382 



command the passage either way, and, together 

 with the difBcdties of the Richelieu rapid, 

 would reader an}' attempt to force it very dis- 

 astrous to an enemy that should undertake the 

 enterprise. 



PoRTNEUF (the barony of), in the county of 

 Hants, has its front to the St. Lawrence, bound- 

 ed on the south-west by the seigniory of Des- 

 chambault, on the north-east by that of Jacques 

 Cartier, and in the rear by Perthuis ; one league 

 cOid a half in breadth by three leagues in depth : 

 was granted April l6th, ] 647, to Sieur de Croi- 

 sille; it now belongs to the convent of the 

 Hotel Dieu, at Quebec, but is let on a long 

 lease to Messrs. Coltman and Co. This is a 

 fine and valuableestate, the land fertile,and that 

 part of it that is uiider tillage in a good state 

 of cultivation: the soil is a light sandy earth 

 mixed with clay, and in many places a good 

 black mould upon a bed of clay. The timber 

 in the rear of the tract is a general mixture of 

 the middling sorts, but along the banks of 

 the River Portneuf some very good pine may 

 be collected. This river, that with several 

 small streams waters the property, is not navi- 

 gable either for boats or canoes; it has its 

 source in a small lake within the seigniory of 

 Faussambault, and passing through Bourg- 

 louis, Neuville, Belair, and Jacques Cartier, it 



