GRANARY OF THE LOWER DISTRICT. 335 



each of them. Old cleared well-situated farms sell at 

 four hundred to six hundred pounds currency in this 

 county of Bellechasse, though of late years they have, 

 both in this and in the adjoining county of Flslet, 

 considerably lessened in value. 



At St Thomas— where the South Eiver empties itself 

 into the larger river St Francis, before their united 

 waters descend to the St Lawrence — a large breadth of 

 flat and apparently rich country intervenes between the 

 mountains and the great river. At St Thomas, there 

 are falls on the St Francis, upon which a Scotch settler 

 has erected mills, which grind up the produce of this rich 

 flat, formerly called the " granary of the lower district." 

 Its produce is less now than it used to be ; but the land 

 is still very capable of yielding remunerative crops. 



Skirting the St Lawrence still, 1 drove on through 

 the county of ITslet to St Jean du Port Joll, through 

 which I passed as the evening was coming on. It is a 

 cheerful clean little village, with many nice-looking two- 

 story houses, of considerable size and some architectural 

 pretensions; and several new houses were building, which 

 must be regarded as tokens of prosperity. At nine 

 P.M. I stopped for the night at St Eoque des Annais, 

 having come altogether only sixty-three miles. The 

 last twenty miles I had travelled in the rain, and, for the 

 most part, in the dark ; it was, therefore, a greater 

 disappointment to find I had got into bad quarters for 

 the night. I would recommend those who may travel 

 this road after me to endeavour so to arrange their 

 route as to fix their night-quarters at some other spot 

 than at St Roque des Annais. 



As long as daylight continued, I was still travelling 

 in the county of ITslet ; and although, as I have already 

 said, the value of land, both in this county and in that of 

 Bellechasse, has diminished of late years in consequence 

 of the failure of the crops, yet I passed, during the day, 



