Chapter V: Part 5

The Swedish winter-wheat, and winter-rye, has been tried in Canada, to see how well it would succeed; for they employ nothing but summer-corn here, it having been found, that the French wheat and rye dies here in winter, if it be sown in autumn. Dr. Sarrazin has therefore (as I was told by the eldest of the two Jesuits here) got a small quantity of wheat and rye, of the winter-corn sort from Sweden. It was sown in autumn, not hurt by the winter, and bore fine corn. The ears were not so large as those of the Canada corn, but weighed near twice as much, and gave a greater quantity of finer flour, than that summer-corn. Nobody could tell me, why the experiments have not been continued. They cannot, I am told, bake such white bread here, of the summer-corn, as they can in France, of their winter-wheat. Many people have assured me, that all the summer-corn, now employed here, came from Sweden, or Norway: for the French, on their arrival, found the winters in Canada too severe for the French winter-corn, and their summer-corn did not always ripen, on account of the shortness of summer. Therefore they began to look upon Canada, as little better than an useless country, where nobody could live; till they fell upon the expedient of getting their summer-corn from the most northern parts of Europe, which has succeeded very well.

This day I returned to Quebec, making botanical observations by the way.

August the 15th. The new governor-general of all Canada, the marquis de la Jonquiere, arrived last night in the river before Quebec; but it being late, he reserved his public entrance for to-day. He had left France on the second of June, but could not reach Quebec before this time, on account of the difficulty which great ships find in passing the sands in the river St. Lawrence. The ships cannot venture to go up, without a fair wind, being forced to run in many bendings, and frequently in a very narrow channel. To-day was another great feast, on account of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, which is very highly celebrated in Roman catholic countries. This day was accordingly doubly remarkable, both on account of the holiday, and of the arrival of the new governor-general, who is always received with great pomp, as he represents a vice-roy here.

About eight o’clock the chief people in town assembled at the house of Mr. de Vaudreuil, who had lately been nominated governor of Trois Rivieres, and lived in the lower town, and whose father had likewise been governor-general of Canada. Thither came likewise the marquis de la Galissonniere, who had till now been governor-general, and was to sail for France, with the first opportunity. He was accompanied by all the people belonging to the government. I was likewise invited to see this festivity. At half an hour after eight the new governor-general went from the ship into a barge, covered with red cloth, upon which a signal with cannons was given from the ramparts, for all the bells in the town to be set a-ringing. All the people of distinction went down to the shore to salute the governor, who, on alighting from the barge, was received by the marquis la Galissonniere. After they had saluted each other, the commandant of the town addressed the new governor-general in a very elegant speech, which he answered very concisely; after which all the cannon on the ramparts gave a general salute. The whole street, up to the cathedral, was lined with men in arms, chiefly drawn out from among the burghesses. The governor-general then walked towards the cathedral, dressed in a suit of red, with abundance of gold lace. His servants went before him in green, carrying fire-arms on their shoulders. On his arrival at the cathedral, he was received by the bishop of Canada, and the whole clergy assembled. The bishop was arrayed in his pontifical robes, and had a long gilt tiara on his head, and a great crozier of massy silver in his hand. After the bishop had addressed a short speech to the governor-general, a priest brought a silver crucifix on a long stick, (two priests with lighted tapers in their hands, going on each side of it) to be kissed by the governor. The bishop and the priests then went through the long walk, up to the choir. The servants of the governor-general followed with their hats on, and arms on their shoulders. At last came the governor-general and his suite, and after them a crowd of people. At the beginning of the choir the governor-general, and the general de la Galissonniere, stopt before a chair covered with red cloth, and stood there during the whole time of the celebration of the mass, which was celebrated by the bishop himself. From the church he went to the palace, when the gentlemen of note in the town, afterwards went to pay their respects to him. The religious of the different orders, with their respective superiors, likewise came to him, to testify their joy on account of his happy arrival. Among the numbers that came to visit him, none staid to dine, but those that were invited beforehand, among which I had the honour to be. The entertainment lasted very long, and was as elegant as the occasion required.

The governor-general, marquis de la Jonquiere, was very tall, and at that time something above sixty years old. He had fought a desperate naval battle with the English in the last war, but had been obliged to surrender, the English being, as it was told, vastly superior in the number of ships and men. On this occasion he was wounded by a ball, which entered one side of his shoulder, and came out at the other. He was very complaisant, but knew how to preserve his dignity, when he distributed favours.

Many of the gentlemen, present at this entertainment, asserted that the following expedient had been successfully employed to keep wine, beer, or water, cool during summer. The wine, or other liquor, is bottled; the bottles are well corked, hung up into the air, and wrapped in wet clouts. This cools the wine in the bottles, notwithstanding it was quite warm before. After a little while the clouts are again made wet, with the coldest water that is to be had, and this is always continued. The wine, or other liquor, in the bottles is then always colder, than the water with which the clouts are made wet. And though the bottles should be hung up in the sunshine, the above way of proceeding will always have the same effect [61].

