saddles, and looking-glass; spikes, nails, and spades; needles, thimbles, and pins.

What will ever render Quebec a position of the first and most mighty consideration to England, or to any power holding possession of the empire of the Canadas, and which fully justifies even the enormous outlays expended on its fortification, is its particular situation, and the extraordinary natural features of the spot on which it is founded. It is now absolutely impossible for a ship of any size to pass either up or down contrary to the permission of those who possess its garrison. Very large ships cannot go up to Montreal; nor are there any intermediate places of great commercial importance.

The citadel of Quebec, on the highest part of Cape Diamond, is a fortification not perhaps inferior to any in Europe, and commands every surrounding position. The old French walls were remarkably strong, but they have been nearly all destroyed on the land side, and replaced with others if possible still stronger, and constructed according to the more modern rules of defence. Forty acres are occupied by the fortifications; and across the plain (1837 yards), on the only assailable ground which rises a little at some distance from the walls, four Martello towers, strongly constructed, to baffle the first attacks of an enemy, are so disposed as to sweep every possible line of advance. There is a steep inclined plain and slope of 500 feet, exclusively used by government, to ascend Cape Diamond, at a height of 950 from Brehaut's wharf. There are five gates, strongly defended, in the walls which surround the city, viz. St. Louis' Gate, St. John's Gate, Palace Gate, Hope Gate, and Prescott Gate, through which we ascend from the lower to the upper town. The armoury of Quebec is well worth visiting and examining. It is only inferior to that of the Tower of London. Twenty thousand stand of fire-arms are always in perfect readiness to deliver to the military.

On the west, and in front of the citadel, are the celebrated plains of Abraham, where Wolfe fought, conquered, and died; which, with many circumstances less known, but still splendid in the historical records of Canada, impart a classic interest to Quebec, to which no other city in the Western World has a similar claim.

Although it was proposed, immediately after the conquest of Canada, to erect a monument on this spot to the memory of Wolfe, and although M. de Bougainville obtained permission at the same time from our government to place a monument in the Ursuline church in honour of Montcalm, yet seventy years had nearly passed away before this duty, which custom has made sacred, was fulfilled. At length an obelisk of appropriate grandeur was erected * in a recess of the Upper Château Gardens; and, with the chivalrous generosity and admiration due to heroes, it is dedicated to the "Immortal Memory of Wolfe and Montcalm."

The open fields on the plains, belonging to the Hôtel-Dieu, are retained by the government for military purposes. Here is the race course, a mile in circuit.

The grandeur of the view from the citadel of Cape Diamond has been extolled by all that ever beheld it. The prospects from the castles of Edinburgh or Stir

*

ling have the greatest claims of any that I have seen to a comparison with it; but both fall far short of the magnificent views enjoyed from the summit of Cape Diamond. When we look down the St. Lawrence, we have before us a sublime landscape, exhibiting from forty to fifty miles of one of the greatest rivers in the world, with tall ships, small vessels, and boats on its surface, and divided for twenty miles by the Island of Orleans; of which also, with all its interesting beauties, we have a bird's-eye view. At the same time the southern coast presents villages, churches, cottages, farms, forests, and mountains in the distant outline. If we turn to the north and east, we have a vast amphitheatre, embosomed within lofty mountains, and enriched and animated by the villages and churches of Beauport, Charleburgh, and Lorrette, with the vale of the River St. Charles, and a country decked with clumps of wood and richly cultivated farms. If we look below, we behold, some hundreds of feet underneath us, the lower town, with all its active accompaniments, and with crowds of ships at anchor in the cove, alongside the wharfs, and under sail. Opposite stands Point Levi and a populous country. Upwards, the view, although not extensive, is still grand. The country is bold and romantic, yet cultivated and populous; and the river exhibits the unceasing movements of steam-boats, sailing-vessels, small boats, Indian canoes, and rafts

of timber floating down the stream, and covered with men, women, children, and huts.

Description, however, can never do justice to this vast picture; nothing but a panorama painting can give those who have not beheld it a full idea of its splendid magnificence; and well would it remunerate those artists who have excelled in painting the enchanting delusions exhibited in panorama views, if they were to cross the Atlantic, and bring back to Europe a representation of that which is beheld from the citadel of Cape Diamond.

CHAP. XVIII.

ENVIRONS OF QUEBEC. - ST. ROCH. - ROAD TO MONTMORENCI.

FALLS. PATTERSON'S MILLS.

SILLERY. - JEUNE LORETTE.

ROAD TO ST. FOIX. HURONS. - CASCADES. - LAKE ST. CHARLES. - FALLS OF THE CHAUDIERE. RIVER ST. LAW. RENCE FROM QUEBEC TO MONTREAL. - POST ROADS. - WINTER TRAVELLING. STEAM-BOATS. NEW LIVERPOOL. RAPIDS OF RICHLIEU. TROIS RIVIÈRES. - URSULINE CON

VENT. ABBÉ DE CALONNE. - FORGES OF ST. MAURICE.

LAKE ST. PETER. - DELTA. - FORT WILLIAM HENRY. - RIVER RICHLIEU. - SUMMER RESIDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR. - FORT CHAMBLY.- ST. JEAN. - ISLE AUX NOIX. - ROUSE'S POINT.LAKE CHAMPLAIN. - ST. LAWRENCE FROM FORT WILLIAM HENRY TO MONTREAL.

On the low ground which lies between the walls of Quebec and the St. Charles, a multitude of shabby, dirty-looking wooden buildings, inhabited generally by the labouring classes, form the suburb of St. Roch. This suburb has now a handsome church, parsonagehouse, and a large school. Near the Côte de St. Généviève, extending towards St. Foix, stands the suburbs St. John. The latter votes for the return of members to the Assembly for the upper town; the former, for the lower.

In summer, one of the most pleasant rides or walks in the vicinity of the city is over Scott's Bridge, and along the road leading amongst the cottages, orchards, and farms of Beauport, to the falls of Montmorenci. The river of the same name with this cataract flows down from the northern mountains, among