The New Hampshire Gazette

The publick Attention being now turned to the grand Expeditions under the Generals Amherst and Wolfe.

we have therefore endeavoured to collect, for the Benefit of our Readers, an Account of the River St. Lawrence, and the City of Quebeck, from the latest and best Authorities ; but we shall first give

A General Account of Canada.

THE immense country, called by the French, Canada, is, according to them, half as big as Europe:
It borders upon our provinces of Nova-Scotia, New England, and New York, on the east and northeast, Louisiana on the south, and that known tract of land which stretches to the South Sea, on the west, and our colony of Hudson's-bay on the north.
The climate resembles that of our own colonies ; but as it is much farther from the sea, and more northerly than a great part of those provinces, it has a much severer winter; tho' the air is generally clear. The cold is beyond all measure, from the month of December to that of April ; during that space of time the river St. Lawrence is always froze over, notwithstanding the flowing and ebbing of the sea ; and the snow upon the ground is 3 or 4 feet deep, which is very strange, in a country that lies in the latitude of 47 degrees and some odd minutes. The weather then is so clear and serene, that for three weeks together you shall not see a cloud in the horizon.
The soil is various ; mostly barren ; but the French have settlements where the land is equal in goodness to that in any of our colonies : it yields Indian corn very well in most parts ; and very fine wheat in some : All sorts of garden stuff which grows in Europe, flourishes here: In particular they sow peas, which are much esteemed in France. All sorts of grain are very cheap here, as well as butchers meat, and fowl. The price of labour is also low, by reason of the charge of its carriage, which after all, is very considerable ; the whole country (except the little that is planted) being a continued forest, which can not answer their demands from Old France :
Their trade with the Indians produce all their returns for that market: They are the foxes and racoons, with deer skins, and all branches of the peltry. These with what corn and lumber they send to the West Indies, a people not very luxurious, nor extremely numerous, furnish, though very little money, yet wherewithal, in a plentiful country, to render life easy and agreeable.
In Canada the French have traders, whom they call Coureurs de Bois; who, in the manner of the original inhabitants, traversing the vast lakes and rivers that divide this country, in canoes of bark, with incredible industry and patience, carry their goods into the remotest part of America, and amongst nations entirely unknown to us. They carry a sort of duffil blankets, guns, powder, and ball, kettles, hatchets, and tomahawks, with all sorts of toys and trinkets : These they dispose of among all the savage nations of the continent, by way of exchange for beaver-skins. They are sometimes a year and a half, or two years on their voyage, and clear an immense profit ; and as soon as they come home, spend it all in lewdness and debauchery, gaming and drunkenness. This done, they are forced to go upon a new voyage for subsistence.

The number of inhabitants are not above one hundred thousand souls; they have 7000 or 8000 militia, hardy and well disciplined, always ready to co-operate with their regular troops. The government of Canada is in a Governor, and Intendant, and a Royal Council. The Governor is invested with a great deal of power; which, however, on the side of the crown, is check'd by the Intendant, who has the care of the King's rights, and whatever relates to the revenue : and on the side of the people, it is check'd by the Royal Council : whose office it is to see that the people are not oppressed by the one, or defrauded by the other. The Governor's salary is paid by the crown. His perquisites are none. All the other officers are likewise paid by the crown, and out of the revenues of Old France. The fortifications are built and repaired, and the soldiers are paid out of the same funds. About 120,000 crowns come annually from France, which finds them circulating cash.

Of the River St. Lawrence, and the City of Quebeck.

