writings, of books, among the Indians, who have inhabited North-America
since time immemorial, and seem to be all of one nation, and speak the
same language. These Indians have therefore lived in the greatest
ignorance and darkness, during some centuries, and are totally
unacquainted with the state of their country before the arrival of the
Europeans, and all their knowledge of it consists in vague traditions,
and mere fables. It is not certain whether any other nations possessed
America, before the present Indian inhabitants came into it, or whether
any other nations visited this part of the globe, before Columbus
discovered it. It is equally unknown, whether the Christian religion
was ever preached here in former times. I conversed with several
Jesuits, who undertook long journies in this extensive country, and
asked them, whether they had met with any marks that there had formerly
been some Christians among the Indians which lived here? but they all
answered, they had not found any. The Indians have ever been as
ignorant of architecture and manual labour, as of science and writing.
In vain does one seek for well built towns and houses, artificial
fortifications, high towers and pillars, and such like, among them,
which the old world can shew, from the most antient times. Their
dwelling-places are wretched huts of bark, exposed on all sides to
wind, and rain. All their masonry-work consists in placing a few grey
rock-stones on the ground, round their fire-place, to prevent the
firebrands from spreading too far in their hut, or rather to mark out
the space intended for the fire-place in it. Travellers do not enjoy a
tenth part of the pleasure in traversing these countries, which they
must receive on their journies through our old countries, where they,
almost every day, meet with some vestige or other of antiquity: now an
antient celebrated town presents itself to view; here the remains of an
old castle; there a field where, many centuries ago, the most powerful,
and the most skilful generals, and the greatest kings, fought a bloody
battle; now the native spot and residence of some great or learned man.
In such places the mind is delighted in various ways, and represents
all past occurrences in living colours to itself. We can enjoy none of
these pleasures in America. The history of the country can be traced no
further, than from the arrival of the Europeans; for every thing that
happened before that period, is more like a fiction or a dream, than
any thing that really happened. In later times there have, however,
been found a few marks of antiquity, from which it may be conjectured,
that North-America was formerly inhabited by a nation more versed in
science, and more civilized, than that which the Europeans found on
their arrival here; or that a great military expedition was undertaken
to this continent, from these known parts of the world.
This is confirmed by an account, which I received from Mr. de
Verandrier, who has commanded the expedition to the south-sea in
person, of which I shall presently give an account. I have heard it
repeated by others, who have been eye-witnesses of every thing that
happened on that occasion. Some years before I came into Canada, the
then governor-general, Chevalier de Beauharnois, gave Mr. de Verandrier
an order to go from Canada, with a number of people, on an expedition
across North-America to the south-sea, in order to examine, how far
those two places are distant from each other, and to find out, what
advantages might accrue to Canada, or Louisiana, from a communication
with that ocean. They set out on horseback from Montreal, and went as
much due west as they could, on account of the lakes, rivers, and
mountains, which fell in their way. As they came far into the country,
beyond many nations, they sometimes met with large tracts of land, free
from wood, but covered with a kind of very tall grass, for the space of
some days journey. Many of these fields were every where covered with
furrows, as if they had been ploughed and sown formerly. It is to be
observed, that the nations, which now inhabit North-America, could not
cultivate the land in this manner, because they never made use of
horses, oxen, ploughs, or any instruments of husbandry, nor had they
ever seen a plough before the Europeans came to them. In two or three
places, at a considerable distance from each other, our travellers met
with impressions of the feet of grown people and children, in a rock;
but this seems to have been no more than a Lusus Naturæ. When they came
far to the west, where, to the best of their knowledge, no Frenchmen,
or European, had ever been, they found in one place in the woods, and
again on a large plain, great pillars of stone, leaning upon each
other. The pillars consisted of one single stone each, and the
Frenchmen could not but suppose, that they had been erected by human
hands. Sometimes they have found such stones laid upon one another,
and, as it were, formed into a wall. In some of those places where they
found such stones, they could not find any other sorts of stones. They
have not been able to discover any characters, or writing, upon any of
these stones, though they have made a very careful search after them.
