THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
199 
stage into two. Here one of the sleds laden with harness, vats, &c. 
broke down in consequence of driving rapidly over a bad slew in the 
road just in front of the inn. The wooden pins of the sled gave way, 
as previously described,* and one of the runners became detached. 
The damage however was repaired in about twenty minutes. From 
this place the road continues hilly for a few miles. About ten miles 
from the journey's end, a fine view of the St Lawrence is obtained, 
with a bold chain of mountains on its northern shore. The last eight 
miles into Riviere-du-loup are almost perfectly level, but from the 
length of the day's march, the teams were somewhat done up, so the 
pace was slow, and the party did not arrive till nearly eight o'clock. 
Before entering the town, the railway terminus is passed, about two 
miles from it. Here the eighteen gun and equipment sleds were left 
for the night, along with the greater portion of the baggage. 
The town seems a pretty, rising place; it is inhabited almost exclu¬ 
sively by French settlers. The men were lodged in a large house 
with a number of rooms; the officers were in a hotel. 
Sunday, February 16. 
This morning, a party paraded and transferred the half-battery Transfer- 
complete from the sleighs to the railway cars in three hours. A half-battery 
large open truck and a closed van were the only two cars supplied, to the 
The guns had the wheels put on, and also the store-limber wagon; tram * 
and then, along with the wagons, and limber bodies, spare shafts, &c. 
were all packed on the open car, care being taken to remove all the Packing on 
hay in which the carriages had been packed, to prevent sparks from arrivafat 
the engine catching in it. The ammunition, and harness and equip- Montreal, 
ment boxes, &c. were packed in the closed van. The special train of 
which these carriages formed a part, left at 1 p.m. the same afternoon, 
and arrived at Montreal about 2 p.m. the day following. 
It must be carefully kept in mind that although this journey was Conclusion, 
performed without any accident or trouble of any kind, yet it does 
not follow that it could have been done equally successfully in all 
winters. The government of New Brunswick cannot afford to keep 
their roads in good order, so a heavy fall of snow if accompanied 
with drift renders them impassable for a long time. The inhabitants 
of the province declare that if it had been attempted last year, it 
would have been found impracticable; and also that by a strange 
coincidence, the present winter, 1861-62, and the winter of 1837, 
when troops w T ere sent up before, have been the two mildest winters 
on record. 
* See p. 183. 
