THE DOMINION OF CANADA.
Since our arrival at Niagara we had been on Canadian soil, and in view of
the falls, which form Canada's greatest glory; but our first experience
of the Dominion only really commenced when we left Niagara Station by the
Grand Trunk Railway for Toronto.
It may have been prejudice, but we thought that the country bore signs of
greater prosperity than over the American border.
The farms are more English in character and the cattle in greater
abundance. The soil looks richer, and the pretty wooden zigzag fences,
which take the place of hedges or railings, look most picturesque. In
many places the blackened stumps of trees showed the recent clearing by
fire.
From Hamilton, a prosperous town, we ran for nearly forty miles along the
shores of Lake Ontario to Toronto.
Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario, the chief city of
Upper Canada, and the Queen City of the West. There is jealous rivalry
between Montreal and Toronto. The former has the shipping interest, and
for a long time held the lead; but Toronto is quickly gaining ground, and
is the centre for a rapidly increasing commercial interest. Five lines of
railway converge to her termini.
Hamilton and London, both rising places, centralize their commerce here.
Lake Ontario supplies water transit to Montreal and the ocean; and the
numerous banks do a thriving trade. In 1871 the census of the population
was 50,600; ten years later it was 80,445. Wide streets of great
length, avenues of trees, and churches are the chief characteristics of
Toronto. The churches are built from the voluntary subscriptions of the
congregations, the pastors being chosen and maintained by them. There is
no State Church, and the Dissenters have as fine places of worship as the
Episcopal body. The Metropolitan Methodist Church, with almost cathedral
proportions, was built by Mr. Puncheon, the American Spurgeon, and it
compares as advantageously to the Tabernacle as do the Churches to the
Chapels of England.
Toronto abounds in pretty suburbs, chief among them being Rosedale.
The comfortable wooden houses of the upper and middle orders convey an
idea of prosperity, with their neat gardens, a swinging hammock in the
creeper-covered verandah, and the family sitting out in the cool of the
evening.
The Provincial Parliament is a dingy building; but Osgood Hall--or the
Law Courts--opened in 1860 by the Prince of Wales, and called after
the Chief Justice of that day, is a very fine stone edifice, complete
in all its arrangements. There are full-length portraits of the Chief
Justices in succession, which being continued, will form a very complete
legal gallery of local talent. There are fourteen judges, receiving 5000
dollars a year, nominated by the Governor-General from local men. The
bar and solicitors are united as in America, and work together in firms,
and are both eligible for judicial preferment, and have a like right of
audience.
The Toronto University is second only to Harvard on the American
Continent. The lecture-rooms, hall, museum, and library are all worthy of
the fine Gothic building. There are 600 students, many of whose families
coming to reside in Toronto, add much to the pleasantness of society.
We stayed three days at Toronto. Mr. Hodgins, Q.C., Master in Chancery,
was most kind in introducing my husband to some of the chief political
men--to Mr. Mackenzie, the late Liberal Premier; Mr. Blake, the present
leader of the Opposition; Mr. Ross, the Minister of Public Education,
and others. The latter Minister showed us over the Normal School for the
Instruction of Teachers. It has a well-arranged library and museum, and
copies of many works of the old masters, and busts of the principal men
in British history. Toronto is considered the most English of all the
Canadian towns, and the Torontans pride themselves on this, and take a
keen interest in home affairs. The previous night's debate in Parliament
is on the breakfast-table: cabled over, and aided by the five hours'
difference between the time of Greenwich and that of the Dominion, it
appears in the first edition.
We dined with Mr. Goldwin Smith, the distinguished Oxford Professor of
History, who, after a long sojourn in the United States and Canada,
has settled with his wife at Toronto. Their house is delightfully
old-fashioned. Though in the centre of the town, the garden and some of
the original forest trees are still preserved to it; and it contains the
tail-end of family collections, valuable bits of China, busts by Canova
and Thorwaldsen, ivory carvings, morsels of jade, and some relics of the
first settlers. Amongst the latter are some wine-glasses belonging to
General Simcoe, the first Governor-General in 1794, which are without
feet,--"To be returned when empty."
_Wednesday, July 23rd._--We left Toronto in the afternoon by the steamer
_Algeria_, coasting along the low-lying country of the left bank of Lake
Ontario. Touching at the various thriving towns, we judged by the crowd
who came down to the pier that it was the usual thing for the population
to stroll down in the evening and watch for the arrival of the steamer.
All night we were crossing Lake Ontario, and at four o'clock the next
morning, in the grey dawn, touched at Kingston. We waited here an hour
for daylight, in which to approach the Thousand Islands. As we passed out
we saw the gilt dome of the famous Military College.
