PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 3)

Bows and arrows, javelins and harpoons, are their arms. With the last they kill whales, and other large marine animals. The points of their arrows and harpoons are sometimes made of iron, sometimes of bone, and sometimes of the teeth of the walruss. Their quivers are made of seals skins. The needles with which they sow their cloaths are likewise made of iron or of bone. All their iron they get by some means or other from the Europeans.

They sometimes go on board the European ships in order to exchange some of their goods for knives and other iron. But it is not adviseable for Europeans to go on shore, unless they be numerous; for the Esquimaux are false and treacherous, and cannot suffer strangers amongst them. If they find themselves too weak, they run away at the approach of strangers; but if they think they are an over-match for them, they kill all that come in their way, without leaving a single one alive. The Europeans, therefore, do not venture to let a greater number of Esquimaux come on board their ships than they can easily master. If they are ship-wrecked on the Esquimaux coasts, they may as well be drowned in the sea as come safe to the shore: this many Europeans have experienced. The European boats and ships which the Esquimaux get into their power, are immediately cut in pieces and robbed of all their nails and other iron, which they work into knives, needles, arrow-heads, &c. They make use of fire for no other purposes but working of iron, and preparing the skins of animals. Their meat is eaten all raw. When they come on board an European ship, and are offered some of the sailors meat, they never will taste of it till they have seen some Europeans eat it. Though nothing pleased other savage nations so much as brandy, yet many Frenchmen have assured me, that they never could prevail on the Esquimaux to take a dram of it. Their mistrust of other nations the cause of it; for they undoubtedly imagine, that they are going to poison them, or do them some hurt; and I am not certain, whether they do not judge right. They have no ear-rings, and do not paint the face like the American Indians. For many centuries past, they have had dogs, whose ears are erected, and never hang down. They make use of them for hunting, and instead of horses in winter, for drawing their goods on the ice. They themselves sometimes ride in sledges drawn by dogs. They have no other domestic animal. There are, indeed, plenty of reindeer in their country; but it is not known, that either the Esquimaux, or any of the Indians in America, have ever tamed them. The French in Canada, who are in a manner the neighbours of the Esquimaux, have taken a deal of pains to carry on some kind of trade with them, and to endeavour to engage them to a more friendly intercourse with other nations. For that purpose, they took some Esquimaux children, taught them to read, and educated them in the best manner possible. The intention of the French was, to send these children to the Esquimaux again, that they might inform them of the kind treatment the French had given them, and thereby incline them to conceive a better opinion of the French. But unhappily all the children died of the small-pox, and the scheme was dropt. Many persons in Canada doubted, whether the scheme would have succeeded, though the children had been kept alive. For they say, there was formerly an Esquimaux taken by the French, and brought to Canada, where he staid a good while, and was treated with great civility. He learnt French pretty well, and seemed to relish the French way of living very well. When he was sent back to his countrymen, he was not able to make the least impression on them, in favour of the French; but was killed by his nearest relations, as half a Frenchman and foreigner. This inhuman proceeding of the Esquimaux against all strangers, is the reason why none of the Indians of North America ever give quarter to the Esquimaux if they meet with them, but kill them on the spot; though they frequently pardon their other enemies, and incorporate the prisoners into their nation.

Plumb-trees of different sorts, brought over from France, succeed very well here. The present year they did not begin to flower till this month. Some of them looked very well; and I am told the winter does not hurt them.

September the 11th. The marquis de la Galissonniere is one of the three noblemen, who, above all others, have gained high esteem with the French admiralty in the last war. They are the marquisses de la Galissonniere, de la Jonquiere, and de l’Etendure. The first of these was now above fifty years of age, of a low stature, and somewhat hump-backed, but of a very agreeable look. He had been here for some time as governor-general; and was going back to France one day this month. I have already mentioned something concerning this nobleman; but when I think of his many great qualities, I can never give him a sufficient encomium. He has a surprizing knowledge in all branches of science, and especially in natural history; in which he is so well versed, that when he began to speak with me about it, I imagined I saw our great Linnæus under a new form. When he spoke of the use of natural history, of the method of learning, and employing it to raise the state of a country, I was astonished to see him take his reasons from politics, as well as natural philosophy, mathematics, and other sciences. I own, that my conversation with this nobleman was very instructive to me; and I always drew a deal of useful knowledge from it. He told me several ways of employing natural history to the purposes of politics, and to make a country powerful, in order to depress its envious neighbours. Never has natural history had a greater promoter in this country; and it is very doubtful whether it will ever have his equal here. As soon as he got the place of governor-general, he began to take those measures for getting information in natural history, which I have mentioned before. When he saw people, who had for some time been in a settled place of the country, especially in the more remote parts, or had travelled in those parts, he always questioned them about the trees, plants, earths, stones, ores, animals, &c. of the place. He likewise enquired what use the inhabitants made of these things; in what state their husbandry was; what lakes, rivers, and passages there are; and a number of other particulars. Those who seemed to have clearer notions than the rest, were obliged to give him circumstantial descriptions of what they had seen. He himself wrote down all the accounts he received; and by this great application, so uncommon among persons of his rank, he soon acquired a knowledge of the most distant parts of America. The priests, commandants of forts, and of several distant places, are often surprized by his questions, and wonder at his knowledge, when they come to Quebec to pay their visits to him; for he often tells them that near such a mountain, or on such a shore, &c. where they often went a hunting, there are some particular plants, trees, earths, ores, &c. for he had got a knowledge of those things before. From hence it happened, that some of the inhabitants believed he had a preternatural knowledge of things, as he was able to mention all the curiosities of places, sometimes near two hundred Swedish miles from Quebec, though he never was there himself. Never was there a better statesman than he; and nobody can take better measures, and choose more proper means for improving a country, and encreasing its welfare. Canada was hardly acquainted with the treasure it possessed in the person of this nobleman, when it lost him again; the king wanted his services at home, and could not leave him so far off. He was going to France with a collection of natural curiosities; and a quantity of young trees and plants, in boxes full of earth.

