— 77 — 



The Marquis's staff consisted of Capts. de Vergor, 

 St. Ours, La Martiniere, Marin, Pean and Lieuts, St. 

 Laurent, Le Chevalier, de la Eoche and Le Mercier, 

 whilst Bigot's party comprised Mesdames Pean, Lotbi- 

 niere, Marin, de Bepentigny and du Linon, with Col. 

 Franquet, Capts. St. Vincent, Dumont, Lanaudiere and 

 Kepentigny. The gay cavalcade in single sledges or 

 in tandem left the upper town at 10 a. m. The meet 

 took place most probably, facing the chateau St. Louis, 

 where the great Marquis held his little court. An 

 old-fashioned storm attended with intense cold then 

 prevailed ; the usual salvo of guns at the departure of 

 a Governor could scarcely be heard in the howling blast, 

 and blinding snow drift, as the party drove through St. 

 Louis Gate. Soon, we are told, diverging north to 

 follow the Ste. Foye road, passing close to Ste. Foye 

 church, until it reached the heights of Cape Eouge, 

 where the road skirted the hill : a dangerous spot and 

 liable to end in an upset and violent descent into the 

 valley below, had it not been lined with trees, which 

 kept the vehicles from rolling down from this dizzy 

 height. No bridge existed in those days on the St. 

 Augustan stream. His Excellency crossed on the ice. 

 " In summer a canoe is used to ferry across foot pas- 

 sengers ; horses ford the stream at low tide, or are made 

 to swim across at high tide. " 



On ascending a hill, the road runs on the St. Augus- 

 tin heights to a grist-mill, which adheres to the face of 

 the hill and is set in motion by a mill-race and wooden 

 viaduct built on trestle-work over the high-way. The 

 travellers then descended by a steep and narrow road 

 to the shore of the St. Lawrence?, where the parish 

 church of St. Augustin was erected. From there the 

 party took to the ice on the St. Lawrence, and then 

 ascended Dubois' hill, which was so encumbered with 

 snow that the drivers had to assist one another to get 

 the sledges safely past one by one. After a few miles 

 more of arduous wintry travel, Franquet dwells on the 



