FIRST VIEW OF QUEBEC

In perceiving from the heights of Montmorency the steep promontory of Quebec, Montcalm could not but admire its strategic position. He examined with the same military coup d'œil, the vast panorama that opened out before him, the lofty cliffs of Lévis, the immense harbour, the hills of Beauport, where he was destined, three years later, to win his last victory. In crossing, with a light heart, the walls of Quebec, he was far from suspecting that the summit of 'that rock was to serve him for a tomb.

CHAPTER II

PHYSIOGNOMY OF NEW FRANCE

ONTCALM was greatly interested in his

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visit to the little city of Quebec, which already occupied so prominent a place in the history of New France. Everything was new to him in this New World; its society, so young as compared with that which he had left, and nature, herself, so wild and so grand as compared with the soft, sunny fields, vineyards and smiling landscapes of France. The limited area enclosed within the walls of Quebec swarmed with soldiers, militiamen and Red Skins, who were being hastened to the frontier to meet the enemy. The gathering was as weird in its costumes as in its manners. With his usual activity the marquis had soon carefully visited both the city and the ramparts, which were then in a dilapidated condition. M. de Longueuil and the intendant who accompanied him indicated the principal points of interest, the château St. Louis, which dominated the crest of the cape; and at its foot the Lower Town—the principal centre of business and of shipping. Up from the heart of the narrow and tortuous streets rose the steeples of the churches of Notre Dame, of the Jesuits, of the Récollets, the seminary, the bishop's palace, the Ursuline con

vent, the ruins of the Hôtel-Dieu, destroyed by fire the previous year, and farther away, in the valley of the St. Charles the monastery of the General Hospital; finally at the foot of the cliff the intendant's palace. All indicated, at a glance, that this was in very truth, the heart of New France. The three palaces of the governor, the intendant, and the bishop, were the visible expression of that triple power which radiated from Quebec to the very extremities of this immense continent. Within the walls alone five churches, three monasteries, a college, and a seminary illustrated the important part played by Catholicism in its progress. The colony consisted only of two longdrawn-out parishes ranged one on either side of the St. Lawrence. Beyond it in all directions, its mantle of verdure covering mountains, plains and valleys, stretched the vast, primeval forest, with its lakes, its swamps, its numberless rivers, their cataracts roaring night and day; with its myriads of babbling brooks beneath the overhanging foliage; with its bare or moss grown rocks and headlands, uplifting their eternal foreheads to the winds or snows, the sunshine or the rain, affording safe retreats for the wild beasts of the woods and for the still wilder native tribes.

These tribes were scattered almost everywhere. To the east lived the Etchemins, the Abénaquis, the Micmacs, implacable enemies of the English ; to the south, the five Iroquois nations, traditional

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VULNERABLE POINTS

foes of the French, but at that time undecided, and merely seeking for an occasion to range themselves on one side or the other; farther away were the Chaouenons, the Miamis, the Cherokees; and towards the great West, the Poutéotamis, the Ottawas, the Illinois, the Sakis, and a multitude of other indigenous tribes almost all friendly to the French. I have indicated elsewhere the reason for this sympathy; it suffices to recall here, in passing, that English colonization was founded upon an altogether different principle from that of the French : egoism was its leading motive; and this distinction Indian sagacity had not failed to discern.

Canada presented only three vulnerable points: the waterways of the St. Lawrence, of Lake Champlain, and of the Great Lakes. The citadel of Louisbourg guarded the entrance to the Gulf; Fort St. Frédéric protected the head of Lake Champlain, and Fort Frontenac, the outlet of the Great Lakes. The upper country which extended backwards for a distance then unknown, afforded a vast field for the exploits of the coureurs de bois. There was formed that hardy race of pioneers from among whose ranks came the most illustrious discoverers: the Joliets, the Nicolas Perrots, the Nicolets, the La Vérendryes and so many others. An indomitable, undisciplined race, it was often cruel from having witnessed such nameless inhumanity.

Clothed in Indian costume, accustomed to great fatigue, knowing all the forest trails as well as the