by an instance of it. A young Nova Scotian friend using the expression since I came home,' in reference to the period of his sojourn here, I smiled at as a blunder, observing 'left home, you mean:' with a look of downright indignant warmth he repelled my correction, saying, almost sternly, 'No: is not England our home?'

Would that this same England knew better how to appreciate the devoted attachment of such loyal, gallant hearts! Happy for her would be the day when, flinging far from her the wretched degrading expediency that fondles and crouches before traitors whom she ought to scourge out of her dominions, she should cast herself on the loving fidelity of her true children -her Protestant sons-the despised, insulted inheritors of those principles which here expelled the tyrant James, and established on the British throne a race worthy to rule the British nation; and abroad planted a noble seedling, now grown to a sheltering forest, under the shadow of which she might securely place the dearest interests of her faith and her crown. But, alas for England! a spirit of blindness has fallen upon her; and under its influence she pursues a course of inevitable self-destruction.

My business now, however, is with the past; and the scene opening to view is the snow-clad region of Annapolis Royal, in the grandeur of its mid-winter desolation roads rendered utterly impassable, until the persevering labour of the troops, aiding that of the inhabitants, had effected an opening through enormous drifts, giving entrance to the welcome supplies concerning which we began to feel somewhat apprehensive. This was a favourable season for the poor Indians; their burdens of moose-meat found a

ready market; and be the roads what they might, the Indian hunter was not to be baffled in his skilful approaches to the white man's town. From a high window in my abode I used to watch the approach of these wild foresters, emerging from some by-path, their dark costume shewn off in striking contrast by the dazzling whiteness of surrounding objects - the loose garment of coarse, deep biue woollen, fashioned much like our waggoners' frocks, but reaching no farther than the knee; leggins of the same colour, but a stronger texture, often bordered with narrow scarlet, and coarsely sewn with the rough edges outwards; buskins and mocassins of undressed hides, and snowshoes extending to a circumference of several feet, a strong net forming the basis, surrounded by a framework of cane, with a strap in the centre to admit the foot. This was an indispensable article; for in many places the snow covered pits of great depth; and it was, besides, too light to support the weight of man, unless the pressure of his feet was made to cover as great an extent of surface as these embraced.

On one occasion I saw an Indian thus accoutred in discourse with an orderly, who brought word to the commanding officer that the hunter had a living moose-deer to dispose of, at the low price of twenty dollars. This was a great wonder: slaughtering the Elk was an easy task to the Indian; but to capture him an achievement considered almost unattainable, through the extreme caution, timidity and fleetness of the gigantic game. The only method of accomplishing it was by surprising him in an open place, encircled by trees; and by cutting them down to form a fence through which he could not break. The animal too, rarely survived its capture, when ef

fected and a moose-deer healthy and vigorous, resigned to his fate, if not reconciled, was a possession on which a poor Indian might safely speculate as promising great profit. The bargain was struck: the usual form of earnest-money was complied with, two Indians witnessed the compact; and the morrow was fixed for commencing the arduous task of bringing home the prize, through twenty miles of intricate wood, morass, and mountain road.

Among the men in garrison was a private soldier, named Pierrot, marked for being the most highminded and the most intractable, where those characteristics abounded. I cannot forget that man: it was said, and not doubted, that his rank in society had been such as to entitle him to exemption, could any thing have exempted a French subject from the sweeping conscription by which the great scourge of Europe, from time to time, filled the ranks with fresh victims to his unquenchable thirst for blood-bought conquest. Pierrot's aspect was confirmatory of the report: he was tall, graceful, and handsome: his features perfectly Grecian, with light brown crisp hair, and a loftiness of bearing that struck the observer as being nearer akin to aristocratic hauteur than to military pride : but the ashy paleness of his fine countenance, and the perpetual quiver of his lip as it curled in undissembled scorn of all around him, with the deadly malignity of a glance that seemed to covet annihilating power, made Pierrot an object of terror to many whom his general appearance would otherwise have strongly prepossessed. I have seen him dart that basilisk glance at some passing comrade with an expression that made me shudder; and in the next instant bend his eye on me with a look so deeply, yet I

could almost say so condescendingly humble, while the stiffness of a military salute softened into elegance, and the fierceness of menace into melancholy gentleness, that the recollection would haunt me for hours. I have seen him marched into the guardhouse under arrest for some act of insubordination, while every line of his face laughed the proceeding to scorn: but his glance fell, his cheek flushed, and his proud step faltered, at perceiving that a female eye beheld his disgrace. Poor Pierrot had evidently known what it was to excite admiration in a rank of society where he could no longer move: and he was one of those wrecks over which Satan most exultsa soul alienated from God, utterly ignorant of the way of peace, goaded into aggravated rebellion by the chastising rod, and led captive at will by the fallen spirit. I never spoke to him—I never crossed his path when it could be avoided: but if we met, my notice of him was courteous as heartfelt commiseration could make it. I think he saw this; and the knowledge that I too was an exile from my home, and placed in circumstances not altogether enviable, might perchance appeal to his better feelings: his deportment seemed to denote it.

The towering pride of Pierrot's character elevated him above any thing that he might consider mean. I suppose the whole hoard of doubloons that the old store-keeper so carefully deposited in the bomb-proof magazine might have been entrusted to him, though no man's life would be secure in his keeping. Over his comrades he possessed more actual power than any of their officers could boast of: and his love of displaying this shone out, whenever opportunity was given for it. In an evil hour, the commanding officer

determined to avail himself of these two advantages; and to Pierrot was confided the hazardous enterprize of bringing home the moose-deer. I was an unobserved spectator when, at the door of my house, the dollars were counted out to the gratified soldier, in presence of the three Indians; a party of six comrades being placed under his command, very much against the judgment of some who had studied his character rather closely. Pierrot knew this; and it enhanced the distinction conferred on him. As he stood, in that graceful uniform, his head a little bowed, his foraging cap on one side, the light hair brushed from his expansive brow, and his marble cheek dimpled with the nearest approach to a smile that I ever saw upon it, Pierrot, receiving the confidential deposit, would have formed as fine a study for the pencil as artist could have wished; even without including the picturesque group and striking scenery around them.

Two musquets were allowed, one of them being Pierrot's; the remainder of the party carried only their side-arms. The young Indian hunter was to act as guide, to conduct them through the woods, deliver up the elk, and, if requisite to assist them in retracing their steps. I liked not the haughty air of Pierrot, as he ordered the Indian to proceed, nor the levity that was already manifested in the bearing of his party, who seemed to be amusing themselves at the expense of their guide, a most simple creature, evidently awe-struck at the martial air of his companions. I watched them while winding along the road, and secretly wished the elk had baffled his pursuers; or that, on any terms, the soldiers were safe in their quarters, and the Indian in his camp.