!1.c~crip±ibr ~ cttcrprcss. VIEvVS IN ~IONTREAL. 'l'nE island which, like the city that stands on it, bears thE name of .Jlontreal, was ce<letl in 1644 to the religions Order of the Sul picians at Paris, and has since for the most part continued in their possession. It is about thirty miles lon ..t, and is formed by the junction of the St. Lawrence with two of the months of the Ottawa-a river sometimes called the Grand, from its extent and the amplitude of its waters. 'l'he city lies on the sonth side of the island, and at the base of a mountain to which Jacqn<'S Carticr gave the name of .:\I~~nt­ real (the Royal :Mountain), which it still bears. It is sitn­ ated at the head of ocean navigation, and is, from its size aml the beauty of its surrounding scenery, as well as from tlJC intelligence, wealth, awl commercial enterprise of its in­ habitants, by far the most important city in the Dominiun of Canada. Nay, in these respects, it is surpassed hy few cities in the New Worlu. About a century ago it had narrow, dingy streets, some of which can still be traced ; and its houses were then con­ structed in that semi-mon~tstlc style pecnliar to the towns in the north of France. 'l'hese have, for the most part, given way to modern improvements, though a few remain, to fom1, as it were, historic lanumarks. 'l'he celebrated J acques Ca.rtier, who as a navigator and explorer was the di:stin­ gnishcd rival of the Cabots antl Ohristopher c(l}\llllbns, I! ay he said rather to have discovered than founded the city in 2 VIEWS IN :MONTREAL. 15:15. It seems, by the way, strange that no monument ~H\3 ever been erecteu to the memory of this distinguished in­ dividual, more particularly when we bear in minJ. how inti­ mately his name has been aSS11ciated with Canada in general, and with Montreal in particnlar. Europeans began to settle in it in 1542, and abont a century thereafter it was solemnly baptized by the Snperinr of the Jl'snits, receiveu the name of Ville-Mm·ie, and was commcndeJ. with religious rites allll ceremonies to the care of the "Qneen of Angrls." History has not informed. us who were the sponsors on that eventful occasion. Hochelaga, now an agreeable snbnrb of }Iontreal, was the name of the Indian village w hit:h Ca1tier found on his first arrival in the island. lie was there received by the limon Indians, and treated with much kindness. Snhse­ qneut!y the French settlers were very grt>atly annoyed by the depredations of the Iroqnois Indians. These savages \ver0, however, defeated by Frontenac and others, and the French retained possession of the city until it was sur­ rendered to the English in 1760, upon General Ar.1herst in­ vesting it with a foree of 17,000 men. Let the illlaginative reader picture to himself the appear­ ance of the city as it was little more than a century ago, when the British flag first floated over its fort. In the CCJ1trc was the old Nunnery Hospital with its gardens, on the site of which !IOW stand the Victoria Barracks in Paul Street, partly occupied by some of the troops forming the garrison. About the middle of the present Place d' Armes was the olu Parish Church, since removed to make way for the present Roman Catholic Cathedral of Notre Dame; ami adjoining this was the Seminary with its gardens, still ex­ tant. Westward, the city extended to a little beyond the old Recollet church, convent, and gardens (alas! now no more-sacrificed at the shrine of Commerce), as far as M' Gill Street ; while eastwanl it reached to the present "Quebec Barracks, and from the water front northwards to the back of the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel1 from the office of which there is a bridge leading from the front or old part to the 11ew or rear of this far-famed hostelrie, and striding the pre­ SCJJ t Pot·tification La1,e, vr old city wall. At the time we VIEWS I~ MONTREAL. !>p<'ak of, there was but one principal street-the present Notre Dame-which has now scarcely a builJing left which reminds one of that ancient time. 'rhe whole city was sur­ rounded by a wall, flanked with eleven redoubts, a ditch of about eigltt feet deep and of a proportionable width, but dry, and a fort and citaJel." 