96 
The journey, of course, was more tedious in ascending than in 
descending the river. Fortunately the tide was in our favour 
during the night, until we passed the rapids of Richelieu. In the 
morning we stopt at Trois Rivieres to take in wood; we then went 
slowly on. I employed this leisure in writing, but was often in¬ 
terrupted. In this boat they have four meals daily, and at every 
repast they drove me from my writing place. In the morning at 
seven o’clock, they ring the bell for the passengers to rise and dress; 
at eight o’clock breakfast is served, which consists of tea, coffee, 
sausages, ham, beefsteak, and eggs; at twelve, they take luncheon; 
at four, dine; at eight, take tea; and an hour before every meal 
they set the table. The weather was cloudy nearly the whole 
day; it began to rain towards evening, and continued raining 
through the night. 
At Sorel, or William Henry, we came to, in order to land some 
passengers, and take in wood. This place is situated on the right 
bank of both rivers, at the confluence of the Sorel or Richelieu, 
(the only outlet of Lake Champlain,) with the St. Lawrence. The 
French built a fort here, which stands yet, if such bad pali jades, 
barracks, and arsenals, deserve that name. The town itself was 
built in the year 1785, by the so called American tories and dis¬ 
charged soldiers. It contains two churches, about one hundred 
houses, and six hundred inhabitants, whose houses are mostly of 
wood, and stand separately in the streets, which are arranged in 
squares, and occupy a great space. It is built on a sandy soil, and 
has a poor aspect. Generally speaking, the towns in Canada bear 
a very poor comparison with those of the United States, and will 
never arrive at the same point, because the settlers in Canada are 
mostly poor Scotchmen and Irishmen, who come out at the ex¬ 
pense of the government; they receive land, and are oppressed 
by the feudal system, which opposes all prosperity; emigrants, 
however, who possess some property, and have an ambitious 
spirit, settle themselves in the United States, where nobody is 
oppressed; on the contrary, where all the laws are in their 
favour. 
At Fort Sorel is stationed a garrison, a detachment of the 
seventieth regiment, commanded by a sergeant; an artillery de¬ 
tachment which was moving to Montreal, tied its sloop to our 
steam-boat, and came on board; the artillerymen mostly intoxi¬ 
cated. Towards evening, we learned that the sloop contained 
three boxes of gunpowder, which caused us a great deal of un¬ 
easiness. The danger was so much the greater, as the sparks 
were continually flying from the pipe of the steam-boat, which the 
wind drove towards the sloop. I was one of the first who re¬ 
ceived the information, and immediately gave the alarm. All the 
passengers agreed in persuading the captain during this rainy and 
