Chapter VI: Part 6

At half an hour after seven this morning we went down the river. The country near Terre d’Eboulement is high, and consists of hills of a loose mould, which ly in three or four rows above each other, and are all well cultivated, and mostly turned into corn-fields; though there are likewise meadows and pastures.

The great earthquake which happened in Canada, in February, 1663, and which is mentioned by Charlevoix [80], has done considerable damage to this place. Many hills tumbled down; and a great part of the corn-fields on the lowest hills were destroyed. They shewed me several little islands, which arose in the river on this occasion.

There are pieces of black lime-slate scattered on those hills, which consist of mould. For the space of eight French miles along the side of the river, there is not a piece of lime-slate to be seen; but instead of it, there are high grey mountains, consisting of a rock-stone, which contains a purple and a crystaline quartz, mixed with lime-stone, and black glimmer. The roots of these mountains go into the water. We now begin to see the lime-slates again.

Here are a number of Terns [81], which fly about, and make a noise along the shore.

The river is here computed at about four French miles broad.

On the sides of the river, about two French miles inland, there are such terraces of earth as at Terre d’Eboulement; but soon after they are succeeded by high disagreeable mountains.

Several brooks fall into the river here, over the steep shores, with a great noise. The shores are sometimes several yards high, and consist either of earth, or of rock-stone.

One of these brooks, which flows over a hill of lime-stone, contains a mineral water. It has a strong smell of sulphur, is very clear, and does not change its colour, when mixed with gall-apples. If it is poured into a silver cup, it looks as if the cup was gilt; and the water leaves a sediment of a crimson colour at the bottom. The stones and pieces of wood, which ly in the water, are covered with a slime, which is pale grey at the top, and black at the bottom of the stone. This slime has not much pungency, but tastes like oil of tobacco. My hands had a sulphureous smell all day, because I had handled some of the slimy stones.

The black lime-slate now abounds again, near the level of the water. It lies in strata, which are placed almost perpendicularly near each other, inclining a little towards W. S. W. Each stratum is between ten and fifteen inches thick. Most of them are shivered into thin leaves at the top, towards the day; but in the inside, whither neither sun, nor air and water can penetrate, they are close and compact. Some of these stones are not quite black, but have a greyish cast.

About noon we arrived at Cap aux Oyes, or Geese Cape, which has probably got its name from the number of wild geese which the French found near it, on their first arrival in Canada. At present, we saw neither geese, nor any kind of birds here, a single raven excepted. Here we were to examine the renowned metallic veins in the mountain; but found nothing more than small veins of a fine white spar, containing a few specks of lead ore. Cap aux Oyes is computed twenty-two, or twenty-five French miles distant from Quebec. I was most pleased by finding, that most of the plants are the same as grow in Sweden; a proof of which I shall produce in the sequel.

The sand-reed [82] grows in abundance in the sand, and prevents its being blown about by the wind.

The sea-lyme grass [83] likewise abounds on the shores. Both it and the preceding plant are called Seigle de mer [84] by the French. I have been assured that these plants grow in great plenty in Newfoundland, and on other North-American shores; the places covered with them looking, at a distance, like corn-fields; which might explain the passage in our northern accounts, of the excellent wine land [85], which mentions, that they had found whole fields of wheat growing wild.

The sea-side plantain [86] is very frequent on the shore. The French boil its leaves in a broth on their sea-voyages, or eat them as a sallad. It may likewise be pickled like samphire.

The bear-berries [87] grow in great abundance here. The Indians, French, English, and Dutch, in those parts of North-America, which I have seen, call them Sagackhomi, and mix the leaves with tobacco for their use.

Gale, or sweet willow [88], is likewise abundant here. The French call it Laurier, and some Poivrier. They put the leaves into their broth, to give it a pleasant taste.

The sea-rocket [89] is, likewise, not uncommon. Its root is pounded, mixed with flour, and eaten here, when there is a scarcity of bread.

The sorb-tree, or mountain-ash, the cranberry-bush, the juniper-tree, the sea-side pease, the Linnæa, and many other Swedish plants, are likewise to be met with here.

We returned to bay St. Paul to-day. A grey seal swam behind the boat for some time, but was not near enough to be shot at.

