The men are extremely civil, and take their hats off to every person indifferently whom they meet in the streets. It is customary to return a visit the day after you have received one; though one should have some scores to pay in one day. [58]

I have been told by some among the French, who had gone a beaver-hunting with the Indians to the northern parts of Canada, that the animals, whose skins they endeavour to get, and which are there in great plenty, are beavers, wild cats, or lynxs, and martens. These animals are the more valued, the further they are caught to the north, for their skins have better hair, and look better than those which are taken more southward, and they became gradually better or worse, the more they are northward or southward.

White Patridges17 is the name which the French in Canada give to a kind of birds, abounding during winter near Hudson’s Bay, and which are undoubtedly our Ptarmigans, or Snow-hens (Tetrao Lagopus). They are very plentiful at the time of a great frost, and when a considerable quantity of snow happens to fall. They are described to me as having rough white feet, and being white all over, except three or four black feathers in the tail; and they are reckoned very fine eating. From Edward’s Natural History of Birds (pag. 72.) it appears, that the ptarmigans are common about Hudson’s Bay18. [59]

Hares are likewise said to be plentiful near Hudson’s Bay, and they are abundant even in Canada, where I have often seen, and found them perfectly corresponding with our Swedish hares. In summer they have a brownish grey, and in winter a snowy white colour, as with us19.

Mechanics, such as architecture, cabinet-work, turning, and the like, were not yet so forward here as they ought to be; and the English, in that particular, out do the French. The chief cause of this is, that scarce any other people than dismissed soldiers come to settle here, who have not had any opportunity of learning a mechanical trade, but have sometimes accidentally, and through necessity been obliged to it. There are however some, who have a good notion of mechanics, and I saw a person here, who made very good clocks, and watches, though he had had but very little instruction.

July the 27th. The common house-flies have but been observed in this country about one hundred and fifty years ago, as I have been assured by several persons in this town, and in Quebec. All the Indians assert the same thing, and are of opinion that the [60]common flies first came over here, with the Europeans and their ships, which were stranded on this coast. I shall not dispute this; however, I know, that whilst I was in the desarts between Saratoga and Crownpoint, or fort St. Frederic, and sat down to rest or to eat, a number of our common flies always came, and settled on me. It is therefore dubious, whether they have not been longer in America than the term above mentioned, or whether they have been imported from Europe. On the other hand, it may be urged that the flies were left in those desarts at the time when fort Anne was yet in a good condition, and when the English often travelled there and back again; not to mention that several Europeans, both before and after that time, had travelled through those places, and carried the flies with them, which were attracted by their provisions.

Wild Cattle are abundant in the southern parts of Canada, and have been there since times immemorial. They are plentiful in those parts, particularly where the Illinois Indians live, which are nearly in the same latitude with Philadelphia; but further to the north they are seldom observed. I saw the skin of a wild ox to-day; it was as big as one of the largest ox hides in Europe, [61]but had better hair. The hair is dark brown, like that on a brown bear-skin. That which is close to the skin, is as soft as wool. This hide was not very thick; and in general they do not reckon them so valuable as bear-skins in France. In winter they are spread on the floors, to keep the feet warm. Some of these wild cattle, as I am told, have a long and fine wool, as good, if not better, than sheep wool. They make stockings, cloth, gloves, and other pieces of worsted work of it, which look as well as if they were made of the best sheep wool; and the Indians employ it for several uses. The flesh equals the best beef in goodness and fatness. Sometimes the hides are thick, and may be made use of as cow-hides are in Europe. The wild cattle in general are said to be stronger and bigger, than European cattle, and of a brown red colour. Their horns are but short, though very thick close to the head. These and several other qualities, which they have in common with, and in greater perfection than the tame cattle, have induced some to endeavour to tame them; by which means they would obtain the advantages arising from their goodness of hair, and, on account of their great strength, be able to employ them [62]successfully in agriculture. With this view some have repeatedly got young wild calves, and brought them up in Quebec, and other places, among the tame cattle; but they commonly died in three or four years time; and though they have seen people every day, yet they have always retained a natural ferocity. They have constantly been very shy, pricked up their ears at the sight of a man, and trembled, or run about; so that the art of taming them has not hitherto been found out. Some have been of opinion, that these cattle cannot well bear the cold; as they never go north of the place I mentioned, though the summers be very hot, even in those northern parts. They think that, when the country about the Illinois will be better peopled, it will be more easy to tame these cattle, and that afterwards they might more easily be used to the northerly climates20. The Indians and French in Canada, make use of the horns of these creatures to put gun-powder in. I have briefly mentioned the wild cattle in the former parts of this journey21. [63]

The peace, which was concluded between France and England, was proclaimed this day. The soldiers were under arms; the artillery on the walls was fired off, and some salutes were given by the small fire-arms. All night some fireworks were exhibited, and the whole town was illuminated. All the streets were crowded with people, till late at night. The governor invited me to supper, and to partake of the joy of the inhabitants. There were present a number of officers, and persons of distinction; and the festival concluded with the greatest joy.

July the 28th. This morning I accompanied the governor, baron Longueuil, and his family, to a little island called Magdelene, which is his own property. It lies in the river St. Lawrence, directly opposite to the town, on the eastern side. The governor had here a very neat house, though it was not very large, a fine extensive garden, and a court-yard. The river passes between the town and this island, and is very rapid. Near the town it is deep enough for yachts; but towards the island it grows more shallow, so that they are obliged to push the boats forwards with poles. There was a mill on the island, turned by the mere force of the stream, without an additional mill-dam. [64]

The smooth sumach, or Rhus glabra, grows in great plenty here. I have no where seen it so tall as in this place, where it had sometimes the height of eight yards, and a proportionable thickness.

Sassafras is planted here; for it is never found wild in these parts, fort Anne being the most northerly place where I have found it wild. Those shrubs which were on the island, had been planted many years ago; however, they were but small shrubs, from two to three feet high, and scarce so much. The reason is, because the stem is killed every winter, almost down to the very root, and must produce new shoots every spring, as I have found from my own observations here; and so it appeared to be near the forts Anne, Nicholson, and Oswego. It will therefore be in vain to attempt to plant sassafras in a very cold climate.

