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1653 East Main Street

Roctiester, New York 14609 USA

(716) 482^ 030Q - Phone

(716) 288 -5989 -Fax

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THREE RIVERS ENQUIRER."

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MONTREAL; .^
SALTER k ROSS, PRINTERS, ST. JAMBS STRKST. *

1858.

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. (Prxwi tAe Montreal Commercial Adoertiser,)

The Ottawa river, famous both in the vers* of Moore and the ledgeni
of our wealthiest picrchants, is the largest tributary of the St. Law-
rence, and joins it about forty-five miles above Montreal. Next, and
almost equal to it in length, volume and commercial importance, li the
beautiful St. Maurice,.«nptying into (he St. Lawrence at the town of
T&ree Rivers, and about ninety miles below Montreal— equi-distant be-
tween that city and Quebec. With good anchorage and facilities lor
loading a^nd discharging ships of large siie— with a central position,
backed by a ricb country and a large and ''splendid rhrer behind, water
and rail communication with Montreal and Quebec— the proposed rail-
road ^[towards which the municipalities have already subscribed liand-
somely) connecting Three Rivers with the Grand Trunk Road at Rich-
mond, and the near proximity of the Richelieu River and Chambly
Canal, forming the great highway of commerce between Lower Canada
iiid the United States, tapping the St. Lawrence only forty-five miles
above. With such a happy combination of advantages, it require* no
prophet to read the prosperoiis future <Jf' this part of the Rrovince.
Quebec has no batk country, no inland ^river to feed its commerce 6t
form a local trade, consequently it can only be a mflitary post or ship-
pmg port for the upper St. Lawrence. Montreal has some back coun- ^
try, but no river to open it up, and little water power for manufacturing
purposes. Its importance is derived from the fact of its being'the head
of ship navigation, the terminus of railroads, and the distributing depot
' Of the miport trade of the St. Lai^rence. Three Rivers, on thd
contrary) possessing all these advantages in common with Montreal, has
tiie additional and very important one of being situated at the mouth of
a stream draining an area of inland country upwards of forty-five thou-
nnd square miles in extent ; inexhaustibly rich in timber, minerals, and
|»tiier natural products, and possessing water power without limit for
manufaoturing purposes. Here is the outlet for all that the bounty of
^iatnre may give, or the band of art create in a new, fruitful and exten-

.JW^ I

f!mmmmmmiim0i

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•Irt twTitory. Alrtady, indeed, under the •(Imutas of the lumber trade
•lone, liu the town made rapid itridea toward* the importance it will
eventually attain in a much higher degree j and.with the aid of the Pro-
▼incial Government and the impetus of individual entcrpriae, the boilnd-
leii repources^f thia fine river are io a very aatisfactor/ course of dc-'
veJopment. •

Aacending it, we come first to the « St. Maurice Forgea,»' nine miles
from the mouth of the river, where a justly celebrated, and very superior
quahtyofiron is manufactured from ore beds in that vicinity. \Other
forges near by are also in operation. Passing on about seven miles
further, we come to the flourishing village of the « Grais." Here are
extensive saw mills driven by water power, and manufacturing annually
aeven million feet of sawn lumber, with ample room and power for piore
establishments of the same or any other kind. Tlu-ee miles above this
feifttjf t come tb one of the wonders of tie new world— the Falls of
Shawinegan, 165 feet in height, in volume of water and picturesque
magnificence next only to Niagara, and for all purposes of utility, iafi-
nitely surpassingit. Here the traveller instinctively pauses, and weU
te may. He has seen as he**approached, the broad and ample basin '
b«Vow the Falls, evidently one vast workshop to be driven by the mighty
agency above. He makes the ascent, and sees before bim a wide, calm
and spreading bay, receiving depot and custodian, for the extensive
country above, of all its natural riches, to be hjre taken by the hand of
irt and transformed and fitted for the purposes oh^l^rce. The con-
viction is irresistible; he cannot avoid it, for so lEvious and palpable
are the capabilities of the place, that m contemplating them he se^ not
the possibUities of a century but tiie certainties of a decade of ycsL.