September the 2d. This morning we went to see the silver or lead veins. They ly a little on the south-side of the mills, belonging to the priests. The mountain in which the veins ly, has the same constituent parts, as the other high grey rocks in this place, viz. a rock-stone composed of a whitish or pale grey lime-stone, a purple or almost garnet-coloured quartz, and a black glimmer. The lime-stone is in greater quantities here than the other parts; and it is so fine as to be hardly visible. It effervesces very strongly with aqua fortis. The purple or garnet-coloured quartz is next in quantity; lies scattered in exceeding small grains, and strikes fire when struck with a steel. The little black particles of glimmer follow next; and last of all, the transparent crystalline speckles of quartz. There are some small grains of spar in the lime-stone. All the different kinds of stone are very well mixed together, except that the glimmer now and then forms little veins and lines. The stone is very hard; but when exposed to sun-shine and the open air, it changes so much as to look quite rotten, and becomes friable; and in that case, its constituent particles grow quite undistinguishable. The mountain is quite full of perpendicular clefts, in which the veins of lead-ore run from E. S. E. to W. N. W. It seems the mountain had formerly got cracks here, which were afterwards filled up with a kind of stone, in which the lead-ore was generated. That stone which contains the lead-ore is a soft, white, often semidiaphanous spar, which works very easily. In it there are sometimes stripes of a snowy white lime-stone, and almost always veins of a green kind of stone like quartz. This spar has many cracks, and divides into such pieces as quartz; but is much softer, never strikes fire with steel, does not effervesce with acids, and is not smooth to the touch. It seems to be a species of Mr. Professor Wallerius’s vitrescent spar [90]. There are sometimes small pieces of a greyish quartz in this spar, which emit strong sparks of fire, when struck with a steel. In these kinds of stone the lead ore is lodged. It commonly lies in little lumps of the size of peas; but sometimes in specks of an inch square, or bigger. The ore is very clear, and lies in little cubes [91]. It is generally very poor, a few places excepted. The veins of soft spar, and other kinds of stone, are very narrow, and commonly from ten to fifteen inches broad. In a few places they are twenty inches broad; and in one single place twenty-two and a half. The brook which intersects the mountain towards the mills, runs down so deep into the mountain, that the distance from the summit of the hill, to the bottom of the brook, is near twelve yards. Here I examined the veins, and found that they always keep the same breadth, not encreasing near the bottom of the brook; and likewise, that they are no richer below, than at the top. From hence it may be easily concluded, that it is not worth while sinking mines here. Of these veins there are three or four in this neighbourhood, at some distance from each other, but all of the same quality. The veins are almost perpendicular, sometimes deviating a little. When pieces of the green stone before mentioned ly in the water, a great deal of the adherent white spar and lime-stone is consumed; but the green stone remains untouched. That part of the veins which is turned towards the air is always very rough, because the sun, air, and rain, have mouldered a great part of the spar and lime-stone; but the green stone has resisted their attacks. They sometimes find deep holes in these veins, filled with mountain crystals. The greatest quantity of lead or silver ore is to be found next to the rock, or even on the sides of the vein. There are now and then little grains of pyrites in the spar, which have a fine gold colour. The green stone when pounded, and put on a red-hot shovel, burns with a blue flame. Some say, they can then observe a sulphureous smell, which I could never perceive, though my sense of smelling is very perfect. When this green stone is grown quite red-hot, it loses its green colour, and acquires a whitish one, but will not effervesce with aqua fortis.

The sulphureous springs (if I may so call them) are at the foot of the mountain, which contains the silver, or lead ore. Several springs join here, and form a little brook. The water in those brooks is covered with a white membrane, and leaves a white, mealy matter on the trees, and other bodies in its way; this matter has a strong sulphureous smell. Trees, covered with this mealy matter, when dried and set on fire, burn with a blue flame, and emit a smell of sulphur. The water does not change by being mixed with gall-apples, nor does it change blue paper into a different colour, which is put into it. It makes no good lather with soap. Silver is tarnished, and turns black, if kept in this water for a little while. The blade of a knife was turned quite black, after it had lain about three hours in it. It has a disagreeable smell, which, they say, it spreads still more in rainy weather. A number of grasshoppers were fallen into it at present. The inhabitants used this water, as a remedy against the itch.

In the afternoon we went to see another vein, which had been spoken of as silver ore. It lies about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of bay St. Paul, near a point of land called Cap au Corbeau, close to the shore of the river St. Lawrence. The mountain in which these veins ly, consist of a pale red vitrescent spar, a black glimmer, a pale lime-stone, purple or garnet-coloured grains of quartz, and some transparent quartz. Sometimes the reddish vitrescent spar is the most abundant, and lies in long stripes of small hard grains. Sometimes the fine black glimmer abounds more than the remaining constituent parts; and these two last kinds of stone generally run in alternate stripes. The white lime-stone which consists of almost invisible particles, is mixed in among them. The garnet-coloured quartz grains appear here and there, and sometimes form whole stripes. They are as big as pin’s heads, round, shining, and strike fire with steel. All these stones are very hard, and the mountains near the sea, consist entirely of them. They sometimes ly in almost perpendicular strata, of ten or fifteen inches thickness. The strata, however, point with their upper ends to the north-west, and go upwards from the river, as if the water, which is close to the south-east side of the mountains, had forced the strata to lean on that side. These mountains contain very narrow veins of a white, and sometimes of a greenish, fine, semidiaphanous, soft spar, which crumbles easily into grains. In this spar they very frequently find specks, which look like a calamine blend [92]. Now and then, and but very seldom, there is a grain of lead-ore. The mountains near the shore consist sometimes of a black fine-grained horn-stone, and a ferruginous lime-stone. The horn-stone in that case is always in three or four times as great a quantity as the lime-stone.

