"The ladies in Canada, or especially at Montreal, are very ready to laugh at any blunders strangers make in speaking; but they are very excusable. People laugh at what appears uncommon and ridiculous. In Canada nobody ever hears the French language spoken by any but Frenchmen; for strangers seldom come thither; and the Indians are naturally too proud to learn French, but oblige the French to learn their language. From hence it naturally follows that the nice Canada ladies cannot hear anything uncommon without laughing at it. One of the first questions they propose to a stranger is, whether he is married? The next, how he likes the ladies in the country and whether he thinks them handsomer than those of his own country? And the third, whether he will take one home with him? There are some differences between the ladies of Quebec and those of Montreal; those of the last place seemed to be generally handsomer than those of the former. Their behaviour likewise seemed to me to be somewhat too free at Quebec, and of a more becoming modesty at Montreal.
"The ladies at Quebec, especially the unmarried ones, are not very industrious. A girl of eighteen is reckoned very poorly off, if she cannot enumerate at least twenty lovers. These young ladies, especially those of a higher rank, get up at seven, and dress till nine, drinking their coffee at the same time. When they are dressed, they place themselves near a window that opens into the street, take up some needlework, and sew a stitch now and then; but turn their eyes into the street most of the time. When a young fellow comes in, whether they are acquainted with him or not, they immediately lay aside their work, sit down by him, and begin to chat, laugh, joke, and invent double-entendres; and this is reckoned being very witty. In this manner they frequently pass the whole day, leaving their mothers to do all the business in the house.
"In Montreal, the girls are not quite so volatile, but more industrious. They are always at their needlework, or doing some necessary business in the house. They are likewise cheerful and content; and nobody can say that they want either wit, or charm. Their fault is, that they think too well of themselves. However, the daughters of people of all ranks, without exception, go to market, and carry home what they have bought. They rise as soon and go to bed as late as any of the people in the house. I have been assured that, in general, their fortunes are not considerable; which are rendered still more scarce by the number of children, and the small revenues in a house. The girls at Montreal are very much displeased that those at Quebec get husbands sooner than they. The reason of this is, that many young gentlemen who come over from France with the ships, are captivated by the ladies at Quebec, and marry them; but as these gentlemen seldom go up to Montreal, the girls there are not often so happy as those of the former place."
A few economic facts noted by Kalm on this second visit are:
"Wine is almost the only liquor which people above the vulgar are used to drink. [184] They make a kind of spruce beer of the top of the white fir, which they drink in summer; but the use of it is not general; and it is seldom drank by people of quality. Thus great sums go annually out of the country for wine; as they have no vines here, of which they could make a liquor that is fit to be drank. The common people drink water; for it is not yet customary here to brew beer of malt; and there are not orchards large enough to supply the people with apples for making cider. Some of the people of rank, who possess large orchards, sometimes, out of curiosity, get a small quantity of cider made. The great people here, who are used from their youth to drink nothing but wine, are greatly at a loss in time of war, when all the ships which brought wine are intercepted by the English privateers. Towards the end of the last war, they gave two hundred and fifty francs and even one hundred écus, for a barrique, or hogshead of wine.
"The present price of several things, I have been told by some of the greatest merchants here, is as follows: A middling horse costs forty francs and upwards; a good horse is valued at an hundred francs or more. A cow is now sold for fifty francs; but people can remember the time when they were sold for ten écus. A sheep costs five or six livres at present; but last year, when everything was dear, it cost eight or ten francs. A hog of one year old, and two hundred, or an hundred and fifty pound weight, is sold at fifteen francs. M. Couagne, the merchant, told me that he had seen a hog of four hundred weight among the Indians. A chicken is sold for ten or twelve sols; and a turkey for twenty sols. A minot of wheat sold for an écu last year; but at present it costs forty sols. Maize is always of the same price with wheat because here is but little of it; and it is all made use of by those who go to trade with the Indians. A minot of oats costs sometimes from fifteen to twenty sols; but of late years it has been sold for twenty-five or thirty sols. Pease bear always the same price with wheat. A pound of butter costs commonly about eight or ten sols; but last year it rose up to sixteen sols. A dozen of eggs used to cost but three sols; however, now are sold for five. They make no cheese at Montreal; nor is there any to be had, except what is got from abroad. A watermelon generally costs five or six sols; but if of a large size, from fifteen to twenty.
"There are as yet no manufacturers established in Canada; probably because France will not lose the advantage of selling off its own goods here. However, both the inhabitants of Canada and the Indians are very ill off for want of them in times of war.
"Those persons who want to be 'married must have the consent of their parents. However, the judge may give them leave to marry, if the parents oppose their union, without any valid reason. Likewise, if the man be thirty years of age, and the woman twenty-six, they may marry, without further waiting for their parents' consent."
A few social customs may conclude this chapter, as illuminative of the times. According to M. Gaspé, the frugality of the Canadians was exemplary. Meats only appeared on the table on feast days, or days of great rejoicing. A vegetarian diet mostly required but milk, eggs, fish, pea soup, a porridge of crushed Indian wheat, pancakes, coarse bread, fruit and vegetables, did not prevent them from enjoying vigorous health and strength. "A poor man," says Marie de l'Incarnation, "would have eight children or more, who during the winter go bare-headed and barefooted, with a little covering on their backs and living only on eels and a little bread; with all that, they are big and fat."