own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the
hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour
required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who
has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and
if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of
employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a
wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be
exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can
expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees
piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest
construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down.
Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter
is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great
for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the
influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons
causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter.
Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their
stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong
vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet
chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of
these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes
are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the
vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly
annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and
evening. Sleep is completely driven away when they make an attack, and
they produce the most uneasy sensation.

The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication
between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating
medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange,