Is an extensive but thinly-peopled district, lying between the same
parallels of latitude as France and England, but in a climate infinitely
more severe. During winter the frost is intense, and the surface of the
ground is covered with snow to the depth of several feet. In many parts
of the country, however, the summers are hot and pleasant.
The _boundaries_ of Canada are, the United States on the south; the
Atlantic Ocean, Labrador, and Hudson's Bay, on the east and north; and a
wild and undescribed region on the west. This country is divided into
two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada: the executive power in each
province is vested in a _governor_; and a legislative council and an
assembly are appointed for each, having power, with the consent of the
governor, to make laws. In the legislative council of Lower Canada,
there are fifteen members; and in that of Upper Canada seven; and the
appointments are for life. In the assembly of Lower Canada there are
fifty members; and in that of Upper Canada sixteen: these are chosen by
the freeholders and do not continue in office longer than four years.
Canada was originally discovered by Sebastian Cabot, a navigator sent
out by the English about the year 1497; but in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, it was colonized by the French, who kept possession
of it till the year 1763, when it fell into the hands of the British, to
whom it still belongs. The long possession of this country by the
French, has occasioned the _French language_ to be chiefly spoken: it
has also occasioned the prevailing _religion_ to be Roman Catholic. The
British government permits a toleration of all religions; but by far the
greatest number of inhabitants are catholics. The clergy of the church
of England, in both provinces, are only twelve in number, including the
bishop of Quebec; whereas, those of the church of Rome amount to one
hundred and twenty, including a bishop, and three vicars-general.
The whole number of _inhabitants_ is considered to be about two hundred
thousand, of whom fifty thousand are Indians. "Essentially a Frenchman,
(says Mr. Hall,) the Canadian is gay, courteous, and contented. If the
rigours of the climate have somewhat chilled the overflowing vivacity
derived from his parent stock, he has still a sufficient portion of good
spirits and loquacity. To strangers and travellers he is invariably
civil; and he seems to value their good word beyond their money. He is
considered parsimonious, because all his gains arise from his savings,
and he is satisfied with the humblest fare." The Canadians have a great
antipathy to the inhabitants of the United States. At this day, many
even of the better informed among them believe that the American
government is constantly plotting the ruin of Canada.
Whilst Canada was in the hands of the French, the _commerce_ of the
country was chiefly confined to the fisheries and fur-trade: agriculture
was neglected, and extensive tracts of fertile soil lay uncultivated.
But the English have both peopled and improved a very considerable
portion of territory; and the trade is now of much importance. The
Canadians export to Britain and to different British establishments,
wheat and other grain, biscuit, beef, pork, butter, salmon, oil, timber,
hemp, and various other articles. In many parts of both Canadas the
_soil_ is well adapted for the production of grain. Tobacco also thrives
well in it; and culinary vegetables arrive at great perfection. The
forests produce beech-trees, oaks, elms, ash, pine, sycamore, chesnut,
and walnut; and a species of maple-tree, from the juice of which sugar
is made, abounds throughout the country.
Many extensive tracts in Canada are covered with lakes and marshes; and
the country is intersected by numerous rivers, some of which are
navigable to considerable distances. Of the _lakes_, the most important
are lake Superior, lake Huron, lake Michigan, lake Ontario, and lake
Erie. These are adjacent to the territory of the United States. Lake
Winipic is an expanse of water, more than two hundred and fifty miles in
length, situated about the 53d degree of north latitude. The largest and
noblest _river_ in Canada is the St. Lawrence, which flows from lake
Ontario, past the two towns of Montreal and Quebec, and falls into the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. This river meets the tide four miles from the sea;
and to this place it is navigable for large vessels.
_A Description of Quebec._
This city, the capital of Canada, stands at the northern extremity of a
strip of high land, which follows the course of the river St. Lawrence,
as far as the mouth of the Charles. The basis of these heights is a dark
slate rock, of which most of the buildings in the town are constructed.