In the freshness of the early morning, with the sun just flushing the
waters and warming into life the bare and purple rocks, we wound in and
out of the narrow channel of the Thousand Islands. It is the largest
collective number of islands in the world. Some are formed of a few bare
rocks just appearing on the surface of the water, others are large enough
for a villa, a garden, and a boat-house, and others again for farming
purposes. Their uniform flatness causes some disappointment and mars
their collective beauty, though here and there one may be singled out for
the prettiness of its woods.
At Alexandra Bay, a familiar summer resort, with two monster hotels, the
St. Lawrence opens away from the lake, and we are descending between its
monotonous banks for some hours.
The increasing swiftness of the current and the prevailing thrill of
excitement of all on board, warns us of the approach of the Long Sault
Rapids. We see a stormy sea, heaving and surging in huge billows.
All steam is shut off, four men are required at the wheel to keep the
vessel steady, as we "shoot the rapid." One minute we are engulfed; the
next rising on the crest of the wave. Intense and breathless excitement
is combined with the exhilaration of being carried in a few minutes down
the nine miles of descent. Every now and again a peculiar motion is felt,
as if the ship was settling down, as she glides from one ledge of rock to
another.
We pass some smaller rapids; but it is late in the afternoon before
Baptiste, the Indian pilot, comes on board for the shooting of the great
Lachine Rapid. Whirlpools and a storm-lashed sea mingle in this reach,
for the shoal-water is hurled about among the rocks. The greatest care
and precision of skill are necessary, for with lightning speed we rush
between two rocks, jagged and cruel, lying in wait for the broaching of
the vessel. A steamer wrecked last year lies stranded away on the rocks
as a warning. These natural barriers to the water communication between
Montreal and the West, are overcome by canals running parallel with the
rapids.
The Ottawa forms a junction with the St. Lawrence at the pretty village
of St. Anne's, which has become famed by Moore's well-known Canadian
boat-song,--
"Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near and the daylight's past,
Soon as the woods on shore grow dim,
We'll sing at St. Anne's our evening hymn."
The Victoria Bridge, a triumph of engineering skill, spans the river
above Montreal. It is built of solid blocks of granite, a mile and three
quarters in length; and it is in passing under its noble arches that we
get our first view of Montreal, the metropolis of the Dominion.
A filmy mist lay over the "city of spires," spreading up even to the
sides of Mount Royal--the wooded mountain that rises abruptly and stands
solitary guard behind the city. The golden dome of the old market of
Bonsecours, and the twin spires of the cathedral of Notre Dame loomed
faintly out from its midst. Before us there is a sea frontage of three
miles--vessels of 5000 tons being able to anchor beside the quay.
One hundred and fifty years ago the French evacuated Montreal, but you
might think it was but yesterday, so tenaciously do the lower orders
cling to the tradition of their founder, Jacques Cartier. The quaint
gabled houses and crooked streets of the lower town, the clattering and
gesticulating of the white-capped women marketing in Bonsecours, remind
one of a typical Normandy town. Notices are posted in French and English,
and municipal and local affairs are conducted in both languages.
The post-office, the bank, and the assurance company make a fine block of
buildings as the nucleus of the principal street of Notre Dame, but all
the others are crooked, narrow, and ill-paved.
The Catholic Cathedral in the quiet square is very remarkable for its
double tier of galleries, and for being painted and decorated gaudily
from floor to roof. The Young Men's Christian Association has erected
another of its fine buildings at Montreal. The society seems to thrive
and to be doing an enormous work of good throughout the length and
breadth of the American Continent. We found it well-housed in every
considerable town we visited, and what was our surprise when later we
found it had penetrated even to the Sandwich Islands, and that the
Y.M.C.A. was one of Honolulu's finest buildings!
_Sunday, July 26th._--We went to morning service at the English Cathedral
of Christ Church. The interior is bare and unfinished at present, but
it is the best specimen of English Gothic architecture on the Western
continent. There was a good mixed choir of men and women.
We had a charming drive in the afternoon, up Mount Royal from which
the city takes its name. Fine houses and villas standing in their own
gardens, lie around the base, and the ascent, through luxuriant groves
of sycamore trees, is so well engineered as to be almost imperceptible.
You do not realize how high you are till the glorious panorama opens out
before you, and you stand on a platform--Montreal at your feet, the broad
river flowing to right and left, and the blue mountains on the horizon
line.
We returned by the cemetery, a square mile, laid out in avenues and
shady walks. Flowers blossoming on the graves and smooth-shaven turf,
made it a garden, and favourite drive and walk. At the entrance was a
notice--a sarcasm on human nature--desiring persons "wishing to return
from funerals by the mountain drive to remove their mourning badges!"
