Orleans, are very high and pretty steep. They consist, in most part, of
black lime-slate. There are likewise some spots which consist of a
rock-stone, which, at first sight, looks like a sand-stone, and is
composed of grey quartz, a reddish lime-stone, a little grey
lime-stone, and some pale grey grains of sand. These parts of the stone
are small and pretty equally mixed with each other. The stone looks
red, with a greyish cast, and is very hard. It lies in strata, one
above another. The thickness of each stratum is about five inches. It
is remarkable, that there are both elevated and hollow impressions of
pectinites on the surface, where one likewise meets with the petrified
shells themselves; but on breaking the stone, it does not even contain
the least vestige of an impression or petrified shell. All the
impressions are small, about the length and breadth of an inch. The
particles of quartz in the stone strike fire with steel, and the
particles of lime-stone effervesce strongly with aqua-fortis. The upper
and lower surfaces of the strata consist of lime-stone, and the inner
parts of quartz. They break great quantities of this stone in order to
build houses of it, pave floors with it, and make stair-cases of it.
Great quantities of it are sent to Quebec. It is remarkable, that there
are petrefactions in this stone, but never any in the black
lime-slates.
The women dye their woollen yarn yellow with seeds of gale, [95] which
is called poivrier here, and grows abundant in wet places.
This evening, M. Gaulthier and I went to see the water-fall at
Montmorenci. The country near the river is high and level, and laid out
into meadows. Above them the high and steep hills begin, which are
covered with a crust of mould, and turned into corn-fields. In some
very steep places, and near the rivulets, the hills consist of mere
black lime-slate, which is often crumbled into small pieces, like
earth. All the fields below the hills are full of such pieces of
lime-slate. When some of the larger pieces are broken, they smell like
stink-stone. In some more elevated places, the earth consists of a pale
red colour; and the lime-slates are likewise reddish.
The water-fall near Montmorenci is one of the highest I ever saw. It is
in a river whose breadth is not very considerable, and falls over the
steep side of a hill, consisting entirely of black lime-slate. The fall
is now at the bottom of a little creek of the river. Both sides of the
creek consist merely of black lime-slate, which is very much cracked
and tumbled down. The hill of lime-slate under the water-fall is quite
perpendicular, and one cannot look at it without astonishment. The rain
of the preceding days had encreased the water in the river, which gave
the fall a grander appearance. The breadth of the fall is not above ten
or twelve yards. Its perpendicular height Mr. Gaulthier and I guessed
to be between a hundred and ten and a hundred and twenty feet; and on
our return to Quebec, we found our guess confirmed by several
gentlemen, who had actually measured the fall, and found it to be
nearly as we had conjectured. The people who live in the neighbourhood
exaggerate in their accounts of it, absolutely declaring that it is
three hundred feet high. Father Charlevoix [96] is too sparing in
giving it only forty feet in height. At the bottom of the fall, there
is always a thick fog of vapours, spreading about the water, being
resolved into them by its violent fall. This fog occasions almost
perpetual rain here, which is more or less heavy, in proportion to its
distance from the fall. Mr. Gaulthier and myself, together with the man
who shewed us the way, were willing to come nearer to the falling
water, in order to examine more accurately how it came down from such a
height, and how the stone behind the water looked. But, being about
twelve yards off the fall, a sudden gust of wind blew a thick fog upon
us, which, in less than a minute, had wet us as thoroughly as if we had
walked for half an hour in a heavy shower. We therefore hurried away as
fast as we could, and were glad to get off. The noise of the fall is
sometimes heard at Quebec, which is two French miles off to the
southward; and this is a sign of a north-east wind. At other times, it
can be well heard in the villages, a good way lower to the north; and
it is then reckoned an undoubted sign of a south-west wind, or of rain.
The black lime-slate on the sides of the fall lies in dipping, and
almost perpendicular strata. In these lime-slate strata, are the
following kinds of stone to be met with.
Fibrous gypsum. [97] This lies in very thin leaves between the cracks
of the lime-slate. Its colour is a snowy white. I have found it in
several parts of Canada, in the same black lime-stone.
