repose in their plank shanties. Sometimes, however, rafts may be seen floating quietly down the stream during the still night, while brilliant fires light up the figures of the raftsmen. Within these few years much has been done to facilitate and assure the passage of lumber down the Ottawa by the construction of slides and dams, and by the removal of many obstructions, such as rocks, &c. The four following slides, viz., the Madawaska, Mountain, Calumet, and Joachim, cost £24,438 2s 3d. Bytown is the head-quarters of the lumberers, upon whom it principally depends for support. It is 5 Chante, rossignol, chante, Il y a longtemps, &c. &c. 6 Tu as le cœur à rire, 7 J'ai perdu ma maitresse, Il y a longtemps, &c. & Pour un bouquet de rose Je voudrais que la rose Il y a longtemps, &c. &c. 9 Je voudrais que la rose Il y a longtemps, &c. &c K situated at the mouth of the Rideau River or Canal, and is named in honour of Colonel By, its able engineer. The large house, which the enterprising colonel occupied for several years, was burnt to the ground last year (1848) to the universal regret of the inhabitants. Bytown is the District-town of Dalhousie, and contains a population of nearly ten thousand. It is known as Upper and Lower Bytown. The former is situated about half a mile higher up the river, and on considerably higher ground. The land on which it is erected, together with a portion of that composing the Lower Town, was purchased some years ago for £80, and is now computed to be worth upwards of £50,000. The appearance of the town has recently been much improved by the erection of several handsome stone buildings. A fine single-arched bridge of hewn stone, called the " Sappers and Miners," is thrown over the Rideau Canal, connecting the Towns. Eight handsome locks have been constructed to overcome the fall of thirty-four feet in the River. The Barracks, which occupy a com manding situation between the Towns, are garrisoned by a company of Rifles. From the Barrack-Hill is commanded a magnificent view, embracing the Chaudiére Falls, the Rapids above them, the Union Suspension Bridge (which connects Upper and Lower Canada, and cost £17,133 17s. 5d.), and the Mountains to the North, with the Ottawa, a hundred and fifty feet below, gliding on in its winding course, dotted with numerous rafts, till it is lost in the distance. In the Upper Town are agencies of the following banks, viz., Montreal Bank, Bank of British North America, City Bank of Montreal, Commercial Bank, and Upper Canada Bank. In it are three churches, the Episcopal, Presbyterian in connexion with the Church of Scotland, and Methodist. The Lower Town is chiefly inhabited by Irish and French Canadians, the latter amounting to about a third. It contains the following places of worship,-the Roman Catholic Cathedral, which is well worthy of a visit, Free Church, Baptist, and two Methodist. Here, also, are a Roman Catholic College and Nunnery. Bytown has recently become the official res idence of a Roman Catholic Bishop. It sends a representative to the Legislative Assembly. We regret to understand that the Com mercial Reading-room, and Mercantile Library Association, which were in existence a few years ago, are now defunct. The Mechanic's Institute is flourishing, in which lectures are generally delivered each week during the winter. Three weekly newspapers are published. The principal hotels are Doran's and M'Arthur's. Slides are now constructed on both sides of the river for the passage of rafts. Here is measured all the timber that has been cut on Crown Lands above, and the owner enters into a bond for the payment of the duties at Quebec. In 1844 the quantity of timber brought down amounted to the estimated value of £256,356 16s. and the duty thereupon was £23,805 9s. 3d. The timber cut on private lands may be estimated about one-third of the above, or £85,399 7s. 2d., making the total £341,756 2s. 2d. New Edinburgh, which is about two miles distant from Bytown, contains, besides an extensive cloth-factory, carding, deal, and flour-mills, a distillery, and other works. They are owned by the Hon. Thomas Mackay, who resides at the handsome mansion of Rideau Hall. Perhaps no place in Canada affords a better field to the sportsman with gun or rod than the vicinity of Bytown. Trout of every size from one to twenty pounds are abundant; bass, pickerel, pike, and white fish are superabundant. In the spring and fall there is excellent duck-shooting; in winter partridges, woodcocks, &c, abound ; and a two days' journey on snowshoes will bring the sportsman to the haunts of the moose, while deer are found in the immediate vicinity. Before accompanying the Tourist along the Upper Ottawa, the romantic scenery of which has of late years been attracting not a few visitors, we notice briefly the Rideau Canal. This canal was constructed by Government chiefly for military pur poses, with the view of transporting supplies and stores from the Lower to the Upper Province by an interior line not exposed to attack from an enemy. It