Roughing it in the Bush | Page 4

are included. This text is not meant to be
authoritative or to match a certain paper edition; rather, its aim is to be
be readable and inclusive of various material that appears in different
editions.

ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH
To Agnes Strickland Author of the "Lives of the Queens of England"
This simple tribute of affection is dedicated by her sister Susanna
Moodie
CONTENTS
Introduction to the Third Edition I A Visit to Grosse Isle II Quebec III
Our Journey up the Country IV Tom Wilson's Emigration V Our First
Settlement, and the Borrowing System VI Old Satan and Tom Wilson's
Nose VII Uncle Joe and his Family VIII John Monaghan IX Phoebe
R---, and our Second Moving X Brian, the Still-Hunter XI The
Charivari XII The Village Hotel XIII The Land-Jobber XIV A Journey
to the Woods XV The Wilderness, and our Indian Friends XVI Burning
the Fallow XVII Our Logging-Bee XVIII A Trip to Stony Lake XIX
The "Ould Dhragoon" XX Disappointed Hopes XXI The Little Stumpy
Man XXII The Fire XXIII The Outbreak XXIV The Whirlwind XXV
The Walk to Dummer XXVI A Change in our Prospects XXVII Adieu
to the Woods XXVIII Canadian Sketches Appendix A Advertisement

to the Third Edition Appendix B Canada: a Contrast Appendix C Jeanie
Burns

INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD EDITION
Published by Richard Bentley in 1854
In most instances, emigration is a matter of necessity, not of choice;
and this is more especially true of the emigration of persons of
respectable connections, or of any station or position in the world. Few
educated persons, accustomed to the refinements and luxuries of
European society, ever willingly relinquish those advantages, and place
themselves beyond the protective influence of the wise and revered
institutions of their native land, without the pressure of some urgent
cause. Emigration may, indeed, generally be regarded as an act of
severe duty, performed at the expense of personal enjoyment, and
accompanied by the sacrifice of those local attachments which stamp
the scenes amid which our childhood grew, in imperishable characters,
upon the heart. Nor is it until adversity has pressed sorely upon the
proud and wounded spirit of the well-educated sons and daughters of
old but impoverished families, that they gird up the loins of the mind,
and arm themselves with fortitude to meet and dare the heart-breaking
conflict.
The ordinary motives for the emigration of such persons may be
summed up in a few brief words;--the emigrant's hope of bettering his
condition, and of escaping from the vulgar sarcasms too often hurled at
the less-wealthy by the purse-proud, common-place people of the world.
But there is a higher motive still, which has its origin in that love of
independence which springs up spontaneously in the breasts of the
high-souled children of a glorious land. They cannot labour in a menial
capacity in the country where they were born and educated to command.
They can trace no difference between themselves and the more
fortunate individuals of a race whose blood warms their veins, and
whose name they bear. The want of wealth alone places an impassable
barrier between them and the more favoured offspring of the same

parent stock; and they go forth to make for themselves a new name and
to find another country, to forget the past and to live in the future, to
exult in the prospect of their children being free and the land of their
adoption great.
The choice of the country to which they devote their talents and
energies depends less upon their pecuniary means than upon the fancy
of the emigrant or the popularity of a name. From the year 1826 to
1829, Australia and the Swan River were all the rage. No other portions
of the habitable globe were deemed worthy of notice. These were the El
Dorados and lands of Goshen to which all respectable emigrants
eagerly flocked. Disappointment, as a matter of course, followed their
high-raised expectations. Many of the most sanguine of these
adventurers returned to their native shores in a worse condition than
when they left them. In 1830, the great tide of emigration flowed
westward. Canada became the great land-mark for the rich in hope and
poor in purse. Public newspapers and private letters teemed with the
unheard-of advantages to be derived from a settlement in this
highly-favoured region.
Its salubrious climate, its fertile soil, commercial advantages, great
water privileges, its proximity to the mother country, and last, not least,
its almost total exemption from taxation--that bugbear which keeps
honest John Bull in a state of constant ferment--were the theme of
every tongue, and lauded beyond all praise. The general interest, once
excited, was industriously kept alive by pamphlets, published by
interested parties, which prominently set forth all the good to be
derived from a