90 
der. Through Major Wallace, who resides in a very beautiful 
house at the barracks, we became acquainted with his wife and 
daughter, who pass their time very pleasantly at their solitary 
habitation in music and drawing. During the winter, the people 
who are obliged to stay on the island are sometimes prevent¬ 
ed from going to Montreal for six weeks, in consequence of 
the ice. 
After our return to Montreal we took another ramble through 
the city, and observed some very large stores. As Montreal car¬ 
ries on some fur trade through the Ottawa river, with the Hud¬ 
son Bay and North-west Company, I had supposed I should be 
able to procure some cheap fur; but I found little that was good, 
and this was valued at an enormous price. In the evening we 
went to the Royal Circus, whose pompous advertisement had 
promised a large company of riders and a good play. The riders, 
four grown persons and two boys, performed some tolerably good 
feats; but the play was so badly managed that we soon returned 
to the house. The theatre is in other respects handsomely ar¬ 
ranged: it has two tiers of boxes, and a circle for the horses, 
which, during the play, forms the pit. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
Journey from Montreal to Quebec.—Stay at Quebec.—Return 
to Montreal— from the 3d to the 3th of September , 1825. 
ABOUT 8 o’clock in the evening of the 3d of September, in 
company with Messrs. Grymes and Clare’s families, we embark¬ 
ed on board the steam-boat Lady Sherbrook for Quebec, one 
hundred and eighty miles from Montreal. Montreal wants good 
wharves, a circumstance which we felt sensibly on going on board 
the steam-boat, as we were obliged to walk in the dark through 
the mire, which was particularly disagreeable to the ladies. We 
had taken state-rooms on board the vessel, so that the ladies could 
live alone, and not be obliged to sleep in the common ladies cabin. 
To me it was also pleasant to have a small room to myself. At 
Montreal I met Captain King, of the English artillery, with 
whom I had become acquainted at Boston, and who likewise tra¬ 
velled to Quebec. The other passengers were not numerous. 
The steam-boat was one hundred and fifty feet long, carried 
eight hundred tons, and her engine was of sixty horse-power, much 
too little for such a large and heavy vessel. It started after 9 
