Catharine Parr Traills The Backwoods Of Canada English Literature Essay

Catharine Parr Traills The Backwoods Of Canada English Literature Essay Nevertheless, one of the ship’s officer’s soon dissuades Traill and her husband of this opinion as he states that, if they were closer, they would find â€Å"every variety of disease, vice, poverty, filthy and famineà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ human misery in its most disgusting and maddening form.† They move up river towards Quebec. However, once again, they are not allowed to go ashore due to â€Å"pestilence† within the city. Traill’s account of her experiences thus far, that is, the voyage and her first views of the Canadian landscape convey both the beauty of the vistas she perceived and their inherent dangers, as one can gather that hardship and disease were the constant companions of the land’s natural beauty, which Traill is very good at describing in lyrical detail. Throughout her account, the modern reader learns interesting details of Canadian life during this era. For example, she is intrigued when the ship passes islands that have herd of cattle grazing on them. The captain explained that local farmers ferry the animals to the island on flat-bottomed boats or swim them across, if possible, and leave them to graze, with someone from the farm canoeing out to milk them on a daily basis. In Lower Canada, below Quebec, the land has a â€Å"wild and rugged aspect,† but Traill comments on the increased fertility as the ship approaches Montreal and how the land surrounding this city seems â€Å"willing to yield her increase to a moderate exertion.† Having landed in Montreal, Trail is struck by the â€Å"dirty, narrow, ill-paved or unpaved streets.† Ultimately, Traill and her husband settle near the town of Peterborough and become true pioneering settlers, as her husband is entitled to land due to his British military service. Furthermore, they are able to purchase land that will give them a water frontage. Throughout her letters, it is fascinating to read Traill’s very British take on Nor th American life. For example, she is critical of log cabins that she views from the river where the settlers have not taken time out from survival to plant roses around their casements. Likewise, she is amazed that â€Å"the sons of naval and military officers and clergymen† stand behind the counter in shops or wield an â€Å"axe in the woods† and still maintain their rank and status among the â€Å"aristocracy of the country.† Likewise, she is equally surprised that the Americans she meets are â€Å"polite, well-behaved people† rather than the exhibiting the â€Å"odious manners† that she expected. Those people with the worst manners, who displayed a sense of â€Å"independence† that was not â€Å"exactly suitable† to their actual station in life were people who, like themselves, were European settlers. In particular, Traill criticizes a young Scotsman who seemed to be particularly adamant on stressing to Traill and her husband, as English aristocrats that in the New World, he was not obliged to observe the niceties of the European class system. At every juncture in their journey, the Traills seem to have an easier time of handling the many transitions of emigration as they have money and can purchase assistance. For example, when they finally arrive at their homestead, Traill’s husband â€Å"hired people to log up (that is, to draw the chopped timbers into heaps for burning) and clear a space for building our house upon.† Nevertheless, she explains to her British mother, and in doing so also to her British readership, that they were also expected to â€Å"call the ‘bee,'† that is, to provide everything necessary for the â€Å"entertainment of our worthy hive,† i.e., the neighbors who assemble to â€Å"raise the walls of your house, shanty, barn or any other building† in a â€Å"‘raising bee.'† Once again, Traill appears to be astonished that all evidence o f class distinctions are laid aside in order for neighbors to help each other.