The black lime-slate has been repeatedly mentioned during the course of my journey. I will here give a more minute detail of it. The mountain on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the river St. Lawrence, consist of it for some miles together, on both sides of Quebec. About a yard from the surface, this stone is quite compact, and without any cracks; so that one cannot perceive that it is a slate, its particles being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three or four inches, to twenty thick, and upwards. In the mountains on which Quebec is built, the strata do not ly horizontal, but dipping, so as to be nearly perpendicular; the upper ends pointing north-west, and the lower ones south-east. From hence it is, that the corners of these strata always strike out at the surface into the streets, and cut the shoes in pieces. I have likewise seen some strata, inclining to the northward, but nearly perpendicular as the former. Horizontal strata, or nearly such, have occurred to me too. The strata are divided by narrow cracks, which are commonly filled with fibrous white gypsum, which can sometimes be got loose with a knife, if the layer or stratum of slate above it is broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of a thin white leaf. The larger cracks are almost filled up with transparent quartz crystals, of different sizes. One part of the mountain contains vast quantities of these crystals, from which the corner of the mountain which lies to the S. S. E. of the palace, has got the name of Pointe de Diamante, or Diamond Point. The small cracks which divide the stone, go generally at right angles; the distances between them are not always equal. The outside of the stratum, or that which is turned towards the other stratum, is frequently covered with a fine, black, shining membrane, which looks like a kind of a pyrous horn-stone. In it there is sometimes a yellow pyrites, always lying in small grains. I never found petrefactions or impressions, or other kinds of stone in it, besides those I have just mentioned. The whole mountain on which Quebec is situated, consists entirely of lime-slate from top to bottom. When this stone is broken, or scraped with a knife, it gives a strong smell like the stink-stone. That part of the mountain which is exposed to the open air, crumbles into small pieces, had lost their black colour, and got a pale red one in its stead. Almost all the public and private buildings at Quebec consist of this lime-slate; and likewise the walls round the town, and round the monasteries and gardens, it is easily broken, and cut to the size wanted. But it has the property of splitting into thin shivers, parallel to the surface of the stratum from whence they are taken, after lying during one or more years in the air, and exposed to the sun. However, this quality does no damage to the walls in which they are placed; for the stones being laid on purpose into such a position that the cracks always run horizontally, the upper stones press so much upon the lower ones, that they can only get cracks outwardly, and shiver only on the outside, without going further inwards. The shivers always grow thinner, as the houses grow older.

In order to give my readers some idea of the climate of Quebec, and of the different changes of heat and cold, at the several seasons of the year, I will here insert some particulars extracted from the meteorological observations, of the royal physician, Mr. Gaulthier: he gave me a copy of those which he had made from October 1744, to the end of September 1746. The thermometrical observations I will omit, because I do not think them accurate; for as Mr. Gaulthier made use of de la Hire’s thermometer, the degrees of cold cannot be exactly determined, the quicksilver being depressed into the globe at the bottom, as soon as the cold begins to be considerable. The observations are made throughout the year, between seven and eight in the morning, and two and three in the afternoon. He has seldom made any observations in the afternoon. His thermometer was likewise inaccurate, by being placed in a bad situation.

The year 1745.

January. The 29th of this month the river St. Lawrence was covered over with ice, near Quebec. In the observations of other years, it is observed, that the river is sometimes covered with ice in the beginning of January, or the end of December.

February. Nothing remarkable happend during the course of this month.

March. They say this has been the mildest winter they ever felt; even the eldest persons could not remember one so mild. The snow was only two feet deep, and the ice in the river, opposite Quebec, had the same thickness. On the twenty-first there was a thunder-storm, which fell upon a soldier, and hurt him very much. On the 19th and 20th, they began to make incisions into the sugar-maple, and to prepare sugar from its juice.

April. During this month they continued to extract the juice of the sugar-maple, for making sugar. On the 7th the gardeners began to make hot-beds. On the 20th the ice in the river broke loose near Quebec, and went down; which rarely happens so soon; for the river St. Lawrence is sometimes covered with ice opposite Quebec, on the 10th of May. On the 22d, and 23d, there fell a quantity of snow. On the 25th they began to sow near St. Joachim. The same day they saw some swallows. The 29th they sowed corn all over the country. Ever since the 23d the river had been clear at Quebec.

May. The third of this month the cold was so great in the morning, that Celsius’s, or the Swedish thermometer, was four degrees below the freezing point; however, it did not hurt the corn. On the 16th all the summer-corn was sown. On the 5th the Sanguinaria, Narcissus, and violet, began to blow. The 17th the wild cherry-trees, rasberry-bushes, apple-trees, and lime-trees, began to expand their leaves. The strawberries were in flower about that time. The 29th the wild cherry-trees were in blossom. On the 26th part of the French apple-trees, cherry-trees, and plum-trees, opened their flowers.

June. The 5th of this month all the trees had got leaves. The apple-trees were in full flower. Ripe straw-berries were to be had on the 22d. Here it is noted, that the weather was very fine for the growth of vegetables.

July. The corn began to shoot into ears on the 12th, and had ears every where on the 21st. (It is to be observed, that they sow nothing but summer-corn here.) Soon after the corn began to flower. Hay making began the 22d. All this month the weather was excellent.

August. On the 12th there were ripe pears and melons at Montreal. On the 20th the corn was ripe round Montreal, and the harvest was begun there. On the 22d the harvest began at Quebec. On the 30th, and 31st, there was a very small hoar-frost on the ground.

October. During this month the fields were ploughed, and the weather was very fine all the time. There was a little frost for several nights, and on the 28th it snowed. Towards the end of this month the trees began to shed their leaves.

November. They continued to plough till the 10th of this month, when the trees had shed all their leaves. Till the 18th the cattle went out of doors, a few days excepted, when bad weather had kept them at home. On the 16th there was some thunder and lightning. There was not yet any ice in the river St. Lawrence on the 24th.

December. During this month it is observed, that the autumn has been much milder than usual. On the 1st a ship could still set sail for France; but on the 16th the river St. Lawrence was covered with ice on the sides, but open in the middle. In the river Charles the ice was thick enough for horses with heavy loads to pass over it. On the 26th the ice in the river St. Lawrence was washed away by a heavy rain; but on the 28th part of that river was again covered with ice.

The next observations shew, that the winter has likewise been one of the mildest. I now resume the account of my own journey.

This evening I left Quebec with a fair wind. The governor-general of Canada, the marquis de la Jonquiere, ordered one of the king’s boats, and seven men to bring me to Montreal. The middle of the boat was covered with blue cloth, under which we were secured from the rain. This journey I made at the expence of the French king. We went three French miles to-day.

September the 12th. We continued our journey during all this day.

The small kind of maize, which ripens in three months time, was ripe about this time, and the people drew it out of the ground, and hung it up to dry.

The weather about this time was like the beginning of our August, old stile. Therefore it seems, autumn commences a whole month later in Canada, than in the midst of Sweden.

