Montreal, 1535-1914. Vol. 1. Under the French Régime, 1535-1760

by William H. Atherton

We have given pen pictures of Montreal at various periods. Here is Kalm's for 1749: "Montreal is the second town in Canada, in regard to size and wealth; but it is the first on account of its fine situation and mild climate. Somewhat above the town, the river St. Lawrence divides into several branches, and by that means forms several islands, among which the Isle of Montreal is the greatest. It is ten French miles long, and near four broad, in its broadest part. The town of Montreal is built on the eastern side of the island, and close to one of the most considerable branches of the river St. Lawrence; and thus it receives a very pleasant and advantageous situation. The town has a quadrangular form, or rather it is a rectangular parallelogram, the long and eastern side of which extends along the great branch of the river. On the other side it is surrounded with excellent corn-fields, charming meadows, and delightful woods. It has got the name of Montreal from a great mountain, about half a mile westwards of the town, and lifting its head far above the woods. Mons. Cartier, one of the first Frenchmen who surveyed Canada more accurately, called this mountain, on his arrival in this island, in the year 1535, when he visited the mountain, and the Indian town Hochelaga near it. The priests who, according to the Roman Catholic way, would call every place in this country after some saint or other, called Montreal, Ville Marie, but they have not been able to make this name general, for it has always kept its first name.

"It is pretty well fortified, and surrounded with a high and thick wall. On the east side it has the river St. Lawrence, and on all the other sides a deep ditch filled with water, which secures the inhabitants against all danger from the sudden incursions of the enemy's troops. However, it cannot long stand a regular siege, because it requires a great garrison, on account of its extent; and because it consists chiefly of wooden houses. Here are several churches, of which I shall only mention that belonging to the friars of the order of St. Sulpitius, that of the Jesuits, that of the Franciscan friars, that belonging to the nunnery, and that of the hospital, of which the first is, however, by far the finest, both in regard to its outward and inward ornaments, not only in this place, but in all Canada. The priests of the Seminary of St. Sulpitius have a fine, large house, where they live together. The college of the Franciscan friars is likewise spacious, and has good walls, but it is not so magnificent as the former. The college of the Jesuits is small, but well built. To each of these three buildings are annexed fine large gardens, for the amusement, health and use of the communities to which they belong.

"Some of the houses in the town are built of stone, but most of them are of timber, though very neatly built. Each of the better sort of houses has a door towards the street, with a seat on each side of it, for amusement and recreation in the morning and evening. The long streets are broad and strait, and divided at right angles by the short ones; some are paved, but most of them very uneven. The gates of the town are numerous; on the east side of the town towards the river are five, two great and three lesser ones; and on the other side are likewise several. The governor general of Canada, when he is at Montreal, resides in the castle, which the government hires for that purpose of the family of Vaudreuil; but the governor of Montreal is obliged to buy or hire a house in town; though I was told that the government contributed towards paying the rents.

"In the town is a nunnery, and without its walls half a one; [183] for though the last was quite ready, however, it had not yet been confirmed by the pope. In the first they do not receive every girl that offers herself; for their parents must pay about five hundred écus, or crowns, for them. Some indeed are admitted for three hundred écus, but they are obliged to serve those who pay more than they. No poor girls are taken in.

"The king has erected a hospital for sick soldiers here. The sick person there is provided with everything he wants, and the king pays twelve sols every day for his stay, attendance, etc. The surgeons are paid by the king. When an officer is brought to this hospital, who is fallen sick in the service of the crown, he receives victuals and attendance gratis; but if he has got sickness in the execution of his private concerns, and comes to be cured here, he must pay it out of his own purse. When there is room enough in the hospital, they likewise take in some of the sick inhabitants of the town and country. They have the medicines, and the attendance of the surgeons, gratis, but must pay twelve sols per day for meat, etc.

"Every Friday is a market-day, when the country people come to the town with provisions, and those who want them must supply themselves on that day, because it is the only market-day in the whole week. On that day likewise a number of Indians come to town, to sell their goods and buy others."

He had some conversations with the priests of the seminary, one of whom, Monsieur Gillion, who had a particular taste for mathematics and astronomy, had drawn a meridian in the garden of the seminary, which Kalm said he had examined repeatedly by the sun and stars and found to be very exact. According to Monsieur Gillion's observation, the latitude of Montreal is forty-five degrees and twenty-seven minutes....

He then viewed the thermometrical observations made in Montreal by Monsieur Pontarion from the beginning of 1749. He made use of Réaumur's thermometer, which he placed sometimes in a window half open, and sometimes in one quite open, and accordingly it will seldom mark the greatest degree of cold in the air. However, I shall give a short abstract of his observations for the winter months:

"In January the greatest cold was on the 18th day of the month, when the Réaumurian thermometer was twenty-three below the freezing point. The least degree of cold was on the 31st of the same month, when it was just at the freezing point, but most of the days of this month it was from twelve to fifteen degrees below the freezing point. In February the greatest cold was on the 19th and 25th, when the thermometer was fourteen degrees below freezing point; and the least was on the 3rd day of that month, when it rose eight degrees above the freezing point; but it was generally eleven degrees below it. In March the greatest cold was on the 3rd, when it was ten degrees below the freezing point, and on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th it was mildest, being fifteen degrees above it; in general it was four degrees below it. In April the greatest degree of cold happened on the 7th, the thermometer being five degrees below the freezing point; the 25th was the mildest day, it being twenty-five degrees above the freezing point; but in general it was twelve degrees above it. These are the contents chiefly of Mons. Pontarion's observations during those months. But I found, by the manner he made his observations, that the cold had every day been from four to six degrees greater than he had marked it."

He had likewise marked in his journal that the ice in the River St. Lawrence broke on the 3d of April at Montreal, and only on the 20th day of that month at Quebec. "On the 3d of May some trees began to flower at Montreal, and on the 12th the hoary frost was so great that the trees were quite covered with it, as with snow. The ice in the river close to this town is every winter above a French foot thick, and sometimes it is two of such feet, as I was informed by all whom I consulted on that head.