Part 12

About two o’clock in the afternoon the tide began to flow up the river, and the wind being likewise against us, we could not proceed any farther, till the tide began to ebb. We therefore took up our night lodgings in a great farm, belonging to the priests in Quebec, near which is a fine church, called St. Joachim, after a voyage of about eight French miles. We were exceeding well received here. The king has given all the country round about this place to the seminary, or the priests at Quebec, who have leased it to farmers, who have built houses on it. Here are two priests, and a number of young boys, whom they instruct in reading, writing, and Latin. Most of these boys are designed for priests: Directly opposite this farm, to the eastward, is the north-east point, or the extremity of the isle of Orleans.

All the gardens in Canada abound with red currant shrubs, which were at first brought over from Europe. They grow excessively well here, and the shrubs, or bushes, are quite red, being covered all over with the berries.

The wild vines [72] grow pretty plentifully in the woods. In all other parts of Canada they plant them in the gardens, near arbours, and summer-houses. The summer-houses are made entirely of laths, over which the vines climb with their tendrils, and cover them entirely with their foliage, so as to shelter them entirely from the heat of the sun. They are very refreshing and cool, in summer.

The strong contrary winds obliged us to ly all night at St. Joachim.

August the 30th. This morning we continued our journey in spite of the wind, which was very violent against us. The water in the river begins to get a brackish taste, when the tide is highest, somewhat below St. Joachim, and the further one goes down, the more the saline taste encreases. At first the western shore of the river has fine, but low corn-fields, but soon after the high mountains run close to the river side. Before they come to the river the hilly shores consist of black lime-slate; but as soon as the high mountains appear on the river side, the lime-slates disappear. For the stone, of which the high mountains consist, is a chalky rock-stone, mixed with glimmer and quartz [73]. The glimmer is black; the quartz partly violet, and partly grey. All the four constituent parts are so well mixed together, as not to be easily separated by an instrument, though plainly distinguishable with the eye. During our journey to-day, the breadth of the river was generally three French miles. They shewed me the turnings the ships are obliged to sail in, which seem to be very troublesome, as they are obliged to bear away for either shore, as occasion requires, or as the rocks and sands in the river oblige them to do.

For the distance of five French miles we had a very dangerous passage to go through; for the whole western shore, along which we rowed, consists of very high and steep mountains, where we could not have found a single place to land with safety, during the space of five miles, in case a high wind had arisen. There are indeed two or three openings, or holes, in the mountains, into which one could have drawn the boat, in the greatest danger. But they are so narrow, that in case the boat could not find them in the hurry, it would inevitably be dashed against the rocks. These high mountains are either quite bare, or covered with some small firs, standing far asunder. In some places there are great clefts, going down the mountains, in which trees grow very close together, and are taller than on the other parts of the mountain; so that those places look like quick-hedges, planted on the solid rock. A little while after we passed a small church, and some farms round it. The place is called Petite Riviere, and they say, its inhabitants are very poor, which seems very probable. They have no more land to cultivate, than what lies between the mountains and the river, which in the widest part is not above three musket shot, and in most parts but one broad. About seventeen French miles from Quebec the water is so salty in the river, that no one can drink it, our rowers therefore provided themselves with a kettle full of fresh water this morning. About five o’clock in the evening, we arrived at bay St. Paul, and took our lodgings with the priests, who have a fine large house here, and entertained us very hospitably.

Bay St. Paul is a small parish, about eighteen French miles below Quebec, lying at some distance from the shore of a bay formed by the river, on a low plain. It is surrounded by high mountains on every side, one large gap excepted, which is over-against the river. All the farms are at some distance from each other. The church is reckoned one of the most ancient in Canada; which seems to be confirmed by its bad architecture, and want of ornaments; for the walls are formed of pieces of timber, erected at about two feet distance from each other, supporting the roof. Between these pieces of timber, they have made the walls of the church of lime-slate. The roof is flat. The church has no steeple, but a bell fixed above the roof, in the open air. Almost all the country in this neighbourhood belongs to the priests, who have leased it to the farmers. The inhabitants live chiefly upon agriculture and making of tar, which last is sold at Quebec.