August the 16th. The occidental Arbor vitæ [62], is a tree which grows very plentiful in Canada, but not much further south. The most southerly place I have seen it in, is a place a little on the south side of Saratoga, in the province of New-York, and likewise near Casses, in the same province, which places are in forty-two degrees and ten minutes north latitude.

Mr. Bartram, however, informed me, that he had found a single tree of this kind in Virginia, near the falls in the river James. Doctor Colden likewise asserted, that he had seen it in many places round his seat Coldingham, which lies between New-York, and Albany, about forty-one degrees thirty minutes north latitude. The French, all over Canada, call it Cedre blanc. The English and Dutch in Albany, likewise call it the white Cedar. The English in Virginia, have called a Thuya, which grows with them, a Juniper.

The places and the soil where it grows best, are not always alike, however it generally succeeds in such ground where its roots have sufficient moisture. It seems to prefer swamps, marshes, and other wet places to all others, and there it grows pretty tall. Stony hills, and places where a number of stones ly together, covered with several kinds of mosses [63], seemed to be the next in order where it grows. When, the sea shores were hilly, and covered with mossy stones, the Thuya seldom failed to grow on them. It is likewise seen now and then on the hills near rivers, and other high grounds, which are covered with a dust like earth or mould; but it is to be observed that such places commonly carry a sourish water with them, or receive moisture from the upper countries. I have however seen it growing in some pretty dry places; but there it never comes to any considerable size. It is pretty frequent in the clefts of mountains, but cannot grow to any remarkable height or thickness. The tallest trees, I have found in the woods in Canada, were about thirty or thirty-six feet high. A tree of exactly ten inches diameter had ninety-two rings round the stem [64]; another of one foot and two inches in diameter had one hundred and forty-two rings [65].

The inhabitants of Canada generally make use of this tree in the following cases. It being reckoned the most durable wood in Canada, and which best withstands putrefaction, so as to remain undamaged for above a man’s age, enclosures of all kinds are scarce made of any other than this wood. all the posts which are driven into the ground, are made of the Thuya wood. The palisades round the forts in Canada are likewise made of the same wood. The planks in the houses are made of it; and the thin narrow pieces of wood which form both the ribs and the bottom of the bark-boats, commonly made use of here, are taken from this wood, because it is pliant enough for the purpose, especially whilst it is fresh, and likewise because it is very light. The Thuya wood is reckoned one of the best for the use of lime-kilns. Its branches are used all over Canada for besoms; and the twigs and leaves of it being naturally bent together, seem to be very proper for the purpose. The Indians make such besoms and bring them to the towns for sale, nor do I remember having seen any besoms of any other wood. The fresh branches have a peculiar, agreeable scent, which is pretty strongly smelled in houses where they make use of besoms of this kind.

This Thuya is made use of for several medicinal purposes. The commandant of Fort St. Frederic, M. de Lusignan could never sufficiently praise its excellence for rheumatic pains. He told me he had often seen it tried, with remarkable good success, upon several persons, in the following manner. The fresh leaves are pounded in a mortar, and mixed with hog’s grease, or any other grease. This is boiled together till it becomes a salve, which is spread on linen, and applied to the part where the pain is. The salve gives certain relief in a short time. Against violent pains, which move up and down in the thighs, and sometimes spread all over the body, they recommend the following remedy. Take of the leaves of a kind of Polypody [66] four-fifths, and of the cones of the Thuya one-fifth, both reduced to a coarse powder by themselves, and mixed together afterwards. Then pour milk-warm water on it, so as to make a poultice, which spread on linen, and wrap it round the body: but as the poultice burns like fire, they commonly lay a cloth between it and the body, otherwise it would burn and scorch the skin. I have heard this remedy praised beyond measure, by people who said they had experienced its good effects. An Iroquese Indian told me, that a decoction of Thuya leaves was used as a remedy for the cough. In the neighbourhood of Saratoga, they use this decoction in the intermitting fevers.

The Thuya tree keeps its leaves, and is green all winter. Its feeds are ripe towards the end of September, old style. The fourth of October of this year, 1749, some of the cones, especially those which flood much exposed to the heat of the sun, had already dropt their seeds, and all the other cones were opening in order to shed them. This tree has, in common with many other American trees, the quality of growing plentiful in marches and thick woods, which may be with certainty called its native places. However, there is scarce a single Thuya tree in those places which bears seeds; if, on the other hand, a tree accidentally stands on the outside of a wood, on the sea shore, or in a field, where the air can freely come at it, it is always full of seeds. I have found this to be the case with the Thuya, on innumerable occasions. It is the same likewise with the sugar-maple, the maple which is good for healing scorched wounds, the white fir-tree, the pine called Perusse, the mulberry-tree and several others.

