| Title: | Stewart, Frances to Beaufort, Harriet, 1822 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4723 |
| Collection | Revisiting Our Forest Home, The immigrant letters of Frances Stewart [J. L. Aoki] |
| File | stewart/5 |
| Year | 1822 |
| Sender | Stewart, Frances |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | emigrant |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Upper Canada |
| Destination | Collon, Ireland |
| Recipient | Beaufort, Harriet |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends (ex-pupil - ex-governess) |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 1999 |
| Genre | journal, account of passage, arrival in the colonies |
| Note | |
| Transcript | 1822 [journal] [To Harriet Beaufort], Ireland Journal kept 1822 On Saturday morning June 1st our family accompanied by some of the little Reids & our dear sister Mrs. Mitchell left White Abbey in the Barge accompanied by our kind friend Mr. Quin. We soon reached the Brig George which was at anchor nearly opposite to White Abbey & which was to convey us to Quebec. About two hours after we had come on board Capt. Thompson arrived & gave orders for sailing immediately. This gave us some uneasiness as not expecting to sail till the next day. Mr. Reid had gone to Belfast & had not yet joined us. At 1 o'clock we set sail. It was a charming day. The Cave hill & the shores on both sides of the Lough looked more lovely than ever. After we had proceeded beyond Carichfergus we saw Mr. Quins boat following us & gaining on us rapidly which set our minds at ease about Mr. Reid. But a sad trial awaited us for the same boat which brought him was to convey back our dear friends the Mitchells, Alex'r Wilson & Mr. Quin, as well as several other people who had accompanied us so far on our voyage. 2d June Sunday. A fine day. After breakfast, not being sick, I went on deck. I saw the fine Northern coast of dear Ireland in beautiful blue distance & the Island of Rathlin, but I was soon obliged to shut my eyes as the motion of the vessel, tho' very smooth, made my head giddy & gave me violent pains in my eyes. We all went to bed about 9 but in the middle of the night a great swell came on & such a roll that I could scarcely keep from tumbling over my little bedfellow Bessy. About 2 o'clock in the morning the carpenter came into the cabin to put in the dead lights, & just then the vessel gave such a roll that all our trunks, boxes & baskets came sliding down to the leeside of the vessel. Towards morning the swell abated a little & after breakfast I went on deck to see the last view of dear Ireland. It was a grey dull morning but I watched the last glimpse of land as long as I could see it. Tuesday 4th June. We met a Balbriggan fishing boat by which TAS sent a letter to Mr. Black. Wednesday, Thursday & Friday were fine days. Stormy Pettrel or Mother Careys chickens It is about the size of a Swallow & in its general appearance is not unlike that bird. In June & July it comes near the rocky shores to breed but at all other times keeps far out at sea. Multitudes of them are seen all over the vast Atlantic Ocean especially before stormy weather. They often skim with incredible velocity along the hollows of the waves & sometimes on the summits braving the utmost fury of the waves & tempests. The inhabitants of the [ ] Isles draw a wick through the body of this bird which is by the process so covered with grease as to burn when lighted like a candle & serving the purpose of one. We saw numbers of Birds called Mother Careys chickens — also sea gulls. These birds are never seen very distant from land at this season. Tuesday 11th. Cold and dark but a nice steady breeze. Wednesday 12th June. At 5 oclock a fine handsome vessel passed near us. "We spoke her" & found it was a Glasgow ship called the Trelawney. On the evening of this day we saw a large fish following our ship. Some said it was a shark. At last it made a bound out of the water & rose several feet so that its whole form could be seen & then they said it was a Sun fish. From this time till 7 July nothing new occurred. We saw several seabirds called shearwaters or cutwaters & numbers of porpoises. We always observed that these porpoises appeared in numbers before a breeze came on. Some nights the sea was illuminated with phosphorous which was very beautiful. On fine days we sat on deck most of the mornings & in the evenings the sailors danced. Whilst we were passing the Banks of Newfoundland thick fogs prevailed & the weather was very cold & it became tormentingly calm. 7th July. We heard the welcome news that land was seen, 5 weeks after our departure from Ireland. It proved to be part of the Southern coast of Newfoundland. In a few days we saw the two fine headlands of Cape Breton & Cape Rage & passed between them just at sunset. All this week we proceeded slowly up the Gulph of St. Lawrence, the weather remarkably pleasant & fine but too calm for sailing. Several of the people amused themselves in fishing & caught some fine mackerel & codlings & 2 Dogfish. The water from the time we entered the Gulph had a brown colour quite different from the fine dark blue of the Atlantic. On the 7 July a thick fog came on about noon. When we went up on the deck after having prayers in the cabin we learnt that we had a narrow escape, for in the thick fog a very large vessel had nearly run us down. Fortunately the danger was perceived just in time to be avoided by great exertion. On the