336 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
banks of the Hudson River, which are more 
cultivated than those of any of the other large 
rivers there, are wild and desolate in compa¬ 
rison, with those of the St. Lawrence. For 
several leagues below Montreal the houses 
stand so closely together, that it appears as 
if it were but one village, which extended 
the whole way. All the houses have a re- 
*/ 
markably neat appearance at a distance ; and 
in each village, though it be ever so small, 
there is a church. The churches are kept in 
the neatest repair, and most of them have 
spires, covered, according to the custom of 
the country, with tin, that, from being put 
on in a particular manner, never becomes 
rusty*. It is pleasing beyond description to 
behold one of these villages opening to the 
view, as you sail round a point of land covered 
with trees, the houses in it overhanging the 
river, and the spires of the churches sparkling 
through the groves with which they are en¬ 
circled, before the rays of the setting sun. 
There is scarcely any part of the river, 
where you pass along, for more than a league, 
without seeing a village and church. 
The second night of our voyage we landed 
* The square plates of tin are nailed oil diagonally, and 
the corners are carefully folded over the heads of the nails, 
so as to prevent any moisture from getting to them. 
