418 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
From a due consideration of every one of 
the before mentioned circumstances, it ap¬ 
pears evident to me, that there is no part of 
America so suitable to an English or Irish set¬ 
tler, as the vicinity of Montreal or Quebec in 
Canada; and within twenty miles of each of 
these places there is ample room for thousands 
of additional inhabitants. 
I must not omit here to give some account 
of a new settlement in the neighbourhood of 
Quebec, which I and my fellow travellers 
visited in company with some neighbouring 
gentlemen, as it may in some degree tend to 
confirm the truth of what I have said respect¬ 
ing the impolicy of withholding indisputable 
titles to the lands lately granted by the crown* 
atid as it may serve at the same time to shew 
how many eligible spots for new settlements, 
are to be found in the neighbourhood of this 
. city. 
We set off from Quebec in calashes, and fol¬ 
lowing, with a little deviation only, the course 
of the River St. Charles, arrived on the margin 
of the lake of the same name, about twelve 
miles distant from Quebec. 
The River St. Charles flows from the lake into 
the bason, near Quebec; at its mouth it is about 
thirty yards wide, but not navigable for boats, 
except fora few miles up, owing to the nume¬ 
rous rocks and falls. In the spring of the 