Near each farm there is a kitchen-garden, in which onions are most abundant; because the French farmers eat their dinners of them with bread, on Fridays and Saturdays, or fasting days. However, I cannot say, the French are strict observers of fasting; for several of my rowers ate flesh to-day, though it was Friday. The common people in Canada may be smelled when one passes by them, on account of their frequent use of onions. Pumpions are likewise abundant in the farmer’s gardens. They dress them in several ways, but the most common is to cut them through the middle, and place the inside on the hearth, towards the fire, till it is quite roasted. The pulp is then cut out of the peel, and eaten; people above the vulgar put sugar to it. Carrots, sallad, French beans, cucumbers, and currant shrubs, are planted in every farmer’s little kitchen-garden.

Though many nations imitate the French customs; yet I observed on the contrary, that the French in Canada in many respects follow the customs of the Indians, with whom they converse every day. They make use of the tobacco-pipes, shoes, garters, and girdles, of the Indians. They follow the Indian way of making war with exactness; they mix the same things with tobacco, they make use of the Indian bark-boats, and row them in the Indian way; they wrap square pieces of cloth round their feet, instead of stockings, and have adopted many other Indian fashions. When one comes into the house of a Canada peasant, or farmer, he gets up, takes his hat off to the stranger, desires him to sit down, puts his hat on and sits down again. The gentlemen and ladies, as well as the poorest peasants and their wives, are called Monsieur and Madame. The peasants, and especially their wives, wear shoes, which consist of a piece of wood hollowed out, and are made almost as slippers. Their boys, and the old peasants themselves, wear their hair behind in a cue; and most of them wear red woollen caps at home, and sometimes on their journies.

The farmers prepare most of their dishes of milk. Butter is but seldom seen, and what they have is made of sour cream, and therefore not so good as English butter. Many of the French are very fond of milk, which they eat chiefly on fasting days. However, they have not so many methods of preparing it as we have in Sweden. The common way was to boil it, and put bits of bread, and a good deal of sugar, into it. The French here eat near as much flesh as the English, on those days when their religion allows it. For excepting the soup, the sallads, and the desert, all their other dishes consist of flesh variously prepared.

At night we lay at a farm-house, near a river called Petite Riviere, which falls here into the river St. Lawrence. This place is reckoned sixteen French miles from Quebec, and ten from Trois Rivieres. The tide is still considerable here. Here is the last place where the hills, along the river, consist of black lime-slate; further on they are composed merely of earth.

Fire-flies flew about the woods at night, though not in great numbers; the French call them Mouches à feu.

The houses in this neighbourhood are all made of wood. The rooms are pretty large. The inner roof rests on two, three, or four, large thick spars, according to the size of the room. The chinks are filled with clay, instead of moss. The windows are made entirely of paper. The chimney is erected in the middle of the room; that part of the room which is opposite the fire, is the kitchen; that which is behind the chimney, serves the people to sleep, and receive strangers in. Sometimes there is an iron stove behind the chimney.

September the 13th. Near Champlain, which is a place about five French miles from Trois Rivieres, the steep hills near the river consist of a yellow, and sometimes ockre-coloured sandy earth, in which a number of small springs arise. The water in them is generally filled with yellow ockre, which is a sign, that these dry sandy fields contain a great quantity of the same iron ore, which is dug at Trois Rivieres. It is not conceivable from whence that number of small rivulets takes their rise, the ground above being flat, and exceeding dry in summer. The lands near the river are cultivated for about an English mile into the country; but behind them there are thick forests, and low grounds. The woods, which collect a quantity of moisture, and prevent the evaporation of the water, force it to make its way under ground to the river. The shores of the river are here covered with a great deal of black iron-sand.

Towards evening we arrived at Trois Rivieres, where we staid no longer, than was necessary to deliver the letters, which we brought with us from Quebec. After that we went a French mile higher up, before we took our night’s lodging.

This afternoon we saw three remarkable old people. One was an old Jesuit, called father Joseph Aubery, who had been a missionary to the converted Indians of St. François. This summer he ended the fiftieth year of his mission. He therefore returned to Quebec, to renew his vows there; and he seemed to be healthy, and in good spirits. The other two people were our landlord and his wife; he was above eighty years of age, and she was not much younger. They had now been fifty-one years married. The year before, at the end of the fiftieth year of their marriage, they went to church together, and offered up thanks to God Almighty for the great grace he gave them. They were yet quite well, content, merry, and talkative. The old man said, that he was at Quebec when the English besieged it, in the year 1690, and that the bishop went up and down the streets, dressed in his pontifical robes, and a sword in his hand, in order to recruit the spirits of the soldiers.

This old man said, that he thought the winters were formerly much colder than they are now. There fell likewise a greater quantity of snow, when he was young. He could remember the time when pumpions, cucumbers, &c. were killed by the frost about mid-summer, and he assured me, that the summers were warmer now than they used to be formerly. About thirty and some odd years ago, there was such a severe winter in Canada, that the frost killed many birds; but the old man could not remember the particular year. Every body allowed, that the summers in 1748, and 1749, had been warmer in Canada than they have been many years ago.

The soil is reckoned pretty fertile; and wheat yields nine or ten grains from one. But when this old man was a boy, and the country was new and rich every where, they could get twenty, or four-and-twenty, grains from one. They sow but little rye here; nor do they sow much barley, except for the use of cattle. They complain, however, that when they have a bad crop, they are obliged to bake bread of barley.

September the 14th. This morning we got up early, and pursued our journey. After we had gone about two French miles, we got into lake St. Pierre, which we crossed. Many plants, which are common in our Swedish lakes, swim at the top of this water. This lake is said to be covered every winter with such strong ice, that a hundred loaded horses could go over it together with safety.

A craw-fish, or river lobster, somewhat like a crab, but quite minute, about two geometrical lines long, and broad in proportion, was frequently drawn up by us with the aquatic weeds, its colour is a pale greenish white.

As soon as we were got through lake St. Pierre, the face of the country was entirely changed, and became as agreeable as could be wished. The isles, and the land on both sides of us, looked like the prettiest pleasure-gardens; and this continued till near Montreal.

Near every farm on the river-side there are some boats, hollowed out of the trunks of single trees, but commonly neat and well made, having the proper shape of boats. In one single place I saw a boat made of the bark of trees.

September the 15th. We continued our journey early this morning. On account of the strength of the river, which came down against us, we were sometimes obliged to let the rowers go on shore, and draw the boat.

At four o’clock in the evening we arrived at Montreal; and our voyage was reckoned a happy one, because the violence of the river flowing against us all the way, and the changeableness of the winds, commonly protract it to two weeks.

