in their neighbourhood the use of fire-arms, and they have laid aside
their bows and arrows, which were formerly their only arms, and make
use of muskets. If the Europeans should now refuse to supply the
Indians with muskets, they would be starved to death; as almost all
their food consists of the flesh of the animals, which they hunt; or
they would be irritated to such a degree as to attack the Europeans.
The Indians have hitherto never tried to make muskets or similar
fire-arms; and their great indolence does not even allow them to mend
those muskets which they have got. They leave this entirely to the
Europeans. As the Europeans came into North-America, they were very
careful not to give the Indians any fire-arms. But in the wars between
the French and English, each party gave their Indian allies fire-arms,
in order to weaken the force of the enemy. The French lay the blame
upon the Dutch settlers in Albany, saying, that they began, in 1642, to
give their Indians fire-arms, and taught them the use of them, in order
to weaken the French. The inhabitants of Albany, on the contrary,
assert, that the French first introduced this custom, as they would
have been too weak to resist the combined force of the Dutch and
English in the colonies. Be this as it will, it is certain that the
Indians buy muskets from the Europeans, and know at present better how
to make use of them, than some of their teachers. It is likewise
certain, that the Europeans gain considerably by their trade in muskets
and ammunition.
Pieces of white cloth, or of a coarse uncut cloth. The Indians
constantly wear such pieces of cloth, wrapping them round their bodies.
Sometimes they hang them over their shoulders; in warm weather, they
fasten them round the middle; and in cold weather, they put them over
the head. Both their men and women wear these pieces of cloth, which
have commonly several blue or red stripes on the edge.
Blue or red cloth. Of this the Indian women make their petticoats,
which reach only to their knees. They generally chuse the blue colour.
Shirts and shifts of linen. As soon as an Indian fellow, or one of
their women, have put on a shirt, they never wash it, or strip it off,
till it is entirely torn in pieces.
Pieces of cloth, which they wrap round their legs instead of stockings,
like the Russians.
Hatchets, knives, scissars, needles, and a steel to strike fire with.
These instruments are now common among the Indians. They all take these
instruments from the Europeans, and reckon the hatchets and knives much
better, than those which they formerly made of stones and bones. The
stone hatchets of the ancient Indians are very rare in Canada.
Kettles of copper or brass, sometimes tinned in the inside. In these
the Indians now boil all their meat, and they have a very great run
with them. They formerly made use of earthen or wooden pots, into which
they poured water, or whatever else they wanted to boil, and threw in
red hot stones to make it boil. They do not want iron boilers, because
they cannot be easily carried on their continual journies, and would
not bear such falls and knocks as their kettles are subject to.
Ear-rings of different sizes, commonly of brass, and sometimes of tin.
They are worn by both men and women, though the use of them is not
general.
Vermillion. With this they paint their face, shirt, and several parts
of the body. They formerly made use of a reddish earth, which is to be
found in the country; but, as the Europeans brought them vermillion,
they thought nothing was comparable to it in colour. Many persons have
told me, that they had heard their fathers mention, that the first
Frenchmen who came over here, got a great heap of furs from the
Indians, for three times as much cinnabar as would ly on the tip of a
knife.
Verdigrease, to paint their faces green. For the black colour, they
make use of the soot at the bottom of their kettles, and daub their
whole face with it.
Looking glasses. The Indians are very much pleased with them, and make
use of them chiefly when they want to paint themselves. The men
constantly carry their looking glasses with them on all their journies;
but the women do not. The men, upon the whole, are more fond of
dressing than the women.
Burning glasses. These are excellent pieces of furniture in the opinion
of the Indians; because they serve to light the pipe without any
trouble, which an indolent Indian is very fond of.
Tobacco is bought by the northern Indians, in whose country it will not
grow. The southern Indians always plant as much of it as they want for
their own consumption. Tobacco has a great run amongst the northern
Indians, and it has been observed, that the further they live to the
northward, the more they smoke of tobacco.
Wampum, or, as they are here called, porcelanes. They are made of a
particular kind of shells, and turned into little short cylindrical
beads, and serve the Indians for money and ornament.