In this neighbourhood there is likewise a sulphureous spring, having exactly the same qualities as that which I have before described. The broad-leaved Reed Mace [93] grows in the very spring, and succeeds extremely well. A mountain-ash stood near it, whose berries were of a pale yellow fading colour, whereas on all other mountain-ashes they have a deep red colour.

They make great quantities of tar at bay St. Paul. We now passed near a place in which they burn tar, during summer. It is exactly the same with ours in East-Bothnia, only somewhat less; though I have been told, that there are sometimes very great manufactures of it here. The tar is made solely of the Pin rouge [94], or red Pine. All other firs, of which here are several kinds, are not fit for this purpose, because they do not give tar enough to repay the trouble the people are at. They make use of the roots alone, which are quite full of resin, and which they dig out of the ground; and of about two yards of the stem, just above the root, laying aside all the rest. They have not yet learnt the art of drawing the resin to one side of the tree, by peeling off the bark; at least they never take this method. The tar-barrels are but about half the size of ours. A ton holds forty-six pots, and sells at present for twenty-five francs at Quebec. The tar is reckoned pretty good.

The sand on the shore of the river St. Lawrence, consists in some places of a kind of pearl-sand. The grains are of quartz, small and semidiaphanous. In some places it consists of little particles of glimmer; and there are likewise spots, covered with the garnet-coloured sand, which I have before described, and which abounds in Canada.

September the 4th. The mountains hereabouts were covered with a very thick fog to-day, resembling the smoak of a charcoal kiln. Many of these mountains are very high. During my stay in Canada, I asked many people, who have travelled much in North-America, whether they ever met with mountains so high, that the snow never melts on them in winter; to which they always answered in the negative. They say that the show sometimes stays on the highest, viz. on some of those between Canada and the English colonies, during a great part of the summer; but that it melts as soon as the great heat begins.

Every countryman sows as much flax as he wants for his own use. They had already taken it up some time ago, and spread it on the fields, meadows, and pastures, in order to bleach it. It was very short this year in Canada.

They find iron-ore in several places hereabouts. Almost a Swedish mile from bay St. Paul, up in the country, there is a whole mountain full of iron ore. The country round it is covered with a thick forest, and has many rivulets of different sizes, which seem to make the erection of iron-works very easy here. But the government having as yet suffered very much by the iron-works at Trois Rivieres, nobody ventures to propose any thing further in that way.

September the 5th. Early this morning we set out on our return to Quebec. We continued our journey at noon, notwithstanding the heavy rain and thunder we got afterwards. At that time we were just at Petite Riviere, and the tide beginning to ebb, it was impossible for us to come up against it; therefore we lay by here, and went on shore.

Petite Riviere is a little village, on the western side of the river St. Lawrence, and lies on a little rivulet, from whence it takes its name. The houses are built of stone, and are dispersed over the country. Here is likewise a fine little church of stone. To the west of the village are some very high mountains, which cause the sun to set three or four hours sooner here, than ordinary. The river St. Lawrence annually cuts off a piece of land, on the east side of the village, so that the inhabitants fear they will in a short time lose all the land they possess here, which at most is but a musket shot broad. All the houses here are very full of children.

The lime-slates on the hills are of two kinds. One is a black one, which I have often mentioned, and on which the town of Quebec is built. The other is generally black, and sometimes dark grey, and seems to be a species of the former. It is called Pierre à chaux here. It is chiefly distinguished from the former, by being cut very easily, giving a very white lime, when burnt, and not easily mouldering into shivers in the air. The walls of the houses here are entirely made of this slate; and likewise the chimnies, those places excepted, which are exposed to the greatest fire, where they place pieces of grey rock-stone, mixed with a deal of glimmer. The mountains near Petite Riviere consist merely of a grey rock-stone, which is entirely the same with that which I described near the lead-mines of bay St. Paul. The foot of these mountains consists of one of the lime-slate kinds. A great part of the Canada mountains of grey rock-stone stand on a kind of slate, in the same manner as the grey rocks of West-Gothland in Sweden.

September the 6th. They catch eels and porpesses here, at a certain season of the year, viz. at the end of September, and during the whole month of October. The eels come up the river at that time, and are caught in the manner I have before described. They are followed by the porpesses, which feed upon them. The greater the quantity of eels is, the greater is likewise the number of porpesses, which are caught in the following manner. When the tide ebbs in the river, the porpesses commonly go down along the sides of the river, catching the eels which they find there. The inhabitants of this place therefore stick little twigs, or branches with leaves, into the river, in a curve line or arch, the ends of which look towards the shore, but stand at some distance from it, leaving a passage there. The branches stand about two feet distant from each other. When the porpesses come amongst them, and perceive the rustling the water makes with the leaves, they dare not venture to proceed, fearing lest there should be a snare, or trap, and endeavour to go back. Mean while the water has receded so much, that in going back they light upon one of the ends of the arch, whose moving leaves frighten them again. In this confusion they swim backwards and forwards, till the water is entirely ebbed off, and they ly on the bottom, where the inhabitants kill them. They give a great quantity of train-oil.