At last they met with a large stone, like a pillar, and in it a smaller
stone was fixed, which was covered on both sides with unknown
characters. This stone, which was about a foot of French measure in
length, and between four or five inches broad, they broke loose, and
carried to Canada with them, from whence it was sent to France, to the
secretary of state, the count of Maurepas. What became of it afterwards
is unknown to them, but they think it is yet preserved in his
collection. Several of the Jesuits, who have seen and handled this
stone in Canada, unanimously affirm, that the letters on it, are the
same with those which in the books, containing accounts of Tataria, are
called Tatarian characters [40], and that, on comparing both together,
they found them perfectly alike. Notwithstanding the questions which
the French on the south-sea expedition asked the people there,
concerning the time when, and by whom those pillars were erected? what
their traditions and sentiments concerning them were? who had wrote the
characters? what was meant by them? what kind of letters they were? in
what language they were written? and other circumstances; yet they
could never get the least explication, the Indians being as ignorant of
all those things, as the French themselves. All they could say was,
that these stones had been in those places, since times immemorial. The
places where the pillars flood were near nine hundred French miles
westward of Montreal. The chief intention of this journey, viz. to come
to the south-sea, and to examine its distance from Canada, was never
attained on this occasion. For the people sent out for that purpose,
were induced to take part in a war between some of the most distant
Indian nations, in which some of the French were taken prisoners, and
the rest obliged to return. Among the last and most westerly Indians
they were with, they heard that the south-sea was but a few days
journey off; that they (the Indians) often traded with the Spaniards on
that coast, and sometimes likewise they went to Hudson’s Bay, to trade
with the English. Some of these Indians had houses, which were made of
earth. Many nations had never seen any Frenchmen; they were commonly
clad in skins, but many were quite naked.
All those who had made long journies in Canada to the south, but
chiefly westward, agreed that there were many great plains destitute of
trees, where the land was furrowed, as if it had been ploughed. In what
manner this happened, no one knows; for the corn-fields of a great
village, or town, of the Indians, are scarce above four or six of our
acres in extent; whereas those furrowed plains sometimes continue for
several days journey, except now and then a small smooth spot, and here
and there some rising grounds.
I could not hear of any more vestiges of antiquity in Canada,
notwithstanding my careful enquiries after them. In the continuation of
my journey, for the year 1750 [41], I shall find an opportunity of
speaking of two other remarkable curiosities. Our Swedish Mr. George
Westmann, A. M. has clearly, and circumstantially shewn, that our
Scandinavians, chiefly the northern ones, long before Columbus’s time,
have undertaken voyages to North-America; see his dissertation on that
subject, which he read at Abo in 1747, for obtaining his degree.
August the 8th. This morning I visited the largest nunnery in Quebec.
Men are prohibited from visiting under very heavy punishments; except
in some rooms, divided by iron rails, where the men and women, that do
not belong to the convent, stand without, and the nuns within the
rails, and converse with each other. But to encrease the many favours
which the French nation heaped upon me, as a Swede, the
governor-general got the bishop’s leave for me to enter the convent,
and see its construction. The bishop alone has the power of granting
this favour, but he does it very sparingly. The royal physician, and a
surgeon, are however at liberty to go in as often as they think proper.
