and battled with by our settlers and their young wives.

There was in those days a spirit of resistance among the first settlers on
the soil, a spirit to do and bear, that is less commonly met with now. The
spirit of civilization is now so widely diffused, that her comforts are
felt even in the depths of the forest, so that the newly come emigrant
feels comparatively few of the physical evils that were endured by the
older inhabitants.

The first seed-wheat that was cast into the ground by Duncan and Pierre,
was brought with infinite trouble a distance of fifty miles in a little
skiff, navigated along the shores of the Ontario by the adventurous Pierre,
and from the nearest landing-place transported on the shoulders of himself
and Duncan to their homestead:--a day of great labour but great joy it was
when they deposited their precious freight in safety on the shanty floor.
They were obliged to make two journeys for the contents of the little
craft. What toil, what privation they endured for the first two years! and
now the fruits of it began slowly to appear. No two creatures could be more
unlike than Pierre and Duncan. The Highlander, stern, steady, persevering,
cautious, always giving ample reasons for his doing or his not doing. The
Canadian, hopeful, lively, fertile in expedients, and gay as a lark; if one
scheme failed another was sure to present itself. Pierre and Duncan were
admirably suited to be friends and neighbours. The steady perseverance of
the Scot helped to temper the volatile temperament of the Frenchman. They
generally contrived to compass the same end by different means, as two
streams descending from opposite hills will meet in one broad river in the
same valley.

Years passed on; the farm, carefully cultivated, began to yield its
increase, and food and warm clothing were not wanted in the homesteads.