Leaving this remarkable spot, we ascend still further, till at tiie dis-
tance of twenty mUes above we come to « Les Piles," nearly on a di-
rect line between Quebec and Ottawa City— the new Capitol of Canada. -
Up to, and at intervals far beyond, this place, Government has construc-
ted excellent public roads leading from Three Eivers, and also greatly
improved the navigation of the river. Here too is the terminus of a
proposed railway, connecting with tiie Nortii Shore Road at Three
Rivers, in aid of which tiie Provincial Government has granted four
milUon acres of land. This road is to past Shawinegan (below) and
will greatly facflitate tiie businessnind hasten the growth and settiement
of the country. Ascending still further, we see on all sides the Govern-

• J

Mr (radtf
M it will
the Pro-
e bound-
«c of df -"^

ine milei
superior

\C)ther
en miles
iere are,
annuallj''
lor ptore
ore lliit
Falla o^
turesque
itj, iefi-
nd well ,
le basin

mightjr
ie, calm
Ktensire
hand of
rbe con-
palpable
3eM not
'^ears, -

the dis-
3n a di*
I!anada. •
)nstruc« ■
greatlj
nus of a
: Three
ed four
m) and
Uement .-
Sovern-

■4-

ment works— rbooqiis, slides, dams, roads, 8u:. tUI ptMlng the Falls of
** Lb Grande-M^,** we come to Rat River, one of th)e numerous tri*'
butaries of thn St. Maurice, about eightjr miles from, i^ mouth, wheit
there are flourumng farms and settlements belonging to the lumber ii»
terett. Paisini; still further on and upwards, we come to (he Vertnfl*
lion River, another tributarj of the St. Maurice, distant about 120 OkilM
from Three lUvers, whose waters circle round to the south-west until
they approach/ the head waters of the Ottawa. Above this ntill« wt
come to numerous other rivers, and somp posts pf the Iludaon's Ik^'
Company, and are surrounded on all sides bjr interminable forests of pine
and iipmce timber, oper&f the staple products of Canada, and alwajff
the first tribute paid hy the newly occupied districts into the hands ^
enterprise. / From the Falls of Shawinegan, indeed, up to the extreme
head water$ nf the St. Maurice, a distance of a^out two hundred miles,
these forests cover the whole face of the country, varied only by an in-
termixture of the hard woods, maple, beech, birch, elm and other varie-
ties ; and at intervals will be found finp farms belonging to lumbering ,
firms, where oats and hay are ^raised for the support of their cattle, and '
to obviate the expense of transportation from the settled districts below.

And now, descending again in our light bark canoe, affording as it
does the most rapid and convenient form for travel in these remote partst
we glide rapidly downwards towards our starting (loint, hading as wei
pass some jovial crew of raftsmen or upward-bound canoe, and even be-
holding to our astoniis^ment a steamboat plying on ^Ate||^atj till re-
cently, wotted not of steam in any shape save from the vi^ilg^ur's pri-
mitive kettle of tea or sm(3king pail of pea-soup. We note too 00 all
sides traces of the importance attached by Government to the increas-
ing business of the river, as seen in the iroads opened, dams, slides and
booms constructed, and other improvements made to facilitate the lum-
bering and general interests of the country. \ -. V ./ .

Finally, we arrive again, perl^aps on the second day of our downward
journey, at the Falls of Shawinegan, making the land at the foot of the
bay first referred to, which is formed by the river turning out of its di-
rect course abruptly to the left. Here the waters seem first to gather
^ themselves, as if reluctant to spcjnd their energies idly ; but the laws of
gravity are imperative, waitmg neither on the hour nor on man ; and af-
ter sweeping slowly round the bay to its furthest ^extremity on the left,
the river approaches the brink ^f tbe Fall, plunging over the rock, and
at the distance of about 800 or 1000 feet below, (including a rapid tt

-jim^l

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',. \

•

the foot of tb« fill) imergM into a ttnoolb aud eiteiuife baj, Mmi-cir-
culir m form, and cutUng back to far into tb« land which form, the
(ill, aa to approach within three hundred feet of the waters of th« upper
bay ; thus forminK a kind of penin&ula or bulkhead, one-third of a inii«
or More in length, and thr«e hundred feel wide at the narrowest part of
ita nwk, giring a " head'* of on« hundred and fiftj feet of water, with
unlimited supply.