This country being low, and situated upon a bay of the river, it may be conjectured, that this flat ground was formerly part of the bottom of the river, and formed itself, either by a decrease of water in the river, or by an encrease of earth, which was carried upon it from the continent by the brooks, or thrown on it by storms. A great part of the plants, which are to be met with here, are likewise marine; such as glass-wort, sea milk-wort, and sea-side pease [74]. But when I have asked the inhabitants, whether they find shells in the ground by digging for wells, they always answered in the negative. I received the same answer from those who live in the low fields directly north of Quebec, and all agreed, that they never found any thing by digging, but different kinds of earth and sand.

It is remarkable, that there is generally a different wind in the bay from that in the river, which arises from the high mountains, covered with tall woods, with which it is surrounded on every side but one. For example, when the wind comes from the river, it strikes against one of the mountains at the entrance of the bay, it is reflected, and consequently takes a direction quite different from what it had before.

I found sand of three kinds upon the shore; one is a clear coarse sand, consisting of angulated grains of quartz, and is very common on the shore; the other is a fine black sand, which I have likewise found in abundance on the shores of lake Champlain, [75] and which is common all over Canada. Almost every grain of it is attracted by the magnet. Besides this, there is a granet coloured sand [76], which is likewise very fine. This may owe its origin to the granet coloured grains of sand, which are to be found in all the stones and mountains here near the shore. The sand may have arisen from the crumbled pieces of some stones, or the stones may have been composed of it. I have found both this and the black sand on the shores, in several parts of this journey; but the black sand was always the most plentiful.

August the 31st. All the high hills in the neighbourhood sent up a smoke this morning, as from a charcoal-kiln.

Gnats are innumerable here; and as soon as one looks out of doors, they immediately attack him; and they are still worse in the woods. They are exactly the same gnats as our common Swedish ones, being only somewhat less than the North-American gnats all are. Near Fort St. Jean, I have likewise seen gnats which were the same with ours, but they were somewhat bigger, almost of the size of our crane-flies [77]. Those which are here, are beyond measure blood-thirsty. However, I comforted myself, because the time of their disappearance was near at hand.

This afternoon we went still lower down the river St. Lawrence, to a place, where, we were told, there were silver or lead mines. Somewhat below bay St. Paul, we passed a neck of land, which consists entirely of a grey, pretty compact lime-stone, lying in dipping, and almost perpendicular strata. It seems to be merely a variety of the black lime-slates. The strata dip to the south-east, and basset out to the north-west. The thickness of each is from ten to fifteen inches. When the stone is broken, it has a strong smell, like stink-stone. We kept, as before, to the western shore of the river, which consists of nothing but steep mountains and rocks. The river is not above three French miles broad here. Now and then we could see stripes in the rock of a fine white, loose, semi-opaque spar. In some places of the river are pieces of rock as big as houses, which had rolled from the mountains in spring. The places they formerly occupied are plainly to be seen.

In several places, they have eel-traps in the river, like those I have before described [78].

By way of amusement, I wrote down a few Algonkin words, which I learnt from a Jesuit who has been a long time among the Algonkins. They call water, mukuman; the head, ustigon; the heart, uta; the body, veetras; the foot, ukhita; a little boat, ush; a ship, nabikoan; fire, skute; hay, maskoosee; the hare, whabus; (they have a verb, which expresses the action of hunting hares, derived from the noun); the marten, whabistanis; the elk, moosu [79] (but so that the final u is hardly pronounced); the rein-deer, atticku; the mouse, mawitulsis. The Jesuit who told me those particulars, likewise informed me, that he had great reason to believe, that, if any Indians here owed their origin to Tataria, he thought the Algonkins certainly did; for their language is universally spoken in that part of North-America, which lies far to the west of Canada, towards Asia. It is said to be a very copious language; as for example, the verb to go upon the ice, is entirely different in the Algonkin from to go upon dry land, to go upon the mountains, &c.

Late at night we arrived at Terre d’Eboulement, which is twenty-two French miles from Quebec, and the last cultivated place on the western shore of the river St. Lawrence. The country lower down is said to be so mountainous, that no body can live in it, there not being a single spot of ground, which could be tilled. A little church, belonging to this place, stands on the shore, near the water.

No walnut-trees grow near this village, nor are there any kinds of them further north of this place. At bay St. Paul, there are two or three walnut-trees of that species which the English call butter-nut-trees; but they are looked upon as great rarities, and there are no others in the neighbourhood.

Oaks of all kinds, will not grow near this place, nor lower down, or further north.

