exander Fraser, then only sixteen, carried his
sister on his back to Truro, while the only food he had for the whole
journey was the tale of an eel. On another occasion the supply of
potatoes, which had been brought a long distance for seed and planted,
were dug up by the family and some of the splits eaten. The remembrance
of these days sank deep into the minds of that generation, and long
after, the narration of the scenes and cruel hardships through which
they had to pass, beguiled the winter's night as they sat by their
comfortable firesides.

During the first winter, the first death among the emigrants was a child
of Donald McDonald, and the first birth was a son of Alexander Fraser,
named David, afterwards Captain Fraser. When the following spring opened
they set to work to improve their condition. They sought out suitable
spots on which to settle, judging the land by the kind and variety of
trees produced. They explored the different rivers, and finding the soil
near their banks to be the most fertile, and capable of being more
easily improved than the higher lands, they settled upon it.
Difficulties were thrown in the way of getting their grant. The first
grant obtained was to Donald Cameron, who had been a soldier in the
Fraser Highlanders at the taking of Quebec. His lot was situated at the
Albion Mines. This grant is dated February 8, 1775, and besides the
condition of the king's quit rent, contains the following:

"That the grantee, his heirs or assigns, shall clear and work, within
three years, three acres for every fifty granted, in that part of the
land which he shall judge most convenient and advantageous, or clear
and drain three acres of swampy or sunken ground, or drain three
acres of marsh, if any such be within the bounds of this grant, or
put and keep on his lands, within three years from the date hereof,
three neat cattle, to be continued upon the land until three acres
for every fifty be fully cleared and improved. But if no part of the
said tract be fit for present cultivation, without manuring and
improving the same, then this grantee, his heirs and assigns shall be
obliged, within three years from the date hereof, to erect on some
part of said land a dwelling house, to contain twenty feet in length
by sixteen feet in breadth, and to put on said land three neat cattle
for every fifty acres, or if the said grantee, his heirs or assigns,
shall, within