Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

352 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
visit a fine settlement of Highlanders, whose parents or themselves were
almost to a man evicted from their ancient possessions in the county of
Sutherland, and who are here, no tlianks to their heartless oppressors of
the house of Sutherland, in excellent circumstances, in the Highland
village of Embro, in the township of Zorrah, a lew miles from Woodstock.
A heavy fall of snow came on just as I arrived in the town, and I had
most reluctantly to forego my proposed visit to this interesting colony of
my expatriated countrymen. I had an agreeable chat with several mem-
bers of the congregation so recently ministered to by the Rev. Mr
Mactavish, now of the Free East Chiu'ch, Inverness^ and then proceeded
westward thirty-eight miles further to
London,
a prosperous and rising city, the capital of the Canadian county of Mid-
dlesex, with a population of 35,000 inhabitants, and substantially built
on a Thames of its own, in Western Ontario. It was first laid out by the
Crown in 1826 with the intention, it is said, of founding a town to be
called London. It was not, however, until 1832 that it began to show
signs of increase of population, and vitality, there being no means of com-
munication with the outer world, but soon after the latter date it began to
exhibit the ap)pearance of a tlu'iving Canadian village. In 1836,
having then a population of slightly over a thousand souls, it was
allowed to return a member to the local legislature, its assessable value in
that year being under £7000. In 1846 it assumed the dignity of a town,
and in 1855, having increased in population to 10,000, it became a city,
and has been i^rogressing at a remarkably healthy and steady rate ever
since. It contains several very fine buildings, the most prominent being
the court-house and prison, a stately edifice, which cost over £10,000.
There are also several colleges and numerous schools ; a great many
churches, some of which are very fine buildings, especially St Paul's
Cathedral — beautifully surrounded by trees and shrubberies, arranged with
excellent taste. Oil-refuiing is the principal industry in and about the
city, and it has proved the means of adding very largely to its growth
and prosperity. The manufacture of agricultural implements is also
carried on most extensively, the productions of London in this' depart-
ment taking first rank in the Dominion, and exported largely to all parts
of Canada, and even to the United States and Europe.
London is the commercial centre of the finest agricultural region of
Canada, and several lines of railway converge upon it. Here I found
awaiting me a depth of from 15 to 18 inches of snow, accompanied by a
pretty keen frost, I had seen sleighing on a limited scale while in King-
ston about a month previously ; but here the streets were covered with
these favourite machines sliding past on the snow with a grace and
ease which you cannot but much admire. The occupants are warmly clad,
and generally provided with handsome and comfortable-looking rugs of
buifalo, bear, and other skins, while the gentle jingle of the bells, which
have, by Act of Parliament, to be worn on aU sleighs, to warn the foot
passengers of their otherwise silent approach, makes a most agreeable
music. Among the leading men in connection with the oil-refining in-
dustry I found Colonel Walker, a fine Argyleshire man, who has made
for himself a considerable fortune. The Highland element, however, is