This penimtula and hnd imme^ateTy adjoining it, (in all about fire
hundred acrei.) belong to prirate indiriduala. TIms Gofemment has al-
so reserved in the immediate vicinity several hundred acres for the site
of a town. ^ few years wjll probably demonstrate the wisdom and fore-
light which prompted tliis reservation. Tlie whole surrounding country
ia setUed, and within six mileaare the celebrated springs of" 8tLeon.»»
The curative properties of those waters attract annually many visitors
from air parts of Canada. In f<ict the scenery and geographical posi-
tion of this pUce, in addiUdn to iU extraordinary capability for manufac-
t»iring purposes, all point with confidence to the probability that, at no
distantday, it will become the Manchester of Canada. | '-

And first, in the probable course of things, will come the manufacture
of lumber, a twde which, in itself, if carried to any extent, leads natu-
t9Xiy to the ^blisbment of factories in many other departments of busi-
ness. Hie lumber trade is especially the trade of all newly opened
countries accessible from the adjacent setUed districts, and it increases
in ratio with population and civila*ation. Canada, as a whole, supplies
mainly not only the mother country, but also a large part of the demand*
from the northern, eastern, and central parts of the United States. The
'annual consumpUon of the Burlington, Whitehall, Troy, Albany and
Boston markets, probably exceeds one thousand million feet. Part of
this is supplied from the south-western part of Ne^ York. The grwt
bulk of the remainder finds its way to market from Canada through
Lake Champlain and the Chambly Canal, tapping the St. Lawrence
midway between Montreal and Three Rivers, and comprises the supply '
from all sources from the Ottawa river, forty-five miles above Montreal
to Quebec, ninety miles below Three Bivers. Recently, however, much
of the Ottawa lumber has gone for a market to the far west ; and though
the raw material is still plenty on that river, yet its production is annu-
ally becoming more and more expensive, and can hardly compete with
the fresh cu^and cheaper fikcflities of the St. Maurice. . : '"/^ iv ;-
It is fair to presume, therefore, that much, of the lumber required for

f, Mini-cir-
forifui the
f Ui« upp«r
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'eat part of
nitTf with

about fire
BDt hasal-
for the lite
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ng couQtrj
8tLeon.»»
ij TJaitora
hical posi-
r manufac-
tbat, at no

amifacture
eads natu-
tts of buai-
Ijr opened
increases
e, supplies
he demand
ites. The
banjr and
Part of
Phe grriiat
I through
Lawrence
the supply
Montreal,
ver, much
ad though
a is annn-
pete with

