Note 98 — Chapter III
Reading edition
"Parceque les relations et les voyageurs parloient beaucoup de Tadoussac, les Géographes ont supposé que e'était une ville, mais il n'y a jamais eu qu'une maison Française, et quelques cabannes de sauvages, qui y venoient au tems de la traité, et qui emportoient ensuite leurs cabannes; comme on fait les loges d'une foire. Il est vrai que ce port a été lontemps l'abord de toutes les nations sauvages du nord et de l'est; que les François s'y rendoient des que la navigation étoit libre; soil de France, soil du Canada; que les missionnaires profitoient de l'occasion, et y venoient négocier pour le ciel.... Au reste Tadoussac est un bon port, et on m'a assuré que vingt cinq vaisseaux de guerre y pouvoient être à l'abri de tous les vents, que l'ancrage y est sur, et que l'entrée en est facile."—Charlevoix, tom. v., p. 96, 1721.
"Tadoussac, one hundred and forty miles below Quebec, is a post belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, and is the residence of one of its partners and an agent. They alone are allowed to trade with the Indians in the interior. At Tadoussac is a Roman Catholic chapel, a store and warehouse, and some eight or ten dwellings. Here is erected a flag-staff, surrounded by several pieces of cannon, on an eminence elevated about fifty feet, and overlooking the inner warehouse, where is a sufficient depth of water to float the largest vessels. This place was early settled by the French, who are said to have here erected the first dwelling built of stone and mortar in Canada, and the remains of it are still to be seen. The view is exceedingly picturesque from this point. The southern shore of the St. Lawrence may be traced, even with the naked eye, for many a league; the undulating line of snow-white cottages stretching far away to the east and west; while the scene is rendered gay and animated by the frequent passage of the merchant vessel plowing its way toward the port of Quebec, or hurrying upon the descending tide to the Gulf; while, from the summit of the hill upon which Tadoussac stands, the sublime and impressive scenery of the Saguenay rises to view."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 267 (New York, 1844).