till the large roots decay.

Eleven hours passed by not at all wearisomely to me, though my cousins and
their children suffered much from cramp and fatigue, and at five, after an
ascent of three hours, we began to descend towards a large tract of
cultivated undulating country, in the centre of which is situated a large
settlement called Truro. There, at a wretched hostelry, we stopped to
dine, but the meal by no means answered to our English ideas of dinner. A
cup of tea was placed by each plate; and after the company, principally
consisting of agricultural settlers, had made a substantial meal of
mutton, and the potatoes for which the country is famous, they solaced
themselves with this beverage. No intoxicating liquor was placed upon the
table, [Footnote: I write merely of what fell under my own observation,
for there has been so much spirit-drinking in Nova Scotia, that the
legislature has deemed it expedient to introduce the "Maine Law," with its
stringent and somewhat arbitrary provisions.] and I observed the same
temperate habits at the inns in New Brunswick, the city of St. John not
excepted. It was a great pleasure to me to find that the intemperance so
notoriously prevalent among a similar class in England was so completely
discouraged in Nova Scotia. The tea was not tempting to an English palate;
it was stewed, and sweetened with molasses.

While we were waiting for a fresh stage and horses, several waggons came
up, laden with lawyers, storekeepers, and ship-carpenters, who with their
families were flying from the cholera at St. John, New Brunswick.

I enjoyed the next fifty miles exceedingly, as I travelled outside on the
driving-seat, with plenty of room to expatiate. The coachman was a very
intelligent settler, pressed into the service, because Jengro, the French
Canadian driver, had indulged in a fit of intoxication in opposition to a