The red Mulberry-trees (Morus rubra, Linn.) are likewise planted here. I saw four or five of them about five yards high, which the governor told me, had been twenty years in this place, and were brought from more southerly parts, since they do not grow wild near Montreal. The most northerly place, where I have found it growing spontaneously, is about twenty English miles north of Albany, as I have [65]been assured by the country people, who live in that place, and who at the same time informed me, that it was very scarce in the woods. When I came to Saratoga, I enquired whether any of these mulberry-trees had been found in that neighbourhood? but every body told me, that they were never seen in those parts, but that the before mentioned place, twenty miles above Albany, is the most northern one where they grow. Those mulberry-trees, which were planted on this island, succeed very well, though they are placed in a poor soil. Their foliage is large and thick, but they did not bear any fruits this year. However, I was informed that they can bear a considerable degree of cold.

The Waterbeech was planted here in a shady place, and was grown to a great height. All the French hereabouts call it Cotonier22. It is never found wild near the river St. Lawrence; nor north of fort St. Frederic, where it is now very scarce.

The red Cedar is called Cedre rouge by the French, and it was likewise planted in the governor’s garden, whither it had been brought from more southern parts, for it is not to be met with in the forests hereabouts. [66]However, it came on very well here.

About half an hour after seven in the evening we left this pleasant island, and an hour after our return the baron de Longueuil received two agreeable pieces of news at once. The first was, that his son, who had been two years in France, was returned; and the second, that he had brought with him the royal patents for his father, by which he was appointed governor of Montreal, and the country belonging to it.

They make use of fans here, which are made of the tails of the wild turkeys. As soon as the birds are shot, their tails are spread like fans, and dried, by which means they keep their figure. The ladies and the men of distinction in town wear these fans, when they walk in the streets, during the intenseness of the heat.

All the grass on the meadows round Montreal, consists chiefly of a species of Meadow-grass, or the Poa capillaris, Linn.23 This is a very slender grass, which grows very close, and succeeds even on the driest hills. It is however not rich in foliage; and the slender stalk is chiefly used for hay. [67]We have numerous kinds of grasses in Sweden, which make infinitely finer meadows than this.

July the 30th. The wild Plumb-trees grow in great abundance on the hills, along the rivulets about the town. They were so loaded with fruit, that the boughs were quite bent downwards by the weight. The fruit was not yet ripe, but when it comes to that perfection, it has a red colour and a fine taste, and preserves are sometimes made of it.

Black Currants (Ribes nigrum, Linn.) are plentiful in the same places, and its berries were ripe at this time. They are very small, and not by far so agreeable as those in Sweden.

Parsneps grow in great abundance on the rising banks of rivers, along the corn-fields, and in other places. This led me to think, that they were original natives of America, and not first brought over by the Europeans. But on my journey into the country of the Iroquois, where no European ever had a settlement, I never once saw it, though the soil was excellent; and from hence it appears plain enough, that it was transported hither from Europe, and is not originally an American plant; and therefore it is in vain sought for in any part of this continent [68]except among the European settlements.

August the 1st. The governor-general of Canada commonly resides at Quebec; but he frequently goes to Montreal, and generally spends the winter there. In summer he chiefly resides at Quebec, on account of the king’s ships, which arrive there during that season, and bring him letters, which he must answer; besides other business which comes in about that time. During his residence in Montreal he lives in the castle, as it is called, which is a large house of stone, built by governor-general Vaudreuil, and still belonging to his family, who hire it to the king. The governor-general de la Galissonniere is said to like Montreal better than Quebec, and indeed the situation of the former is by far the more agreeable one.

They have in Canada scarce any other but paper-currency. I hardly ever saw any coin, except French sols, consisting of brass, with a very small mixture of silver; they were quite thin by constant circulation, and were valued at a sol and a half. The bills are not printed, but written. Their origin is as follows. The French king having found it very dangerous to send money [69]for the pay of the troops, and other purposes, over to Canada, on account of privateers, shipwrecks, and other accidents; he ordered that instead of it the intendant, or king’s steward, at Quebec, or the commissary at Montreal, is to write bills for the value of the sums which are due to the troops, and which he distributes to each soldier. On these bills is inscribed, that they bear the value of such or such a sum, till next October; and they are signed by the intendant, or the commissary; and in the interval they bear the value of money. In the month of October, at a certain stated time, every one brings the bills in his possession to the intendant at Quebec, or the commissary at Montreal, who exchanges them for bills of exchange upon France, which are paid there in lawful money, at the king’s exchequer, as soon as they are presented. If the money is not yet wanted, the bill may be kept till next October, when it may be exchanged by one of those gentlemen, for a bill upon France. The paper money can only be delivered in October, and exchanged for bills upon France. They are of different values, and some do not exceed a livre, and perhaps some are still less. Towards autumn when the merchants ships come in from France, the merchants endeavour [70]to get as many bills as they can, and change them for bills upon the French treasury. These bills are partly printed, spaces being left for the name, sum, &c. But the first bill, or paper currency is all wrote, and is therefore subject to be counterfeited, which has sometimes been done; but the great punishments, which have been inflicted upon the authors of these forged bills, and which generally are capital, have deterred people from attempting it again; so that examples of this kind are very scarce at present. As there is a great want of small coin here, the buyers, or sellers, were frequently obliged to suffer a small loss, and could pay no intermediate prices between one livre and two24.

They commonly give one hundred and fifty livres a year to a faithful and diligent footman, and to a maid-servant of the same character one hundred livres. A journeymen to an artist gets three or four livres a day, and a common labouring man gets thirty or forty sols a day. The scarcity of labouring people occasions the wages to be so high; for almost every body finds [71]it so easy to set up as a farmer in this uncultivated country, where he can live well, and at a small expence, that he does not care to serve and work for others.

