In the afternoon, Mr. Smith called upon me and said he was authorized by the superintendent to arrange with me as to the amount of salary I was to receive.  He then informed me the amount that Mr. Galt had instructed him to offer me—­a liberal income, and the use of a house rent-free, desiring him at the same time to express his satisfaction at the manner in which I had conducted the operations since my engagement with the Company, in which, he said, from what he had seen, he fully concurred.

As this result was entirely unsolicited by me, and as it was generally understood that the accountant had been sent out partly as a check on the superintendent, to prevent extravagant expenditure, I took this as a compliment paid by both to my abilities and integrity.

Several of the clerks had light neatly-made boats, in which we used to make excursions up the Speed for the purpose of trout-fishing.  I think, without exception, this stream is the best for that species of fish I ever saw.  I have frequently caught a pailful of these delicious trout in the space of two or three hours.  For my own part, I found a small garden-worm the best bait; but one of our clerks, a Mr. Hodgett, was skilful with the fly, and consequently used to catch his fish in a more scientific manner.

My native county, Suffolk, with the exception of that part watered by the Waveney, is not famed for its fly-fishing:  therefore I was no adept in the gentle art, but in ground-bait angling I consider myself no contemptible performer.

The small streams and creeks are so overarched with trees in Canada, that it is almost impossible, except in odd spots, to make a cast with the fly without endangering your tackle.

The speckled trout in the river Speed vary in size from four ounces to a pound and a half, though it is seldom that one of the latter size is captured.

Guelph I consider to be remarkably healthy, and for an inland town very prettily situated.  I think, however, that the town-plot was laid out on too large a scale—­especially the market-place, which is large enough for a city containing fifty thousand inhabitants.  I have not been there since 1832.  It has since become the assize-town for the Wellington district, and consequently has greatly increased both in size and population.

Although I had been several months a resident in Guelph, I had neither seen nor heard a clergyman of the Established Church.  Why are we always the last to send labourers into the vineyard?  No sooner does a small village, composed of a mill, a black-smith’s shop, and a few houses, spring up in the woods, than you find a Presbyterian, Methodist, or Baptist Church—­or perhaps all three—­settled there immediately.  No wonder, then, that our church is losing ground when so little energy is displayed either in building churches or sending active and zealous men to preach the gospel.

The first person I heard preach in Guelph was a tailor, who had made a professional visit to the city, and who had the reputation of being considered a very eloquent man.  Due notice having been given, a large congregation assembled to hear Mr. H-----, who, to do him justice, was eloquent enough, though his sermon was all in his own praise from beginning to end.