The difficulties of the immigrants when once located on their lands were common to those of other settlers in the bush, and these will be referred to hereafter in the proper place. But there are doubtless many other incidents and reminiscences specially relating to the immigration, which, at this remote period of writing, and in the absence of personal knowledge on the part of the writer, or of documentary evidence set down by others. at the time, cannot now be recalled.

It was remarked by Capt. Rubidge in 1847, in his evidence already referred to, and the statement is fully borne out by subsequent observation, that the immigrants improved most rapidly, and were more prosperous in townships in which they were intermingled with English and Scotch settlers, (as in Otonabee for instance) than in others almost exclusively occupied by themselves.*

Whatever opinions may now be entertained as to the relative advantages, ultimately, to a section of country settled by immigrants to whom free grants of land are necessarily accorded, compared with other portions where a certain amount of capital is possessed, and the lands are purchased by the intending settler, there can be no doubt but that the immigration of 1825 to the Newcastle District, gave a great impetus to the settlement of this county, and laid the foundation of that material progress and prosperity of which we are now so justly proud. In confirmation of this statement, if such be necessary, we refer again to the evidence of Capt. Rubidge before the Committee of the British Parliament. In reply to the question, "In what way did the Emigration of 1825, under the superintendence of the Hon. Peter Robinson, affect your township, (Otonabee) as well as others on the North side of Rice Lake?"-Capt. Rubidge replied :

"We all felt highly indebted to the British Government, who, by planting these Emigrants amongst us, encouraged us to cast aside our despondency, and ensured to us brighter prospects. Upwards of 2000 souls were added to our population; an excellent Mill was built at the expense of the Government, since bought by private individuals; leading roads were cut out in all directions and a steamboat in operation. Where at that time one old house stood, the Town of Peterborough grew up as if by magic, and it now (1838) contains two churches, two meeting houses, probably 150 houses, and 900 inhabitants. Speculators flocked to the

* Minutes of Evidence before the Select Committee, &c., 1847. Ques. 2680.

neighboring townships in all directions, mills were built-stores openedand life, bustle and civilization went on with spirit. Had it not been for this fortuitous accession of population we must have dragged on a lethargic existence with doubtful prospects of improvement."*

CHAPTER III.

THE TOWN OF PETERBOROUGH.

A reserve was made in the survey of the township of North Monaghan in 1818, for the site of the future town of Peterborough; but it was not until 1825 that the Town plot was laid out by actual survey, by Richard Birdsall, Esq., Surveyor, under the direction of the Hon. Zaccheus Burnham, to whom this task, together with the survey of some of the neighboring townships had been assigned. At that time, the future importance of the place was no doubt dimly foreshadowed in the minds of a few farseeing men; but the prospect of a town ever being built, or indeed anything more than a mill, and perhaps a store, in what seemed so remote a situation, was regarded as incredible, and was scarcely seriously entertained among the settlers in the adjoining wilderness.

nature.

In the Spring of 1825, the site of the Town was still in a state of The ground west of the creek was densely wooded with a heavy growth of pine, interspersed with beech and maple; while between that stream and the Otonabee river, the character of the soil was that known as plains," and the trees were of stunted oak and scrubby pine, interspersed with smaller brush-wood and occasional grassy spots, some of which bore traces of the Indian's camp or the hunter's solitary fire.

As seen now, the site of the town is generally level, with occasional undulations. Such could hardly be said of it at the time of which we write. There were then elevations and depressions more or less strongly marked, which the tastes or the necessities of an active and progressive settlement have filled up or laid low. The swampy margins of the creek before referred to, have been filled up, and that useful stream restrained in great part within its proper channel. The lot forming the south-east corner of

* Sir R. W. Horton's "Ireland and Canada,” London, 1839. Page 41.

George and Hunter streets was low and wet, and here, at certain seasons, water collected, forming a stagnant pool. Over most of the ground east of the creek huckleberries flourished, and grew with especial luxuriance amid the stunted trees and shrubbery which covered the beautiful hill now adorned by the county buildings. The wild flowers peculiar to a plainy soil were not wanting here, and lent their gorgeous hues to decorate the scene; but fruit and flower were speedily crushed out by the iron heel of Civilization, which, while it marred the wild richness of nature, furnished a new mart for the products of industry and a new emporium for the wealth and enterprise of man.

During the four or five years preceding 1825, the little mill erected by Mr. Adam Scott on the bank of the Otonabee, (corner of King and Water streets,) had been in operation. It was a frame structure of about 18 by 24 feet, and shook under the vibration of the machinery. Within this small space was fitted up a run of very common mill stones, and a single upright saw. Without wishing to disparage the enterprise which established this poor apology for a mill, in the heart of the wilderness, it must still be confessed, that neither in gristing nor sawing, was it adequate to supply even the limited requirements of the few early settlers of that period. In addition to this defective mill, an equally impotent distillery was carried on in a small house in the vicinity. In the absence of a metallic "worm" the vapor was passed through a long wooden tube, cooled by the application of water, and thus condensed, the aqueous spirit oozed from the further extremity. No means of rectification were available, and the whiskey thus produced contained the empyreumatic oil and other impurities, which, as well as the disagreeable flavor these occasion, the whiskey drinker of that day had to endure as best he could. But though lacking in some of the higher qualities (?) which even the "tangleleg" whiskey of the present day possesses, it was quite adequate for the chief purpose intended, and would intoxicate as surely, as the most elaborate product of improved machinery and modern skill.

