islands are a weight upon our revenue, a restraint upon our commerce, and a blot upon our fame. In Asia, our history is a tale of romance, and the very existence of our wide dominion is more like the illusions of enchantment, than the sober realities of common experience. Nations of warlike men bow to our supremacy, while numerous and well appointed armies move in implicit obedience to our bidding; and yet, withdraw but à few thousands of Englishmen, and every thing lapses at once into darkness and confusion,-a scramble among the resolute, a lottery of kingdoms and satrapies among the bold and forLunate. Nothing, clearly, but direct colonization can give stability to our magnificent but unstable empire in the East; and nothing but the temporising and inefficient system of our administration could have prevented the removal, long ago, of the absurd restrictions that inhibit the beneficial settlement of European enigrants. In Australia, a tainted and scattered population will increase, concentrate, and improve into a mighty and, ultimately, an independent nation. We have a strong holding, too, on Africa.; but there are many disadvantages and more. uncertainties connected with our establishment at the Cape of Good Hope, and the progress of improvement and of population must be proportionably slow.

In the mean time, circumstances which we need not specify, ymake it expedient for many who want comfortable elbow-room at home, to seek it abroad ; and of such the attention is, of course, turned in the first instance to our own outposts and dependencies. It is with a view to this state of things, that we bave made the passing references contained in the preceding paragraph, for the purpose of putting the question as to the most eligible direction in which to turn the tide of emigraition. Asia, at least India, is out of consideration, since no permanent settlement can be obtained under the protection of British law, and in association with our own countrymen. Liability to expulsion by arbitrary mandata, and the impossibility of securing or enjoying real property, are very sufficient barriers against the intrusion of emigrants from England, seek. ing a free country, a cordial welcome, and an unincumbered soil. The Cape colony might seem to hold out strong attractions. Convenient distance, frequent and easy communication, the countenance and aid of Government, are advantages by no means to be overlooked ; but notwithstanding all

, the

1; fate of such as have made the essay, has been too disastrous to afford much encouragement to future adventurers. Not that we think the experiment has been fairly tried. It is palpable, that much of error pervaded the whole of the proceedings, and that if this had not been the case, the notorious circum

1

stance of injudicious location was of itself fatal. Setting aside, then, Asia and Africa, the question seems to lie between America and New Holland-utrum horum-Canada or Botany Bay. The latter seems to be, at present, the place of fashionable resort; it is no longer a mere reservoir for the overflow of starving Irishmen and felonious cockneys, but discontented farmers and discarded clerks, decayed milliners and threadbare gentlemen, are moving off in that direction to form the higher circles of Australian society. And there are not a few who have

gone

forth under the influence of different and more elevated motives. Under the strongest influence of home attachment, with sentiments of heartfelt preference for all that belongs to their native land, with all its faults and all its burdens, and anxious to abide by its fortunes for weal or woe, they have yet sacrificed their own feelings to their conviction that here, nothing but privations awaited their children, while there, seem ample field and verge enough for present maintenance, and the firm foundation of future prosperity. We believe that they have done wisely, and that amid all the varieties of choice, those who have decided for New Holland and Van Diemen's Land have made the soundest election. Yetthough we more than suspect that we are wrong-we should, for ourselves, prefer Canada. Climate and soil are, we imagine, decidedly in favour of the more distant sojourn; but

there's the rub'--the distance turns the scale. It is not that we should miss the Morning Chronicle at breakfast, the New Monthly at our after-dinner's lounge, or the Eclectic at our evening fire-side; but we should feel an unconquerable depression at the thought of final separation from the land of our birth, and from all that it contains of moral and intellectual attraction—from the hands that have grasped outs in cordial amity- from the minds that have met ours in keen but courteous contest--from the scenes of early life and ripened years

-- from the unrivalled landscape of Old England, with its bright verdure and its peculiar distinction, the waving hedge-rows which at once give it beauty, attest its high cultivation, and mark the long continuance and the frequent division of property. This would be intolerable enough even in Canada, and the zig-zag lines of piled logs that shew the demarcations of land, would be a frightful aggravation of misery; but we should be, comparatively, within hail of the white cliffs ;' a few weeks would land us among our old associations, and we might reckon on a six months' holiday, now and then, without, as in the alternative, consuming twice that time in the homeward and returning passage. Not that we have any inordinate inclination to effect a lodgement in a land where you are way-laid

in your path by bears and rattlesnakes, and tormented in your chamber by the musquito and the black-fly.

Of all the creatures that disturb the peace of man and beast, the musquitoes are the most insupportable. They are your days' companions and your evenings' guests" for at least four months in the year; during which time, an inhabitant of Canada might as well hope to reverse the current of the St. Lawrence, as to secure himself a moment's relief from the insatiable stings of these unwearied tormentors. No spot, however sacred to repose, can fix a barrier to their entrance; and the reign of disquietude and pain is, during summer, absolute and universal. The wolf, the bear, and the rattlesnake,-names which are sufficient to intimidate the stoutest European heart, are gentle and innoxious when compared with the musquito. If you never walk the woods without company, you will avoid all danger from the two former; and, by remaining within doors, will sufficiently secure yourself from the deadly sting of the latter. But neither your house nor your bed affords you any refuge from those long-legged destroyers of your comfort, the musquitoes. Go where you will, they will find you out; and, by continually darting their vein-piercing proboscis into your legs, face, and hands, they will render your existence a burden as long as you are thus infested. You will therefore pray for the speedy removal of these mischievous insects, as for a blessing of no ordinary magnitude.'

⚫ Children suffer more, if possible, than adults, from the musquito and black-fly. Their heads and necks swell to such a degree, as to render them not only the greatest sufferers, but the most wretched spectacles of afflicted humanity.

