ulation.

There are in Upper Canada several villages of free negroes, who have
escaped from the United States, and should it be considered at any time
advisable to remove any of the West Indian population, it would be very
wise to give them land on the Upper Canada frontiers. The negroes
thrive there uncommonly well, and have acquired habits of industry; and,
as may be supposed, are most inveterate against the Americans, as was
proved in the late disturbances, when they could hardly be controlled.
They imagine (and very truly) that if the Americans were to obtain
possession of Canada, that they would return to slavery, and it is
certain that they are not only brave, but would die rather than be taken
prisoners. This is a question worth consideration, as out of an idle
and useless race in the West Indies may be formed, at very little
expense, a most valuable frontier population to these provinces. I am
happy to perceive that, in the Report of Lord Durham, the importance of
these provinces to the mother country is fully acknowledged.

"These interests are indeed of great magnitude; and on the course which
your Majesty and your Parliament may adopt, with respect to the North
American colonies, will depend the future destinies, not only of the
million and a half of your Majesty's subjects who at present inhabit
those provinces, but of that vast population which those ample and
fertile territories are fit and destined hereafter to support. No
portion of the American continent possesses greater natural resources
for the maintenance of large and flourishing communities. An almost
boundless range of the richest soil still remains unsettled, and may be
rendered available for the purposes of agriculture. The wealth of
inexhaustible forests of the best timber in America, and of extensive
regions of the most valuable minerals, have as yet been scarcely
touched. Along the whole line of sea-coast, around each island, and in
every river, are to be found the greatest and richest fisheries in the
world. The best fuel and the most abundant water-power are available
for the coarser manufactures, for which an easy and certain market will
be found. Trade with other continents is favoured by the possession of
a large number of safe and spacious harbours; long, deep, and numerous
rivers, and vast inland seas, supply the means of easy intercourse; and
the structure of the country generally affords the utmost facility for
every specie