i8S MY LIFE 



thirty-five mile? was most interesting among the countless 



islands, varying from mere granite rocks to others several 

 miles long. The hotel has a broad verandah out of the 

 dining-room on the first floor, affording a magnificent view 

 up the river of varied and beautiful combinations of rock, 

 wood, and water hardly to be surpassed. After dinner, at 

 3 P. M., I walked a few miles into the country, consisting of 

 cultivated fields alternating with rock-masses or ridges. 

 These were all rounded, furrowed, and smoothed by ice, and 

 on some of them, where hard quartzose sandstone occurred, 

 the striae, furrows, and deep scooping were perfectly de- 

 veloped, all following the general direction of the St. Law- 

 rence valley, whatever their shape or aspect. This is the most 

 conclusive indication of ice-action as opposed to other causes. 

 In the evening the scene from the hotel was charming. In 

 addition to the natural beauties of the surface there were 

 many pretty or elegant villas on the larger islands, with fine 

 lawns and masses of bright flowers, while many pretty yachts 

 were sailing about or lying at anchor. American wealth had 

 here displayed itself to some advantage in a tract of country 

 of such a nature as hardly to admit of any serious deterior- 

 ation of its natural beauty. 



The next morning at seven I went on by steamer to 

 Montreal, passing many picturesque islands, and with oc- 

 casional distant views of the Adirondacks. We also passed 

 down the whole series of rapids, not very remarkable as com- 

 pared with those of the Rio Negro, except the two named 

 the " Coteau " and the "Lachine." These rush and boil, and 

 form waves as in a chopping sea, with occasional eddies and 

 whirls where the vessel had to pass between reefs and rock- 

 ledges, requiring good steering; but there is nowhere any 

 perceptible fall of the water, and on the whole the scenery of 

 the St. Lawrence was somewhat montonous. We passed 

 under a fine girder bridge and the great Victoria tubular 

 bridge before reaching Montreal, the appearance of which is 

 much spoilt by factory chimneys and the usual but quite 

 unnecessary pall of smoke. For all this unsightliness in 

 almost every city in the world, land monopoly and competi- 



