A delay of the mail train enabled us to pay a visit to the lovely Cove of Cork. We landed at the pleasant quay, ascended Lookout Hill, and partook of the hospitality of the Queen’s Hotel.
The jaunting cars, negro minstrels, mendicants, men-of-war’s men, yachtsmen, and hawkers occupied the foreground, while the cove itself was studded with vessels, among which some of our ironclads and gunboats were conspicuous.
The view was bounded by the islands of Spike and Haulbowline, and the famous lighthouse that marks the entrance to the harbour.
It was about half-past four on the following day week when I was aroused from sleep by the report of a cannon close to our saloon. The first idea that I had on awakening was, that we had struck upon a rock, but my neighbour informed me it was a salute we were firing on entering Halifax harbour.
We had made one of the quickest passages on record; for before five o’clock a.m. on Monday, the 9th of October, we arrived at Halifax, being only seven days and twelve hours from the time of our departure from Queenstown.
I proceeded to Boston, where I remained one day. I left that city for Montreal. I reached the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel in that place at ten a.m. on Thursday, the 12th of October.
I confess that the three hundred miles of night travelling, following so closely on the voyage out, caused me great bodily fatigue, and I suffered much from mental depression.
As I sat alone that morning, some three thousand miles away from home, and as far distant from any friend, I began to reflect whether I had not undertaken a task of too great magnitude.
I was weak enough to regret having left the shores of England upon what now appeared so Quixotic an undertaking. It was too late for regret, and I immediately dispelled my doubts by action.
My first step was to collect my credentials and call upon the solicitors whose advice was to guide my future proceedings. Messrs Roberts & Roe are one of the most eminent firms of avocats in Montreal.