JOURNEY TO GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE 167 



heart of deep feeling. After the canoe had put off 

 for the return journey, he stood up and shouted, " Some 

 day, come back ; " and that was the last I ever saw or 

 heard of these friends. 



I did not stop at Ottawa longer than a day or two, 

 but went on to Montreal. There is not a man living less 

 liable to be impressed by the works of his fellow-men 

 than the writer. I have absolutely no eye for architecture, 

 and the meanest shrub is to me a more beautiful object 

 than the finest building ever erected ; but I certainly was 

 struck by some of the fine works at Montreal: the 

 Victoria Bridge of the Canadian Grand Trunk Railway, 

 for instance, which is 3428 yards long, the central span 

 alone being 117 yards. It crosses the southern arm of 

 the St. Lawrence, connecting Canada with the United 

 States, and is justly considered one of the greatest en- 

 gineering feats the world has seen. The Prince of Wales 

 (our present King) was present at its inauguration five 

 years ago (forty-two ^^ears now, in 1902), and the people 

 of the city are yet full of praise of His Royal Highness, 

 and never fail to give strangers a full account of his 

 visit, down to a minute account of the clothes he wore. 

 In this fondness for minute description of exalted per- 

 sonages the Canadians resemble their cousins the Yankees. 



Among a multitude of points of interest in the city 

 is the Roman Catholic cathedral. French Canadians say 

 that this is the largest church in the whole of America, 

 and that it will seat more than 10,000 persons. Possibly; 

 it certainly is a very fine building. The whole appearance 

 of the city has an air of substantiality that has not its 

 equal in any other American town — not even in New 

 York ; and Montreal should certainly be the capital of 

 the British dominions. 



Considerable difficulty arose as to the manner in 

 which I should perform my proposed exploration of the 

 gulf. I wished to make a canoe journey similar to that 

 performed on the great lakes, but there were no Indians 