_Cape Diamond_ terminates the promontory, with a bold precipice towards
the river. This rock derives its name from numerous transparent
crystals, which are found upon it; and which are so abundant that,
after a shower of rain, the ground glitters with them.
The Lower Town of Quebec is built at the foot of the heights; and the
Upper Town occupies their crest. The former, snug and dirty, is the
abode of persons engaged in trade, and of most of the lower classes: the
latter, lofty and cold, is the seat of government, and the principal
residence of the military.
With few exceptions, the _houses_ in Quebec are built of stone. The
roofs of the better sort are covered with sheets of iron or tin, and
those of an inferior description, with boards. On the roofs ladders are
usually placed, near the garret-windows, for the purpose of the
chimney-sweepers ascending, on the outside, to clean the chimneys: for,
in this country boys do not go up the chimneys, as in England; but two
men, one at the top and the other at the bottom, sweep them, by pulling
up and down a bundle of twigs or furze, tied to a rope.
The _streets_ of the Lower Town are, for the most part, narrow and
irregular. St. Peter's street is the best paved, and the widest of the
whole. It contains several good and substantial _houses_, which are
chiefly occupied by merchants and traders; but, from the colour of the
stone of which the houses are constructed, and of the iron roofs, all
the streets of Quebec have a heavy and gloomy appearance.
A street, called _Mountain Street_, which leads to the Upper Town,
winds, in a serpentine direction, from the market-place up the hill, and
terminates near the Upper Town market-place. This street, in winter, is
extremely dangerous. The quantity of snow and ice, which here accumulate
in large masses, renders it necessary for the inhabitants to wear outer
shoes, that are shod with iron spikes. The boys of Quebec have a
favourite amusement, in lying at full length with their breast upon a
small kind of sledge, and sliding along the snow, from the top of the
hill to the bottom: they glide down with astonishing velocity; yet,
with their feet, they can guide or stop themselves, at pleasure.
The _shops_ or stores of the traders in the Lower Town, do not exhibit
any of that diversified and pleasing appearance which is so remarkable
in London. Here the stranger sees nothing but heavy stone buildings,
gloomy casements, and iron-cased shutters, painted red. If any show is
made at the window, it is with paltry articles of cooking, earthen and
hardware: there is, however, a tolerable display of bear-skins,
seal-skins, foxes-tails, and buffalo-robes.
The _taverns_ in Quebec are numerous; yet a stranger is much surprised
to find only two houses which deserve that high-sounding appellation.
This arises from the vanity that possesses all our trans-Atlantic
brethren, to designate their paltry public-houses or spirit-shops, by
the more dignified title of "tavern;" for through the whole of America,
every dirty hole, where a few glasses of rum, gin, or whisky, are sold,
is so called.
Of the _public buildings_ in Quebec, the most important is the
government-house, or castle of St. Louis, a large, plain, stone edifice,
which forms one side of an open place or square, called the parade. Its
front resembles that of a country gentleman's house in England; and the
interior contains comfortable family apartments. The furniture is
inherited and paid for by the successive owners. Opposite to the
government-house stand the English cathedral church, and the
court-house, both handsome buildings of modern construction. The other
sides of the parade are formed by the Union Hotel, and a row of
buildings which form the commencement of St. Louis Street.
The _Upper Town_ is by far the most agreeable part of Quebec: its
streets are not, indeed, remarkable for width, but many of them are well
paved. In the Upper Town the heat, during summer, is not so intense as
in the Lower Town; nor, in winter, though the cold is much severer, is
it, as a residence, so dreary and uncomfortable.
There are, in Quebec, several catholic _charitable institutions_. Of
these, the principal is the "Hotel Dieu," founded in 1637, for the
accommodation and relief of poor sick people: it is under the management
of a superior and thirty-six nuns. The "General Hospital," which stands
at a little distance from the town, is a somewhat similar institution;
and is governed by a superior and forty-three nuns. In the admission of
patients into each of these establishments, no distinction is made, as
to catholics or protestants. The Ursuline convent, founded in 1639, for
the education of female children, stands within the city, and has a
considerable appearance of wealth. Among the ornaments of the chapel are
the skull and bones of a missionary, who had been murdered by the
Indians for attempting their conversion.