Pierre à Calumet. This is the French name of a stone disposed in strata
between the lime-slate, and of which they make almost all the
tobacco-pipe heads in the country. The thickness of the strata is
different. I have seen pieces near fifteen inches thick; but they are
commonly between four and five inches thick. When the stone is long
exposed to the open air or heat of the sun, it gets a yellow colour;
but in the inside it is grey. It is a lime-stone of such a compactness,
that its particles are not distinguishable by the naked eye. It is
pretty soft, and will bear cutting with a knife. From this quality, the
people likewise judge of the goodness of the stone for tobacco-pipe
heads; for the hard pieces of it are not so fit for use as the softer
ones. I have seen some of these stones shivering into thin leaves on
the outside where they were exposed to the sun. All the tobacco-pipe
heads, which the common people in Canada make use of, are made of this
stone, and are ornamented in different ways. A great part of the gentry
likewise make use of them, especially when they are on a journey. The
Indians have employed this stone for the same purposes for several ages
past, and have taught it the Europeans. The heads of the tobacco-pipes
are naturally of a pale grey colour; but they are blackened whilst they
are quite new, to make them look better. They cover the head all over
with grease, and hold it over a burning candle, or any other fire, by
which means it gets a good black colour, which is encreased by frequent
use. The tubes of the pipes are always made of wood [98].
There are no coals near this fall, or in the steep hills close to it.
However, the people in the neighbouring village shewed me a piece of
coal, which, they said, they had found on one of the hills about the
fall.
We arrived at Quebec very late at night.
September the 8th, Intermitting fevers of all kinds are very rare at
Quebec, as Mr. Gaulthier affirms. On the contrary, they are very common
near Fort St. Frederic, and near Fort Detroit, which is a French
colony, between lake Erie and lake Huron, in forty-three degrees north
latitude.
Some of the people of quality make use of ice-cellars, to keep beer
cool in, during summer, and to keep fresh flesh, which would not keep
long in the great heat. These ice-cellars are commonly built of stone,
under the house. The walls of it are covered with boards, because the
ice is more easily consumed by stones. In winter, they fill it with
snow, which is beat down with the feet, and covered with water. They
then open the cellar holes and the door, to admit the cold. It is
customary in summer to put a piece of ice into the water or wine which
is to be drank.
All the salt which is made use of here, is imported from France. They
likewise make good salt here of the sea water; but France keeping the
salt trade entirely to itself, they do not go on with it here.
The Esquimaux are a particular kind of American savages, who live only
near the water, and never far in the country, on Terra Labrador,
between the most outward point of the mouth of the river St. Lawrence
and Hudson’s bay. I have never had an opportunity of seeing one of
them. I have spoken with many Frenchmen who have seen them, and had
them on board their own vessels. I shall here give a brief history of
them, according to their unanimous accounts.
The Esquimaux are entirely different from the Indians of North-America,
in regard to their complexion and their language. They are almost as
white as Europeans, and have little eyes: the men have likewise beards.
The Indians, on the contrary, are copper-coloured, and the men have no
beards. The Esquimaux language is said to contain some European words.
[99] Their houses are either caverns or clefts in the mountains, or
huts of turf above ground. They never sow or plant vegetables, living
chiefly on various kinds of whales, on seals, [100] and walrusses
[101]. Sometimes they likewise catch land animals, on which they feed.
They eat most of their meat quite raw. Their drink is water; and people
have likewise seen them drinking the sea water, which was like brine.
Their shoes, stockings, breeches, and jackets are made of seal-skins
well prepared, and sewed together with nerves of whales, which may be
twisted like threads and are very tough. Their cloaths, the hairy side
of which is turned outwards, are sewed together so well, that they can
go up to their shoulders in the water without wetting their under
cloaths. Under their upper cloaths, they wear shirts and waistcoats
made of seals skins, prepared so well as to be quite soft. I saw one of
their womens dresses; a cap, a waistcoat, and coat, made all of one
piece of seals skin well prepared, soft to the touch, and the hair on
the outside. Their is a long train behind at their coats, which scarce
reach them to the middle of the thigh before; under it they wear
breeches and boots, all of one piece. The shirt I saw was likewise made
of a very soft seals skin. The Esquimaux women are said to be handsomer
than any of the American Indian women, and their husbands are
accordingly more jealous in proportion.