August the 17th. This day I went to see the nunnery of the Ursulines, which is disposed nearly in the same way as the two other nunneries. It lies in the town and has a very fine church. The nuns are renowned for their piety, and they go less abroad than any others. The men are likewise not allowed to go into this monastery, but by the special licence of the bishop, which is given as a great favour; the royal physician, and the surgeon are alone entitled to go in as often as they please, to visit the sick. At the desire of the marquis de la Galissonniere the bishop granted me leave to visit this monastery together with the royal physician Mr. Gaulthier. On our arrival we were received by the abbess, who was attended by a great number of nuns, for the most part old ones. We saw the church; and, it being Sunday, we found some nuns on every side of it kneeling by themselves and saying prayers. As soon as we came into the church, the abbess and the nuns with her dropt on their knees, and so did M. Gaulthier and myself. We then went to an apartment or small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, at the entrance of which, they all fell on their knees again. We afterwards saw the kitchen, the dining hall and the apartment they work in, which is large and fine. They do all sorts of neat work there, gild pictures, make artificial flowers, &c. The dining hall is disposed in the same manner as in the other two monasteries. Under the tables are small drawers for each nun to keep her napkin, knife and fork, and other things in. Their cells are small, and each nun has one to herself. The walls are not painted; a little bed, a table with a drawer, and a crucifix, and pictures of saints on it, and a chair, constitute the whole furniture of a cell. We were then led into a room full of young ladies about twelve years old and below that age, lent hither by their parents to be instructed in reading, and in matters of religion. They are allowed to go to visit their relations once a day, but must not stay away long. When they have learnt reading, and have received instructions in religion, they return to their parents again. Near the monastery, is a fine garden, which is surrounded with a high wall. It belongs to this institution, and is stocked with all sorts of kitchen-herbs and fruit-trees. When the nuns are at work, or during dinner, every thing is silent in the rooms, unless some one of them reads to the others; but after dinner, they have leave to take a walk for an hour or two in the garden, or to divert themselves within-doors. After we had seen every thing remarkable here, we took our leave, and departed.

About a quarter of a Swedish mile to the west of Quebec, is a well of mineral waters, which carries a deal of iron ocker with it, and has a pretty strong taste. M. Gaulthier said, that he had prescribed it with success in costive cases and the like diseases.

I have been assured, that there are no snakes in the woods and fields round Quebec, whose bite is poisonous; so that one can safely walk in the grass. I have never found any that endeavoured to bite, and all were very fearful. In the south parts of Canada, it is not adviseable to be off one’s guard.

A very small species of black ants [67] live in ant-hills, in high grounds, in woods; they look exactly like our Swedish ants, but are much less.

August the 21st. To-day there were some people of three Indian nations in this country with the governor-general, viz. Hurons, Mickmacks, and Anies [68]; the last of which are a nation of Iroquese, and allies of the English, and were taken prisoners in the last war.

The Hurons are some of the same Indians with those who live at Lorette, and have received the christian religion. They are tall, robust people, well shaped, and of a copper colour. They have short black hair, which is shaved on the forehead, from one ear to the other. None of them wear hats or caps. Some have ear-rings, others not. Many of them have the face painted all over with vermillion; others have only strokes of it on the forehead, and near the ears; and some paint their hair with vermillion. Red is the colour they chiefly make use of in painting themselves; but I have likewise seen some, who had daubed their face with a black colour. Many of them have figures in the face, and on the whole body, which are stained into the skin, so as to be indelible. The manner of making them shall be described in the sequel. These figures are commonly black; some have a snake painted in each cheek, some have several crosses, some an arrow, others the sun, or any thing else their imagination leads them to. They have such figures likewise on the breast, thighs, and other parts of the body; but some have no figures at all. They wear a shirt, which is either white or checked, and a shaggy piece of cloth, which is either blue or white, with a blue or red stripe below. This they always carry over their shoulders, or let it hang down, in which case they wrap it round their middle. Round their neck, they have a string of violet wampums, with little white wampums between them. These wampums are small, of the figure of oblong pearls, and made of the shells which the English call clams [69]. I shall make a more particular mention of them in the sequel. At the end of the wampum strings, many of the Indians wear a large French silver coin, with the king’s effigy, on their breasts. Others have a large shell on the breast, of a fine white colour, which they value very high, and is very dear; others, again, have no ornament at all round the neck. They all have their breasts uncovered. Before them hangs their tobacco-pouch, made of the skin of an animal, and the hairy side turned outwards. Their shoes are made of skins, and bear a great resemblance to the shoes without heels, which the women in Finland make use of. Instead of stockings, they wrap the legs in pieces of blue cloth, as I have seen the Russian boors do.

The Mickmacks are dressed like the Hurons, but distinguish themselves by their long strait hair, of a jetty-black colour. Almost all the Indians have black strait hair; however, I have met with a few, whose hair was pretty much curled. But it is to be observed, that it is difficult to judge of the true complexion of the Canada Indians, their blood being mixed with the Europeans, either by the adopted prisoners of both sexes, or by the Frenchmen, who travel in the country, and often contribute their share towards the encrease of the Indian families, their women not being very shy. The Mickmacks are commonly not so tall as the Hurons. I have not seen any Indians whose hair was as long and strait as theirs. Their language is different from that of the Hurons; therefore there is an interpreter here for them on purpose.