Montreal is the second town in Canada, in regard to size and wealth; but it is the first on account of its fine situation, and mild climate. Somewhat above the town, the river St. Lawrence divides into several branches, and by that means forms several islands, among which the isle of Montreal is the greatest. It is ten French miles long, and near four broad, in its broadest part. The town of Montreal is built on the eastern side of the island, and close to one of the most considerable branches of the river St. Lawrence; and thus it receives a very pleasant, and advantageous situation. The town has a quadrangular form, or rather it is a rectangular parallelogram, the long and eastern side of which extends along the great branch of the river. On the other side it is surrounded with excellent corn-fields, charming meadows, and delightful woods. It has got the name of Montreal from a great mountain, about half a mile westwards of the town, and lifting its head far above the woods. Mons. Cartier, one of the first Frenchmen who surveyed Canada more accurately, called this [72]mountain so, on his arrival in this island, in the year 1535, when he visited the mountain, and the Indian town Hoshelaga near it. The priests who, according to the Roman catholic way, would call every place in this country after some saint or other, called Montreal, Ville Marie, but they have not been able to make this name general, for it has always kept its first name. It is pretty well fortified, and surrounded with a high and thick wall. On the east side it has the river St. Lawrence, and on all the other sides a deep ditch filled with water, which secures the inhabitants against all danger from the sudden incursions of the enemy’s troops. However, it cannot long stand a regular siege, because it requires a great garrison, on account of its extent; and because it consists chiefly of wooden houses. Here are several churches, of which I shall only mention that belonging to the friars of the order of St. Sulpitius, that of the Jesuits, that of the Franciscan friars, that belonging to the nunnery, and that of the hospital; of which the first is however by far the finest, both in regard to its outward and inward ornaments, not only in this place, but in all Canada. The priests of the seminary of St. Sulpitius have a fine large house, where [73]they live together. The college of the Franciscan friars is likewise spacious, and has good walls, but it is not so magnificent as the former. The college of the Jesuits is small, but well built. To each of these three buildings are annexed fine large gardens, for the amusement, health, and use of the communities to which they belong. Same of the houses in the town are built of stone, but most of them are of timber, though very neatly built. Each of the better sort of houses has a door towards the street, with a seat on each side of it, for amusement and recreation in the morning and evening. The long streets are broad and strait, and divided at right angles by the short ones: some are paved, but most of them very uneven. The gates of the town are numerous; on the east side of the town towards the river are five, two great and three lesser ones; and on the other side are likewise several. The governor-general of Canada, when he is at Montreal, resides in the castle, which the government hires for that purpose of the family of Vaudreuil; but the governor of Montreal is obliged to buy or hire a house in town; though I was told, that the government contributed towards paying the rents.

In the town is a Nunnery, and without [74]its walls half a one; for though the last was quite ready, however, it had not yet been confirmed by the pope. In the first they do not receive every girl that offers herself; for their parents must pay about five hundred ecus, or crowns, for them. Some indeed are admitted for three hundred ecus, but they are obliged to serve those who pay more than they. No poor girls are taken in.

The king has erected a hospital for sick soldiers here. The sick person there is provided with every thing he wants, and the king pays twelve sols every day for his stay, attendance, &c. The surgeons are paid by the king. When an officer is brought to this hospital, who is fallen sick in the service of the crown, he receives victuals and attendance gratis: but if he has got a sickness in the execution of his private concerns, and comes to be cured here, he must pay it out of his own purse. When there is room enough in the hospital, they likewise take in some of the sick inhabitants of the town and country. They have the medicines, and the attendance of the surgeons, gratis, but must pay twelve sols per day for meat, &c.

Every Friday is a market-day, when the country people come to the town with provisions, and those who want them must [75]supply themselves on that day, because it is the only market-day in the whole week. On that day likewise a number of Indians come to town, to sell their goods, and buy others.

The declination of the magnetic needle was here ten degrees and thirty-eight minutes, west. Mr. Gillion, one of the priests here, who had a particular taste for mathematicks and astronomy, had drawn a meridian in the garden of the seminary, which he said he had examined repeatedly by the sun and stars, and found to be very exact. I compared my compass with it, taking care, that no iron was near it, and found its declination just the same, as that which I have before mentioned.

According to Mons. Gillion’s observations, the latitude of Montreal is forty-five degrees and twenty-seven minutes.

Monsr. Pontarion, another priest, had made thermometrical observations in Montreal, from the beginning of this year 1749. He made use of Reaumur’s thermometer, which he placed sometimes in a window half open, and sometimes in one quite open, and accordingly it will seldom mark the greatest degree of cold in the air. However, I shall give a short abstract of his observations for the winter months. In January [76]the greatest cold was on the 18th day of the month, when the Reaumurian thermometer was twenty-three degrees below the freezing point. The least degree of cold was on the 31st of the same month, when it was just at the freezing point, but most of the days of this month it was from twelve to fifteen degrees below the freezing point. In February the greatest cold was on the 19th, and 25th, when the thermometer was fourteen degrees below the freezing point; and the least was on the 3d day of that month, when it rose eight degrees above the freezing point; but it was generally eleven degrees below it. In March the greatest cold was on the 3d, when it was ten degrees below the freezing point, and on the 22d, 23d, and 24th, it was mildest, being fifteen degrees above it: in general it was four degrees below it. In April the greatest degree of cold happened on the 7th, the thermometer being five degrees below the freezing point; the 25th was the mildest day, it being twenty degrees above the freezing point; but in general it was twelve degrees above it. These are the contents chiefly of Mons. Pontarion’s observations during those months; but I found, by the manner he made his observations, that the cold had every day been [77]from four to six degrees greater, than he had marked it. He had likewise marked in his journal, that the ice in the river St. Lawrence broke on the 3d of April at Montreal, and only on the 20th day of that month at Quebec. On the 3d of May some trees began to flower at Montreal, and on the 12th the hoary frost was so great, that the trees were quite covered with it, as with snow. The ice in the river close to this town is every winter above a French foot thick, and sometimes it is two of such feet, as I was informed by all whom I consulted on that head.

Several of the friars here told me, that the summers were remarkably longer in Canada, since its cultivation, than they used to be before; it begins earlier, and ends later. The winters on the other hand are much shorter; but the friars were of opinion, that they were as hard as formerly, though they were not of the same duration; and likewise, that the summer at present was no hotter, than it used to be. The coldest winds at Montreal are those from the north and north-west.

