JOURNEY TO GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE 169 



was informed that it is of annual occurrence. The spray 

 had formed an ice steeple, nearly a hundred feet high, in 

 front of the falls ; and this was the only point about them 

 which could be described as grand or imposing. The 

 steeple rose sheer from the water, and must have been 

 grounded on the rock beneath it, since its weight was 

 many tons. When the thaw sets in this steeple must 

 fall with a terrific splash, but I could not hear of any one 

 who had witnessed its fall. 



Quebec, the capital of the country, is also the first 

 town in it, for there is no collection of houses worthy the 

 name of township below it. For many miles there are 

 scattered villages and farms, and along the roads there 

 are inns where the traveller may get good, if occasionally 

 rough, accommodation. He is sure of a good feed, and 

 a jovial, hospitable welcome ; and that is more than can 

 always be said in some lands a great deal nearer the 

 great centres of civilisation than the outlying portions 

 of Canada. 



Finnock (who was a hard-fisted, sturdy Scot, with a 

 heart worthy of his great body) and I travelled on a 

 " sleigh " ; it being almost a solecism to say " sledge " here. 

 Sleigh travelling is very pleasant on good roads, but 

 positively devilish where the ruts and holes are frequent 

 and deep, as is, or was at this time, usually the case when 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Quebec is passed. The 

 makers of sleighs, and sleigh- harness, appear to know 

 well what test their work is likely to undergo, and I admit 

 they do it well; for the strain both successfully resist 

 is simply enormous. Down drops the sleigh into a hole 

 eighteen inches or two feet deep, but on dash the horses 

 and bring it out again with a jerk that jolts you, it seems, 

 a yard up from your seat, and causes a most uncomfortable 

 sensation to shoot up your body, something between a 

 pang and a shock. If you complain, those used to the 

 " sport " laugh ; if the confounded thing upsets and is 

 dragged over you, they laugh ; if you are shot out into 



