We sailed in a few weeks from Cork, and after a slow, but pleasant passage, cast anchor in the river St. Lawrence, where I joined my regiment; which was commanded by General Frazer,-a body of as brave fellows as ever faced an enemy; of which, five years experience in the midst of innumerable dangers and difficulties fully convinced me. I could not have believed, without witnessing it so often, that our troops were really so brave when put to the trial. I had hitherto only seen them at home; and could not help regarding them as a set of idle, tippling, blackguards; the offscourings of the whole nation. I was agreeably convinced of my former deception, and found them when commanded with firmness and caution, possessed of the boldness of the lion accompanied by the most unruffled calmness: so that if the skill and experience of their generals can on any important enterprise be relied on, the nation may rest assured its soldiers will not fail on their parts. I was fully convinced, before I had ever seen a battle, I should be a most notorious coward myself. I could not even bear the idea of bullets whizzing by my ears, or striking up the turf and dust hard by where I stood; and thought my love of life and fear of pain would induce me to take the first opportunity of getting out of their way. And moreover, whenever I dreamed of a battle in my sleep, which I frequently did,

hind some adjacent dike or hillock, and await in perfect safety the issue of the dreadful affray. If our party got the better, I was amongst the first to pur. sue, but if they fled, and I kept the power of my legs, (which was not always the case) I was fairly the first. From such wild suggestions, and vagaries of fancy, I concluded that I was a coward. In this too I was mistaken. The feeling which agitated my bosom, when "like reapers we were descending to the harvest of death," was widely different from that of terror. It was a kind of solemn awe; and is finely described by our countryman in the following couplet. ' "Firm pac'd, and slow, a horrid front they form; "Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm.”

From the looks and behaviour of my companions, I am fully convinced, that every step we advanced, our resolution became the stronger, to return conquerors or to return no more. And what is scarcely credible, though I was in upwards of thirty engagements, in which we lost, by little and little, one third of our whole army: though we were glad to eat the flesh of our houses, and all kinds of garbage that we could find, which forced us at last to yield; yet during all that time we never once turned our backs upon our enemies. We won every engagement both upon the lakes and the land, yet all our brilliant exploits went for nothing. It is impossible for me, in this single letter, to give a history of that campaign; the historians of the time will no doubt have done it already, but I remember that the only thing with which I was disgusted, was our affinity with the native Americans, and the taking of these horrid savages

into our army, to destroy our brethren; the men who sprung from the same country, spoke the same language, and worshipped the same God with ourselves. Remorse and pity, with every sensation of tenderness, were entirely extinct in the breasts of these wretches, having given place to the most ferocious and unrelenting cruelty. They often concealed such prisoners as they took, that they might enjoy without interruption the diabolical pleasure of tormenting them to death. Besides, it was visible, that ravage and plunder were their only motives, as it opened to them a prospect of gratifying their horrible propensity towards extermination; for whenever we were in the greatest danger, they were ever most remiss-and at the battle near Skenesbury, where they should have supported our regiment, they stood idle spectators of the conflict; and had it not been for the timely support of our German auxiliaries, we had been all cut to pieces. Their conduct, as we were informed, was still more intolerable in St. Leger's army, where at last they muti. nied, and deserted in a body; but not before they had put all their prisoners to death in cold blood.

At the dreadful encounter on the 7th of October following, our regiment suffered most severely, General Fraser himself being killed, with a great number of our best men, and the Germans, who supported us, almost totally cut off. I received two wounds that day in my left arm, which, though slight, incapacitated me for ever using my musket any more, during the remainder of that unfortunate campaign; and was, in consequence, one of the few whom Congress suffered to depart for Britain; for though that

was one of the stipulated conditions when we yielded, some ill-founded suspicions with regard to the honourableness of our intentions caused them to violate that article, and the able men were all detain ed prisoners.

I embarked on board the Swallow of Leith, on the rith of July. In our passage we suffered a great deal, both from the inclemency of the weather and the ignorance of our crew. We were first wrecked in the Straits of Belleisle, where we narrowly missed utter destruction; and before we got the vessel refitted, and reached the British shores, it was about the middle of October. On the cvening of the 13th, after a remarkably fine day for the season, the wind veered about, and began to blow fresh. Before it grew quite dark, we encountered one of those tremendous storms which visit that climate. We knew that we were approaching the longitude of Britain, and meant to weather the Orkneys; but about the middle of the night, we were alarmed by the sound of the sea breaking against a lee shore. Our rigging ha. ving given way, we had not full command of the vessel ; and when day-light appeared we found ourselves within two points of land, with a spacious bay opening before us. Into this we run from necessity, and anchored behind a low island. In the course of the day we were visited by the natives--their language, dress, and manners were alike unknown to us; neither the tartans nor philabeg were to be seen, and there was not a word of Erse in their discourse.-After giving you, Mr Spy, an account of the appearance of their country, and their manners, I shall leave you to conjecture, before I tell you, what part of the world we were in.

