it appeared that the news had arrived at Liverpool from a messenger who had been sent express after I had been condemned, stating that there was no hope, and that I was to suffer on the Monday; and this was the Saturday evening on which I had arrived. Mr. Trevannion's clerk hearing a noise in the passage, came out with another candle, and seeing me, and the woman lying on the floor in a swoon, stared, staggered to the door of the room where his master was sitting, and the door being ajar, he fell back with great force into the room, dropping under the table between Mr. Trevannion and Captain Levee, who was sitting with him, smoking as was very often their wont. This brought out Captain Levee with one of the table-candlesticks, who upon seeing me ran to me and embraced me warmly, and then cried out, as the clerk made his escape, "Here is Elrington alive and well, sir!" At this announcement Mr. Trevannion came out, and threw himself into my arms, saying, "I thank God for all His mercies, but above all, that I have not been the cause of your death, my dear Elrington. Come in," he exclaimed, in a faltering voice; and as soon as he gained his seat, he laid his head down and sobbed with excitement and joy. I followed Captain Levee into the room, and was taking a chair, when I perceived that there was another person present besides Captain Levee and Mr. Trevannion, which was the daughter of the latter; that is, I presumed as much, for I knew that he was a widower, and had one daughter living out of a family of three children. She appeared to be about seventeen years of age, and had just come from a Protestant convent, as they called establishments where young women were educated at Chester. Mr. Trevannion was still with his face covered, and not yet recovered from his burst of feeling, when this young gentlewoman came up to me, and said, "Captain Elrington, you have behaved nobly to my father; accept my hand and my friendship." I was so dazzled from coming out of the dark, and so excited from what had just passed, that I was almost bewildered, but I accepted the offered hand, and bowed over it, although I declare that, at the time, I could not distinguish her features, although I perceived that her person was slight and elegant. As she retreated to her seat, Mr. Trevannion, who had recovered from his emotion, said, "I thought that, at this moment, your head was exhibited at the gates of Temple-bar. The idea, as Captain Levee will tell you, has haunted me, for I felt, and should always have felt, that I was the cause of your death. God bless you, my dear sir, and may I have an opportunity of showing you my gratitude and regard for your noble conduct towards me, and the sacrifice which you would have made. You need not tell me, for I know too well, that you took all the onus and blame of the affair upon your own shoulders, and preferred death to impeaching me." "My dear Elrington," said Captain Levee, "I told our crew, and you have proved me a true prophet, that you never would peach, but would die game. We were talking of you, supposing you dead, when you came in. I must tell you, that more than once Mr. Trevannion had made up his mind to deliver himself up, and acknowledge the truth, but I prevented him, as it would have been an useless sacrifice." "You did, but, nevertheless, it was so heavy on my conscience that had it not been for your perseverance, and the thoughts of leaving my poor girl here an orphan in the world, I certainly should have so done, for I felt life to be a burden." "I am very glad that you did not, sir," I replied; "my life is of little value; I have no one to support, no one to love, and no one to lament me if I fell. A shot from the enemy may soon send me out of the world, and there will only be a man the less in it, as far as people are interested about me." "That is not the case now, at all events," replied Mr. Trevannion; "but pray, tell us how it is that you have escaped." "I have not escaped," I replied; "here is my pardon, with the sign manual." "And how was it obtained!" exclaimed Captain Levee; "all intercession made through some of the strongest friends of the government was in vain, that I can assert; for you must not suppose that we have been idle down here. We did not leave London till after you were condemned, and every entreaty to see you or to communicate by letter was denied to us." "I had better then begin at the beginning, and state all that occurred. I will first thank you, my dear Levee, for your kind assistance, which I would not avail myself of, as I calculated (wrongly I own) that it would be wiser to remain a prisoner; and I considered that my very refusal to escape would be admitted by the government as a proof of my innocence. I did not know that I had to deal with such malignant people." I then commenced my narrative, which occupied the remainder of the evening, and, having received the congratulations, we had a pipe or two, and, as I was fatigued, we retired to bed. I slept little on this, I may say, first night of rest and quiet, after my liberation. I