'rltere were then no '"harves, but ships lay moored to the clayey ami filthy bank of the river. Indeed the town had no commerce except what was occa­ sioned by a few boats bringing produce to lllarket, and even at the beginning of this ce11tury vessels of more than :100 tons burthen could not ascend so far np the St. Law­ rence, and the foreign trade of Montreal was accordingly carried on by smaller vessels than now navigate the inland lakes of Ontario, Erie, and Huron. In 1809 the Hon. J olin l\lolson-a name that will always be associateJ with the early prosperity, charities, and com­ merce of .Montreal-.built the first steamer that ever plied between the cities of Quebec and Montreal. She had. slcep­ illg be1ths for about twenty passengers, and was very natur­ ally at the time regard.ed as a wonderful success. At the present day there are 011 the same route the steamers ltfont- 1'eat and Quebec, belonging to the Richelieu Company, with ample accommodation for hundreds of first-class pa;;sengers, performing the jonmey to and fro of 150 miles upon an average in less than twelve hours. These magnifirent river steamers vie, in the elegaitCe of their interior littingr;, the qnality of their cui"ine, the skill of their captains, and the civility of their officers anJ servants, \\ith any upon the waters of America. They perform the passage Juring tlte !light, bnt in order to give tourists an opportunity of seeing by daylight the beautiful scenery of the river between the two cities, there is a very swift steamer, also belouging to the Richelieu Company, that leaves Quebec and .Montreal upon alternate mornings. This steamer also enables tourists to visit en route the far-falll(:d Falls of the Shawenegan, second only to Niagara in point of volume of water, winch are about twenty miles from the town of Three Rivers, sixty­ eiglJt miles from Quebec, and at the head of what may be· called the tidal navigation uf the river St. Lawrence. 4 VIEWS I~ MO~TR EAL. HARBOUR OF MONTREAL. (Looking West.) In;;tead of having merely the natural bank of the river fnr the accommodation of shipping, as was the case about tifty years ago, Montreal can now boast of as fine wharvef:, with an excellent stone retaining-wall from the entrance of tile Lachine Canal to below the Bonscconr Market, a uistance of more than a mile, as can be found on the contim·nt­ wha.rves which are not surpassed, and perhaps not equalh-tl, in point of accommodation, convenience, approaches, and cleanliness, by those of any port of its size in the world. And the Bonsecour Market with its lofty dome, the Royal Insurance Bmluings, the towers of the Cathedral of N otre Dame, &c., form a noble background. Dnring the height of the open navigation season, hundrells of large vessels 'f all nationalities may be seen dischan.;ing the products not only of Europe, but of different parls of Asia, the We~t In<liPs, and f:onth America. Those who enter the city by the water route from Niagara, Jlamiltl'n, or Toronto, through Lake Ontario, by Kingstnn (Frontenac), through the Thonsand Isles, and passing tLe towns of Brockville, Ogdensburg (N.Y.), Prescott, Com~Yall, &c., must, unless they arrive at night, shoot the Lachine rapids. 'l'hese rapids present one of the most novel and ex­ citing scenes connected with the environs of Montreal. To have their grandeur fully appreciated, it is necessary that they should be seen, and not only seen hnt ''run," for there i~ a sublimity about them which defies description. Their na.\ ,_ gation, though apparently dangerons, and to those who han· not faith in the Indian pilot, tenifically so, has not bel'll attended with auy loss of life. In fact, their passage is com­ paratively as safe as any other portion of the river St. Law­ rence. Those who do not enter the city by the water ront" can go by railway or by carriage-drive to Lachine early in the morning, a11d come down the rapids by the steamers fr.om Bcanhamois, which leave that Yillage abont eight o'clock, arrivmg in Montreal by half-past nine-in tiuJe VIEWS IN MONTREAL. 5 for breakfast. 'l'aki11g this route, the tuurist pas:.:es under- THE VICTORIA BRIDGE. 'l'his bridge is emphatically one of the greatest engineering triumphs in America, perhaps in the world; but it is neces­ !':ary to pass under it, in order fully to realize the grandeur of the WOIH.lerfnl structure, which reflects as much credit npon "the men who built it" as upon its designers. The nH•mo• ries of Robert Stephenson, A. M. Ross, and James Hodgrs, will live as long as the bridge. 'l'his bridge mnst also be pac;sed through on foot, for without doing this the details of its construction cannot he seen. Strangers mnst make per­ sonal application to the resident engineer of the Grand 'rrunk Hail way in order to get the requisite pass.