[down to Montreal and Quebec the surplus produce of these immense regions, as yet of trifling amount it is true, compared with the commerce of Europe; but when one reflects on the variety of climate, of soil, and of productions, which these extensive countries display; and the facility given to the transportation of goods by means of so many fine rivers and large lakes; one cannot help concluding that it is destined at some future period to be one of the most commercial countries on earth. The river St. Lawrence must ever be the grand outlet to the ocean for the productions of all that tract of country between the United States and Hudson's Bay, including the lakes Erie, Ontario, Michigan, and Lake Superior. Although the lakes are not immediately connected with the Atlantic by any other river than the St. Lawrence, yet there are several rivers that fall into the Atlantic, which rise so near the sources of others that run into the lakes, and each navigable for boats so near their sources, that by means of them, and of a very short land carriage, trade may be carried on between the Atlantic and the lakes. There are three channels for this trade which particularly demand attention; the first by the Mississippi and Ohio, and thence up the Wabash, Miami, and Muskingum, from the heads of which there are portages of from one to 15 miles, to the rivers which fall into the Lake Erie: secondly, along the Patowmack river (which flows past Washington City), and from thence into the Cayahoga, Bigbeaver, and Yahogany, to Presque Isle, on Lake Erie: thirdly, along Hudson's River (which falls into the Atlantic at New York), and the Mohawk River, Wood Creek, Lake Oneida, and Oswego River, which falls into Lake Ontario. In the course of time there will be a competition amongst the settlers on these different routs, which shall have most of the trade of the western territory, but they must all yield to the St. Lawrence, which commands a decided preference, because the distance to a port where vessels from the ocean can load, is shorter than by any of the other routs, and the portages are not so long; and besides, during the summer months, the rivers in the United States have so little water near their sources, that the length of the portages must be greatly increased. In the St. Lawrence they are always the same. When we consider the many millions of acres which communicate with this river and surround the lakes, where, at present you have only the stately pine, the hardy oak, and many other te nants of the forest; and where in course of time will be seen the golden harvest, the lowing herd, the bleating flock, and the sons and daughters of industry and innocence: the heart expands with secret pleasure, and tastes in anticipation the happiness in reserve for posterity. This Man in civilised society is naturally a commercial animal; he is seldom satisfied with what he possesses; he must be changing one thing for another; he is prompted to it by his wants, and when he can find in any one place such things as he may desire to have, thither he resorts. formerly gave birth to fairs; and it has made some cities perpetual fairs. It has made London the first city in the world; and it will continue Quebec as the first city in the Canadas; perhaps it may become the first in America, for it has a much more extensive communication with the interior of America than the new city of Washington, or any other city of America. Neither the Patowmac, Chesapeake, Delaware, nor Hudson's River, are at all to be compared to the St. Lawrence, either in magnitude or extent of back country. It is worthy of notice, that a person may go from Quebec to New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, by water the whole way, except about the space of one mile from the source of the Illinois River, to the source of a river which falls into Lake Michigan. Quebec is already considerably extended beyond the walls: there may in time be as much difficulty in finding out the old walls and old city of Quebec, as there is in finding the bounds of the old city of London. The river St. Charles, which at present covers unnecessarily a great deal of ground, may be confined to a narrow channel, and will be a fine situation for extending the Lower Town as far as Beauport. Wharfs and quays will of course arise: the situation is excellent for dry and wet docks; and warehouses without number may be eligibly situated. It is thought the French had this in contemplation, and even went so far as to make a plan of it. 5. Mode of travelling in the summer.-Travelling in Canada is certainly not altogether so pleasant as travelling in England. The Canadian calesh is a very sorry vehicle, compared to the English post-chaise; nor are the auberges quite so comfortable as English inns. A person who had been accustomed to travel only in England, would say, that a Canadian calesh, with its two wheels and single horse, without springs, and without cushions, was not fit for a Christian to be put into and as to the auberges, or inns,] [that they were such filthy places, that you might Todge in a hog-stye without your olfactory nerves being more offended. There is certainly great room for improve ment, both in the form of the calesh, and the comforts and accommodations of the inns. It adds greatly, however, to the comfort of travelling in Canada, that you are every where treated with the greatest politeness and attention. A Canadian aubergiste (landlady) the moment you stop, receives you at the door with a degree of politeness and urbanity which is as unexpected as it is pleasing. Voulez vous bien, Monsieur, avoir la complaisance d'entrer; voila une chaise, Monsieur; asseyez vous s'il vous plait. If they have got any thing you want, it is given at once with a good grace. If they have not, they tell you so in such a tone and manner, as to shew that they are sorry for it. Je n'en ai point, Monsieur; J'en suis mortifiée. The Canadian innkeeper is frequently a farmer also, or a shopkeeper. Indeed, you need never be at a loss for a house to stop at. There is not a farmer, shopkeeper, nay nor even a seigneur, or