Wheat is the kind of corn which is sown in the greatest quantities here. The soil is pretty fertile, and they have sometimes got twenty-four or twenty-six bushels from one, though the harvest is generally ten or twelve fold. The bread here is whiter than any where else in Canada.

They sow plenty of oats, and it succeeds better than the wheat.

They sow likewise a great quantity of peas, which yield a greater encrease than any corn; and there are examples of its producing an hundred fold.

Here are but few birds; and those that pass the summer here, migrate in autumn; so that there are no other birds than snow-birds, red partridges, and ravens, in winter. Even crows do not venture to expose themselves to the rigours of winter, but take flight in autumn.

The Bull-frogs live in the pools of this neighbourhood. Fire flies are likewise to be found here.

Instead of candles, they make use of lamps in country places, in which they burn train-oil of porpesses, which is the common oil here. Where they have none of it, they supply its place with train-oil of seals.

September the 1st. There was a woman with child in this village, who was now in the fifty-ninth year of her age. She had not had the catamenia during eighteen years. In the year 1748, she got the small-pox, and now she was very big. She said she was very well, and could feel the motions of the fœtus. She looked very well, and had her husband alive. This being an uncommon case, she was brought to the royal physician, M. Gaulthier, who accompanied us on this journey.

At half an hour after seven this morning we went down the river. The country near Terre d’Eboulement is high, and consists of hills of a loose mould, which ly in three or four rows above each other, and are all well cultivated, and mostly turned into corn-fields; though there are likewise meadows and pastures.

The great earthquake which happened in Canada, in February, 1663, and which is mentioned by Charlevoix [80], has done considerable damage to this place. Many hills tumbled down; and a great part of the corn-fields on the lowest hills were destroyed. They shewed me several little islands, which arose in the river on this occasion.

There are pieces of black lime-slate scattered on those hills, which consist of mould. For the space of eight French miles along the side of the river, there is not a piece of lime-slate to be seen; but instead of it, there are high grey mountains, consisting of a rock-stone, which contains a purple and a crystaline quartz, mixed with lime-stone, and black glimmer. The roots of these mountains go into the water. We now begin to see the lime-slates again.

Here are a number of Terns [81], which fly about, and make a noise along the shore.

The river is here computed at about four French miles broad.

On the sides of the river, about two French miles inland, there are such terraces of earth as at Terre d’Eboulement; but soon after they are succeeded by high disagreeable mountains.

Several brooks fall into the river here, over the steep shores, with a great noise. The shores are sometimes several yards high, and consist either of earth, or of rock-stone.

One of these brooks, which flows over a hill of lime-stone, contains a mineral water. It has a strong smell of sulphur, is very clear, and does not change its colour, when mixed with gall-apples. If it is poured into a silver cup, it looks as if the cup was gilt; and the water leaves a sediment of a crimson colour at the bottom. The stones and pieces of wood, which ly in the water, are covered with a slime, which is pale grey at the top, and black at the bottom of the stone. This slime has not much pungency, but tastes like oil of tobacco. My hands had a sulphureous smell all day, because I had handled some of the slimy stones.

The black lime-slate now abounds again, near the level of the water. It lies in strata, which are placed almost perpendicularly near each other, inclining a little towards W. S. W. Each stratum is between ten and fifteen inches thick. Most of them are shivered into thin leaves at the top, towards the day; but in the inside, whither neither sun, nor air and water can penetrate, they are close and compact. Some of these stones are not quite black, but have a greyish cast.

About noon we arrived at Cap aux Oyes, or Geese Cape, which has probably got its name from the number of wild geese which the French found near it, on their first arrival in Canada. At present, we saw neither geese, nor any kind of birds here, a single raven excepted. Here we were to examine the renowned metallic veins in the mountain; but found nothing more than small veins of a fine white spar, containing a few specks of lead ore. Cap aux Oyes is computed twenty-two, or twenty-five French miles distant from Quebec. I was most pleased by finding, that most of the plants are the same as grow in Sweden; a proof of which I shall produce in the sequel.

The sand-reed [82] grows in abundance in the sand, and prevents its being blown about by the wind.

The sea-lyme grass [83] likewise abounds on the shores. Both it and the preceding plant are called Seigle de mer [84] by the French. I have been assured that these plants grow in great plenty in Newfoundland, and on other North-American shores; the places covered with them looking, at a distance, like corn-fields; which might explain the passage in our northern accounts, of the excellent wine land [85], which mentions, that they had found whole fields of wheat growing wild.

