The walls round the town are mouldering away very fast, and in some places are totally in ruins; the gates, however, remain quite perfect. The walls were built principally as a defence against the Indians, by whom the country was thickly inhabited when Montreal was founded, and they were found necessary, to repel the open attacks of these people as late as the year 1736. When the large fairs used to be held in Montreal, to which the Indians from all parts resorted with their furs, they were also found extremely useful, as the inhabitants were thereby enabled to shut out the Indians at night, who, had they been suffered to remain in the town, addicted as they are to drinking, might have been tempted to commit great outrages, and would have kept the inhabitants in a continual state of alarm. In their best state the walls could not have protected the town against cannon, not even against a six pounder; nor, indeed, would the strongest walls be of any use in defending it against artillery, as it is completely commanded by the eminences in the island of St. Helene[[30]], in the River St. Lawrence. Montreal has always been an easy conquest to regular troops.
[30]. This island was the last place which the French surrendered to the British.
MONTREAL.
By far the greater number of the inhabitants of Montreal are of French extraction; all the eminent merchants, however, and principal people in the town, are either English, Scotch, Irish, or their descendants, all of whom pass for English with the French inhabitants. The French retain, in a great measure, the manners and customs of their ancestors, as well as the language; they have an unconquerable aversion to learn English, and it is very rare to meet with any person amongst them that can speak it in any manner; but the English inhabitants are, for the most part, well acquainted with the French language.
The people of Montreal, in general, are remarkably hospitable and attentive to strangers; they are sociable also amongst themselves, and fond in the extreme of convivial amusements. In winter, they keep up such a constant and friendly intercourse with each other, that it seems then as if the town were inhabited but by one large family. During summer they live somewhat more retired; but throughout that season a club, formed of all the principal, inhabitants, both male and female, meet every week or fortnight, for the purpose of dining at some agreeable spot in the neighbourhood of the town.
The island of Montreal is about twenty-eight miles in length and ten in breadth; it is the largest of several islands which are situated in the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the Utawa River. Its soil is luxuriant, and in some parts much cultivated and thickly inhabited. It is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, and towards its center, in the neighbourhood of Montreal, there are two or three considerable mountains. The largest of these stands at the distance of about one mile from the town, which is named from it. The base of this mountain is surrounded with neat country houses and gardens, and partial improvements have been made about one third of the way up; the remainder is entirely covered with lofty trees. On that side towards the river is a large old monastery, with extensive inclosures walled in, round which the ground has been cleared for some distance. This open part is covered with a rich verdure, and the woods encircling it, instead of being overrun with brushwood, are quite clear at bottom, so that you may here roam about at pleasure for miles together, shaded, by the lofty trees, from the rays of the sun.
FUR TRADE.
The view from hence is grand beyond description. A prodigious expanse of country is laid open to the eye, with the noble river St. Lawrence winding through it, which may be traced from the remotest part of the horizon. The river comes from the right, and flows smoothly on after passing down the tremendous rapids above the town, where it is hurried over huge rocks with a noise that is heard even up the mountain. On the left below you appears the town of Montreal, with its churches, monasteries, glittering spires, and the shipping under its old walls; several little islands in the river near the town, partly improved, partly overgrown with wood, add greatly to the beauty of the scene. La Prarie with its large church on the distant side of the river, is seen to the greatest advantage, and beyond it is a range of lofty mountains which terminates the prospect. Such an endless variety and such a grandeur is there in the view from this part of the mountain, that even those who are most habituated to the view always find it a fresh subject of admiration whenever they contemplate it; and on this part of the mountain it is that the club which I mentioned generally assembles. Two stewards are appointed for the day, who always chuse some new spot where there is a spring or rill of water, and an agreeable shade: each family brings cold provisions, wine, &c.; the whole is put together, and the company, often amounting to one hundred persons, sits down to dinner.
The fur trade is what is chiefly carried on at Montreal, and it is there that the greater part of the furs are shipped, which are sent from Canada to England.
This very lucrative trade is carried on, partly by what is called the North West Company, and partly by private individuals on their own account. The company does not possess any particular privileges by law, but from its great capital merely it is enabled to trade to certain remote parts of the continent, to the exclusion of those who do not hold any shares in it. It was formed originally by the merchants of Montreal themselves, who wisely considered that the trade could be carried on to those distant parts of the continent, inhabited solely by Indians, with more security and greater profit, if they joined together in a body, than if they continued to trade separately. The stock of the company was divided into forty shares, and as the number of merchants in the town at that time was not very great, this arrangement afforded an opportunity to every one of them to join in the company if he thought proper. At present these shares have all fallen into the hands of a few persons.