854 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA t 
tremely useful in drawing burthens, and there 
is scarcely a. family.in Quebec or Montreal, 
that does not keep one or more of them for 
that purpose. They are somewhat similar to 
the Newfoundland breed, but broader across 
the loins, and have shorter and thicker legs; 
in general they are handsome, and wonderfully 
docile and sagacious; their strength is prodi¬ 
gious ; I have seen a single dog, in more than 
one instance, draw a man for a considerable 
distance that could not weigh less than ten 
stone. People, during the winter season, fre¬ 
quently perform long journeys on the snow 
with half a dozen or more of these animals 
yoked in acariole or sledge. 
I must not conclude this letter without 
making mention of the scenery that is exhibited 
to the view, from various parts of the upper 
town of Quebec, which, for its grandeur, its 
i 
beauty, and its diversity, surpasses all that I have 
Jhitherto seen in America, or indeed in any other 
part of the globe. In the variegated expanse 
that is laid open before you, stupendous rocks, 
immense rivers, trackless forests and cultivated 
plains, mountains, lakes, towns, and villages, 
m turn strike the attention, and the senses are 
''..almost bewildered in contemplating the vast¬ 
ness of the scene. Nature is here seen on the 
^grandest scale and it is scarcely possible for the 
•'imagination to paint to itself any thing more. 