August the 2d. Early this morning we left Montreal, and went in a bateau on our journey to Quebec, in company with the second major of Montreal, M. de Sermonvile. [78]We fell down the river St. Lawrence, which was here pretty broad on our left; on the north-west side was the isle of Montreal, and on the right a number of other isles, and the shore. The isle of Montreal was closely inhabited along the river; and it was very plain, and the rising land near the shore consisted of pure mould, and was between three or four yards high. The woods were cut down along the river-side, for the distance of an English mile. The dwelling-houses were built of wood, or stone, indiscriminately, and white-washed on the outside. The other buildings, such as barns, stables, &c. were all of wood. The ground next to the river was turned either into corn-fields, or meadows. Now and then we perceived churches on both sides of the river, the steeples of which were generally on that side of the church, which looked towards the river, because they are not obliged here to put the steeples on the west end of the churches. Within six French miles of Montreal we saw several islands of different sizes on the river, and most of them were inhabited; and if some of them were without houses on them, they were sometimes turned into corn-fields, but generally into meadows. We saw no mountains, hills, rocks, or stones to-day, the [79]country being flat throughout, and consisting of pure mould.

All the farms in Canada stand separate from each other, so that each farmer has his possessions entirely distinct from those of his neighbour. Each church, it is true, has a little village near it; but that consists chiefly of the parsonage, a school for the boys and girls of the place, and of the houses of tradesmen, but rarely of farm-houses; and if that was the case, yet their fields were separated. The farm-houses hereabouts are generally built all along the rising banks of the river, either close to the water or at some distance from it, and about three or four arpens from each other. To some farms are annexed small orchards; but they are in general without them; however, almost every farmer has a kitchen-garden.

I have been told by all those who have made journies to the southern parts of Canada, and to the river Mississippi, that the woods there abound with peach-trees, which bear excellent fruit, and that the Indians of those parts say, that those trees have been there since times immemorial.

The farm-houses are generally built of stone, but sometimes of timber, and have three or four rooms. The windows are [80]seldom of glass, but most frequently of paper. They have iron stoves in one of the rooms, and chimnies in the rest. The roofs are covered with boards. The crevices and chinks are filled up with clay. The other buildings are covered with straw.

There are several Crosses put up with the road side, which is parallel to the shores of the river. These crosses are very common in Canada, and are put up to excite devotion in the travellers. They are made of wood, five or six yards high, and proportionally broad. In that side which looks towards the road is a square hole, in which they place an image of our Saviour, the cross, or of the holy Virgin, with the child in her arms; and before that they put a piece of glass, to prevent its being spoiled by the weather. Those crosses which are not far from churches, are very much adorned, and they put up about them all the instruments which they think the Jews employed in crucifying our Saviour, such as a hammer, tongs, nails, a flask of vinegar, and perhaps many more than were really made use of. A figure of the cock, which crowed when St. Peter denied our Lord, is commonly put at the top of the cross.

The country on both sides was very delightful [81]to-day, and the fine state of its cultivation, added greatly to the beauty of the scene. It could really be called a village, beginning at Montreal, and ending at Quebec, which is a distance of more than one hundred and eighty miles; for the farm-houses are never above five arpens, and sometimes but three, asunder, a few places excepted. The prospect is exceedingly beautiful, when the river goes on for some miles together in a strait line, because it then shortens the distances between the houses, and makes them form exactly one continued village.

All the women in the country, without exception, wear caps of some kind or other. Their jackets are short, and so are their petticoats, which scarce reach down to the middle of their legs; and they have a silver cross hanging down on the breast. In general they are very laborious; however, I saw some, who, like the English women in the colonies, did nothing but prattle all the day. When they have any thing to do within doors, they (especially the girls) commonly sing songs, in which the words Amour and Cœur are very frequent. In the country it is usual, that when the husband receives a visit from persons of rank, and dines with them, his wife stands [82]behind and serves him; but in the towns, the ladies are more distinguished, and would willingly assume an equal, if not a superior, power to their husbands. When they go out of doors they wear long cloaks, which cover all their other clothes, and are either grey, brown, or blue. The men sometimes make use of them, when they are obliged to go into the rain. The women have the advantage of being in a deshabille under these cloaks, without any body’s perceiving it.

We sometimes saw wind-mills near the farms. They were generally built of stone, with a roof of boards, which, together with its flyers, could be turned to the wind occasionally.

The breadth of the river was not always equal to-day; in the narrowest place, it was about a quarter of an English mile broad; in other parts it was near two English miles. The shore was sometimes high and steep, and sometimes low, or sloping.

At three o’clock this afternoon we passed by the river, which falls into the river St. Lawrence, and comes from lake Champlain, in the middle of which latter is a large island. The yachts which go between Montreal and Quebec, go on the south-east side of this island, because it is [83]deeper there; but the boats prefer the north-west side, because it is nearer, and yet deep enough for them. Besides this island there are several more hereabouts, which are all inhabited. Somewhat further, the country on both sides the river is uninhabited, till we come to the Lac St. Pierre; because it is so low, as to be quite overflowed at certain times of the year. To make up for this deficiency, the country, I am told, is as thickly inhabited further from the river, as we found it along the banks of the river.

Lac St. Pierre is a part of the river St. Lawrence, which is so broad that we could hardly see any thing but sky and water before us, and I was every where told, that it is seven French miles long, and three broad. From the middle of this lake as it is called, you see a large high country in the west, which appears above the woods. In the lake are many places covered with a kind of rush, or Scirpus palustris, Linn. There are no houses in sight on either side of the lake, because the land is rather too low there; and in spring the water rises so high, that they may go with boats between the trees. However, at some distance from the shores, where the ground is higher, the farms are close together. We saw no islands in the [84]lake this afternoon, but the next day we met with some.

Late in the evening we left lake St. Pierre, and rowed up a little river called Riviere de Loup, in order to come to a house where we might pass the night. Having rowed about an English mile, we found the country inhabited on both sides of the river. Its shores are high; but the country in general is flat. We passed the night in a farm-house. The territory of Montreal extends to this place; but here begins the jurisdiction of the governor of Trois Rivieres, to which place they reckon eight French miles from hence.

