both sides of the lake are high chains of mountains; with the
difference which I have before observed, that on the eastern shore, is
a low piece of ground covered with a forest, extending between twelve
and eighteen English miles, after which the mountains begin; and the
country behind them belongs to New England. This chain consists of high
mountains, which are to be considered as the boundaries between the
French and English possessions in these parts of North America. On the
western shore of the lake, the mountains reach quite to the water side.
The lake at first is but a French mile broad, but always encreases
afterwards. The country is inhabited within a French mile of the fort,
but after that, it is covered with a thick forest. At the distance of
about ten French miles from fort St. Frederic, the lake is four such
miles broad, and we perceive some islands in it. The captain of the
yacht said there were about sixty islands in that lake, of which some
were of a considerable size. He assured me that the lake was in most
parts so deep, that a line of two hundred yards could not fathom it;
and close to the shore, where a chain of mountains generally runs
across the country, it frequently has a depth of eighty fathoms.
Fourteen French miles from fort St. Frederic we saw four large islands
in the lake, which is here about six French miles broad. This day the
sky was cloudy, and the clouds, which were very low, seemed to surround
several high mountains, near the lake, with a fog; and from many
mountains the fog rose, as the smoke of a charcoal-kiln. Now and then
we saw a little river which fell into the lake: the country behind the
high mountains, on the western side of the lake, is, as I am told,
covered for many miles together with a tall forest, intersected by many
rivers and brooks, with marshes and small lakes, and very fit to be
inhabited. The shores are sometimes rocky, and sometimes sandy here.
Towards night the mountains decreased gradually; the lake is very
clear, and we observed neither rocks nor shallows in it. Late at night
the wind abated, and we anchored close to the shore, and spent one
night here.
July the 20th. This morning we proceeded with a fair wind. The place
where we passed the night, was above half way to fort St. John; for the
distance of that place from fort St. Frederic, across lake Champlain is
computed to be forty-one French miles; that lake is here about six
English miles in breadth. The mountains were now out of sight, and the
country low, plain, and covered with trees. The shores were sandy, and
the lake appeared now from four to six miles broad. It was really
broader, but the islands made it appear narrower.
We often saw Indians in bark-boats, close to the shore, which was
however not inhabited; for the Indians came here only to catch
sturgeons, wherewith this lake abounds, and which we often saw leaping
up into the air. These Indians lead a very singular life: At one time
of the year they live upon the small store of maize, beans, and melons,
which they have planted; during another period, or about this time,
their food is fish, without bread or any other meat; and another
season, they eat nothing but stags, roes, beavers, &c. which they shoot
in the woods, and rivers. They, however, enjoy long life, perfect
health, and are more able to undergo hardships than other people. They
sing and dance, are joyful, and always content; and would not, for a
great deal, exchange their manner of life for that which is preferred
in Europe.
When we were yet ten French miles from fort St. John, we law some
houses on the western side of the lake, in which the French had lived
before the last war, and which they then abandoned, as it was by no
means safe: they now returned to them again. These were the first
houses and settlements which we saw after we had left those about fort
St. Frederic.
There formerly was a wooden fort, or redoubt, on the eastern side of
the lake, near the water-side; and the place where it stood was shewn
me, which at present is quite overgrown with trees. The French built it
to prevent the incursions of the Indians, over this lake; and I was
assured that many Frenchmen had been slain in these places. At the same
time they told me, that they reckon four women to one man in Canada,
because annually several Frenchmen are killed on their expeditions,
which they undertake for the sake of trading with the Indians.
A windmill, built of stone, stands on the east side of the lake on a
projecting piece of ground. Some Frenchmen have lived near it; but they
left it when the war broke out, and are not yet come back to it. From
this mill to fort St. John they reckon eight French miles. The English,
with their Indians, have burnt the houses here several times, but the
mill remained unhurt.
