Sarsapari/la.

Wild berries.

Horses afraid

in the woods.

Fur animals.

Game birds.

Insect pests.

The timber trade.

Besides these, there are wild cherries, blue-berries or whortle berries, and currants and gooseberries. The blue—berries are a very agreeable fruit; but the wild currants and gooseberries are scarcely edible... [pp. 31-32]

There are great quantities of, what in the island is usually called, sarsaparilla; but some of it brought to this country was pronounced by a medical gentlemen of eminence, to be a plant unknown to him, and certainly not sarsaparilla. It has, however, medicinal virtues, and is used by the Indians to cure what they call a sore chest, in other words, a severe cold. [p.32]

CHAPTER V. Agricultural productions

Strawberries and raspberries are too plentiful in the woods to be worth cultivating in the gardens.

The horses are in general small, but strong, hardy, docile and patient of fatigue, and moreover long-lived. They dread being alone in the forest at any time.

[pp. 39-40]

CHAPTER VI. Native animals of the forest

The more remarkable of the native animals, greatly contributed, in the early settlement of the island, to its commerce, as well as the supply of some of the necessary articles of winter clothing to its inhabitants. Among these, the bears, foxes, otters, martins, minks, were the most useful. There are still bears enough found in the country to supply the wants of the settlers, but not enough to commit more mischief than now and then to carry away a pig or sheep. They are by no means either so savage or so numerous as to be an object of dread to the most timid; and as a price is now set upon their devoted heads, those that remain will soon disappear.

The red fox—skin is an article of commerce. Foxes are chiefly shot or trapped by the Indians, and their skins exported to England by the resident merchants. There are silver grey and black foxes to be met with but they are very scarce. [p. 44]

The wild birds of the island are numerous. Partridges are in great plenty; but they are too tame to afford any sport. The curlew, snipe, plover, and a variety of birds of their kind, are also numerous. Wild pigeons are likewise plentiful in summer. [p. 45] But if there are no dangerous reptiles there are several troublesome insects. The mosquito or common gnat, the black fly and the sand-fly, are all that are worth naming. These are exceedingly annoying in the woods during the months of July and August. The first is found wherever the forest exists, but the other two are only met with in particular situations. Charlotte Town, is however, free from all; nor indeed, are any to be found where the woods are cleared away; and none are so troublesome in the island as upon the continent. [pp. 47-48]

CHAPTER VII. Imports and Exports, and Prospective Commerce.

The exports to England formerly consisted chiefly of timber. But this is the very worst branch of trade that a rural population could be called upon to support. It begets dissolute habits, and is a nursery of moral depravity. It has diverted the agriculturist from his more steady pursuits; and if it has sometimes been a great source of profit to a few, it has only accumulated what has been speedily dissipated; and it has in numerous instances been the ruin of those previously in easy or affluent

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