quired for

th» southern markets roust come from Uie St. Manrict ; and it is ee^•
t«ia also that no rirt r in Canada baa, in ■ gaographicai point of fiew,
sii&h a complete choice of markets, or comuunds mor* sfiRj access to
thtm. Herein is its peculiar advantage orer the other tributary rirers
of the at, Lawrence, In less than thrcie days, rafts can be taken from
Shawiocgaii to the Quebec market, or loaded onlUrgrs at Three Rirert
and started on their way to tha United States. Mills' wiU out for
whichever market may at the moment o0er the best inducements. The
QMt of lumber in the log at the nil^, say at Shawinegan, b from three to
four dollars per thousand feet, board measure } sawing, about two dollars )
rafting to Three Uivers and loading on barges, ;^oile dollar ; freight to
Troy or Albany, from three to four dollars) m all say. eleven dollars.
The commonest quality of pine sells readily in Troy or Albany for thlr*
teep dollars per thousand, and from that price to an average of thirty
dollars. Twenty dollars, however, is a (air average for the yield of the
river in pine ; and large quantities are sold even at Three Rivers, at
better proportionate rates, to southern and eaatem buyers, who, ia-HMT
hope of saving a commission, go northward to the mills and seek to bvf
direct fcpm the manufaoturers. Extensive steam mills and machine
shops ara Mraady established onthe main land at the noath of the St.
Miulrice nvar, where large quaatibai of lumber are annudly maaufke-
tii^ ( and there are islands in the mouth of the river upon which planing
milU and oiheir iisQiories might he established with rwy great advantage*
^jabor i> ?fc#edipigly oheap» being supplied chieHy by the French Cana-
<|4an populaMon, who are aa heneil, frugal and hardy a race as any under
tlif sun, Tbair wants being comparatively smaU, they depend upon the
op^ratioDii of the hiinherman for their winter's employment. Tt need^
npw oaly tha aapitaUst vd the mechanie-*-money and skill~-to give fontt'
and diraciioa to that tide of wealth which must ere long, and under ahf '
cwQuvurtaaces, roU down the whole eourae of this magnificent rivei'.;
Tha opportunity for investment is one whibhj^ftigr the current yea^ of^
low i^aluM, piU proliably iMTerMcur agaio.^

1^ jB 1 1

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:M 4

THE PILfiS EAILWAY.

s>:

•;A'li5.:5-y ■..«>«

(^From the Three lUven Inqimer,i . . . w. U.
' Sir,— It has been stated, ampn| others by the ^o•. t. % ^rmmoa^^
Jift^i The inquirer has dpna more than a^y other agency, to bruf ibi^
St. Maurice district, and its resources, before Ihoiotiot of the public*

'«i

;'^

I beHere the statement isleorrect. It 19, however much to be regretted
that within the last year or two, your views of our railway policy, as te-
iwunded in 7%e Inquirer, h^ve, in my opinion, helped rather to mih'tate
•gainst the St Maurice interest. True, The Inquirer origin'Jited, and
continues to support, the scheme of a branch road connecting this City
with the Grand Trunk at Arthabraska: which road would, as has already
been shewn, greatly facilitate the opening up of this immense territory,
as well as furnish to Three Rivers an easy access to all the markets in
tte world, at all seasons of the year* The Arthabaska branch is but
inserting the end of the wedge? If you would lay the country open, you
must supplement that scheme with a railroad to the Piles on the St.
Maurice. I know that you have cas^ ridicule on that project j but if I
mistake not, when you called it, « fin absurdity," the epithet was used in
feference to the immediate profit the working of the road might be ex*
pected to yield to stockholders. ^You did not, nor could any one pre-
ttnd to say, that such a road, in conjunction with a steamer to La Tuquey
eouM otherwise than benefit the lumberman and the settler. Your plan,
•8 set forth in last Saturday's Inquirer , of constructing colonization
jpoads on the same principle as now recognised 4)y Government for build-
ing railways, that is by grants of wild lands, is open to the old objection,
that these lands will falj into the hands of monopolists. What dffeience
is diere between the monopoly of lands by a railway company, or by an
"^ordinary road company t As to the profits which in either case may be
realised, I think the advantage lies with the railway company. Except
indeed, that in addition to grants of land, your road company has also
the right of erecting turnpikes— a right which our fudntans would
consider as an unjust burden, aM to which they would never willingly sub*
nit. Aji^ttgh a railway to the Filea might not prove remunerative for
Afewyearis in traffic returns, yot the earnings would from the outset, de-
fray working expenses and leave the lands as a clear profit. Whether the
railway to the Piles, and steamier to La Tuque, wouM render tfa^ lands
granted to this company as Yaluable as would the opening up of an or^
dinary road through al|kpmate blocks, say oftoa iiiles each, to a common
road company, is the question nOw to be considered. It has been found
m Canada that wherever the lunhberman has successfully operated, there
the settler has established himself r because the lumber trade has opened
a mulEet for him in the>ei7 heailof the wilderness, and thus invariably *
proves the best agency for settlii^ our lumber districts. If then you
foster the lumber trade of mi|' particular locality, you adopt the- very

