck in the immensity of space, or sometimes a few sea-fowl. I love to watch these wanderers of the ocean, as they rise and fall with the rocking billows, or fl it about our vessel; and often I wonder whence they came, to what distant shore they are bound, and if they make the rude wave their home and resting-place during the long day and dark night; and then I recall to mind the words of the American poet, Bryant, – “He who from zone to zoneGuides through the boundless air their certain fl ight,In the long way that I must tread aloneWill guide my steps aright.” Though we have been little more than a week on board, I am getting weary of the voyage. I can only compare the monotony of it to being weather-bound in some country inn. I have already made myself acquainted with all the books worth reading in the ship’s library; unfortunately, it is chiefl y made up with old novels and musty romances. When the weather is fi ne I sit on a bench on the deck, wrapped in my cloak, and sew, or pace the deck with my husband, and talk over plans for the future, which in all probability will never be realized. I really do pity men who are not actively employed: women have always their needle as a resource against the overwhelming weariness of an idle life; but where a man is confi ned to a small space, such as the deck and cabin of a trading vessel, with nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to do, and nothing to read, he is really a very pitiable creature. There is one passenger on board that seems perfectly happy, if one may judge from the liveliness of the songs with which he greets us whenever we approach his cage. It is “Harry,” the captain’s goldfi nch – “the captain’s mate,” as the sailors term him. This pretty creature has made no fewer than twelve voyages in the Laurel. “It is all one to him whether his cage is at sea or on land, he is still at home,” said the captain, regarding his little favourite with an air of great affection, and evidently gratifi ed by the attention I bestowed on his bird. I have already formed a friendship with the little captive. He never fails to greet my approach with one of his sweetest songs, and will take from my fi ngers a bit of biscuit, which he holds in his claws till he has thanked me with a few of his clearest notes. This mark of acknowledg ment is termed by the steward, “saying grace.” If the wind still continues to favour us, the captain tells us we shall be on the banks of Newfoundland in another week. Farewell for the present.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. An How to Do It Guide to Suriving in Rural Canada By Courtney Jonas If you're interested in how people lived in rural Canada during the 1800s, this book will give a first hand account. The book is composed of the author's letters back home to England, and answering questions from friends back home. She gives detail encounters of the voyage to her new home, cultivating the land, the hardships they face with their land, diseases, and the climate, and who is best suited for this type of life. Catharine Parr Traill is a great storyteller who is engaging and very descriptive in her writings. This is a good book if you want to really see what life was like for the early pioneers in North America.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Dredging through the Canadian Wilderness By CrazyTree576 It's not a bad book in any way. However before you decide to either pay good money or spend good time reading this book, you should be aware of a couple of things.Catharine Parr Traill is a very good writer. Her compilation of letters is an excellent way of obtaining a first hand account of pioneer life and the struggles that she goes through without actually being a pioneer in the backwoods of Canada. She is incredibly descriptive, almost to the point of nausea, but on the plus side, if you ever wanted to know how an intelligent and witty pioneer woman found a way to make her new cabin "homey" or how she made candles, this is definitely the book for you.She is incredibly intelligent and she is describing her new life from scratch to her family back home, so you can only imagine how many new and interesting things she has to tell her family. Most of her descriptions are of the plant life she's encountering or new animals so it's very telling to see how she handles herself in this new environment she finds herself in. In fact, she becomes rather scientific, examining and comparing her new findings with others she's aware of back home. It's an interesting process to witness and she takes great pride in her findings, if you couldn't tell by the enthusiasm she has while she describing them.It's a very telling account of what pioneer life can be like, however Traill does put a nice shiny gloss over her first years of pioneer life. She basically creates a compilation of letters that is meant to boost the population of pioneers and to express all the greatness of pioneer life can hold (she says as much in the Forward at the beginning of the book). From her point of view the life of Canadian pioneer is difficult, but rewarding and can bring great wealth and prosperity to newcomers to the pioneer lifestyle. She wants you to join her on her own adventure and honestly after reading her account it's mighty tempting, that is if I had lived at a time when there were still places to pioneer.Her new life in Canada creates a great deal of struggles, but Traill is persistent in her good attitude and often lessens the impact of a negative experience. The Canadian winters were harsh, and considering she was also new to the harsh weather she spends little time detailing the sickness and disease that at one point her whole family has contracted. In fact she spends about a paragraph or less describing the ordeal. Just for comparison if she sees a new flower or other type of plant she's never seen before, she spends a few pages describing it.Nonetheless it's an interesting read, and for me it's always been more on a woman trying to find a new identity for herself in this new unknown world that she had found herself in. She's became a landowner and a pioneer, a self sufficient woman with everything to prove in a world where men were struggling to keep their new homes and lifestyles afloat. She is someone who came to this land that had been previously unknown to most Europeans and created a well established life for herself and encouraged that transformation in others as well.She likens her new life to that of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and in so many ways she's right on the money.Anyway. If you like history and first hand accounts of pioneer life this is probably a good one for you.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful. True stocy kinda interesting... if u like that sort By A Customer about the eairly settlers of canada and how they managed the hardships and how people felt about development in the rural areas of canada
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