Then sinking his voice to a deep hoarse growl—

"Oh, wha be ye wad cross Lough Gyle,

That dark and stormy water."

Then replying in the chief's voice, anon in the old ferryman's, till the ladies became excited and interested; but when he came to the doleful lamentation of the father, and groaned and moaned-" My daughter! oh, (oh-ho! oh-ah!) my daughter!” the ladies had recourse to their handkerchiefs, and the eldest of our young ladies boohoo'd outright, which terminated, somewhat abruptly, my friend's eloquent entreaties, and oratorical display.

CHAPTER IX.

Troy-Boys and bull-dog-Railroad-Canal-Accident-Mistake ---Whitehall-Bishop-A learned leech-Lake Champlain— Fine steamer-Burlington-American kindness-St. John'sMontreal-St. Lawrence-Irish immigrants-The Bishop and his men-Kingston-Pleasant hotel-The new House of As

sembly--Stormy debate-Toronto.

SAUNTERING about the streets of Troy in quest of lions, my progress was somewhat impeded near a church-yard, (full of tomb-stones, almost concealed by tall hemlocks,) by a merry group of young Trojans, running in a ring, hand in hand, round a hat belonging to one of the party, the object and fun of the game being to make one of the crew trample upon it; and if a merry wight could be made to dance on his own chapeau de paille, their happiness would be complete. Close to this merry group sprawled a huge bull-dog; he seemed to enjoy the sport quite as much as the boys, and though he did not join in the dance round the hat, he had got hold of a huge round paving-stone, which he tossed as a kitten would a ball of worsted, between the fore paws, biting it with the sides of his mouth, then lifting up his huge round head, "Ev'n for joy he barkit wi 'em."

Knowing the savage and morose nature of the bulldog, I was much amused at his playfulness. A carthorse broke loose, came galloping down the street, the boys ran out of his way, the bull-dog's ire was roused at this interruption; he made an abortive effort to seize the horse by the nose; the horse kicked at him, en passant; the bull-dog pursued him in a rage; the boys pursued them both, crying, "Go it, Ty! Hurra, Ty !” &c., and the whole pack of them vanished round a corner. I turned towards the grave-yard, from which a vagrant wind wafted the loathsome, rank, and abominable smell of hemlock, henbane, and ratsbane. I fled the pestilential air, and wished the Trojans would prove their Eastern origin by weeding their fathers' graves; and planting flowers thereon. A grave-yard, take it what way you will, is an pleasing spot to find in the midst of a city, but a neglected grave-yard, breathing of aceldama, in such a situation, is a stain upon the breast of humanity.

un

Took the railway to Borough. In the same car, sat a very fat and facetious gentleman, in great good humour with all men, especially the government menhe had just received a civil commission of some importance; even the sun shone out so gloriously upon him, that he was fain to hoist an umbrella out of the window, to protect his honoured head from a coup de soleil; but the conducteur, or clerk of the check, made our stout gentleman draw in his umbrella, and, shortly after, I resigned my seat to the melting swain. Got into the canal-boat, in which, for the novelty of the thing, I wished to take a short voyage; the captain, or master, of the boat soon made his appearance on deck, and bade the passengers look out for bridges. The track-line was soon fastened to the horses, and

H

away we splashed, as fast as two good nags could tug us, through the water. The captain, a tall Dominie Sampson looking man, with a stoop in his shoulders, and a bald pate—for, though in the prime of life, he had got rid of his hair, probably by rubbing his head against the ceiling of the boat and the bridges. He began, pen in hand, to take down our names, a matter of easy performance, the passengers being only seven in all-a great big behemoth in black was called the episcopal Bishop of Vermont-a silent wight; he read the papers, from first to last, advertisements, and births, deaths, and marriages; a certain sprightly lady, who declared, aloud, her abhorrence of the English, who did not dare persecute any other nation, save the Chinese, reminded of the fact, by being asked to make tea at breakfast; her companions, thin laths of students, enlivened us by reading, alternately, the sermons of Dow, jun. The captain entered this lady's name in such a singular orthography, that I copied it; "Miss-Thigh-Ersa-Lee.” Then came a little busy spry-looking man, hopping about his wife, a flauntingly-dressed old woman, who sat with great dignity in the ladies' cabin, while her good genius proceeded, with singular zeal and many demonstrations of joy, to set before her, upon a spider table, what I took to be a great stone, but, on closer inspection, proved to be only a sponge-and why, or wherefore, I could not divine. This man afterwards rebuked me with ingratitude, very much to my surprise, as I had never had the felicity of seeing him before. We spoke about the Brandiwine ship-of-war ; she had just returned from the Mediterranean, where I had seen her and boarded her, one fine day, at Toulon. "You forget who placed you on board that

frigate, sir," said the little gentleman, looking at me very disdainfully. "I received little assistance," I replied; "in fact I did not need any, for the handropes and ladder were let down-and—” “Ah, gratitude! gratitude!" sighed the old gentleman. And well he might sigh and groan, having mistaken me for a middy, who got a snug berth on board the crack frigate through this diplomatic agent's assistance. I found this gentleman more agreeable and intelligent afterwards. He had a farm near Whitehall, upon which he was retiring to spend the rest of his days, far from the busy hum-drum of life. Speaking of agriculture and manure, he said he remembered the time when all the manure in Troy and Albany was thrown into the river, the wiseacres not knowing how to dispose of it in any other way.

The number of low wooden bridges on this canal render it particularly unsafe and unpleasant, especially as there is no alternative between sitting cooped up in the cabin,or running the risk of having one's brains knocked out on deck; but even the ladies prefer the post of danger, and there is a perpetual ducking of heads, and sprawling about on all fours, while the man at the helm, or the captain, keeps singing out-" Bridge!-mind the bridge!" We had just passed by a poor helpless labourer, lying on his face on the track-way, and the boatmen, taking it for granted that he was drunk, and an Irishman, began pelting him with potatoes, one of which struck the poor wretch in the side, and he threw up his arm with a convulsive motion. I called out to the men to desist, and the steersman's reply was unique: "Zay, when you find me drunk on the road, you may pelt me with stones and potatoes." While this conversation was going on, I was on my