parts of Canada, and to the river Mississippi, that the woods there
abound with peach-trees, which bear excellent fruit, and that the
Indians of those parts say, that those trees have been there since
times immemorial.
The farm-houses are generally built of stone, but sometimes of timber,
and have three or four rooms. The windows are seldom of glass, but most
frequently of paper. They have iron stoves in one of the rooms, and
chimnies in the rest. The roofs are covered with boards. The crevices
and chinks are filled up with clay. The other buildings are covered
with straw.
There are several Crosses put up with the road side, which is parallel
to the shores of the river. These crosses are very common in Canada,
and are put up to excite devotion in the travellers. They are made of
wood, five or six yards high, and proportionally broad. In that side
which looks towards the road is a square hole, in which they place an
image of our Saviour, the cross, or of the holy Virgin, with the child
in her arms; and before that they put a piece of glass, to prevent its
being spoiled by the weather. Those crosses which are not far from
churches, are very much adorned, and they put up about them all the
instruments which they think the Jews employed in crucifying our
Saviour, such as a hammer, tongs, nails, a flask of vinegar, and
perhaps many more than were really made use of. A figure of the cock,
which crowed when St. Peter denied our Lord, is commonly put at the top
of the cross.
The country on both sides was very delightful to-day, and the fine
state of its cultivation, added greatly to the beauty of the scene. It
could really be called a village, beginning at Montreal, and ending at
Quebec, which is a distance of more than one hundred and eighty miles;
for the farm-houses are never above five arpens, and sometimes but
three, asunder, a few places excepted. The prospect is exceedingly
beautiful, when the river goes on for some miles together in a strait
line, because it then shortens the distances between the houses, and
makes them form exactly one continued village.
All the women in the country, without exception, wear caps of some kind
or other. Their jackets are short, and so are their petticoats, which
scarce reach down to the middle of their legs; and they have a silver
cross hanging down on the breast. In general they are very laborious;
however, I saw some, who, like the English women in the colonies, did
nothing but prattle all the day. When they have any thing to do within
doors, they (especially the girls) commonly sing songs, in which the
words Amour and Cœur are very frequent. In the country it is usual,
that when the husband receives a visit from persons of rank, and dines
with them, his wife stands behind and serves him; but in the towns, the
ladies are more distinguished, and would willingly assume an equal, if
not a superior, power to their husbands. When they go out of doors they
wear long cloaks, which cover all their other clothes, and are either
grey, brown, or blue. The men sometimes make use of them, when they are
obliged to go into the rain. The women have the advantage of being in a
deshabille under these cloaks, without any body’s perceiving it.
We sometimes saw wind-mills near the farms. They were generally built
of stone, with a roof of boards, which, together with its flyers, could
be turned to the wind occasionally.
The breadth of the river was not always equal to-day; in the narrowest
place, it was about a quarter of an English mile broad; in other parts
it was near two English miles. The shore was sometimes high and steep,
and sometimes low, or sloping.
At three o’clock this afternoon we passed by the river, which falls
into the river St. Lawrence, and comes from lake Champlain, in the
middle of which latter is a large island. The yachts which go between
Montreal and Quebec, go on the south-east side of this island, because
it is deeper there; but the boats prefer the north-west side, because
it is nearer, and yet deep enough for them. Besides this island there
are several more hereabouts, which are all inhabited. Somewhat further,
the country on both sides the river is uninhabited, till we come to the
Lac St. Pierre; because it is so low, as to be quite overflowed at
certain times of the year. To make up for this deficiency, the country,
I am told, is as thickly inhabited further from the river, as we found
it along the banks of the river.
Lac St. Pierre is a part of the river St. Lawrence, which is so broad
that we could hardly see any thing but sky and water before us, and I
was every where told, that it is seven French miles long, and three
broad. From the middle of this lake as it is called, you see a large
high country in the west, which appears above the woods. In the lake
are many places covered with a kind of rush, or Scirpus palustris,
Linn. There are no houses in sight on either side of the lake, because
the land is rather too low there; and in spring the water rises so
high, that they may go with boats between the trees. However, at some
distance from the shores, where the ground is higher, the farms are
close together. We saw no islands in the lake this afternoon, but the
next day we met with some.
