Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

THE EDITOR IN CANADA. 109
_o came out from the Isle of Skye -vrithout a sixpence, is now the
ealtliiest farmer on the Island. He was quite illiterate, but a good
,rmer. He made money, which he has advanced at high rates of interest
^ mortgages and other such safe investments, and is now reputed to be
pssessed of great wealth.
', Having spent five most agreeable days in Cape Breton, I returned, by
:ie Bras D'or route, to Port Hawkesbury, where I delivered my promised
licture, to an appreciative audience, on the night of my arrival, and started
.nmediately after, by boat, to Pictou, through the Straits of Canso and
oross part of the Gulf of St Lawrence. From there I took train for 106
iiles to
The City op Halifax,
) see the annual Provincial Exhibition of the Agricultural, Mechanical,
nd Manufacturing Products of the whole Province. Here I had the
[leasure of making the acquaintance of some very fine Highlanders, among
jiem the Hon. William Holmes, Premier of Nova Scotia, and a Gaelic-speak-
'ig Celt. His ancestors came out quite poor. His.father became a success-
il farmer, whose house I visited near the Church of the Kev. A. Maclean
inclair, at Springville. He afterwards became a Senator of the Dominion,
nd his son now holds the leadmg position in Nova Scotian politics.
'ho Hon. James Macdonald, Canadian Minister of Justice, who resides
a Halifax, came originally from Eedcastle. The Hon. James S.
. Macdonald, a banker and a member of the Legislative Council ; his
rother, Charles Macdonald, recently represented the county of Hali-
IX in Parliament, but was appointed to the chief Post-Ofl&ce Inspector-
hip of Nova Scotia ; the Hon. William Eoss, Collector of Customs,
llready mentioned ; Angus Macleod, Collector of Inland Revenue ; George
laclean, cashier in the Merchants' Bank ; Hugh Murray, of Burns and
lurray ; William Mackenzie, of Macllreith & Co.; Alexander Stephens,
native of Morayshire, and Robert Stewart, a native of Castle Street,
nvcruess, a large farmer and successful merchant in Truro ; these
nd many others, I had the pleasure of meeting in the City of Hali-
IX, all well-to-do, and holding positions of influence or trust. And
in almost every instance their ancestors, and, in some cases, them-
jelves, came to this country without a farthing. All honour to them,
i.nd to the country in which they were able to do for themselves or their
liescendants Avhat they could never have done in their native land.
But there is yet another good Highlander in Halifax who has made for
lim self, by hard work and industry, wealth and position ; John Maclachlan,
1. native of Ardgour, in Lochaber, where he was skipper of a small sloop,
Lnd a boat-builder. He emigrated on the 8th of April 1839, settled first
Em. New Brunswick, afterwards went to Prince Edward Island, and sub-
equently to Pictou, in all of which places he worked at his business of
)oat or ship-building. This was not considered good enough, however,
by the old Lochaber skipper, and (I heard it whispered) poacher in a
'mall way. Indeed it was partly in consequence of his diversions in the
,atter tempting sport that he determined upon emigration ; for it was too
littractive a pastime to be let alone, and it might lead to bad and disagree-
|ible consequences. Having made a little money at his trade in Pictou,
i^Vlaclachlan decided upon visiting Virginia in the Uniied States, to dis-
[sover the secret of tobacco manufacturing, but the manner in which he