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I 1 ' 
350 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER C Aft Aft A t 
two thousand dwellings: at the rate of six 
therefore to each house, the number of in-* 
habitants would amount to twelve thousand. 
About two-thirds of the inhabitants are of 
French extraction. The society in Quebec’is 
agreeable, and very extensive for a place of tbe 
size, owing to its being the capital of the 
lower province, and therefore the residence of 
the governor, different civil officers, principal 
lawyers, &c. &c.' The large garrison con¬ 
stantly kept in it makes the place appear very 
gay and lively. 
The lower town of Quebec is mostly in¬ 
habited by the traders who are concerned with 
the shipping, and it is a very disagreeable place. 
The streets are narrow and dirty, and owing to 
the great height of the houses in most of. them, 
the air is much confined ; in the streets next to 
the water also, there is oftentimes an intoler¬ 
able stench from the shore when the tide is out. 
The upper town, on the contrary, is extremely 
agreeable: from its elevated situation the air 
is as pure as possible, and the inhabitants are 
never oppressed with heat in summer; it is 
far, however, from being well laid out, the 
streets being narrow and very irregular. The* 
houses are for the most part built of stone, and 
except a few, erected of late years, small, ugly* 
and inconvenient. 