The Anies are the third kind of Indians which came hither. Fifty of them went out in the war, being allies of the English, in order to plunder in the neighbourhood of Montreal. But the French, being informed of their scheme, laid an ambush, and killed with the first discharge of their guns forty-four of them; so that only the four who were here to-day saved their lives, and two others, who were ill at this time. They are as tall as the Hurons, whose language they speak. The Hurons seem to have a longer, and the Anies a rounder face. The Anies have something cruel in their looks; but their dress is the same as that of the other Indians. They wear an oblong piece of white tin between the hair which lies on the neck. One of those I saw had taken a flower of the rose mallow, out of a garden, where it was in full blossom at this time, and put it among the hair at the top of his head. Each of the Indians has a tobacco-pipe of grey lime-stone, which is blackened afterwards, and has a long tube of wood. There were no Indian women present at this interview. As soon as the governor-general came in, and was seated in order to speak with them, the Mickmacks sat down on the ground, like Laplanders, but the other Indians took chairs.

There is no printing-press in Canada, tho’ there formerly was one: but all books are brought from France, and all the orders made in the country are written, which extends even to the paper-currency. They pretend that the press is not yet introduced here, lest it should be the means of propagating libels against the government, and religion. But the true reason seems to ly in the poorness of the country, as no printer could put off a sufficient number of books for his subsistence; and another reason may be, that France may have the profit arising from the exportation of books hither.

The meals here are in many respects different from those in the English provinces. This perhaps depends upon the difference of custom, taste, and religion, between the two nations. They eat three meals a day, viz. breakfast, dinner, and supper. They breakfast commonly between seven and eight. For the French here rise very early, and the governor-general can be spoke to at seven o’clock, which is the time when he has his levee. Some of the men dip a piece of bread in brandy, and eat it; others take a dram of brandy, and eat a piece of bread after it. Chocolate is likewise very common for breakfast, and many of the ladies drink coffee. Some eat no breakfast at all. I have never seen tea made use of; perhaps because they can get coffee and chocolate from the French provinces in South-America; but must get tea from China, for which it is not worth their while to send the money out of their country. Dinner is pretty exactly at noon. People of quality have a great variety of dishes, and the rest follow their example, when they invite strangers. The loaves are oval, and baked of wheat flour. For each person they put a plate, napkin, spoon, and fork. Sometimes they likewise give knives; but they are generally omitted, all the ladies and gentlemen being provided with their own knives. The spoons and forks are of silver, and the plates of Delft ware. The meal begins with a soup, with a good deal of bread in it. Then follow fresh meats of various kinds, boiled, and roasted, poultry, or game, fricassees, ragoos, &c. of several sorts; together with different kinds of sallads. They commonly drink red claret at dinner, mixed with water; and spruce beer is likewise much in use. The ladies drink water, and sometimes wine. After dinner the fruit and sweet-meats are served up, which are of many different kinds, viz. walnuts from France, or Canada, either ripe, or pickled; almonds, raisins, haselnuts, several kinds of berries, which are ripe in the summer season, such as currants, cran-berries, which are preserved in treacle; many preserves in sugar as straw-berries, rasp-berries, black-berries, and moss-berries. Cheese is likewise a part of the desert, and so is milk, which they eat last of all with sugar. Friday and Saturday they eat no flesh, according to the Roman catholic rites; but they well know how to guard against hunger. On those days they boil all sorts of kitchen-herbs, and fruit; fishes, eggs, and milk, prepared in various ways. They cut cucumbers into slices, and eat them with cream, which is a very good dish. Sometimes they put whole cucumbers on the table, and every body that likes them takes one, peels, and slices it, and dips the slices into salt, eating them like raddishes. Melons abound here, and are always eaten with sugar. They never put any sugar into wine, or brandy, and upon the whole, they and the English do not use half so much sugar, as we do in Sweden; though both nations have large sugar-plantations in their West-Indian possessions. They say no grace before, or after their meals, but only cross themselves, which is likewise omitted by some. Immediately after dinner, they drink a dish of coffee, without cream. Supper is commonly at seven o’clock, or between seven and eight at night, and the dishes the same as at dinner. Pudding and punch is not to be met with here, though the latter is well known.