September the 19th. Several people here in town have got the French vines, and planted them in their gardens. They have two kinds of grapes, one of a pale green, or almost white; the other, of a reddish brown colour. From the white ones they say, white wine is made; and from the red ones, red wine. The cold in winter obliges them to put dung round the roots of the vines, without which they would be killed by the frost. The grapes began to be ripe in these days; the white ones are a little sooner ripe than the red ones. They make no wine of them here, because it is not worth while; but they are served up at deserts. They say these grapes do not grow so big here as in France.

The water-melons are very juicy; and the juice is mixed with a cooling pulp, which is very good in the hot summer-season. Nobody in Canada, in Albany, and in other parts of New-York, could produce an example, that the eating of water-melons in great quantities had hurt any body; and there are examples even of sick persons eating them without any danger. Further to the south, the frequent use of them it is thought brings on intermitting fevers, and other bad distempers, especially in such people as are less used to them. Many Frenchmen assured me, that when people born in Canada came to the Illinois, and eat several times of the water-melons of that part, they immediately got a fever; and therefore the Illinois advise the French not to eat of a fruit so dangerous to them. They themselves are subject to be attacked by fevers, if they cool their stomachs too often with water-melons. In Canada they keep them in a room, which is a little heated; by which means they will keep fresh two months after they are ripe; but care must be taken, that the frost spoil them not. In the English plantations they likewise keep them fresh in dry cellars, during part of the winter. They assured me that they keep better when they are carefully broke off from the stalk, and afterwards burnt with a red-hot iron, in the place where the stalk was fastened. In this manner they may be eaten at Christmas, and after. In Pensylvania, where they have a dry sandy earth, they make a hole in the ground, put the water-melons carefully into it with their stalks, by which means they keep very fresh during a great part of winter. Few people, however, take this trouble with the water-melons; because they being very cooling, and the winter being very cold too, it seems to be less necessary to keep them for eating in that season, which is already very cold. They are of opinion in these parts, that cucumbers cool more than water-melons. The latter are very strongly diuretic. The Iroquese call them Onoheserakatee.

Gourds of several kinds, oblong, round, flat or compressed, crook-necked, small, &c. are planted in all the English and French colonies. In Canada, they fill the chief part of the farmers kitchen-gardens, though the onions came very near up with them. Each farmer in the English plantations, has a large field planted with gourds, and the Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and other Europeans, settled in their colonies, plant them. Gourds are a considerable part of the Indian food; however, they plant more squashes than common gourds. They declare, that they have had gourds long before the Europeans discovered America; which seems to be confirmed by the accounts of the first Europeans that came into these parts, who mentioned gourds as common food among the Indians. The French here call them citrouilles, and the English in the colonies, pumpkins. They are planted in spring, when they have nothing to fear from the frost, in an enclosed field, and a good rich soil. They are likewise frequently put into old hot-beds. In Canada, they ripen towards the beginning of September, but further southward they are ripe at the end of July. As soon as the cold weather commences, they take off all the pumpions that remain on the stalk, whether ripe or not, and spread them on the floor, in a part of the house, where the unripe ones grow perfectly ripe, if they are not laid one upon the other. This is done round Montreal in the middle of September; but in Pensylvania, I have seen some in the fields on the 19th of October. They keep fresh for several months, and even throughout the winter, if they be well secured in dry cellars (for in damp ones they rot very soon) where the cold cannot come in, or, which is still better, in dry rooms which are heated now and then, to prevent the cold from damaging the fruit.

Pumpions are prepared for eating in various ways. The Indians boil them whole, or roast them in ashes, and eat them then, or go to sell them thus prepared in the towns, and they have, indeed, a very fine flavour, when roasted. The French and English slice them, and put the slices before the fire to roast; when they are roasted, they generally put sugar on the pulp. Another way of roasting them, is to cut them through the middle, take out all the seeds, put the halves together again, and roast them in an oven. When they are quite roasted, some butter is put in, whilst they are warm, which being imbibed into the pulp, renders it very palatable. They often boil pumpions in water, and afterwards eat them, either alone or with flesh. Some make a thin kind of pottage of them, by boiling them in water, and afterwards macerating the pulp. This is again boiled with a little of the water, and a good deal of milk, and stirred about whilst it is boiling. Sometimes the pulp is stamped and kneaded into dough, with maize flour or other flour; of this they make cakes. Some make puddings and tarts of gourds. The Indians, in order to preserve the pumpions for a very long time, cut them in long slices, which they fasten or twist together, and dry them either by the sun, or by the fire in a room. When they are thus dried, they will keep for years together, and when boiled, they taste very well. The Indians prepare them thus at home and on their journies, and from them the Europeans have adopted this method. Sometimes they do not take the time to boil it, but eat it dry with hung beef, or other flesh; and I own they are eatable in that state, and very welcome to a hungry stomach. They sometimes preserve them in the following manner at Montreal: They cut a pumpion in four pieces, peal them, and take the seeds out of them. The pulp is put in a pot with boiling water, in which it must boil from four to six minutes. It is then put into a cullender, and left in it till the next day, that the water may run off. When it is mixed with cloves, cinnamon, and some lemon peel, preserved in syrup, and there must be an equal quantity of syrup and of the pulp. After which it is boiled together, till the syrup is entirely imbibed, and the white colour of the pulp is quite lost.

September the 20th. The corn of this year’s harvest in Canada, was reckoned the finest they had ever had. In the province of New-York, on the contrary, the crop was very poor. The autumn was very fine this year in Canada.

September the 22d. The French in Canada carry on a great trade with the Indians; and though it was formerly the only trade of this extensive country, yet its inhabitants were considerably enriched by it. At present, they have besides the Indian goods, several other articles which are exported from hence. The Indians in this neighbourhood, who go hunting in winter like the other Indians nations, commonly bring their furs and skins to sale in the neighbouring French towns; however this is not sufficient. The Indians who live at a greater distance, never come to Canada at all; and, lest they should bring their goods to the English, as the English go to them, the French are obliged to undertake journies, and purchase the Indian goods in the country of the Indians. This trade is chiefly carried on at Montreal, and a great number of young and old men every year, undertake long and troublesome voyages for that purpose, carrying with them such goods as they know the Indians like, and are in want of. It is not necessary to take money on such a journey, as the Indians do not value it; and indeed I think the French, who go on these journies, scarce ever take a sol or penny with them.

I will now enumerate the chief goods which the French carry with them for this trade, and which have a good run among the Indians.

