Montreal Gazette May 27, 1834

The bustle of business, usual on the arrival of our spring vessels has now fairly commenced. Emigrants for embarkation for Upper Canada, crowded the steamboat wharves the whole of the past week. The John Bull took up more than six hundred on her last trip; the Voyageur upwards of four hundred, and the Canadian Patriot about two hundred, on Saturday evening. The number already arrived in port exceeds 4,000, and little less than 1000 are known to be at Grosse Isle. Generally speaking they are of a respectable class, and those who have thus landed within a few days, have conducted themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner. What may be the general character of those yet to come, the total of which seems more likely to exceed that of last year, we can only gather from the masters of vessels with whom we have conversed on the subject. These are unanimous in the opinion that most of the emigrants from Great Britain will be well able to provide for themselves; some are in affluent circumstances. On board the Westmoreland, Capt. Knill, arrived on Saturday, four families have from 700 to 1000 sovereigns each; others 200 and there is scarcely one family that had not 100. They have brought with them great quantities of implements of husbandry, seeds, &c. for their own use. All of them intend residing in Upper Canada, where they will be joined shortly by upwards of six hundred others from Yorkshire, most of them practical farmers, with sufficient capital to purchase cleared lands or stock farms. The latter were to sail from Hull between the 10th and 25th April in the following large vessels for Quebec: - Aurora, Triton, Harmony, Victory, St. Mary, and Forrester:— Quebec Chronicle

Montreal Gazette June 10, 1834

Sometimes the voyage across the ocean was uneventful and all of the turmoil started after landing. This item from June 10, 1834 from the Montreal Gazette (but copied from the York Courier) shows the movement of traffic up the Lakes - these are Lake steamers not Atlantic Ocean ships.

"The number of emigrants arrived this season, as recorded at the office of His Majesty's Chief Agent, Quebec, to the 7th instant, amounts to 11,848. In the same period last year 5,662.

At this port [York later Toronto], emigrants continue to arrive in considerable numbers. The steamer "United States" came up on Tuesday night with near 400 British emigrants, the greater part of whom were taken from on board the "William IV", which unfortunately broke her shaft near the False Ducks, and was obliged to return to Kingston. The "United States" had also a number of British emigrants who came out by way of New York, for this Province and she had also a great many American settlers proceeding from the Eastern States to Michigan, &c. The "Kingston" steamer came up again yesterday with 180 emigrants, part of whom were landed in the Newcastle District. More than half of those landed here from the "United States" and "Kingston" steamers have since proceeded to the head of the Lake. The "United Kingdom" came in this morning. She brought up about eighty emigrants, nearly half of whom were landed at Cobourg or Port Hope. The "Great Britain" came up at noon today. She left Prescott with 470 emigrants (two third Irish) about 150 of whom were left at Cobourg and at Port Hope, and the rest disembarked here. She had 40 cabin passengers and a heavy cargo of freight. The whole number who have arrived this season at the different ports in this section of the Province, from Quebec and from New York, can be little less than two thousand five hundred. In looking over the late Irish papers, we perceive that the emigration from that country, is expected to be greater this season than in any former year."--York Courier, May 29.

The paper also mentions that the Quebec agent was trying to get captains of the Atlantic ships to comply with the "Capitation Tax" (this was a tax on each immigrant to pay for the immigration facilities such as Grosse Isle). He also mentions a few wrecks:

"Mr. B. begs to return his thanks to the several Masters of vessels who brought up from Gaspe, St. Paul's, and other parts of the Gulf, a number of ship-wrecked Emigrants; and for the liberal treatment they received. To the Agents of the several Steamboats, Mr. Buchanan's thanks are also justly due, for their readiness in granting gratuitous passages to Montreal, to several shipwrecked Emigrants and other persons whom the Chief Agent considered proper objects for such charity."

