in circumference, and divided by a channel 12 leagues | rather mountainous. The highest part was called in length, and from one to three in breadth. The harbours are large, and well defended by small islands, most happily disposed. The smallest vessels may ride in safety; fresh water is easily to be obtained; there is seldom any thunder or lightning, nor is the weather hot or cold to any extraordinary degree. Throughout the year the nights are in general serene and fair; and upon the whole, the climate is favourable to the constitution. The depth of the soil in the vallies is more than sufficient for the purpose of ploughing.

Since 1767 they fell into comparative insignificance; and, for many years past, little notice has been taken of them by our government. Ships of war, on their passage round Cape Horn, have occassionally touched there for supplies of water, &c. and South Sea whalers and other merchant vessels; but the navigation being little known, they have not, until lately, been much frequented, although very nearly in the track of ships homeward bound from the Pacific.

Latterly, however, circumstances arose which induced the last commander-in-chief on the South American station (Sir Thomas Baker), to send down a ship of war for the purpose of reclaiming that possession, which lapse of time seemed to have rendered almost absolutely abandoned, as the Buenos-Ayrean Government endeavoured to set up a claim to the islands; the Spaniards having formerly used the islands as prisons for South American delinquents.

In the month of December, 1832, Commander Onslow, in H. M. S. Clio, proceeded to Port Egmont, and found on Saunders' Island the ruins of our former establishment. The town stood on the south side of a mountain not less than 600 feet high. The settlers had extended their gardens to the westward, the remains of which are still perceptible. Not finding any inhabitants, an inscription was left there, attached to a signal staff, on a spot which appeared to be Fort George, stating, 'That these islands had been visited by his Britannic Majesty's ship Clio, for the purpose of exercising the rights of sovereignty, 23d December, 1832."

During their stay of ten days, the boats were employed in examining Brett's Harbour, Byron's Sound, Keppel's Sound, and to the westward to Point Bay, a distance of 60 miles from the Clio's anchorage.

At Port Louis, on East Falkland Island, a BuenosAyrean schooner of war was lying, and a small party of soldiers under the same flag occupied the shore, where there was an inconsiderable settlement of foreign persons, chiefly Buenos-Ayreans, who were engaged in catching wild cattle, &c. for the supply of such ships as occasionally touched there. Lieut. H. Smyth, of H. M. ship Tyne, was subsequently sent down with a boat's crew to settle on the islands.

Port Louis, at the head of Berkley Sound, is admirably adapted for vessels to refit at, under any circumstances; it is well sheltered, and has an inner harbour for vessels drawing 14 feet of water, where they may heave down with safety if requisite. Water is also good and plentiful; and reflecting on the number of vessels passing and repassing Cape Horn, and the accidents they are liable to, from the tempestuous weather frequently experienced off that Cape, the advantages of a port of refuge becomes apparent.

East Falkland Island possesses large and secure harbours for first rate ships of war, with facilities for exercising the crews on shore without the risk of losing them, and with abundance of wild cattle, antiscorbutic herbs, and fish, for their support.

San Simon, at no great distance from the bottom of Berkeley Sound. The tops of the mountains are thickly strewn with large boulders, or detached stones, of which quantities have fallen, in some places, in lines along their sides, looking like rivers of stones; these are alternated with extensive tracts of marshy ground, descending from the very tops of the mountains, where many large fresh-water ponds are found, from one to two feet deep. The best ground is at the foot of the mountains, and of this there is abundance fit for cultivation, in plains stretching from five to fifteen miles along the margin of the sea. In the southern peninsula there is hardly a rising ground that can be called a hill. Excellent fresh water is found every where, and may be procured either by digging or from the rivulets, which flow from the interior towards the sea, through vallies covered with a rich vegetation.

III. The climate on the island is, on the whole, temperate. The temperature never falls below 26. Fahrenheit in the coldest winter, nor rises above 75. in the hottest summer; its general range is from 30. to 50. in winter, 50. to 75. in summer. The weather is rather unsettled, particularly in winter; but the showers, whether of rain, snow, or hail, are generally of short duration, and their effects are never long visible on the surface of the ground. Thus floods are unknown; snow disappears in few hours, unless on the tops of the mountains; and ice is seldom found above an inch thick. Thunder and lightning are of rare occurrence; fogs are frequent, especially in autumn and spring, but they usually dissipate towards noon. The winter is rather longer than the summer, but the difference not above a month, and the long warm days of summer, with occasional showers, produce a rapid vegetation in that season.