The little mill continued to do such gristing and sawing as it could, up till the year 1834, when it was improved, and a brewery and distillery added and carried on by Messrs. Hamilton & Fortye, until the year 1835, when the whole was burnt down, and the present structure erected. The distillery above referred to went out of existence in 1827, but Mr. Scott's dwelling house still remains,-now the oldest building in Peterborough. It is a low, square, cottage-roofed, frame building, close

to the edge of Water Street, on the western side, and about midway between the market square and "Parnell's mill." The right of way for the extension of the railway track, now in process of construction, impinges upon one corner of the old house, and it will doubtless soon be demolished to make way for this great agent of modern civilization.

Scott's mill was for many years a land-mark to the immigrant and the visitor to the new settlements; and until 1827, Peterborough had no other name than "Scott's plains." Its present designation was then chosen, as a merited compliment to the Hon. Peter Robinson, to whose successful labors in promoting immigration the country felt itself so much indebted.

The first houses, next to those of Mr. Scott, were erected at the time of the immigration of 1825; and a cursory reference to these, we trust, will not prove uninteresting. We will commence with those erected by Mr. Robinson for the purposes of the immigration, as being among the first in point of time as well as of importance.

These were all built of logs, with square gables and shingled roofs. Four of them stood in a row on the south eastern portion of the market square, fronting upon Water Street. The largest of the four, which was also the most northern, occupied very nearly the site of the front portion of the present market house. Its size was about 18 by 20 feet, while the others were somewhat smaller. This one was used as a residence for Dr. Reade, surgeon to the immigrants, and as a temporary church, in which mass was celebrated by the Rev. Mr. Crowley. The two central were used as storehouses for the provisions for the immigrants, and probably for other purposes. The one nearest the south was Mr. Robinson's general office, where accounts were kept and business transacted by himself and his chief clerk, Mr. Richard Thornhill. The fifth and largest of these buildings was long known as the "government house," and as being the residence of Mr. Robinson, Col. McDonell, and Mr. John Smith, surveyor, who assisted in locating the immigrants, and for a brief time the resting-place of ViceRoyalty itself; and is worthy of a fuller description. Like the others, it was built of logs, was forty feet long by about twenty feet wide. It stood on the eastern side of the lot now occupied by the Bank of Montreal, (S. E. corner of Simcoe and Water Streets,) about thirty feet from the former and forty from the latter, very near the southern end of the brick stable now belonging to those premises. It fronted towards the south, with a door near the centre of the building, partly concealed by a wooden

rear.

porch in front. There were two windows in the front, and three in the The interior was divided into three rooms, of nearly equal size, by two partitions of logs, erected with the walls. Into the middle of these the front door opened, and here was the chief reception room, from which doors opened into the other apartments on either hand. The western room was devoted to the purposes of the kitchen, while Mr. Robinson slept in the eastern apartment, which also contained sundry books, papers and maps. The logs, both of walls and partitions, were hewed to a level surface in the interior, and the interstices, both within and without, carefully secured with "chinks" and mortar. A considerable portion of ground, extending across and north of Simcoe Street, was fenced in as a garden, while some small out-houses occupied a position nearer the bank of the river. Such were the modest structures erected by Mr. Robinson; which were very well adapted to the purposes intended. Should any of our fastidious readers profess to sneer at their homeliness, as presented in the picture we have drawn, we can assure them that at the time of their erection, and for at least several years later, they were regarded as first-class houses, and models of taste and perfection in the youthful town.

The few immigrants, who, with their families, remained on "the plains" during the winters of 1825-6, constructed such humble dwellings as they could, and several of them plied such trades or other avocations as their previous habits enabled them to do. One John Boates started a rude tavern on the south side of the market square, and adjoining it on the east side a log house was erected, in which lived Capt. Armstrong, who was engaged by Mr. Robinson, along with Wesley Ritchie, in dispensing rations to the immigrants. A John Sullivan, long dead, got a log house put up on the south-west corner of George and Charlotte Streets, (south corner from Waddel's saddlery,) and kept tavern there. William Oakley, an immigrant, started a bakery. After the houses mentioned, the next was a house on the south side of King Street, where Mr. Timothy O'Connor lived. James Hurley built another east of O'Connor's in the winter of 1826.

A small store was opened by a Mr. Stewart in 1825, in a little log house, immediately opposite the south side of the market square, and a little way from the corner of Charlotte and Water Streets. Mr. Stewart's ideas of a small credit business were not such as usually prevail in mercantile life. Many of his customers were unknown to him by name, and instead of making the usual enquiry in such a case, he not unfrequently trusted to