I have likewise seen an Esquimaux boat. The outside of it consists
entirely of skins, the hair of which has been taken off; and the sides
of the skins on which they were inserted are turned outwards, and feel
as smooth as vellum. The boat was near fourteen feet long, but very
narrow, and very sharp pointed at the extremities. In the inside of the
boat, they place two or three thin boards, which give a kind of form to
the boat. It is quite covered with skins at the top, excepting, near
one end, a hole big enough for a single person to sit and row in, and
keep his thighs and legs under the deck. The figure of the hole
resembles a semi-circle, the base or diameter of which is turned
towards the larger end of the boat. The hole is surrounded with wood,
on which a soft folded skin is fastened, with straps at its upper end.
When the Esquimaux makes use of his boat, he puts his legs and thighs
under the deck, sits down at the bottom of the boat, draws the skin
before mentioned round his body, and fastens it well with the straps;
the waves may then beat over his boat with considerable violence, and
not a single drop comes into it; the cloaths of the Esquimaux keep the
wet from him. He has an oar in his hand, which has a paddle at each
end; it serves him for rowing with, and keeping the boat in equilibrium
during a storm. The paddles of the oar are very narrow. The boat will
contain but a single person. Esquimaux have often been found safe in
their boats many miles from land, in violent storms, where ships found
it difficult to save themselves. Their boats float on the waves like
bladders, and they row them with incredible velocity. I am told, they
have boats of different shapes. They have likewise larger boats of
wood, covered with leather in which several people may sit, and in
which their women commonly go to sea.
Bows and arrows, javelins and harpoons, are their arms. With the last
they kill whales, and other large marine animals. The points of their
arrows and harpoons are sometimes made of iron, sometimes of bone, and
sometimes of the teeth of the walruss. Their quivers are made of seals
skins. The needles with which they sow their cloaths are likewise made
of iron or of bone. All their iron they get by some means or other from
the Europeans.
They sometimes go on board the European ships in order to exchange some
of their goods for knives and other iron. But it is not adviseable for
Europeans to go on shore, unless they be numerous; for the Esquimaux
are false and treacherous, and cannot suffer strangers amongst them. If
they find themselves too weak, they run away at the approach of
strangers; but if they think they are an over-match for them, they kill
all that come in their way, without leaving a single one alive. The
Europeans, therefore, do not venture to let a greater number of
Esquimaux come on board their ships than they can easily master. If
they are ship-wrecked on the Esquimaux coasts, they may as well be
drowned in the sea as come safe to the shore: this many Europeans have
experienced. The European boats and ships which the Esquimaux get into
their power, are immediately cut in pieces and robbed of all their
nails and other iron, which they work into knives, needles,
arrow-heads, &c. They make use of fire for no other purposes but
working of iron, and preparing the skins of animals. Their meat is
eaten all raw. When they come on board an European ship, and are
offered some of the sailors meat, they never will taste of it till they
have seen some Europeans eat it. Though nothing pleased other savage
nations so much as brandy, yet many Frenchmen have assured me, that
they never could prevail on the Esquimaux to take a dram of it. Their
mistrust of other nations the cause of it; for they undoubtedly
imagine, that they are going to poison them, or do them some hurt; and
I am not certain, whether they do not judge right. They have no
ear-rings, and do not paint the face like the American Indians. For
many centuries past, they have had dogs, whose ears are erected, and
never hang down. They make use of them for hunting, and instead of
horses in winter, for drawing their goods on the ice. They themselves
sometimes ride in sledges drawn by dogs. They have no other domestic
animal. There are, indeed, plenty of reindeer in their country; but it
is not known, that either the Esquimaux, or any of the Indians in
America, have ever tamed them. The French in Canada, who are in a
manner the neighbours of the Esquimaux, have taken a deal of pains to
carry on some kind of trade with them, and to endeavour to engage them
to a more friendly intercourse with other nations. For that purpose,
they took some Esquimaux children, taught them to read, and educated
them in the best manner possible. The intention of the French was, to
send these children to the Esquimaux again, that they might inform them
of the kind treatment the French had given them, and thereby incline
them to conceive a better opinion of the French. But unhappily all the
children died of the small-pox, and the scheme was dropt. Many persons
in Canada doubted, whether the scheme would have succeeded, though the
children had been kept alive. For they say, there was formerly an
Esquimaux taken by the French, and brought to Canada, where he staid a
good while, and was treated with great civility. He learnt French
pretty well, and seemed to relish the French way of living very well.