Near the shore, is a grey clay, full of ferruginous cracks, and pierced by worms. The holes are small, perpendicular, and big enough to admit a middling pin. Their sides are likewise ferruginous, and half-petrified; and where the clay has been washed away by the water, the rest looks like ocker-coloured stumps of tobacco-pipe tubes.

At noon we left Petite Riviere, and continued our journey towards St. Joachim.

Between Petite Riviere, which lies in a little bay, and St. Joachim, the western shore of the river St. Lawrence consists of prominent mountains, between which there are several small bays. They have found, by long experience, that there is always a wind on these mountains, even when it is calm at Petite Riviere. And when the wind is pretty high at the last-mentioned place, it is not adviseable to go to Quebec in a boat, the wind and waves, in that case, being very high near these mountains. We had at present an opportunity of experiencing it. In the creeks between the mountains, the water was almost quite smooth; but on our coming near one of the points formed by the high mountains, the waves encreased, and the wind was so high, that two people were forced to take care of the helm, and the mast broke several times. The waves are likewise greatly encreased by the strong current near those points or capes.

September the 7th. A little before noon, we continued our voyage from St. Joachim.

They employ tree-mushrooms very frequently instead of tinder. Those which are taken from the sugar-maple are reckoned the best; those of the red maple are next in goodness; and next to them, those of the sugar-birch. For want of these, they likewise make use of those which grow on the asp-tree or tremble.

There are no other ever-green trees in this part of Canada, than the thuya, the yew, and some of the fir kind.

The thuya is esteemed for resisting putrefaction much longer than any other wood; and next in goodness to it is the pine, called perusse here.

They make cheese in several places hereabouts. That of the isle of Orleans is, however, reckoned the best. This kind is small, thin, and round; and four of them weigh about a French pound. Twelve of them sell for thirty sols. A pound of salt butter costs ten sols at Quebec, and of fresh butter, fifteen sols. Formerly, they could get a pound of butter for four sols here.

The corn-fields towards the river are sloping; they are suffered to ly fallow and to be sown alternately. The sown ones looked yellow at this distance, and the fallow ones green. The weeds are left on the latter all summer, for the cattle to feed upon.

The ash wood furnishes the best hoops for tuns here; and for want of it, they take the thuya, little birch-trees, wild cherry-trees, and others.

The hills near the river, on the western side, opposite the isle of Orleans, are very high and pretty steep. They consist, in most part, of black lime-slate. There are likewise some spots which consist of a rock-stone, which, at first sight, looks like a sand-stone, and is composed of grey quartz, a reddish lime-stone, a little grey lime-stone, and some pale grey grains of sand. These parts of the stone are small and pretty equally mixed with each other. The stone looks red, with a greyish cast, and is very hard. It lies in strata, one above another. The thickness of each stratum is about five inches. It is remarkable, that there are both elevated and hollow impressions of pectinites on the surface, where one likewise meets with the petrified shells themselves; but on breaking the stone, it does not even contain the least vestige of an impression or petrified shell. All the impressions are small, about the length and breadth of an inch. The particles of quartz in the stone strike fire with steel, and the particles of lime-stone effervesce strongly with aqua-fortis. The upper and lower surfaces of the strata consist of lime-stone, and the inner parts of quartz. They break great quantities of this stone in order to build houses of it, pave floors with it, and make stair-cases of it. Great quantities of it are sent to Quebec. It is remarkable, that there are petrefactions in this stone, but never any in the black lime-slates.

The women dye their woollen yarn yellow with seeds of gale, [95] which is called poivrier here, and grows abundant in wet places.

This evening, M. Gaulthier and I went to see the water-fall at Montmorenci. The country near the river is high and level, and laid out into meadows. Above them the high and steep hills begin, which are covered with a crust of mould, and turned into corn-fields. In some very steep places, and near the rivulets, the hills consist of mere black lime-slate, which is often crumbled into small pieces, like earth. All the fields below the hills are full of such pieces of lime-slate. When some of the larger pieces are broken, they smell like stink-stone. In some more elevated places, the earth consists of a pale red colour; and the lime-slates are likewise reddish.

The water-fall near Montmorenci is one of the highest I ever saw. It is in a river whose breadth is not very considerable, and falls over the steep side of a hill, consisting entirely of black lime-slate. The fall is now at the bottom of a little creek of the river. Both sides of the creek consist merely of black lime-slate, which is very much cracked and tumbled down. The hill of lime-slate under the water-fall is quite perpendicular, and one cannot look at it without astonishment. The rain of the preceding days had encreased the water in the river, which gave the fall a grander appearance. The breadth of the fall is not above ten or twelve yards. Its perpendicular height Mr. Gaulthier and I guessed to be between a hundred and ten and a hundred and twenty feet; and on our return to Quebec, we found our guess confirmed by several gentlemen, who had actually measured the fall, and found it to be nearly as we had conjectured. The people who live in the neighbourhood exaggerate in their accounts of it, absolutely declaring that it is three hundred feet high. Father Charlevoix [96] is too sparing in giving it only forty feet in height. At the bottom of the fall, there is always a thick fog of vapours, spreading about the water, being resolved into them by its violent fall. This fog occasions almost perpetual rain here, which is more or less heavy, in proportion to its distance from the fall. Mr. Gaulthier and myself, together with the man who shewed us the way, were willing to come nearer to the falling water, in order to examine more accurately how it came down from such a height, and how the stone behind the water looked. But, being about twelve yards off the fall, a sudden gust of wind blew a thick fog upon us, which, in less than a minute, had wet us as thoroughly as if we had walked for half an hour in a heavy shower. We therefore hurried away as fast as we could, and were glad to get off. The noise of the fall is sometimes heard at Quebec, which is two French miles off to the southward; and this is a sign of a north-east wind. At other times, it can be well heard in the villages, a good way lower to the north; and it is then reckoned an undoubted sign of a south-west wind, or of rain. The black lime-slate on the sides of the fall lies in dipping, and almost perpendicular strata. In these lime-slate strata, are the following kinds of stone to be met with.