August the 3d. At five o’clock in the morning we set out again, and first rowed down the little river till we came into the lake St. Pierre, which we went downwards. After we had gone a good way, we perceived a high chain of mountains in the north-west, which were very much elevated above the low, flat country. The north-west shore of lake St. Pierre was now in general very closely inhabited; but on the south-east side we saw no houses, and only a country covered with woods, which is sometimes said to be under water, but behind which there are, as I am told, a great number of farms. Towards the [85]end of the lake, the river went into its proper bounds again, being not above a mile and a half broad, and afterwards it grows still narrower. From the end of Lake St. Pierre to Trois Rivieres, they reckon three French miles, and about eleven o’clock in the morning we arrived at the latter place, where we attended divine service.

Trois Rivieres, is a little market town, which had the appearance of a large village; it is however reckoned among the three great towns of Canada, which are Quebec, Montreal, and Trois Rivieres. It is said to ly in the middle between the two first, and thirty French miles distant from each. The town is built on the north side of the river St. Lawrence, on a flat, elevated sand, and its situation is very pleasant. On one side the river passes by, which is here an English mile and a half broad. On the other side, are fine corn-fields, though the soil is very much mixed with sand. In the town are two churches of stone, a nunnery, and a house for the friars of the order of St. Francis. This town is likewise the seat of the third governor in Canada, whose house is likewise of stone. Most of the other houses are of timber a single story high, tolerably well built, and stand very much asunder; and the streets are crooked. The shore here [86]consists of sand, and the rising grounds along it are pretty high. When the wind is very violent here, it raises the sand, and blows it about the streets, making it very troublesome to walk in them. The nuns, which are about twenty-two in number, are reckoned very ingenious in all kinds of needle-work. This town formerly flourished more than any other in Canada, for the Indians brought their goods to it from all sides; but since that time they go to Montreal and Quebec, and to the English, on account of their wars with the Iroquese, or Five Nations, and for several other reasons, so that this town is at present very much reduced by it. Its present inhabitants live chiefly by agriculture, though the neighbouring iron-works may serve in some measure to support them. About an English mile below the town, a great river falls into the river St. Lawrence, but first divides into three branches, so that it appears as if three rivers disembogued themselves there. This has given occasion to call the river and this town, Trois Rivieres (the Three Rivers).

The tide goes about a French mile above Trois Rivieres, though it is so trifling as to be hardly observable. But about the equinoxes, and at the new moons and full moons in spring and autumn, the difference between the [87]highest and lowest water is two feet. Accordingly the tide in this river goes very far up, for from the above mentioned place to the sea they reckon about a hundred and fifty French miles.

Whilst my company were resting, I went on horseback to view the iron-work. The country which I passed through was pretty high, sandy, and generally flat. I saw neither stones nor mountains here.

The iron-work, which is the only one in this country, lies three miles to the west of Trois Rivieres. Here are two great forges, besides two lesser ones to each of the great ones, and under the same roof with them. The bellows were made of wood, and every thing else, as it is in Swedish forges. The melting ovens stand close to the forges, and are the same as ours. The ore is got two French miles and a half from the iron works, and is carried thither on sledges. It is a kind of moor ore25, which lies in veins, within six inches or a foot from the surface of the ground. Each vein is from six to eighteen inches deep, and below it is a white sand. [88]The veins are surrounded with this sand on both sides, and covered at the top with a thin mould. The ore is pretty rich and lies in loose lumps in the veins, of the size of two fists, though there are a few which are near eighteen inches thick. These lumps are full of holes, which are filled with ockre. The ore is so soft that it may be crushed betwixt the fingers. They make use of a grey lime-stone, which is broke in the neighbourhood, for promoting the fusibility of the ore; to that purpose they likewise employ a clay marle, which is found near this place. Charcoals are to be had in great abundance here, because all the country round this place is covered with woods, which have never been stirred. The charcoals from ever-green trees, that is, from the fir kind, are best for the forge, but those of deciduous trees are best for the smelting oven. The iron which is here made, was to me described as soft, pliable, and tough, and is said to have the quality of not being attacked by rust so easily as other iron; and in this point there appears a great difference between the Spanish iron and this in ship-building. This iron-work was first founded in 1737, by private persons, who afterwards ceded it to the king; they cast cannon and mortars here, of different [89]sizes, iron stoves which are in use all over Canada, kettles, &c. not to mention the bars which are made here. They have likewise tried to make steel here, but cannot bring it to any great perfection, because they are unacquainted with the best manner of preparing it. Here are many officers and overseers, who have very good houses, built on purpose for them. It is agreed on all hands, that the revenues of the iron-work do not pay the expences which the king must every year be at in maintaining it. They lay the fault on the bad state of population, and say that the few inhabitants in the country have enough to do with agriculture, and that it therefore costs great trouble and large sums, to get a sufficient number of workmen. But however plausible this may appear, yet it is surprizing that the king should be a loser in carrying on this work; for the ore is easily broken, very near the iron-work, and very fusible. The iron is good, and can be very conveniently dispersed over the country. This is moreover the only iron-work in the country, from which every body must supply himself with iron tools, and what other iron he wants. But the officers and servants belonging to the iron-work, appear to be in very affluent circumstances. A river [90]runs down from the iron-work, into the river St. Lawrence, by which all the iron can be sent in boats throughout the country at a low rate. In the evening I returned again to Trois Rivieres.

August the 4th. At the dawn of day we left this place and went on towards Quebec. We found the land on the north side of the river somewhat elevated, sandy, and closely inhabited along the water side. The south-east shore, we were told, is equally well inhabited; but the woods along that shore prevented our seeing the houses, which are built further up in the country, the land close to the river being so low as to be subject to annual inundations. Near Trois Rivieres, the river grows somewhat narrow; but it enlarges again, as soon as you come a little below that place, and has the breadth of above two English miles.

As we went on, we saw several churches of stone, and often very well built ones. The shores of the river are closely inhabited for about three quarters of an English mile up the country; but beyond that the woods and the wilderness encrease. All the rivulets falling into the river St. Lawrence are likewise well inhabited on both sides. I observed throughout Canada, that the cultivated [91]lands ly only along the river St. Lawrence, and the other rivers in the country, the environs of towns excepted, round which the country is all cultivated and inhabited within the distance of twelve or eighteen English miles. The great islands in the river are likewise inhabited.