When he was sent back to his countrymen, he was not able to make the
least impression on them, in favour of the French; but was killed by
his nearest relations, as half a Frenchman and foreigner. This inhuman
proceeding of the Esquimaux against all strangers, is the reason why
none of the Indians of North America ever give quarter to the Esquimaux
if they meet with them, but kill them on the spot; though they
frequently pardon their other enemies, and incorporate the prisoners
into their nation.
For the use of those, who are fond of comparing the languages of
several nations, I have here inserted a few Esquimaux words,
communicated to me by the Jesuit Saint Pie. One, kombuc; two, tigal;
three, ké; four, missilagat; water, sillalokto; rain, killaluck;
heaven, taktuck, or nabugakshe; the sun, shikonak, or sakaknuk; the
moon, takock; an egg, manneguk; the boat, kagack; the oar, pacotick;
the knife, shavié; a dog, mekké, or timilok; the bow, petiksick; an
arrow, katso; the head, niakock; the ear, tchiu; the eye, killik, or
shik; the hair, nutshad; a tooth, ukak; the foot, itikat. Some think
that they are nearly the same nation with the Greenlanders, of
Skralingers; and pretend that there is a great affinity in the language
[102].
Plumb-trees of different sorts, brought over from France, succeed very
well here. The present year they did not begin to flower till this
month. Some of them looked very well; and I am told the winter does not
hurt them.
September the 11th. The marquis de la Galissonniere is one of the three
noblemen, who, above all others, have gained high esteem with the
French admiralty in the last war. They are the marquisses de la
Galissonniere, de la Jonquiere, and de l’Etendure. The first of these
was now above fifty years of age, of a low stature, and somewhat
hump-backed, but of a very agreeable look. He had been here for some
time as governor-general; and was going back to France one day this
month. I have already mentioned something concerning this nobleman; but
when I think of his many great qualities, I can never give him a
sufficient encomium. He has a surprizing knowledge in all branches of
science, and especially in natural history; in which he is so well
versed, that when he began to speak with me about it, I imagined I saw
our great Linnæus under a new form. When he spoke of the use of natural
history, of the method of learning, and employing it to raise the state
of a country, I was astonished to see him take his reasons from
politics, as well as natural philosophy, mathematics, and other
sciences. I own, that my conversation with this nobleman was very
instructive to me; and I always drew a deal of useful knowledge from
it. He told me several ways of employing natural history to the
purposes of politics, and to make a country powerful, in order to
depress its envious neighbours. Never has natural history had a greater
promoter in this country; and it is very doubtful whether it will ever
have his equal here. As soon as he got the place of governor-general,
he began to take those measures for getting information in natural
history, which I have mentioned before. When he saw people, who had for
some time been in a settled place of the country, especially in the
more remote parts, or had travelled in those parts, he always
questioned them about the trees, plants, earths, stones, ores, animals,
&c. of the place. He likewise enquired what use the inhabitants made of
these things; in what state their husbandry was; what lakes, rivers,
and passages there are; and a number of other particulars. Those who
seemed to have clearer notions than the rest, were obliged to give him
circumstantial descriptions of what they had seen. He himself wrote
down all the accounts he received; and by this great application, so
uncommon among persons of his rank, he soon acquired a knowledge of the
most distant parts of America. The priests, commandants of forts, and
of several distant places, are often surprized by his questions, and
wonder at his knowledge, when they come to Quebec to pay their visits
to him; for he often tells them that near such a mountain, or on such a
shore, &c. where they often went a hunting, there are some particular
plants, trees, earths, ores, &c. for he had got a knowledge of those
things before. From hence it happened, that some of the inhabitants
believed he had a preternatural knowledge of things, as he was able to
mention all the curiosities of places, sometimes near two hundred
Swedish miles from Quebec, though he never was there himself. Never was
there a better statesman than he; and nobody can take better measures,
and choose more proper means for improving a country, and encreasing
its welfare. Canada was hardly acquainted with the treasure it
possessed in the person of this nobleman, when it lost him again; the
king wanted his services at home, and could not leave him so far off.
