woods, a distance of thirty, forty, even fifty miles. So long as the provisions lasted, they cut away and cleared; but as soon as the stock was near being exhausted they returned to the States, and went again on the public works. And thus they worked and laboured until they raised sufficient food to be independent of the merchant and storekeeper. At this day these men are amongst the most prosperous in Canada.
The townships of Adjala and Tecumseth, in the county Simcoe, are amongst the most Irish and Catholic of any in Upper Canada. When Father Gordon became acquainted with them, there were in both but thirty or forty families, and these were scattered in every direction. Few were the visits which he could make in each district of his far-extended mission; he was in one place this Sunday and a hundred miles in an opposite direction the following Sunday. But the visit of the clergyman was an occasion of jubilee, in which all participated. About the time his arrival was expected, scouts would be on the watch to give the first notice of his approach, and if there were a hill-top in the neighbourhood, a signal fire would spread the glad intelligence to the anxious colony. With joyous cries, and clapping of hands, and eloquent sobs, the pious people would hail the priest, as his wearied horse bore him into their midst; and catching the contagion from them, the travel-worn missionary would forget his long journey and his many privations at the spectacle of their devotion and the cheering accents of their Irish welcome. Sheep and poultry, and even oxen, would be sacrificed by the prosperous settler, who was proud to have his home selected for the 'station;' and after confessions had been heard and Mass celebrated, and Communion received, then would follow the abundant breakfast, of which all partook, and then the grand dinner, for which such slaughter had taken place; and those whom long distance had kept for months apart would now rejoice in the opportunity of talking of