One of the wrecks was the brig "Isabella" and the Schooner Dolphin picked up 36 of the survivors and took them to Miramichi May 27 the rest were taken to Quebec. The "Proselyte", of Limerick, with 223 passengers was also wrecked but all "have been safely landed to Richibucto in a lamentable state of misery..." The other vessel with 290 passengers is not named. The "Astrea" was also wrecked but some 249 lives were lost.

The St George has made an alteration in her downward trip. By leaving Niagara at an earlier hour, she will arrive at Kingston early on Thursday morning, instead of at noon. (Montreal Gazette, July 24, 1834)

Saturday the brig Czar sailed from Greenock for New York, with 110 passengers, and the brig Cartha for Quebec, with 200. The total amount of emigration from Greenock this season to New York is 1,393; to the British Colonies, 687. A number of other vessels are on the berth, and emigrants for embarkation are pouring in. (Montreal Gazette, July 29, 1834.)

Montreal Gazette August 1, 1834

We have frequently heard the character of emigrant ships from Ireland declared to be worse than that of those concerned in the slave trade from Africa; the account given by the passengers of the Thomas Gelston from Londonderry, substantiates the opinion. The passengers by this vessel state the number including children to have been somewhere from 450 to 517, They were nine weeks on the passage and suffered much from want of water and provisions. - Besides two tiers of berths on the sides, the vessel was filled with a row of berths down the centre, between which and the side berths there was only a passage of about three feet. The passengers were thus obliged to eat in their berths, each of which contained a great many persons say five and upwards. In one were a man, his wife, his sister, and five children; in another were six full grown young women, while that above them contained five men, and the next one eight men. These statements are given on the concurrent testimony of several passengers. Fortunately, a succession of fine weather enabled them to keep the hatches open; in a storm they would have been smothered. Although these people landed safely at Grosse Isle, a great deal of sickness has broke out among them since. A part of them came up by the Canadian Eagle on Wednesday [August 6?], from which about a dozen persons were taken to the cholera hospital soon after their arrival. Daily Advertiser [Montreal]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE QUEBEC GAZETTE SIR,-
Being desirous of ascertaining the practical effects of the plan proposed by the Sanitary Committee of the Common Council, in their address to His Excellency the Governor in Chief, of the 9th inst., I beg to suggest the expediency of hiring a schooner, to be anchored at the mouth of the river St. Charles. That on the first day when Fahrenheit's thermometer will range from about 90 to 96 degrees, the members of the Committee accompanied by their Secretary to record occurences, and attended by the Physician and Surgeon of the Marine Hospital, to watch symptoms &c., do proceed on board the schooner, there to remain in strict quarantine for at least forty eight hours. That their diet, during this period, be sailor's biscuit, salt beef or pork, oatmeal and potatoes, with the river water, and nothing else as a drink. That they be placed in every respect, as nearly as possible, in a situation similar to that of healthy passengers arriving in a clean vessel, or from Grosse Isle. That, at the expiration of the eight-and-forty hours, the schooner be boarded by competent medical practicioners, who will require from each individual, but more especially from the professional gentlemen on board, a particular statement of all circumstances which may have occurred during the period of quarantine. If it appears that all have been healthy, that no case of sickness, nor any premonitory symptoms exist, it may then be time to take into consideration the proposed plan of keeping a clean vessel, with a healthy crew and healthy passengers, forty-eight hours at the mouth of the river St. Charles; excluded from all communication with the shore, and exposed to the rays of a burning sun, without the possibilty of shelter, without water, other than that of the river, which is always injurious to strangers; and subject also to all inconveniences attendant on a crowded vessel in a hot climate. But, until the proposers of this plan prove its efficacy, by actual and repeated experiments on themselves, they must not feel surprised that some who look to facts in preference to crude theory, should differ from them in opinion, and look upon their suggestions as tending to originate and propagate disease, instead of preventing its dissemination.
EXPERIMENT
Quebec, 11th August, 1834