To A Far Country

by Oliver, Marina

  'The border with the States goes through the middle,' he added. 'We sometimes have problems if we stray over it, but unfortunately there's no line to guide us!'

  The truth of his words became evident on the following day when they were hailed by a small, fast ship flying the American flag with its fifteen stars and fifteen stripes.

  Resignedly the captain ordered the sails to be struck, and the boat drifted while the other came alongside, used grappling hooks, and a couple of men in the uniforms of soldiers clambered agilely across the small gap.

  'You're in our territory,' one said curtly. 'We demand to know your business.'

  'Come, George Cooper, you know my business perfectly well,' the captain retorted. 'We've met often enough for you to know it as well as I do myself. Don't you grow tired of boarding innocent ships plying their trade? And I think you'd find, if you were better seamen, that you're in Canadian waters, not your own.'

  The other scowled. 'That's a matter of opinion. Innocent, perhaps. Do you carry guns?'

  'Only a few ordered for farmers, and the muskets and rifles belonging to my passengers. I don't think they're aiming to restart your war,' the captain said, grinning. 'They're immigrants, hoping to find land near York. Now, are you satisfied? May I go on my way?'

  The soldiers insisted on inspecting all of these guns, which involved much unpacking and rearranging of the cargo. At last they were satisfied and prepared to depart.

  'Don't let me see you in our waters again,' the soldier said curtly, and he and his companion departed. Their boat cast off, and sails were once more hoisted.

  'It was like being boarded by pirates!' one of Andrew's young brothers said in excitement. 'I wish I'd had my own gun, I'd have stopped them coming aboard.'

  'And started a war, no doubt,' his mother said, cuffing him across the ears.

  The next few days of the journey were uneventful, tedious and hot. Even on the water the heat was greater than they were used to. They lay about on the deck most of the time, trying to catch the air while sheltering in the shade cast by the sails. Then the captain said he was sorry, but he had an urgent delivery to make to a town on the south side of the lake, and he would have to go there first before landing at York.

  'It's the old capital of Upper Canada, Newark,' he explained. 'But I don't think you'll regret it,' he said, his voice rising over their groans of dismay. 'You'll see the biggest waterfalls in the world, and that's a sight not to be missed, for the sake of a few days.'

  ***

  Chapter 11

  It was evening as the ship entered the Niagara River. Flora and Eliza were standing on deck, and Eliza was complaining bitterly at the delay.

  'Why can't the ship go to York first? I want to see my boys! It's so long since they left the glen.'

  'I want this voyage to end too,' Flora said with a sigh. 'The captain said he had supplies to take on board at Newark, which have to be delivered to York. What's that light over there?'

  Eliza glanced to her right. 'Is it the lighthouse he told us about? The one that was built five years ago.' She looked around. 'There are enough forts here, both sides of the river.'

  'That one must be the American side, the one he said they had to abandon some years ago, and over here the new ones they built to replace it. They look as though they're waiting for wars.' Flora shivered. 'I thought we'd left all that behind, and things were peaceful here. The British and French have been fighting for most of my lifetime.'

  'I doubt that'll stop until the Corsican monster's either defeated or dies.'

  'It takes so long for news to reach us,' Flora sighed. 'Bruce frets about Malcolm, as you did about your boys.'

  'Aye. My Colin especially, in the army. But I thought the army here wasn't likely to go to war. Seeing those forts facing one another like fighting cocks makes it seem more likely.'

  By the time the ship was anchored off the small town of Newark it was almost dark. The captain stopped to speak to them on his way to the boat which was to take him ashore to meet his agent. Newark, he explained, had once been the seat of the Government, but this was moved to York a few years earlier.

  'Though Governor Simcoe wanted a place inland, which he named London. The powers in England chose York.'

  'I can't get used to places with the same names as at home, or from France,' Flora said, laughing. 'Either that, or they're Indian names which sound really strange.'

