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smiling, "You need not be afraid, it is not dressed with castor oil." Upon inquring what he added to he told me that a gentleman and his lady, in the neighbourhood, who sometimes, as is the case in inland places, where there are no resident doctors, when any of their tenants are sick, recommerd an emetic, or the like, to them, and at their own expence afforded the medicine. This gentleman, having an appeal to the house of peers, about a large estate, was at London; and, as he gained the process, and was about to return to Scotland, he bought some gallons of castor oil, to lie at his house, and be served out as occasion should require. Upon his arrival in Scotland, as it is na tural, all the nobility and gentry, who were acquainted with him, came to dine with him, and congratulate him and the family on so many thousand pounds yearly being added to their fortune. When mostly all the genteel families for twenty miles round had paid their compliments to him in this manner, and he and his lady found leisure to hear the complaints of those sick people that applied to them, he found that some castor oil might be useful to a person that had come to consult them. Upon this, he rang the bell for John, the servant, who appearing, and being desired to bring some castor oil, replied, it is all done. Done! replied the gentleman, do not you know there is a keg of it lately come from London? "Yes, but if it please your honour, that one is done too" How can that be, replied the gentleman, in a passion? Why, sir, you have had such a round of company almost every day since it came, and always sallad at table, that it is all gone." "Don't you know, it is castor oil I want, and that the name is written in large letters on the cask?" "So it is," replied the servant, "but as your honour knows, it was fer the CASTORS, and dressing the sallad: it is all gone."-" you scoundrell, now I understand you; so you have been dressing the sallad all this time with it. But harkee, John, for God's sake do not mention it." The truth is, all the company were highly pleased with the sallads, and had often spoke in their praise; and the gentleman and his family had never in their life a better summer's health, nor the people that visited him.' -

It is strange that the magistrates of Edinburgh, who are, in general, men of parts and discernment, should appoint any one to the office of town crier that neither can read Scotch nor English. I heard one of them, when reading an advertisement, blunder almost at every word, and pronounce the very first word advertisement, laying the accent on the third syllable, when it should have been on the second, and confounding the word shops, where goods are sold, with the word chops, meaning the mouth and jaws. Indeed, at Aberdeen, till lately, they generally pronounced both these words the same way. Upon the eve of a king's fast day there, about a year ago, one of the town-criers proclaimed, that, as to-morrow was

fast day, by order of the magistrates, no one within the liberties of the city, under pain of fining and imprisonment, should open their shops, but he pronounced it chops, from morning till night. An Englishman, who happened to be there, imagining that the magistrates had ordered that none should open their mouth to eat all that time, left the city, swearing, for his part, he would not obey

them; and that, as the Magistrates were fools for issuing such an order, so he thought the people would be fools if they obeyed

it.'

It would greatly exceed our limits to specify the instances of loose and careless writing which occur in these volumes. In the last short quotation, we have two examples of improper collocation of the clauses of a sentence; the first-by order of the Magistrates-might imply that the fast was of their appointment; and the second-from morning till night-that the poor crier exercised his calling throughout the live-long day.

The remoteness of our residence from the scene of alleged delinquencies precludes us from a candid appreciation of the author's unsparing censure of certain members of a northern university. As, however, he professes to have been bred at that seminary, and mentions names with little or no reserve, we trust that either the accused party will repel his charges, to the satisfaction of the public; or that a Royal Visitation, or the interference of the Legislature, will forthwith apply some effectual check to abuses so enormous, and so subversive of the best interests of learning and morality.

ART. III. An Account of Prince Edward's Island, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, North America. Containing its Geography, a Description of its different Divisions, Soil, Climate, Seasons, Natural Productions, Cultivation, Discovery, Conquest, Progress, and present State of the Settlement, Government, Constitution, Laws, and Religion. By John Stewart, Esq. 8vo. pp. 320. Ss. Boards. Winchester and Son.