That evening we dined with Mr. and Mrs. George Stephen in their beautiful
house in Drummond Street. He is the President of the Canadian Pacific
Railway. In two years time this railway will run from ocean to ocean,
and will join the Atlantic and Pacific; opening up the unlimited lands
of the great North-West, so rich in mineral wealth, and containing the
best wheat-growing country in the world. This discovery of the North West
has altered the whole aspect of affairs in Canada, and by bringing into
habitation a country as large as the United States, laid the foundation
of an immense future for our great possession. Thirty-six thousand men
are now working on the railway, and it will be completed in half the time
of the contract, viz. five years instead of ten.
_Monday, July 27th._--Three hours by rail, through a thinly-populated
district and backwoods roughly cleared by burning, brought us to a
gloriously golden sunset against which rose the spires of the Dominion
Houses of Parliament at Ottawa.
Ottawa was only a small town with about 4000 inhabitants in 1867. All
ask, "Why was it chosen as the seat of government?" which previously
had been at Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto alternately. A minister's
wife travelling with us in the train, laughingly gave us the answer.
Quebec refused to vote for Montreal, Montreal for Quebec, and between
them there was always warring jealousy. Toronto "WOULD" have voted for
Montreal if Quebec had been willing to do the same. The authorities at
home--it is said the Queen herself--taking the map, pointed to Ottawa as
being equidistant from all, and on the borders of both Upper and Lower
Canada. A magnificent pile of buildings accordingly rose, containing
two legislative halls for the Senate and the House of Commons (both the
same size as their English originals), and other public offices. The
Parliament buildings are built of buff freestone with many towers and
miniature spires, and have a very fine frontage of 1200 feet, surmounted
by the iron crown of the Victoria Tower. The Octagonal Tower contains
a library of 40,000 books, open not only to members, but to all the
inhabitants of the town. In the centre stands a full-length marble statue
of the Queen, by Marshall Wood. The members speak in French or English at
will, and all notices of motions are in both languages.
[Illustration: Parliament Buildings, Ottawa.
Page 22.]
Timber-lugging is the great trade of Ottawa. As seen from the upper
town, the lower presents the appearance of one vast timber-yard; masses
of piles line the banks, and cover the surface of the stream. These
piles are cut in the winter from the back forests, and floated down some
100 miles. At Ottawa they pass into the yards through what is called a
timber-slide, to avoid the dangerous channel of the Chaudière Falls.
Here they are lashed together to form rafts, houses being built for
the men who drift down on them to Quebec. From thence they are shipped
to all parts of the world, principally to England. We went over one of
these large timber-mills and Eddy's match manufactory, both immensely
interesting, with the perfection of machinery, entirely superseding any
manual dexterity, and driven by the neighbouring water-power.
The La Chaudière Falls, so called from the cauldron into which they
seethe and boil, though not of a great height, have been sounded to
300 feet without touching the bottom. They contain a very angry,
copper-coloured element.
We drove out to Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor-General, who
was away at the time. We found a very deserted, miserable building, about
which the only sign of life was a sleepy policeman. A tobogging-slide
seemed to usurp the greater part of the garden. The Ottawa public was
much offended by a recent prohibition forbidding entrance to the park,
which has hitherto been free to all. There is a little occurrence which
will always remain connected in our minds with Ottawa, an example
which we certainly found followed nowhere else. Our driver, even after
considerable pressure, refused to take more than his ordinary fare!
Ottawa, other than the Parliament buildings, which are alone worth coming
to see, is the dullest and most primitive of towns. C. was, however,
glad to have been there, as it gave him the opportunity of meeting the
Ministers of Inland Revenue, and Agriculture, and other authorities, and
hearing their views on the rapid development of Canada.
Returning to Montreal, we took the night boat to Quebec. A golden,
glorious sunset, sinking behind purple clouds, was reflected in the
water, and this was succeeded by a trail of silver light from the
newly-risen crescent moon.
_Tuesday, July 29th._--At 7 a.m. on a cloudy morning, from the deck of
the steamer we were looking up at Quebec, perched, Gibraltar like, on an
inaccessible promontory of precipitous rock, formed by the junction of
the River St. Charles with the St. Lawrence.
The narrow streets of the lower town, with their picturesque red-tiled
roofs and overhanging gables, seem at first sight as if they were
entirely cut off from the upper town by a shelving mass of rocks.
However, we were soon wending our way upwards by a street so steep that
it could only be likened to climbing a mountain. The houses on either
side seemed also to be climbing the roof of the houses above, the upper
storey being on a level with the second floor of its neighbour. Any sand
there ever has been was long ago washed down by the rain, leaving a stony
surface as a precarious foothold for the poor struggling horses. This was
the more circuitous route for carriages. A nearer one for pedestrians lay
in the perpendicular flight of steps cut out in the face of the rocks
leading immediately to Dufferin Terrace. This terrace was called after
Lord Dufferin, the most popular of Governors-General, and is built on
the old buttresses and platform formerly occupied by the Château of St.