The sea-side plantain [86] is very frequent on the shore. The French boil its leaves in a broth on their sea-voyages, or eat them as a sallad. It may likewise be pickled like samphire.

The bear-berries [87] grow in great abundance here. The Indians, French, English, and Dutch, in those parts of North-America, which I have seen, call them Sagackhomi, and mix the leaves with tobacco for their use.

Gale, or sweet willow [88], is likewise abundant here. The French call it Laurier, and some Poivrier. They put the leaves into their broth, to give it a pleasant taste.

The sea-rocket [89] is, likewise, not uncommon. Its root is pounded, mixed with flour, and eaten here, when there is a scarcity of bread.

The sorb-tree, or mountain-ash, the cranberry-bush, the juniper-tree, the sea-side pease, the Linnæa, and many other Swedish plants, are likewise to be met with here.

We returned to bay St. Paul to-day. A grey seal swam behind the boat for some time, but was not near enough to be shot at.

September the 2d. This morning we went to see the silver or lead veins. They ly a little on the south-side of the mills, belonging to the priests. The mountain in which the veins ly, has the same constituent parts, as the other high grey rocks in this place, viz. a rock-stone composed of a whitish or pale grey lime-stone, a purple or almost garnet-coloured quartz, and a black glimmer. The lime-stone is in greater quantities here than the other parts; and it is so fine as to be hardly visible. It effervesces very strongly with aqua fortis. The purple or garnet-coloured quartz is next in quantity; lies scattered in exceeding small grains, and strikes fire when struck with a steel. The little black particles of glimmer follow next; and last of all, the transparent crystalline speckles of quartz. There are some small grains of spar in the lime-stone. All the different kinds of stone are very well mixed together, except that the glimmer now and then forms little veins and lines. The stone is very hard; but when exposed to sun-shine and the open air, it changes so much as to look quite rotten, and becomes friable; and in that case, its constituent particles grow quite undistinguishable. The mountain is quite full of perpendicular clefts, in which the veins of lead-ore run from E. S. E. to W. N. W. It seems the mountain had formerly got cracks here, which were afterwards filled up with a kind of stone, in which the lead-ore was generated. That stone which contains the lead-ore is a soft, white, often semidiaphanous spar, which works very easily. In it there are sometimes stripes of a snowy white lime-stone, and almost always veins of a green kind of stone like quartz. This spar has many cracks, and divides into such pieces as quartz; but is much softer, never strikes fire with steel, does not effervesce with acids, and is not smooth to the touch. It seems to be a species of Mr. Professor Wallerius’s vitrescent spar [90]. There are sometimes small pieces of a greyish quartz in this spar, which emit strong sparks of fire, when struck with a steel. In these kinds of stone the lead ore is lodged. It commonly lies in little lumps of the size of peas; but sometimes in specks of an inch square, or bigger. The ore is very clear, and lies in little cubes [91]. It is generally very poor, a few places excepted. The veins of soft spar, and other kinds of stone, are very narrow, and commonly from ten to fifteen inches broad. In a few places they are twenty inches broad; and in one single place twenty-two and a half. The brook which intersects the mountain towards the mills, runs down so deep into the mountain, that the distance from the summit of the hill, to the bottom of the brook, is near twelve yards. Here I examined the veins, and found that they always keep the same breadth, not encreasing near the bottom of the brook; and likewise, that they are no richer below, than at the top. From hence it may be easily concluded, that it is not worth while sinking mines here. Of these veins there are three or four in this neighbourhood, at some distance from each other, but all of the same quality. The veins are almost perpendicular, sometimes deviating a little. When pieces of the green stone before mentioned ly in the water, a great deal of the adherent white spar and lime-stone is consumed; but the green stone remains untouched. That part of the veins which is turned towards the air is always very rough, because the sun, air, and rain, have mouldered a great part of the spar and lime-stone; but the green stone has resisted their attacks. They sometimes find deep holes in these veins, filled with mountain crystals. The greatest quantity of lead or silver ore is to be found next to the rock, or even on the sides of the vein. There are now and then little grains of pyrites in the spar, which have a fine gold colour. The green stone when pounded, and put on a red-hot shovel, burns with a blue flame. Some say, they can then observe a sulphureous smell, which I could never perceive, though my sense of smelling is very perfect. When this green stone is grown quite red-hot, it loses its green colour, and acquires a whitish one, but will not effervesce with aqua fortis.