Muskets, Powder, Shot, and Balls. The Europeans have taught the Indians in their neighbourhood the use of fire-arms, and they have laid aside their bows and arrows, which were formerly their only arms, and make use of muskets. If the Europeans should now refuse to supply the Indians with muskets, they would be starved to death; as almost all their food consists of the flesh of the animals, which they hunt; or they would be irritated to such a degree as to attack the Europeans. The Indians have hitherto never tried to make muskets or similar fire-arms; and their great indolence does not even allow them to mend those muskets which they have got. They leave this entirely to the Europeans. As the Europeans came into North-America, they were very careful not to give the Indians any fire-arms. But in the wars between the French and English, each party gave their Indian allies fire-arms, in order to weaken the force of the enemy. The French lay the blame upon the Dutch settlers in Albany, saying, that they began, in 1642, to give their Indians fire-arms, and taught them the use of them, in order to weaken the French. The inhabitants of Albany, on the contrary, assert, that the French first introduced this custom, as they would have been too weak to resist the combined force of the Dutch and English in the colonies. Be this as it will, it is certain that the Indians buy muskets from the Europeans, and know at present better how to make use of them, than some of their teachers. It is likewise certain, that the Europeans gain considerably by their trade in muskets and ammunition.

Pieces of white cloth, or of a coarse uncut cloth. The Indians constantly wear such pieces of cloth, wrapping them round their bodies. Sometimes they hang them over their shoulders; in warm weather, they fasten them round the middle; and in cold weather, they put them over the head. Both their men and women wear these pieces of cloth, which have commonly several blue or red stripes on the edge.

Blue or red cloth. Of this the Indian women make their petticoats, which reach only to their knees. They generally chuse the blue colour.

Shirts and shifts of linen. As soon as an Indian fellow, or one of their women, have put on a shirt, they never wash it, or strip it off, till it is entirely torn in pieces.

Pieces of cloth, which they wrap round their legs instead of stockings, like the Russians.

Hatchets, knives, scissars, needles, and a steel to strike fire with. These instruments are now common among the Indians. They all take these instruments from the Europeans, and reckon the hatchets and knives much better, than those which they formerly made of stones and bones. The stone hatchets of the ancient Indians are very rare in Canada.

Kettles of copper or brass, sometimes tinned in the inside. In these the Indians now boil all their meat, and they have a very great run with them. They formerly made use of earthen or wooden pots, into which they poured water, or whatever else they wanted to boil, and threw in red hot stones to make it boil. They do not want iron boilers, because they cannot be easily carried on their continual journies, and would not bear such falls and knocks as their kettles are subject to.

Ear-rings of different sizes, commonly of brass, and sometimes of tin. They are worn by both men and women, though the use of them is not general.

Vermillion. With this they paint their face, shirt, and several parts of the body. They formerly made use of a reddish earth, which is to be found in the country; but, as the Europeans brought them vermillion, they thought nothing was comparable to it in colour. Many persons have told me, that they had heard their fathers mention, that the first Frenchmen who came over here, got a great heap of furs from the Indians, for three times as much cinnabar as would ly on the tip of a knife.

Verdigrease, to paint their faces green. For the black colour, they make use of the soot at the bottom of their kettles, and daub their whole face with it.

Looking glasses. The Indians are very much pleased with them, and make use of them chiefly when they want to paint themselves. The men constantly carry their looking glasses with them on all their journies; but the women do not. The men, upon the whole, are more fond of dressing than the women.

Burning glasses. These are excellent pieces of furniture in the opinion of the Indians; because they serve to light the pipe without any trouble, which an indolent Indian is very fond of.

Tobacco is bought by the northern Indians, in whose country it will not grow. The southern Indians always plant as much of it as they want for their own consumption. Tobacco has a great run amongst the northern Indians, and it has been observed, that the further they live to the northward, the more they smoke of tobacco.

Wampum, or, as they are here called, porcelanes. They are made of a particular kind of shells, and turned into little short cylindrical beads, and serve the Indians for money and ornament.

Glass beads, of a small size, and white or other colours. The Indian women know how to fasten them in their ribbands, pouches, and clothes.

Brass and steel wire, for several kinds of work.

Brandy, which the Indians value above all other goods that can be brought them; nor have they any thing, though ever so dear to them, which they would not give away for this liquor. But, on account of the many irregularities which are caused by the use of brandy, the sale of it has been prohibited under severe penalties; however, they do not always pay an implicit obedience to this order.

These are the chief goods which the French carry to the Indians, and they have a good run among them.

The goods which they bring back from the Indians, consist entirely in furs. The French get them in exchange for their goods, together with all the necessary provisions they want on the journey. The furs are of two kinds; the best are the northern ones, and the worst sort those from the south.

It is inconceivable what hardships the people in Canada must undergo on their journies. Sometimes they must carry their goods a great way by land; frequently they are abused by the Indians, and sometimes they are killed by them. They often suffer hunger, thirst, heat, and cold, and are bit by gnats, and exposed to the bites of poisonous snakes, and other dangerous animals and insects. These destroy a great part of the youth in Canada, and prevent the people from growing old. By this means, however, they become such brave soldiers, and so inured to fatigue, that none of them fear danger or hardships. Many of them settle among the Indians far from Canada, marry Indian women, and never come back again.

The prices of the skins in Canada, in the year 1749, were communicated to me by M. de Couagne, a merchant at Montreal, with whom I lodged. They were as follows:

Great and middle sized bear skins, cost five livres.

Skins of young bears, fifty sols.

—— lynxs, 25 sols.

—— pichoux du sud, 35 sols.

—— foxes from the southern parts, 35 sols.

—— otters, 5 livres.

—— raccoons, 5 livres.

—— martens, 45 sols.

—— wolves, 40 sols.

—— carcajoux, an animal which I do not know, 5 livres.

Skins of visons, a kind of martens, which live in the water, 25 sols.

Skins of roebucks, 25, or 30 sols.

—— red foxes, 3 livres.

—— beavers, 3 livres.

I will now insert a list of all the different kinds of skins, which are to be got in Canada, and which are sent from thence to Europe. I got it from one of the greatest merchants in Montreal. They are as follows:

Prepared roebuck skins, chevreuils passés.

Unprepared ditto, chevreuils verts.

Tanned ditto, chevreuils tanés.

Bears, ours.

Young bears, oursons.

Otters, loutres.

Pecans.

Cats, chats.

Wolves, loup de bois.

Lynxes, loups cerviers.

North pichoux, pichoux du nord.

South pichoux, pichoux du sud.

Red foxes, renards rouges.

Cross foxes, renards croisés.

