little pieces of the lime-flate. All the livu- 

 ' lets cut their beds deep into the ground ; 

 fo that their fhores are commonly of lime- 

 flate. A dark-grey lime-flone is fometimes 

 found among the ftrata, which, when 

 broke, fmells like flink-ftone. 



They were now building feveral (liip? 

 below ^ebec, for the king's account. How- 

 ever, before my departure, an order arrived 

 from France) prohibiting the further build- 

 ing of (hips of war, except thofe which 

 were already on the ftocks ; becaufe they 

 had found, that the (hips built ol American 

 oak do not lad fo long as thofe oi European 

 oak. Near ^ebec is found very little oak, 

 and what grows there is not fit for ufe, be- 

 ing very fmall j therefore they are obliged 

 to fetch their oak timber from thofe parts 

 of Canada which border upon New-Kng- 

 land. But all the North- American oaks 

 have the quality of lading longer, and with- 

 flanding putrefadion better, the further 

 north they grow, and vice 'verfd. The 

 timber from the confines of New-England 

 is brought in floats or rafts on the rivers 

 near thofe parts, and near the lake St. 

 Pierre, which fall into the great river St. 

 Lawrence. Some oak is likewife brought 

 from the country between Montreal and 

 Fort St. Frederic y or Fort Champlaih-, but 



4 it 



