62 Montreal. 



tlements of the Eastern Townships to the French localities 

 and French farming. As the traveller nears Montreal the 

 towering hills of Belceil, Yamaska, Rougemont, Mount John- 

 son and Boucherville diversify the view, till, passing through 

 the Victoria Bridge, he finds himself in sight of, and almost 

 at the foot of, that well-known landmark, *ihe mountain of 

 Montreal. 



MONTREAL 



Montreal, the metropolis of British North America, is 

 situated on an island of the same name, about thirty miles 

 long and ten in the extreme breadth, which is formed by a 

 branch of the Ottawa on the north and the St. Lawrence on 

 the south. It is the head of ocean navigation, and the com- 

 mencement of lake and river communication. The city lies 

 at the foot of a mountain, to which Jacques Cartier, in 1535, 

 surveying with delight the magnificent prospect, gave the 

 name of Mont Royal. An Indian village existed here at his 

 first visit, called Hochelaga, which he described as being 

 encompassed by three separate rows of palisades, having 

 only one entrance, and that "guarded by pikes and staves, 

 as a means of defence against hostile tribes." It first began 

 to be settled by Europeans in 1542, and exactly one century 

 after, the spot destined for the city was consecrated with 

 due solemnities, commended to the " Queen of the Angels," 

 and called Ville-Marie, a. name which it retained for a long 

 period. Passing down the stream of time to 1760, the date 

 of British possession, we find Montreal a well peopled town, 

 "of an oblong form, surrounded by a wall, flanked with, 

 eleven redoubts, — a ditch about eight feet deep and of a. 