Though the sting of the black-fly, at the moment of infliction, produces little pain, it is nevertheless equally as poisonous as that of the musquito, and, of the two, is rather more to be dreaded. The musquito, like a true warrior, disdaining assassin-like attempts, does not seek concealment for the accomplishment of his designs, but makes an open and an honourable attack at the peril of his own life, and leaves you every opportunity of self-defence; while the black-fly, like the midnight murderer, lies in wait all day, and as the night draws near, steals from his hiding place: but still afraid to meet you face to face, he seeks an ambush in your hair, and executes his dark designs in perfect safety; for you seldom feel his bite, until after he decamps satiated with your blood. From the bite of the musquito, a white swelling, not unlike that caused by the sting of a nettle, is immediately produced; in a short time, it becomes exceedingly painful and itching, notwithstanding which, if you had only to endure a single, or a dozen bites, it would signify very little. But when your hands and arms, your face and neck, your legs and thighs, are literally covered with bites,-and that not only once a week or once a day, but every minute of your life during the months of June, July, August, and September,-it signifies more than words can express.'

Mr. Talbot's book is on the whole well written, but its readableness is somewhat impaired by his indiscreet wordiness. Facts, not comments,' might, in its rigid observance, be a caution too strict for convenience or expediency; yet, it is an excellent general rule, and would serve as a useful drag-chain when a young author felt himself going rather too fast down hill. He has, however, been successful in his endeavour to bring together a considerable mass of important information; and his book, though ineligible for analysis, will be read profitably and with pleasure. It was in the summer of 1818 that Mr. Talbot, as part of his father's family, left Ireland for Canada, with a considerable party of settlers. The destination of the emigrants was for Upper Canada, but the Deputy Quarter-master General, Colonel Cockbourne, strongly urged the preference of the Lower province, and failing in this object with Mr. T., persuaded a large detachment of his companions to separate, and to fix their settlement at Perth, where, if we understand the matter rightly, the Colonel himself was an extensive proprietor. The district of London, in the vicinity of Lake Erie, was the spot finally chosen by Mr. Talbot and his sons, who became the occupants of twelve hundred acres of excellent land. There appears to be a strange and unaccountable propensity in administrations, to interpose paltry vexations and hinderances where its acts are professedly gracious and beneficent. In the case before us, grants of land are ostensibly gratuitous; but the miserable system of official fees is so vigorously acted upon, that an estate may positively be purchased at a cheaper rate than by getting it from Government for nothing! Under the present Lieutenant Governor, the fees have been enormously advanced, and the following observations are spirited and just. . I do not question the right of the Government to charge such enormous fees on lands which it has fairly purchased, and is of course entitled to dispose of in such way and manner as may most effectually accomplish the objects which it has in view. But if it be the wish of England to increase the population of Canada, and thus render it of some value to the parent country, I very much doubt the policy of those measures which the Canadian Government is now pursuing. Since the increase of the fees, I have known many emigrants, who came here with a determination of settling in the country, but who, on finding that the Government, instead of freely GRANTING land to the unfortunate among its subjects, was actually in the habit of SELLING IT at an extravagant rate, turned their backs on the British Colonies, and immediately went over to the United States, to add strength and numbers to our already formidable rivals. I can very confidently state, that, since the new scale of fees was adopted, there bave not been five hundred-acre lots of land taken up for the one hundred which were previously granted. The object of increasing

the fees, whatever it might have been, must therefore have defeated itself; unless, indeed, it were to retard the settlement of the country. Some persons, perhaps, in the plenitude of their loyalty, may, for the honour of the thing, prefer dealing with Government on these terms, to dealing with private individuals on much more advantageous terms. But these persons, if I may be allowed such plainness of speech, have much more money than wit. For land, in townships which have been long settled, and whose contiguity to navigable rivers gives them a decided superiority over government lands, can now be purchased for less money than is required in accepting a grant of an equal number of acres from Government.

You must not, however, suppose, that I mean to represent the Lieutenant Governor and Council as a company of land-speculators, who dispose of their forests in the same manner as private individuals. Far from it! There is a very particular difference in the method which they adopt. For instance, if you feel disposed to accommodate the Government with your cash, you must humbly petition for its value in land, and be particularly attentive to the manner in which you receive their munificent gift, taking especial care, in look and word, to express no other sentiments than those of unfeigned thankfulness.

But if your inclination should lead you to trade with private land owners, you find yourself quite differently circumstanced. Instead of being the suppliant, you become the supplicated. In the one case, you must obtain a royal fiat for the disposal of your cash: in the other, you are presumed to possess a legitimate right to do so of your own accord. In dealing with the former, you must relinquish your own judgement altogether, and allow the Lieutenant Governor and Council to select for you, in such places as they may deem expedient, the article which they may be graciously pleased to grant you. Whereas, if you treat with the latter, you are at perfect liberty to exercise your own judgement, and to make such selection of land as may appear most likely to conduce to your future welfare and respectability. The honour, however, of an interview with his Excellency and the different members of the Executive Council, and the pleasure of contemplating an enormous seal suspended from your deed, with the Royal Arms thereon impressed, are considered, by some persons, advantages sufficiently substantial to counterbalance the paltry saving which is effected by dealing with men in the humbler walks of life. Who is there so vile, that would not give four or five hundred dollars more for a deed with half a dozen honourable signatures and the imposing seal of Chancery thereto annexed, than for a title with the signature of an obscure individual, and the simple impression perhaps of a steel-bottomed thimble?

It is stated that, under the present management, after all the sacrifices and expenses connected with the voyage and outfit, twelve hundred acres, under a government grant, will cost the settler, in fees and necessary outlay, 5501.; while the same