Black foxes, renards noirs.

Grey foxes, renards argentés.

Southern, or Virginian foxes, renards du sud ou de Virginie.

White foxes, from Tadoussac, renards blancs de Tadoussac.

Martens, martres.

Visons, or soutreaux.

Black squirrels, écureuils noirs.

Raw stags skins, cerfs verts.

Prepared ditto, cerfs passés.

Raw elks skins, originals verts.

Prepared ditto, originals passés.

Rein-deer skins, cariboux.

Raw hinds skins, biches verts.

Prepared ditto, biches passées.

Carcajoux.

Musk rats, rats musqués.

Fat winter beavers, castors gras d’hiver.

Ditto summer beavers, castors gras d’été.

Dry winter beavers, castors secs d’hiver.

Ditto summer beavers, castors secs d’été.

Old winter beavers, castors vieux d’hiver.

Ditto summer beavers, castors vieux d’été.

The head or superior of the priests of Montreal, gave me a piece of lead-ore to-day. He said it was taken from a place only a few French miles from Montreal, and it consisted of pretty compact, shining cubes, of lead ore. I was told by several persons here, that furthermore southward in the country, there is a place where they find a great quantity of this lead-ore in the ground. The Indians near it, melt it, and make balls and shot of it. I got some pieces of it likewise, consisting of a shining cubic lead-ore, with narrow stripes between it, and of a white hard earth or clay, which effervesces with aqua fortis.

I likewise received a reddish brown earth to-day, found near the Lac de Deux Montagnes, or Lake of Two Mountains, a few French miles from Montreal. It may be easily crumbled into dust between the fingers. It is very heavy, and more so than the earth of that kind generally is. Outwardly, it has a kind of glossy appearance, and, when it is handled by the fingers for some time, they are quite as it were silvered over. It is, therefore, probably a kind of lead-earth or an earth mixed with iron-glimmer.

September the 23d. This morning I went to Sault au Récollet, a place three French miles northward of Montreal, to describe the plants and minerals there, and chiefly to collect seeds of various plants. Near the town there are farms on both sides of the road; but as one advances further on, the country grows woody, and varies in regard to height. It is generally very strong; and there are both pieces of rock-stone, and a kind of grey lime-stone. The roads are bad, and almost impassable for chaises. A little before I arrived at Sault au Récollet, the woods end, and the country is turned into corn-fields, meadows, and pastures.

About a French mile from the town are two lime-kilns on the road. They are built of a grey lime-stone, burnt hard, and of pieces of rock-stone, towards the fire. The height of the kiln from top to bottom is seven yards.

The lime-stone which they burn here, is of two kinds. One is quite black, and so compact, that its constituent particles cannot be distinguished, some dispersed grains of white and pale grey spar excepted. Now and then there are thin cracks in it filled with a white small-grained spar.

I have never seen any petrefactions in this stone, though I looked very carefully for them. This stone is common on the isle of Montreal, about ten or twenty inches below the upper soil. It lies in strata of five or ten inches thickness. This stone is said to give the best lime; for, though it is not so white as that of the following grey lime-stone, yet it makes better mortar, and almost turns into stone, growing harder and more compact every day. There are examples, that when they have been about to repair a house made partly of this mortar, the other stones of which the house consists, sooner broke in pieces than the mortar itself.

The other kind is a grey, and sometimes a dark grey lime-stone, consisting of a compact calcareous-stone, mixed with grains of spar, of the same colour. When broken, it has a strong smell of stink-stone. It is full of petrified striated shells or pectinites. The greatest part of these petrefactions are, however, only impressions of the hollow side of the shells. Now and then I found likewise petrefied pieces of the shell itself, though I could never find the same shells in their natural state on the shores; and it seems inconceivable how such a quantity of impressions could come together, as I shall presently mention.

I have had great pieces of this lime-stone, consisting of little else than pectinites, lying close to one another. This lime-stone is found on several parts of the isle, where it lies in horizontal strata of the thickness of five or ten inches. This stone yields a great quantity of white lime, but it is not so good as the former, because it grows damp in wet weather.

Fir-wood is reckoned the best for the lime-kilns, and the thuya wood next to it. The wood of the sugar-maple, and other trees of a similar nature, are not fit for it, because they leave a great quantity of coals.

Grey pieces of rock-stone are to be seen in the woods and fields hereabouts.

A great cross is erected on the road and the boy who shewed me the wood, told me that a person was buried there, who had wrought great miracles.

At noon I arrived at Sault au Récollet, which is a little place, situated on a branch of the river St. Lawrence, which flows with a violent current between the isles of Montreal and Jesus. It has got its name from an accident which happened to a recollet friar, called Nicolas Veil, in the year 1625. He went into a boat with a converted Indian, and some Indians of the nation of Hurons, in order to go to Quebec; but, on going over this place in the river, the boat overset, and both the friar and his proselyte were drowned. The Indians (who have been suspected of occasioning the oversetting of the boat) swam to the shore, saved what they could of the friars effects, and kept them.

The country hereabouts is full of stones, and they have but lately began to cultivate it; for all the old people could remember the places covered with tall woods, which are now turned into corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The priests say, that this place was formerly inhabited by some converted Hurons. These Indians lived on a high mountain, at a little distance from Montreal when the French first arrived here, and the latter persuaded them to sell that land. They did so, and settled here at Sault au Récollet, and the church which still remains here, was built for them, and they have attended divine service in it for many years. As the French began to increase on the isle of Montreal, they wished to have it entirely to themselves, and persuaded the Indians again to sell them this spot, and go to another. The French have since prevailed upon the Indians (whom they did not like to have amongst them, because of their drunkenness, and rambling idle life) to leave this place again, and go to settle at the lake des Deux Montagnes, where they are at present, and have a fine church of stone. Their church at Sault au Récollet is of wood, looks very old and ruinous, though its inside is pretty good, and is made use of by the Frenchmen in this place. They have already brought a quantity of stones hither, and intend building a new church very soon. The botanical observations which I made during these days, I shall reserve for another publication.

Though there had been no rain for some days past, yet the moisture in the air was so great, that as I spread some papers on the ground this afternoon, in a shady place, intending to put the seeds I collected into them, they were so wet in a few minutes time, as to be rendered quite useless. The whole sky was very clear and bright, and the heat as intolerable as in the middle of July.