The yacht which we went in to St. John was the first that was built
here, and employed on lake Champlain, for formerly they made use of
bateaux to send provisions over the lake. The Captain of the yacht was
a Frenchman, born in this country; he had built it, and taken the
soundings of the lake, in order to find out the true road, between fort
St. John and fort St. Frederic. Opposite the windmill the lake is about
three fathoms deep, but it grows more and more shallow, the nearer it
comes to fort St. John.
We now perceived houses on the shore again. The captain had otter-skins
in the cabin, which were perfectly the same, in colour and species,
with the European ones. Otters are said to be very abundant in Canada.
Seal-skins are here made use of to cover boxes and trunks, and they
often make portmantles of them in Canada. The common people had their
tobacco-pouches made of the same skins. The seals here are entirely the
same with the Swedish or European one, which are grey with black spots.
They are said to be plentiful in the mouth of the river St. Lawrence,
below Quebec, and go up that river as far as its water is salt. They
have not been found in any of the great lakes of Canada. The French
call them Loups marins. [13]
The French, in their colonies, spend much more time in prayer and
external worship, than the English, and Dutch settlers in the British
colonies. The latter have neither morning nor evening prayer in their
ships and yachts, and no difference is made between Sunday and other
days. They never, or very seldom, say grace at dinner. On the contrary,
the French here have prayers every morning and night on board their
shipping, and on Sundays they pray more than commonly: they regularly
say grace at their meals; and every one of them says prayers in private
as soon as he gets up. At fort St. Frederic all the soldiers assembled
together for morning and evening prayers. The only fault was, that most
of the prayers were read in Latin, which a great part of the people do
not understand. Below the aforementioned wind-mill, the breadth of the
lake is about a musket-shot, and it looks more like a river than a
lake. The country on both sides is low and flat, and covered with
woods. We saw at first a few scattered cottages along the shore; but a
little further, the country is inhabited without interruption. The lake
is here from six to ten foot deep, and forms several islands. During
the whole course of this voyage, the situation of the lake was always
directly from S. S. W. to N. N. E.
In some parts of Canada are great tracts of land belonging to single
persons; from these lands, pieces, of forty Arpens long, and four wide,
are allotted to each discharged soldier, who intends to settle here;
but after his household is established, he is obliged to pay the owner
of the lands six French Francs annually.
The lake was now so shallow in several places, that we were obliged to
trace the way for the yacht, by sounding the depth with branches of
trees. In other places opposite, it was sometimes two fathom deep.
In the evening, about sun set, we arrived at fort St. Jean, or St.
John, having had a continual change of rain, sun-shine, wind, and calm,
all the afternoon.
July the 21st. St. John is a wooden fort, which the French built in
1748, on the western shore of the mouth of lake Champlain, close to the
water-side. It was intended to cover the country round about it, which
they were then going to people, and to serve as a magazine for
provisions and ammunition, which were usually sent from Montreal to
fort St. Frederic; because they may go in yachts from hence to the last
mentioned place, which is impossible lower down, as about two gun-shot
further, there is a shallow full of stones, and very rapid water in the
river, over which they can only pass in bateaux, or flat vessels.
Formerly fort Chamblan, which lies four French miles lower, was the
magazine of provisions; but as they were forced first to send them
hither in bateaux, and then from hence in yachts, and the road to fort
Chamblan from Montreal being by land, and much round about, this fort
was erected. It has a low situation, and lies in a sandy soil, and the
country about it is likewise low, flat; and covered with woods. The
fort is quadrangular, and includes the space of one arpent square. In
each of the two corners which look towards the lake is a wooden
building, four stories high, the lower part of which is of stone to the
height of about a fathom and a half. In these buildings which are
polyangular, are holes for cannon and lesser fire-arms. In each of the
two other corners towards the country, is only a little wooden house,
two stories high. These buildings are intended for the habitations of
the soldiers, and for the better defence of the place; between these
houses, there are poles, two fathoms and a half high, sharpened at the
top, and driven into the ground close to one another. They are made of
the Thuya tree, which is here reckoned the best wood for keeping from
putrefaction, and is much preferable to fir in that point. Lower down
the palisades were double, one row within the other. For the
convenience of the soldiers, a broad elevated pavement, of more than
two yards in height, is made in the inside of the fort all along the
palisades, with a balustrade. On this pavement the soldiers stand and
fire through the holes upon the enemy, without being exposed to their
fire. In the last year, 1748, two hundred men were in garrison here;
but at this time there were only a governor, a commissary, a baker, and
six soldiers to take care of the fort and buildings, and to superintend
the provisions which are carried to this place. The person who now
commanded at the fort, was the Chevalier de Gannes, a very agreeable
gentleman, and brother-in-law to Mr. Lusignan, the governor of fort St.
