no ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



And so far he has been successful. For Boucliette, who bad 

 studded under him and became his successor in office, refers to the 

 circumstance as follows: — 



" The four meridian stones fixed in 1790 ^ by the late Major 

 " Holland, then surveyor-general of Canada, are placed at convenient 

 " distances from eajoh O'ther across the plains, they represent a line 

 "astronomically north" (variation since from 12° 35' W. to 17°, May, 

 " 1903),'^ and were established for the purpose of adjusting the instru- 

 " ments used in public surveys of lands, one of them that stood in the 

 " angle of a field redoubt where Gremeral Wolfe is said to have breathed 

 " his last, has been greatly impaired by the pious reverence of curious 

 " strangers, who, wishing to bear away a relic of anything from the 

 "spot consecrated by the hero's death, have broken ofi: pieces of the 

 " stone placed there thirty (25) years after the event." Cf. Bouchette 

 Topography of Canada, 1815, pp. 466-67. 



The field book of Holland, if found, will ajscertain his intention 

 as to the first stone of his meridian at the time of that important 

 operation. 



The field books and journals were returned by Wm. Ohewett, 

 Pennoyer, Rankin and others, and oug'ht to be found in the Imperial 

 Departments, London. 



For Holland,^ as Engineer-in-Chief at Quebec, claimed a number 

 of plans that had remained in England in charge of Major Desbarres, 

 with whom he had left them in 1776, — on being ordered suddenly from. 

 London to Portsmiouth, from which place he wrote for them, but with- 

 out effect. Since which, aft different periods, he renewed his application 

 but with no better result; and on the 10th of November, 1790, he sends 

 a catalogue to enable His Majesty's minister to direct the transimission 

 of such plans, etc., including ^ this meridian line. 



'■ The meridian of Holland must have been traced on or before 17S5, 

 since Jereimiah MoCoirthy, land isurveyor, says: "J'ai prit le rhumib-de-vent 

 selon 'la véritable meridian (siic) ide Morusr. S. Hiolland, Ecuier, arpenteur 

 général, tiré proche de Québec." 



Frocès- Verbal de bornage, liivière-Vuelle, 18 juillet 1786. This date of 1790 

 seems to imply that the four stones were either relpLaced by others or made 

 more conspicuous than formerly. In a:ll cases the first duty of HodJand in 

 his official capaciity (1764) would be to establish, to his satisfaction, a known 

 meridian to work upon. Bouchette may perhaps fix that date, 1790, as the 

 «time the meridian was traced on the map at its completion. 



" Writing to t!he Governjor, Lord Dorchester, Quebec, Novemiber 1st, 1790, 

 he represents that several of the principial and original plians and surveys 

 of the Province iwere wanting. They w^ere left by him in the care of Major 

 Deslbarres in May, 1776. Within a late period many of these documents 

 were returned and have remained dormant lin boxes at Ottawia. 



' " Meridian iJine at Quelbec (2 cop.), 4 .chains to 1 inch." Archives of 

 Canada, Q., Vol. 49, p. 167, 119. 