About two miles from the town is a break in the line of cliffs, which
forms a little recess, called _Wolf's Cove_. A steep pathway leads
thence to the heights of the plains of Abram. On these plains are still
to be seen, in the turf, traces of field-works, which were thrown up by
the British army, in the celebrated siege of Quebec; and a stone is
pointed out as that on which General Wolf expired.
The _markets_ of Quebec are well supplied with every thing that the
country affords; and, in general, at a very cheap rate. In the autumn,
as soon as the river betwixt the town and the island of Orleans, is
frozen over, an abundance of provisions is received from that island.
The Canadians, at the commencement of winter, kill the greatest part of
their stock, and carry it to market in a frozen state. The inhabitants
of the towns supply themselves, at this season, with butcher's meat,
poultry, and vegetables, to serve them till spring. These are kept in
garrets or cellars; and, so long as they continue frozen, their goodness
is preserved. Before they are prepared for the table, they are laid for
some hours in cold water, to be thawed. In wintertime, milk is brought
to market in large frozen cakes.
Great quantities of maple-sugar are sold, in Quebec, at about half the
price of West India sugar. The manufacturing of this article takes place
in the spring. The sap or juice, after it has been drawn from the trees,
is boiled, and then poured into shallow dishes, where it takes the form
of a thick and hard cake. Maple-sugar is very hard; and, when used, is
scraped with a knife, as, otherwise, it would be a long time in
dissolving.
The fruit of Canada is not remarkable either for excellence or
cheapness. Strawberries and raspberries are, however, brought to market
in great abundance: they are gathered on the plains, at the back of
Quebec, and in the neighbouring woods, where they grow wild, in the
utmost luxuriance. Apples and pears are chiefly procured from the
vicinity of Montreal. Walnuts and filberts are by no means common; but
hickory-nuts and hazel-nuts are to be obtained in all the woods.
The _climate_ of Lower Canada is subject to violent extremes of heat and
cold. At Quebec, the thermometer, in summer, is sometimes as high as 103
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer; and, in winter, is at 36 degrees
below 0. The average of summer heat is, in general, from 75 to 80
degrees; and the mean of the cold, in winter, is about 0.
From Christmas to Lady-day the weather is remarkably clear and fine; the
sky is of an azure blue colour, and seldom obscured by fogs or clouds;
and the frost is not often interrupted by falls of snow or rain. These
advantages render a Canadian winter so agreeable, that the inhabitants,
from sudden alterations of the weather, are never under the necessity of
changing their style of dress, unless it be to discard their greatcoats
and fur-caps, which, in consequence of the powerful warmth of the sun,
is sometimes necessary. In the early part of the winter there is always
much snow.
The spring, summer, and autumn of Canada, are all comprised within the
five months of May, June, July, August, and September. The rest of the
year may be considered as winter. During the month of October, the
weather is sometimes pleasant, but nature has then put on her gloomy
mantle; and the chilling blasts, from the north-west, remind the
Canadians of the approach of snow and ice. November and April are the
two most disagreeable months of the year: in one of these the snow is
beginning to fall, and in the other it is going away.
MR. HALL'S _Journey from Quebec to Montreal_.
MR. HALL was in Canada during the summer of 1816; and, on the
28th of July, he left Quebec, on a journey to Montreal. He deviated
somewhat from the usual road, that he might pass by the _Jacques Cartier
bridge_, six or seven miles above the ferry. Here the river falls wildly
down, betwixt its wooded shores; and, after forming several cascades,
foams through a narrow channel, which seems cut out of the solid rock,
to receive it. The rock, which constitutes its bed, is formed into
regular platforms, descending, by natural steps, to the edge of the
torrent. The Jacques Cartier is a river famous for its salmon, which are
caught of large size, and in great abundance, below the bridge. At the
foot of this bridge stands a little inn, where the angler may have his
game cooked for supper, and where he may sleep in the lull of the
torrent, below his chamber-window. After quitting this neighbourhood,
the scenery of the St. Lawrence becomes flat and uniform. The road
follows the direction of the river, sometimes running along the cliff,
which once embanked it, and sometimes descending to the water's edge.