  'The Indian name for York is Toronto, which means a meeting place in their language. I'll arrange for two small boats to take you further up river, to the falls, in the morning,' he said cheerfully, clambering into the rowing boat. 'You'll have to start at dawn, but it will take us all day to deal with the cargo, and we won't be sailing until the following morning. You'll manage the ten miles or so there and back easily before it gets dark again.'

  Meg, no more cheerful than she had been in Quebec, did not want to go, but her father finally lost patience with her.

  'You are coming, child. You've been looking sour enough to curdle the milk for weeks. This is one of the greatest sights in the world, and you're not likely to have another chance of seeing it. Now fetch your shawl and a bonnet, and do try to smile.'

  Sulkily Meg obeyed, but made sure she was in the other boat from the one in which her father and Jane travelled. They were small boats, with single sails, and half a dozen sailors who wielded oars when the winds failed them. They passed several small settlements, and some large houses, often on hills overlooking the river.

  'I'd love one like that,' Eliza sighed ecstatically, indicating a new, red-brick house.

  'I'd prefer to be in York, on the opposite side of the lake to the Americans,' William replied. 'This is too easy for them to attack.'

  'What's that noise?' one of the boys asked suddenly. 'It sounds like a swarm of bees, but there aren't any.'

  'That's the noise of the falls,' one of the sailors, overhearing, told him. 'The first explorer from Europe to see them heard the noise all the way from the lake, and came up the river to find them.'

  'So ships can't go further up the river, past them?' Andrew asked.

  'Nothing bigger than a canoe. They have to be carried on our heads round the falls. I did it once, and it's not easy. But there are plenty of boats and ships on Lake Erie.'

  'Are they like the rapids, the ones we saw on that other river? By Montreal? I wanted to try riding a raft down them, but Dad wouldn't let me!'

  The sailor laughed. 'No one's ever gone over these falls and lived. Wait until you see them.'

  Eventually, after following the river round some sharp, twisting bends, along a narrowing gorge, with the sound of rushing water growing louder every minute, they came within sight of a sheer wall of water. The sailors tied the boat to a tree on the bank and rested their oars as the passengers, awestruck, gazed round them.

  It wasn't a flat wall, Flora realised. There were two waterfalls. To their left, and ahead, was the smaller, but it was still huge, pouring over an enormously high and wide cliff. She'd expected something like the tiny, narrow waterfalls in the glen back home, but this was several times higher than any of the many tall houses she'd seen in Edinburgh. Further to the right, directly facing them, was the much wider portion. This was curved, and the water boiled furiously in the basin below, churning in waves, and throwing up spray so that the lower half of the falls could only be glimpsed as if through a dense mist. Even at the distance they were, they could feel the spray as it drifted on the wind.

  Suddenly, with a desperate longing, she wanted to feel once more the gentle mists of Scotland, the fine spray of the rain which had been carried on the breezes from the sea. She blinked hard. She'd never know those again. This was to be her future home, a land where everything seemed bigger, harsher, wilder, colder, and hotter than she'd been used to.

  They had brought food, and were able to clamber onto the bank and eat while they marvelled at the sight of so much water being flung down.

  'There are islands at the top, mid-rive
r, and sometimes it's difficult for people to know the falls are close,' one of the sailors explained. 'I certainly wouldn't like to be in a boat up there, unaware of them.'

  Some of the younger boys wanted to climb up to the top to see, but the sailors said there was too little time.

  'It's much higher than you think, and a rough climb. We don't want you falling down now you've come so far. It's easier going back down river, but we must get back before dark.'

  The following morning they set off on what they fervently hoped was their last part of the journey. Straight across the lake, the captain promised, to the landing at York. It would take two days, probably,

  'And I never want to set foot on a boat again,' Eliza said, speaking for them all.

  ***

  The buildings of York stretched along the waterfront, and as the boat sailed into the harbour, the passengers saw that it was protected by a long curving promontory to the right. Beyond the plain, a few miles distant, rolling hills could be seen. They were gentler than the rugged mountains of the highlands, and everywhere was thickly wooded.