Late in the evening we left lake St. Pierre, and rowed up a little
river called Riviere de Loup, in order to come to a house where we
might pass the night. Having rowed about an English mile, we found the
country inhabited on both sides of the river. Its shores are high; but
the country in general is flat. We passed the night in a farm-house.
The territory of Montreal extends to this place; but here begins the
jurisdiction of the governor of Trois Rivieres, to which place they
reckon eight French miles from hence.
August the 3d. At five o’clock in the morning we set out again, and
first rowed down the little river till we came into the lake St.
Pierre, which we went downwards. After we had gone a good way, we
perceived a high chain of mountains in the north-west, which were very
much elevated above the low, flat country. The north-west shore of lake
St. Pierre was now in general very closely inhabited; but on the
south-east side we saw no houses, and only a country covered with
woods, which is sometimes said to be under water, but behind which
there are, as I am told, a great number of farms. Towards the end of
the lake, the river went into its proper bounds again, being not above
a mile and a half broad, and afterwards it grows still narrower. From
the end of Lake St. Pierre to Trois Rivieres, they reckon three French
miles, and about eleven o’clock in the morning we arrived at the latter
place, where we attended divine service.
Trois Rivieres, is a little market town, which had the appearance of a
large village; it is however reckoned among the three great towns of
Canada, which are Quebec, Montreal, and Trois Rivieres. It is said to
ly in the middle between the two first, and thirty French miles distant
from each. The town is built on the north side of the river St.
Lawrence, on a flat, elevated sand, and its situation is very pleasant.
On one side the river passes by, which is here an English mile and a
half broad. On the other side, are fine corn-fields, though the soil is
very much mixed with sand. In the town are two churches of stone, a
nunnery, and a house for the friars of the order of St. Francis. This
town is likewise the seat of the third governor in Canada, whose house
is likewise of stone. Most of the other houses are of timber a single
story high, tolerably well built, and stand very much asunder; and the
streets are crooked. The shore here consists of sand, and the rising
grounds along it are pretty high. When the wind is very violent here,
it raises the sand, and blows it about the streets, making it very
troublesome to walk in them. The nuns, which are about twenty-two in
number, are reckoned very ingenious in all kinds of needle-work. This
town formerly flourished more than any other in Canada, for the Indians
brought their goods to it from all sides; but since that time they go
to Montreal and Quebec, and to the English, on account of their wars
with the Iroquese, or Five Nations, and for several other reasons, so
that this town is at present very much reduced by it. Its present
inhabitants live chiefly by agriculture, though the neighbouring
iron-works may serve in some measure to support them. About an English
mile below the town, a great river falls into the river St. Lawrence,
but first divides into three branches, so that it appears as if three
rivers disembogued themselves there. This has given occasion to call
the river and this town, Trois Rivieres (the Three Rivers).
The tide goes about a French mile above Trois Rivieres, though it is so
trifling as to be hardly observable. But about the equinoxes, and at
the new moons and full moons in spring and autumn, the difference
between the highest and lowest water is two feet. Accordingly the tide
in this river goes very far up, for from the above mentioned place to
the sea they reckon about a hundred and fifty French miles.
Whilst my company were resting, I went on horseback to view the
iron-work. The country which I passed through was pretty high, sandy,
and generally flat. I saw neither stones nor mountains here.