Fibrous gypsum. [97] This lies in very thin leaves between the cracks of the lime-slate. Its colour is a snowy white. I have found it in several parts of Canada, in the same black lime-stone.

Pierre à Calumet. This is the French name of a stone disposed in strata between the lime-slate, and of which they make almost all the tobacco-pipe heads in the country. The thickness of the strata is different. I have seen pieces near fifteen inches thick; but they are commonly between four and five inches thick. When the stone is long exposed to the open air or heat of the sun, it gets a yellow colour; but in the inside it is grey. It is a lime-stone of such a compactness, that its particles are not distinguishable by the naked eye. It is pretty soft, and will bear cutting with a knife. From this quality, the people likewise judge of the goodness of the stone for tobacco-pipe heads; for the hard pieces of it are not so fit for use as the softer ones. I have seen some of these stones shivering into thin leaves on the outside where they were exposed to the sun. All the tobacco-pipe heads, which the common people in Canada make use of, are made of this stone, and are ornamented in different ways. A great part of the gentry likewise make use of them, especially when they are on a journey. The Indians have employed this stone for the same purposes for several ages past, and have taught it the Europeans. The heads of the tobacco-pipes are naturally of a pale grey colour; but they are blackened whilst they are quite new, to make them look better. They cover the head all over with grease, and hold it over a burning candle, or any other fire, by which means it gets a good black colour, which is encreased by frequent use. The tubes of the pipes are always made of wood [98].

There are no coals near this fall, or in the steep hills close to it. However, the people in the neighbouring village shewed me a piece of coal, which, they said, they had found on one of the hills about the fall.

We arrived at Quebec very late at night.

September the 8th, Intermitting fevers of all kinds are very rare at Quebec, as Mr. Gaulthier affirms. On the contrary, they are very common near Fort St. Frederic, and near Fort Detroit, which is a French colony, between lake Erie and lake Huron, in forty-three degrees north latitude.

Some of the people of quality make use of ice-cellars, to keep beer cool in, during summer, and to keep fresh flesh, which would not keep long in the great heat. These ice-cellars are commonly built of stone, under the house. The walls of it are covered with boards, because the ice is more easily consumed by stones. In winter, they fill it with snow, which is beat down with the feet, and covered with water. They then open the cellar holes and the door, to admit the cold. It is customary in summer to put a piece of ice into the water or wine which is to be drank.

All the salt which is made use of here, is imported from France. They likewise make good salt here of the sea water; but France keeping the salt trade entirely to itself, they do not go on with it here.

The Esquimaux are a particular kind of American savages, who live only near the water, and never far in the country, on Terra Labrador, between the most outward point of the mouth of the river St. Lawrence and Hudson’s bay. I have never had an opportunity of seeing one of them. I have spoken with many Frenchmen who have seen them, and had them on board their own vessels. I shall here give a brief history of them, according to their unanimous accounts.

The Esquimaux are entirely different from the Indians of North-America, in regard to their complexion and their language. They are almost as white as Europeans, and have little eyes: the men have likewise beards. The Indians, on the contrary, are copper-coloured, and the men have no beards. The Esquimaux language is said to contain some European words. [99] Their houses are either caverns or clefts in the mountains, or huts of turf above ground. They never sow or plant vegetables, living chiefly on various kinds of whales, on seals, [100] and walrusses [101]. Sometimes they likewise catch land animals, on which they feed. They eat most of their meat quite raw. Their drink is water; and people have likewise seen them drinking the sea water, which was like brine.

Their shoes, stockings, breeches, and jackets are made of seal-skins well prepared, and sewed together with nerves of whales, which may be twisted like threads and are very tough. Their cloaths, the hairy side of which is turned outwards, are sewed together so well, that they can go up to their shoulders in the water without wetting their under cloaths. Under their upper cloaths, they wear shirts and waistcoats made of seals skins, prepared so well as to be quite soft. I saw one of their womens dresses; a cap, a waistcoat, and coat, made all of one piece of seals skin well prepared, soft to the touch, and the hair on the outside. Their is a long train behind at their coats, which scarce reach them to the middle of the thigh before; under it they wear breeches and boots, all of one piece. The shirt I saw was likewise made of a very soft seals skin. The Esquimaux women are said to be handsomer than any of the American Indian women, and their husbands are accordingly more jealous in proportion.