August the 23d. In many places hereabouts they use their dogs to fetch water out of the river. I saw two great dogs to-day put before a little cart, one before the other. They had neat harness, like horses, and bits in their mouths. In the cart was a barrel. The dogs are directed by a boy, who runs behind the cart, and as soon as they come to the river, they jump in, of their own accord. When the barrel is filled, the dogs draw their burthen up the hill again, to the house they belong to. I have frequently seen dogs employed in this manner, during my stay at Quebec. Sometimes they put but one dog before the water-carts, which are made small on purpose. The dogs are not very great, hardly of the size of our common farmers dogs. The boys that attend them have great whips, with which they make them go on occasionally. I have seen them fetch not only water, but likewise wood, and other things. In winter it is customary in Canada, for travellers to put dogs before little sledges, made on purpose to hold their clothes, provisions, &c. Poor people commonly employ them on their winter-journies, and go on foot themselves. Almost all the wood, which the poorer people in this country fetch out of the woods in winter, is carried by dogs, which have therefore got the name of horses of the poor people. They commonly place a pair of dogs before each load of wood. I have likewise seen some neat little sledges, for ladies to ride in, in winter; they are drawn by a pair of dogs, and go faster on a good road, than one would think. A middle-sized dog is sufficient to draw a single person, when the roads are good. I have been told by old people, that horses were very scarce here in their youth, and almost all the land-carriage was then effected by dogs. Several Frenchmen, who have been among the Esquimaux on Terra Labrador, have assured me, that they not only make use of dogs for drawing drays, with their provisions, and other necessaries, but are likewise drawn by them themselves, in little sledges.

August the 25th. The high hills, to the west of the town, abound with springs. These hills consist of the black lime-slate, before mentioned, and are pretty steep, so that it is difficult to get to the top. Their perpendicular height is about twenty or four and twenty yards. Their summits are destitute of trees, and covered with a thin crust of earth, lying on the lime-slates, and are employed for corn-fields, or pastures. It seems inconceivable therefore, from whence these naked hills could take so many running springs, which in some places gush out of the hills, like torrents. Have these hills the quality of attracting the water out of the air in the day time, or at night? Or are the lime-slates more apt to it, than others?

All the horses in Canada are strong, well made, swift, as tall as the horses of our cavalry, and of a breed imported from France. The inhabitants have the custom of docking the tails of their horses, which is rather hard upon them here, as they cannot defend themselves against the numerous swarms of gnats, gad-flies, and horse-flies. They put the horses one before the other in their carts, which has probably occasioned the docking of their tails, as the horses would hurt the eyes of those behind them, by moving their tails backwards and forwards. The governor-general, and a few of the chief people in town, have coaches, the rest make use of open horse-chairs. It is a general complaint, that the country people begin to keep too many horses, by which means the cows are kept short of food in winter.

The cows have likewise been imported from France, and are of the size of our common Swedish cows. Every body agreed that the cattle, which were born of the original French breed, never grow up to the same size. This they ascribe to the cold winters, during which they are obliged to put their cattle into stables, and give them but little food. Almost all the cows have horns, a few, however, I have seen without them. A cow without horns would be reckoned an unheard of curiosity in Pensylvania. Is not this to be attributed to the cold? The cows give as much milk here as in France. The beef and veal at Quebec, is reckoned fatter and more palatable than at Montreal. Some look upon the salty pastures below Quebec, as the cause of this difference. But this does not seem sufficient; for most of the cattle, which are sold at Quebec, have no meadows with Arrow-headed grass [70], on which they graze. In Canada the oxen draw with the horns, but in the English colonies they draw with their withers, as horses do. The cows vary in colour; however, most of them are either red, or black.

Every countryman commonly keeps a few sheep, which supply him with as much wool as he wants to cloth himself with. The better sort of clothes are brought from France. The sheep degenerate here, after they are brought from France, and their progeny still more so. The want of food in winter is said to cause this degeneration.

I have not seen any goats in Canada, and I have been assured that there are none. I have seen but very few in the English colonies, and only in their towns, where they are kept on account of some sick people, who drink the milk by the advice of their physicians.

The harrows are triangular; two of the sides are six feet, and the third four feet long. The teeth, and every other part of the harrows are of wood. The teeth are about five inches long, and about as much distant from each other.

The prospect of the country about a quarter of a mile Swedish, north of Quebec, on the west side of the river St. Lawrence, is very fine. The country is very steep towards the river, and grows higher as you go further from the water. In many places it is naturally divided into terraces. From the heights, one can look a great way: Quebec appears very plain to the south, and the river St. Lawrence to the east, on which were vessels sailing up and down. To the west are the high mountains, which the hills of the river end with. All the country is laid out for corn-fields, meadows, and pastures; most of the fields were sown with wheat, many with white oats, and some with pease. Several fine houses and farms are interspersed all over the country, and none are ever together. The dwelling-house is commonly built of black lime-slates, and generally white-washed on the outside. Many rivulets and brooks roll down the high grounds, above which the great mountains ly, and which consist entirely of the black lime-slates, that shiver in pieces in the open air. On the lime-slates lies a mould of two or three feet in depth. The soil in the corn-fields is always mixed with little pieces of the lime-slate. All the rivulets cut their beds deep into the ground; so that their shores are commonly of lime-slate. A dark-grey lime-stone is sometimes found among the strata, which, when broke, smells like stink-stone.