^.-^

ttmimm

)e regretted

' to militate
pnated, and
ig this City
has ab-eady
le territory,
markets in
anch is bat
f open, you
on the St.
stjbntifl
ras used in
ght be ex*
ly one pre-
La Tuque,
Your plan,
olonization
i for build-
objection,
k dfference
', or by an
semaybe
Ezc^
r has also
ns would
ling^ysuh*
iratiye for
>utset,de-
bather the
the lands
of an ov"
I c<Hnmon
een found
led, there
IS opened
nvanably *
then you
the- very

'.f^lp

^¥■

best method of settli&g that locality, and consequently, by iU settlement,
you enhance the value of its lands. Now, such road as you propose
constructing, would not place the lumberman of the St. Maurice in any
better position than he at present occupies. He already has a road to
the piles, for which by the way he hMpaid ; and which most likely, he
will still have to keep in repair. The transport of his men and provisions
along this road, is more expensive and tedious than it woyld be by rail ;
and when he reaches the Piles, instead of steamer to Ia Tuque, he must
employ canoes. All this time his men must be paid and supported,
lieft to themselves, as they often must be under existing circumstances,
they consume double the time necessary for the journey j and if the
roads are bad,^ break pork and flour barrels, and destroy more provisions,
than would have sufficed to pay for the entire transit by rail and stjupier ;
nor taking into account the loss of time, and the inconvenience mMy to
result from arriving at the shanties with diminished supplies. Apart
from this consideration, if your oxen and hbrses are sent up by rail juii
steamer, you prevent their being jaded, and save considerably on the haf
and oats provided for their consumption. The roads you advocate
could confer no new advantage on the lumberman ; and not penetrating'
as far as the lumber districts, they would fail to provide a maricet for
the settler, to the interior of the country, still subjecting him to visit the
city or market town, by an expensive and slow mode of travel, in order
to dispose of his produce. On the other hand, the railway and steamer
mode of transit will draw an increased lumber trade up the St. Maurice,
providing for the farmer who settles even at La Tuque, a r^ady market)
for his hay, (Ais, pork and flour. But if he prefers selling these pro-
ducts of his industry in Three Rivers, he can take advantage of steamer
and railway, or if he disposes of them at the homestead, and is desirous'
of laying out fiis money to advantage, by making purchases in this city,
the same facilities are open to him. According to your plan the lumber
trade re'ceives no fresh encouragement, and consequently the agricul-^
turist has but little inducement to locate himself at any great distance?
froBn a market town. We have now to take another view of the'case<r
The lumber growing on lands granted to any such companies, miist be
ts^en into consideration. Such roads as you propose can prove but of
little avail in getting out lumber, or in lessenmg the expenses of bringing
it to markets The Piles railway, as has been already shewn wUl.lessen^
Hie cost and trouble of lumbering on the Stk Mauifice. The tin^er^

-■'■'■'.. ■.;■■:■.'■■' -B>./ ': -.- _^,^ ^_^---^:^=^-^--.-.t^■,^-

Wv'