The iron-work, which is the only one in this country, lies three miles
to the west of Trois Rivieres. Here are two great forges, besides two
lesser ones to each of the great ones, and under the same roof with
them. The bellows were made of wood, and every thing else, as it is in
Swedish forges. The melting ovens stand close to the forges, and are
the same as ours. The ore is got two French miles and a half from the
iron works, and is carried thither on sledges. It is a kind of moor ore
[25], which lies in veins, within six inches or a foot from the surface
of the ground. Each vein is from six to eighteen inches deep, and below
it is a white sand. The veins are surrounded with this sand on both
sides, and covered at the top with a thin mould. The ore is pretty rich
and lies in loose lumps in the veins, of the size of two fists, though
there are a few which are near eighteen inches thick. These lumps are
full of holes, which are filled with ockre. The ore is so soft that it
may be crushed betwixt the fingers. They make use of a grey lime-stone,
which is broke in the neighbourhood, for promoting the fusibility of
the ore; to that purpose they likewise employ a clay marle, which is
found near this place. Charcoals are to be had in great abundance here,
because all the country round this place is covered with woods, which
have never been stirred. The charcoals from ever-green trees, that is,
from the fir kind, are best for the forge, but those of deciduous trees
are best for the smelting oven. The iron which is here made, was to me
described as soft, pliable, and tough, and is said to have the quality
of not being attacked by rust so easily as other iron; and in this
point there appears a great difference between the Spanish iron and
this in ship-building. This iron-work was first founded in 1737, by
private persons, who afterwards ceded it to the king; they cast cannon
and mortars here, of different sizes, iron stoves which are in use all
over Canada, kettles, &c. not to mention the bars which are made here.
They have likewise tried to make steel here, but cannot bring it to any
great perfection, because they are unacquainted with the best manner of
preparing it. Here are many officers and overseers, who have very good
houses, built on purpose for them. It is agreed on all hands, that the
revenues of the iron-work do not pay the expences which the king must
every year be at in maintaining it. They lay the fault on the bad state
of population, and say that the few inhabitants in the country have
enough to do with agriculture, and that it therefore costs great
trouble and large sums, to get a sufficient number of workmen. But
however plausible this may appear, yet it is surprizing that the king
should be a loser in carrying on this work; for the ore is easily
broken, very near the iron-work, and very fusible. The iron is good,
and can be very conveniently dispersed over the country. This is
moreover the only iron-work in the country, from which every body must
supply himself with iron tools, and what other iron he wants. But the
officers and servants belonging to the iron-work, appear to be in very
affluent circumstances. A river runs down from the iron-work, into the
river St. Lawrence, by which all the iron can be sent in boats
throughout the country at a low rate. In the evening I returned again
to Trois Rivieres.
August the 4th. At the dawn of day we left this place and went on
towards Quebec. We found the land on the north side of the river
somewhat elevated, sandy, and closely inhabited along the water side.
The south-east shore, we were told, is equally well inhabited; but the
woods along that shore prevented our seeing the houses, which are built
further up in the country, the land close to the river being so low as
to be subject to annual inundations. Near Trois Rivieres, the river
grows somewhat narrow; but it enlarges again, as soon as you come a
little below that place, and has the breadth of above two English
miles.
As we went on, we saw several churches of stone, and often very well
built ones. The shores of the river are closely inhabited for about
three quarters of an English mile up the country; but beyond that the
woods and the wilderness encrease. All the rivulets falling into the
river St. Lawrence are likewise well inhabited on both sides. I
observed throughout Canada, that the cultivated lands ly only along the
river St. Lawrence, and the other rivers in the country, the environs
of towns excepted, round which the country is all cultivated and
inhabited within the distance of twelve or eighteen English miles. The
great islands in the river are likewise inhabited.
The shores of the river now became higher, more oblique and steep,
however they consisted chiefly of earth. Now and then some rivers or
great brooks fall into the river St. Lawrence, among which one of the
most considerable is the Riviere Puante, which unites on the south-east
side with the St. Lawrence, about two French miles below Trois
Rivieres, and has on its banks, a little way from its mouth, a town
called Becancourt which is wholly inhabited by Abenakee Indians, who
have been converted to the Roman catholic religion, and have Jesuits
among them. At a great distance, on the north-west side of the river,
we saw a chain of very high mountains, running from north to south,
elevated above the rest of the country, which is quite flat here
without any remarkable hills.