I have likewise seen an Esquimaux boat. The outside of it consists entirely of skins, the hair of which has been taken off; and the sides of the skins on which they were inserted are turned outwards, and feel as smooth as vellum. The boat was near fourteen feet long, but very narrow, and very sharp pointed at the extremities. In the inside of the boat, they place two or three thin boards, which give a kind of form to the boat. It is quite covered with skins at the top, excepting, near one end, a hole big enough for a single person to sit and row in, and keep his thighs and legs under the deck. The figure of the hole resembles a semi-circle, the base or diameter of which is turned towards the larger end of the boat. The hole is surrounded with wood, on which a soft folded skin is fastened, with straps at its upper end. When the Esquimaux makes use of his boat, he puts his legs and thighs under the deck, sits down at the bottom of the boat, draws the skin before mentioned round his body, and fastens it well with the straps; the waves may then beat over his boat with considerable violence, and not a single drop comes into it; the cloaths of the Esquimaux keep the wet from him. He has an oar in his hand, which has a paddle at each end; it serves him for rowing with, and keeping the boat in equilibrium during a storm. The paddles of the oar are very narrow. The boat will contain but a single person. Esquimaux have often been found safe in their boats many miles from land, in violent storms, where ships found it difficult to save themselves. Their boats float on the waves like bladders, and they row them with incredible velocity. I am told, they have boats of different shapes. They have likewise larger boats of wood, covered with leather in which several people may sit, and in which their women commonly go to sea.

Bows and arrows, javelins and harpoons, are their arms. With the last they kill whales, and other large marine animals. The points of their arrows and harpoons are sometimes made of iron, sometimes of bone, and sometimes of the teeth of the walruss. Their quivers are made of seals skins. The needles with which they sow their cloaths are likewise made of iron or of bone. All their iron they get by some means or other from the Europeans.

They sometimes go on board the European ships in order to exchange some of their goods for knives and other iron. But it is not adviseable for Europeans to go on shore, unless they be numerous; for the Esquimaux are false and treacherous, and cannot suffer strangers amongst them. If they find themselves too weak, they run away at the approach of strangers; but if they think they are an over-match for them, they kill all that come in their way, without leaving a single one alive. The Europeans, therefore, do not venture to let a greater number of Esquimaux come on board their ships than they can easily master. If they are ship-wrecked on the Esquimaux coasts, they may as well be drowned in the sea as come safe to the shore: this many Europeans have experienced. The European boats and ships which the Esquimaux get into their power, are immediately cut in pieces and robbed of all their nails and other iron, which they work into knives, needles, arrow-heads, &c. They make use of fire for no other purposes but working of iron, and preparing the skins of animals. Their meat is eaten all raw. When they come on board an European ship, and are offered some of the sailors meat, they never will taste of it till they have seen some Europeans eat it. Though nothing pleased other savage nations so much as brandy, yet many Frenchmen have assured me, that they never could prevail on the Esquimaux to take a dram of it. Their mistrust of other nations the cause of it; for they undoubtedly imagine, that they are going to poison them, or do them some hurt; and I am not certain, whether they do not judge right. They have no ear-rings, and do not paint the face like the American Indians. For many centuries past, they have had dogs, whose ears are erected, and never hang down. They make use of them for hunting, and instead of horses in winter, for drawing their goods on the ice. They themselves sometimes ride in sledges drawn by dogs. They have no other domestic animal. There are, indeed, plenty of reindeer in their country; but it is not known, that either the Esquimaux, or any of the Indians in America, have ever tamed them. The French in Canada, who are in a manner the neighbours of the Esquimaux, have taken a deal of pains to carry on some kind of trade with them, and to endeavour to engage them to a more friendly intercourse with other nations. For that purpose, they took some Esquimaux children, taught them to read, and educated them in the best manner possible. The intention of the French was, to send these children to the Esquimaux again, that they might inform them of the kind treatment the French had given them, and thereby incline them to conceive a better opinion of the French. But unhappily all the children died of the small-pox, and the scheme was dropt. Many persons in Canada doubted, whether the scheme would have succeeded, though the children had been kept alive. For they say, there was formerly an Esquimaux taken by the French, and brought to Canada, where he staid a good while, and was treated with great civility. He learnt French pretty well, and seemed to relish the French way of living very well. When he was sent back to his countrymen, he was not able to make the least impression on them, in favour of the French; but was killed by his nearest relations, as half a Frenchman and foreigner. This inhuman proceeding of the Esquimaux against all strangers, is the reason why none of the Indians of North America ever give quarter to the Esquimaux if they meet with them, but kill them on the spot; though they frequently pardon their other enemies, and incorporate the prisoners into their nation.

