[CRUIKSHANK] ADMINISTRATION OF SIR JAMES CRAIG 63 



His official instructions related mainly to the defence of the pro- 

 vinces he was sent to govern, and indicated the preservation of Quebec 

 and Halifax as the first objects to be kept in view in the event of an in- 

 vasion from, the United States, since these were the only posts that were 

 considered tenable with the limited number of troops placed under his 

 command. 



Accompanied by a considerable staff of officers for the organization 

 of the militia and fortification of military posts, he arrived at Quebec 

 on 21st of October, 1807, but immediately after landing was disabled 

 for several weeks by a severe attack of illness which prevented him from 

 even writing a letter. 



Eeturning to Canada after the lapse of nearly thirty years, the new 

 Governor-General could not fail to be greatly impressed by the improved 

 condition of that province. When he went away the population num- 

 bered not more than 75,000 persons phmged in abject poverty. There 

 were no merchants of an}' standing and the exports consisted entirely 

 of furs and fish. There was no trade in timber. Shipbuilding had been 

 wholly discontinued. The quantity of grain grown in the colony was 

 scarcely sufficient to meet the wants of the sicanty population. Mills 

 were few and inefficient. Hops land barley were not grown at all. The 

 only foundry in the province was about to be closed. Quebec contained 

 hardly six thousand inhabitants, and ]\Iontreal less than two thousand. 

 There was not a single white settler between the Ottawa and Detroit 

 rivers. 



In 1807, the population had increased more than three-fold, and 

 was sometimes estimated to amount to 300,000. The number of Eng- 

 lish-speaking inhabitants had. grown from less than one thousand to 

 more than twenty thousand. The new province of Upper Canada had 

 a white population of between sixty and seventy thousand. The cities 

 of Quebec and Montreal with their suburbs each contained about twelve 

 thousand people, of whom three-fourths were French-Canadians. The 

 area of cultivated land had increased from 1,569,818 acres in 1783 to 

 3,760,000 in 1807. The number of horses and horned cattle had more 

 than doubled, and that of sheep and swine had tripled. A continuous 

 chain, of farm buildings fronting upon the St. Lawi-ence from Kamour- 

 aska upwards gave it the appearance of a village street, interspersed with 

 narrow fields of grain and pasture land. The seigniories of Eivière du 

 Loup, Machiche, Maskinongé, York, and Berthier were particularly 

 noted for their fertility and the heavy crops of wheat they produced. 

 The island of Orleans also was well cultivated, and annually exported 

 much grain. Fruit, however, was not grown to any extent anywhere 

 except upon the island of Montreal, which was called the garden of 