  'It's not surprising this site was preferred,' Jamie said, standing on deck with Flora and the two children for a first glimpse of what was to be their new home. 'It looks safe and convenient.'

  Their favourable impression was maintained until the men, as before, went off to hire waggons. When they returned Flora eyed the wheels and the legs of the horses with some dismay.

  'They're thick with mud!' she exclaimed. 'Are the roads bad like that in the town?'

  Bruce, who was with Jamie, grinned. 'Muddy York, they say it's called. It was built on a swamp.'

  'Then why did they build here?' Flora asked. Was nothing ever to turn out right for them?

  Jamie explained. 'The harbour's a good natural defence. There are also two rivers bounding the town, and they provide easy routes to Lake Huron.'

  'Another lake?'

  'Aye, and bigger,' Bruce said. 'Twice the size of Lake Ontario.'

  'Everything here is bigger, except the people,' Flora sighed. 'I half expect to see native giants, but the Indians are no bigger than we are.'

  Jamie laughed. 'And the lake beyond that's even bigger. The river Niagara joins this one with Lake Erie, and then the waters turn north again into Lake Huron. There isn't much land between here and that lake, so it's easier to transport supplies across land than round those falls.'

  'No more geography,' Flora begged. 'Where do we sleep tonight? It's time the children were in bed.'

  Lodgings had been found, and while they were loading their goods into the waggons, a laughing group of men descended on them, shouting with delight.

  Eliza dropped her bundle and flew to embrace them. 'My boys!' she sobbed, and clasped them to her. An older man looked on approvingly, and eventually, when she was calmer, introduced himself as Hamish. Eliza looked at him consideringly.

  'You're like our grandfather, but bigger and browner,' she told him.

  He turned to two slim young men waiting beside him. 'And these are my sons, John and Alan. My wife is at home.'

  Flora looked at the young men in considerable astonishment. She'd taken them for servants at first, for they had the straight black hair, thin faces, and hooked noses of the Indians they'd met. They even wore the soft hide leggings and long, bead-embroidered shirts she'd seen on Indians.

  Eliza hesitated slightly before holding out her hand. The men shook it gravely, and then one of them smiled, showing brilliant white teeth.

  'Didn't you know our mother is of the Algonquin tribe?' he asked. 'We take after her in looks.'

  'An Indian?' she exclaimed, and turned a puzzled look on her cousin. 'You married an Indian? Why did you marry a savage? Wasn't there a good Christian woman you could have wed?'

  'Eliza, hush,' William tried to catch her arm.

  Her sons looked embarrassed, and drew slightly away from her. Andrew, seeing their movement, stepped closer to his mother. 'Why did you never tell us?' he asked.

  Hamish looked annoyed. 'Mary is as Christian as you or me, she was educated by the Ursulines, and she's certainly no savage!' he said angrily. 'I'd hoped to welcome you here as I did your boys, Eliza, but not if you insult my wife and my sons.'

  She looked shattered, and looked at Flora before turning back to Hamish. 'I didn't know,' she said faintly. 'Hamish only ever calls her Mary, and he didn't say how or where he met her. And all I've ever heard about Indians tells me they're strange, uncivilised.'

  Flora took Eliza's hand. 'I think she's just surprised, Mr MacDougal And it's true, we've been told the Indians have very strange ways. Strange to our way of thinking, that is.'

  Hamish looked down at her, and gave a grim smile. 'Aye, perhaps, but they know more than we do about surviving on the land,' he said. 'We've learned a lot from them.'

  'Where did you meet her?' Eliza asked, taking a deep breath and trying to smile.

  'When I was out trading my furs, soon after I got to Canada.'

  'But you lived in Nova Scotia, not here.'

  'Furs are traded all over Canada. Her family treated me well. They saved my life when I was injured, and I stayed with them some months, learning forest craft. Now you must go and rest. We will go to our home tomorrow.'

  He and his sons, who bowed solemnly to the boat party, turned and left, and Eliza stared after them.

