public amusement may have something to do with this desirable state
of affairs, but the homes seem to be thoroughly happy ones. A
married man is an object of envy to his less fortunate brethren, and
he appears anxious to show that he appreciates his good fortune. As
for scandal, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, it is unknown;
gossip there is in plenty, but it generally refers to each other's
pecuniary arrangements or trifling peculiarities, and is all
harmless enough. I really believe that the life most people lead
here is as simple and innocent as can well be imagined. Each family
is occupied in providing for its own little daily wants and cares,
which supplies the mind and body with healthy and legitimate
employment, and yet, as my experience tells me, they have plenty of
leisure to do a kind turn for a neighbour. This is the bright side
of colonial life, and there is more to be said in its praise; but
the counterbalancing drawback is, that the people seem gradually to
lose the sense of larger and wider interests; they have little time
to keep pace with the general questions of the day, and anything
like sympathy or intellectual appreciation is very rare. I meet
accomplished people, but seldom well-read ones; there is also too
much talk about money: "where the treasure is, there will the heart
be also;" and the incessant financial discussions are wearisome, at
least to me.



Letter X: Our station home.


Broomielaw, July 1866.
We are now in mid-winter, and a more delicious season cannot well be