It appears very evident that storms of this description have not been unfrequent in the wooded regions of Canada; and it becomes a matter of interesting consideration, whether the clearing of our immense forests will not, in a great measure, remove the cause of these phenomena.

Dark, heavy clouds were gathering in the west,
Wrapping the forest in funereal gloom;
Onward they roll’d and rear’d each livid crest,
Like death’s murk shadows frowning o’er earth’s tomb: 
From out the inky womb of that deep night
Burst livid flashes of electric flame: 
Whirling and circling with terrific might,
In wild confusion on the tempest came. 
Nature, awakening from her still repose,
Shudders responsive to the whirlwind’s shock
Feels at her mighty heart convulsive throes;
Her groaning forests to earth’s bosom rock.

But, hark! what means that hollow rushing sound,
That breaks the sudden stillness of the morn? 
Red forked lightnings fiercely glare around: 
What crashing thunders on the winds are borne! 
And see yon spiral column, black as night,
Rearing triumphantly its wreathing form;
Ruin’s abroad, and through the murky light,
Drear desolation marks the spirit of the storm.
   * * * * * *
How changed the scene; the awful tempest’s o’er;
From dread array and elemental war
The lightning’s flash hath ceased, the thunder’s roar—­
The glorious sun resumes his golden car.*

[* My description of this whirlwind, and the accompanying lines, have already appeared in the “Victoria Magazine,” published in Canada West, under the signature of “Pioneer.”]

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE HURON TRACT. —­ JOURNAL OF DR. DUNLOP. —­ HIS HARDSHIPS. —­ I LEAVE GUELPH FOR GODERICH. —­ WANT OF ACCOMODATION. —­ CURIOUS SUPPER. —­ REMARKABLE TREES. —­ THE BEVERLY OAK. —­ NOBLE BUTTER-WOOD TREES. —­ GODERICH. —­ FINE WHEAT CROP. —­ PURCHASE A LOG-HOUSE. —­ CONSTRUCTION OF A RAFT.

I HAD always wished to go to the Huron tract, whose fine lake, noble forests, and productive soil, have made it a source of wealth to many a settler.  The climate too, was mild, and I had heard a great deal about it from my gifted and facetious friend Dr. Dunlop, whose services in exploring that part of their possessions were not only useful but inestimable to the Company, and, in fact, to emigration in general.

“Dr. Dunlop, the Warden of the Company’s Woods and Forests, surveyed the great Huron tract in the summer of 1827, assisted by the Chief of the Mohawk nation, and Messrs. Sproat and MacDonald.  They penetrated the huge untravelled wilderness in all directions, until they came out on the shores of the Huron, having experienced and withstood every privation that wanderers can possibly be subject to in such places."* [* Mac Taggart’s “Three Years in Canada.”]