  'An Indian for cousin,' she said softly. 'Flora, lass, I can't believe it! What on earth would my poor aunt have said if she'd known?'

  'Come, let's get in the waggon. My skirts are getting muddy,' Flora said briskly, and handed Matthew up to Meg who was already in the waggon holding Jenny on her knees.

  'They were handsome,' Meg said, with a faint sigh, and a glance at Andrew, who looked as though he wanted to burst into angry speech.

  Flora suppressed a smile. Meg was clearly still attracted to Andrew, but she'd adopted a different attitude on this journey, not speaking to him unless she had no alternative, and trying to flirt with any other young man who came within reach.

  The other waggon had moved away. They followed, and were soon installed in their new lodgings. Bruce and Jane were eager to marry as soon as possible, and they all looked forward with a mixture of excitement and apprehension to their new homes and new lives.

  On the following day Bruce went out to find a minister to perform the wedding ceremony, and came back accompanied by a tall, thin man who welcomed the party and promised to give all the help he could in suggesting suitable areas where land might be available.

  'To the west, between here and Hamilton, would be most suitable,' he said thoughtfully. 'There's land beyond the Humber river, and you might even find farms on the lakeside itself. But there are numerous creeks and rivers, no shortage of water. If you go east, you would have to go beyond Scarborough Bluffs.'

  'What are they?'

  'A series of cliffs which border the lake. They would interfere with easy travel to here.'

  Jamie applied to the land agents and obtained his warrant of survey. He and most of the men set off the following day, expecting to be away for a week or more while they looked at the proposed land. They left the women to settle once more into temporary quarters. Flora wondered if she would ever come to the end of the relentless process.

  Jane, while quietly happy, was willing to discuss plans for the wedding.

  'But I don't feel a large traditional highland celebration would be appropriate so soon after you've been widowed, and lost Annie too,' she said to her sister.

  Isabella shook her head. 'Don't be foolish, lass. It's been a year now since my man was killed, and I'm used to being alone, even though I miss him sorely. As for Annie, it's her life, her choice. I've no doubt she'll follow us unless she can find a man to keep her in idleness. And we're all in need of a good party, something to feel glad about.'

  Eliza was still preoccupied with her mixed feelings about her cousin's marriage.

  'It's unnatural,' she complained to Flora. 'Say what you like, it doesn'
t do to mix the races. I'd have been upset if one of my boys had wanted to wed an Englishwoman, but an Indian!'

  'I've heard there are a lot of men in the same position,' Flora said gently. 'There were very few white women here in the past, and the woman who lives in the next house has been telling me all sorts of stories about how the Indians helped the first explorers, and even saved their lives. They know a lot about medicine, and what plants to use. We can learn a good deal from them.'

  'But a cousin!' Eliza was unconvinced.

  'Don't you want him to be happy? And he has two fine boys. He's very proud of them, you could see that.'

  When Hamish came to visit Eliza a few days later, however, and brought his wife with him, Eliza had got over her shock, and to Flora's relief greeted Mary politely.

  Mary, though the mother of grown up sons, was tall and slender, with smooth skin not a great deal browner than Eliza's own. She had fine bones, a long black plait of hair, and brown eyes, slightly slanted. If all Indian women were as beautiful, Flora thought in secret amusement, some of the European women might have cause for jealousy.

  Mary spoke English with a strange accent, which was, she explained, laughing, the result of having been to school with French nuns, learning some English from them, and then having to learn to understand Hamish's Scottish accent.

  'I would not allow him to speak the Gaelic,' she said. 'That was too much for me to learn. But he taught me a few of your songs, even though I do not understand all the words. They all seem very sad songs, the pipes and the laments.'

  'You'll see they can be happy too,' Eliza said. 'When Jane gets married we'll have dancing to the pipes.'

  To Flora's relief Eliza seemed to have overcome her initial shock and antagonism, and soon she and Mary were deep in discussions about the herbs they used for curing certain ailments. The other women demanded to know what familiar plants could be found here, and Mary laughingly said she would have to start a school.