MANY of our readers have heard of the Island of St. John, in the gulph of St. Lawrence; and some of them may recollect that, to prevent it from being confounded with other places of the same name, it was called Prince Edward's Island, in compliment to his R. H. the Duke of Kent. Though a spot of comparative insignificance, it has recently acquired some claims to our notice, from the humane and spirited exertions of the Earl of Selkirk, who superintended, in person, the settlement of a Scottish Colony on parts of its unoccupied soil. In the present volume, Mr. Stewart has obviously availed himself of a long residence on the island: but he details his information with more impartiality than taste, and appears to have enjoyed few. opportunities of culti vating the graces of correct and polished composition. The arrangement of his materials, also, is defective in point of

See Rev. Vol. L. p. 417.

neatness,

neatness, and his principal statements may be comprized within a narrow compass.

The whole extent of the Island amounts to 1,381,000 acres. It possesses the advantage of many bays and inlets, which form excellent harbours. Charlotte Town, the capital, is regularly laid out on the banks of the river Hillsburgh, and is very conveniently situated for trade. George-Town is yet in embryo, but its harbour is one of the best in North America. The face of the island is generally level, the highest hill not being supposed to exceed 500 feet above the sea: but the ground is not unfrequently waved, and diversified with gentle swells. It has abundance of fine water, but is very deficient in stone fit for the purposes of building. Roads are formed with singular facility, and consequently enhance the physical benefits of navigable creeks and rivers. The soil is generally a light red loam, more or less sandy, though in some places approaching to a strong clay. The principal forest trees are, Beech, several varieties of Birch, Alder, Maple, American Elm, Red Oak, Ash, various species of Pine, Poplar, Swamp Willow, and White Cedar.-We transcribe the author's interesting remarks on the Acer Saccharinum:

6

This is frequently a large tree: the butts of many of them for six or eight feet from the ground, being finely curled, render this timber extremely beautiful in cabinet work, as it is very close grained, and susceptible of a high polish: what is called the bird's eye maple is a variety of this tree. The chief value of the maple at present, arises from the quantity of sugar annually manufactured of its sap, the making of which generally commences about the 25th of March, and continues through the first ten days in April; the quantity made varies much in different years, and depends greatly on the weather at this period; the more snow there is on the ground, the trees run the greater quantity of sap; dark or rainy weather is unfavourable; the sap is produced in the greatest quantities in bright sun shiny days after a frosty night: to procure the sap a gap is cut in the tree with a common felling axe, this is from an inch and an half to three inches deep, and from six to eight inches long, slanting in the form of the letter V, and should face the south-west; the sap will run freely from this gap, from the lower end of which it is guided into a trough placed below, by a chip driven into a slight cut just under the gap; a full grown tree will sometimes run uwpards of two gallons a day; the persons employed in the business visit the trees frequently to see that the sap runs fairly into the troughs, and to collect it into barrels, which are placed conveniently for that purpose, in them it is drawn on hand sledges to the boiling place, or as it is ealled the sugar camp: the apparatus for boiling generally consists of three ketiles, the largest double the size of the second, and that rather more than in the same proportion to the third, these are suspended over a large fire made in a temporary hut in the forest; the

sap

sap is first boiled in the large kettle, and removed into the others in succession, as it is reduced by boiling to the quantity each can contain; when removed into the second kettle, the first is again filled with fresh sap, and boiling is continued in all the kettles which are filled up from each other; the liquor requires to be frequently skimmed; to prevent its rising suddenly over the kettle, a small bit of tallow or butter is occasionally thrown in: when the syrup in the smaller kettle appears of a proper consistency, it is poured into wooden moulds, the kettle is again filled up from the second, which is replenished from the larger, and that is filled with fresh sap; a small quantity of lime water is sometimes put into the smaller kettle to promote its granulation. In every stage of the work much attention is required to make good sugar: before boiling the sap should be strained to clear it of chips and other adventitious substances. The sugar thus produced is by some rendered as white as the finest Muscovado sugar, but that is by no means generally the case, much of it being made in a very slovenly manner, is very dark coloured, extremely hard from too much boiling, difficult to break, and takes a long time to dissolve; the manufacture upon the whole is in a very imperfect state in this island, though it is certainly improving. When well made this sugar is an agreeable sweet, and answers all the purposes of common sugar; very good vinegar is also made by boiling three gallons of sap into one, and then fermenting it with yeast.