One half of the corn-fields are left fallow alternately. The fallow grounds are never ploughed in summer; so the cattle can feed upon the weeds that grow on them. All the corn made use of here is summer corn, as I have before observed. Some plough the fallow grounds late in autumn; others defer that business till spring; but the first way is said to give a much better crop. Wheat, barley, rye, and oats are harrowed, but pease are ploughed under ground. They sow commonly about the 15th of April, and begin with the pease. Among the many kinds of pease which are to be got here, they prefer the green ones to all others for sowing. They require a high, dry, poor ground, mixed with coarse sand. The harvest time commences about the end, and sometimes in the middle of August. Wheat returns generally fifteen, and sometimes twenty fold; oats from fifteen to thirty fold. The crop of pease is sometimes forty fold, but at other times only ten fold; for they are very different. The plough and harrow are the only instruments of husbandry they have, and those none of the best sort neither. The manure is carried upon the fallow grounds in spring. The soil consists of a grey stony earth, mixed with clay and sand. They sow no more barley than is necessary for the cattle; for they make no malt here. They sow a good deal of oats, but merely for the horses and other cattle. Nobody knows here how to make use of the leaves of deciduous trees as a food for the cattle, though the forests are furnished with no other than trees of that kind, and though the people are commonly forced to feed their cattle at home during five months.

I have already repeatedly mentioned, that almost all the wheat which is sown in Canada is summer wheat, that is such as is sown in spring. Near Quebec it sometimes happens, when the summer is less warm, or the spring later than common, that a great part of the wheat does not ripen perfectly before the cold commences. I have been assured that some people, who live on the Isle de Jesus, sow wheat in autumn, which is better, finer, and gives a more plentiful crop, than the summer wheat; but it does not ripen above a week before the other wheat.

September the 25th. In several places hereabouts, they enclose the fields with a stone fence, instead of wooden pales. The plenty of stones which are to be got here, render the labour very trifling.

Here are abundance of beech trees in the woods, and they now had ripe seeds. The people in Canada collect them in autumn, dry them, and keep them till winter, when they eat them, instead of walnuts and hazel nuts; and I am told they taste very well.

There is a salt spring, as the priest of this place informed me, seven French miles from hence, near the river d’Assomption; of which during the war, they have made a fine white salt. The water is said to be very briny.

Some kinds of fruit-trees succeed very well near Montreal, and I had here an opportunity of seeing some very fine pears and apples of various sorts. Near Quebec the pear-trees will not succeed, because the winter is too severe for them; and sometimes they are killed by the frost in the neighbourhood of Montreal. Plum-trees of several sorts were first brought over from France, succeed very well, and withstand the rigours of winter. Three varieties of America walnut-trees grow in the woods; but the walnut-trees brought over from France die almost every year down to the very root, bringing forth new shoots in spring. Peach-trees cannot well agree with this climate; a few bear the cold, but, for greater safety, they are obliged to put straw round them. Chesnut-trees, mulberry-trees, and the like, have never yet been planted in Canada.

The whole cultivated part of Canada has been given away by the king to the clergy, and some noblemen; but all the uncultivated parts belong to him, as likewise the place on which Quebec and Trois Rivieres are built. The ground on which the town of Montreal is built, together with the whole isle of that name, belongs to the priests of the order of St. Sulpicius who live at Montreal. They have given the land in tenure to farmers and others who were willing to settle on it, in so much that they have more upon their hands at present. The first settlers paid a trifling rent for their land; for frequently the whole lease for a piece of ground, three arpens broad and thirty long, consists in a couple of chicken; and some pay twenty, thirty, or forty sols for a piece of land of the same size. But those who came later, must pay near two ecus (crowns) for such a piece of land, and thus the land-rent is very unequal throughout the country. The revenues of the bishop of Canada do not arise from any landed property. The churches are built at the expence of the congregations. The inhabitants of Canada do not yet pay any taxes to the king; and he has no other revenues from it, than those which arise from the custom-house.

The priests of Montreal have a mill here, where they take the fourth part of all that is ground. However the miller receives a third part of this share. In other places he gets the half of it. The priests sometimes lease the mill for a certain sum. Besides them nobody is allowed to erect a mill on the isle of Montreal, they having reserved that right to themselves. In the agreement drawn up between the priests and the inhabitants of the isle, the latter are obliged to get all their corn ground in the mills of the former.

Several sorts of asters, both blue and white.

Golden rods of various kinds.

Common milfoil.

Common self-heal.

The crisped thistle.

The biennial oenothera.

The rough-leaved sun-flower, with tri-foliated leaves.

The Canada violet.

A species of gentian.

Wild vines are abundant in the woods hereabouts, climbing up very high trees.

September the 27th. Beavers are abundant all over North-America, and they are one of the chief articles of the trade in Canada. The Indians live upon their flesh during a great part of the year. It is certain that these animals multiply very fast; but it is no less so, that vast numbers of them are annually killed, and that the Indians are obliged at present to undertake distant journies, in order to catch or shoot them. Their decreasing in number is very easily accounted for; because the Indians, before the arrival of the Europeans, only caught as many as they found necessary to clothe themselves with, there being then no trade with the skins. At present a number of ships go annually to Europe, laden chiefly with beavers skins; the English and French endeavour to outdo each other, by paying the Indians well for them, and this encourages the latter to extirpate these animals. All the people in Canada told me, that when they were young, all the rivers in the neighbourhood of Montreal, the river St. Lawrence not excepted, were full of beavers and their dykes; but at present they are so far extirpated, that one is obliged to go several miles up the country before one can meet with one. I have already remarked above, that the beaver skins from the north, are better than those from the south.

Much has already been written concerning the dykes, or houses of the beavers; it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it. Sometimes, though but seldom, they catch beavers with white hair.

There are as yet no manufactures established in Canada; probably, because France will not lose the advantage of selling off its own goods here. However, both the inhabitants of Canada, and the Indians, are very ill off for want of them, in times of war.

Those persons who want to be married, must have the consent of their parents. However, the judge may give them leave to marry, if the parents oppose their union, without any valid reason. Likewise, if the man be thirty years of age, and the woman twenty-six, they may marry, without farther waiting for their parents consent.

