STROLLING ABOUT THE CITY. 35 



inquiries for the captain and learned that he was probably at the hotel 

 to which our luggage had been taken. There being nothing to do but 

 to go back again and find the hotel, we started off in no very pleas- 

 ant spirits at the failure of our expedition. Pursuing the way in 

 silence we again reached our stopping place, found the captain, en- 

 gaged our passage, settled all the preliminaries, and were soon 

 washed and sitting down to a spread table with the prospect of a 

 comfortable, hot meal of the best the place afforded, in which we 

 were not deceived. The grossness of describing a meal, unless it 

 is an exceptionally good or an extremely poor one, is so obvious 

 that I will not enter into the details of ours, but, simply using the 

 novelist's phrase say, ''we ate as only hungry persons eat with a sa- 

 vory and hot meal before them." I retired quite early after supper 

 being rather tired with the excitement of the previous day's journey, 

 and determined now that we had reached Quebec, and knowing 

 that we had all the next day before us, to make up for my lost 

 quota of sleep of the previous nights. 



Morning came at last and with it I sprang from my bed, quickly 

 dressed myself, and descended to the hotel office. The night had 

 been a good one for sleeping, the air was cool and the temperature 

 outside such that windows could be safely kept open all night. I 

 had slept soundly, not waking once to the best of my recollection 

 till morning ; and now, refreshed and enthusiastic for a day's pleasure 

 trip about the city, I took my cap and went out for a short stroll 

 before breakfast which was not yet ready. 



As a rule I do not believe in introducing borrowed matter into a 

 work that pretends to be an account of original journey and explo- 

 ration narrative, but as occasionally the already published accounts 

 of well known places visited on such excursions, from the pens of 

 accurate writers, are so much more complete than could be given 

 by any passing stranger, that, considering myself such a stranger, 

 and finding in a little volume of guidance through the city of 

 Quebec a most excellent account of the progress and gi'owth of 

 that city, I will venture to give the same in extract, as it may contain 

 matter new to many and interesting to all ;-^ 