Glass beads, of a small size, and white or other colours. The Indian
women know how to fasten them in their ribbands, pouches, and clothes.
Brass and steel wire, for several kinds of work.
Brandy, which the Indians value above all other goods that can be
brought them; nor have they any thing, though ever so dear to them,
which they would not give away for this liquor. But, on account of the
many irregularities which are caused by the use of brandy, the sale of
it has been prohibited under severe penalties; however, they do not
always pay an implicit obedience to this order.
These are the chief goods which the French carry to the Indians, and
they have a good run among them.
The goods which they bring back from the Indians, consist entirely in
furs. The French get them in exchange for their goods, together with
all the necessary provisions they want on the journey. The furs are of
two kinds; the best are the northern ones, and the worst sort those
from the south.
In the northern parts of America there are chiefly the following skins
of animals: beavers, elks [108], rein-deer [109], wolf-lynxes [110],
and martens. They sometimes get martens skins from the south, but they
are red, and good for little. Pichou du Nord is perhaps the animal
which the English, near Hudson’s bay, call the wolverene. To the
northern furs belong the bears, which are but few, and foxes, which are
not very numerous, and generally black; and several other skins.
The skins of the southern parts are chiefly taken from the following
animals: wild cattle, stags, roebucks, otters, Pichoux du Sud, of which
P. Charlevoix makes mention [111], and are probably a species of
cat-lynx, or perhaps a kind of panther; foxes of various kinds,
raccoons, cat-lynxes, and several others.
It is inconceivable what hardships the people in Canada must undergo on
their journies. Sometimes they must carry their goods a great way by
land; frequently they are abused by the Indians, and sometimes they are
killed by them. They often suffer hunger, thirst, heat, and cold, and
are bit by gnats, and exposed to the bites of poisonous snakes, and
other dangerous animals and insects. These destroy a great part of the
youth in Canada, and prevent the people from growing old. By this
means, however, they become such brave soldiers, and so inured to
fatigue, that none of them fear danger or hardships. Many of them
settle among the Indians far from Canada, marry Indian women, and never
come back again.
The prices of the skins in Canada, in the year 1749, were communicated
to me by M. de Couagne, a merchant at Montreal, with whom I lodged.
They were as follows:
Great and middle sized bear skins, cost five livres.
Skins of young bears, fifty sols.
—— lynxs, 25 sols.
—— pichoux du sud, 35 sols.
—— foxes from the southern parts, 35 sols.
—— otters, 5 livres.
—— raccoons, 5 livres.
—— martens, 45 sols.
—— wolf-lynxes [112], 4 livres.
—— wolves, 40 sols.
—— carcajoux, an animal which I do not know, 5 livres.
Skins of visons, a kind of martens, which live in the water, 25
sols.
Raw skins of elks [113], 10 livres.
—— stags [114].
Bad skins of elks and stags [115], 3 livres.
Skins of roebucks, 25, or 30 sols.
—— red foxes, 3 livres.
—— beavers, 3 livres.
I will now insert a list of all the different kinds of skins, which are
to be got in Canada, and which are sent from thence to Europe. I got it
from one of the greatest merchants in Montreal. They are as follows:
Prepared roebuck skins, chevreuils passés.
Unprepared ditto, chevreuils verts.
Tanned ditto, chevreuils tanés.
Bears, ours.
Young bears, oursons.
Otters, loutres.
Pecans.
Cats, chats.
Wolves, loup de bois.
Lynxes, loups cerviers.
North pichoux, pichoux du nord.
South pichoux, pichoux du sud.
Red foxes, renards rouges.
Cross foxes, renards croisés.
Black foxes, renards noirs.
Grey foxes, renards argentés.
Southern, or Virginian foxes, renards du sud ou de Virginie.
White foxes, from Tadoussac, renards blancs de Tadoussac.
Martens, martres.
Visons, or soutreaux.
Black squirrels, écureuils noirs.
Raw stags skins, cerfs verts.
Prepared ditto, cerfs passés.
Raw elks skins, originals verts.
Prepared ditto, originals passés.
Rein-deer skins, cariboux.
Raw hinds skins, biches verts.
Prepared ditto, biches passées.
Carcajoux.
