_Journey from Montreal to Quebec.-- Stay at Quebec.-- Return to
Montreal-- from the 3d to the 9th of September, 1825._
About 8 o’clock in the evening of the 3d of September, in company with
Messrs. Grymes and Clare’s families, we embarked on board the steam-boat
Lady Sherbrook for Quebec, one hundred and eighty miles from Montreal.
Montreal wants good wharves, a circumstance which we felt sensibly on
going on board the steam-boat, as we were obliged to walk in the dark
through the mire, which was particularly disagreeable to the ladies. We
had taken state-rooms on board the vessel, so that the ladies could live
alone, and not be obliged to sleep in the common ladies cabin. To me it
was also pleasant to have a small room to myself. At Montreal I met
Captain King, of the English artillery, with whom I had become
acquainted at Boston, and who likewise travelled to Quebec. The other
passengers were not numerous.
The steam-boat was one hundred and fifty feet long, carried eight
hundred tons, and her engine was of sixty horse-power, much too little
for such a large and heavy vessel. It started after 9 o’clock in the
evening. During the night it stopt an hour at the outlet of the river
Sorel into the St. Lawrence, at William Henry, a small town, so called
in honour of the Duke of Clarence. They were obliged to take in wood;
for the American and Canada steam-boats are not, like the European,
heated with stone coal, but with wood, which takes up much room on the
vessel, and much time in loading.
The next morning we stopt on the left bank of the little town Les Trois
Rivières, which contains two thousand five hundred inhabitants, is
eighty miles distant from Montreal, and situated where the St. Maurice
empties itself into the St. Lawrence. Before we came to this place, we
had to go through Lake St. Pierre, which is formed by the widening of
the river St. Lawrence. The banks of this river are thickly inhabited on
both sides, and are also said to be cultivated and productive. The river
is throughout from one to two miles wide, but fifty-two miles below
Trois Rivières, at the village of Richelieu, it becomes narrower, and
here are the last rapids, called Rapids de Richelieu. The banks, which
as far as this place are pretty low, become higher and more rocky,
particularly on the left side. The neighbourhood is remarkably handsome
and picturesque. The majestic stream with its pleasant banks and the
view of the distant blue mountains near Quebec, produce an indescribable
effect. The weather was favourable, a clear sunny day, and not very
warm; in this northern latitude you can already perceive the approaching
autumn by the coolness of the nights and mornings.
We reached Quebec at 10 o’clock in the evening. This city consists of
two parts, the upper town, which is built on a rock, and the lower,
which is pressed in between the river and the rock. The lights in the
lower town and the fortifications, had an elegant appearance, when
contrasted with the dark rock. The first coup d’œil, which was by night,
reminded me of Namur, as it is seen from the right bank of the Maas.
In the river were many vessels, mostly used for carrying wood. It was
already late, and we should have found difficulty in transporting our
baggage by night, besides other inconveniences in finding lodgings for
the ladies, so we spent this night also on board the steam-boat, where
we were very comfortable and found it cleanly.
The next morning, after dismissing the guard which the governor had
appointed to escort us, we went to our lodgings, in the upper part of
the town. The lower town is very narrow, and has a filthy appearance.
The streets are not paved, and badly provided with side-walks. The road
which leads to the upper part of the town is very steep. It stands on a
rocky ground, and its fortifications are elevated three hundred and
fifty feet from the level of the ocean. The upper is separated from the
lower town by a stone wall, which has the form of a horn-work. Through
this wall is a gate, which has a guard, the guard-room is opposite the
gate, and by means of a portcullis defends the entrance. For the
convenience of foot-passengers, there is a door near the gate, with
wooden stairs, by ascending which you reach the upper town. On the right
side of the gate is a building which resembles a chapel, and serves for
the house of commons of Canada. In order to get home, we were obliged to
go round part of the walls of the town. Even here you have an
indescribably beautiful view of the Bay of Quebec and the right bank of
the river, which has the appearance of a cape called Point Levi.