The wind blows commonly from the north-west in summer, south-west in winter, and seldom long from the eastward in either season. The finest weather in winter is when the wind draws from the west or north-west, and in summer when it stands at northwest or north-east. A north wind almost always brings rain, especially in summer, and east and southeast winds are constantly accompanied by thick and wet weather. Snow squalls generally come from the south-south-east, south, or south-south-west. Storms are most frequent at the changes of the seasons, and blow commonly from south-south-west to west-southwest; but they seldom last above 24 hours.

IV. Of the geology of the islands we yet know little. There are marks of copper ore with some pyrites, and the rocks are chiefly quartz. Ores of different colours are common, and red and grey slate is plentiful. There is abundance of excellent clay and stone adapted for building.

The soil of East Falkland Island has been found well adapted to cultivation, consisting generally of from six to eight inches of black vegetable mould, below which is either gravel or clay. The meadows are spacious, well watered, and producing excellent grasses. Wheat and flax were both raised of quality equal, if not superior, to the seed sown, which was procured from Buenos Ayres; and potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and other kinds of vegetables produced largely, and of excellent quality. Fruit trees were not tried, the plants sent from Buenos Ayres having perished before they arrived.

The soil also produces different kinds of vegetables wild, as celery, cresses, &c., and many other esculent The country, in the northern part of the island, is plants, the proper names of which were not known

BOOK III. POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.-LOWER CANADA.

SECTION I. The term Canada is supposed to be derived from the Indian word Kanata, signifying a collection of huts, and which the early European discoverers mistook for the name of the country. This important section of the British empire is bounded on the E. by the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and a part of the Labrador coast (which is separated by the Straits of Belleisle from the island of Newfoundland), on the N. by the Hudson Bay territories, on the W. by the Pacific Ocean, and on the S. by the United States, by part of New Brunswick, and by the unexplored territories of the Indians. The division line on the S. from the grand portage on Lake Superior (vide general map) runs through the great lakes and down the St. Lawrence river to latitude 45., and thence along that line to Connecticut river, from whence it follows the high lands which separate the waters running into the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic, till it reaches due N. of the St. Croix river, the boundary between the United States and New Brunswick.

Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with Flint River; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean;— east, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy, to its source; and from its source directly north to the aforesaid highlands, which divide the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence; comprehending all islands within 20 leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia."

England's admission of the boundary claimed by the United States, on the frontier of Maine alone, would be a loss of 10,000 square miles of one of the finest sections of the British North American territory, namely, 6,918,410 acres from Lower Canada, and 2,372,010 acres from New Brunswick; and it would bring the United States to the very seaboard of Lower Canada, and destroy the internal communication between each of our provinces, from the coasts of the Atlantic to the shores of Lake Huron.

The boundary is thus described in the 2nd article of the treaty between Great Britain and the United States. "From the N. W. angle of Nova Scotia, viz. that angle which is formed by a line drawn due N. from the source of St. Croix river (the claim set up by the Americans is based on the pretence of their being two 'St. Croix' rivers, and next as to the 'highlands' specified) to the highlands along the said highlands, which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the north-westernmost head of the Connecticut river; thence down along the middle of that river, to 45. N. latitude; from thence by a line due west in said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy; thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; through the middle of said lake, until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water communication into Lake Huron; thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward to the Isles Royal and Philipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most north-western point thereof; and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the northern-ness of the map on which it was drawn, particularly most part of 31. north latitude;-south, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the line last mentioned, in the latitude of 31. north of the equator to the middle of the river Apalachicola or

U

This extensive country was, in 1791, by His Britannic Majesty's order in council, divided into two governments (entitled Upper and Lower Canada), the boundary between the provinces commencing at Pointe au Baudet, on Lake St. Francis, about 55 miles above Montreal-running northerly to the Ottawa river-up that river to its source in Lake Temiscaming, and thence due N. to the Hudson's Bay boundary. The words of the order in Council are "to commence at a stone boundary on the N. bank of the lake of St. Francis, at the cove W. of Pointe au Baudet, in the limit between the township of Lancaster and the seigniory of New Longueuil running along the said limit in the direction of N. 34. W. to the westernmost angle of the said seigniory of New Longueuil; then along the N. W. boundary of the seigniory of Vaudreuil, running N. 25 E. until it strikes the Ottawa river; to ascend the said river into the lake Temiscaming, and from the head of the said lake by a line drawn due N. until it strikes the boundary of Hudson's Bay, including all the territory to the westward and southward of the said line, to the utmost extent of the country commonly called or known by the name of Canada." The want of clearness in the above delineation, added to the imperfect

as regarded the westwardly angle of the seigniory of New Longueuil, and the S. W. angle of Vaudreuil, which are represented as coincident, when, according to Col. Bouchette, Surveyor Gen. of Lower Canada,

they are nine miles distant from each other- has | of Pavia, in 1525, put a temporary stop to further naturally caused discussions as to the boundaries between Upper and Lower Canada.