Mr. Gaulthier, a man of great knowledge in physic and botany, was at
present the royal physician here, and accompanied me to the convent. We
first saw the hospital, which I shall presently describe, and then
entered the convent, which forms a part of the hospital. It is a great
building of stone, three stories high, divided in the inside into long
galleries, on both sides of which are cells, halls, and rooms. The
cells of the nuns are in the highest story, on both sides of the
gallery; they are but small; not painted in the inside, but hung with
paper pictures of saints, and of our Saviour on the cross. A bed with
curtains, and good bed-clothes, a little narrow desk, and a chair or
two, is the whole furniture of a cell. They have no fires in winter,
and the nuns are forced to ly in the cold cells. On the gallery is a
stove, which is heated in winter, and as all the rooms are left open,
some warmth can by this means come into them. In the middle story are
the rooms where they pass the day together. One of these is the room,
where they are at work; this is large, finely painted and adorned, and
has an iron stove. Here they were at their needle-work, embroidering,
gilding, and making flowers of silk, which bear a great similarity to
the natural ones. In a word, they were all employed in such nice works,
as were suitable to ladies of their rank in life. In another hall they
assemble to hold their juntos. Another apartment contains those who are
indisposed; but such as are more dangerously ill, have rooms to
themselves. The novices, and new comers, are taught and instructed in
another hall. Another is destined for their refectory, or dining-room,
in which are tables on all sides; on one side of it is a small desk, on
which is laid a French book, concerning the life of those saints who
are mentioned in the New Testament. When they dine, all are silent; one
of the eldest gets into the desk, and reads a part of the book before
mentioned; and when they are gone through it, they read some other
religious book. During the meal, they sit on that side of the table,
which is turned towards the wall. Almost in every room is a gilt table,
on which are placed candles, together with the picture of our Saviour
on the cross, and of some saints: before these tables they say their
prayers. On one side is the church, and near it a large gallery,
divided from the church by rails, so that the nuns could only look into
it. In this gallery they remain during divine service, and the
clergyman is in the church, where the nuns reach him his sacerdotal
clothes through a hole, for they are not allowed to go into the vestry,
and to be in the same room with the priest. There are still several
other rooms and halls here, the use of which I do not remember. The
lowest story contains a kitchen, bake-house, several butteries, &c. In
the garrets they keep their corn, and dry their linen. In the middle
story is a balcony on the outside, almost round the whole building,
where the nuns are allowed to take air. The prospect from the convent
is very fine on every side; the river, the fields, and the meadows out
of town, appear there to great advantage. On one side of the convent is
a large garden, in which the nuns are at liberty to walk about; it
belongs to the convent, and is surrounded with a high wall. There is a
quantity of all sorts of fruits in it. This convent, they say, contains
about fifty nuns, most of them advanced in years, scarce any being
under forty years of age. At this time there were two young ladies
among them, who were instructed in those things, which belong to the
knowledge of nuns. They are not allowed to become nuns immediately
after their entrance, but must pass through a noviciate of two or three
years, in order to try, whether they will be constant. For during that
time it is in their power to leave the convent, if a monastic life does
not suit their inclinations. But as soon as they are received among the
nuns, and have made their vows, they are obliged to continue their
whole life in it: if they appear willing to change their mode of life,
they are locked up in a room, from whence they can never get out. The
nuns of this convent never go further from it, than to the hospital,
which lies near it, and even makes a part of it. They go there to
attend the sick, and to take care of them. I was told by several people
here, some of which were ladies, that none of the nuns went into a
convent, till she had attained to an age in which she had small hopes
of ever getting a husband. The nuns of all the three convents in Quebec
looked very old, by which it seems, that there is some foundation for
this account. All agree here, that the men are much less numerous in
Canada, than the women; for the men die on their voyages; many go to
the West-Indies, and either settle, or die, there; many are killed in
battles, &c. Hence there seems to be a necessity of some women going
into convents.
The hospital, as I have before mentioned, makes a part of the convent.
It consists of two large halls, and some rooms near the apothecary’s
shop. In the halls are two rows of beds on each side, within each
other. The beds next to the wall are furnished with curtains, the
outward ones are without them. In each bed are fine bed-clothes, with
clean double sheets. As soon as a sick person has left his bed, it is
made again, in order to keep the hospital in cleanliness, and order.
The beds are two or three yards distant, and near each is a small
table. There are good iron stoves, and fine windows in this hall. The
nuns attend the sick people, and bring them meat, and other
necessaries. Besides them there are some men who attend, and a surgeon.
The royal physician is likewise obliged to come hither, once or twice
every day, look after every thing, and give prescriptions. They
commonly receive sick soldiers into this hospital, who are very
numerous in July and August, when the king’s ships arrive, and in time
of war. But at other times, when no great number of soldiers are sick,
other poor people can take their places, as far as the number of empty
beds will reach. The king finds every thing here that is requisite for
the sick persons, viz. provisions, medicines, fewel, &c. Those who are
very ill, are put into separate rooms, in order that the noise in the
great hall may not be troublesome to them.
