LOUT) SKI.KIRK'S COLONY. 301 the time the island was taken from the French, a few inhabitants were settled in this district; but from that period, the lands, in a great measure, remained unoccupied until the year 1803, when the late enter¬ prising Earl of Selkirk arrived on the island with 800 emigrants, whom he settled along the fronts of the townships that now contain those flourishing settlements. His lordship brought his colony from the Highlands and Isles of Scotland , and by the con¬ venience of the tenures under which he gave them lands, and by persevering industry on their part, these people have arrived at more comfort and hap¬ piness than they ever experienced before. The soil in this district is excellent; the population has in¬ creased in number, with the accession of friends and relatives chiefly, and the natural increase of the first colonists, to nearly 4000. They raise heavy crops, the overplus of which they carry either to Charlotte Town , Pictou, Halifax , or Newfoundland . His lordship observes, in his able work on emi¬ gration—" I had undertaken to settle these lands with emigrants whose views were directed towards the United States; and, without any wish to increase the general spirit of emigration, I could not avoid giving more than ordinary advantages to those who should join me. * * * To induce people to embark in the undertaking, was, however, the least part of my task. The difficulties which a new settler has to struggle with, are so great and various, that in the oldest and best-established colonies they are not to be avoided altogether. * * * Of these discou-