[Bourixor] ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE PROVINCES 35 
Until after the Union of 1841, when a new spirit of public enter- 
prise was introduced into internal development, the province of Upper 
Canada was at enormous disadvantage with respect to its trade on ac- 
count of its dependence on Lower Canada. I have already written in 
a previous chapter of the difficulties which the province met in obtain- 
ing its full share of the revenues or customs collected by the Lower 
Canadian officials in the lower ports. The great obstacles to western 
trade for many years were the difficulties in navigating the St. Law- 
rence and connecting continuously with Montreal. The boats most 
generally in use for transportation of goods and passengers on the in- 
land waters of Canada, until there was a regular system of canals and a 
large steam service, were known as the “batteau and the Durham boat.” 
The batteau was a large flat-bottomed skiff, sharp at both ends, about 
forty feet long, and eight or ten feet in the middle, from which the 
boat curved slightly upwards to each end. It drew, even when laden, 
only about two inches of water, and was propelled by oars or by sails in 
a fair wind. Their sharp curved ends enabled them to be dragged up 
the rapids by oxen and windlasses, aided by poles, though sometimes 
they were unladen and carried across short portages. The Durham boat 
was a flat-bottomed barge, with a keel or centre-board, with a rounded 
bow, with a length from ninety to'eighty feet, with a breadth of beam 
from ten to nine feet, with a carrying capacity of ten times that of the 
batteau. In 1835, there were 800 Durham boats and 1500 batteaux 
engaged in the navigation of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river. 
Lachine—a name recalling the dream of La Salle to reach China from 
this point—was the starting of Montreal for the west, and presented a 
very busy and picturesque scene when the batteaux and voyageurs as- 
sembled for their upward voyage. These boatmen were generally 
French Canadians, whose merriment found constant expression in the 
singing of their Canadian ballads, among which then as now was the 
one with the very effective chorus : 
‘ Roule, roulant, ma boule roulant, 
En roulant ma boule, roulant 
En roulant ma boule.” 
Or they would suddenly break into a verse which harmonized well with 
the roar of the rapids or the dip of the oar : 
‘ V'la I’bon vent, v’la l’joli vent 
V’la l’bon vent ma mie m'appelle 
V’la l’bon vent, v'la l'joli vent 
V’la l bon vent, ma mie m'attend. 
