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superior dwelling-houses, built of stone, as se- 

 veral inhabitants of the first rank have fixed 

 their residences there. Between the old walls 

 and the suburbs there is a space upwards of 

 100 yards in breadth, that has hitherto been re- 

 served by government for the purpose of erect- 

 ing fortifications and for other military uses ; 

 but as the number pf inhabitants and dwellings 

 has experienced so great an increase, and the 

 necessity of these defences almost superseded, 

 this ground has been diverted from its original 

 appropriation in favour of some improvements 

 and embellishments that are in contemplation. 

 Montreal, as it is at present, containing a po- 

 pulation of 15,000, rivals the capital of Canada 

 in many respects, and as a situation for a com- 

 mercial town certainly surpasses it : seated near 

 the confluence of several large rivers with the 

 St. Laurence, it receives by their means the 

 productions of , the best settled and also the 

 most distant parts of the district, as well as 

 from the United States, besides being the depot 

 of the principal trading company of North 

 America, whose concerns are of great extent 

 and importance. Possessing these combined 

 attractions, it is by no means unreasonable to 

 infer that in the lapse of a few years it will 

 become the most flourishing and prosperous 