They were now building several ships below Quebec, for the king’s account. However, before my departure, an order arrived from France, prohibiting the further building of ships of war, except those which were already on the stocks; because they had found, that the ships built of American oak do not last so long as those of European oak. Near Quebec is found very little oak, and what grows there is not fit for use, being very small; therefore they are obliged to fetch their oak timber from those parts of Canada which border upon New-England. But all the North-American oaks have the quality of lasting longer, and withstanding putrefaction better, the further north they grow, and vice versâ. The timber from the confines of New-England is brought in floats or rafts on the rivers near those parts, and near the lake St. Pierre, which fall into the great river St. Lawrence. Some oak is likewise brought from the country between Montreal and Fort St. Frederic, or Fort Champlain; but it is not reckoned so good as the first, and the place it comes from is further distant.

August the 26th. They shewed a green earth, which had been brought to the general, marquis de la Galissonniere, from the upper parts of Canada. It was a clay, which cohered very fast together, and was of a green colour throughout, like verdigrease. [71]

All the brooks in Canada contain crawfish, of the same kind with ours. The French are fond of eating them, and say they are vastly decreased in number since they have begun to catch them.

The common people in the country, seem to be very poor. They have the necessaries of life, and but little else. They are content with meals of dry bread and water, bringing all other provisions, such as butter, cheese, flesh, poultry, eggs, &c. to town, in order to get money for them, for which they buy clothes and brandy for themselves, and dresses for their women. Notwithstanding their poverty, they are always chearful, and in high spirits.

August the 29th. By the desire of the governor-general, marquis de la Jonquiere, and of marquis de la Galissonniere, I set out, with some French gentlemen, to visit the pretended silver-mine, or the lead-mine, near the bay St. Paul. I was glad to undertake this journey, as it gave me an opportunity of seeing a much greater part of the country, than I should otherwise have done. This morning therefore we set out on our tour in a boat, and went down the river St. Lawrence.

The harvest was now at hand, and I saw all the people at work in the corn-fields. They had began to reap wheat and oats, a week ago.

The prospect near Quebec is very lively from the river. The town lies very high, and all the churches, and other buildings, appear very conspicuous. The ships in the river below ornament the landscape on that side. The powder magazine, which stands at the summit of the mountain, on which the town is built, towers above all the other buildings.

The country we passed by afforded a no less charming sight. The river St. Lawrence flows nearly from south to north here; on both sides of it are cultivated fields, but more on the west side than on the east side. The hills on both shores are steep, and high. A number of fine hills, separated from each other, large fields, which looked quite white from the corn with which they are covered, and excellent woods of deciduous trees, made the country round us look very pleasant. Now and then we saw a church of stone, and in several places brooks fell from the hills into the river. Where the brooks are considerable, there they have made saw-mills, and water-mills.

After rowing for the space of a French mile and a half, we came to the isle of Orleans, which is a large island, near seven French miles and a half long, and almost two of those miles broad, in the widest part. It lies in the middle of the river St. Lawrence, is very high, has steep and very woody shores. There are some places without trees, which have farm-houses below, quite close to the shore. The isle itself is well cultivated, and nothing but fine houses of stone, large corn-fields, meadows, pastures, woods of deciduous trees, and some churches built of stone, are to be seen on it.

We went into that branch of the river which flows on the west side of the isle of Orleans, it being the shortest. It is reckoned about a quarter of a French mile broad, but ships cannot take this road, on account of the sand-banks, which ly here near the projecting points of land, and on account of the shallowness of the water, the rocks, and stones at the bottom. The shores on both sides still kept the same appearance as before. On the west side, or on the continent, the hills near the river consist throughout of black lime-slate, and the houses of the peasants are made of this kind of stone, white-washed on the outside. Some few houses are of different kinds of stone. The row of ten mountains, which is on the west side of the river, and runs nearly from south to north, gradually comes nearer to the river: for at Quebec they are near two French miles distant from the shore; but nine French miles lower down the river, they are almost close to the shore. These mountains are generally covered with woods, but in some places the woods have been destroyed by accidental fires. About eight French miles and a half from Quebec, on the west side of the river, is a church, called St. Anne, close to the shore. This church is remarkable, because the ships from France and other parts, as soon as they are got so far up the river St. Lawrence, as to get sight of it, give a general discharge of their artillery, as a sign of joy, that they have past all danger in the river, and have escaped all the sands in it.

The water had a pale red colour, and was very dirty in those parts of the river, which we saw to-day, though it was every where computed above six fathoms deep. Somewhat below St. Anne, on the west side of the river St. Lawrence, another river, called la Grande Riviere, or the Great River, falls in it. Its water flows with such violence, as to make its way almost into the middle of the branch of the river St. Lawrence, which runs between the continent, and the isle of Orleans.

