89 



recent date of the patents ; some indeed, though 

 completely survej^ed and allotted, have scarce 

 any settlers upon them. As the seigniories offer 

 the best criterion whereby to judge of the ge- 

 neral improved condition and comfort of the 

 peasantry, as also to what degree of prosperity 

 the province has reached, it ma}' not be amiss 

 to begin our description with them, and notice 

 the townships and other more recent settlements 

 afterwards. 



New Longeuil (the seigniory of) — the 

 most westerly of all the Lower Province, on the 

 north side of the river St. Lawrence, is in the 

 county of York, and runs along the shore of 

 lake St. Francis, tw^o leagues in front, as far as 

 the boundary-line of Upper Canada, which 

 forms its south-west limit, by three leagues in 

 depth ; on the north, a location of 1000 acres 

 to the late Lieutenant-Colonel De Longeuil 

 separates it from the township of Newton ; 

 and on the north-east it is bounded by the 

 seigniory of Soulange. On the 21st April, 1734, 

 it was granted to Sieur Joseph Lemoine, Cheva- 

 lier de Longeuil, and is now the property of 

 Saveuse de Beaujeu, Esq. This tract of land lies 

 rather low; on the north-east side part of a great 

 swamp spreads over a large space, which is 

 covered with cedar, spruce fir, and hemlock 

 trees, the sure indicatives of such a soil ; but 