L

The men wore a dress refembling that of our failors, faving that the colour was either grey or very light blue, more coarse, and the jacket a little longer. They had woollen caps upon their heads, but not in the form of a highland bonnet, being laid flat on; and their black or grey matted locks, fticking thick and bufhy all around below it, gave them fomewhat of a favage appearance. Their manners, however, bore evident tokens of hardihood and fimplicity. The women wore ftripped jerkins, and fingle petticoats, tied round the lower part of the waift with a strong band; and when engaged in manual labour, by twisting the band round and round with both hands before, they rolled up the petticoat till the hem was above the knee; in this dress they were conftantly feen. They were a race of the moft clumfy, coarfe- featured beings I had ever seen, and feemed the only BEASTS OF BURDEN in the country that were of any use; for though there were numberless horses graziog idle on the muirs, the patient females were carrying all the crops home upon their backs; and, as if that had not been enough, they were all either knitting stockings by the way, or fpinning yarn with the rock and spindle. This is the most fimple contrivance in nature; the whole apparatus confifting of no more than two wooden pins, with which they make a great deal of tolerable good yarn, while walking or tending their goats and cows in the field.

The district is extensive and populous, containing several thousand acres of arable land, which bore considerable crops of small black oats, bigg, and potatoes; yet, on which a plough had never been yoked fince the world was formed, nor perhaps ever will be while it ftands. Their houses are about ten feet high on the outside, but are confiderably funk below the ground within; and all the furniture, which any that I faw contained, was fome flone and turf feats; the space betwixt these and the wall ferving inftead of a bed. The walls were amazingly thick, and appeared as if built of dry ftones, but were filled up with clay and fand in the middle, fo as entirely to preclude the fmalleft current of air from passing to incommode the inhabitants, and fo broad on the top, that three men could with ease walk abreaft without touching the roof. The country, or at least that divifion of it, must be completely fecluded from all communication with the rest of the world during the greatest part of the year, a tremendous fea breaking upon a moft rough and dangerous coaft on its western shore: and though we traverfed the inland part every day, we could

never difcover the fmallet traces of any road leading from it, nor even a path by which it was poffible to pass, but were ever involved amongst lakes, broken moraffes of great extent, and loose shaking fens; it is therefore no wonder to fee the manners of the people fo fimple and original, which they certainly are to an incredible degree. Instead of cutting their grain with fickles, they pulled it up by the roots; inftead of fetting up their fhocks in rows they made them quite round; crammed all their grain into houses, caufing their horfes and cattle to take up their lodging in the fields. When their grain was threshed, they dried it in small kilns, and then made the women fhell it in tubs with their bare feet; and afterwards grind it into meal by turning the mill with their hands. Such were the people and fuch was the country where we were wind-bound for three weeks, without hearing a sentence which any of us understood, and we had left it without knowing what place it was, if it had not been for a fishing boat that paffed us in the mouth of the bay, whofe people informed us that the name of the district was Uig, and that of the bay Loch Rog. As I know nothing of geography, I am ignorant to this day where it is, having never mentioned the names to any who knew them. I have however fet down nothing which I cannot avouch for as certain truth-they are things which I faw with my own eyes, elfe I could not have believed that fuch cuftoms yet lingered on the hores of Britain.

[My Correfpondent goes on with a relation of all his adventures unto the present day, which I am forry at being obliged to curtail, for want of room. It is a fimple narration of facts, a detail of experiments, many of them deeply marked with imprudence. He found the woman who was his housekeeper married to a richer and more respectable man than he himself ever was-the man who had taken his farm from his brother amassing a large fortune in it—and a fine boy, who bore his name and lineaments of feature, reared in another man's family. He fays, that he has scarcely ever performed one action of which he has not had cause to repent; that he is now a very poor man, and obliged to use many fhifts to preferve an exiftence, which he thinks is always becoming the more dear to him in proportion as it decreases in value; and concludes with expressing a hope, that whoever reads his life will beware of the rock on which he has fplit, and perfevere in the calling to which he is brought up.]

Published by J. Robertson, 16, Nicolson Street.

1810.