Louis. It is a favourite resort of the townspeople, perhaps as being the
only level ground, so far as we could see in the town, but probably more
so on account of the beautiful view it commands over the river. Vessels
of all classes and sizes, coming from all parts of the world, but more
especially from England, were anchoring in the broad basin formed by the
confluence of the two rivers. Immediately beneath us were the wharves of
the old town, where we could see two or three colliers discharging coal,
and even hear in the still morning air the rattling of the chains as
the crane was swung to and fro. On the opposite side rose the fortified
bluff of Point Levy, and on the other the St. Charles winding away up
its peaceful valley. The white houses of Beaufort form a straggling line
almost as far as the Montmorenci Falls, which latter seem only a speck
in the distance. There was a light morning mist floating away over the
opposite heights, and the murmur of the busy hum of life reached us from
below.
The Governor's garden, facing the road on the opposite side, is only
an enclosure overgrown with rank weeds and grass, but it contains the
obelisk erected to the joint memory of Wolfe and Montcalm. It is a novel
idea to combine the names of the victorious and conquered, but it shows
a true appreciation of the two generals who each gave up their life for
their country in the hour of battle. In the Ursuline Convent, near by,
we see Montcalm's grave, said to have been made by the bursting of one
of the enemy's shells during the bombardment, with the inscription in
French--
HONOUR TO MONTCALM.
FATE,
IN DEPRIVING HIM OF VICTORY,
REWARDED HIM BY
A GLORIOUS DEATH.
There are some very quaint old buildings and curious bits of architecture
in out-of-the-way corners, and the town altogether has an old-world look,
as if life were passing it by. The outside of the Catholic Cathedral is
homely and irregular, and very damp and musty inside; but attached to one
of the pillars is a fine "Crucifixion" by Van Dyke; and the adjoining
seminary has quite a large collection of pictures highly prized by the
inhabitants, though by artists unknown to fame. The Laval University,
chartered by the Queen in 1852, is the most modern building in Quebec.
The population is almost entirely French, and the maintenance of their
language and institutions was guaranteed to them at the conquest.
Descendants of the old noblesse still linger here, preserving among
themselves the traditions of their forefathers in a circle of society
renowned for its polish and refinement; preserving, too, in its entirety
the purity of the mother language. They do not mix at all with the
English.
The Citadel is gloriously situated on the high ground above the town,
surrounded by walls and ramparts, but our approach to it was under
the following untoward circumstances. We hired an ungainly cabriolet,
a vehicle on two wheels, with a narrow board in front, on which the
driver--a raw-boned Irish boy in our case--driving a sorry steed, was
seated. After going up a very steep hill, the entrance to the fortress
is over a wooden drawbridge guarded by massive chain gates. The hollow
sound of the wood frightened the horse beyond control, and we discovered
then that he could go, when he turned and bolted down the hill. We only
prevented ourselves from being pitched out head-foremost by clinging on
to the sides of the old-fashioned hood. The driver was powerless, and C.
eventually stooped over and jerked the reins happily with success. We
must have caused much amusement to the soldiers looking out from the
guard-house window.
The Governor-General's residence is part of the low stone building in
the courtyard, the remainder of the Citadel being used for barracks; the
windows on the river side command a superb view.
In the absence of Lord Lansdowne, Lord and Lady Melgund entertained us
most hospitably, and very kindly took us on the river in the police
launch after luncheon, near enough to obtain a good view of the beautiful
Montmorenci Falls. The volume of water is powerful in the first instance,
but dwindles into fringes, and evaporates altogether in mist at the base.
A storm was gathering on the heights as we returned, and a dense bank
of fog rolled down the river. The thunder muttered overhead, and a rift
in the clouds let a curious light stream over the roofs of the town;
and then, closing up, the black cloud swept towards us, creeping up
Diamond Cape, till the Citadel above loomed out white and ghostly from
the surrounding clearness. In a downpour of tropical rain we reached the
wharf.
We should liked to have managed an expedition from Quebec to the
beautiful Saguenay River, combining a visit to Sir John Macdonald, the
present Premier; but that great Nemesis, time, was already beginning
to pursue us. We left Quebec the next morning, passing again through
Montreal at five in the afternoon, and sleeping at Plattsburg, on the
shores of Lake Champlain.
It was a great disappointment to us not to be able to see more of
Canada, but we shall hope to pay it a more extended visit on some future
occasion. It offers as great attractions to the lover of nature as to the
sportsman, and affords a glorious and unlimited field for the emigration
of men and women since the opening up of the Far West by the Canadian
Pacific Railway.