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7. Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. the d aily travail as the party pro c e e d e d across the p r o v i n c e of Ca n a d a West u sing such tr a n s p o r t a t i o n facilities as were available. The result was a travelogue e n t i t l e d West e r n wanderings, or, A Pleasure Tour of the Canadas that was p u b l i s h e d in London, England, and M o n t r e a l in 1856. We join W i l l i a m H. G. K i n g s t o n and his wife as they arrived at the h ead of the S t u r g e o n Bay Road, where K A L O O L A H awaited their arrival, and fo l l o w wit h e x c erpts from K i n g s t o n ' s leng t h y account. "Had we been told that the vessel on b oard of w h i c h we were about to embark was built of pasteboard, we might have almost b e l i e v e d it. She a p p e a r e d as if she was kept together alone by the huge arch w h i c h ran from her stem to her stern, but w h i c h in reality adds great strength to her construction. On going on board, we found the captain had q u i t t e d her, as had some of the mates and engineers. I beli eve the stewardess, also, had been dismissed; so that c o n s i d e r i n g there was a h e a v y gale blowing, we had but little promise of safety or comfort. Had it not been for the rugged wa y we must retreat, I think we should have turned back. However, as the owner and his son were on board, and by the map it a p p eared that our course w o u l d not lead us through a n y broad part of the lake, we resolved to bide by the ship... "We had a steward, Luis, an Italian, who was a host h i m I v e r i l y think that the ship would not have kept part of steward and stewardess, chief cook and barber, &c.; every now and then he was to be seen h u r r y i n g hand, m e n d i n g windows and n a i l i n g up doors w h i c h the We were a c c o m m o d a t e d in the only enclosed cabin in the s l e e p i n g - p l a c e s b eing mere o r d i n a r y berths at the side ladies ' c a b i n ... in himself... Without afloat. He acted the w a i t e r and carpenter, about with ha m m e r in gale had b r o k e n open. ship, the rest of the of the saloon and the "We got under way at about five A . M., and in two hours reached P e n e t a n g u i shene. As we were steaming away, we were ha i l e d by two Indians w ho came p a d d l i n g after us in a canoe. We stopped, h a u l e d them up w i t h a bag of corn and some fishing tackle, and then hois t e d up their b i r c h - b a r k canoe... "On getting outside the harbour of P e n e t a nguishene, we found that the e x p ected gale had spru ng up, and we began rolling, and pitching, and tumbling about in the most u n enviable manner; the short chopping seas look i n g as if e very instant they w ould break aboard of us and send our frail craft to the bottom. Not a stit ch of canvas, nor a stick to set it on, had she to aid in ste a d y i n g her; and I saw that if our m a c h i n e r y gave way, we must be driven, w ith o u t the power of guiding ourselves, at the m e r c y of the wi nds and waves... H a d I known what a civil engineer, a f e l l o w - p a s s e n g e r , aft er w a r d s told me, that the engine was high-pressure, and that it was t e r ribly out of order, I should have been far less at ease... All we could do was to sit in a sort of s t e r n - g a l l e r y outs ide the saloon, h o l d i n g on to the stanchions w h i c h s u pported the roof... "We passed (Giant's) Tomb Island... Our p i t c h i n g s and n u m b e r l e s s e c centric t u m b l i f i c a t i o n s had now reached a point w h i c h the ru l i n g powers on board deemed no longer safe, and the Chr i s t i a n group of Islands being near at hand, we ran for shelter under their l e e , and a n c h o r e d in a deep bay... A f ter a one o'clock dinner, at the sugge s t i o n of the the Sher i f f (one of the p a s s e n g e r s - E d . ), we b o r rowed one of the ship's boats, in order to visit an Indian sett lement on shore... "Seeing smoke asc e n d i n g from the steamer's funnel, we paddled back to her, f a n c y i n g that she was pre p a r i n g to get u nder way, but either the cook was st i rring up his fire or the b l a c k s m i t h was m e n d i n g some of the machinery, for she r e m ained steady at anch or until the next morning... The w i n d falling somewhat at daylight, the stea mer was got u n d e r w a y and ran towards the new settlement of C o l l i n g w o o d . " Mr. K i n g s t o n observed the cut through the dense forest where the r a i l w a y had bee n brou ght almost down to the dock that was still u nder construction. K A LO O L A H could not use this dock and so stood off at an c h o r in the bay. P a s