From Quebec to Montreal, the country may be considered as one long
village. On each shore there is a stripe of land, seldom exceeding a
mile in breadth, which is bounded by forests, and thickly studded with
farm-houses, white-washed from top to bottom: to these, log-barns and
stables are attached, and commonly a neat plot of garden-ground.
Mr. Hall preferred the travelling in Lower Canada to that in every other
part of the American continent. You arrive (he says) at the post-house,
(as the words "_maison de poste_," scrawled over the door, give you
notice;) "Have you horses, Madame?" "_Oui, Monsieur, tout de suite._" A
loud cry of "_Oh! bon homme_," forwards the intelligence to her husband,
at work, perhaps, in an adjacent field. "_Mais, asseyez vous,
Monsieur_;" and, if you have patience to do this quietly, for a few
minutes, you will see crebillion, papillon, or some other _on_ arrive,
at a full canter, from pasture, mounted by honest _Jean_, in his blue
nightcap, with all his habiliments shaking in the wind. The preliminary
of splicing and compounding the broken harness having been adjusted, the
whip cracks, and you start to the exhilarating cry of "_marche donc_,"
at the rate of six, and often seven miles an hour.
The village of "_Trois Rivieres_" stands at the three mouths of the
_River St. Maurice_. It contains an Ursuline convent, which marks it for
a place of some note, in a catholic country; but it is still more worthy
of distinction, as being the residence of the amiable Abbe de la
Colonne, brother to the unfortunate French minister of that name.
Having engaged two experienced boatmen, and a bark canoe, Mr. Hall
ascended the St. Maurice, to visit the _falls of Shawinne Gamme_,
distant somewhat more than twenty miles. At his return, he left the St.
Maurice, and, having been ferried from _Berthier_ to _Contrecoeur_, he
proceeded, "_en caleche_," with two crebillions, towards _St. Ours_, in
the direction of the _Beloeil Mountain_, which was seen before him in
the misty horizon. The meadows were profusely decorated with orange
lilies; and the banks and dingles with the crimson cones of the sumac,
and a variety of flowering shrubs. Several brigs and merchants' ships
were dropping down with the tide, their crowded sails scarcely swelling
in the languid summer breeze.
The Canadian summer, observes Mr. Hall, is hot in proportion to the
severity of the winter; and the heat is sufficient to enable the
cultivator to raise Indian corn, water-melons, gourds, capsicums, and
such vegetables as require a short and intense heat. Hence the country
assumes the aspect of a Portuguese summer, by way of appendix to a
Russian winter.
Mr. Hall passed through the village of _Beloeil_; again crossed the
river, and proceeded towards the mountain, which towered, like an
immense wall of rock, above the flat surrounding country. Scattered at
its base were a few wretched houses, the inhabitants of which subsisted
by the produce of their apple-orchards.
The weather was excessively hot; and volumes of smoke, from the casual,
or intentional burning of the woods, every where clouded the horizon,
and seemed to give additional heat to the glowing landscape.
The basis of the _Montreal Mountain_ is freestone; the ascent is
consequently less steep, and the surface less broken, than that of
Beloeil: it is thickly wooded, and, from the river, forms an elegant
back-ground to the city.
_A Description of Montreal._
When approached from the water, the town of _Montreal_, which is
situated on an island in the River St. Lawrence, has a very singular
appearance. This is occasioned by the grey stone of the buildings, and
their tin-covered roofs; the latter of which emit a strong glare, when
the sun shines. The shore is steep, and forms a kind of natural wharf,
upon which the vessels discharge their cargoes: hence the shipping which
frequent the harbour of Montreal are often anchored close to the shore.
Many English vessels visit this place; but the navigation of the St.