Here were several lime-kilns along the river; and the lime-stone
employed in them is broke in the neighbouring high grounds. It is
compact and grey, and the lime it yields is pretty white.
The fields here are generally sown with wheat, oats, maize, and pease.
Gourds and water-melons are planted in abundance near the farms.
A Humming bird (Trochilus Colubris) flew among the bushes, in a place
where we landed to-day. The French call it Oiseau mouche, and say it is
pretty common in Canada; and I have seen it since several times at
Quebec.
About five o’clock in the afternoon we were obliged to take our night’s
lodgings on shore, the wind blowing very strong against us, and being
attended with rain. I found that the nearer we came to Quebec, the more
open and free from woods was the country. The place where we passed the
night, is distant from Quebec twelve French miles.
They have a very peculiar method of catching fish near the shore here.
They place hedges along the shore, made of twisted oziers, so close
that no fish can get through them, and from one foot to a yard high,
according to the different depth of the water. For this purpose they
choose such places where the water runs off during the ebb, and leaves
the hedges quite dry. Within this inclosure they place several weels,
or fish-traps, in the form of cylinders, but broader below. They are
placed upright, and are about a yard high, and two feet and a half
wide: on one side near the bottom is an entrance for the fishes, made
of twigs, and sometimes of yarn made into a net. Opposite to this
entrance, on the other side of the weel, looking towards the lower part
of the river, is another entrance, like the first, and leading to a box
of boards about four foot long, two deep, and two broad. Near each of
the weels is a hedge, leading obliquely to the long hedge, and making
an acute angle with it. This latter hedge is made in order to lead the
fish into the trap, and it is placed on that end of the long hedge
which looks towards the upper part of the river; now when the tide
comes up the river, the fish, and chiefly the eels, go up with it along
the river side; when the water begins to ebb, the fish likewise go down
the river, and meeting with the hedges, they swim along them, till they
come through the weels into the boxes of boards, at the top of which
there is a hole with a cover, through which the fish could be taken
out. This apparatus is chiefly made on account of the eels. In some
places hereabouts they place nets instead of the hedges of twigs.
The shores of the river now consisted no more of pure earth; but of a
species of slate. They are very steep and nearly perpendicular here,
and the slates of which they consist are black, with a brown cast; and
divisible into thin shivers, no thicker than the back of a knife. These
slates moulder as soon as they are exposed to the open air, and the
shore is covered with grains of small sand, which are nothing but
particles of such mouldered slates. Some of the strata run horizontal,
others obliquely, dipping to the south and rising to the north, and
sometimes the contrary way. Sometimes they form bendings like large
semicircles: sometimes a perpendicular line cuts off the strata, to the
depth of two feet; and the slates on both sides of the line from a
perpendicular and smooth wall. In some places hereabouts, they find
amongst the slates, a stratum about four inches thick of a grey,
compact, but pretty soft limestone, of which the Indians for many
centuries have made, and the French at present still make,
tobacco-pipes [26].
August the 5th. This morning, we continued our journey by rowing, the
contrary wind hindering us from sailing. The appearance of the shores,
was the same as yesterday; they were high, pretty steep, and quite
perpendicular; and consisted of the black slate before described. The
country at the top was a plain without eminences, and closely inhabited
along the river, for about the space of an English mile and a half
in-land. Here are no islands in this part of the river, but several
stony places, perceptible at low water only, which have several times
proved fatal to travellers. The breadth of the river varies; in some
parts it was a little more than three quarters of a mile, in others
half a mile, and in some above two miles. The inhabitants made use of
the same method of catching eels along the shores here, as that which I
have just before mentioned. In many places they make use of nets made
of osiers instead of the hedge.
Bugs (Cimex lectularius) abound in Canada; and I met with them in every
place where I lodged, both in the towns and country, and the people
know of no other remedy for them than patience.
The Crickets (Gryllus domesticus) are also abundant in Canada,
especially in the country, where these disagreeable guests lodge in the
chimnies; nor are they uncommon in the towns. They stay here both
summer and winter, and frequently cut clothes in pieces for pastime.
