Part 20 (2/2)
”They arn't stirring yet,” said Mrs. G---, ”for I hear Isaac (meaning her husband) _breezing_ below”--a most expressive term for very hard snoring.
The same Isaac, when he came up to the ladies' cabin to take his wife on sh.o.r.e, complained, in his broad Yorks.h.i.+re dialect, that he had been kept awake all night by a jovial gentleman who had been his fellow-traveller in the cabin.
”We had terrible noisy chap in t'cabin. They called him Mr. D---, and said he 'twas t'mayor of Belleville; but I thought they were a-fooning.
He wouldn't sleep himself, nor let t'others sleep. He gat piper, an' put him top o' table, and kept him playing all t'night.”
One would think that friend Isaac had been haunted by the vision of the piper in his dreams; for, certes, the jovial buzzing of the pipes had not been able to drown the deep drone of his own nasal organ.
A gentleman who was travelling in company with Sir A--- told me an anecdote of him, and how he treated an impertinent fellow on board one of the lake boats, that greatly amused me.
The state cabins in these large steamers open into the great saloon; and as they are often occupied by married people, each berth contains two beds, one placed above the other. Now it often happens, when the boat is greatly crowded, that two pa.s.sengers of the same s.e.x are forced to occupy the same sleeping room. This was Sir A---'s case, and he was obliged, though very reluctantly, to share his sleeping apartment with a well-dressed American, but evidently a man of low standing, from the familiarity of his manners and the bad grammar he used.
In the morning, it was necessary for one gentleman to rise before the other, as the s.p.a.ce in front of their berths was too narrow to allow of more than one performing his ablutions at a time.
Our Yankee made a fair start, and had nearly completed his toilet, when he suddenly spied a tooth-brush and a box of tooth-powder in the dressing-case his companion had left open on the washstand. Upon these he pounced, and having made a liberal use of them, flung them back into the case, and sat down upon the only chair the room contained, in order to gratify his curiosity by watching how his sleeping partner went through the same process.
Sir A---, greatly annoyed by the fellow's a.s.surance, got out of bed; and placing the washhand basin on the floor, put his feet into the water, and commenced scrubbing his toe-nails with the desecrated tooth-brush.
Jonathan watched his movements for a few seconds in silent horror; at length, unable to contain himself, he exclaimed.
”Well, stranger! that's the dirtiest use I ever see a toothbrush put to, any how.”
”I saw it put to a dirtier, just now,” said Sir A--- very coolly.
”I always use that brush for cleaning my toes.”
The Yankee turned very green, and fled to the deck, but his nausea was not sea-sickness.
The village of Nappanee, on the north side of the Bay, is situated on a very pretty river that bears the same name,--Nappanee, in the Mohawk language, signifying flour. The village is a mile back from the bay, and is not much seen from the water. There are a great many mills here, both grist and saw mills, from which circ.u.mstance it most likely derives its name.
Amherst Island, which is some miles in extent, stands between Ontario and the Bay of Quinte, its upper and lower extremity forming the two straits that are called the Upper and Lower Gap, and the least breeze, which is not perceptible in the other portions of the bay, is felt here.
Pa.s.sing through these gaps on a stormy day creates as great a nausea as a short chopping sea on the Atlantic, and I have seen both men and women retreat to their berths to avoid disagreeable consequences. Amherst Island is several miles in extent, and there are many good farms in high cultivation upon it, while its proximity on all sides to the water affords excellent sport to the angler and gunner, as wild ducks abound in this vicinity.
Just after you pa.s.s the island and enter the lower gap, there are three very small islands in a direct line with each other, that are known as the three brothers. A hermit has taken up his abode on the centre one, and built a very Robinson Crusoe looking hut near the water, composed of round logs and large stones cemented together with clay. He gets his living by fis.h.i.+ng and fowling, and you see his well-worn, weather-beaten boat, drawn up in a little cove near his odd dwelling. I was very curious to obtain some particulars of the private history of this eccentric individual, but beyond what I have just related, my informants could tell me nothing, or why he had chosen this solitary abode in such an exposed situation, and so far apart from all the comforts of social life.
The town of Bath is the last place of any note on this portion of the Bay, until you arrive at Kingston.
A Morning Song.
”The young wheat is springing All tender and green, And the blackbird is singing The branches between; The leaves of the hawthorn Have burst from their prison, And the bright eyes of morn On the earth have arisen.
”While sluggards are sleeping, Oh hasten with me; While the night mists are weeping Soft showers on each tree, And nature is glowing Beneath the warm beam, The young day is throwing O'er mountain and stream.
”And the shy colt is bounding Across the wide mead, And his wild hoofs resounding, Increases his speed; Now starting and crossing At each shadow he sees, Now wantonly tossing His mane in the breeze.
”The sky-lark is shaking The dew from her wing, And the clover forsaking, Soars upwards to sing, In rapture outpouring Her anthem of love, Where angels adoring Waft praises above.
<script>