J42 



colonists in prosecuting the trade in furs made 

 them more dreaded by their savage neighbours, 

 whom they succeeded in driving to a greater 

 distance, and repressing their incursions by 

 erecting forts and establishing military posts, 

 the necessary repairs of the wall were gradually 

 neglected, and it fell into decay. The last re- 

 mains of this ancient fortification have been 

 recently removed by an act of the provincial 

 legislature, to make way for the introduction 

 of some improvements, planned with judicious^ 

 regard to the convenience, comfort, and embel- 

 lishment of the place. At different periods the 

 city has suffered extensive damage from fire; 

 but from the gradual widening of the streets, as 

 new buildings take place, the better construc- 

 tion of the houses, and other means of precau- 

 tion now resorted to, this calamity, when it does 

 occur, seldom causes much devastation. In its 

 present state Montreal certainly merits the ap- 

 pellation of a handsome city. It is divided into 

 the upper and lower town, although the eleva- 

 tion of one above the other is scarcely per- 

 ceptible; these are again subdivided into wards. 

 The streets are airy, and the new ones, particu- 

 larly, of a commodious width; some of them 

 running the whole length of the town, parallel 

 to the river, intersected by others at right angles. 

 The houses are for the most part built of a 