was happy, and yet perplexed. During the time of my imprisonment, it had occurred to me that the life of a privateer's-man was not one which I could follow up with a good conscience; and I had on my journey down to Liverpool made up my mind that I would give it up. I knew this might annoy Mr. Trevannion, and that I should have to meet with the ridicule of Captain Levee, and I was thinking whether it was possible, in the first place, that I could give some well-grounded excuse; and, in the next, what other means of gaining my livelihood I could substitute in its stead. My restlessness induced me to get up earlier than usual, and I went out for an hour's walk upon the wharves. I saw my little schooner riding on the stream, and as she gently rose and dipped to the swell which ran in with the tide; she looked so beautiful that my resolutions were already giving way. I would look at her no longer, so I turned from the river, and walked back to the owner's house. It was still early when I went into the eating-hall, where I found Miss Trevannion alone. Transport Service-" Girls we left behind us"-The Atlantic-Calm-Whales -Fogs-New World and Ladies' Maid-St. John's-Climate-LumberHard and soft Wood. IN June, 1835, the transports destined to convey the left wing of a light infantry regiment to our colonies in North America, had "made its number" in the Cove of Cork. At this time the transport service was a disgrace to the country, and although so many men-of-war were lying idle in our numerous dock-yards, which might have been employed as troop-ships, yet the comfort of the soldiers troubled not the heads of those gentlemen "who sit at home at ease." It was not sufficient that the poor devils should be "food for powder," but that the fishes also should have their chance. A tub of a vessel without a sailing point in her composition was hired, a mass of white paint, in the form of a parallelogram, smeared over her bows, the better to relieve the huge number by which she was designated. Water-tanks, heaps of biscuits, barrels of pork, and but one of rum; a pennant, an ensign, a skipper, a fat mate, and a superannuated lieutenant of the navy (by way of agent), a most inadequate crew were put on board, and the transport was reported fit for sea. The service companies selected for duty in New Brunswick, marched through Cork to the tune of The girls we left behind us. The solemn vows of eternal constancy of the previous night, were echoed and wafted from a hundred balconies; but Oh, shame! oh, sorrow! and, oh, womankind! We knew that a few hours would bring the new regiment there playing "Rory O'More," or "Such a getting up-stairs," and that the pretty. faces of the Cork fair would light up, their best bonnets would be put on, first appearances being every thing. Such is military life in country quarters, such is life everywhere; so How happy's the soldier who lives on his pay, With a row-de-row, row-de-row, &c. The crowd and confusion of embarkation is not to be described: pigs squeaking, ducks quacking, cocks crowing, French horns, kettle-drums; stray friends come to see the last of one, the curses and maledictions of Sixpence was the daily pay of a British soldier prior to 1792. † Maravedi, a small Spanish coin of the value of about a farthing. Jan.-Vol. LXXVI. NO. CCCI. D the skipper, who was eventually obliged to be snubbed; and the firing off of soda-water corks lasted until the old tub got under weigh in the most lubberly manner. Soldiers, as well as every thing else, shake into their places in a wonderfully short time; one-third of the number are always upon deck, and are called the watch, not that they are employed as such; but there is only room for two-thirds below. Sea-sickness was urged by many of the officers as a reason why they were not "in force;" but sundry three-cornered billets, delivered to the Cork weather-beaten and amphibiouslooking fisher for haddocks, who boarded us when off Cape Clear, and the strict injunctions overheard as to committing them to the first postoffice, induced a suspicion that to the sea could not be imputed all the sickness on board. A breeze sprung up, and, as the Emerald isle receded from view, we turned our backs upon our homes, our hunting, and our loves. A voyage across the Atlantic, even in the best of weathers, must necessarily be a bore. Calms for days; fogs, as thick as that in which the cockney found himself enveloped when steering down Father Thames, and who requested an old tar to let him know "when they were off the Nore, for that he was very anxious to see where the Mutiny had taken place." "You are this moment abreast of it," quoth Jack; “but it is so thick I cannot point out the Mutiny." These fogs wet us to the skin as effectually as the heaviest rain, and, to use a sailor's phrase, "you might almost cut them with a knife." Occasionally we signalled vessels, who in return telegraphed that they would be happy to take our letters; an insult which had no sort of effect in hurrying our sulky skipper, it was no object to him to make a quick passage; mais