He was going to France with a collection of natural curiosities; and a
quantity of young trees and plants, in boxes full of earth.
The black lime-slate has been repeatedly mentioned during the course of
my journey. I will here give a more minute detail of it. The mountain
on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the river St. Lawrence,
consist of it for some miles together, on both sides of Quebec. About a
yard from the surface, this stone is quite compact, and without any
cracks; so that one cannot perceive that it is a slate, its particles
being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three or four
inches, to twenty thick, and upwards. In the mountains on which Quebec
is built, the strata do not ly horizontal, but dipping, so as to be
nearly perpendicular; the upper ends pointing north-west, and the lower
ones south-east. From hence it is, that the corners of these strata
always strike out at the surface into the streets, and cut the shoes in
pieces. I have likewise seen some strata, inclining to the northward,
but nearly perpendicular as the former. Horizontal strata, or nearly
such, have occurred to me too. The strata are divided by narrow cracks,
which are commonly filled with fibrous white gypsum, which can
sometimes be got loose with a knife, if the layer or stratum of slate
above it is broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of
a thin white leaf. The larger cracks are almost filled up with
transparent quartz crystals, of different sizes. One part of the
mountain contains vast quantities of these crystals, from which the
corner of the mountain which lies to the S. S. E. of the palace, has
got the name of Pointe de Diamante, or Diamond Point. The small cracks
which divide the stone, go generally at right angles; the distances
between them are not always equal. The outside of the stratum, or that
which is turned towards the other stratum, is frequently covered with a
fine, black, shining membrane, which looks like a kind of a pyrous
horn-stone. In it there is sometimes a yellow pyrites, always lying in
small grains. I never found petrefactions or impressions, or other
kinds of stone in it, besides those I have just mentioned. The whole
mountain on which Quebec is situated, consists entirely of lime-slate
from top to bottom. When this stone is broken, or scraped with a knife,
it gives a strong smell like the stink-stone. That part of the mountain
which is exposed to the open air, crumbles into small pieces, had lost
their black colour, and got a pale red one in its stead. Almost all the
public and private buildings at Quebec consist of this lime-slate; and
likewise the walls round the town, and round the monasteries and
gardens, it is easily broken, and cut to the size wanted. But it has
the property of splitting into thin shivers, parallel to the surface of
the stratum from whence they are taken, after lying during one or more
years in the air, and exposed to the sun. However, this quality does no
damage to the walls in which they are placed; for the stones being laid
on purpose into such a position that the cracks always run
horizontally, the upper stones press so much upon the lower ones, that
they can only get cracks outwardly, and shiver only on the outside,
without going further inwards. The shivers always grow thinner, as the
houses grow older.
In order to give my readers some idea of the climate of Quebec, and of
the different changes of heat and cold, at the several seasons of the
year, I will here insert some particulars extracted from the
meteorological observations, of the royal physician, Mr. Gaulthier: he
gave me a copy of those which he had made from October 1744, to the end
of September 1746. The thermometrical observations I will omit, because
I do not think them accurate; for as Mr. Gaulthier made use of de la
Hire’s thermometer, the degrees of cold cannot be exactly determined,
the quicksilver being depressed into the globe at the bottom, as soon
as the cold begins to be considerable. The observations are made
throughout the year, between seven and eight in the morning, and two
and three in the afternoon. He has seldom made any observations in the
afternoon. His thermometer was likewise inaccurate, by being placed in
a bad situation.
The year 1745.
January. The 29th of this month the river St. Lawrence was covered over
with ice, near Quebec. In the observations of other years, it is
observed, that the river is sometimes covered with ice in the beginning
of January, or the end of December.
February. Nothing remarkable happend during the course of this month.
March. They say this has been the mildest winter they ever felt; even
the eldest persons could not remember one so mild. The snow was only
two feet deep, and the ice in the river, opposite Quebec, had the same
thickness. On the twenty-first there was a thunder-storm, which fell
upon a soldier, and hurt him very much. On the 19th and 20th, they
began to make incisions into the sugar-maple, and to prepare sugar from
its juice.