Musk rats, rats musqués.
Fat winter beavers, castors gras d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors gras d’été.
Dry winter beavers, castors secs d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors secs d’été.
Old winter beavers, castors vieux d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors vieux d’été.
To-day, I got a piece of native copper from the Upper Lake. They find
it there almost quite pure; so that it does not want melting over
again, but is immediately fit for working. Father Charlevoix [116]
speaks of it in his History of New-France. One of the Jesuits at
Montreal, who had been at the place where this metal is got, told me,
that it is generally found near the mouths of rivers, and that there
are pieces of native copper too heavy for a single man to lift up. The
Indians there say, that they formerly found a piece of about seven feet
long, and near four feet thick, all of pure copper. As it is always
found in the ground near the mouths of rivers, it is probable that the
ice or water carried it down from a mountain; but, notwithstanding the
careful search that has been made, no place has been found, where the
metal lies in any great quantity together.
The head or superior of the priests of Montreal, gave me a piece of
lead-ore to-day. He said it was taken from a place only a few French
miles from Montreal, and it consisted of pretty compact, shining cubes,
of lead ore. I was told by several persons here, that furthermore
southward in the country, there is a place where they find a great
quantity of this lead-ore in the ground. The Indians near it, melt it,
and make balls and shot of it. I got some pieces of it likewise,
consisting of a shining cubic lead-ore, with narrow stripes between it,
and of a white hard earth or clay, which effervesces with aqua fortis.
I likewise received a reddish brown earth to-day, found near the Lac de
Deux Montagnes, or Lake of Two Mountains, a few French miles from
Montreal. It may be easily crumbled into dust between the fingers. It
is very heavy, and more so than the earth of that kind generally is.
Outwardly, it has a kind of glossy appearance, and, when it is handled
by the fingers for some time, they are quite as it were silvered over.
It is, therefore, probably a kind of lead-earth or an earth mixed with
iron-glimmer.
The ladies in Canada are generally of two kinds: some come over from
France, and the rest natives. The former possess the politeness
peculiar to the French nation; the latter may be divided into those of
Quebec and Montreal. The first of these are equal to the French ladies
in good breeding, having the advantage of frequently conversing with
the French gentlemen and ladies, who come every summer with the king’s
ships, and stay several weeks at Quebec, but seldom go to Montreal. The
ladies of this last place are accused by the French of partaking too
much of the pride of the Indians, and of being much wanting in French
good breeding. What I have mentioned above of their dressing their head
too assiduously, is the case with all the ladies throughout Canada.
Their hair is always curled, even when they are at home in a dirty
jacket, and short coarse petticoat, that does not reach to the middle
of their legs. On those days when they pay or receive visits, they
dress so gayly, that one is almost induced to think their parents
possessed the greatest dignities in the state. The Frenchmen, who
considered things in their true light, complained very much that a
great part of the ladies in Canada had got into the pernicious custom
of taking too much care of their dress, and squandering all their
fortunes, and more, upon it, instead of sparing something for future
times. They are no less attentive to have the newest fashions; and they
laugh at each other, when they are not dressed to each other’s fancy.
But what they get as new fashions, are grown old, and laid aside in
France; for the ships coming but once every year from thence, the
people in Canada consider that as the new fashion for the whole year,
which the people on board brought with them, or which they imposed upon
them as new. The ladies in Canada, and especially at Montreal, are very
ready to laugh at any blunders strangers make in speaking; but they are
very excusable. People laugh at what appears uncommon and ridiculous.