exploration of the coast of Canada. When the Government, however, ceased to follow up the result of The territory of Lower Canada, or seaward portion, Verrazani's formal acquisition of Canada, the Frenchis comprised within the 45th and 52nd of N. latitude, men of St. Maloes commenced a successful fishery at and the parallels of 57.50. to 80.6. of W. longitude, Newfoundland, which, so early as 1517, had had 50 embracing, so far as its boundaries will admit an ships belonging to the English, Spanish, French and estimation, an area of 205,863 square statute miles, Portuguese engaged in the cod fishery on its banks. including a superficies of 3,200 miles covered by the Jacques Cartier, a native of St. Maloes, engaged in numerous lakes and rivers of the province, and ex- Newfoundland fishery, took the lead in exploring, at cluding the surface of the St. Lawrence river and part his own risk, the N. coasts of the new hemisphere. of the gulf, which occupy 52,000 square miles; the This bold and experienced navigator at last received entire province, water and land, being a quarter of a a commission from his sovereign, Francis I., and left million of square miles, or one hundred and sixty mil- St. Maloes on the 20th April, 1534, with two vessels, lion of acres. The boundaries of Lower Canada are neither of which were more than 20 tons burthen! the territories of the Hudson Bay Company, or East He coasted part of the gulf which he named St. LawMaine, on the N.; on the E. the Gulf of St. Lawrence; sailed 300 leagues up the river to which he rence and a line drawn from Ance au Sablon, on the gave the same name; contracted an alliance with Labrador coast, due N. to the 52nd of N. latitude; some of the natives; built a small fort, in which he on the S. by New Brunswick and part of the territo- wintered; took formal possession of the country, and ries of the United States, viz. Maine, New Hampshire, returned to France with a native chief named DonnaVermont, and New York; and on the W. by the line conna, and two or three of his principal attendants separating it from Upper Canada as before described. (all of whom were forced from their country by This boundary was fixed by the 6 Geo. IV. c. 59, treachery), but without any of those precious metals which also reannexed the Island of Anticosti to Lower which were then the great objects of European cuCanada. The whole territory is divided into three pidity. The enterprizing character of his royal master chief districts-Quebec, Montreal, and Three rivers, induced him to despatch Cartier in the following year and two inferior ones-Gaspé and St. Francis; these with three larger vessels, and a number of young genagain further divided into 40 counties (vide popula- tlemen as volunteers. Cartier sailed up the St. Lawtion section), with minor subdivisions consisting of rence, found the country densely peopled, and the seigniories, fiefs and townships, &c. Indians every where friendly. Quebec (or, as it was termed by the natives, Quilibek) was touched at, and an Indian village found there. Cartier pursued his route until he reached an island in the river with a lofty mountain, which he named Mont Royal, now called Montreal. (There is a discrepancy in the public records as to whether Montreal was visited in the first or second voyage.) After losing many of his followers from scurvy, Cartier returned to France in 1536; and the French court, finding that no gold or silver was to be had, paid no further attention to La Nouvelle France, or Canada, until the year 1540, when Cartier, after much exertion, succeeded in getting a royal expedition fitted out under the command of Francois de la Roque, Seigneur de Roberval, who was commissioned by Francis I. as Viceroy and Lieut-general in Canada, Hochela (or Montreal), &c. Roberval despatched Cartier to form a settlement, which he did at St. Croix's Harbour. The Viceroy himself proceeded to his new colony in 1542, where he built a fort and wintered, about four leagues above the isle of Orleans (first called the Isle of Bacchus); but, for want of any settled plans, and from the rising and deadly hostility of the Indians, owing to Cartier's having carried off the Indian chief in 1535, little was accomplished. Roberval's attention was called from Canada to serve his sovereign in the struggle for power so long waged with Charles V. of Spain; and Jacques Cartier, ruined in health and fortune, returned to France in 1549, where he died neglected by his fickle countrymen. Roberval, on the death of Francis I., embarked for Canada, with his brother and a numerous train of enterprizing young men; but, from having never afterwards been heard of, they are supposed to have perished at sea. For 50 years, France paid no attention to Canada, and the few settlers or their descendants left by Cartier or Roberval, were unheeded and unsuccoured; but, in 1598, Henry IV. appointed the Marquis de la Roche his Lieut.-general in Canada, with power to partition discovered lands into seigniories and fiefs, to be held under feudal tenure, and

