306 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
new country. The British flag, the soldiers on 
duty, the French inhabitants running about in 
their red nightcaps, the children coming to the 
doors to salute you as you pass, a thing un¬ 
known in any-part of the United States; the 
compact and neat exterior appearance of the 
houses, the calashes, the bons dieux, the large 
Roman Catholic churches and chapels, the con¬ 
vents, the priests in their robes, the nuns, the 
friars, all serve to convince you, that you are 
no longer in any part of the United States : the 
language also differs, French being here univer¬ 
sally spoken. 
The calash is a carriage very generally used 
in Lower Canada; there is scarcely a farmer 
indeed in the country who does not possess one : 
it is a sort of one horse chaise, capable of hold¬ 
ing two people besides the driver, who sits on 
a kind of box placed over the foot board ex¬ 
pressly for his accommodation. The body of 
the calash is hung upon broad straps of leather, 
round iron rollers that are placed behind by 
means of which they are shortened or lengthen¬ 
ed. On each side of the carriage is a little 
door about two feet high, whereby you enter 
it, and which is useful when shut, in prevent¬ 
ing any thing from slipping out. The harness 
for the horse is always made in the old French 
taste, extremely heavy; it is studded with brass 