. 1

^d. granted to the St. Maurice Railway Companj, wOl, on the con-
•tmcfaon of the road, at once assume an increased ralue. Supposing
that tbere are to be found on an average, only ten pine tree, per acre, and
^ only calculating thera worth one dollar each, the company wfll find ilaelf
m possession of timber amounting fn value to three millions, seven
hundred and fifty th(»^nd pdunds cy. This it will be rebembered
IS apart from the value of the \md, or the rich minerals which are known
to abound on them. It has been objeeted by some residents of Three
Rivers, that a raUway to the Piles would have the effect of removinir
manufacturing operations frorn this city to the Shawinegan, where
water power, to any extent, may be obtained. These persons have not
considered, that supposing such to be the result. Three Rivers would stUl
be the gainer. The more numerous the industrial operations carried on
in tbe interior, the greater the prosperty of that city which serves as
the outlet to such riches ; and the fact that Shawinegan offers A6se
, advantag«s, is another argument in favor of the Piles railway. It is a
popular cry with some parties," Oh! a raUway to the bush, why the
profits would not pay the grease for the wheels." A wise man wrote
"he IS a fool who answereth a matter before he heareth it,» and thoie
Who raise this cry, had better first reason the matter out, or permit me
todoit fbr theto. If the road led where no one travelled, the ciy
might have some meaning j but such is not the case in this instance. If
I do not mistake, The Inquirer stated, about the time that the Piles
rOad wi|s opened, that about a hundred cart loads of shanty supplies, pass-
ed over it in one day. Why, some of our Three Rivera carters have
made little fortunes within the last four years from this source of em-
ployment. Supposing that business did not already exist, it is a fact well
kiiown in the history of raflways, that the^soon create a traflSc for
themselves. They afford such speedy and cheap transit, that distance,
along a line pf railroad, is hardly taken into calculation. With such a
mode of conveyance to the Piles, the farmer of that locality would count *
Wmself as near Three Rivers, as if he resided in the Banlieu or St.
Marguerites. Wtre the road in question, once in operation, an active
trade would immediately spring up in firewood for the Montreal market.
The St. Maurice lands being in many parts thickly grown with hard-
wood tfees^ and the labour of chopping being less expensive than in the
Eastern Townships, we could supply that market cheaper than they,
rhe great business of the Piles wulway, in my opinion, must consist of

D the coo-
Suppoaiog
acre, and
I find itaelf
m»y teven
sbembered
ire known
of Three
removing
D, where

I have not
would still
:arried on
serves as
fers Aose
* Itfrk

why the
an wrote
uid thoie
•ermit me
, the cry
mce. If
the Plies
ies, pass-
ters have
e of em-
fact well
raffic for
distance^,
hsnchji
lid count

II or Sil
tn active
market.
ih hard^
m in the
an tbejk
onsist oIl

lawn lumber for the United States market. As before observed, th»
Shawinegan presents any uumber of mill sites ; and saw millS| worked
hf water power, are more remunerative than steam mills. The terminui
of the Piles road in this city, will of course be in connexion with the
Grand Trunk wharf of the Arthabaska branch. It may not be generally
known, t^ this branch imll place us in the tnost favorable position
of any lumber district in America, for supplying Jive New England
StateSf tnth an article which every.one of them is at presentlacking.
The bright yellow pine deals of our native forests, placed on the car at
Shawinegan, might be embarked here on the Grand Trunk ferry boat,
and, hooked to the engine on the south shore of the St. Lawrence,
never break bulk till they reached.their destination in the United States.
This project was the darling scheme of that cherished citizen of Salem,
whose untimely end, precipitated by, the accident of the ill fated
Montreal, was mourned over in the United States as a public calamity^
The construction of such roads as you advocate are good in their place,
but they must not be suffered to supercede those that bring in thetf^
traia more impoHant advantages. Ordinary roads conduce to the set-
tlement of the country, and chiefly benefit the agriculturist; but they
cannot compare with railways for creating traffic, and giving an impulse
to manufactures and to commerce. To my mind, the matter resolves
itself into this, << ordinary roads are good, but railroads are better ; grants
of Ilmd to a company for making a common road will prove remunera-
tive j but a grant of land on the ^t. Maurice to a company that will
bnild a railway from Three Rivers to the Piles, cannot fail to be a fortune
to the happy individuals concerned." . As the North Shore Railway
Company cdnnot lay claim to these lands witjdut building the Piles road,
in ease ofaccident^ it would be wise in the people of Quebec to devote
one half of their recent vote, to the construction of the Piles Railway,
and -commence the work immediately. I remain, &c. ' .

