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20
cleared the River on the 26th. It took a good three days to go down the
St Lawrence with the current and the wind in its back. The Schooner Dolphin,
on the other hand, took 13 days to take 20 of the survivors from Anticosti
Island up the St Lawrence River to Quebec City.
24
Once again, Emily Cameron's memory is correct. The Brig Rob Roy, the Bark
John Howard, and the Schooner Dolphin, all took passengers of the Earl of
Dalhousie
from Anticosti Island to Quebec City, and some of the crew were
taken up by the Brig Elizabeth.
25
Nancy Owston, e-mail dated October 18, 2007.
26
It is not clear if "ship's cholera" is in fact cholera or "ship fever", which is
typhus.
Typhus is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia typhi
and is transmitted by the
fleas, lice or ticks that infest rats. The incubation period in humans is one to
two weeks. The symptoms, including severe headache, sustained high fever,
cough, rash, nausea, vomiting, chills and delirium, set in quickly. Untreated,
the mortality rate is 10-60%, especially amongst those who are young, old or in
poor health.
(Asiatic) cholera, on the other hand, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by
the bacterium Vibrio. It is transmitted to humans and spread by ingesting
contaminated food or water. It is one of the most rapidly fatal diseases known
and those infected may die within three hours.
There may have been cases of ship fever during the passage, and cholera upon
landing. The fact that the passengers went on to Montreal so soon after arriving
in Quebec City suggests that they were not quarantined because of illness on
board.
27
Written by Nancy Owston's relative, Brad William Bradford (b. 1926).
28
Quebec Mercury, September 4, 1821, Vol XVII, No 36, p 287
29
George Heriot 1759-1839, watercolour, graphite on paper.
30
There are three tombstones enclosed by a wrought iron fence in the old part
of the cemetery at Corpach Church, which illustrate the transition from Duncan
McPhee & Mary Cameron to daughter Ann MacPhee & Malcolm Colquhoun at
Kinlochiel, west of Fort William.
31
According to my grandfather's first cousin, Alexander Murray McPhee, his
father Donald (Daniel) McPhee (1843 -1921) talked about "climbing Ben Nevis".
Since he was born in Canada and never went to Scotland, this story can only
have come from his father, Donald McPhee (c. 1810-1869) who would have been
a child of about ten if he were on the Earl of Dalhousie.
In his family history of the Camerons, Brad Bradford states: "According to
stories Aunt Emily Cameron told her nieces and nephews, the Cameron home in
Scotland was within sight of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland.
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