[sulte] origin of the FRENCH CANADIANS 101 



Even as late as 1657 the ''winter residents" of Quebec were ignorant 

 of the advantage of cutting trees during the summer in order to prepare 

 dry fuel for the October-April season. It was Pontgravé who advised 

 them to do so, and no doubt they recognized it as a great forethought 

 They used to pick up whatever the wind would blow down of branches in 

 the forest, and if that material proved insufficient on extremely cold days, 

 then they tried their hands at felling some trees near by and supplying 

 them in blocks to the steward's room. No wonder that the writings of 

 the period in question so often complained of the evil of smoke and the 

 small quantity of heat produced by the burning of such green wood. 

 Stoves being unknown to the liivernants in Canada, a caboose supplied 

 the place of that indispensable adjustment, and the men, unoccupied most 

 of the time, slept around it, starved there, got sick and died on the spot, 

 one after another, as a matter of course. Father Biard, evidently ahead 

 of his generation, once made the remark that an iron box (a stove) sucii 

 as used in Germany was preferable by far to the poisonous system of the 

 caboose. The improvement made by Champlain in his house at Quebec 

 consisted in substituting an ordinary chimney for the open fireplace 

 above alluded to. It is likely that Louis Hébert in 1617, and Guillaume 

 •Couillard about 1620, built similar smoke-escapes in their homes; they 

 also had the good sense to fit door and window sashes so as both to close 

 hermetically and open easily when required. These marvels were not to 

 be surpassed for a long while after that. 



The equipment provided for the men of Cartier, Eoberval, Chauvin, 

 De Monts, and Champlain was not generally suitable in Canada. Slouch 

 felt hats are not equal to fur caps in winter ; boots and shoes of European 

 fabrics could not compete with the moccasins; and as for overcoats, it 

 may be said they were ,not fit for the climate. Gloves, trousers, and 

 underclothes adapted to the exigencies of 30° below zero constituted a 

 puzzle for these people. Snowshoes and mitts were doubtless adopted at 

 an early date from the Indians. 



It was currently believed throughout France that Canada was a 

 cold purgatory for civilized people, and would never be settled by Chris- 

 tians. 



Building houses was not customary in Quebec until 1632, because 

 the men (all without families) were located for the winter in what was 

 called the fort. As it was not intended to increase the colony, no carpen- 

 ter was needed for other purposes than to keep the ships in repair. 



This awkward situation remained the same during twenty-six years. 

 What was the cause of it? Simply this : the men for Canada were 

 recruited from the working classes (if not of the worst), in the suburbs 