au contraire, the longer he contrived to remain at sea (thanks to the authorities) the more pay he received. What little sail we carried was "shortened" at night, and, as the fat mate generally contrived to sleep well through his watch, no advantage was taken of a shift of wind. After five weeks, we were on the banks of Newfoundland, got soundings, but no cod; tried to surprise turtle dozing, which proved to be wide awake. Shot at whales, and got disagreeably near to ice-bergs. However, at the end of six weeks, in spite of calms, fogs, and the sleepy mate, seas of floating kelp-weed, and strong tides were met with; certain symptoms of being in or near the Bay of Fundy; and all hands looked anxiously for land. There was a dense fog, I was on deck in charge of the watch; one of the men came and reported that he saw a light, and pointed out the direction. I could not see it, but roused the fat mate, who sent men aloft, and exerted himself so far as to climb to the mizen crosstrees. I called the watch-no one could see it. The man was laughed at, but persisted in saying he distinctly saw it; he could not be drunk, for there was not the wherewithal to get so on board. Next morning's light found us close off Bryar's Island; this man had seen the light upon it, although invisible to sixty others. Owing to strong tides and the prevalence of fogs, the navigation of the Bay of Fundy is ticklish in the extreme, and we "felt our way" by the deep sea lead. When in stays a large ship, unperceived until then, passed so close under our stern that a biscuit might have been thrown on her deck. She was a transport, having the regiment on board we were going to relieve: three cheers were hardly given and returned before she was lost to sight. The fog cleared up soon after, and the black masses of the pine forests of the New World opened upon us, stretching away in continued lines, until lost in distant perspective. The first view of land, after the monotonous combination of two elements for six weeks, is exhilarating. The first sight of the primeval forests of the New World was sublime; surely, such a view as this would have awakened the lady's maid to the power of nature, who, when passing the magnificent scenery of the Via Mala, asked me from the rumble tumble, "Lor, sir, how do they manage to plant trees in such frightful places as them there ?" On rounding a head-land, the view of St. John's broke suddenly upon us, and, from the distance, appeared placed, as it were, in a large gap, hacked out of "the bush." When abreast of Partridge Island, the anchor was dropped, and the transport swung to her moorings, until leave from the authorities was granted for our disembarkation. Soon after, "the Maid of the Mist" (a most appropriate name for a steamer of the Bay of Fundy) came along-side, and carried off a subaltern and twenty-five men to St. Andrew's, whither they were to remain as detachment. We were now within a couple of miles of the town, the largest in the province of New Brunswick. The rocky promontory upon which it stands rises from the water on all sides, and the wooden houses piled up on a series of landings, gave it the appearance of a fabrication made with cards to amuse children, the summit being crowned with steeples and the spires of many churches, while the base, fringed with a forest of masts, and huge vessels on the stocks, proclaimed the commercial prosperity of the place, and presented a not unpleasing picture to our land expecting eyes. All hands began peering through the telescopes, in the hopes of getting a sight of "what like" were the natives, amongst whom we expected to pass the better part of three years; and the flutter of a petticoat, or the appearance of a straw-bonnet, was sufficient attraction to draw all the glasses to that spot. The head-quarters of the regiment had arrived a week before us, and had been ordered up the river St. John to Fredericton. It was our fate to occupy the town before us. Permission having at length arrived, we were disembarked, and marched to a range of barracks pleasantly situated on a rocky promontory jutting into the harbour, and commanding the entrance of the river. We had no sooner stowed away our men than a party of us (subs) rushed down into the town, hardly checking the pace to stare at some squaws and their Papooses, nor did we stop until we arrived at a confectioner's, and obtained enormous bowls of the most delicious wood strawberries and cream; we had just landed from a long sea-voyage, the thermometer stood at ninety-five in the shade, in addition to which, the woods being on fire made the atmosphere close and sultry; the excitement of landing, and the bustle of putting up the men, made them the most grateful feast I ever remember to have enjoyed, and such a contrast to our ship fare, that the gluttony of the proceeding must be pardoned. The province of New Brunswick contains an area of upwards of seventeen millions of acres, and only one soul to every one hundred acres; a glorious field for emigration, and the surplus population of the British |