measure, he proposed to the few neighbours which there formed the settlement, that they should assemble at one house, on each Sabbath afternoon, and listen to the reading of a sermon by some one present.  “I think it our duty,” said he, “to show our respect to the Sabbath-day by assembling ourselves together, and uniting in worship to the best o’ our ability.  I ha’e among my books a collection o’ sermons by different divines, an’ I am verra willin’ to tak’ my turn in the readin’ o’ ane, an’ I’m sure you should a’ be agreeable to do the same.”  His proposal met with the hearty approval of all his neighbours, and for some years each Sabbath afternoon saw most of the neighbours collected together for the best mode of worship within their reach.  The bush settlements at this period were much infected by bears, and they often proved very destructive to the crops of the early settler, and also a cause of no little fear.  I believe the instances have been rare when a bear has been known to attack a person, although it has happened in some cases; but the immigrant has so often listened to exaggerated accounts regarding the wild animals of America, that those who settle in a new section of country find it difficult to get rid of their fears.  On one occasion when the Sabbath meeting met at Mr. Ainslie’s house, Mrs. Ainslie urged her mother to remain and partake of some refreshment before setting out on her walk homeward.  “Na, na,” replied the old lady.  “I maun e’en gang while I ha’e company, I dinna expec’ to leeve muckle longer at ony rate, but wouldna’ like to be eaten by the bears;” and for several years the one who ventured alone to the house of a neighbour after dark was looked upon as possessing more courage than prudence.  But although the settlers often came across these animals, on the bush-road, I never heard of one being attacked by them.  An old man, upon one occasion, returning in the evening from the house of friends, and carrying in his hand a torchlight composed of bark from the cedar tree, met a large bear in the thick woods.  Being asked if he was not frightened, he replied, “Deed I think the bear was ‘maist frightened o’ the twa’, for he just stood up on his twa hind legs, and glowered at me for a wee while till I waved the torch light toward him, when he gi’ an awfu’ snort, and ran into the woods as fast’s ever he was able, an’ I cam awa’ hame no a bit the war, an’ I think I’ll never be sae’ muckle feared about bears again.”  But these early settlers certainly found these animals very troublesome from their frequent depredations upon their fields of grain, and they often spent a large portion of the night watching for them, prepared to give them battle, but it was not often they saw one on these occasions, for these animals are very cunning, and seem at once to know when they are watched.  It sometimes also happened that during the early period of this settlement people lost their way in the bush while going from one house to another.  A woman once set out to go to the house of a neighbour who lived about a mile distant.  Supposing herself on the right path she walked onward, till thinking the way rather long she stopped and gazed earnestly around her, and became terrified as she noticed that the trees and rocks, and every other surrounding object had a strange unfamiliar look; and she knew at once that she had taken a wrong path.