country gentleman, who, on being civilly applied to for accommodation, will not give you the best bed in the house, and every accommodation in his power. The Canadians seem to have brought the old French politeness with them to this country, and to have handed it down to the present generation. One is more surprised to find here courtesy and urbanity, from the little likelihood that such plants would exist, far less flourish, in the wilds of Canada. During the months of July and August travelling in Canada is very uncomfortable from the great heat of the weather. The thermometer generally shews near 80°: however, where the occasion is very urgent, the inconvenience is not so great as to prevent you. In September the heat is more moderate, and travelling becomes pleasant. From Quebec to Montreal the distance is about 180 miles. You may either hire a calesh to go the whole way, or take a calesh from posthouse to post-house. If you proceed direct, they generally make 24 posts; and you get into Montreal on the morning of the third day, without travelling in the night time. The usual charge for posting is 1s. 3d. a league, which is much cheaper than posting in England. Indeed, it ought to be so, considering the nature of the vehicle, and your having only one horse; besides, hay and corn are much cheaper here than in Eng land, and there is no post-horse duty. In the course of the journey to Montreal you are now and then tempted to stop, or to go a little out of your way, for the purpose of seeing a few places of note. You behold, every where, fine interesting scenery; the road runs the whole way along the river St. Lawrence; its banks and islands vary their appearance every hour, and keep the mind continually occupied and amused. The road differs from all others, inasmuch as it may be said to be almost a continued street; one house succeeding another so quickly, as that there is scarcely a mile without one. Except the town of Trios Rivieres (Three Rivers), you have scarcely any place that deserves the name of a town: but every parish church has a village in its neighbourhood; and of these there are, between Quebec and Montreal, upwards of 20. In these little villages we see the beginnings of, perhaps, large county towns; for here the parishes contain as much ground as many of the counties do in England. 6. Nature of the seigneuries, &c.-The quick succession of houses on this road arose from the manner in which the lands were granted. The whole course of the river on both sides, from its mouth to within about 30 miles above Montreal, was divided by the French king into a certain number of seigneuries, or lordships, which were given to those who had influence enough to procure them but they were bound to concede them in certain lots, to such of the inhabitants of the country as might apply for them; who were, at the same time, bound to settle upon the lands, and clear them of the woods; keep open the highways, and perform certain other services. The lots ran along the course of the river, a certain number of yards in front, by so many in depth. In front they were very narrow, generally but three square acres; however they run back into the country a considerable way, generally about 80 square acres. The side of a square acre is about 70 yards. The first thing to be done was to build a house, and open a road to communicate with their next neighbours. They then, by degrees, cleared and cultivated their land. In this way a road was made, and the country cleared by the sides of the river, where even now the great bulk of the population of Canada is found. The first settlers had additional reasons for clearing the lands, and settling along the course of the river. It enabled them to communicate with Quebec easily by means of canoes; and in winter, when the] [heavy snows fall, their settling near each other enabled them to keep open the communication, by uniting their efforts, which is still the case. We are told, that, after a fall of snow, one man drives his sledge to his next neighbour (a very difficult matter sometimes), who joins him with his cattle in going to the next, and so on, till a path is trodden sufficiently hard to bear the horses. The cultivated land does not extend far back in general. When the seigneurs, or lords of the manor, had granted, or, as it is called here, conceded those lots of their seigneurie, or lordship, which fronted the river, they made fresh concessions (behind the first) of the lands which receded still further. On the first grants, or concessions, there is always left a certain portion of wood for domestic purposes, and for fuel; this tract of wood forms a boundary between the first and second concession. When the soil happens to be good, or the situation to be attended with very favourable circumstances, four or five concessions have taken place; and they are now increasing in the ratio of the population. But tracts of primeval wood are still preserved between the different concessions, or grants; from which circumstance the country retains, and will long retain, a wooded wild appearance. When you meet with rivers which run into the St. Lawrence, you see cultivation carried up their banks much further. Indeed, it is on the banks of such rivers where the best land is generally found; such as the river Ouelle, river De Sud, river Chambly or Sorel, river De Loup, &c. The Canadians are, on the whole, but poor farmers. It is true the land is the property of those who cultivate it: but their capitals are generally so limited, and, their farms so small, that they cannot afford to make experiments: and when, to this, you add their total want of education, and consequent ignorance of every thing that does not come within the scope of their own limited observation, you cease to be surprised that the country should be so badly cultivated. The Canadian farmer is not sufficiently aware of the value of manures, and of artificial grasses: nor does he seem to reflect, that it is more advantageous to have a small farm of good land in high cultivation, than a large farm half-laboured or neglected. He ploughs the same field, and sows in it the same sort of grain, 20 times over; he does not think of a routine of crops, nor does he renovate the exhausted soil by the addition of manures; the only remedy he knows for land so exhausted as to yield little or no return, is, to let it lie fallow for some time. It is in vain to endeavour to convince him of his error: nothing but example will produce any good effect.