The shores of the river now became higher, more oblique and steep, however they consisted chiefly of earth. Now and then some rivers or great brooks fall into the river St. Lawrence, among which one of the most considerable is the Riviere Puante, which unites on the south-east side with the St. Lawrence, about two French miles below Trois Rivieres, and has on its banks, a little way from its mouth, a town called Becancourt which is wholly inhabited by Abenakee Indians, who have been converted to the Roman catholic religion, and have Jesuits among them. At a great distance, on the north-west side of the river, we saw a chain of very high mountains, running from north to south, elevated above the rest of the country, which is quite flat here without any remarkable hills.

Here were several lime-kilns along the river; and the lime-stone employed in them is broke in the neighbouring high grounds. It is compact and grey, and the lime it yields is pretty white. [92]

The fields here are generally sown with wheat, oats, maize, and pease. Gourds and water-melons are planted in abundance near the farms.

A Humming bird (Trochilus Colubris) flew among the bushes, in a place where we landed to-day. The French call it Oiseau mouche, and say it is pretty common in Canada; and I have seen it since several times at Quebec.

About five o’clock in the afternoon we were obliged to take our night’s lodgings on shore, the wind blowing very strong against us, and being attended with rain. I found that the nearer we came to Quebec, the more open and free from woods was the country. The place where we passed the night, is distant from Quebec twelve French miles.

They have a very peculiar method of catching fish near the shore here. They place hedges along the shore, made of twisted oziers, so close that no fish can get through them, and from one foot to a yard high, according to the different depth of the water. For this purpose they choose such places where the water runs off during the ebb, and leaves the hedges quite dry. Within this inclosure they place several weels, or fish-traps, in the form of cylinders, but broader below. They are placed upright, [93]and are about a yard high, and two feet and a half wide: on one side near the bottom is an entrance for the fishes, made of twigs, and sometimes of yarn made into a net. Opposite to this entrance, on the other side of the weel, looking towards the lower part of the river, is another entrance, like the first, and leading to a box of boards about four foot long, two deep, and two broad. Near each of the weels is a hedge, leading obliquely to the long hedge, and making an acute angle with it. This latter hedge is made in order to lead the fish into the trap, and it is placed on that end of the long hedge which looks towards the upper part of the river; now when the tide comes up the river, the fish, and chiefly the eels, go up with it along the river side; when the water begins to ebb, the fish likewise go down the river, and meeting with the hedges, they swim along them, till they come through the weels into the boxes of boards, at the top of which there is a hole with a cover, through which the fish could be taken out. This apparatus is chiefly made on account of the eels. In some places hereabouts they place nets instead of the hedges of twigs.

The shores of the river now consisted no more of pure earth; but of a species of slate. They are very steep and nearly perpendicular [94]here, and the slates of which they consist are black, with a brown cast; and divisible into thin shivers, no thicker than the back of a knife. These slates moulder as soon as they are exposed to the open air, and the shore is covered with grains of small sand, which are nothing but particles of such mouldered slates. Some of the strata run horizontal, others obliquely, dipping to the south and rising to the north, and sometimes the contrary way. Sometimes they form bendings like large semicircles: sometimes a perpendicular line cuts off the strata, to the depth of two feet; and the slates on both sides of the line from a perpendicular and smooth wall. In some places hereabouts, they find amongst the slates, a stratum about four inches thick of a grey, compact, but pretty soft limestone, of which the Indians for many centuries have made, and the French at present still make, tobacco-pipes26.

August the 5th. This morning, we continued our journey by rowing, the contrary wind hindering us from sailing. The appearance [95]of the shores, was the same as yesterday; they were high, pretty steep, and quite perpendicular; and consisted of the black slate before described. The country at the top was a plain without eminences, and closely inhabited along the river, for about the space of an English mile and a half in-land. Here are no islands in this part of the river, but several stony places, perceptible at low water only, which have several times proved fatal to travellers. The breadth of the river varies; in some parts it was a little more than three quarters of a mile, in others half a mile, and in some above two miles. The inhabitants made use of the same method of catching eels along the shores here, as that which I have just before mentioned. In many places they make use of nets made of osiers instead of the hedge.

Bugs (Cimex lectularius) abound in Canada; and I met with them in every place where I lodged, both in the towns and country, and the people know of no other remedy for them than patience.

The Crickets (Gryllus domesticus) are also abundant in Canada, especially in the country, where these disagreeable guests lodge in the chimnies; nor are they uncommon in the towns. They stay here both summer [96]and winter, and frequently cut clothes in pieces for pastime.

The Cockroaches (Blatta orientalis) have never been found in the houses here.

The shores of the river grow more sloping as you come nearer to Quebec. To the northward appears a high ridge of mountains. About two French miles and a half from Quebec, the river becomes very narrow, the shores being within the reach of a musket shot from each other. The country on both sides was sloping, hilly, covered with trees, and had many small rocks; the shore was stony. About four o’clock in the afternoon we happily arrived at Quebec. The city does not appear till one is close to it, the prospect being intercepted by a high mountain on the south side. However, a part of the fortifications appears at a good distance, being situate on the same mountain. As soon as the soldiers, who were with us, saw Quebec, they called out, that all those who had never been there before, should be ducked, if they did not pay something to release themselves. This custom even the governor-general of Canada is obliged to submit to, on his first journey to Montreal. We did not care when we came in sight of this town to be exempted from this old custom, which is very advantageous [97]to the rowers, as it enables them to spend a merry evening on their arrival at Quebec, after their troublesome labour.

Immediately after my arrival, the officer who had accompanied me from Montreal, led me to the palace of the then vice-govenor-general of Canada, the marquis la Galissonniere, a nobleman of uncommon qualities, who behaved towards me with extraordinary goodness, during the time he staid in this country. He had already ordered some apartments to be got ready for me, and took care to provide me with every thing I wanted; besides honouring me so far to invite me to his table, almost every day I was in town.