For the use of those, who are fond of comparing the languages of several nations, I have here inserted a few Esquimaux words, communicated to me by the Jesuit Saint Pie. One, kombuc; two, tigal; three, ké; four, missilagat; water, sillalokto; rain, killaluck; heaven, taktuck, or nabugakshe; the sun, shikonak, or sakaknuk; the moon, takock; an egg, manneguk; the boat, kagack; the oar, pacotick; the knife, shavié; a dog, mekké, or timilok; the bow, petiksick; an arrow, katso; the head, niakock; the ear, tchiu; the eye, killik, or shik; the hair, nutshad; a tooth, ukak; the foot, itikat. Some think that they are nearly the same nation with the Greenlanders, of Skralingers; and pretend that there is a great affinity in the language [102].

Plumb-trees of different sorts, brought over from France, succeed very well here. The present year they did not begin to flower till this month. Some of them looked very well; and I am told the winter does not hurt them.

September the 11th. The marquis de la Galissonniere is one of the three noblemen, who, above all others, have gained high esteem with the French admiralty in the last war. They are the marquisses de la Galissonniere, de la Jonquiere, and de l’Etendure. The first of these was now above fifty years of age, of a low stature, and somewhat hump-backed, but of a very agreeable look. He had been here for some time as governor-general; and was going back to France one day this month. I have already mentioned something concerning this nobleman; but when I think of his many great qualities, I can never give him a sufficient encomium. He has a surprizing knowledge in all branches of science, and especially in natural history; in which he is so well versed, that when he began to speak with me about it, I imagined I saw our great Linnæus under a new form. When he spoke of the use of natural history, of the method of learning, and employing it to raise the state of a country, I was astonished to see him take his reasons from politics, as well as natural philosophy, mathematics, and other sciences. I own, that my conversation with this nobleman was very instructive to me; and I always drew a deal of useful knowledge from it. He told me several ways of employing natural history to the purposes of politics, and to make a country powerful, in order to depress its envious neighbours. Never has natural history had a greater promoter in this country; and it is very doubtful whether it will ever have his equal here. As soon as he got the place of governor-general, he began to take those measures for getting information in natural history, which I have mentioned before. When he saw people, who had for some time been in a settled place of the country, especially in the more remote parts, or had travelled in those parts, he always questioned them about the trees, plants, earths, stones, ores, animals, &c. of the place. He likewise enquired what use the inhabitants made of these things; in what state their husbandry was; what lakes, rivers, and passages there are; and a number of other particulars. Those who seemed to have clearer notions than the rest, were obliged to give him circumstantial descriptions of what they had seen. He himself wrote down all the accounts he received; and by this great application, so uncommon among persons of his rank, he soon acquired a knowledge of the most distant parts of America. The priests, commandants of forts, and of several distant places, are often surprized by his questions, and wonder at his knowledge, when they come to Quebec to pay their visits to him; for he often tells them that near such a mountain, or on such a shore, &c. where they often went a hunting, there are some particular plants, trees, earths, ores, &c. for he had got a knowledge of those things before. From hence it happened, that some of the inhabitants believed he had a preternatural knowledge of things, as he was able to mention all the curiosities of places, sometimes near two hundred Swedish miles from Quebec, though he never was there himself. Never was there a better statesman than he; and nobody can take better measures, and choose more proper means for improving a country, and encreasing its welfare. Canada was hardly acquainted with the treasure it possessed in the person of this nobleman, when it lost him again; the king wanted his services at home, and could not leave him so far off. He was going to France with a collection of natural curiosities; and a quantity of young trees and plants, in boxes full of earth.

The black lime-slate has been repeatedly mentioned during the course of my journey. I will here give a more minute detail of it. The mountain on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the river St. Lawrence, consist of it for some miles together, on both sides of Quebec. About a yard from the surface, this stone is quite compact, and without any cracks; so that one cannot perceive that it is a slate, its particles being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three or four inches, to twenty thick, and upwards. In the mountains on which Quebec is built, the strata do not ly horizontal, but dipping, so as to be nearly perpendicular; the upper ends pointing north-west, and the lower ones south-east. From hence it is, that the corners of these strata always strike out at the surface into the streets, and cut the shoes in pieces. I have likewise seen some strata, inclining to the northward, but nearly perpendicular as the former. Horizontal strata, or nearly such, have occurred to me too. The strata are divided by narrow cracks, which are commonly filled with fibrous white gypsum, which can sometimes be got loose with a knife, if the layer or stratum of slate above it is broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of a thin white leaf. The larger cracks are almost filled up with transparent quartz crystals, of different sizes. One part of the mountain contains vast quantities of these crystals, from which the corner of the mountain which lies to the S. S. E. of the palace, has got the name of Pointe de Diamante, or Diamond Point. The small cracks which divide the stone, go generally at right angles; the distances between them are not always equal. The outside of the stratum, or that which is turned towards the other stratum, is frequently covered with a fine, black, shining membrane, which looks like a kind of a pyrous horn-stone. In it there is sometimes a yellow pyrites, always lying in small grains. I never found petrefactions or impressions, or other kinds of stone in it, besides those I have just mentioned. The whole mountain on which Quebec is situated, consists entirely of lime-slate from top to bottom. When this stone is broken, or scraped with a knife, it gives a strong smell like the stink-stone. That part of the mountain which is exposed to the open air, crumbles into small pieces, had lost their black colour, and got a pale red one in its stead. Almost all the public and private buildings at Quebec consist of this lime-slate; and likewise the walls round the town, and round the monasteries and gardens, it is easily broken, and cut to the size wanted. But it has the property of splitting into thin shivers, parallel to the surface of the stratum from whence they are taken, after lying during one or more years in the air, and exposed to the sun. However, this quality does no damage to the walls in which they are placed; for the stones being laid on purpose into such a position that the cracks always run horizontally, the upper stones press so much upon the lower ones, that they can only get cracks outwardly, and shiver only on the outside, without going further inwards. The shivers always grow thinner, as the houses grow older.