The civility of the inhabitants here is more refined than that of the
Dutch and English, in the settlements belonging to Great Britain; but
the latter, on the other hand, do not idle their time away in dressing,
as the French do here. The ladies, especially, dress and powder their
hair every day, and put their locks in papers every night; which idle
custom was not introduced in the English settlements. The gentlemen
wear generally their own hair; but some have wigs. People of rank are
used to wear laced cloaths, and all the crown-officers wear swords. All
the gentlemen, even those of rank, the governor-general excepted, when
they go into town on a day that looks likely for rain, carry their
cloaks on their left arm. Acquaintances of either sex, who have not
seen each other for some time, on meeting again salute with mutual
kisses.
The plants which I have collected in Canada, and which I have partly
described, I pass over as I have done before, that I may not tire the
patience of my readers by a tedious enumeration. If I should crowd my
journal with my daily botanical observations, and descriptions of
animals, birds, insects, ores, and the like curiosities, it would be
swelled to six or ten times its present size [42]. I therefore spare
all these things, consisting chiefly of dry descriptions of natural
curiosities, for a Flora Canadensis, and other such like things. The
same I must say in regard to the observations I have made in physic. I
have carefully collected all I could on this journey, concerning the
medicinal use of the American plants, and the simples, some of which
they reckon infallible [43], in more than one place. But physic not
being my principal study (though from my youth I always was fond of it)
I may probably have omitted remarkable circumstances in my accounts of
medicines and simples, though one cannot be too accurate in such cases.
The physicians would therefore reap little or no benefit from such
remarks, or at least they would not find them as they ought to be. This
will excuse me for avoiding, as much as possible, to mention such
things as belong to physic, and are above my knowledge. Concerning the
Canada plants, I can here add, that the further you go northward, the
more you find the plants are the same with the Swedish ones: thus, on
the north side of Quebec, a fourth part of the plants, if not more, are
the same with the spontaneous plants in Sweden. A few plants and trees,
which have a particular quality, or are applied to some particular use,
shall, however, be mentioned in a few words, in the sequel.
The Rein-deer Moss (Lichen rangiferinus) grows plentiful in the woods
round Quebec. M. Gaulthier, and several other gentlemen, told me, that
the French, on their long journies through the woods, on account of
their fur trade with the Indians, sometimes boil this moss, and drink
the decoction, for want of better food, when their provisions are at an
end; and they say it is very nutritive. Several Frenchmen, who have
been in the Terra Labrador, where there are many rein-deer (which the
French and Indians here call Cariboux) related, that all the land there
is in most places covered with this rein-deer moss, so that the ground
looks as white as snow.
August the 10th. This day I dined with the Jesuits. A few days before,
I paid my visit to them; and the next day their president, and another
father Jesuit, called on me, to invite me to dine with them to-day. I
attended divine service in their church, which is a part of their
house. It is very fine within, though it has no seats; for every one is
obliged to kneel down during the service. Above the church is a small
steeple, with a clock. The building the Jesuits live in is
magnificently built, and looks exceeding fine, both without and within;
which gives it a similarity to a fine palace. It consists of stone, is
three stories high, exclusive of the garret, covered with slates, and
built in a square form, like the new palace at Stockholm, including a
large court. Its size is such, that three hundred families would find
room enough in it; though at present there were not above twenty
Jesuits in it. Sometimes there is a much greater number of them,
especially when those return, who have been sent as missionaries into
the country. There is a long walk along all the sides of the square, in
every story, on both sides of which are either cells, halls, or other
apartments for the friars; and likewise their library, apothecary-shop,
&c. Every thing is very well regulated, and the Jesuits are very well
accommodated here. On the outside is their college, which is on two
sides surrounded with great orchards and kitchen-gardens, in which they
have fine walks. A part of the trees here, are the remains of the
forest which stood here when the French began to build this town. They
have besides planted a number of fruit-trees; and the garden is stocked
with all sorts of plants for the use of the kitchen. The Jesuits dine
together in a great hall. There are tables placed all round it along
the walls, and seats between the tables and the walls, but not on the
other side. Near one wall is a pulpit, upon which one of the fathers
gets during the meal, in order to read some religious book; but this
day it was omitted, all the time being employed in conversation. They
dine very well, and their dishes are as numerous as at the greatest
feasts. In this spacious building you do not see a single woman; all
are fathers, or brothers; the latter of which are young men, brought up
to be Jesuits. They prepare the meal, and bring it upon table; for the
common servants are not admitted.