forms a communication betwixt Bytown and Kingston, a distance of about one hundred and thirty miles. The level being two hundred and eighty-three feet up from the Ottawa, and one hundred and fifty-four down to Ontario, forty-seven locks were required, costing £6000 each. Its completion cost the vast sum of £803,774, not including a considerable sum for accidents and repairs. The river receives the name of Rideau from the resemblance to a curtain which the beautiful fall of about thirty feet at its mouth presents. The Canal is formed through the bed of the Rideau, with two or three deviations on account of obstructions, through the Great Rideau Lake, and Mud Lake, into the bed of the Cataraqui River to Kingston. But little of the land on the Canal is under cultivation, as much of it is poor and rocky. Thousands of acres of cultivable land have been flooded by the damming of the rivers for the formation of the Canal, and immense quantities of tim ber have been consequently destroyed. Notwithstanding the deserted miserable appearance which is presented in several parts by great numbers of trees still standing dead amid water, there are some picturesque and even romantic scenes. The finest spot is Kingston Mills, about six miles above Kingston. Formerly the traffic was very great, as, before the opening of the St. Lawrence Canals, the merchandize intended for the country beyond Kingston was transported by this line at a great expense, whilst the major part of passengers from Montreal ascended by the same route.-The Tourist will proceed in the morning by a calèche to Aylmer, which is dis tant some eight miles. The drive is interesting, at a short distance from the Ottawa, which is here very wide. On crossing the Suspension Bridge he will enjoy a view of the magnificent Chaudière Falls, which are two hundred and twelve feet broad, and sixty high, On the Hull or Canada East side the water descends into a large basin, a large portion of which is believed to escape by subterraneous outlets. Hundreds of logs, that have fallen into this basin, still remain. From Aylmer an iron steamer plies to the Chats. The in terval comprises the expansions of the River, called Lake Chaudiére and Du Chêne. The approach to the Chats Falls is most imposing, The Cascade, generally about twenty-five feet, extends across the river in a curved line, and is divided into upwards of a dozen distinct falls by a number of wooded islands. The River, three miles above, contracts suddenly, and dashes through the Rapids of the Chats in violent eddies amid a labyrinth of islands. On the Canadą West side is situated Fitzroy Harbour, containing about five hundred inhabitants, and a Catholic Church. The space between this and Mississippi Island is unnavigable. On the other side is the landing place for the Union Railroad, which conveys the passengers to the steamer that plies to Portage du Fort, the head of navigation on the Ottawa. The Chats Lake is a magnificent expanse about fifteen miles in length, and dotted with richly wooded islets. Between the Canada West side and Mississippi Island there is a narrow passage, called the Snows or Snow Rapids, distant twenty-eight miles from the Harbour. The current is very rapid, and the boat-channel at the upper end only forty feet wide. On emerging from this channel a fairy scenery enlivens the ten miles to the Portage du Fort. On the south side is Kinnell Lodge, once the residence of the Highland Chieftain, Macnab. It is worthy of notice here that a prodigious number of pine trees died on the high lands on both sides of the Ottawa in 1832, the first year of the cholera. This devastation is said to have extended two or three hundred miles. The phenomenon is a singular one, nor, has it, as far as we are aware, been explained. A similar destruction recently visited the pine-trees of Virginia, from which turpentine is extracted. A drive of eight miles takes the traveller to the foot of the Calumet Rapid, where a scow will convey him across to the Great Calumet Island, and a further drive of two miles will conduct him to the Rapids. Half a mile beyond is the Fall, a continual cascade of about seventy yards. The timber-slides here are admirably constructed, one of which is upwards of two hundred yards in length. At the Calumet may be collected beautiful geological specimens, some of which contain a large portion of mica. Still farther up is another large island, called 'Petit Allumet Island' or 'Black River Island.' Beyond the Portage des Allumettes the upper part of the Ottawa is used by the fur-traders, who have a post also on Lake Temiscaming, more than three hundred and fifty miles above the junction of the Ottawa with the St. Lawrence. It is to be noticed that from Bytown to Fitzroy extends the Dalhousie District, whilst the Bathurst District extends above Fitzroy, both having the Ottawa for their northern boundary. Beds of marble of various shades of colour extend through the latter district. Fine white freestone, limestone, and granite, also, abound in this district. |