The Cockroaches (Blatta orientalis) have never been found in the houses
here.
The shores of the river grow more sloping as you come nearer to Quebec.
To the northward appears a high ridge of mountains. About two French
miles and a half from Quebec, the river becomes very narrow, the shores
being within the reach of a musket shot from each other. The country on
both sides was sloping, hilly, covered with trees, and had many small
rocks; the shore was stony. About four o’clock in the afternoon we
happily arrived at Quebec. The city does not appear till one is close
to it, the prospect being intercepted by a high mountain on the south
side. However, a part of the fortifications appears at a good distance,
being situate on the same mountain. As soon as the soldiers, who were
with us, saw Quebec, they called out, that all those who had never been
there before, should be ducked, if they did not pay something to
release themselves. This custom even the governor-general of Canada is
obliged to submit to, on his first journey to Montreal. We did not care
when we came in sight of this town to be exempted from this old custom,
which is very advantageous to the rowers, as it enables them to spend a
merry evening on their arrival at Quebec, after their troublesome
labour.
Immediately after my arrival, the officer who had accompanied me from
Montreal, led me to the palace of the then vice-govenor-general of
Canada, the marquis la Galissonniere, a nobleman of uncommon qualities,
who behaved towards me with extraordinary goodness, during the time he
staid in this country. He had already ordered some apartments to be got
ready for me, and took care to provide me with every thing I wanted;
besides honouring me so far to invite me to his table, almost every day
I was in town.
August the 6th. Quebec, the chief city in Canada, lies on the western
shore of the river St. Lawrence, close to the water’s edge, on a neck
of land, bounded by that river on the east side, and by the river St.
Charles on the north side; the mountain, on which the town is built,
rises still higher on the south side, and behind it begin great
pastures; and the same mountain likewise extends a good way westward.
The city is distinguished into the lower and the upper [27]. The lower
lies on the river, eastward of the upper. The neck of land, I mentioned
before, was formed by the dirt and filth, which had from time to time
been accumulated there, and by a rock which lay that way, not by any
gradual diminution of the water. The upper city lies above the other,
on a high hill, and takes up five or six times the space of the lower,
though it is not quite so populous. The mountain, on which the upper
city is situated, reaches above the houses of the lower city.
Notwithstanding the latter are three or four stories high, and the
view, from the palace, of the lower city (part of which is immediately
under it) is enough to cause a swimming of the head. There is only one
easy way of getting to the upper city, and there part of the mountain
has been blown up. This road is very steep, notwithstanding it is made
winding and serpentine. However, they go up and down it in carriages,
and with waggons. All the other roads up the mountain are so steep,
that it is very difficult to climb to the top by them. Most of the
merchants live in the lower city, where the houses are built very close
together. The streets in it are narrow, very rugged, and almost always
wet. There is likewise a church, and a small market-place. The upper
city is inhabited by people of quality, by several persons belonging to
the different offices, by tradesmen, and others. In this part are the
chief buildings of the town, among which the following are worthy
particular notice.
I. The Palace is situated on the west or steepest side of the mountain,
just above the lower city. It is not properly a palace, but a large
building of stone, two stories high, extending north and south. On the
west side of it is a court-yard, surrounded partly with a wall, and
partly with houses. On the east side, or towards the river, is a
gallery as long as the whole building, and about two fathom broad,
paved with smooth flags, and included on the outsides by iron rails,
from whence the city and the river exhibit a charming prospect. This
gallery serves as a very agreeable walk after dinner, and those who
come to speak with the governor-general wait here till he is at
leisure. The palace is the lodging of the governor-general of Canada,
and a number of soldiers mount the guard before it, both at the gate
and in the court-yard; and when the governor, or the bishop, comes in
or goes out, they must all appear in arms, and beat the drum. The
governor-general has his own chapel where he hears prayers; however, he
often goes to mass at the church of the Recollets [28], which is very
near the palace.