Shortly after our arrival, I received a visit from Colonel Duchesnay,
first adjutant of the governor-general, and from Colonel Darnford,
director of engineers. The first gentleman came to bid me welcome, in
the name of the governor, and the latter begged to show me the
fortifications. Lord Dalhousie, governor-general of all the British
possessions in North America, was at that time in England, but was
expected daily. During his absence, the government was under the
direction of the lieutenant-governor, Sir Francis Burton, brother of
Lord Conyngham. He is a civilian, but is said to fill his high post with
credit. The good spirits the inhabitants are in, and the harmony that
exists in the colony, is mostly owing to his good management, and his
humane and friendly deportment towards them. It is said of Lord
Dalhousie, that he has estranged the hearts of the people from himself
and the government, through his haughty and absolute deportment, and the
opposition party in the Canadian parliament has thereby been
strengthened.
With the above-mentioned public officers, we wandered through the city,
and first of all visited the government house, which is a large old
building, vacant during the absence of Lord Dalhousie. The rooms are not
large, and were not as richly furnished as I expected to see the mansion
of an English governor-general. At the back of the house, over the
vault, is a large balcony, from which one can see part of the town, the
harbour, and the surrounding neighbourhood. The citadel is a new work,
and not quite finished. The English speak with a kind of exultation of
the fortifications of Quebec, and compare it to Gibraltar. I also
expected something extraordinary, but cannot say that my expectations
were gratified. The heights near the town are the well-known plains of
Abraham, or more correctly heights of Abraham, upon which, on the 12th
of September, 1759, the battle between the English general, Wolfe, and
the French general, Marquis Montcalm, took place; a battle which cost
the lives of both generals, and in which the French were defeated with
the loss of the town and colony.
General Wolfe took possession of the Isle d’Orleans, and made himself
master of Point Levi. The Marquis de Montcalm, upon the heights by the
falls of Montmorency, with his army in a fortified position, heroically
received the attack of General Wolfe and drove him back, with great loss
to the English army. On this occasion, General Wolfe embarked his men in
the night, took advantage of the darkness to pass the town, sailed up
the St. Lawrence, and disembarked at the place that is now called
Wolfe’s cove. He mounted the rock with a great deal of difficulty, and
then put his army at the break of day in order of battle on the Heights
of Abraham. To assist the town, and drive the English from the heights
of Abraham, the Marquis de Montcalm found it necessary to leave his
impregnable position at Montmorency, and to cross, by a bridge secured
by double piers, over the river St. Charles. He now, with Quebec in his
rear, drew up his army upon the heights in good order and gave battle,
the result of which was unfortunate to him and his government.
The English engineers make use of bricks which are burned in England,
for building the casemates of the fortification. A thousand of these
bricks cost the government, including transportation, two pounds ten
shillings! The reason they give is, that the bricks burned here, crack
in the winter. I rather believe that the preference of these foreign
bricks has some other reason.
The arsenal is a large, yet not bomb-proof building, in which there are
more than twenty thousand muskets, and some useful pistols. We also saw
here several very handsomely ornamented single and double-barrel guns,
which are kept for the purpose of making presents to Indian chiefs.
The upper part of the town is very old and angular, the streets are
muddy, and many not paved. Both towns contain about twenty-five thousand
inhabitants. The Catholic cathedral is quite a handsome building; it has
three altars, and paintings of but little value. On account of the
coldness of the climate the church is floored. The inside of the church
is divided like English churches, into aisles. It is near the seminary,
an old French building, with massive walls, having four corners like a
bastion. In this seminary resides the Bishop of Quebec. We had already
been introduced to Bishop Plessis, in the house of Sir Francis Burton,
and found him a very agreeable and well-informed man. He is the son of a
butcher of Montreal, and has elevated himself by his own merit. A few
years ago he travelled through England, France, and Italy, where he
received the title of Archbishop of Canada, from the pope. The English
government in the mean time, took into consideration, whether they would
recognise his title, because he would, as archbishop, rank in the
Canadian parliament before the English episcopal bishop. We paid our
respects to this worthy man. He received us kindly, surrounded by many
young priests. His secretary showed us the building and the garden. The
scholars had a vacation, and the house was deserted. They are not all
destined for the priesthood; the most respectable people of this country
have their sons brought up in this institution, in which they receive a
very good education. The Catholic clergy are very much respected here,
and they are said to deserve it, on account of the information they
possess, and the benefactions they bestow. The English government left
them all the emoluments and prerogatives which they possessed before the
colony was conquered. On this account, the clergy are obedient to the
government, and exert their best influence over the people in favour of
the government. In the seminary is a small philosophical apparatus. The
natural history cabinet is not very rich; the best part of it is a
collection of East India shells. The garden of the seminary is rather
large, and serves as a fruit and vegetable garden, &c.