II. The discovery of the coast of Canada, according to the most authentic statements, was made by the celebrated Italian adventurers John and his son Sebastian Cabot, who received a commission from Henry VII. of England to discover what Columbus was in search of a N.W. passage to the East Indies or China, or, as the latter country was then called, Cathay. The adventurers sailed, in 1497, with six ships, and, early in June of the same year, discovered Newfoundland; whence, continuing a westerly course, the continent of North America was arrived at, which the Cabots coasted (after exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence) as far N. as 67.50 N. lat. They returned to England in 1498. In 1502, Hugh Elliott and Thomas Ashurst, merchants of Bristol, with two other gentlemen, obtained a patent from Henry VII. to establish colonies in the countries lately discovered by Cabot; but the result of the permission granted is not known. In 1527, another expedition was fitted out by Henry VIII. by the advice of Robert Thorne, a merchant of Bristol, for the purpose of discovering a N. W. passage to the East Indies, and one of the ships in making the attempt was lost.

Francis I. of France, piqued at the discoveries of Spain and Portugal, and having his ambition roused by the monopolizing pretensions of these two powers to the possessions in the New World, authorized the fitting out of an expedition, the command of which he gave to John Verrazani, an Italian, who discovered Florida, and thence sailing back round the American coast to the 15 degree of lat., took formal possession of the country for his royal master, and called it "La Nouvelle France." On Verrazani's return to Europe 1524, without gold or silver or valuable merchandize, he was at first coldly received, but subsequently sent out with more particular instructions and directions to open a communication with the natives, in endeavouring to fulfil which he lost his life in a fray with the Indians, and the object of the expedition was frustrated; while the capture of Francis I. at the battle

as a compensation for military service when required. | by the name of the Alleghanies, rise abruptly from the Such was the origin of the Canadian seigneuries. The Gulf of St. Lawrence at Perée, between the Bay of further history of the province will be found in the Chaleur and Gaspé Cape, and in their course divide "Colonial Library," vol. i., in which is detailed the the Atlantic coast from the basin of the Ohio, their struggles and disasters of the colonists until the loftiest elevation being from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above British capture of Quebec by General Wolfe, on the the sea. The country between these two ranges of 12th September, 1759. mountains and the S. boundary line of Lower Canada in 45o of N. lat., is marked by numerous risings and depressions into hill and dale, with many rivers running from the N. and S. into the great valley of the St. Lawrence. In order to give a clear view of this valley, it will be well to divide it into sections, and then treat briefly of the rivers and lakes throughout the province; to begin with the sea coast :

The determined and loyal conduct of the Canadians of all classes, whether of English or French origin, in Lower Canada, effectually prevented the Americans making an impression on that province; and our occupation of both the Upper and Lower Provinces has been uninterrupted for nearly 80 years.

1. The most northerly and easterly section of the province of Lower Canada, extending from Ance au Sablon on the Labrador coast to the Saguenay river, Lat. 48.5 Long. 69.37, occupies a front of 650 miles, of which we know little more than the appearance of the coast, as explored from time to time by fishers and hunters. A bold mountainous country, in general characterises the coast line; in some places the range recedes from the shores of the Gulf and river St. Lawrence to the extent of 12 or 15 miles, leaving a deep swampy flat or moss-bed nearly three feet in depth,-in other parts (as at Portneuf 40 miles E. of the Saguenay) the shores are of moderate elevation, composed of alternate cliffs of light coloured sand and tufts or clumps of evergreens.

