3 08 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA* 
approaching the town of Montreal, we beheld 
ships of upwards of four hundred tons burthen 
lying close to the shore. The difficulties which 
vessels have to encounter in getting to Mont¬ 
real are immense; I have myself seen them 
with all their sails set, and with a smart and 
i 
favourable breeze, stationary for an hour to¬ 
gether in the stream, unable to stem it, between 
the island of St. Helene and the main land, just 
below the town : to stem the current at this 
place, it is almost necessary that the vessel 
should be aided by a storm. The ascent is 
equally difficult in several other parts of the 
river. Owing to this it is, that the passage 
from Quebec to Montreal is generally more 
tedious than that across the Atlantic; those 
ships, therefore, which trade between Europe 
and Montreal never attempt to make more 
than one voyage during the year. Notwith¬ 
standing the rapidity of the stream, the chan¬ 
nel of the river is very deep, and in particular 
just opposite to the town. The largest mer¬ 
chant vessels can there lie so close to the banks, 
which are in their natural state, that you may 
nearly touch them with your hand as you stand 0 
on the shore. 
