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Title: Lord Caledon, Quebec, to the Countess of Caledon, England
ID3620
CollectionIrish Emigration Database
Filelord caledon/152
Year1840
SenderLord Caledon (James Du Pre Alexander)
Sender Gendermale
Sender Occupationarmy officer
Sender Religionunknown
OriginQuebec, Canada
DestinationEngland
RecipientCountess of Caledon
Recipient Genderfemale
Relationshipson-mother
SourceD 2433/B/8/25: Deposited by the Trustees of the Caledon Estate.
ArchiveThe Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
Doc. No.9605315
Date27/10/1840
Partial Date
Doc. TypeEMG
LogDocument added by LT, 28:05:96.
Word Count1450
Genre
Note
TranscriptMy dear Mother
I write because the Unicorn is to sail tomorrow and not
that I have any thing to say as this place has
retained its forever dullness & I have not been outside
the walls for some time. The snow is coming and
going but the ground is still visible and I don't think
we shall regularly lose sight of it for some time this
is now a very heavy fall. I expect to ship off any [--?]
very soon. I shall give directions [then?]. As [--?] [--?]
they are very easily fed and kept and are quite tame.
I have got a young moose deer alive and hope to be able
to send him early next spring, he will be a great curiosity.
He is very healthy and quite tame he is only six
months old and is already much larger than your fallow
deer I got it from some Indians at [Batiscan?]
river and keep him in my stables I shall try and
get another, but take they care and proper feeding.
I feed him on branches of the moose wood and keep
him in the cold, the merchants here get them sometimes
but cannot rear them as they do not understand the
feeding of them. The [Athott?] transport with the [---?]
sailed this morning for Portsmouth I have sent some
drawings done by a person in this town by Lamberts
brother directed to my grandmother they are very
rough ones but give a pretty good notion of the country
as well indeed as if they were the best and I thought
it might be an amusement never having seen similar
ones in England myself they may be a novelty
to her Lambert called late last night and had to
go on board immediately so I only had time to [----?]
down in [----?] a sort of rough explanation of what
they were as you may not understand it I just put
down what they are as I marked them.
No.1 Night in the Bush the moose lying frozen in
the corner and the Indians cooking their supper the
cabin is made of a blanket the open part of the bush is
not common but must be made to show the figures the
trees are rather too large and not thick enough
No.2 The Moose [--?] hard and come to a stand still
he is dangerous to come [---?] one man sliding down
on the snow shoes, the snow is not made deep enough as
it generally lets the moose down the whole length of the
leg and the snow shoes are hardly large enough
No.3 Starting to Hunt the plain before the Indians is
a lake in summer and now frozen over and covered
[in?] snow from perhaps 4 to 7 feet deep and as much as
15 feet in some places the little sleigh is what the
Indians call a taborcan [toboggan?] and they pull it along after
them with their provisions, [maybe?] this gives a very good
notion of the beginning of the hunt but the snow is [much?]
too hard on the top as the man could not [kneel?] on it-
4 [Pouite Leve?] opposite to Quebec an Indian wigwam
and family, a bark canoe and children with their
bows and arrows, the wigwam is made of bark and [--?]
so much wood as is presented there
5 Winter on the River a ship frozen up and above is
the Citadel with the flag flying this is just the sort of
warm comfortable appearance in the winter
6 The Breaking up of a Wooden Canoe on the [--?]
sometimes the ice jams up a canoe and smashes it
this very seldom happens, but when it does the
smash is pretty severe it is the only way of [----?]
the river in winter and the Canadians are so used to it
that they are very expert they lift the canoe from one
[piece?] of ice to another and when they come to the water
they embark again but as the tide was very strong it
takes them some time to get [across?] the first winter we
were here 16 people were killed in one and one woman
had her head cut clean off by the ice
7 [?] Sketch of Indian looking for the Caribou deer or
something of that soil
8 & 9 the Citadel at Quebec in a snow storm the
reliefs by day and night this is not exaggerated the least
in some places it is [unpofrible?] unprofitable to post the
sentries and I have been nearly an hour getting half a mile when
I used to have to go my rounds there- they will not reach you till
the beginning of December most probably they were the best
I could pick out though they are not very good.
The fires here always make a point of taking place when
I am on duty we had one the night before last but to the
delight of himself and staff [--?] Edgeworth is getting very
old and the cold weather [pinches?] him up. I am afraid
my old servant McKay will never get home he will if he gets
through the winter [-?] his discharge and I shall let him
go to Caledon, but I do not think he is long for this world
I have not heard anything of Clarke since I left England
I hope that he and the Bishop of London have not quarrelled
Next spring I shall hope to send home a mooses'
head stuffed of my own shooting. I am going to get as
many of the Canadian birds as I can I shall have them
skinned here and set up at home The snow is getting
to be [ably?] deep and if I can get a few days leave I shall be
off to get a shot at the caribou if it remains on the
ground I am in hopes of a hard winter and plenty of snow
as the Indians who have come in tell me they see the
marks of the moose. I am glad you think that the
House will not require any thing done to it as I thought
it was beginning to look a little green before I left home
I will write to [----?] what you mentioned about the [planting?]
as I have to do so this this post about other matters relating
to the houses &c. Let me know what sort of Indian work you would
like and send any patterns as they have no great variety here
& they are very lazy and tedious about finishing them
the young ladies at [Loiette?] prefer dancing and amusement
to working not unlike the English in that respect.
I have treated myself to a carpet and fire rug this year
the first I have had since I have been in the [nest?] and have
also got a sofa and [winchair?] with buffalo skins so I
am quite furnished and my apartments are very smart
but I have a great deal of difficulty in persuading my
friends the Indians to spit in the fireplace instead of
taking shots at the gay flowers on my carpet which
appears to be a great amusement they are as bad as
the Yankees, whose only clear like [?] consists in picking
out a clean place to spit upon. I do not hear any
talk of our going home in Spring but I suppose if there's
any chance of War we shall be started off instantly
However it is the other Battalion which goes out [--?]
for service unless we go to the Mediterranean at once
which is not likely now. Every thing here is quiet as yet
and likely to be so I think. We have not heard of the party
that went to [--?] Farthest yet but they will appear again this
about the middle of next month. The blankets I brought
out with me have turned out very well but I have not had mine
made with a coat yet, but shall soon do so as the snow will
I hope soon get deep & then we shall get on our shoes and
blanket [--?] ready for the woods, at present the place
is dead to all appearance no one moving [--?]
and the double windows and [--?] up gives it the
appearance of a deserted town. This will be I suppose be
the last trip of the Unicorn so I shall most likely write
by New York next time.

Your affecte [Affectionate?] Son
Caledon