a table, a dresser, and a few chairs. The spacious fire-place contains old-fashioned iron dogs, upon which large logs of wood are occasionally placed; and over these is a large wooden crane, which supports the large soup kettle, for ever on the fire.

During Lent, these people live upon fish and vegetables; but they are so fond of thick sour milk, that they often take a dish of it after meals. Tea and coffee is considered as a treat among these simple people, rather than a constant beverage, milk-andwater being the usual drink of the females, and the younger part of the family. The bread here, made of wheat and rye, is coarse and heavy, and, for want of yeast, has a sour taste: the ovens are generally built of wicker-work, thickly plastered inside and out with clay, or mortar, and placed a little distance from the house, to prevent accidents from fire. To preserve these ovens from the rain, they have a roof of boards, and they are raised about four feet from the ground.

The dress of these people consists of a long-skirted cloth coat or frock, of a dark gray, with a hood attached to it, which, in cases of necessity, he puts up. A worsted sash encloses his waist; this is of various colours, and is sometimes ornamented with beads : the rest of his body-clothing is of the same stuff, and a pair of mocassins, or swamp-boots, complete the lower part of his dress. The hair is tied in a thick long queue with an eel-skin, and a few straggling hairs are all that are left for the sides of his face. A red or blue night-cap is always worn in cold weather, and a short pipe is in the mouth of the French Canadian from morning till night. The dress of the women is equally as far from the modern taste as that of the men. (See Plate.) Many of the former only wear cloth of their own manufacture; but though a petticoat and jacket is the most prevailing dress, some of them frequently decorate themselves in the most modish ha

biliments they can procure. (See Plate.) Long waists, full caps, and large clubs of hair behind, are generally adhered to by the elderly women. The young women are prolific, and the manners of both sexes are easy and polite; their behaviour to strangers, Mr. Lambert observes, is never influenced by the cut of a coat, or a fine periwig, but civil and respectful to all without distinction. As a proof of the good terms with which they live with one another, parents and children frequently reside together to the third generation, and the farm is divided as long as there is an acre left for that purpose. The modesty of the women arises from natural causes; but the men never bathe in the river without their trowsers, or a handkerchief tied round the waist. This civility is carried so far, that these people have been seen bowing and scraping to each other in the streets of Canada. In fact, a Canadian will take off his cap to every person, indifferently, upon the road; and intoxication, which is by no means common, is the only cause of the few quarrels that happen among them.

Fond of dancing and festivity, at particular seasons, when their long fast in Lent is concluded, they have their jours gras; when every production of the farm is presented for the gratification of their appetites as, immense turkey pies; huge joints of pork, beef, and mutton; spacious tureens of soup, or thick milk; besides fish, fowl, and a plentiful supply of fruit pies. Perhaps fifty or a hundred sit down to dinner, which no sooner terminates, than the violin strikes up, and the dances commence.

The birds of Canada are, eagles, vultures, hawks, falcons, kites, owls, &c.; and among these, as the shrew-mouse is the smallest in the class of animals, so the humming-bird is the smallest and most curious among birds. What is called the yellow bird, is said to resemble the canary, though they often build and breed in gardens.

The Canadian partridge is larger than that of England, and much finer eating, the flesh being as white as a chicken, and equally as delicate. The water-fowls have a great affinity to our own, with some few exceptions, and afford plenty of amusement to sportsmen. The fish in the seas, rivers, and lakes, consist of almost every species and variety at present known. The reptiles in Upper Canada are numerous, and many of them noxious; but in Lower Canada the rattlesnake is unknown. A small tortoise, called a terrebin, or tarrapin, found in small rivers, creeks, and marshy places, is eaten by the inhabitants, who esteem it equal to turtle. While going from Quebec to Three Rivers, by water, in the month of August, Mr. Lambert met with a curious kind of fly, which rose in clouds from the surface of the water, and lodged upon the vessels. They were perfectly white, about three-quarters of a inch long in the body, and had two transparent nervous wings, about the same length; the tail was furnished with two slender bristles. Whilst flying, they moved with amazing quickness, but after alighting upon the vessel for a little time, they changed their coat and flew away, leaving behind their whole skin from head to tail. This was exactly in the form of the body, but without wings. It appeared, that they could not have divested themselves of their skin, if they had not alighted upon some substance that assisted them in casting it off. The surface of the river round the vessel, was covered with the skins of these little insects; many of them flew away the moment their wings were free, and while the skin still adhered to the tail, but this was soon got rid of by the motion of flying. Mr. Lambert could not procure any information concerning these insects from the inhabitants, as they are no great admirers of the beauties of nature. The inhabitants of Lower Canada, and the northeastern states of the American Union, he observes,

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are particularly blessed, in living free from the dread of dangerous animals, venomous reptiles, and noxious vermin, which are confined to the southern part of the continent.

A greater plague cannot well subsist in Canada, than the common house-fly. In the months of June, July, and August, unless a room is entirely darkened, it is impossible to remain at rest, as the warmer and lighter it is, the more active these insects are. The stoves keep them alive in winter, though in a dormant state; but in summer, the sun restores them to full life and vigour. Walking out at this time of the year affords but little relief; as many places, shaded from the sun, abound with myriads of musquitoes, sand-flies, and other venomous insects, whose repeated attacks on the face, hands, and legs, are harassing in the extreme. The sting of the musquito, though trifling at first, is extremely painful next day, unless washed with some powerful acid. The brulots, or sand-flies, are so small, as to be hardly perceptible in their attacks, and the blood may be running down a person's face, before he is sensible of being amongst them. The fall of the year being free from these inconveniences, is the most agreeable season in Canada. The sultry weather is not only gone, but the night-frosts entirely destroy the venomous insects. There are then neither house-flies, sand-flies, musquitoes, nor coups-desoleil, to fear. People may then walk abroad, range the woods, or sit at home, with ease and comfort to themselves.

The forests of the British settlements in North America contain a variety of animals; as, the buffalo, the musk bull, and bison. Of the deer-kind, are the great stag, or round-horned elk, the black and gray moose, the caribou or rein-deer, and the stag. The moose, a large species of the elk, is seldom seen, and few black or brown bears are met with

in Lower Canada. The carcajou, or beaver-eater, here resembles the badger in England; but wolves and foxes are numerous: the flesh of the porcupine is by the Canadians esteemed as good eating as that of a pig. The hare in Canada, like the ermine,

changes its colour.

The deep recesses of the Canadian forests contain an animal little observed by strangers. This is the beaver, a practical example of almost every domestic virtue. The Indians were in the habit of prognosticating the mildness or severity of the ensuing seasons, from the quantity of provisions laid in by beavers for their winter stock.

On the first arrival of Europeans in Canada, the beaver was found four feet in length, and of the weight of fifty or sixty pounds; but as all animals hunted for their furs or skins, have become much less, or rather have been prevented from becoming so large as they were before the approach of civilized man, he is now rarely met with of a greater length than three feet, or weighing more than thirty pounds. The back of this remarkable animal rises like an arch. His teeth are long and sharp. The toes of his forefeet are separated, as if designed to answer the purpose of fingers; and his tail, a foot long, an inch thick, and five or six inches broad, serves the purpose of a trowel in plastering his dam.

Wherever a number of beavers come together, they immediately combine in society, to perform the common business of constructing their habitations; and though there is no appearance of a chief or leader among them, no contention or disagreement is ever observed. If a lake or a pond be pitched upon by these amphibious animals, provision is made for spending the time occasionally both in and out of the water. Having selected a stream, it is always deep enough to admit of their swimming under the ice. Their next business being to construct