Frederic. The ground about the fort, on both sides of the water, is
rich and has a very good soil; but it is still without inhabitants,
though it is talked of, that it should get some as soon as possible.
The French in all Canada call the gnats Marangoins, which name, it is
said, they have borrowed from the Indians. These insects are in such
prodigious numbers in the woods round fort St. John, that it would have
been more properly called fort de Marangoins. The marshes and the low
situation of the country, together with the extent of the woods,
contribute greatly to their multiplying so much; and when the woods
will be cut down, the water drained, and the country cultivated, they
probably will decrease in number, and vanish at last, as they have done
in other places.
The Rattle Snake, according to the unanimous accounts of the French, is
never seen in this neighbourhood, nor further north near Montreal and
Quebec; and the mountains which surround fort St. Frederic, are the
most northerly part on this side, where they have been seen. Of all the
snakes which are found in Canada to the north of these mountains, none
is poisonous enough to do any great harm to a man; and all without
exception run away when they see a man. My remarks on the nature and
properties of the rattle-snake, I have communicated to the royal
Swedish academy of sciences, [14] and thither I refer my readers.
July the 22d. This evening some people arrived with horses from
Prairie, in order to fetch us. The governor had sent for them at my
desire, because there were not yet any horses near fort St. John, the
place being only a year old, and the people had not had time to settle
near it. Those who led the horses, brought letters to the governor from
the governor-general of Canada, the Marquis la Galissonniere, dated at
Quebec the fifteenth of this month, and from the vice-governor of
Montreal, the Baron de Longueil, dated the twenty-first of the same
month. They mentioned that I had been particularly recommended by the
French court, and that the governor should supply me with every thing I
wanted, and forward my journey; and at the same time the governor
received two little casks of wine for me, which they thought would
relieve me on my journey. At night we drank the kings of France and
Sweden’s health, under a salute from the cannon of the fort, and the
health of the governor-general and others.
July the 23d. This morning we set out on our journey to Prairie, from
whence we intended to proceed to Montreal; the distance of Prairie from
fort St. John, by land, is reckoned six French miles, and from thence
to Montreal two lieues (leagues) and a half, by the river St. Lawrence.
At first we kept along the shore, so that we had on our right the
Riviere de St. Jean (St. John’s river). This is the name of the mouth
of the lake Champlain, which falls into the river St. Lawrence, and is
sometimes called Riviere de Champlain (Champlain river.) After we had
travelled about a French mile, we turned to the left from the shore.
The country was always low, woody, and pretty wet, though it was in the
midst of summer; so that we found it difficult to get forward. But it
is to be observed that fort St. John was only built last summer, when
this road was first made, and consequently it could not yet have
acquired a proper degree of solidity. Two hundred and sixty men were
three months at work, in making this road; for which they were fed at
the expence of the government, and each received thirty sols every day;
and I was told that they would again resume the work next autumn. The
country hereabouts is low and woody, and of course the residence of
millions of gnats and flies, which were very troublesome to us. After
we had gone about three French miles, we came out of the woods, and the
ground seemed to have been formerly a marsh, which was now dried up.
From hence we had a pretty good prospect on all sides. On our right
hand at a great distance we saw two high mountains, rising remarkably
above the rest; and they were not far from fort Champlain. We could
likewise from hence see the high mountain which lies near Montreal; and
our road went on nearly in a straight line. Soon after, we got again
upon wet and low grounds, and after that into a wood which consisted
chiefly of the fir with leaves which have a silvery underside. [15] We
found the soil which we passed over to-day, very fine and rich, and
when the woods will be cleared and the ground cultivated, it will
probably prove very fertile. There are no rocks, and hardly any stones
near the road.
