* The river, in this channel, is not more than twelve feet wide, and here the Natural Steps occur. They rise on one side of the stream like irregular stairs. They have been formed by the action of the water on the softer layers of limestone, and present a curiosity for the visitor.
Religious Edifices in Quebec.—The Citadel and the Walls.—View from Dalhousie Bastion.—Plains of Abraham.
three degrees in the shade. The points of view were sparsely shadowed by trees, and we tarried only long enough to glance at the beauties of the fall and steal its features with a pencil, and then returned to Quebee, where, before dinner, we visited several churches, the chapel of the Ursuline Convent, * the Seminary of Quebec, **the chapel of the Hotel Dieu, *** and the citadel.
The citadel crowning Cape Diamond is a combination of powerful works. It is three hundred and fifty feet above the river, and is terminated on the east by a round tower, over which floats the national standard of England, the flag
"That's braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze."
The approach to the citadel is by a winding road through the acclivity of the glacis from St. Louis Gate. It is foreign to my plan to notice in detail modern fortifications upon Revolutionary ground, and we will stop to consider only a few points of interest in this most perfect military work. The main entrance is through Dalhousie Gate, where we presented our permit, and were joined by a young Highland soldier to guide and guard us. On the top of Dalhousie Bastion is a covered way with a broad gravel walk, from which is obtained the finest view of the city, harbor, and surrounding country. The St. Charles is seen winding through a beautiful undulating plain, and the spires of Beauport. Charlesbourg, and Lorette, with the white cottages around them, form a pleasing feature in the landscape. The citadel and its ravelins cover about forty acres; and the fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains of solid masonry, and ramparts twenty-five to thirty feet in height, mounted with cannon, are continued entirely around the upper town. Upon the cliff called Sault au Matelot is the grand battery, of eighteen thirty-two pounders, commanding the basin and harbor below. At the different gates of the city sentinels are posted day and night, and in front of the jail and other publie buildings the solemn march of military guards is seen The garrison at Quebee numbered about three thousand soldiers. Among them was the 79th regiment of Scotch Highlanders, lately from Gibraltar. They were six hundred strong, and, dressed in their picturesque costume, made a fine appearance. To a stranger the military forms a principal feature of Quebee, and the mind is constantly carried back to the era of Froissart, when "Everie fayre towne had strong high walls, and bowmen and spearmen were more numerous than all others."
We left the citadel, emerged from St. Louis Gate, and, after visiting the monument where "Wolfe died victorious," rode over the battle-ground upon the Plains of Abraham, and, crossing to the St. Foix Road, went into the country as far as Holland House (the headquarters of Montgomery), and then returned, pleased and wearied, to the Albion. We strolled at evening through the governor's garden, rested upon Durham Terrace (see view on page 185), which was crowded with promenaders, and, losing our way in trying to ferret out the Albion, found ourselves at Hope Gate, where a kind priest, in long black cassock and broad beaver, conducted us back to Palace Street.
I devoted the following day to business. Before breakfast I went to Durham Terrace,
* The Ursuline Convent is situated on Parloir Street, near the English Cathedral. Influenced by an appeal from the French Jesuits of Canada, a young widow of Alençon, named Madame de la Poltrie, resolved to devote her life and fortune to the work of establishing a convent in Quebee. She founded the Ursuline Convent in 1641. An excellent school for the education of females is attached to it. In the chapel, as already noticed, is an inscribed marble slab, in memory of Montcalm, whose body lies within the grounds of the institution.