In Canada nobody ever hears the French language spoken by any but
Frenchmen; for strangers seldom come thither; and the Indians are
naturally too proud to learn French, but oblige the French to learn
their language. From hence it naturally follows, that the nice Canada
ladies cannot hear any thing uncommon without laughing at it. One of
the first questions they propose to a stranger is, whether he is
married? The next, how he likes the ladies in the country; and whether
he thinks them handsomer than those of his own country? And the third,
whether he will take one home with him? There are some differences
between the ladies of Quebec and those of Montreal; those of the last
place seemed to be generally handsomer than those of the former. Their
behaviour likewise seemed to me to be somewhat too free at Quebec, and
of a more becoming modesty at Montreal. The ladies at Quebec,
especially the unmarried ones, are not very industrious. A girl of
eighteen is reckoned very poorly off, if she cannot enumerate at least
twenty lovers. These young ladies, especially those of a higher rank,
get up at seven, and dress till nine, drinking their coffee at the same
time. When they are dressed, they place themselves near a window that
opens into the street, take up some needle-work, and sew a stitch now
and then; but turn their eyes into the street most of the time. When a
young fellow comes in, whether they are acquainted with him or not,
they immediately lay aside their work, sit down by him, and begin to
chat, laugh, joke, and invent double-entendres; and this is reckoned
being very witty [117]. In this manner they frequently pass the whole
day, leaving their mothers to do all the business in the house. In
Montreal, the girls are not quite so volatile, but more industrious.
They are always at their needle-work, or doing some necessary business
in the house. They are likewise chearful and content; and nobody can
say that they want either wit, or charms. Their fault is, that they
think too well of themselves. However, the daughters of people of all
ranks, without exception, go to market, and carry home what they have
bought. They rise as soon, and go to bed as late, as any of the people
in the house. I have been assured, that, in general, their fortunes are
not considerable; which are rendered still more scarce by the number of
children, and the small revenues in a house. The girls at Montreal are
very much displeased that those at Quebec get husbands sooner than
they. The reason of this is, that many young gentlemen who come over
from France with the ships, are captivated by the ladies at Quebec, and
marry them; but as these gentlemen seldom go up to Montreal, the girls
there are not often so happy as those of the former place.
September the 23d. This morning I went to Sault au Récollet, a place
three French miles northward of Montreal, to describe the plants and
minerals there, and chiefly to collect seeds of various plants. Near
the town there are farms on both sides of the road; but as one advances
further on, the country grows woody, and varies in regard to height. It
is generally very strong; and there are both pieces of rock-stone, and
a kind of grey lime-stone. The roads are bad, and almost impassable for
chaises. A little before I arrived at Sault au Récollet, the woods end,
and the country is turned into corn-fields, meadows, and pastures.
About a French mile from the town are two lime-kilns on the road. They
are built of a grey lime-stone, burnt hard, and of pieces of
rock-stone, towards the fire. The height of the kiln from top to bottom
is seven yards.
The lime-stone which they burn here, is of two kinds. One is quite
black, and so compact, that its constituent particles cannot be
distinguished, some dispersed grains of white and pale grey spar
excepted. Now and then there are thin cracks in it filled with a white
small-grained spar.
I have never seen any petrefactions in this stone, though I looked very
carefully for them. This stone is common on the isle of Montreal, about
ten or twenty inches below the upper soil. It lies in strata of five or
ten inches thickness. This stone is said to give the best lime; for,
though it is not so white as that of the following grey lime-stone, yet
it makes better mortar, and almost turns into stone, growing harder and
more compact every day. There are examples, that when they have been
about to repair a house made partly of this mortar, the other stones of
which the house consists, sooner broke in pieces than the mortar
itself.
The other kind is a grey, and sometimes a dark grey lime-stone,
consisting of a compact calcareous-stone, mixed with grains of spar, of
the same colour. When broken, it has a strong smell of stink-stone. It
is full of petrified striated shells or pectinites. The greatest part
of these petrefactions are, however, only impressions of the hollow
side of the shells. Now and then I found likewise petrefied pieces of
the shell itself, though I could never find the same shells in their
natural state on the shores; and it seems inconceivable how such a
quantity of impressions could come together, as I shall presently
mention.
I have had great pieces of this lime-stone, consisting of little else
than pectinites, lying close to one another. This lime-stone is found
on several parts of the isle, where it lies in horizontal strata of the
thickness of five or ten inches. This stone yields a great quantity of
white lime, but it is not so good as the former, because it grows damp
in wet weather.
Fir-wood is reckoned the best for the lime-kilns, and the thuya wood
next to it. The wood of the sugar-maple, and other trees of a similar
nature, are not fit for it, because they leave a great quantity of
coals.
Grey pieces of rock-stone are to be seen in the woods and fields
hereabouts.
