3H 



LIFE IN MONTREAL. 



[Chap. VII. 



Philip wanted to devote himself to his work : but promised 

 her that he would take a few days' holiday, of which he wrote 

 her an account amidst the distractions of the river steamer. 

 One of his naturalist friends, Mr. Morse, came to Montreal, 

 and inspected his Boston work, and then, accompanied by 

 Andrew Reid, they went to Murray Bay, to dredge. On the 

 Sunday morning, after a ramble, he "went to think, in a 

 corner of the church ; " when, just at eleven, he was called 

 out, and requested to take the service ; his unclerical costume 

 was conveniently hidden by the surplice (which he had worn 

 once before, in a New Jerusalem Church) : he preached in 

 front of the altar. In the evening, he was waylaid outside 

 the church, and requested to preach there for the Presby- 

 terians : — " I let surplice and high desk alone, and conducted 

 service from the altar. It got dark during the preaching 

 (from ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,' 

 etc.), which gave me greater liberty of speech, and I closed 

 with prayer, without singing. The Presbyterians rush up 

 immediately after Amen, and made collection at doors, which 

 they wanted me to take. Of course I declined." 



He took A. Reid an excursion on the Saguenay river 

 (" I can't bear loafing by myself"). They went up it by night. 

 In the morning, " We came to a bay, into which the St. John 

 or Chicoutoremi River flows : then, after a narrower portion, 

 we found ourselves hemmed in, in a cul-de-sac, which is 

 Ha ! Ha ! Bay. This is as it were a lovely little lake, say two by 

 three miles, surrounded by rocky hills of various outline, with 

 one outlet, through which we had entered. We soon landed 

 at the pretty village of St. Alphonse, on one side of a river : St. 

 Alexis being on the other. . . . We agreed to scale the 

 nearest hill, which was of white granite rock, in broken masses. 

 To my great joy, I soon espied the kalmia in full flower * 

 the corolla small, but of unusually deep crimson, and the 

 lovely puckered buds like fairy umbrellas half-opened. As we 

 ascended, we found it in large masses, taking the place of 

 thyme or bloody cranesbill in England. Every corner was 

 crowded with the most lovely greens ; three species of the 



