292 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



regarding him as almost my child. We entered St. John's 

 River the river Sorel just nine days from our leaving 

 Hartford, and passed by the magnificent stone castle on 

 Rouse's Point, at the foot of Lake Champlain, the guns 

 of which were intended to prevent any more Commodore 

 Downeses from ever escaping from Canada into the Lake ; 

 hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended on 

 it, and it is now ascertained that the forty-fifth degree of 

 latitude falls about one half a mile south of it, so that this 

 work now falls to our friends, the British, who will thus 

 affectionately prevent any armament proceeding by water 

 to St. Johns. At the Isle au Noix, ten miles down the Sorel, 

 we passed a strong British fort, a frigate on the stocks, &c., 

 &c. Everything looked foreign and formidable. 



We lodged at St. Johns, and a week ago to-day arrived 

 at Montreal, where we stayed between three and four days. 

 It is a fine, foreign town, much underrated by our country 

 men, and the city and environs make together a grand 

 prospect. Two days ago we arrived here, and shall stay 

 several days longer, determined to see everything in and 

 out of town. We are highly gratified with our tour, and 

 everything in Canada is beyond our expectations. The 

 fortifications here, and the natural situation of the town, are 

 so commanding, that it seems as if it could never be taken. 

 We have got acquainted with a noble-hearted fellow, a 

 captain of grenadiers, in the garrison. He was with Sir 

 John Moore at Corunna, and with Wellington in the Pen 

 insula, and has taken us into the Citadel on Cape Diamond, 

 a favor very rarely granted to anybody. But I must 

 have done. I will, however, tell you a great deal when we 

 meet. 



The " Tour in Canada " was the subject of an in 

 teresting communication 



