Letter, August 18th, 1844

August 18th 1844

John and James is home this day. They say they saw little John - he is working at the loom. He has seven dollars a month. He would like to get out his sisters but I doubt if he can be steady till he got as much money for he is changing his place and trade too often for doing himself any good. He sends his compliments to his mother and sisters. Our John had a dollar a day at the harvest, that goes to pay the oxen. James had 4 dollars a month with the same man. Hooks is not used here. The grain is cut with a cradle, that is a scythe with four fingers, which stand above the blade. They are as long as the blade and with the sweep of the scythe the grain falls upon the fingers and is thrown behind the cradler quite regular - then the raker and binder goes behind and puts it all into sheefs. One man will cut two acres in a day. John brought a cradle home with him. They cost four dollars. We have got a fanning mill to clean our grain which cost 18 dollars. These are things which we cannot want. Our first calf has got the bull so that we will have three cows in the spring. One of our ewes had three lambs but she could not suckle them all so we made a pet of one of them. She give the other two suck for about two months when the wolf came one night and killed her so that our stock of sheep is now one ewe and four lambs. Our farm is one quarter of a mile in breadth and half a mile and half a quarter in length. Its length is along the river but does not go to the river. There is a small strip of land of about one acre's breadth at the one end and about three acres breadth at the other. It dips to the south. The fish in the river is trout and suckers and chubs but they are not very large. The longest is about nine inches. Lobster is very plenty and mussels and turtle but I have seen only one of them, that is one turtle. Pheasants is plenty in the woods and pigeons in abundance. (part of the paper here is missing) ground hog. It grows till it is about ten pound, while just the shape of a rat but a short tail. They are very fat. They are good eating but we never tried them although the dog has killed several. There is no danger from wild beasts. I ha\ve gone through the woods by night and by day and has never seen any and there are people often lost in the bush for a night and I never heard one say that they saw anything worse themselves. When one is lost the neighbours turns out with horns and guns and blows and fires till they find them. The cattle goes in the woods and every farmer has a bell attached to one of his cattle and the cattle all follows the bell. They are made of sheet iron brazen over with brass. They make a strange sounding in the woods. We are certainly very much obliged to you for your kindness and the trouble you have been at with us. The things that you sent is all of the most usefullest articles that you could have sent. I was just in need of the ogers. They are things that we cannot want. I was just going to buy them that day I got notice of J. Burns being come. The same would have copst 6 shillings sterling, here that is a quarter of a dollar per quarter of an inch for the large one and half a dollar for the small one. Our compliments and thanks to Agnes and Matthew. Magdalene says she will pay her and Matthew a hundred per cent when come here. Six months meat will not be so much now to us as one daus in Paisley. Our kind compliments to Mother and sister. Our love to you and Nancy and Elizabeth. Give our kind compliments to Magdalene's father and friends. I think I forgot to tell Agnes that we saw Young her old comrade when we was in Hamilton in a deplorable situation. I took a walk up to the sheds where the emigrants stopped to see if I knew any of them when a woman lying with the ague asked if I was James Good. I said yes but I did not know her. Her husband appeared to have lost part - they had lost two chests and all their clothes. She got better and came over to my house often. She was at the downlying at the time. I understand her husband turned Methodist Preacher after we left.