About two o’clock in the afternoon the tide began to flow up the river, and the wind being likewise against us, we could not proceed any farther, till the tide began to ebb. We therefore took up our night lodgings in a great farm, belonging to the priests in Quebec, near which is a fine church, called St. Joachim, after a voyage of about eight French miles. We were exceeding well received here. The king has given all the country round about this place to the seminary, or the priests at Quebec, who have leased it to farmers, who have built houses on it. Here are two priests, and a number of young boys, whom they instruct in reading, writing, and Latin. Most of these boys are designed for priests: Directly opposite this farm, to the eastward, is the north-east point, or the extremity of the isle of Orleans.

All the gardens in Canada abound with red currant shrubs, which were at first brought over from Europe. They grow excessively well here, and the shrubs, or bushes, are quite red, being covered all over with the berries.

The wild vines [72] grow pretty plentifully in the woods. In all other parts of Canada they plant them in the gardens, near arbours, and summer-houses. The summer-houses are made entirely of laths, over which the vines climb with their tendrils, and cover them entirely with their foliage, so as to shelter them entirely from the heat of the sun. They are very refreshing and cool, in summer.

The strong contrary winds obliged us to ly all night at St. Joachim.

August the 30th. This morning we continued our journey in spite of the wind, which was very violent against us. The water in the river begins to get a brackish taste, when the tide is highest, somewhat below St. Joachim, and the further one goes down, the more the saline taste encreases. At first the western shore of the river has fine, but low corn-fields, but soon after the high mountains run close to the river side. Before they come to the river the hilly shores consist of black lime-slate; but as soon as the high mountains appear on the river side, the lime-slates disappear. For the stone, of which the high mountains consist, is a chalky rock-stone, mixed with glimmer and quartz [73]. The glimmer is black; the quartz partly violet, and partly grey. All the four constituent parts are so well mixed together, as not to be easily separated by an instrument, though plainly distinguishable with the eye. During our journey to-day, the breadth of the river was generally three French miles. They shewed me the turnings the ships are obliged to sail in, which seem to be very troublesome, as they are obliged to bear away for either shore, as occasion requires, or as the rocks and sands in the river oblige them to do.

For the distance of five French miles we had a very dangerous passage to go through; for the whole western shore, along which we rowed, consists of very high and steep mountains, where we could not have found a single place to land with safety, during the space of five miles, in case a high wind had arisen. There are indeed two or three openings, or holes, in the mountains, into which one could have drawn the boat, in the greatest danger. But they are so narrow, that in case the boat could not find them in the hurry, it would inevitably be dashed against the rocks. These high mountains are either quite bare, or covered with some small firs, standing far asunder. In some places there are great clefts, going down the mountains, in which trees grow very close together, and are taller than on the other parts of the mountain; so that those places look like quick-hedges, planted on the solid rock. A little while after we passed a small church, and some farms round it. The place is called Petite Riviere, and they say, its inhabitants are very poor, which seems very probable. They have no more land to cultivate, than what lies between the mountains and the river, which in the widest part is not above three musket shot, and in most parts but one broad. About seventeen French miles from Quebec the water is so salty in the river, that no one can drink it, our rowers therefore provided themselves with a kettle full of fresh water this morning. About five o’clock in the evening, we arrived at bay St. Paul, and took our lodgings with the priests, who have a fine large house here, and entertained us very hospitably.

Bay St. Paul is a small parish, about eighteen French miles below Quebec, lying at some distance from the shore of a bay formed by the river, on a low plain. It is surrounded by high mountains on every side, one large gap excepted, which is over-against the river. All the farms are at some distance from each other. The church is reckoned one of the most ancient in Canada; which seems to be confirmed by its bad architecture, and want of ornaments; for the walls are formed of pieces of timber, erected at about two feet distance from each other, supporting the roof. Between these pieces of timber, they have made the walls of the church of lime-slate. The roof is flat. The church has no steeple, but a bell fixed above the roof, in the open air. Almost all the country in this neighbourhood belongs to the priests, who have leased it to the farmers. The inhabitants live chiefly upon agriculture and making of tar, which last is sold at Quebec.

This country being low, and situated upon a bay of the river, it may be conjectured, that this flat ground was formerly part of the bottom of the river, and formed itself, either by a decrease of water in the river, or by an encrease of earth, which was carried upon it from the continent by the brooks, or thrown on it by storms. A great part of the plants, which are to be met with here, are likewise marine; such as glass-wort, sea milk-wort, and sea-side pease [74]. But when I have asked the inhabitants, whether they find shells in the ground by digging for wells, they always answered in the negative. I received the same answer from those who live in the low fields directly north of Quebec, and all agreed, that they never found any thing by digging, but different kinds of earth and sand.

It is remarkable, that there is generally a different wind in the bay from that in the river, which arises from the high mountains, covered with tall woods, with which it is surrounded on every side but one. For example, when the wind comes from the river, it strikes against one of the mountains at the entrance of the bay, it is reflected, and consequently takes a direction quite different from what it had before.