evening of Saturday 13th we took a pilot on board. It was a most lovely evening & the dark purple tints of evening on the hills on the Canadian side of the river formed a beautiful contrast with the red tinge of the setting sun on the Nova Scotia coast opposite. All seemed now to promise a prosperous passage to Quebec. Our pilot said we had not yet come to Bic Island. Capt. Thompson said that according to his calculations we had passed it. Sunday 14th July — A fine warm morning but so thick a fog that we could not see land on any side. Capt. T. wished the pilot to anchor till he could see whereabouts he was as there are many islands in this part of the river & the navigation requires some skill. The pilot assured him there was no danger as he was sure we had not yet passed Bic. But a few hours proved he was wrong — & also too rash — for about Vi past 12 when we were all assembled in the cabin we felt a dreadful shock & a strange & horrible sensation as if every piece of timber in the side of the vessel was tearing out. We all ran out as fast as possible & found the ship had struck a rock & was sticking fast on it. The tide was ebbing so that nothing could be known as to the state of the vessel, nor could anything be done as to removing her till the tide flowed again. In the meantime all was a scene of confusion & terror. The passengers in the hold became very clamerous & the Capt. with difficulty prevailed on them to wait in the vessel till he could ascertain whether there was much danger. About 1 oclock in the afternoon the fog cleared off for about an hour & we found we were lying close to a small bare island with large stones all round it & reefs of rocks stretching from it like the rays of a starfish. Our ship had got in between two of these reefs in a most extraordinary manner & had struck on one reef, upon which she was now fast, and as the water became shallower we c'd see the rock under the ship. The pilot now pronounced this to be Red Island & said that we must have passed Bic island long before. We saw some people on the island & heard a shot. Capt. Thompson, Mr. Reid & some others went off in a small boat to learn what could be done in case we sh'd find the ship had been impaired. They soon returned accompanied by 4 men in a Canoe. They were all Canadians & spoke only French but I could not understand it. It was very different from what I had been accustomed to. They had been out shooting seals which are very numerous here. These men are dark coloured with dark eyes & long noses, rather handsome men. They wore Mocasins, a kind of shoe made of Deer skin or Calfskin without any sole & ties up round the ankle. When our passengers found land so near they wanted to swim or wade to the shore but the Capt. prevailed on them to wait till the change of tide enabled him to find out the state of the vessel & promised that in case of danger they should all be safely landed on the Island. We continued in the state of suspense till the tide enabled the ship to move a little, when she was towed round the reef of rocks, & after one dreadful scrape we set sail. But as it was dark & as the tide had again changed the Capt. thought it best to anchor till the next tide. Next morning we set sail again & at low water anchored at Green Island. Monday 15th July. We all liked to see everything we could on shore & accordingly the small boat was prepared for a party to go to the opposite shore, part of Nova Scotia. Mr. Reid, Mr. S. & myself together with some others set out & soon had our feet once more on dry land. The ground along the shore was covered with white clover & blue Irises which looked charmingly gay & glowing to our eyes, so long accustomed to the sameness of the Ocean view. We saw some Indian huts or Wigwams near us & went to them. The Indians looked inquisitively at us but yet seemed to wish to keep at a distance. The men were employed making Brooms. The women or Squaws were making Baskets. They use little Hammocks for the Infants or Papousies & suspend them from the roof of their huts. The Indians make Brooms of wood, generally a Sapling or pole of Blue beech or Basswood or any toughjvood & strip off the bark. Then they tear the wood in thin stripes from one end to within a foot or so of the other end & when they have the pole reduced by doing this & a large quantity of striped pieces they turn them down over the end of the pole so as to make a brush when lapped round with some narrow stripes of the wood, leaving the smallest & longest part of the pole for the handle of the Broom. These are very coarse but answer for sweeping floors & may be had for a trifle from the Indians. The Squaws make Baskets of the same tough wood cut into stripes which they weave together & dye of different colours with the juices of plants. They also manufacture dishes & baskets of Birch wood & bark & Butternut. We saw a path through the woods & were tempted to explore a little way into these great forests. We had not proceeded far when we came to a paling beyond which was a small space of pretty open country with rich meadows & corn & potatoe fields & several houses, some in clusters, little hamlets & some detached, all made of logs. We crossed two fields & reached the nearest house. The inhabitants were all French Canadians. The family consisted of a man & his wife & mother in law & a beautiful child about 3 years old. He was a fisherman & had a house for smoking the fish filled with fine salmon hung in rows along the roof. |
