The harrows are triangular; two of the sides are six feet, and the third four feet long. The teeth, and every other part of the harrows are of wood. The teeth are [[190]]about five inches long, and about as much distant from each other.
The prospect of the country about a quarter of a mile Swedish, north of Quebec, on the west side of the river St. Lawrence, is very fine. The country is very steep towards the river, and grows higher as you go further from the water. In many places it is naturally divided into terraces. From the heights, one can look a great way: Quebec appears very plain to the south, and the river St. Lawrence to the east, on which were vessels sailing up and down. To the west are the high mountains, which the hills of the river end with. All the country is laid out for corn-fields, meadows, and pastures; most of the fields were sown with wheat, many with white oats, and some with pease. Several fine houses and farms are interspersed all over the country, and none are ever together. The dwelling-house is commonly built of black lime-slates, and generally white-washed on the outside. Many rivulets and brooks roll down the high grounds, above which the great mountains ly, and which consist entirely of the black lime-slates, that shiver in pieces in the open air. On the lime-slates lies a mould of two or three feet in depth. The soil in the corn-fields is always mixed with [[191]]little pieces of the lime-slate. All the rivulets cut their beds deep into the ground; so that their shores are commonly of lime-slate. A dark-grey lime-stone is sometimes found among the strata, which, when broke, smells like stink-stone.
They were now building several ships below Quebec, for the king’s account. However, before my departure, an order arrived from France, prohibiting the further building of ships of war, except those which were already on the stocks; because they had found, that the ships built of American oak do not last so long as those of European oak. Near Quebec is found very little oak, and what grows there is not fit for use, being very small; therefore they are obliged to fetch their oak timber from those parts of Canada which border upon New-England. But all the North-American oaks have the quality of lasting longer, and withstanding putrefaction better, the further north they grow, and vice versâ. The timber from the confines of New-England is brought in floats or rafts on the rivers near those parts, and near the lake St. Pierre, which fall into the great river St. Lawrence. Some oak is likewise brought from the country between Montreal and Fort St. Frederic, or Fort Champlain; but [[192]]it is not reckoned so good as the first, and the place it comes from is further distant.
August the 26th. They shewed a green earth, which had been brought to the general, marquis de la Galissonniere, from the upper parts of Canada. It was a clay, which cohered very fast together, and was of a green colour throughout, like verdigrease.[71]
All the brooks in Canada contain crawfish, of the same kind with ours. The French are fond of eating them, and say they are vastly decreased in number since they have begun to catch them.
The common people in the country, seem to be very poor. They have the necessaries of life, and but little else. They are content with meals of dry bread and water, bringing all other provisions, such as butter, cheese, flesh, poultry, eggs, &c. to town, in order to get money for them, for which they buy clothes and brandy for themselves, and dresses for their women. Notwithstanding their poverty, they are always chearful, and in high spirits.
August the 29th. By the desire of the governor-general, marquis de la Jonquiere, [[193]]and of marquis de la Galissonniere, I set out, with some French gentlemen, to visit the pretended silver-mine, or the lead-mine, near the bay St. Paul. I was glad to undertake this journey, as it gave me an opportunity of seeing a much greater part of the country, than I should otherwise have done. This morning therefore we set out on our tour in a boat, and went down the river St. Lawrence.
The harvest was now at hand, and I saw all the people at work in the corn-fields. They had began to reap wheat and oats, a week ago.
The prospect near Quebec is very lively from the river. The town lies very high, and all the churches, and other buildings, appear very conspicuous. The ships in the river below ornament the landscape on that side. The powder magazine, which stands at the summit of the mountain, on which the town is built, towers above all the other buildings.
The country we passed by afforded a no less charming sight. The river St. Lawrence flows nearly from south to north here; on both sides of it are cultivated fields, but more on the west side than on the east side. The hills on both shores are steep, and high. A number of fine [[194]]hills, separated from each other, large fields, which looked quite white from the corn with which they are covered, and excellent woods of deciduous trees, made the country round us look very pleasant. Now and then we saw a church of stone, and in several places brooks fell from the hills into the river. Where the brooks are considerable, there they have made saw-mills, and water-mills.