Lawrence, above Quebec, is so hazardous, that few captains are willing
to make the voyage a second time.
The interior of the town of Montreal is extremely gloomy. The _streets_
are regularly built, but the buildings are ponderous masses of stone,
erected with little taste, and less judgment. Including the garrets,
they have seldom more than two stories above the ground-floor. The doors
and window-shutters are covered with large sheets of tin, painted red or
lead-colour, and corresponding with the gloomy colour of the stone, with
which most of the houses have been built; hence a heavy sameness of
appearance pervades all the streets.
The only _open places_ in the town, are the two markets, and a square,
called the Place d'Armes, in which, under the French government, the
troops of the garrison are accustomed to parade. The French catholic
church occupies the whole east side of the square; and, on the south
side, is a tavern, called the Montreal Hotel. Every thing, in this
tavern, is neat, cleanly, well conducted, and perfectly agreeable to an
Englishman's taste.
Montreal is divided into the _Upper_ and _Lower towns_, though these
have very little difference in elevation. The principal street of the
latter, extends, from north to south, through the whole length of the
place. This street contains the wholesale and retail stores of the
merchants and traders, the lower market-place, the post-office, the
Hotel Dieu, a large tavern, and several smaller ones. It is narrow, but
it presents a scene of greater bustle than any other part of the town;
and is the chief mart of the trade carried on in Montreal.
Most of the streets are well paved; and the improvements which are going
on throughout the town, will, in a few years, render it much more
commodious and agreeable than it is at present. The four streets or
_suburbs_ occupy a considerable space of ground, and the number of
inhabitants is computed at twelve thousand. The _religious_ and
_charitable institutions_ of this place, are counterparts to those at
Quebec. There are a general hospital, and an Hotel Dieu, for the relief
of sick poor. The principal catholic church is rich and handsome. The
college or seminary, is a capacious stone building, and has lately been
repaired and enlarged. It was originally endowed as a branch of the
seminary at Paris; but, since the French Revolution, it has afforded an
asylum to several members of the latter, whose learning and talents have
been employed in its advancement. Among other _public edifices_ must be
reckoned the English church, an unfinished building; the old monastery
of Franciscan Friars, now converted into barracks; the court-house, and
the government-house. The court-house is a neat and spacious building.
In front of it, a column has been erected in honour of Lord Nelson, and
is crowned with a statue of him. Near the court-house a gaol has been
built, upon the site of the old college of Jesuits.
There seems to be a greater spirit of municipal improvement in Montreal
than in Quebec. It is also, probably, a richer place; for, being the
emporium of the fur-trade, its merchants carry on a considerable traffic
with the United States, and particularly with Vermont and New York.
At the back of the town, and behind the court-house, is a _parade_,
where the troops are exercised. The ground, along this part, is
considerably elevated, and forms a steep bank, several hundred yards in
length. Here the inhabitants walk in an evening, and enjoy a beautiful
view of the suburbs of St. Lawrence and St. Antoine; and of numerous
gardens, orchards, and plantations, adorned with neat, and, in many
instances, even handsome villas. Green fields are interspersed amidst
this rich variety of objects, which are concentrated in an extensive
valley, that gradually rises towards a lofty mountain, about two miles
and a half distant; and covered, towards its upper part, with trees and
shrubs. It is from this mountain that the town obtained its name of
Montreal, or "Royal Mount."
All the principal north-west merchants reside in this town; which is the
emporium of their trade, and the grand mart of the commerce carried on
between Canada and the United States: they live in a splendid style, and
keep expensive tables.
The _markets_ of Montreal are plentifully supplied with provisions,
which are much cheaper here than in Quebec. Large supplies are brought
in, every winter, from the United States; particularly cod-fish, which
is packed in ice, and conveyed in sledges from Boston. Two weekly
newspapers, called the Gazette and the Canadian Courant, are published
here.
At Montreal, the winter is considered to be two months shorter than it
is at Quebec; and the heat of summer is more oppressive.
Twenty-third Day's Instruction.