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LETTER IV.

DEPARTURE FROM QUEBEC ARRIVAL AT MONTREAL- INTERVIEW WITH THE DUKE OF RICHMOND WITH COLONEL COCKBOURNE -THE COLONEL'S ADVICE OUR OBJECTIONS TO A RESIDENCE IN THE LOWER PROVINCE CAPTAIN BLAKE THE COUNTRY BETWEEN QUEBEC AND MONTREAL TROIS RIVIERES LAKE ST. PETRE-WILLIAM HENRY-BERTHIER-MONTREAL ISLAND-DE

SCRIPTION OF THE CITY-EXTENT AND POPULATION-INFERIOR APPEARANCE, OF ALL BUILDINGS

LATE

WAR-SHEET-IRON

GLOOMY

ERECTED PREVIOUS TO THE DOORS AND WINDOW SHUTTERS

APPEARANCE OF THE CITY ON SUNDAYS AND OTHER

HOLIDAYS-PUBLIC BUILDINGS-MANNER

IN WHICH THE CITY

IS SUPPLIED WITH WATER-BANKING-HOUSES-PUBLIC LIBRARY

-CIRCULATING

ACCOMMODATIONS

LIBRARY-NEWSPAPERS-MARKET-PLACES-ITS

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COMMERCE-DEFENCELESS SITUATION-STEAM-BOATS AND THEIR SHALLOWNESS OF THE WATER BETWEEN QUEBEC AND MONTREAL-WRETCHED STATE OF THE QUAYS.

ON the 3d of August, 1818, five days after our arrival at Quebec, we embarked on board the steam-boat TELEGRAPH for Montreal, and arrived there on the morning of the 5th; thus performing a voyage of 180 miles, against a rapid current, in about 36 hours.

Previous to our departure from Quebec, my father waited on the Duke of Richmond, and presented to him an order from Lord Bathurst for the

land to which he was entitled, with various other letters of introduction. His Grace received him with great politeness, and told him, that he would be happy to render him any service in his power, referring him at the same time to Colonel Cockbourne, the Deputy Quarter-master General, for such information as he might require with regard to the choice of a settlement.

Colonel Cockbourne endeavoured to persuade my father to relinquish his intention of proceeding to Upper Canada, and to accept of a settlement in the Lower Province. He pointed out the great advantages, which, he alleged, would most decidedly result from a settlement in a thickly-inhabited country; contrasted fruitful fields and populous towns, with uncultivated wildernesses and dreary forests; painted in fascinating colours the pleasures of society, and drew a gloomy picture of the deprivations attendant on a state of comparative solitude; and magnified the obvious benefits of the one course of life, in exact proportion as he exaggerated the untried difficulties of the other;' until he had nearly persuaded him to abandon all thoughts of gaining a residence in Upper Canada.

When my father acquainted my brother and me with the Colonel's flattering proposals and advice, we declared our unchangeable determination, with his good leave, of going to the Upper Province; and entreated him immediately to solicit the necessary directions for obtaining land there, and the provisions which had been put on board the BRUNSWICK

by order of Lord Bathurst. He consented to do so; and, on stating to his Grace of Richmond, the objections of his family to a residence in the Lower Province, and the necessity of procuring the government-rations, for the subsistence of the settlers whilst pursuing their journey to the Westward, he obtained the requisite order for them, with about 170 pairs of blankets, which had also been put on board for their accommodation.

We objected to Lower Canada, FIRST, On account of the inferiority of its soil ond the severity of the climate.-SECONDLY. In consequence of its being almost wholly in the occupation of a people with whose customs, language, and religion, we were very imperfectly acquainted.

I must not proceed further in my narrative, without acknowledging the kind attentions, which, during an acquaintance of Fifty-three days, we experienced from Captain Blake of the BRUNSWICK. From the moment of our embarkation at Cork, to the night of our departure from his ship, his attention, not only to the cabin-passengers, but also to the humblest individual in the steerage, evinced a disposition highly creditable to himself and honourable to his profession. He exerted himself on all occasions, to render the situation of every one on board as agreeable as the nature of circumstances would admit. He was to all a friend, an attendant, and a physician; and constantly solicitous for our health and comfort. To the inferior officers and crew of the BRUNSWICK, we are also much indebt

ed, and cannot, I am sure, avoid retaining a due sense of their unremitting assiduity to render us comfortable. We parted from the whole of them with regret, and hope they are fully aware how sensible we are of their praise-worthy conduct. This is a digression; but it is one that speaks its own apology.

Within a few miles of

banks of the St. Law

The country between Quebec and Montreal, although more advanced in cultivation than that immediately below Quebec, appears less diversified and not so thickly settled. "the Three Rivers," the rence lose their steep and precipitous character, and become gently sloping and regular. The houses are of an inferior description, and the churches are less numerous; but the farms are more extensive, more level, and better cultivated.

POINT AUX TREMBLES, which is about 21 miles from Quebec, was the first village we observed after leaving that city. It contains a Cathedral Church and a Convent of Nuns, and has about 500 inhabitants, all of whom are of French extraction.

The town of TROIS RIVIERES, or Three Rivers, about 90 miles from Quebec, is situated on a point of land on the North bank, at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and the St. Maurice. At the mouth of this small river, stand two small islands, that divide it into three channels, from which the place derives the name of THREE RIVERS. This town, which is next in importance to Montreal, contains a French Parochial Church; an English

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Episcopal Church; an Hospital, called the Ursuline Convent, for the cure of the diseased and the instruction of young persons of the Roman Catholic persuasion; a Gaol and Court-house; a small Barrack, and a Monastery of Recollects-an order which is now extinct in Canada. There is also an extensive Iron Foundry at Three Rivers: It is the property of Government, and is leased out to some merchants of Quebec, who manufacture on the spot a great quantity of cast and bar iron. The ore is said to be very rich, and the castings are of a superior description, particularly the stoves. Wrought iron, manufactured there, is preferable to English iron, though still inferior to Swedish. The number of the inhabitants is 2000, nearly fivesevenths of whom are of French descent. At this place the steam-boats, in passing to and from Montreal, came to anchor, for the purpose of landing and taking in passengers and freight, and for receiving fresh supplies of fire-wood.

After leaving Three Rivers, we soon entered Lake ST. PETRE, which is only another of the numerous expansions of the St. Lawrence. It is about twenty miles long, and from eight to twelve wide, and is in general exceedingly shallow. Owing to some neglect on the part of our pilot, in not observing the proper channel,-the river being here intersected by a number of islands, we were very near running aground in passing through this lake, having sailed for nearly an hour in water so

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