[souriNor] ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE PROVINCES 39 
fact these settlements on the river formed one continuous village, with 
tinned spires rising every few miles amid poplars, maples and elms. 
The homes of the seigneurs and of a few professional men or well-to-do 
farmers, were generally of stone, a story and a half in height and vary- 
ing in size according to the habits and means of the owner. What 
would be called mansions would only be seen near the cities, at 
Longueuil or Beauport. Most of the cottages of the habitants were 
built of logs, neatly squared, with roof of shingle and of thatch in some 
cases. All of them were whitewashed from chimney to foundation, 
though here and there some roofs were covered with red ochre. Only 
in a very few houses—those of the seigneurs—were pictures or books to 
be seen. In some of the homes of the habitants rude lithographs of 
the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and roughly carved crucifixes hung 
on the coarsely plastered or wainscotted walls. A huge box-stove gen- 
erally stood in the centre of a large living room, off which were one or 
two small sleeping apartments, or as often as not it was set between two 
rooms, separated only by a thin wooden partition. A conical oven of 
hardened mud invariably stood outside for use when the snow and ice 
were gone or was protected by a little shed for winter service. Little 
plots of vegetables, tobacco, and common flowers were cultivated here 
and there, chiefly by the women. The farms were long and narrow and 
not always remarkable for clean cultivation. The habitant was not en- 
ergetic or enterprising, but he led a happy, contented life. He dearly 
loved the forest and the river, and the young men already found con- 
genial employment in the timber camps of the St. Maurice and the 
Ottawa, just as their forefathers sought in the fur-trade which was now 
chiefly followed in the Northwest by the Métis or Half-breeds, the off- 
spring of the Indian woman and the early voyageurs and trappers of 
that far region. Crime was rare in the rural districts and intemperance 
was not prevalent as in the west. The people were strongly attached 
to their church; they dearly loved meeting their neighbours after mass 
on Sundays and chatting on affairs of the villages or the country at 
large; they smoked their vile native tobacco with gusto; they had 
frequent social gatherings in which the violin and the danse ronde— 
alone tolerated by the curé—played important parts. They were polite 
and courteous in their intercourse with each other, and with strangers. 
“The manners of the gentry,” wrote our American professor, “ are of 
course, polished, but the common people, also, have a winning gentle- 
ness and suavity, and a zealous forwardness to serve you, which de- 
lighted us very much...... so different from the blunt coldness of our 
people.” He had unqualified praise for the women, “so bland in man- 