In order to give my readers some idea of the climate of Quebec, and of the different changes of heat and cold, at the several seasons of the year, I will here insert some particulars extracted from the meteorological observations, of the royal physician, Mr. Gaulthier: he gave me a copy of those which he had made from October 1744, to the end of September 1746. The thermometrical observations I will omit, because I do not think them accurate; for as Mr. Gaulthier made use of de la Hire’s thermometer, the degrees of cold cannot be exactly determined, the quicksilver being depressed into the globe at the bottom, as soon as the cold begins to be considerable. The observations are made throughout the year, between seven and eight in the morning, and two and three in the afternoon. He has seldom made any observations in the afternoon. His thermometer was likewise inaccurate, by being placed in a bad situation.

The year 1745.

January. The 29th of this month the river St. Lawrence was covered over with ice, near Quebec. In the observations of other years, it is observed, that the river is sometimes covered with ice in the beginning of January, or the end of December.

February. Nothing remarkable happend during the course of this month.

March. They say this has been the mildest winter they ever felt; even the eldest persons could not remember one so mild. The snow was only two feet deep, and the ice in the river, opposite Quebec, had the same thickness. On the twenty-first there was a thunder-storm, which fell upon a soldier, and hurt him very much. On the 19th and 20th, they began to make incisions into the sugar-maple, and to prepare sugar from its juice.

April. During this month they continued to extract the juice of the sugar-maple, for making sugar. On the 7th the gardeners began to make hot-beds. On the 20th the ice in the river broke loose near Quebec, and went down; which rarely happens so soon; for the river St. Lawrence is sometimes covered with ice opposite Quebec, on the 10th of May. On the 22d, and 23d, there fell a quantity of snow. On the 25th they began to sow near St. Joachim. The same day they saw some swallows. The 29th they sowed corn all over the country. Ever since the 23d the river had been clear at Quebec.

May. The third of this month the cold was so great in the morning, that Celsius’s, or the Swedish thermometer, was four degrees below the freezing point; however, it did not hurt the corn. On the 16th all the summer-corn was sown. On the 5th the Sanguinaria, Narcissus, and violet, began to blow. The 17th the wild cherry-trees, rasberry-bushes, apple-trees, and lime-trees, began to expand their leaves. The strawberries were in flower about that time. The 29th the wild cherry-trees were in blossom. On the 26th part of the French apple-trees, cherry-trees, and plum-trees, opened their flowers.

June. The 5th of this month all the trees had got leaves. The apple-trees were in full flower. Ripe straw-berries were to be had on the 22d. Here it is noted, that the weather was very fine for the growth of vegetables.

July. The corn began to shoot into ears on the 12th, and had ears every where on the 21st. (It is to be observed, that they sow nothing but summer-corn here.) Soon after the corn began to flower. Hay making began the 22d. All this month the weather was excellent.

August. On the 12th there were ripe pears and melons at Montreal. On the 20th the corn was ripe round Montreal, and the harvest was begun there. On the 22d the harvest began at Quebec. On the 30th, and 31st, there was a very small hoar-frost on the ground.

September. The harvest of all kinds of corn ended on the 24th, and 25th. Melons, water-melons, cucumbers, and fine plums, were very plentiful during the course of this month. Apples and pears were likewise ripe, which is not always the case. On the last days of this month they began to plough the land. The following is one of the observations of this month: “The old people in this country say, that the corn was formerly never ripe till the 15th, or 16th, of September, and sometimes on the 12th; but no sooner. They likewise assert, that it never was perfectly ripe. Bur since the woods have been sufficiently cleared, the beams of the sun have had more room to operate, and the corn ripens sooner than before [103].” It is further remarked, that the hot summers are always very fruitful in Canada, and that most of the corn has hardly ever arrived at perfect maturity.

October. During this month the fields were ploughed, and the weather was very fine all the time. There was a little frost for several nights, and on the 28th it snowed. Towards the end of this month the trees began to shed their leaves.

November. They continued to plough till the 10th of this month, when the trees had shed all their leaves. Till the 18th the cattle went out of doors, a few days excepted, when bad weather had kept them at home. On the 16th there was some thunder and lightning. There was not yet any ice in the river St. Lawrence on the 24th.