THE music now took a slow solemn turn, to a tune which I at first took for the Dead march in Saul, but was told, that it was only an imitation of an old Roman air. It was played upon a key of two flats, which some suppose to be the sweetest key in music, and that capable of most embellishment; and consisted of regular bars, but no parts,-so that a repetition of the same strains seldom occurring, a way was opened for greater variety. The lady entered, walking slowly and gracefully; she was dressed in white, and a slight veil of the same colour hung over her face, as if intended to keep us from seeing who she was; her whole features were, however, perfectly discernible, and, though not brilliant, were regular and agreeable. She was a perfect contrast to them we had before examined. Her beauties as well as her defects were entirely of a different nature: Those we had already seen had each of them a rapidity in their looks and manner, and a glow in their features, which seemed rather to savour of madness; but which their keepers and admirers averred to be a pure celestial emanation: This, on the contrary, had none of that wild-fire in her looks; her whole demeanour expressed the utmost degree of simplicity,

NUMB. V.

decency, correct morality, and devotion; and she appeared to excite a high share of general interest and admiration. " I intreat you to take particular notice of this circumstance, gentlemen," said Mr Shuffleton;" and it will convince you how little profit there is in imitations. This lady, though not a brilliant nor dashing beauty, without affecting to follow any of the shining meteors of the day, or the age in which she lives, dresses in her own way, and to her own taste; and you see she makes a more respectable appearance than sundry of the rest." "Are you certain, Mr Shuffleton," returned my friend, "that this lady's dress is really of her own contrivance? It does not strike me as quite an original." There are none of them perfectly original, said he ; but an old fashion renewed, often becomes a new fashion; and would they all, like this lady, and the first which appeared to-day, imitate something of older date than just of yesterday, they would be rather better entitled to the character of originality. That dress as you say, sir, is not an original: it was long ago introduced into this nation with great success by a lady of the Merse, who sprung from a little shabby town thereabouts called Ednam. lady has renewed it when almost fallen into desuetude, and even improved it; not in splendour or substance, but in ge nuine simplicity, the first quality of a

This

dress of any kind; the former possessed a dignity of demeanour which this lacks; but the genuine glow of kindness, gentleness, and tenderness of feeling, so apparent in this lady's every motion, makes her no less interesting. They are of the same family, and I do not think the latter in the least a disgrace to the former. But indeed, continued he, that is only her Sabbath dress, which in reality becomes her better than any other. You may easily see, by the gravity of her features, that she will look best at church, on a sabbath walk, or perhaps at a burial but you shall judge for your selves, and see her in her every-day clothes. After retiring for a little, she entered in the midst of a great eyrie of birds, with which she was amusing herself, and observing their various customs and little wants with much minuteness; and I confess her treatment of them, which suited their various natures so well, was extremely amusing: But still she kept the bible below her arm; and when she began to grow weary of the birds, sat down, and took some sketches, for pictures out of it with a pencil. She then put it up, and attempted some songs, but they were not sung with much vivacity, her voice seemed better turned for church music.

"I cannot get time to show you this lady in all the situations which she occupies," said Mr Shuffleton," but she is quite a domestic girl, and employed by her keeper in every kind of drudgery. She looks after the cows, horses, poultry, servants, children, dunghills, and in short every thing about the farm-house; forms all the plans, and gives all the directions; and if you were to witness some of her experiments, such as paring and

burning her land, and rolling it with a red hot roller, you would be ready to burst with laughter. She once attempted to dry all her crops on rows of forked sticks, but the experiment was so tedious and troublesome, that before she got one half of it arranged in the order proposed, the other half was winnowed in the shocks better, and with much less loss than that she had been at all the pains with. At another time she digged pits by the side of the river, that it might fill them up with mud, which she intended to have spread upon a fine adjoining croft, in order to enrich it; but by digging the pits, she let the river get an entrance, and it swept off all her fine manure, and the most part of the land that it should have been laid upon. But although she appears sometimes ridiculous enough in her modes of agriculture, yet whenever she returns to the fire-side, or engages in any of the amusements of the family, she is the most pleasant and best disposed creature in the world; you see she is a very amiable lady, and I do assure you that she is even better than she appears to be."

"But pray, Mr Shuffleton," said my friend, who seemed more interested in this lady than any of the others, "what is the meaning of the huge bunches of trumpery which these ladies wear upon their rumps? That is surely a new fashion, and I think that every one of them, but particularly this decent, simple-looking girl, would have made a much better appearance without them."

"These," said he, " are worn merely for the sake of adding to their bulk: without them, the body of each one of these ladies would be so very thin, that, like the body of Hog's pedlar, the moon