388 



LOWER CANADA. 



4. Canals. Lachine Canal, above Montreal, avoids a bend and rapids in the St. Law- 

 rence ; length 9 miles. Granville Canal passes round rapids in the Ottawa ; 12 miles in 

 length. There are several other similar side cuts on the St. Lawrence above Montreal. 



5. Toivns. Quebec, the capital of Lower Canada, lies on the northern bank of the St 

 Lawrence, which is here but half a mile wide, although it is several miles in width above and 

 below the city. Below is the harbor, which lies between Quebec and the Isle of Ojleans, 

 and is 5 miles long, by 4 wide. The city is divided into the Upper and Lower City. The 

 latter, the seat of business, has narrow, steep, and dirty streets, crowded with old and mean 

 buildings. From this you ascend by a winding street, or by a long flight of stairs to the Upper 

 City, which is built on a lofty promontory, about 300 feet above the river. The streets of the 

 Upper City are narrow, but clean and well paved, and the public and private buildings are neat. 

 Quebec is styled the Gibraltar of America, its military works being deemed impregnable. It 

 is surrounded with walls, and the citadel on Cape Diainond, which rises abruptly from the 

 ■water to the height of 340 feet, is a work of great strength. In front of the citadel are the 

 Plains of Abraham. There is a garrison stationed here. Quebec contains about 30,000 in- 

 habitants, two thirds of whom are Canadian French, and has an active and extensive commerce. 

 The most remarkable buildings are the chateau or castle of St. Louis, which is the residence 

 of the Governor ; the Provincial Parliament house ; a Catholic Cathedral, a large and splen- 

 did edifice ; a Protestant Cathedral ; the barracks, formerly the Jesuit's College ; the arsenal 

 or armory ; 3 nunneries, &c. There are also here a French College, and other institutions 

 of education. In the vicinity is the little hamlet of Loretto, inhabited by the miserable rem- 

 nant of the once powerful Iroquois, and on the opposite shore stands Point Levi, near the 

 falls of the Chaudiere. The view from Cape Diamond is celebrated for its grandeur and 

 beauty. 



JMontreal, ISO miles above Quebec, stands on an island of the same name, in the St. Law- 

 rence, near a hill about 800 feet high, from which it derives its name. Its population, includ- 

 ing the suburbs, is estimated to exceed 40,000 souls, and it is a place of great trade. The 

 streets in general are narrow, and the houses mean ; but the upper or modern part of the city 

 has some handsome buildings. The most remarkable structure is the Catholic Cathedral, 

 built in 1829, which is the most splendid temple in British America. It is 255 feet in length, 

 234 in breadth, and 112 high, with 6 towers, and 7 altars, and can accommodate 10,000 per- 

 sons. Three nunneries, the French College, the University of Macgill College, the Govern- 

 ment House, the Barracks, the General Hospital, and the Catholic Seminary, also deserve 

 mention. 



Three Rivers below Montreal, and Lachine above it, on the St. Lawrence, and Hull oppo- 

 site Bytown on the Ottawa, are flourishing commercial towns. St. Jlnn''s is a pretty village at 

 the mouth of the Ottawa. Kamouraski, on the St. Lawrence, is a favorite bathing place. 



6. Government and Laws. The executive authority is vested in a Governor, who is also 

 Captain-General of British America, and an executive council. The provincial parliament is 

 composed of two branches, styled the Legislative Council, the members of which are appointed 

 for life, and the House of Assembly, elected by the freeholders. The executive and judicial 

 officers, and the members of the councils are appointed by the crown of England. The laws 

 are principally the old French Customs, somewhat modified by English legislation. The ten- 

 ure of land in the seigniories is feudal. The seigniories consist of tracts of land, granted by 

 the French Kings, with certain feudal privileges to the possessors, styled seigneurs, or lords, 

 who, in turn, granted smaller parcels to tenants, or habitans, who pay certain services and rents 

 to their lord. 



7. Inhabitants. The inhabitants are mostly of French descent, and the French is the prev- 

 alent language. The Canadian French peasantry, or habitans, are frugal, honest, pohte, and 

 hospitable, but deficient in enterprise. They are attached to old customs, reverence their 

 priests, thank the saints and the blessed Virgin with great piety, and are gay and contented. 

 They are, however, generally ignorant, and their mode of agriculture is clumsy. The voy- 

 ageurs or boatmen are hardy and skilful in the often dangerous navigation of the rapid and 

 broken rivers, and endure great privations with unyielding cheerfulness, enlivening their long 

 and perilous voyages with rude songs. The Coureurs du Bois, are a race of hunters and 

 trappers, who have in many respects adopted the manners and habits of the Indians, passing 

 their whole lives in the unsettled fur regions. The Bois Brulcs are half-breeds descended 

 from the Coureurs du Bois and Indian women ; thev are mere savages in their dispositions and 