The country between the two points just stated, is well watered by numerous rivers, among which may be mentioned the Grande and Petit Bergeronnes, the Portneuf, Missisiquinak, Betsiamites, Bustard, Manicougan, Ichimanipistic (or seven islands) St. John, St. Austins and Esquimaux. It can scarcely be said that we know any thing more of these rivers than their

The following is a chronological list of Governors and Administrators of the Government of Canada, since the province was erected into a royal government, in 1663, and the time when they began to govern. French-Sieur de Mésy, May, 1663; Sieur de Courcelles, 23rd Sept. 1665; Sieur de Frontenac, 12th Sept. 1672; Sieur de la Barre, 9th October, 1682; Sieur Marquis de Nonville, 3rd August, 1685; Sieur de Frontenac, 28th November, 1689; Sieur Chevalier de Callieres, 14th September, 1699; Le Sieur Marquis de Vaudreuil, 17th September, 1703; Le Sieur Marquis de Beauharnois, 2nd September, 1726; Sieur Conte de la Galissoniere, 25th September, 1747; Sieur de la Jonquière, 16th August, 1749; Sieur Marquis du Guesne de Meneville, 7th August, 1752; Sieur de Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, 10th July, 1755. English-James Murray, 21st Nov. 1765; Paulus Emilius Irving (Pres.), 30th June, 1766; Guy Carleton (Lieut.-gov., &c. Commander-in-chief), 24th September, 1766; Ditto, ditto, 26th October, 1774; Hector J. Cramahé (President), 9th August, 1770; Guy Carleton, 11th October, 1774; Frederick Haldimand, 1778; Henry Hamilton (Lieut.-governor and Commander-in-chief), 1774; Henry Hope (Lieut.-embouchures. There are no roads along the coast, governor and Commander-in-chief), 1775; Lord Dorchester (Gov.-general), 1776; Colonel Clarke (Lieut.Governor and Commander-in-chief), 1791; Lord Dorchester, 24th September, 1793; Robert Prescott, 1796; Sir Robert S. Milnes, Bart. (Lieut.-governor), 31st July, 1799; Hon. Thomas Dunn (President), 31st July, 1805; Sir J. H. Craig, K.B. (Gov.-general), 24th October, 1807; Hon. Thomas Dunn (President), 19th June, 1811; Sir George Prevost, Bart. (Gov.general), 14th September, 1811; Sir G. Drummond, G.C.B. (Ad.-in-chief), 14th April, 1815; John Wilson, (Administrator), 22nd May, 1816; Sir J. C. C. Sherbroke, G. C.B. (Gov.-general), 12th July, 1816; Duke of Richmond, K.C.B. (Gov.-general), 30th July, 1818; Hon. James Monk (President), 20th September, 1819; Sir Peregrine Maitland, 20th September, 1820; Earl of Dalhousie, G.C.B. (Gov.-general), 18th June, 1820; Sir Francis M. Burton, K.C.G. (Lieut.-governor), 7th June, 1824; Earl of Dalhousie, G.C.B. (Gov.-general), 23rd September, 1825; Sir James Kemp, G. C. B., 8th September, 1828; Lord Aylmer, July, 1830; Lord Gosford, July, 1835; Earl of Durham, June, 1838.

III. The natural features of the territory of Lower Canada are extremely picturesque-mountain ranges, noble rivers, magnificent cascades, lakes, prairies, farms and forests, alternating in every direction with sudden and beautiful variety. On the ocean boundary the eastern parts of the river St. Lawrence are high and mountainous, and covered in most parts with forests. On the northern side of the St. Lawrence the mountains run parallel with this vast river as far up as Quebec, when the range quits the parallel of the capital, and runs in a S. W. and S.E. direction into the United States. These mountains, which are known

and the only settlement of any consequence is at Portneuf, a trading mart belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, who possesses under lease from the crown until 1842, the exclusive right of bartering, hunting and fishing over this vast territory and even to the westward of the Saguenay. The tract is termed the King's domain and formed part of the "United farms of France," according to the Ordonnance of 1733.

The country around Lake St. John and the head waters of the Saguenay, has an extent of about 6,000,000 acres of (it is asserted) cultivable land, better watered than any known country. It is protected by a range of mountains to the N. E., and it is alleged has a milder climate than Quebec. The Saguenay is stated to be navigable for a ship of the line of the largest size, for a distance of 27 leagues, and the port of Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay, is open two to three weeks earlier than Quebec.

I give this on the authority of Captain Yule, R. Engineers, who surveyed the country, and favoured me with his notes. Captain Yule speaks in high terms of the Saguenay as an eligible, social, and military station.

2. The second geographical division of the province N. of the river St. Lawrence, is that comprised within the mouths of the Saguenay and St. Maurice rivers, which form the great highways to the northern territories and ramify in various directions with numerous lesser streams and lakes. The distance between the Saguenay and St. Maurice is nearly 200 miles; Quebec City being nearly equidistant from each river. From Quebec to the Saguenay there is a bold and strongly defined range of mountains; from Cape Torment the ridge is unbroken (save where rivers find