The Golden Dog is another curiosity which will attract the attention of the visitor to Quebec. It is the figure of a dog, rudely sculptured in relievo, and richly gilded, which stands above the entrance of an ancient house, which was built by M. Phillibert, a merchant of this city, in the time of M. Bigot, the last Intendant under the French Government. Connected with it is the following curious story, which I copy from an old record:
“M. Phillibert and the Intendant were on bad terms, but, under the system then existing, the merchant knew that it was in vain for him to seek redress in the colony; and, determining at some future period to prefer his complaint in France, he contented himself with placing the figure of a sleeping dog in front of his house, with the following lines beneath it, in allusion to his situation with his powerful enemy:
“‘Je suis un chien qui ronge l’os,
En le rongeant je prends mon repos—
Un tems viendra qui n’est pas venu—
Que je mordrai qui m’aura mordu.’
“This allegorical language was, however, too plain for M. Bigot to misunderstand it. A man so powerful easily found an instrument to avenge the insult, and M. Phillibert received, as the reward of his verse, the sword of an officer of the garrison through his back, when descending the Lower Town Hill. The murderer was permitted to leave the colony unmolested, and was transferred to a regiment stationed in the East Indies. Thither he was pursued by a brother of the deceased, who had first sought him in Canada, when he arrived to settle his brother’s affairs. The parties, it is related, met in the public street of Pondicherry, drew their swords, and, after a severe conflict, the assassin met a more honourable fate than his crime deserved, and died by the hand of his antagonist.”
I know not that there are any other curiosities in Quebec really worth mentioning, and I willingly turn to its natural attractions. The Fortress itself is undoubtedly one, if not the most formidable on the Continent, but I fell in love with it on account of its observatory features. To ramble over its commanding ramparts, without knowing or caring to know a solitary individual, has been to me an agreeable and unique source of entertainment. At one time I leaned upon the balustrade, and looked down upon the Lower Town. It was near the hour of noon. Horses and carriages, men, women, and children, were hurrying through the narrow streets, and ships were in the docks discharging their cargoes. I looked down upon all these things at a single glance, and yet the only noise I heard was a hum of business. Even the loud clear shout of the sailor, as he tugged away at the mast-head of his ship, could hardly be heard stealing upward on the air. Doves were flying about high above the roofs, but they were so far below my point of vision, that I could not hear the beating of their wings.
But the finest prospect that I have enjoyed in this city was from the summit of the Signal-House, which looms above the Citadel. I visited this spot just as the sun was setting, and every thing was enveloped in a golden atmosphere. Beneath me lay the city, gradually lulling itself to repose; on the west, far as the eye could reach, faded away the valley of the Upper St. Lawrence; towards the north, winding its way between high and well-cultivated hills, was the river St. Charles; towards the eastward, rolling onward in its sublimity like an ocean across the continent, was the flood of the Lower St. Lawrence, whitened by more than a hundred sails; and towards the south reposed a picturesque country of hills and dales, beyond which I could just discern some of the mountain-peaks of my own dear “Fatherland.” Strange and beautiful beyond compare was the entire panorama, and how was its influence upon me deepened, as a strain of martial music broke upon the silent air, and then melted into my very heart! I knew not whence it came, or who were the musicians, but I “blessed them unaware,” and as my vision again wandered over the far-off hills, I was quite happy.
The population of Quebec is estimated at thirty thousand, and the variety is as great as in Montreal. A large proportion of the people whom you see parading the streets are soldiers, and chief among them I would mention the Scotch Highlanders, who are a noble set of men, and dress in handsome style.