-This they begin to have. Some of the farmers are a little more enlightened than the generality of them: they have ventured to listen to reason, and to reflect upon the comparative value of dif ferent modes of treating their lands; and they begin to make innovations in their ancient sys tems of farming. One of the principal causes of the poverty, not only of the Canadian farmer, but also of all ranks amongst them, is the existence of an old French law, by which the property of either a father or mother is, on the death of either, equally divided amongst their children. Nothing seems more consonant to the clearest principles of justice than such a law; yet it assuredly is prejudicial to society. In this country (or indeed in any other) an estate, with a good house upon it, convenient and appropriate offices, and a good stock of cat, tle, may be well cultivated, and support, credit. ably, a numerous family. If the head of the family dies, leaving half a dozen children, the estate and whole property is divided amongst them, which happens here every day. Each of the sons takes possession of his own lot, builds a house, marries, and has a family. The value of the whole property is very much lessened. He who gets the lot, with the dwelling-house and offices, which served for the whole estate, gets what is out of all proportion to the means he now has of employing them: he can neither occupy them, nor keep them in repair. The other lots are generally too small to supply the expenses of a family, or enable their owners to support that state of respectability in the country which their father did; so that, instead of one respectable and wealthy head of a family, who could protect and assist the younger branches, giving them a good education, and putting them forward in the world, you have half a dozen poor dispirited creatures, who have not energy or power to improve either their lands or themselves. Without great industry, and some capital, new lands cannot be brought into cultivation, nor can those already cleared be made very productive. The law alluded to might do very well in such a country as Canada for a few generations, while the new grants continued very large: but the divisions and subdivisions must, in time, become too minute, and be a check on the improve ment of the country, in an agricultural point of} QUEBEC. [view; and also, as a natural consequence, retard the increase of population. This division of property is extremely prejudicial to the interest not only of the landholder but also to that of the merchant, shopkeeper, and mechanic. When one of the parents dies, an inventory is made of the property, and each child can immediately insist on the share of the property the law allows. The French law supposes that matrimony is a co-partnership; and that, consequently, on the death of the wife, the children have a right to demand from their father the half of his property, as heirs to their mother. If the wife's relations are not on good terms with the father, a thing that sometimes happens, they find it no difficult matter to induce the children to demand a partage, or division, which often occasions the total ruin of the father, because he loses credit, equal, at least, to his loss of property, and often to a greater extent. His powers are diminished, and his children still have a claim on him for support. One effect of this law, and not one of the least material, is, that the affection between parents and children is likely to be destroyed by it : and, in fact, it is remarked, that in this country the instances of unfeeling conduct between parents and children are extremely frequent, and a spirit of litigation is excited amongst them. One is at a loss to account for such unnatural conduct, until an acquaintance with the laws and customs of the country gives a clue to unravel the mystery. The law, making marriage a co-partnership, and creating a communité de bien, is sanctioned by the code of French law, coutume de Paris, which indeed is the text book of the Canadian lawyer; the wife being by marriage invested with a right to half the husband's property; and, being rendered independent of him, is perhaps the remote cause that the fair sex have such influence in France; and in Canada, it is well known, that a great deal of consequence, and even an air of superiority to the husband, is assumed by them. British subjects coming to this country are liable to the operation of all these Canadian or French laws, in the same manner that the Canadians themselves are. They are not always aware of this circumstance; and it has created much disturbance in families. A man who has made a fortune here (a thing by the bye which does not very often happen), conceives that he ought, as in England, to have the disposal of it as he thinks proper. No, says the Canadian law, you have a right to one-half only; and if your wife dies, her children; or, in case you have no ject of curiosity to the natives of Britain, or of In Canada there cannot well be said to be more than two seasons of the year, summer and mantle of snow, when you begin to feel the force winter. The earth hath scarcely laid aside her of summer heat; and although the weather in September is mild and pleasant, it partakes more climates. The season of vegetation seems kindly of the summer than of the autumn of temperate prolonged, till surprised in a manner at once by the return of winter, without much of what may be called autumn weather. Frost is felt in October, but the sun still reing the day, tolerably warm. During the month tains enough of power to make the weather, durvere, and snow begins to fall. Your house is of November the frost becomes daily more senow put upon the winter