dishes being emptied into it at once, with impunity. The principal characteristic of the cookery is grease.

It is quite unnecessary for me to add anything to the very numerous and far from flattering descriptions which have been given of the modes of eating these viands, as practised by many of our travelling brethren of the United States: their habits are different from ours; to us they are disagreeable; but there is no use in dwelling on the subject. The people you meet in public conveyances in America are of every class; perhaps your neighbour on either hand, whose extraordinary performances have excited your astonishment or disgust, may be a man who but two or three years before was a swineherd in Tipperary, or yesterday a woodsman in Kentucky; and probably he has not found his new school of refinement sufficiently active in example and instruction to cure him immediately of his little eccentricities of manner. I must say that I have seen nearly as many disagreeable peculiarities at ordinaries on the continent of Europe, and indeed in Paris itself, as those of my American fellow-travellers. A Frenchman perhaps excels in the power of enjoying a dinner, and in appreciation of the merits of the cuisine-a

German in the quantity he can consume- -an Englishman in his manner of eating it-and an American, certainly, is unrivalled in the railroad rapidity with which he goes through the work. There seems a general determination in America to alter and improve upon English customs: the right side of the road is always kept in driving, which can only be adopted for the sake of being different from the mother country, as it is so much more difficult for the coachman to judge of the distance he can afford in passing: perhaps it is on the same principle that they reverse, as much as possible, the uses of the knife and fork.

Within a mile of the thriving town of Prescott is Windmill Point, on the Canadian side, the scene of the sharp combat which ended in the surrender of the unfortunate von Schultz: it is a bare, bleak place, not enlivened by its associations with piracy and scaffolds. On both banks of the river there are many towns and villages, most of them prosperous, all increasing. The general appearance of advancement and cultivation is superior on the American side; within the last three years, however, the steady progress of the northern bank begins to bear better the comparison with the rather hectic prosperity of the southern. Now, we are among the mazes of

the "Thousand Islands, and pass so close to some of them that we can pull the leaves from the graceful bending boughs of the trees, as the merciless wheels of the steamer dash to atoms their beautiful reflexions in the mirror of the calm blue water. The eye does not weary to see, but the hand aches, in ever writing the one word-beauty; wherever you steer over this great river-beauty, beauty still.

The impression is not pleasant on landing at Kingston it is an uncomfortable-looking place, and the public buildings are out of proportion to the size of the town; some of the streets are drearily wide, and rank grass grows on their sides. The inhabitants are about twelve thousand; their numbers still increase, but since the removal of the seat of government from the place, it has a deserted look; it is however of some importance in trade, being the port of the Rideau canal, which, with the Ottawa, opens up so much of the back country, and is a means of communication with Montreal. In case of war, this line would be of great value, as for a long distance, only one bank of the St. Lawrence is in our possession. The now useless government-house is about a mile from the town, on the shore of the lake: the town hall and market are L

VOL. I.

very handsome, as is the custom-house. Penitentiary, jail, court-house, and bank, are all large but rather unsightly buildings. Mineral springs of great strength have lately been discovered, one a hundred and fifty feet from the surface; a large bath-house is built beside them. Kingston possesses thirty or forty steamers; during the summer they buzz about with wonderful activity. Fort Henry, on a hill to the eastern side of the entrance of the Rideau canal, is a strong place, but rather too far from the town for efficient defence; it throws, however, its protection effectually over a dockyard of some importance, which lies beneath it. A detachment of artillery and two regiments garrison the fort and town.

The society of Kingston received a fatal blow in the removal of the seat of government; it also wants the mixture of French-Canadian grace and liveliness which gives such a charm to that of the Lower Province. From the constant intercourse with the United States, the tone of manners of all classes savours not a little of these neighbours, and a slight nasal twang, and a "guess" or two, are by no means uncommon. Many retired officers of the army and navy have settled here and live in great comfort. The necessaries of life are very cheap,

and the shooting and fishing in the neighbourhood offer many inducements. For those who love yachting, the great Ontario opens out like an ocean from their doors, with islands sufficiently numerous to supply a variety of excursions every day for

years.

I do not like these great lakes; the waters are blue, pure, and clear, but they look dead. There was a great calm when I was there, and there are no tides; the stillness was oppressive; the leaves of the trees in some parts of the beach dipped in the water below, motionless as the air above. The shores on this side are low and flat; the eye wearied as it followed the long, even lines in the far perspective, mingling with those of the surface of the lake; on the other side the broad expanse lay like polished lead, backed by the cloudless sky. During the last American war, in 1813, the whole of the English squadron of this lake was taken or destroyed by the Americans under Commodore Chauncey. The balance of successes on the inland waters at that time was decidedly in their favour; they had the great advantages of being near their resources, and having plenty of their best seamen disposable, from the Atlantic coast being sealed to