à Quebec; and from Mr. Ogilvy a letter to introduce me to his partner, Mr. John Mure.

Captain Mc. Kenzie introduced me to Capt. Frende, of the 41st, who was going by water to Quebec, and who obligingly offered me a passage. The party consisted of Captain Frende, Lieutenant Hall, three Serjeants, one Corporal, and twenty-three Privates; also, eight Canadian Engagés to manage two of the King's bateaux, freighted with £.30,772, Halifax currency, or £.27,694 16s. sterling in specie.

I had taken care to lay in a basket of wine and porter; Capt. Frende had done the same, with the addition of provisions and groceries. At noon we pushed off from the Barrack Wharf, with a fine favourable breeze and clear pleasant weather: both banks of the River thickly settled.

Noon till 1 P. M. Passed two or three Churches and Villages; to wit, Longueil, E.*-St. François, W.-Bouchervile, E.

1 P. M. Pointe aux Trembles, l'Enfant Jesus Church and Village, ten miles and half.

2 P. M. Saw the large double-towered Church at Varenne, a considerable Village on the E. side of the River, fifteen miles. Passed two considerable Islands in this part of the River, the Isle Commune, and Isle Therese.

* W. and E. denote whether on the West or East Side of the River.

24 P. M. Bout de l'Isle, (de Montreal) fifteen miles.

2 P. M.

Church and Village of Repentigni, W. eighteen miles.

3 P. M. Church and Village of Verdheres, E. twenty-one miles.

4 P. M. Church and Village of St. Sulpice, W. twenty-seven miles.

5 P. M. Church and Village of La Valterie, W. thirty-four miles; prettily intermixed with groves of trees near a small Island; hay-making along the banks of the River, being the second crop.

7 P. M. Church and Village of St. Joseph de la Noraye,† forty-four miles.

8 P. M. Landed at a small cottage within five leagues of Lac St. Pierre, forty-seven miles. We had now run forty-seven miles in eight hours, for which we were more indebted to the current than to the wind, which gradually died

away.

We landed in the expectation of dining more comfortably on shore than on board: the cottage was, however, so scantily furnished, that it could only supply us with a table and a table cloth, which from being ourselves so well provided, we could not consider as a disappointment to be regretted. The reason of our dining

*The Canadians pronounced this word Vachiere.
† In a Canadian Almanack this is written D'Autrey.

so late was, that the Soldiers and Engagés might at the same time prepare their suppers. Indeed it is necessary that the Engagés should land three times a day to boil their kettles; they are seldom at a loss for wood, and soon strike up a fire.

9 P. M. Re-embarked. Clear moonlight night. Fell asleep; and at 10 P. M. awoke by a sudden shock produced by the bateau taking the ground. The fog was so uncommonly thick that we could not see from one end of the bateau to the other: thus were our hopes to cross Lake St. Pierre by moonlight, frustrated, and thus uncomfortably situated were we obliged to pass the night. This fog apparently was of the most unwholesome nature; heavy, clammy, and possessing a most disagreeable burnt smell; it was also very cold, and there not being a breath of air, respiration was very difficult. The Soldiers were the principal sufferers, as our end of the bateau was covered with an awning.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th.

5 A. M. We were now enabled to see our situation: instead of being, as we supposed, aground on some of the marshy islands, which block up, as it were, the entrance of Lake St. Pierre, we found ourselves within oar's length of the W. shore, and a cottage hard by: it was too late to regret our being so long ignorant of

this circumstance, yet we did regret it, and severely too. The fog was still heavy on the waters, and having no wind, we rowed till 6A. M. when we landed at Pierre de Pelterie's, seven miles below Berthier, and three miles from Lac St. Pierre, being in the whole fiftyfive miles. It appears, therefore, that we had passed the night within two or three miles of Berthier, the residence of my friend, James Cuthbert, who possesses the Seigneurie.

Breakfasted upon our own provisions, with the addition of some milk and eggs, which Madame de Pelterie was so obliging as to borrow for us, Indeed this lady was in the utmost distress the property they lived upon was disputed by the two neighbouring Seigneurs, and all their goods had the preceding day been taken from them and sold for the benefit of a creditor. Tears ran down her cheeks as she told her story; she possessed a very genteel address, and had the remains of beauty. We were astonished to see such a woman a peasant's wife.

8 A. M. Re-embarked; the fog still hanging over the waters. The channel of the River is here contracted by the Isle du Pas; as it was, opposite to Berthier, by that and the intermediate one of Isle au Castor; indeed, if it was not for these Islands, and those of De Richelieu,

off the mouth of the River Sorel, the entrance of the Lake would be about a mile below La Noraye. At Berthier the River Au Chicot falls into the St. Lawrence, a small stream.

9 A. M. Entered Lake St. Pierre, fifty-eight miles, abreast of the Bay of Atocas, and the Masquinongez River, which appears a considerable one. The wind blew direct a-head from the N. E.

10 A. M. Abreast of the River Au Loup.

11 A. M. The sky overcast, the wind increased, and the waves ran so high, as to make it extremely difficult to pull against them; so that I had worse luck in crossing this Lake than that of St. François.

Noon; abreast of Pointe Machiche, dividing the Great River Oua-Machiche from the Little River of Oua-Machiche.

2 P. M. Abreast of Pointe du Lac, seventynine miles. Lac St. Pierre is seven leagues in length, and four in width, Pointe du Lac being its north-eastern extremity.

3 P. M. Dined on board.

4 P. M. Landed at the Town of Trois Rivieres, eighty-eight miles. I was much disappointed in the appearance of this Town: as it ranks immediately after Montreal, is situated on a very considerable River penetrating far back into the north-west country, being alsó