I found sand of three kinds upon the shore; one is a clear coarse sand, consisting of angulated grains of quartz, and is very common on the shore; the other is a fine black sand, which I have likewise found in abundance on the shores of lake Champlain, [75] and which is common all over Canada. Almost every grain of it is attracted by the magnet. Besides this, there is a granet coloured sand [76], which is likewise very fine. This may owe its origin to the granet coloured grains of sand, which are to be found in all the stones and mountains here near the shore. The sand may have arisen from the crumbled pieces of some stones, or the stones may have been composed of it. I have found both this and the black sand on the shores, in several parts of this journey; but the black sand was always the most plentiful.

August the 31st. All the high hills in the neighbourhood sent up a smoke this morning, as from a charcoal-kiln.

Gnats are innumerable here; and as soon as one looks out of doors, they immediately attack him; and they are still worse in the woods. They are exactly the same gnats as our common Swedish ones, being only somewhat less than the North-American gnats all are. Near Fort St. Jean, I have likewise seen gnats which were the same with ours, but they were somewhat bigger, almost of the size of our crane-flies [77]. Those which are here, are beyond measure blood-thirsty. However, I comforted myself, because the time of their disappearance was near at hand.

This afternoon we went still lower down the river St. Lawrence, to a place, where, we were told, there were silver or lead mines. Somewhat below bay St. Paul, we passed a neck of land, which consists entirely of a grey, pretty compact lime-stone, lying in dipping, and almost perpendicular strata. It seems to be merely a variety of the black lime-slates. The strata dip to the south-east, and basset out to the north-west. The thickness of each is from ten to fifteen inches. When the stone is broken, it has a strong smell, like stink-stone. We kept, as before, to the western shore of the river, which consists of nothing but steep mountains and rocks. The river is not above three French miles broad here. Now and then we could see stripes in the rock of a fine white, loose, semi-opaque spar. In some places of the river are pieces of rock as big as houses, which had rolled from the mountains in spring. The places they formerly occupied are plainly to be seen.

In several places, they have eel-traps in the river, like those I have before described [78].

By way of amusement, I wrote down a few Algonkin words, which I learnt from a Jesuit who has been a long time among the Algonkins. They call water, mukuman; the head, ustigon; the heart, uta; the body, veetras; the foot, ukhita; a little boat, ush; a ship, nabikoan; fire, skute; hay, maskoosee; the hare, whabus; (they have a verb, which expresses the action of hunting hares, derived from the noun); the marten, whabistanis; the elk, moosu [79] (but so that the final u is hardly pronounced); the rein-deer, atticku; the mouse, mawitulsis. The Jesuit who told me those particulars, likewise informed me, that he had great reason to believe, that, if any Indians here owed their origin to Tataria, he thought the Algonkins certainly did; for their language is universally spoken in that part of North-America, which lies far to the west of Canada, towards Asia. It is said to be a very copious language; as for example, the verb to go upon the ice, is entirely different in the Algonkin from to go upon dry land, to go upon the mountains, &c.

Late at night we arrived at Terre d’Eboulement, which is twenty-two French miles from Quebec, and the last cultivated place on the western shore of the river St. Lawrence. The country lower down is said to be so mountainous, that no body can live in it, there not being a single spot of ground, which could be tilled. A little church, belonging to this place, stands on the shore, near the water.

No walnut-trees grow near this village, nor are there any kinds of them further north of this place. At bay St. Paul, there are two or three walnut-trees of that species which the English call butter-nut-trees; but they are looked upon as great rarities, and there are no others in the neighbourhood.

Oaks of all kinds, will not grow near this place, nor lower down, or further north.

Wheat is the kind of corn which is sown in the greatest quantities here. The soil is pretty fertile, and they have sometimes got twenty-four or twenty-six bushels from one, though the harvest is generally ten or twelve fold. The bread here is whiter than any where else in Canada.

They sow plenty of oats, and it succeeds better than the wheat.

They sow likewise a great quantity of peas, which yield a greater encrease than any corn; and there are examples of its producing an hundred fold.

Here are but few birds; and those that pass the summer here, migrate in autumn; so that there are no other birds than snow-birds, red partridges, and ravens, in winter. Even crows do not venture to expose themselves to the rigours of winter, but take flight in autumn.

The Bull-frogs live in the pools of this neighbourhood. Fire flies are likewise to be found here.

Instead of candles, they make use of lamps in country places, in which they burn train-oil of porpesses, which is the common oil here. Where they have none of it, they supply its place with train-oil of seals.

September the 1st. There was a woman with child in this village, who was now in the fifty-ninth year of her age. She had not had the catamenia during eighteen years. In the year 1748, she got the small-pox, and now she was very big. She said she was very well, and could feel the motions of the fœtus. She looked very well, and had her husband alive. This being an uncommon case, she was brought to the royal physician, M. Gaulthier, who accompanied us on this journey.