establishment; stoves the windows are well secured and made tight; are put up in your rooms, and in your passages; and you lay aside your summer dress, and adopt flannels and furs. One snow storm now succeeds another, till the whole face of the country is covered. The eye in vain looks for a bit of ground to rest upon, the trees alone remain visible, the chilling grasp of winter is every where felt, and every precaution is taken to resist its effects. There is something very awful and terrific in a Canadian snow storm. A heavy fall of snow is generally accompanied by a violent gale of wind, locity, and forming a thousand eddies and turnwhich driving along the snow with immense veings, according to the inequalities of the surface, and resistance consequent thereon, you are able to form an idea of the velocity of the wind; it becomes, as it were, visible. The most severe from the n.e., the frozen regions of Hudson's snow storms they experience in Canada, come Bay and Labrador. with birds of a great variety of sorts and sizes ;] During summer the woods of Canada abound [partridges, woodcocks, pigeons, and singing birds without number. The lakes and rivers abound with aquatic birds, such as ducks, geese, snipes, &c. Some of these pass the whole summer in Canada; others, such as the pigeons, are only found at certain seasons, as they pass from the s, to the more n. parts of the American continent, and vice versa. No sooner does the frost set in, than almost all the feathered tribes take the alarm, and leave the country; even the hardy crow is obliged to take himself off. A species of partridge, called the pine partridge, (from its living on certain parts of the pine-tree, of which it tastes very strongly), alone remains; but it is very rarely seen. Few quadrupeds are to be seen; some hares are found, but to see them is difficult, for they have changed their colour to as pure a white as the snow in which they lie; a kind precaution in nature to conceal them from their enemies. Many other quadrupeds, no doubt, remain in this country during the winter. Like the bear, they probably do not change their lodgings while the snow is on the ground, but remain stationary, and in a torpid state. The Canadians change their appearance as much as a complete change of dress can do. The hat and bonnet rouge are laid aside, and they use fur caps, fur cloaks, fur gloves, and worsted hose, over, as well as under boots. Thus defended, they venture with impunity into the severest frost. The snow soon covers the ground to the depth of several feet, and wheel carriages can no longer be used: the wheels would sink so deep, that it would be impossible to advance a step. In place, therefore, of wheel carriages, a sort of sledge is used, which in Canada is called a cariole. It passes over the snow without sinking deep. It is placed on what they call runners, which resemble in form, the irons of a pair of skaits, and rise up in front in the same manner, and for the same purposes. The cariole is generally from nine to 12 inches above the snow. Some, called Some, called high runners, are about 18 inches. The body of the cariole varies in shape, according to the fancy of the owner. It is sometimes like the body of a phaeton, sometimes like a chair or gig, sometimes like a vis-a-vis, and sometimes like a family coach or chariot. The cariole, in short, is the name for all sorts of vehicles used in winter, from a market cart, up to a state coach. The generality of them are light open carriages, drawn by one horse. The snow, after being trodden on for some time, becomes compact enough to bear the horse, and gives very VOL. IV. little resistance to the cariole. The inequalities formed in the snow by the carioles, the Canadians call cahots (from the French word cahoter, to jolt), and they certainly are very well named, for you are jolted as if you crossed a field with very deep furrows and high narrow ridges. The motion is not unlike rowing in a boat against a head-sea: a thing that requires to be only once tried to be disliked. As no other sort of carriage can, however, be used in this country, custom and example reconcile one to it: all ranks use them, of one sort or other. Sometimes you see them conveying a dashing buck up one street and down another at a gallop, to the no small annoyance of people who are fond of keeping their bones whole, a thing those gentlemen seem very careless about. Sometimes you see the close covered family ones, conveying an old lady quietly and steadily to church, or to have a little gossipping with a friend; and sometimes you see them coming in from the country conveying beef and mutton, turkies and geese, for the supply of the market. When the navigation of the St. Lawrence becomes impracticable, little business is done by the merchants, who then appropriate a considerable part of their time to amusements. It is necessary to do something to give a little variety to the sameness of a six months' winter. They have parties of pleasure in town, and parties of pleasure in the country, in which you have dancing, music, and the social enjoyments of conviviality. There is a public assembly once a fortnight, which is very well attended. If you are fond of dancing, you have an opportunity of indulging in it; if you like a sober rubber, you find very good whist players. The civil and military gentlemen mix very cordially together. Such of the Canadians as can afford it, and have an inclination, join in the amusements that are going forward, particularly the assemblies and dancing parties; and, indeed, they are an acquisition, as many of the ladies want neither beauty nor the accomplishments necessary for their gracing an assembly. One should naturally suppose that very bad consequences would be likely to arise from being heated by dancing in so cold a climate. This, however, is not the case: both the ladies and gentlemen in the coldest weather, are dressed in the assembly-room as thinly as they are in England in summer; and the rooms are very comfortable, being kept moderately warm by a stove. Immediately after dancing, and while very warm,] L L |