WE are at a loss to find the head of this river ; for tho' it has been traced 700 or 800 leagues up, yet its source was never yet reached. The remotest place that the Coureurs de Bois go to, being the lake Champlain, which disembogues into the upper lake as that does into the lake of Hurons, and that into the lake Erie, and the lake Erie into that of Ontario, which forms this last great river, that runs for 200 leagues with a pretty gentle stream, and sweeps thro' 300 more with a very rapid current, till it reaches the city of Montreal, into which place it is navigable for large vessels, but no further ; for near that town there is a dangerous cataract that interrupts the navigation. From this city to Quebec, which is upwards of 120 leagues, it continues its course with some moderation. From Quebec to its mouth, which is 120 leagues, it is no where less than 4 or 5 leagues broad, till it comes just before that city, where it narrows so that it is there but a mile broad. This city is perhaps the only one in the world that can boast of a fresh water harbour, capable of containing 100 men of war of the line, at 120 leagues distance from the sea : But it is of very difficult and dangerous navigation, (which is an incurable evil, and has kept back their colony very much) and frozen up for almost half a year, and covered with thick exhalations and fogs for the greater part of the rest. This is the only river upon which the French have settlements of any note.
On this great river stands the city of Quebec, the metropolis of New-France, and lies in lat. 46. 32. long. 60. 40. on the north side of the river Saint Laurence, at 120 leagues distance from the sea ; it is situated on the narrowest part of the river: between it and the Isle of Orleans is a basin, a full league in diameter every way, into which the river St. Charles empties itself from the north-west. Quebec stands exactly between this river and Cape Diamond, which advances out behind it. The anchorage, or road, is opposite, in 25 fathom good ground : However, when the wind blows hard at N. E. ships often drive, but without danger.

This city was founded by Samuel Champlain, in 1608 : It is divided into an upper and lower town, all built of stone, and mostly in a handsome manner : the merchants live in the latter for the conveniency of the harbour, upon which they have built very fine houses, three story high, of a sort of stone harder than marble. There are reckoned about 7000 Souls.
The fort is a handsome building with two wings: You enter by a Spacious and regular court, but there is no garden, because it is built on the edge of a rock : This defect is supplied in some measure, by a fine gallery, with a balcony, or balustrade, which surrounds the building, and commands the road, and from whence you see all the lower town under your feet. Leaving the fort to the left, you cross a pretty large esplanade, and by an easy descent you reach the summit of Cape Diamond, which forms a natural platform :
Besides the beauty of the prospect hence, you breathe the purest air, and may see numbers of porpoises, white as Snow, playing on the surface of the waters.
The house of the Intendant is called the palace, because the supreme council assemble here : It is a large building, whose two extremities sink some feet, and to which you ascend by a double flight of steps : The front of the garden, which has a prospect of the river St. Charles, is much more agreeable than the place you enter at. The King's magazines form the right side of the court, and the prison lies behind them. At about a quarter of a league distance from this place is the general hospital : This is the most beautiful building in Canada, and would be no disgrace to the finest town in France :
The only fault of this edifice is its marshy situation: but the river St. Laurence in this place making a turn, its waters do not flow easily, and the evil is without remedy.
Quebec is not regularly fortified ; but they have been long at work to render it capable of bearing a siege : The town as it is, is naturally strong ; the port is flanked by two bastions, which, at high tides, are even almost with the water, that is to say, they are 25 feet high, which is the height the tide flows here at the equinoxes. A little above the bastion to the right, is a half bastion cut out of the rock ; and a little higher, nearer the fort, is a battery mounted, of 24 pieces of cannon.
Higher still is a square fort, called the citadel, which is a regular and beautiful fortification, and in which the Governor resides:
The ways that communicate between these fortifications are extremely rugged. To the left of the port, along the road, to the river of St. Charles, are good batteries of cannon, and some mortars. From the angle of the citadel, facing the town, they have drawn a curtain a-slant, which joins a redoubt pretty steep, on which is a wind-mill fortified : Descending from hence, you find within musket shot, a tower with a bastion, and at an equal distance a second.--The design was to cover all this with a counter-scarp, having the same angles as the bastions ; and which should end at the extremity of the rock near the palace of the intendant, where there is already a small redoubt, as there is another off Cape Diamond : I know not why the Design was not put in execution.