«^- % . A FRIEND TO PROGRESS. "

Three Rivers, 15th April, 1858. r ^ ^ ■ ^'

>i {Fnnn a Correspondent of tU Three Rivers Inquirer,) ■

The River St. Maurice, acfcoi-ding to the nearest computations that
can be made, drains an area of about forty-five thousand square miles.
This extensive region, once believed to be barren and uninhabitable, s*
fer as explored, presents every inducement both toihe settler and the

,' i ^^ ^ ^*^^ ^:"

lumberman. There are exte4sihretricW, lomewliat h% \x^t^ but
these are corefed wtth fore/ta of the finest pine. ' On i% other hand
there are wide reaches of leTy^I land, covered with bard wood of a hetry
growth. Throughout it ia/ beautifully watered, and intersected With
mert. I he course of the/ main St. Maurice is neari/ from the north,
la the east and west, the tributaries spread out far more than ft hundred
i«« on either side. Su^h is the country which now partiaRy explored •
almost utterly unknown soiae four years ago. At tkat not very
remote penod, settleraejit had not extended quite fifteen nnles up the St.
Maunce. All beyond was [an unbroken wilderness. About that time,
nowever, tbfe Public Works were commenced ; the lumbermen besan to
embaric their capital/freely on ths St. Maurice j roads were made, and
settlement I apidly followed. Take for example the line of the « Pilei
iioad. Three y^ars and a half ago, from Cote Turcotte upwards, there
was not a single settler. Starting now from that place (distant frofp
thu place about/fifteen miles) you can travel for fourteen mile's through
a dense settlement. In that distance you will meet with two chui!ch!2\
two post offices, and numerous stores. The houses are not .mere log hut|,
but good substantial buildings of hewn wood, in some instances clap-
bowded ^ov^r. The setUement is divided into two municipalities, and
the people/and the councillors project roads, and dispute about improve-
ments, rn/a manner which would \o credit to the most restless andener^
getic settlement in Western CanWa. As to the amount of the popnla-
tiMy lybannot speak positively, b%it must be considerable. At one of
*^ft •'**®"^** ^ ^'^ ^®" ***" * hundred and fifl^ seven children
r®<iy5 ^^ ^"* communion in one day last summerMnd all this, bear
ra oiipd, where there was not a tree cut three-^did-arha^ years afo.
/ut this is not the only settlement springing up on tlie St. Maurice,
occasioned by the trade which has beetin &reon. On the east sile,
ittlement has advanced iiore rapidly thaa on the west, of whicli if«'
tve been speaking, and is approaching the source of the Rividre-4^
Envies, opposite the Grandes Piles. From^ the Stct. AniiM»Jtn
Pcrade (nearly half way .to Quebec) to Berthier^luilf wayto Moatrea}„
the settlements are extendiii^, and will extend still morr, as the demand
for produce to supply the lumber establishments in the interior increaies. .
In the mean time the new road to the Graodes Piles^ thrown open
ue country to La Tiique, a distance of 120 miles up the St. M^ee*
The money expended on this road is unquestionably the most judicious
mvestment yet made by the Government in the territory, All the W* ,
fie of the St; Maurice already ^oes over it, and settlement is pouring in,
but as it is now the main highway leading up the St^ Maurice, it is cer»
tainly of flie great^t importance^ as you justly 8tate,thatthe loWer nor-
^n of the road, tliat is to say, the jfiart lying between this and Cote
Turcotte, (a^distapce of fifteen miles) should be put-in thorougib repair,
and made equal -to the Government roads which have been made from
that place to the Grandes Plies.

i^ Tndeed, but
he other hftnd
)od of a hetfv
:ert6cted with
001 the north.
:han fi hundred
iaWy Explored/
tkat not reif
lies up the St.
tout that time,
rmen began ta
ere made, aqd
of the « Pile*
Awards, thera
(distant kofn
miles through
two chuEchea,.
.mere log huts,
ist^ces clap-
eipalities, and
boul improTe*
tiess and ener-
of the popnla-
3. At omg of
ieven chfldren
laQ this, bear
ears afo.
St. Maurice,
the ^t sidle,
of which in^
i Rividre-detK

> AnnHbMi-r
to MoUbredK
IS the demand
rior incnMuwa. .
t thrown open
St^M^uriet*
nost judiciom
All the tn^,
is pouring in,
rice, it is cer"
he loirer por-
his and Cote
trough repair,
en made nrom

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