Sisters in the Wilderness - Charlotte Gray [34]
None of this wealth was apparent, though, when the Traills arrived, and the newcomers were not impressed by the city. They found themselves enveloped in the foul smell of open sewers as they walked through narrow, garbage-strewn streets to the Hotel Nelson, on Place Jacques Cartier. The 1832 cholera epidemic had swept through Montreal, wiping out whole families and orphaning infants. Catharine was horrified by the mean houses, the ragged street urchins, the drunken emigrants lurching through the town, the overcrowded boarding houses. She urged Thomas to clear their luggage through customs as quickly as possible, so they could travel on to Upper Canada.
Perhaps the customs officials were too overworked. Perhaps Thomas let himself be elbowed aside by other, pushier colonists. Either way, the Traills’ bags were stuck in the customs warehouse. In the sultry heat of late August, Catharine did not have enough energy for sightseeing. She was still not completely recovered from the sickness she had contracted while in Scotland and was apprehensive of further infection. So she remained at the hotel while they waited, and got to know her fellow guests and the hotel staff.
Finally, after two long days, the Traills’ bags were released from customs. But by then, Catharine’s fears had been realized: she was feverish, sweating, writhing with stomach cramps and throwing up repeatedly. Cholera had struck.
Thomas had no idea what to do. But Catharine’s sweet nature had captivated the hotel staff, who found her a refreshing contrast to the imperious or condescending English women they usually had to serve. The housekeeper and maids appreciated her gentle manners and genuine interest in their families, their backgrounds, and their views on life in Montreal. The landlady’s sister, Jane Taylor, came to Catharine’s rescue. She despatched Thomas to find a physician and, oblivious to the risks of contagion, settled down to nurse Catharine through the crisis. When the doctor arrived, he quickly applied the finest remedies known to the nineteenth century—bleeding, an emetic and some opium to dull the pain, none of which had any impact on the infection. It was Jane Taylor’s round-the-clock nursing and concern that Catharine should never become dehydrated (coupled with Catharine’s strong constitution) that probably saved her life. At the same time, Jane soothed Thomas, who was frantic with worry. Almost miraculously, Catharine did begin to recover. Within a week, although she was still frail, she was pronounced well enough to travel on to Upper Canada.
The cholera episode—Catharine’s first experience of her new fellow countrymen—confirmed her faith in the essential humanity of all the different people she met. Her sister Susanna felt lost in a country with no established order. Susanna’s first impression of Canada was of a frightening chaos, peopled by rude illiterates, amongst whom her exquisite sense of social nuance was useless. Catharine’s first impression could not have been more different. She had enjoyed kindness from strangers, and she had survived the cholera because people she barely knew had taken it upon themselves to nurse her. Emigration gave Catharine new friends, new plants and the excitement of a new life.
Chapter 5
Land of Stumps
W hat did it remind them of ? What was it like? It is hard to imagine the feelings of these two women in their first few weeks in North America. They could as well have landed on a new planet as a new continent. They