ive. He never
fails to greet my approach with one of his sweetest songs, and will take
from my fingers a bit of biscuit, which he holds in his claws till he
has thanked me with a few of his clearest notes. This mark of
acknowledgment is termed by the steward, "saying-grace."
If the wind still continues to favour us, the captain tells us we shall
be on the banks of Newfoundland in another week. Farewell for the
present.
LETTER II
Arrival off Newfoundland.--Singing of the Captain's Goldfinch previous
to the discovery of Land.--Gulf of St. Laurence.--Scenery of the River
St. Laurence.--Difficult navigation of the River.--French Fisherman
engaged as a Pilot.--Isle of Bic.--Green Island.--Gros Isle.--Quarantine
Regulations.--Emigrants on Gros Isle.--Arrival off Quebec.--Prospect of
the City and Environs.
Brig _Laurel_, River St. Laurence.
August 6, 1832.
I LEFT off writing, my dear mother, from this simple cause;--I had
nothing to say. One day was but the echo, as it were, of the one that
preceded it; so that a page copied from the mate's log would have proved
as amusing, and to the full as instructive, as my journal provided I had
kept one during the last fortnight.
So barren of events has that time been that the sight of a party of
bottle-nosed whales, two or three seals, and a porpoise, possibly on
their way to a dinner or tea party at the North Pole, was considered an
occurrence of great importance. Every glass was in requisition as soon
as they made their appearance, and the marine monsters were well nigh
stared out of countenance.
We came within sight of the shores of Newfoundland on the 5th of August,
just one month from the day we took our last look of the British isles.
Yet though the coast was brown, and rugged, and desolate, I hailed its
appearance with rapture. Never did any thing seem so refreshing and
delicious to me as the land breeze that came to us, as I thought,
bearing health and gladness on its wings.
I had noticed with some curiosity the restless activity of the captain's
bird some hours previous to "land" being proclaimed from the look-out
station. He sang continually, and his note was longer, clearer, and more
thrilling than heretofore; the little creature, the captain assured me,
was conscious of the difference in the air as we approached the land. "I
trust almost as much to my bird as to my glass," he said, "and have
never yet been deceived."
Our progress was somewhat tedi
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