About four French miles from fort St. John, the country makes quite
another appearance. It is all cultivated, and a continual variety of
fields with excellent wheat, pease, and oats, presented itself to our
view; but we saw no other kinds of corn. The farms stood scattered, and
each of them was surrounded by its corn fields, and meadows; the houses
are built of wood and very small. Instead of moss, which cannot be got
here, they employ clay for stopping up the crevices in the walls. The
roofs are made very much sloping, and covered with straw. The soil is
good, flat, and divided by several rivulets; and only in a few places
there are some little hills. The prospect is very fine from this part
of the road, and as far as I could see the country, it was cultivated;
all the fields were covered with corn, and they generally use
summer-wheat here. The ground is still very fertile, so that there is
no occasion for leaving it ly as fallow. The forests are pretty much
cleared, and it is to be feared that there will be a time, when wood
will become very scarce. Such was the appearance of the country quite
up to Prairie, and the river St. Lawrence, which last we had now always
in sight; and, in a word this country was, in my opinion the finest of
North-America, which I had hitherto seen.
About dinner-time we arrived at Prairie, which is situated on a little
rising ground near the river St. Lawrence. We staid here this day,
because I intended to visit the places in this neighbourhood, before I
went on.
Prairie de la Magdelene is a small village on the eastern side of the
river St. Lawrence, about two French miles and a half from Montreal,
which place lies N. W. from hence, on the other side of the river. All
the country round Prairie is quite flat, and has hardly any risings. On
all sides are large corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. On the western
side, the river St. Lawrence passes by, and has here a breadth of a
French mile and a half, if not more. Most of the houses in Prairie are
built of timber, with sloping wooden roofs, and the crevices in the
walls are stopped up with clay. There are some little buildings of
stone, chiefly of the black lime-stone, or of pieces of rock-stone, in
which latter the enchasement of the doors and windows was made of the
black lime-stone. In the midst of the village is a pretty church of
stone, with a steeple at the west end of it, furnished with bells.
Before the door is a cross, together with ladders, tongs, hammers,
nails, &c. which are to represent all the instruments made use of at
the crucifixion of our Saviour, and perhaps many others besides them.
The village is surrounded with palisades, from four yards to five high,
put up formerly as a barrier against the incursions of the Indians.
Without these palisades are several little kitchen and pleasure
gardens, but very few fruit-trees in them. The rising grounds along the
river, are very inconsiderable here. In this place there was a priest,
and a captain, who assumed the name of governor. The corn-fields round
the place are extensive, and sown with summer-wheat; but rye, barley
and maize are never seen. To the south-west of this place is a great
fall in the river St. Lawrence, and the noise which it causes, may be
plainly heard here. When the water in spring encreases in the river, on
account of the ice which then begins to dissolve, it sometimes happens
to rise so high as to overflow a great part of the fields, and, instead
of fertilizing them as the river Nile fertilizes the Egyptian fields by
its inundations, it does them much damage, by carrying a number of
grasses and plants on them, the seeds of which spread the worst kind of
weeds, and ruin the fields. These inundations oblige the people to take
their cattle a great way off, because the water covers a great tract of
land; but happily it never stays on it above two or three days. The
cause of these inundations is generally owing to the stopping of ice in
some part of the river.
The Zizania aquatica, or Folle Avoine grows plentiful in the rivulet,
or brook, which flows somewhat below Prairie.
July the 24th. This morning I went from Prairie in a bateau to
Montreal, upon the river St. Lawrence. The river is very rapid, but not
very deep near Prairie, so that the yacht cannot go higher than
Montreal, except in spring with the high water, when they can come up
to Prairie, but no further. The town of Montreal may be seen at
Prairie, and all the way down to it. On our arrival, there we found a
crowd of people at that gate of the town, where we were to pass
through. They were very desirous of seeing us, because they were
informed that some Swedes were to come to town; people of whom they had
heard something, but whom they had never seen; and we were assured by
every body, that we were the first Swedes that ever came to Montreal.
