RIVER AND LAKE ST. CHARLES. 419 
yeai% when it is much swollen by floods, rafts 
have been conducted down the whole way from 
the lake, but this has not been accomplished 
without great difficulty, some danger, and a 
considerable loss of time in passing the differ-' 
ent portages. The distance from the lake to 
Quebec being so short, land carriage must al¬ 
ways be preferred to a water conveyance along 
this river* except it be for timber. 
The course of the St. Charles is very irregu¬ 
lar ; in some places it appears almost stagnant, 
whilst in others it shoots with wonderful im¬ 
petuosity over deep beds of rocks. - The views 
upon it are very romantic, particularly in the 
neighbourhood of Lorette, a village of the 
Huron Indians, where the river, after falling 
in a beautiful cascade over a ledge of rocks, 
winds through a deep dell, shaded on each side 
with tall trees. 
The face of the country between Quebec and 
the lake is extremely pleasing, and in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the city, where the settlements are 
numerous, well cultivated; but as you retire 
from it, the settlements become fewer and 
fewer, and the country of course appears wild¬ 
er. From the top of a hill, about half a mile 
from the lake, which commands a fine view of 
that and the adjacent country, not more than 
five or six houses are to be seen, and beyond 
these, there is no settlement besides that on 
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