Pearls and PebblesHow fitting to close out the 20th century with a brand new edition of Pearls & Pebbles by the noted chronicler of pioneer life, Catharine Parr Traill. Published in 1894, Pearls & Pebbles is an unusual book with a lasting charm, in which the author's broad focus ranges from the Canadian natural environment to early settlement of Upper Canada. Through Traill's eyes, we see the life of the pioneer woman, the disappearance of the forest, and the corresponding changes in the life of the Native Canadians who have inhabited that forest. Editor Elizabeth Thompson reminds us of the significance of the writings by Traill, the aged author/naturalist, who felt that the hours spent gathering the pebbles and pearls from her notebooks and journals written in the backwoods of Canada was not time wasted. |
From inside the book
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... branches and effete bark and fruitful seed . " Now that it has fallen , and as it decomposes , it provides a home for lichens and mosses . Finally , it will become a “ rich black vegetable mould . ” The process of growth and ...
... branches with those of the dark feathery hemlock , pine and balsam firs . The grey cedars , too , delighted the eye which had become wearied with the glare of the sun upon the glassy surface of the water . Our progress was slow and ...
... branches of the maple and beech trees in the grove beyond my garden . I recall last year at this same date when all the trees were in leaf and the plum and apple trees in full bloom . We are three weeks later this year . Well , it is ...
... branches , leaves and fragrant blossoms . It is the favorite resort of the lit- tle yellow birds . * Some call these birds " wild canaries , " but there is a great difference between the species , the true wild canary being larger , of ...
... branch of a tree in the orchard , composed of grey lichens , lined with the softest plant down . Eggs , two , pure white , blushed with pink while fresh . McIlwraith , Birds of Ontario . Hepatica , Bellwort , Spring Beauty , Anemone ...
Contents
3 | |
5 | |
9 | |
14 | |
21 | |
MORE ABOUT MY FEATHERED FRIENDS | 32 |
A DEFENSE | 45 |
NOTES FROM MY OLD DIARY | 49 |
THOUGHTS ON VEGETABLE INSTINCT | 109 |
SOME CURIOUS PLANTS | 115 |
SOME VARIETIES OF POLLEN | 120 |
THE CRANBERRY MARSH | 123 |
OUR NATIVE GRASSES | 126 |
INDIAN GRASS | 132 |
MOSSES AND LICHENS | 136 |
THE INDIAN MOSS BAG | 141 |
THE SPIDER | 58 |
PROSPECTING AND WHAT I FOUND IN MY DIGGING | 62 |
THE ROBIN AND THE MIRROR | 65 |
IN THE CANADIAN WOODS | 67 |
THE FIRST DEATH IN THE CLEARING | 82 |
ALONE IN THE FOREST | 90 |
ON THE ISLAND OF MINNEWAWA | 99 |
THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST | 103 |
SOMETHING GATHERS UP THE FRAGMENTS | 144 |
APPENDIX A | 151 |
APPENDIX B | 181 |
APPENDIX C | 183 |
ENDNOTES | 187 |
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS | 199 |
INDEX | 203 |