August the 6th. Quebec, the chief city in Canada, lies on the western shore of the river St. Lawrence, close to the water’s edge, on a neck of land, bounded by that river on the east side, and by the river St. Charles on the north side; the mountain, on which the town is built, rises still higher on the south side, and behind it begin great pastures; and the same mountain likewise extends a good way westward. The city is distinguished into the lower and the upper27. The lower lies on the river, eastward [98]of the upper. The neck of land, I mentioned before, was formed by the dirt and filth, which had from time to time been accumulated there, and by a rock which lay that way, not by any gradual diminution of the water. The upper city lies above the other, on a high hill, and takes up five or six times the space of the lower, though it is not quite so populous. The mountain, on which the upper city is situated, reaches above the houses of the lower city. Notwithstanding the latter are three or four stories high, and the view, from the palace, of the lower city (part of which is immediately under it) is enough to cause a swimming of the head. There is only one easy way of getting to the upper city, and there part of the mountain has been blown up. This road is very steep, notwithstanding it is made winding and serpentine. However, they go up and down it in carriages, and with waggons. All the other roads up the mountain are so steep, that it is very difficult to climb to the top by them. Most of the merchants live in the lower city, where the houses are built very close together. The streets in it are narrow, very rugged, and almost always wet. There is likewise a church, and a small market-place. The upper city [99]is inhabited by people of quality, by several persons belonging to the different offices, by tradesmen, and others. In this part are the chief buildings of the town, among which the following are worthy particular notice.

I. The Palace is situated on the west or steepest side of the mountain, just above the lower city. It is not properly a palace, but a large building of stone, two stories high, extending north and south. On the west side of it is a court-yard, surrounded partly with a wall, and partly with houses. On the east side, or towards the river, is a gallery as long as the whole building, and about two fathom broad, paved with smooth flags, and included on the outsides by iron rails, from whence the city and the river exhibit a charming prospect. This gallery serves as a very agreeable walk after dinner, and those who come to speak with the governor-general wait here till he is at leisure. The palace is the lodging of the governor-general of Canada, and a number of soldiers mount the guard before it, both at the gate and in the court-yard; and when the governor, or the bishop, comes in or goes out, they must all appear in arms, and beat the drum. The governor-general has his [100]own chapel where he hears prayers; however, he often goes to mass at the church of the Recollets28, which is very near the palace.

II. The Churches in this town are seven or eight in number, and all built of stone.

1. The Cathedral church is on the right hand, coming from the lower to the upper city, somewhat beyond the bishop’s house. The people were at present employed in ornamenting it. On its west side is a round steeple, with two divisions, in the lower of which are some bells. The pulpit, and some other parts within the church, are gilt. The seats are very fine.

2. The Jesuits church is built in the form of a cross, and has a round steeple. This is the only church that has a clock, and I shall mention it more particularly below.

3. The Recollets church is opposite the gate of the palace, on the west side, looks well, and has a pretty high pointed steeple, with a division below for the bells.

4. The church of the Ursulines has a round spire.

5. The church of the hospital.

6. The bishop’s chapel. [101]

7. The church in the lower city was built in 1690, after the town had been delivered from the English, and is called Notre Dame de la Victoire. It has a small steeple in the middle of the roof, square at the bottom, and round at the top.

8. The little chapel of the governor-general, may likewise be ranked amongst these churches.

III. The bishop’s house is the first, on the right hand, coming from the lower to the upper town. It is a fine large building, surrounded by an extensive court-yard and kitchen-garden on one side, and by a wall on the other.

IV. The college of the Jesuits, which I will describe more particularly. It has a much more noble appearance, in regard to its size and architecture, than the palace itself, and would be proper for a palace if it had a more advantageous situation. It is about four times as large as the palace, and is the finest building in town. It stands on the north side of a market, on the south side of which is the cathedral.

V. The house of the Recollets lies to the west, near the palace and directly over against it, and consists of a spacious building, with a large orchard, and kitchen-garden. The house is two stories high. [102]In each story is a narrow gallery with rooms and halls on one, or both sides.

VI. The Hôtel de Dieu, where the sick are taken care of, shall be described in the sequel. The nuns, that serve the sick, are of the Augustine order.

VII. The house of the clergy29 is a large building, on the north-east side of the cathedral. Here is on one side a spacious court, and on the other, towards the river, a great orchard, and kitchen-garden. Of all the buildings in the town none has so fine a prospect as that in the garden belonging to this house, which lies on the high shore, and looks a good way down the river. The Jesuits on the other hand have the worst, and hardly any prospect at all from their college; nor have the Recollets any fine views from their house. In this building all the clergy of Quebec lodge with their superior. They have large pieces of land in several parts of Canada, presented to them by the government, from which they derive a very plentiful income.

VIII. The convent of the Ursuline nuns shall be mentioned in the sequel.

These are all the chief public buildings in the town, but to the north-west, just before the town, is [103]

IX. The house of the intendant, a public building, whose size makes it fit for a palace. It is covered with tin, and stands in a second lower town, situated southward upon the river St. Charles. It has a large and fine garden on its north side. In this house all the deliberations concerning this province, are held; and the gentlemen who have the management of the police and the civil power meet here, and the intendant generally presides. In affairs of great consequence the governor-general is likewise here. On one side of this house is the store-house of the crown, and on the other the prison.

Most of the houses in Quebec are built of stone, and in the upper city they are generally but one story high, the public buildings excepted. I saw a few wooden houses in the town, but they must not be rebuilt when decayed. The houses and churches in the city are not built of bricks, but the black lime-slates of which the mountain consists, whereon Quebec stands. When these lime-slates are broke at a good depth in the mountain, they look very compact at first, and appear to have no shivers, or lamellæ, at all; but after being exposed a while to the air, they separate into thin leaves. These slates are soft, and easily [104]cut; and the city-walls, together with the garden-walls, consist chiefly of them. The roofs of the public buildings are covered with common slates, which are brought from France, because there are none in Canada.