The leaves of several trees and plants began now to get a pale hue;
especially those of the red maple, the smooth sumach [118], the
Polygonum sagittatum, Linn. and several of the ferns.
A great cross is erected on the road and the boy who shewed me the
wood, told me that a person was buried there, who had wrought great
miracles.
At noon I arrived at Sault au Récollet, which is a little place,
situated on a branch of the river St. Lawrence, which flows with a
violent current between the isles of Montreal and Jesus. It has got its
name from an accident which happened to a recollet friar, called
Nicolas Veil, in the year 1625. He went into a boat with a converted
Indian, and some Indians of the nation of Hurons, in order to go to
Quebec; but, on going over this place in the river, the boat overset,
and both the friar and his proselyte were drowned. The Indians (who
have been suspected of occasioning the oversetting of the boat) swam to
the shore, saved what they could of the friars effects, and kept them.
The country hereabouts is full of stones, and they have but lately
began to cultivate it; for all the old people could remember the places
covered with tall woods, which are now turned into corn-fields,
meadows, and pastures. The priests say, that this place was formerly
inhabited by some converted Hurons. These Indians lived on a high
mountain, at a little distance from Montreal when the French first
arrived here, and the latter persuaded them to sell that land. They did
so, and settled here at Sault au Récollet, and the church which still
remains here, was built for them, and they have attended divine service
in it for many years. As the French began to increase on the isle of
Montreal, they wished to have it entirely to themselves, and persuaded
the Indians again to sell them this spot, and go to another. The French
have since prevailed upon the Indians (whom they did not like to have
amongst them, because of their drunkenness, and rambling idle life) to
leave this place again, and go to settle at the lake des Deux
Montagnes, where they are at present, and have a fine church of stone.
Their church at Sault au Récollet is of wood, looks very old and
ruinous, though its inside is pretty good, and is made use of by the
Frenchmen in this place. They have already brought a quantity of stones
hither, and intend building a new church very soon. The botanical
observations which I made during these days, I shall reserve for
another publication.
Though there had been no rain for some days past, yet the moisture in
the air was so great, that as I spread some papers on the ground this
afternoon, in a shady place, intending to put the seeds I collected
into them, they were so wet in a few minutes time, as to be rendered
quite useless. The whole sky was very clear and bright, and the heat as
intolerable as in the middle of July.
One half of the corn-fields are left fallow alternately. The fallow
grounds are never ploughed in summer; so the cattle can feed upon the
weeds that grow on them. All the corn made use of here is summer corn,
as I have before observed. Some plough the fallow grounds late in
autumn; others defer that business till spring; but the first way is
said to give a much better crop. Wheat, barley, rye, and oats are
harrowed, but pease are ploughed under ground. They sow commonly about
the 15th of April, and begin with the pease. Among the many kinds of
pease which are to be got here, they prefer the green ones to all
others for sowing. They require a high, dry, poor ground, mixed with
coarse sand. The harvest time commences about the end, and sometimes in
the middle of August. Wheat returns generally fifteen, and sometimes
twenty fold; oats from fifteen to thirty fold. The crop of pease is
sometimes forty fold, but at other times only ten fold; for they are
very different. The plough and harrow are the only instruments of
husbandry they have, and those none of the best sort neither. The
manure is carried upon the fallow grounds in spring. The soil consists
of a grey stony earth, mixed with clay and sand. They sow no more
barley than is necessary for the cattle; for they make no malt here.
They sow a good deal of oats, but merely for the horses and other
cattle. Nobody knows here how to make use of the leaves of deciduous
trees as a food for the cattle, though the forests are furnished with
no other than trees of that kind, and though the people are commonly
forced to feed their cattle at home during five months.
I have already repeatedly mentioned, that almost all the wheat which is
sown in Canada is summer wheat, that is such as is sown in spring. Near
Quebec it sometimes happens, when the summer is less warm, or the
spring later than common, that a great part of the wheat does not ripen
perfectly before the cold commences. I have been assured that some
people, who live on the Isle de Jesus, sow wheat in autumn, which is
better, finer, and gives a more plentiful crop, than the summer wheat;
but it does not ripen above a week before the other wheat.