As soon as we were landed, the governor of the town sent a captain to
me, who desired I would follow him to the governor’s house, where he
introduced me to him. The Baron Longueuil was as yet vice-governor, but
he daily expected his promotion from France. He received me more
civilly and generously than I can well describe, and shewed me letters
from the governor-general at Quebec, the Marquis de la Galissonniere,
which mentioned that he had received orders from the French court to
supply me with whatever I should want, as I was to travel in this
country at the expence of his most Christian majesty. In short governor
Longueuil loaded me with greater favours than I could expect or even
imagine, both during my present stay and on my return from Quebec.
The difference between the manners and customs of the French in
Montreal and Canada, and those of the English in the American colonies,
is as great as that between the manners of those two nations in Europe.
The women in general are handsome here; they are well bred, and
virtuous with an innocent and becoming freedom. They dress out very
fine on Sundays; and though on the other days they do not take much
pains with other parts of their dress, yet they are very fond of
adorning their heads, the hair of which is always curled and powdered,
and ornamented with glittering bodkins and aigrettes. Every day but
Sunday, they wear a little neat jacket, and a short petticoat which
hardly reaches half the leg, and in this particular they seem to
imitate the Indian women. The heels of their shoes are high, and very
narrow, and it is surprizing how they walk on them. In their knowledge
of œconomy, they greatly surpass the English women in the plantations,
who indeed have taken the liberty of throwing all the burthen of
housekeeping upon their husbands, and sit in their chairs all day with
folded arms. [16] The women in Canada on the contrary do not spare
themselves, especially among the common people, where they are always
in the fields, meadows, stables, &c. and do not dislike any work
whatsoever. However, they seem rather remiss in regard to the cleaning
of the utensils, and apartments; for sometimes the floors, both in the
town and country, were hardly cleaned once in six months, which is a
disagreeable sight to one who comes from amongst the Dutch and English,
where the constant scouring and scrubbing of the floors, is reckoned as
important as the exercise of religion itself. To prevent the thick
dust, which is thus left on the floor, from being noxious to the
health, the women wet it several times a day, which renders it more
consistent; repeating the aspersion as often as the dust is dry and
rises again. Upon the whole, however, they are not averse to the taking
a part in all the business of housekeeping; and I have with pleasure
seen the daughters of the better sort of people, and of the governor
himself, not too finely dressed, and going into kitchens and cellars,
to look that every thing be done as it ought.
The men are extremely civil, and take their hats off to every person
indifferently whom they meet in the streets. It is customary to return
a visit the day after you have received one; though one should have
some scores to pay in one day.
I have been told by some among the French, who had gone a
beaver-hunting with the Indians to the northern parts of Canada, that
the animals, whose skins they endeavour to get, and which are there in
great plenty, are beavers, wild cats, or lynxs, and martens. These
animals are the more valued, the further they are caught to the north,
for their skins have better hair, and look better than those which are
taken more southward, and they became gradually better or worse, the
more they are northward or southward.
White Patridges [17] is the name which the French in Canada give to a
kind of birds, abounding during winter near Hudson’s Bay, and which are
undoubtedly our Ptarmigans, or Snow-hens (Tetrao Lagopus). They are
very plentiful at the time of a great frost, and when a considerable
quantity of snow happens to fall. They are described to me as having
rough white feet, and being white all over, except three or four black
feathers in the tail; and they are reckoned very fine eating. From
Edward’s Natural History of Birds (pag. 72.) it appears, that the
ptarmigans are common about Hudson’s Bay [18].
Hares are likewise said to be plentiful near Hudson’s Bay, and they are
abundant even in Canada, where I have often seen, and found them
perfectly corresponding with our Swedish hares. In summer they have a
brownish grey, and in winter a snowy white colour, as with us [19].