The slated roofs have for some years withstood the changes of air and weather, without suffering any damage. The private houses have roofs of boards, which are laid parallel to the spars, and sometimes to the eaves, or sometimes obliquely. The corners of houses are made of a grey small grained lime-stone, which has a strong smell, like the stink-stone30, and the windows are generally enchased with it. This lime-stone is more useful in those places than the lime-slates, which always shiver in the air. The outsides of the houses are generally white-washed. The windows are placed on the inner side of the walls; for they have sometimes double windows in winter. The middle roof has two, or at most three spars, covered with boards only. The rooms are warmed in winter by small iron stoves, which are removed in summer. The floors are very dirty in every house, and have all [105]the appearance of being cleaned but once every year.

The Powder magazine stands on the summit of the mountain, on which the city is built, and southward of the palace.

The streets in the upper city have a sufficient breadth, but are very rugged, on account of the rock on which it lies; and this renders them very disagreeable and troublesome, both to foot-passengers and carriages. The black lime-slates basset out and project every where into sharp angles, which cut the shoes in pieces. The streets cross each other at all angles, and are very crooked.

The many great orchards and kitchen-gardens, near the house of the Jesuits, and other public and private buildings, make the town appear very large, though the number of houses it contains is not very considerable. Its extent from south to north is said to be about six hundred toises, and from the shore of the river along the lower town, to the western wall between three hundred and fifty, and four hundred toises. It must be here observed, that this space is not yet wholly inhabited; for on the west and south side, along the town walls, are large pieces of land without any buildings on them, and destined to [106]be built upon in future times, when the number of inhabitants will be encreased in Quebec.

The bishop, whose see is in the city, is the only bishop in Canada. His diocese extends to Louisiana, on the Mexican gulf southward, and to the south-seas westward.

No bishop, the pope excepted, ever had a more extensive diocese. But his spiritual flock is very inconsiderable at some distance from Quebec, and his sheep are often many hundred miles distant from each other.

Quebec is the only sea-port and trading town in all Canada, and from thence all the produce of the country is exported. The port is below the town in the river, which is there about a quarter of a French mile broad, twenty-five fathoms deep, and its ground is very good for anchoring. The ships are secured from all storms in this port; however, the north-east wind is the worst, because it can act more powerfully. When I arrived here, I reckoned thirteen great and small vessels, and they expected more to come in. But it is to be remarked, that no other ships than French ones can come into the port, though they may come from any place in France, and likewise from the French possessions in the [107]West-Indies. All the foreign goods, which are found in Montreal, and other parts of Canada, must be taken from hence. The French merchants from Montreal on their side, after making a six months stay among several Indian nations, in order to purchase skins of beasts and furrs, return about the end of August, and go down to Quebec in September or October, in order to sell their goods there. The privilege of selling the imported goods, it is said, has vastly enriched the merchants of Quebec; but this is contradicted by others, who allow that there are a few in affluent circumstances, but that the generality possess no more than is absolutely necessary for their bare subsistence, and that several are very much in debt, which they say is owing to their luxury and vanity. The merchants dress very finely, and are extravagant in their repasts; and their ladies are every day in full dress, and as much adorned as if they were to go to court.

The town is surrounded on almost all sides by a high wall, and especially towards the land. It was not quite completed when I was there, and they were very busy in finishing it. It is built of the above mentioned black lime-slate, and of a dark-grey sand-stone. For the corners of the gates they [108]have employed a grey lime-stone. They have not made any walls towards the water side, but nature seems to have worked for them, by placing a rock there which it is impossible to ascend. All the rising land thereabouts is likewise so well planted with cannon, that it seems impossible for an enemy’s ships or boats to come to the town without running into imminent danger of being sunk. On the land side the town is likewise guarded by high mountains so that nature and art have combined to fortify it.

Quebec was founded by its former governor, Samuel de Champlain, in the year 1608. We are informed by history, that its rise was very slow. In 1629 towards the end of July it was taken by two Englishmen Lewis and Thomas Kerk, by capitulation, and surrendered to them by the above mentioned de Champlain. At that time, Canada and Quebec were wholly destitute of provisions, so that they looked upon the English more as their deliverers, than their enemies. The abovementioned Kerks, were the brothers of the English admiral David Kerk, who lay with his fleet somewhat lower in the river. In the year 1632, the French got the town of Quebec, and all Canada returned to them [109]by the peace. It is remarkable, that the French were doubtful whether they should reclaim Canada from the English or leave it to them. The greater part were of opinion that to keep it would be of no advantage to France, because the country was cold; and the expences far exceeded its produce; and because France could not people so extensive a country without weakening herself, as Spain had done before. That it was better to keep the people in France, and employ them in all sorts of manufactures, which would oblige the other European powers who have colonies in America to bring their raw goods to French ports, and take French manufactures in return. Those on the other hand who had more extensive views knew that the climate was not so rough as it had been represented. They likewise believed that that which caused the expences was a fault of the company, because they did not manage the country well. They would not have many people sent over at once, but little by little, so that France might not feel it. They hoped that this colony would in future times make France powerful, for its inhabitants would become more and more acquainted with the herring, whale, and cod fisheries, and likewise with [110]the taking of seals; and that by this means Canada would become a school for training up seamen. They further mentioned the several forts of furrs, the conversion of the Indians, the ship-building, and the various uses of the extensive woods. And lastly that it would be a considerable advantage to France, even though they should reap no other benefit, to hinder by this means the progress of the English in America, and of their encreasing power, which would otherwise become insupportable to France; not to mention several other reasons. Time has shewn that these reasons were the result of mature judgment, and that they laid the foundation to the rise of France. It were to be wished that we had been of the same opinion in Sweden, at a time when we were actually in possession of New Sweden, the finest and best province in all North America, or when we were yet in a condition to get the possession of it. Wisdom and foresight does not only look upon the present times, but even extends its views to futurity.

In the year 1663 at the beginning of February, the great earthquake was felt in Quebec and a great part of Canada, and there are still some vestiges of its effects at that time; however, no lives were lost. [111]

On the 16th of October 1690, Quebec was besieged by the English general William Phips, who was obliged to retire a few days after with great loss. The English have tried several times to repair their losses, but the river St. Lawrence has always been a very good defence for this country. An enemy, and one that is not acquainted with this river, cannot go upwards in it, without being ruined; for in the neighbourhood of Quebec, it abounds with hidden rocks, and has strong currents in some places, which oblige the ships to make many windings.