Nine miles from Quebec is the waterfall of Montmorency, to which we
travelled, escorted by Colonel Duchesnay. The road passed through the
palace gate. This is the gate where General Arnold made his attack, when
he stormed the place in December, 1775, and was wounded in the leg. His
column had already pressed into the city, and would certainly have taken
the town, if General Montgomery, who attacked the lower town from the
side of the St. Lawrence, had met him at the same time. This, however,
was impossible, as General Montgomery fell, and after his death his
division fell into confusion, and retreated. An English artillerist,
returning to the only cannon placed there, which had already been
deserted, set a match to it, killed this hero with twelve men, and thus
saved the town.
We crossed the river St. Charles over a long well built wooden bridge,
and continued our journey partly on a road cut through the rock, having
the St. Lawrence always in view. The neighbourhood is well cultivated;
several farm-houses have a very ancient appearance. The handsomest of
them belongs to the seminary at Quebec, and serves the priests as a
pleasure ground. About the middle of the road is the village Beaufort,
where one has a very good prospect of the city, the right bank of the
St. Lawrence, the Isle d’Orleans, and down the stream. We left the
carriage at the river Montmorency, over which a wooden bridge is thrown,
and walked nearly to where the Montmorency empties itself into the St.
Lawrence. At that place are the falls, two hundred and seventy-five feet
high. The surrounding country is extraordinarily beautiful. Near the
waterfall is a cave, where the soil is either sunk, or washed away by
the water; it is a narrow deep crack in the earth, which you cannot
behold without shuddering. When the water is high, there are three
falls. The middle one precipitates directly down, the two others cross
over the middle one. The drought, however, of the summer of 1825, and a
canal, which drains the water from the river to drive saw and other
mills, has lessened the quantity of water in the river, so that only one
of the three falls has water, and instead of seeing the other two, you
perceive the bare rock. This rock is slate. At Quebec and Point Levi,
it is limestone; in Quebec it is interspersed with silicious crystals,
hence its name Cape Diamond. The stones of Point Levi are used for
building houses and fortifications; all copings are made of this stone.
Most of the trees in this neighbourhood are cedar. Below the falls of
St. Lawrence they have constructed a little harbour by means of two
piers, whence they trade in boards on account of its nearness to the
sawmills. About a mile and a half above the great falls, in the same
river, are others. The channel at these falls is very narrow between the
rocks, and formed like stairs; on this account, they are called the
natural stairs; resembling very much, though in miniature, the falls of
Trenton, near Utica, and are situated in a thick forest of fir, pine,
and cedar trees. The road from the bridge to this place, and hence to
the turnpike, is a very obscure footpath through the woods.
On the second and last day of my sojourn at Quebec, I went to the
parade, escorted by Colonels Durnford and Duchesnay. I was pleasantly
taken by surprise, when I found the whole garrison under arms. The
commanding officers wished to show me their corps. On the right wing
stood two companies of artillery, then a company of sappers and miners,
after this, the sixty-eighth, and lastly, the seventy-first regiment of
infantry. The last is a light regiment, and consists of Scotch
Highlanders; it appeared to be in particularly good condition. This
regiment is not dressed in the Highland uniform, which was only worn by
some of the buglemen. It has a very good band of buglemen, who wear
curious caps, made of blue woollen, bordered below with red and white
stripes. The troops defiled twice before me.
On the 6th of September we sat out in the steam-boat for Montreal. Sir
Francis sent us his carriage, which was very useful to the ladies. On
the dock stood a company of the sixty-eighth regiment, with their flag
displayed as a guard of honour, which I immediately dismissed. The
fortification saluted us with twenty-one guns; this caused a very fine
echo from the mountains. Night soon set in, but we had sufficient light
to take leave of the magnificent vicinity of Quebec.
The journey, of course, was more tedious in ascending than in descending
the river. Fortunately the tide was in our favour during the night,
until we passed the rapids of Richelieu. In the morning we stopt at
Trois Rivières to take in wood; we then went slowly on. I employed this
leisure in writing, but was often interrupted. In this boat they have
four meals daily, and at every repast they drove me from my writing
place. In the morning at seven o’clock, they ring the bell for the
passengers to rise and dress; at eight o’clock breakfast is served,
which consists of tea, coffee, sausages, ham, beefsteak, and eggs; at
twelve, they take luncheon; at four, dine; at eight, take tea; and an
hour before every meal they set the table. The weather was cloudy nearly
the whole day; it began to rain towards evening, and continued raining
through the night.
