The Backwoods of Canada: Being Letters from the Wife of an Emigrant Officer, Illustrative of the Domestic Economy of British America

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C. Knight, 1836 - Animals - 351 pages
 

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Page 180 - She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Page 103 - How small of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure! Still to ourselves in every place consign'd, Our own felicity we make or find : * With secret course, which no loud storms annoy, Glides the smooth current of domestic joy.
Page 151 - As to ghosts or spirits they appear totally banished from Canada. This is too matter-of-fact country for such supernatural* to visit. Here there are no historical associations, no legendary tales of those that came before us. Fancy would starve for lack of marvellous food to keep her alive in the backwoods.
Page 166 - When ornamented and wrought in patterns with dyed quills, I can assure you they are by no means inelegant. They manufacture vessels of birch-bark so well that they will serve for many useful household purposes, such as holding...
Page 195 - Man appears to contend with the trees of the forest as though they were his most obnoxious enemies ; for he spares neither the young sapling in its greenness nor the ancient trunk in its lofty pride ; he wages war against the forest with fire and steel.
Page 36 - In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
Page 167 - If they have fixed their mind on any one article, they will come to you day after day, refusing any other you may offer to their notice. One of the squaws fell in love with a gay chintz dressing-gown belonging to my husband, and though I resolutely refused to part with it, all the squaws in the wigwam by turns came to " look at gown," which they pronounced with their peculiarly plaintive tone of voice; and when I said "no gown to sell," they uttered a melancholy exclamation of regret, and went away.
Page 168 - If the goods you offer them in exchange for theirs do not answer their expectations, they give a sullen and dogged look or reply, " Car-car" (no, no), or " Carwinni" which is a still more forcible negative. But when the bargain pleases them, they signify their approbation by several affirmative nods of the head, and a note not much unlike a grunt ; the ducks, fish, venison, or baskets, are placed beside you, and the articles of exchange transferred to the folds of their capacious blankets, or deposited...
Page 4 - The simple truth, founded entirely upon personal knowledge of the facts related, is the basis of the work; to have had recourse to fiction might have rendered it more acceptable to many readers, but would have made it less useful to that class for whom it is intended.
Page 212 - Her hair was of jetty blackness, soft and shining, and neatly folded over her forehead, not hanging loose and disorderly in shaggy masses, as is generally the case with the squaws. Jane was evidently aware of her superior charms, and may be considered as an Indian belle, by the peculiar care she displayed in the arrangement of the black cloth mantle, bound with scarlet, that was gracefully wrapped over one shoulder, and fastened on the left side by a gilt brooch.

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