12 Early Settlement

to shore, following a channel through a narrow opening, the river widened and they saw cleared land, smoke from log houses and the familiar, wel- come sight of a busy shipyard with ships in various stages of construction.

Although the entry made in the Bible tells us the Perkins family spent their first winter at Chepstow, we know they later made their home in Souris West. Today, the Cairns brothers, Alfred and Joe, sometimes still refer to their farm on the hill overlooking Souris River, as “the old Perkins place.”

So strange to wonder how Mary and Thomas and the others managed to adapt to pioneer living. They came from a land of centuries-old stone build- ings to one of log cabins, from crowded cities to scattered houses in thick woods, from a land of age-old traditions to one where even the policy of land ownership would not be settled for another half century. Here there was no town clock, no store except for the occasional supply ship from the old country. They had only what they could supply for themselves from the land and from the sea.

But there was still time for fun and frolic, visits with friends and neigh- bours, weddings and other social gatherings. A buzz of excitement stirred the settlement in September 1825, the year after the Perkins arrived. The Lieutenant Governor was coming to visit the shipyard! The passengers on the voyage out had overheard the gentlemen talking about Colonel John Ready who was coming to the Island to replace Governor Smith. The general impression was that a new governor was badly needed.'0

Lemuel Cambridge had personally directed the workers as they stacked the timbers neatly, tidied up the yard and moored a newly painted vessel at the jetty ready to take the Govemor’s party around to Fortune Harbour, the next stop on the eastern tour. When the exciting day came, every settler was waiting in best bib and tucker as the Governor and his party rode into Souris West in colonial splendour. The newspaper of the day described the event as follows:

The sight which here presented itself was one of a very pleasing description: two ships of large dimensions and a brig of 200 tons on the stocks at one place and another ship at a short distance.

The workmen of the yard greeted His Excellency’s entrance with three hearty cheers. Flags were displayed from the different vessels and on the stern of one of them, a ship of 600 tons, was painted in large characters, her name, Governor Ready, a compliment which his Excellency evidently felt.11

The Perkins family came at a progressive period in Island history. The early nineteenth century was one of rapid development. From about 7,000 in 1805, the Island population increased to 23,000 by 1827.12 By the year 1841 it had doubled. There had been no legislation for the lat five years of Governor Smith’s rule. He was an arrogant and indifferent ruler. Governor John Ready, on the other hand, has been described as the ablest and best governor the Island every had.13 He visited amost every section of the Island, won the confi- dence of the people, and worked to improve their welfare. Roads were widened to accommodate carriages. He, himself, brought one of the first four-wheeled vehicles to the Island.“ New bridges were built and old ones repaired, the fishery was regulated and government support was given to education.

But most important, Governor Ready realized that the Island’s greatest asset was the land. He encouraged farming, and under his leadership the