401 



of loam, or else a layer of black earth, of no 

 great depth, upon a stratum of sand : on the 

 settled places the farms exhibit an appearance 

 of good tillage, and are by no means defective 

 in fertiHty. There is a tolerable variety of 

 timber; the maple, beech, and birch, are parti- 

 cularly good : inferior wood is in great abun- 

 dance. Several roads lead to the adjoining 

 seigniories on each side, and one from St, Au- 

 gustin up to the Jacques Cartier, but there is 

 scarcely a stream to be met with until reaching 

 that river ; from thence northward, it is a 

 mountainous country, continually rising until 

 it approaches the great north-westerly ridge ; 

 it is very well clothed with timber, but gene- 

 rally incapable of cultivation. In the ravines 

 there are some small lakes ; several of the little 

 branches of the Portneuf have their sources on 

 the skirts of the mountains. 



Gaudarville or Guardarvilj^e (the 

 seigniory of), in the county of Hants, has its 

 front on the St. Lawrence, is bounded on the 

 north-east by St. Gabriel, on the south-west by 

 St. Augustin and Faussembault, and in the rear 

 by Faussembault also ; it is forty-five arpens 

 broad by four leagues in depth ; was granted 

 February 8th, 1652, to Louis de Lauson, Sieur 

 de la Citi6re. This grant consists of nearly the 

 same species of soil as the preceding ones 



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