taste for the sea, which became afterwards very decidedly developed; and much as he suffered, as the Premier, with the wind on her quarters, strained and rolled in the trough of those mountain waves, all was soon forgotten, and he entered with a sailor's zest and spirit into the professional details of the voyage, noting how the ship ran her course, taking a pride in her rapid sailing, and delighting to watch her answer her helm.

This

He has mentioned in this letter more than once a favourite dog Boxer. Through his life he had a strong love of all animals, and especially of dogs. There is an old northern proverb, "He is an ill chiel whom dogs and bairns dinna love," and there is, perhaps, a good deal of truth in this as in many other common sayings. Maxy Hammond had a marked power of attaching animals to himself. His generous eye and countenance enlisted their sympathies; they felt at once his kind nature, and returned it with the fullest confidence. extended even to birds, of which he always had one or two; usually a bullfinch; taking them out with him even on these long voyages. Boxer was a bull-terrier, who was never absent from him, and on this occasion of his first voyage, from a doubt as to dogs being allowed on board, he was left behind. When the ship lay in the offing, and Maxy put off to her with his luggage in a small boat, Boxer was not permitted to accompany him; and, finding that the boat did not return, he manifested the most extreme emotion, running eagerly along the beach, and jumping into various boats in the hope of getting off to his master. He was brought back with us to our home, but after remaining with us for some considerable time it was

evident that his grief was deep-seated. He refused his food, pined away, became very thin, and, in short, was so miserable, that we resolved to send him out to Canada. The first opportunity, therefore, was taken, and he was sent under the care of another officer of the Rifles. On reaching Halifax, and being restored to his master, Boxer's joy was unbounded: a violent reaction took place; and he became so immoderately fat that it amounted to deformity. Every means failed to reduce him, and poor Boxer's fidelity led at length to his death.

B

CHAPTER IL.

Forest Scenes.

"Hidden in the alder bushes,

There he waited till the deer came;
Till he saw two antlers lifted,
Saw two eyes look from the thicket,
Saw two nostrils point to windward,
And a deer came down the pathway
Fleck'd with leafy light and shadow."

HIAWATHA.

AFTER Maxy Hammond's arrival at Halifax, his time, during the first two years, was passed much as it had been in England; pleasure and amusement was the great object of his life. Writing on the 2d of September 1842, he says:

"You can't think how I enjoy your accounts of all the gaieties, cricket matches, races, balls, &c. . . . . We are still at George's Island. I went out the other day partridge shooting, with *** and ***. We started at five; rowed to the Indian camp, and having got an Indian to

We soon came to a lake,

go with us, went into the woods. where we saw some very large trout; * * * fished for them for some time, but did not succeed in catching anything; we then came to another lake, where we saw some part

SHOOTING PARTIES.

19

After this we found

ridges; *** and myself shot one. nothing for some hours, but at last *** shot two more, which closed our day's sport. We passed through a track of ground called the 'Barrens,' where there are no trees; here we tracked a bear, and soon after a moose. I saw a hare with a huge snake after it. I am going out moosehunting, about thirty miles from here, the week after next, which I expect will be much finer sport. I take two Indians, and we shall stay about a week in the woods. . . . We are now hard at work at drill, and I think that when the men get their new clothing and caps, they will look nearly as well as the service companies."

A few days later, he says:

"Our winter has begun pretty severely; but the cold has hitherto been nothing more than in England; as yet the sleighing has not been good. . . . We have now nearly all got horses. I still continue to think this the stupidest place in the world; the people are not the least civil to us, and do not seem to shew any desire to become acquainted with us; but what can't be cured must be endured. The shooting is now nearly over, and there is no amusement of any sort."

In some letters of this date, he says:

'To-day is the first day of Halifax races, an event of no small importance here; we muster about six horses for it, among which is that well-known horse Who'd-havethought-it,' the property of ***. He is going to ride for the hurdle-race, and I think stands a good chance of winning. . . . . We had a regatta here last Tuesday,

which was great fun. I sailed my boat; but succeeded only in coming in fourth. However, I had the satisfaction of beating some very good boats. M * * * won the prize with his schooner, which is a beautiful boat. A dreadful accident happened to an officer of the -th yesterday. He was out tracking moose, and came to a small brook that he wanted to cross; so he carelessly placed the butt of his gun against a tree to support himself, with the muzzle in his hands. The gun went off, and the ball entered the palm of his hand, passed through and shattered the bones of his wrist, and came out half-way from the elbow. The poor fellow was by himself, and about fifteen miles from home. All the sleighs are driving about. There is a tandem club, which most of the officers in garrison belong to. I do not myself; but I have got a nice little sleigh that holds two people."

A brother officer and intimate friend of these earlier years, says of him at this time: "He joined in all the amusements and sports incidental to military life; and it was always remarked of him, that to whatever object he directed his attention, to it he devoted the whole of his energies, with a zeal and earnestness that became the leading features of his after life. He always appeared to be alive to the reality of life and the necessity of action in whatever he was engaged."

The pursuit which just now seemed to give him the greatest zest and enjoyment was moose-hunting. His active and athletic frame, and his spirit of enterprise, fitted him especially for a sport in which the Red Indian needs all his subtle acuteness of sense, his keen