At Sorel, or William Henry, we came to, in order to land some
passengers, and take in wood. This place is situated on the right bank
of both rivers, at the confluence of the Sorel or Richelieu, (the only
outlet of Lake Champlain,) with the St. Lawrence. The French built a
fort here, which stands yet, if such bad palisades, barracks, and
arsenals, deserve that name. The town itself was built in the year 1785,
by the so called American tories and discharged soldiers. It contains
two churches, about one hundred houses, and six hundred inhabitants,
whose houses are mostly of wood, and stand separately in the streets,
which are arranged in squares, and occupy a great space. It is built on
a sandy soil, and has a poor aspect. Generally speaking, the towns in
Canada bear a very poor comparison with those of the United States, and
will never arrive at the same point, because the settlers in Canada are
mostly poor Scotchmen and Irishmen, who come out at the expense of the
government; they receive land, and are oppressed by the feudal system,
which opposes all prosperity; emigrants, however, who possess some
property, and have an ambitious spirit, settle themselves in the United
States, where nobody is oppressed; on the contrary, where all the laws
are in their favour.
At Fort Sorel is stationed a garrison, a detachment of the seventieth
regiment, commanded by a sergeant; an artillery detachment which was
moving to Montreal, tied its sloop to our steam-boat, and came on board;
the artillerymen mostly intoxicated. Towards evening, we learned that
the sloop contained three boxes of gunpowder, which caused us a great
deal of uneasiness. The danger was so much the greater, as the sparks
were continually flying from the pipe of the steam-boat, which the wind
drove towards the sloop. I was one of the first who received the
information, and immediately gave the alarm. All the passengers agreed
in persuading the captain during this rainy and stormy night to remove
the sloop some distance from our boat, and place in it an officer and
three of the least intoxicated artillerymen. The night was dark, and we
were compelled to cast anchor and remain till morning.
The next morning the weather was still cloudy and rainy; the storm was
particularly strong, and the wind ahead. The machinery was too weak to
make any progress. We therefore saw Montreal three hours before we could
reach it; the current particularly was so strong between Montreal and
the Isle of St. Helen, that in spite of the machinery we were driven
backwards. At last we were obliged to draw up the boat by aid of six
oxen, two horses, and ten men. The Lady Sherbrook, however, is one of
the oldest steam-boats on the St. Lawrence, and the captain himself
confessed that she was so rotten that she was not worth repairing, and
will soon be condemned. About 4 o’clock in the afternoon, after we had
been forty-six hours on our journey, which took but twenty-six hours
going down, we were landed at Montreal. The battery on the Island of St.
Helen saluted us with twenty-one guns. The first information we received
was, that fifty houses were burned down yesterday in the suburbs of the
town, and that this misfortune fell mostly upon the poorer class, whose
houses were not insured.
Mr. Bingham, from Philadelphia, who married a rich heiress here, and
turned Catholic to get possession of her estate, gave a ball to-day, in
honour of the first birth-day of his only daughter, and politely invited
our company. We accepted the invitation, and rode to the ball at 9
o’clock. He was twenty-four years of age, and his wife nineteen; has
many friends, because his cellar is well filled, and has the talent to
spend his money liberally among the people. We found assembled in his
rich and tastefully furnished halls the whole fashionable world of
Montreal. They mostly dance French contra dances, commonly called
Spanish dances. To the contra dances, in honour of the officers of the
seventieth regiment, who are the favourite young gentlemen, they have
adopted tedious Scotch melodies; to the Spanish dances they played
German waltzes. The native ladies conversed in very soft Canadian bad
French, not even excepting our handsome landlady. I took particular
notice of a Miss Ermatinger, the daughter of a Swiss, and an Indian
woman, on account of her singular but very beautiful Indian countenance.
She was dressed in the best taste of all, and danced very well. Indeed
there was a great deal of animation at this ball, as well as a great
deal of luxury, particularly a profusion of silver plate and glass in
the house of Mr. Bingham, whose sister is the wife of the banker,
Baring, of London.