I.—MOUNT ROYAL, MONTREAL 
A MOUNTAIN PARK 
/ T'0 understand and appreciate this design, its con- 
trolling purposes and the success or failure 
with which they were realized, one must have at least 
a general impression of Montreal and its surroundings. 
The city is situated on an island of the same name, 
on the west side of the St. Lawrence River, at its 
junction with the Ottawa. It is built upon a series 
of terraces, the former levels of the river or of a more 
ancient sea. Behind these rises “Mount Royal,” 
a mass of trap rock, thrown up through the sur¬ 
rounding limestone strata, to a height of over 700 
feet above the river. From this mountain the city 
derives its name. The older portions of the munici¬ 
pality lie upon the slope of the hill; the newer occupy 
the more level ground surrounding the mountain. 
Located at the highest point of ocean navigation, 
with the broad waters of the St. Lawrence as fore¬ 
ground, and the richly wooded slopes of the mountain 
as background, the city of Montreal presents a most 
picturesque and pleasing appearance. 1 he views, 
enhanced by the commanding elevation of the moun¬ 
tain and the wide expanse of the valley of the St. 
Lawrence, are of great variety and beauty. A well- 
cultivated and wooded country, watered by the 
Ottawa and St. Lawrence, stretches away on either 
hand, being bounded on the west by the lakes of St. 
Louis and the two mountains, and on the distant 
horizon by the Laurentian Hills, the Adirondacks 
and the Green Mountains of Vermont. On the east 
the city occupies the slope toward the St. Lawrence 
River, which has here a breadth of one to two miles. 
The topographical conditions of the mountain 
itself in 1890, before Mr. Olmsted’s design was carried 
out, can be briefly described. It was called “Moun¬ 
tain” simply by courtesy, for its crown is only 735 
feet above tide-water. Yet, relatively, in comparison 
with the broad, flat river valley with which it rises 
in strong contrast, it is mountainous in its impression. 
The top of the mountain was a broad and very 
moderately broken table-land. Immediately below 
it was a rocky and rugged section that received later 
the title of “Upperfell. ” Lower than the “Upper- 
JUST OUT OF crags’ FOOT 
The roads of Mount Royal seem to fit a course marked out centuries ago by Nature herself. Typical “Fell” land to the right 
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