September the 29th. This afternoon I went out of town, to the south-west part of the isle, in order to view the country, and the œconomy of the people, and to collect several seeds. Just before the town are some fine fields, which were formerly cultivated, but now serve as pastures. To the north-west appears the high mountain, which lies westward of Montreal, and is very fertile, and covered with fields and gardens from the bottom to the summit. On the south-east side is the river St. Lawrence, which is very broad here; and on its sides are extensive corn-fields and meadows, and fine houses of stone, which look white at a distance. At a great distance south-eastward, appear the two high mountains near fort Chamblais, and some others near lake Champlain, raising their tops above the woods. All the fields hereabouts are filled with stones of different sizes; and among them, there is now and then a black lime-stone. About a French mile from the town, the high road goes along the river, which is on the left-hand; and on the right-hand all the country is cultivated and inhabited. The farm-houses are three, four, or five arpens distant from each other. The hills near the river are generally high and pretty steep; they consist of earth; and the fields below them are filled with pieces of rock-stone, and of black lime-slate. About two French miles from Montreal, the river runs very rapidly, and is full of stones; in some places there are some waves. However, those who go in boats into the southern parts of Canada, are obliged to work through such places.

Most of the farm-houses in this neighbourhood are of stone, partly of the black lime-stone, and partly of other stones in the neighbourhood. The roof is made of shingles or of straw. The gable is always very high and steep. Other buildings, such as barns and stables, are of wood.

Wild-geese and ducks, began now to migrate in great flocks to the southern countries.

October the 2d. The two preceding days, and this, I employed chiefly in collecting seeds.

Sœurs de Congregation are a kind of religious women, different from nuns. They do not live in a convent, but have houses both in the town and country. They go where they please, and are even allowed to marry, if an opportunity offers; but this, I am told, happens very seldom. In many places in the country, there are two or more of them: they have their house commonly near a church, and generally the parsonage house is on the other side of the church. Their business is to instruct young girls in the Christian religion, to teach them reading, writing, needle-work, and other female accomplishments. People of fortune board their daughters with them for some time. They have their boarding, lodging, beds, instruction, and whatever else they want, upon very reasonable terms. The house where the whole community of these ladies live, and from whence they are sent out into the country, is at Montreal. A lady that wants to become incorporated among them, must pay a considerable sum of money towards the common stock; and some people reckon it to be four thousand livres. If a person be once received, she is sure of a subsistence during her life-time.

La Chine is a fine village, three French miles to the south-east of Montreal, but on the same isle, close to the river St. Lawrence. The farm-houses ly along the river-side, about four or five arpens from each other. Here is a fine church of stone, with a small steeple; and the whole place has a very agreeable situation. Its name is said to have had the following origin. As the unfortunate M. Salée was here, who was afterwards murdered by his own countrymen further up in the country, he was very intent upon discovering a shorter road to China, by means of the river St. Lawrence. He talked of nothing at that time but his new short way to China. But as his project of undertaking this journey, in order to make this discovery, was stopped by an accident which happened to him here, and he did not that time come any nearer China, this place got its name, as it were, by way of joke.

This evening I returned to Montreal.

October the 5th. The governor-general at Quebec is, as I have already mentioned before, the chief commander in Canada. Next to him is the intendant at Quebec; then follows the governor of Montreal, and after him the governor of Trois Rivieres. The intendant has the greatest power next to the governor-general; he pays all the money of government, and is president of the board of finances, and of the court of justice in this country. He is, however, under the governor-general; for if he refuses to do any thing to which he seems obliged by his office, the governor-general can give him orders to do it, which he must obey. He is allowed, however, to appeal to the government in France. In each of the capital towns, the governor is the highest person, then the lieutenant-general, next to him a major, and after him the captains. The governor-general gives the first orders in all matters of consequence. When he comes to Trois Rivieres and Montreal, the power of the governor ceases, because he always commands where he is. The governor-general commonly goes to Montreal once every year, and mostly in winter; and during his absence from Quebec, the lieutenant-general commands there. When the governor-general dies, or goes to France, before a new one is come in his stead, the governor of Montreal goes to Quebec to command in the mean while, leaving the major to command at Montreal.

One or two of the king’s ships are annually sent from France to Canada, carrying recruits to supply the places of those soldiers, who either died in the service, or have got leave to settle in the country, and turn farmers, or to return to France. Almost every year they send a hundred, or a hundred and fifty people over in this manner. With these people they likewise send over a great number of persons, who have been found guilty of smuggling in France. They were formerly condemned to the gallies, but at present they send them to the colonies, where they are free as soon as they arrive, and can choose what manner of life they please, but are never allowed to go out of the country, without the king’s special licence. The king’s ships likewise bring a great quantity of merchandizes which the king has bought, in order to be distributed among the Indians on certain occasions. The inhabitants of Canada pay very little to the king. In the year 1748, a beginning was, however, made, by laying a duty of three per cent on all the French goods imported by the merchants of Canada. A regulation was likewise made at that time, that all the furs and skins exported to France from hence, should pay a certain duty; but what is carried to the colonies pays nothing. The merchants of all parts of France and its colonies, are allowed to send ships with goods to this place; and the Quebec merchants are at liberty likewise to send their goods to any place in France, and its colonies. But the merchants at Quebec have but few ships, because the sailors wages are very high. The towns in France which chiefly trade with Canada, are Rochelle and Bourdeaux; next to them are Marseilles, Nantes, Havre de Grace, St. Malo, and others. The king’s ships which bring goods to this country, come either from Brest or from Rochefort. The merchants at Quebec send flour, wheat, pease, wooden utensils, &c. on their own bottoms, to the French possessions in the West-Indies. The walls round Montreal were built in 1738, at the king’s expence, on condition the inhabitants should, little by little, pay off the cost to the king. The town at present pays annually 6000 livres for them to government, of which 2000 are given by the seminary of priests. At Quebec the walls have likewise been built at the king’s expence, but he did not redemand the expence of the inhabitants, because they had already the duty upon goods to pay as above mentioned. The beaver trade belongs solely to the Indian company in France, and nobody is allowed to carry it on here, besides the people appointed by that company. Every other fur trade is open to every body. There are several places among the Indians far in the country, where the French have stores of their goods; and these places they call les postes. The king has no other fortresses in Canada than Quebec, Fort Chamblais, Fort St. Jean, Fort St. Frederic, or Crownpoint, Montreal, Frontenac, and Niagara. All other places belong to private persons. The king keeps the Niagara trade all to himself. Every one who intends to go to trade with the Indians must have a licence from the governor-general, for which he must pay a sum according as the place he is going to is more or less advantageous for trade. A merchant who sends out a boat laden with all sorts of goods, and four or five persons with it, is obliged to give five or six hundred livres for the permission; and there are places for which they give a thousand livres. Sometimes one cannot buy the licence to go to a certain trading place, because the governor-general has granted, or intends to grant it to some acquaintance or relation of his. The money arising from the granting of licences, belongs to the governor-general; but it is customary to give half of it to the poor: whether this is always strictly kept to or not, I shall not pretend to determine.

End of the Third Volume.