— 350 — 



they are not dressed to each other's fancy/' He adds,, 

 " The ladies at Quebec are not very industrious. A 

 girl of eighteen is reckoned very poorly off, if she 

 cannot enumerate at least twenty lovers. These young 

 ladies, especially those of a higher rank, get up at 

 seven and dress till nine, drinking their coffee at the 

 same time. When they are dressed, they place them- 

 selves near a window that opens into the street, 

 take up some needle- work, and sew a stitch now and 

 then; but turn their eyes into the street most of the 

 time. When a young-fellow comes in, whether they are 

 acquainted with him or not, they immediately set aside 

 their work, sit down by him, and begin to chat, laugh, 

 joke, and invent double-entendres ; and this is reckoned 

 very witty. 



In this manner they frequently pass the whole day, 

 leaving their mothers to do all the business in the 

 house. In Montreal, the girls are not quite so volatile, 

 much more industrious. They are always at their 

 needle-word, or doing some necessary business in the 

 house. They are likewise cheerful and content: and 

 nobody can say they want either wit or charms " (1). 



Here, we must end our peregrinations with the 

 learned Swede, and bid adieu to our genial Cicerone, 

 Professor Kalm, with all his quaint though shrewd, 

 estimates of Canadian affairs. 



1759 



Prepare, now for other, dark, far less pleasant 

 scenes. The bright sky of old Stadacona will rapidly 

 lower; leaden clouds, pregnant with storms aro hover- 

 ing over head. The simplicity of early days in getting 

 obsolete. Vice, gilded vice flaunts in the palace. Gaunt 

 famine is preying on the vitals of the people. 'Tis so, at 



(1) Kalm's Travels, Vol. II, p. 400-2. 