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The sugar thus obtained from the maple is all clear gain, being made at a time when very little other out of door work can be performed. Three smart lads working together, will often make one hundred weight each in the course of a fortnight, and sometimes in a favourable year more. The trees are found in more or less plenty all over the island, where the original growth of forest remains; the greatest part of the inhabitants supply themselves with all the sugar they consume in this manner, and many have a good deal to dispose of.

• The maple tree adds much to the beauty of our forest scenery in the autumn, as the leaves of a single tree will assume every tint from green to rich crimson and bright scarlet colour.'

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Mr. Stewart's very imperfect list of animals presents little that can interest those who are acquainted with the Zoology of North America. Seals are uncommonly numerous; and no dangerous reptile is found in the Island. The ravages of the Sorex murinus, or Ground-mouse, appear to have been greatly exaggerated. In thirty years,' says Mr. S. '[during which] I have been acquainted with the Island, and upwards of twenty years' actual residence there, I have never known mice do any injury to the crops, two or three years only excepted and then partially, and by no means general through the Island. Yet I am sensible it is often mentioned in Nova Scotia, as what frequently happens, although it might be expected, that the quantity of grain which we send them annually, ought long ago to have induced them to desist from

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a representation, so palpably erroneous and unjust.'-The neighbouring sea swarms with a great variety of excellent

fish..

In regard to climate, the winter is les severe than in the neighbouring countries of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada; and it is unincumbered with the fogs by which the two former are infested. This season of the year, however, is subject to very considerable diversities of temperature, and varieties of duration. Easterly winds, which are always damp and chilly, prevail in the month of May. In June, the face of the country assumes a gay and lively aspect; and the air is perfumed with the blossoms of trees, and of various aromatic shrubs and herbs. In July and August, the weather is very fine, and steadily warm; the thermometer generally standing between 70 and 80, and sometimes rising to 86, with an uniform breeze at S. W., which, blowing off the water, greatly contributes to moderate the heat.

The Aurora Borealis is observed at all seasons of the year, and is commonly the forerunner of a southerly wind and rain: this luminous appearance is sometimes extremely beautiful, and in our pure atmosphere is seen to great advantage, it generally begins in the north, runs up to the Zenith, and sometimes overspreads the whole concave with streams of light, variegated with blue, red, and yellow of various tints; in a calm night, the sound caused by its flashings, may often be distinctly heard."

Though colds and rheumatisms are not unfrequent, the Island is on the whole uncommonly healthy; intermittent fevers and other diseases of the United States being entirely unknown, and a very large proportion of the inhabitants living to old age, and then dying by a gradual decay of nature.

Wheat, barley, oats, rye, pease, potatoes, and turnips, are very generally cultivated, and produce good crops; and most of the garden vegetables that are common in England, as also gooseberries, currants, apples, plumbs, and cherries, thrive well. Horses, black cattle, sheep, and swine, are numerous; and domestic poultry of all kinds are raised in great plenty and perfection. The chief impediment to the improvement and prosperity of the settlement consists in the failure of many of the proprietors in their engagements with government, and the selfish motives which actuated the conduct of one of the governors. On these unpleasant particulars, which Mr. Stewart has detailed with great minuteness, we forbear to enlarge.

As to the administration of the Island, which is independent of any jurisdiction in America, it is vested in a Governor, or Lieutenant Governor, and Council, appointed by the King,

and

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