A Bear always goes down a tree starn foremost. He is a cunning critter, he knows tante safe to carry a heavy load over his head, and his rump is so heavy, he don’t like to trust it over hisn, for fear it might take a lurch, and carry him heels over head, to the ground; so he lets his starn down first, and his head arter.  I wish the Blue Noses would find as good an excuse in their rumps for running backwards as he has.  But the bear ‘cyphers;’ he knows how many pounds his hams weigh, and he ‘calculates’ if he carried them up in the air, they might be top heavy for him.

If we had this Province we’d go to work and ‘cypher’ right off.  Halifax is nothing without a river or back country; add nothing to nothing, and I guess you have nothing still—­add a Rail Road to the Bay of Fundy, and how much do you get?  That requires cyphering—­it will cost $300,000, or 75,000 pounds your money—­add for notions omitted in the addition column, one third, and it makes even money —­100,000 pounds.  Interest at 5 per cent 5,000 pounds a year.  Now turn over the slate and count up freight—­I make it upwards of 25,000 pounds a year.  If I had you at the desk, I’d shew you a bill of items.

Now comes “Subtraction,” deduct cost of engines, wear and tear, and expenses, and what not, and reduce it for shortness down to 5,000 pounds a year, the amount of interest.  What figures have you got now? you have an investment that pays interest, I guess, and if it don’t pay more then I don’t know chalk from cheese.  But suppose it don’t, and that it only yields two and a half per cent, (and it requires good cyphering, I tell you, to say how it would act with folks that like going astarn better than going ahead,) what would them are wise ones say then?  Why the critters would say it wont pay; but I say the sum ant half stated.  Can you count in your head?  Not to any extent, said I. Well, that’s an etarnal pity, said the Clockmaker, for I should like to show you Yankee Cyphering.  What is the entire real estate of Halifax worth, at a valeation?  I really cannot say.  Ah, said he, I see you don’t cypher, and Latin and Greek wont do; them are people had no rail-roads.  Well, find out, and then only add ten per cent to it, for increased value, and if it don’t give the cost of a rail-road, then my name is not Sam Slick.  Well, the land between Halifax and Ardoise is worth —–­ nothing, add 5 per cent to that, and send the sum to the College, and ax the students how much it comes to.  But when you get into Hants County, I guess you have land worth coming all the way from Boston to see.  His Royal Highness the King, I guess, hasn’t got the like in his dominions.  Well, add 15 per cent to all them are lands that border on Windsor Basin, and 5 per cent to what butts on Basin of Mines, and then, what do you get?  A pretty considerable sum I tell you—­but its no use to give you the chalks, if you can’t keep the tallies.