I pursued my journey, and arrived at Happle Creek, twenty-five miles from Jarido, in time for dinner.

The country through which I passed was hilly, wooded, and uninhabited.

Happle

Creek is also a small French settlement. The inhabitants, as well as those of Jarido, live in the manner of Indians, that is by hunting, and in bartering the furs for powder, ball, arms, blankets, and spirits. They cultivate very little ground, and build houses which are neither wind nor water-proof. On the same afternoon I rode fifteen miles farther on and stopped at the house of an Acadian for the night. a plain hospitable man. Scotchman by birth, a Frenchman by education, a Spaniard by adoption, and an American par force. His name originally was Gordon, but having served in the army of Spain, his comrades conferred on him, according to their prac

I found him
He was a

tice, a nomme de guerre, since when he has been known as Don Gordano.

The evening of the day I left Don Gordano's, I arrived at St Genevieve; and what was very interesting, I heard the bells of the Catholic church ring for vespers long before I entered the

town.

I did not wander from the peal, but rode on with speed and animation, and put up at an inn which had strong indication of comfort. I was by no means disappointed the landlord, a lively Frenchman, looked after my horses, and his wife made me a cup of coffee with as much perfection as I ever drank it at the Palais Royale, or at the foot of Pont Neuf. After which, I lounged through the village and chatted en passant with the inhabitants, who were all in groups outside their doors. The women at work, the children at play, and the men performing music, sing

ing songs, or telling stories. It needed but a coup d'œil to discover in this the vestige of Spanish customs. A little more observation soon convinced me of the justice of the conjecture. St. Genevieve was once principally inhabited by Spaniards; a disgust to an American connection has driven them nearly all off; but their manners and habits remain with the French settlers, who originally resided among them. Hence I have heard the guitar resound soon after sun-set, with the complaints and amorous tales of the village swains, and heard the same hand, which toiled all day in the wilderness and in the waste, strike the tender notes of love in the evening.

The custom seemed to pervade all ranks. Nearly every house had its group, and every group its guitar, fidler, story-teller, or singer. As the evening advanced and the heat diminished, walking com

menced, and towards midnight the music of the village united, the little world crowded to the spot and danced with infinite gaiety and mirth till past one in the morning. The Waltz had most votaries; the Pas de deur next, and the Fandango was the favorite of the few remaining Spaniards of the village.

St. Genevieve stands on the West bank of the river, is formed of about sixty neat low houses, and contains about four hundred souls. The pre

sent population principally consists of Canadean, French, and Anglo-Americans. There are three public buildings, a church, federal court, and markethouse. The church is a Spanish structure decorated and improved by the French. At the upper end there is a beautiful altar, the fronton of which is brass, gilt and enriched in medio-relievo, representing the Religious of the Old, diffusing the benefits of the Gospel over

the New World. In the middle of the altar there is a Crucifix of brass gilt, and underneath a picture, well copied from Raphael, representing the Madona and Child, St. Elizabeth, and St. John. In a second group there is a St. Joseph; all perfectly well drawn and coloured. The action, beauty, and grace of the Virgin are beyond expression, and the little Jesus and St. John are charming.

The Genevieseans' commerce is tolerably extensive for their numbers and isolate situation. They export lead to a great amount, and import flour, British goods, French and West-India produce. Their profit or floating wealth is employed in the purchase of land. Every Geneviesean is a land proprietor.

Lands in the vicinity of wealthy settlements fetch five dollars per acre; at a distance or near any Indian connection,