Smith's Canadian gazetteer - ElectricCanadian.com

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WELLINGTON.
A. small Village situated in the south-east corner of the township of Hillier,
Mid partly in the township of Hallowell: it contains about LOO inhabitants,
riiere are two churches in tlie village— Catholic and Methodist There are
three stores in the village.
WENTWOllTH.
A County in the Gore District; it comprises the tOAvnships of Ancaster, Rrantford.
niubrooke, Barton, Glandford, Onandaga, Saltfleet and Tuscarora; and
ibr all i)urposcs, except that of rejiresentation in the Legislative Assembly, and
that of registration of titles, the townships of Seneca and Oneida; and, except
for the purpose of represetitation in the Legislative Assembly, the town of
Hamilton.
WESTERN DISTRICT.
Consists of the Counties of Essex and Kent It is the most south-westerly
district in the Province, and is bounded on the east by the London District
and a small portion of the Huron District; on the north by Lake Huron; on
the west by tlie River St. Clair, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River; and on
the soutli by Lake Erie. It is watered by the River Thames and the River
Sydenham, or iJear Creek; the River aux Sables, and numerous small streams
are distributed over the district. This district contains some of the finest land,
and the most temperate climate of any portion of the province; the winter is
short, and the spring sets in early. The valley of the Thames, as also that of
Bear Creek, contain large portions of fine farming land, well adapted for raising
wheat; as do also the townships of Moore, Sarnia, Plympton, Warwick and
Enniskillen; and the soil for about seven miles below Chatham is noted for the
superior quality of peas it produces. The County of Essex is well fitted for
the cultivation of Indian corn, and tobacco of very good quality has been raised
in it.
This district, although possessing the most temperate climate, the shortest
winter, and some of the richest land in the province, has hitherto settled up
very slowly. This may be attributed to various causes; in the first place, its
remoteness, and till very lately, the lack of convenient modes of reaching it:
again, many emigrants newly arrived in the country, having very incautiously
settled themselves down on the plains or prairies, within ccmvenient distances
of extensive marshes, attracted by the greenness of the pasture (not, after all,
much greener than themselves), and the ease with which the land could be
brought into cultivation; where, as any reasonable person would have anticipated,
they soon (from the miasma arising from the marshes) caught ague and
fevers. These, removing to other parts of the country, and blaming, not their
own folly, as tliey ought to have done, but the climate of the country generally,
deterred other settlers from venturing into it It is true that in the Western
District there are many wet and marshy places, but not more in proportion
than in other parts of the province; but most of these may be easily drained,
for many of tlmse places which were wet three or four years ago have been
effectually drained in making the new roads through the district. No localities
can be drier or more healthy than the townships on the upper portions of the
Thames and Bear Creek, and on Lake Huron. And, on a hot summer's day,
no situation can be more agreeable than that of the settlers on the banks of Lake
Huron, in the township of Plympton,—the air is seldom sultry, and there is
generally a refreshing breeze from the lake. On the lake shore vegetation
flourishes; and the farms, gardens and orchards never suffer from late or early
frosts. In the townshijjs of Dover and Tilbury a large portion of the land consists
of open plains, jjartaking very much of the nature of marsh: these are
very useful for grazing cattle, which thrive very well on them; but no man of
:'OMjmon sense would dream of nuiking his habitation on them— those of course
yho have done so, have suffered the consequences.