32 The River Sagtienay, 



guenay, about five miles from its confiuence with the St. Law- 

 rence, and is situated on a semi-circular terrace at the top of 

 a beautiful bay with a sandy beach, hemmed in by mountains 

 of solid rock, thus presenting a secure retreat from almost 

 every wind. Tadoussac, apart from its pleasant situation as 

 a watering place, is interesting from the circumstance of its 

 having been at an early period the capital of the French 

 settlements, and for a long time was one of the chief fur- 

 trading posts. Here are the ruins of a Jesuit religious estab- 

 lishment, which are considered the great curiosity of this 

 region. Their appearance is not imposing, as you can 

 discover nothing but the foundations upon which the ancient 

 edifice rested ; but it is confidently asserted that upon this 

 spot once stood the first stone and mortar building ever 

 erected on the Continent of America — the home of Father 

 Marquette, who subsequently explored the waters of the 

 Mississippi. From the ■ very centre of the ruin has grown 

 up a cluster of pine trees, which must have existed at least 

 two hundred years. The fate, and the very names of those 

 who first pitched their tents in this wilderness, and here 

 erected an altar to the God of their fathers, are alike un- 

 known. Charlevoix, in 1720, thus speaks of it: ''Most of 

 our geographers have placed a town here, where there never 

 was but one French house and some huts of savages, who 

 resorted hither annually to trade with the French when the 

 navigation was free ; the missionaries made use of the oppor- 

 tunity, and when the trade was over, the merchants returned 

 to their homes, the savages to their forests, and the Gospel 

 labourers followed the last." 



Although the salmon is met with in all the streams below 

 Quebec, it is most abundant on the north shore of the St. 

 Lawrence, and in those waters which are beyond the juris- 

 diction of civilization. It usually makes its appearance about 

 the 20th May, and continues in season for two months. It 

 is an important article of export from this region, and together 



