are much inferior to those below.

For about

sixty miles beyond Montreal, almost all the inhabitants are of French extraction, and still speak the language of their ancestors. They scarcely understand a word of English, and seem to be of very humble origin. Their habitations are constructed in the style of cottages; and, though they certainly are not reproachable with any great degree of taste in design, or of elegance in their execution, they have a just claim to honourable mention for the compensating attributes of cleanliness, and of neatness, if not of refinement, in the simple decorations of their interiors. The traveller who may have occasion to cross their thresholds, will seldom witness the semblance of poverty or the shadow of discontent. Since my arrival in the country, I have not beheld a single trace of anxiety or care in the countenances of the people. In the city, the town, the village, and the open country, every eye sparkles with contentment, and every tongue speaks the language of independence. If the maxim of our ethic poet be correct, that

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,

Lie in three words, HEALTH, PEACE, and COMPETENCE,

I do not wonder at beholding such an invariable picture of enjoyment in the looks of the Canadians; for they certainly possess, to a perfection which cannot be surpassed, every one of those integral ingredients in the happiness of man, which the

poet has thus tersely described. Alas! how different the scene on your side of the Atlantic! How melancholy the contrast to an Irishman! How delightfully, yet mournfully exhilarating to a Canadian, if, from a knowledge of the unhappy condition of our unfortunate countrymen, he should make the comparison, and find in it an inducement to "bless his happier lot!"

The line which divides the Upper from the Lower Province of Canada, intersects the St. Lawrence at about 66 miles West of Montreal. From this line as far as Prescott, you have Upper Canada on the North, and the State of New York on the South shore.

The only villages between Montreal and Prescott, are LA CHINE, and POINT CLEAR; the latter of which is 18 miles from Montreal. It has a Church and Parsonage-house; contains about 100 inhabitants, all of whom are Roman Catholics; and is the only dirty village in the Lower Province.

The village of THE CEDARS Consists of a few houses, inhabited chiefly by mechanics.

COTEAU DU LAC is equally small, but of more importance as a military post, a fort having been erected in its immediate vicinity for the protection of the trade upon the river, and for the purpose of intercepting the passage of an enemy, whether ascending or descending.

CORNWALL, which is dignified with the appellation of a town, is more extensive than either of the two just mentioned. It is 86 miles from Montreal,

and has a Gaol, a Court-house, a Roman Catholic Chapel, and a Presbyterian Meeting-house. It contains about 50 houses, and nearly 200 inhabitants, and is the town of Assize for the Eastern District.

In PRESCOTT, which contains about 150 inhabitants, there is a military fort, called "Fort Wellington." At this place ship-navigation re-commences, and continues as far as the Falls of Niagara.

We remained two days at Prescott; and, on the third of September, we embarked for York on board a small schooner, called "the Caledonia." We performed this voyage, which is a distance of 250 miles, in six days.

The St. Lawrence between Prescott and Kingston presents an aspect the most wild and fanciful. The Lake of THE THOUSAND ISLES, which is situate between them, exhibits a delightful combination of the varied scenery of nature. It has all the features of the placid, the picturesque, and the sublime, with a striking intermixture of the savage and the uncouth. While slowly gliding up the translucent stream, the stranger observes the Northern shores thickly settled: The lowly cottage and the stately mansion alternately attract his notice. The bustle and activity of life are every where visible upon the land; while, upon the lake, all is solemn stillness and cheerless solitude. Hundreds of little islands, assuming every variety of form, and covered with stunted trees of almost every species, are spread over the watery expanse,

and afford a finished specimen of that peculiar sort of scenery, which is produced when the several principles and causes of vegetation are not consentaneous, when the seed is planted by the hand of nature in a sterile soil, and fertilizing rains, warming suns, and fostering breezes severally contribute their appointed quota of natural assistance, but seem to lose much of their accustomed efficacy by, having no suitable objects on which to operate. The rocky and barren soil of these islands invites not the hand of industry, to redeem them from their unproductiveness; nor do their unfrequented retreats discover to the beholder even a solitary wig-wam. They are the abode of silence, and the resting-place of solitude. The contemplative observer cannot view them without some feelings of regret: While his eye roves with delight over spots of earth disposed into all imaginary shapes, in which matchless beauty and proofs of skilful design are apparent in every direction; direction; his judgment detects the fallacy of his sight, and he laments to find these picturesque creations yielding nothing for supplying the wants of man, but such products only as serve to gratify his curious vision. Scarcely can he restrain the wish, presumptuous though it be, that Providence, in its wisdom, had distinguished this portion of the universe by something of greater utility and of more substantial excellence.

Immediately opposite the town of Prescott, on the shore of the United States is the town of

Ogdensburgh; and 12 miles higher up, on the Canada shore, stands the delightful village of BROCKVILLE, so called in honour of the late lamented Sir Isaac Brock. This enchanting little spot unites in its situation every beauty of nature. In front of it flows the river St. Lawrence, interspersed with numerous islands, variously formed and thickly wooded: Behind it, is an assemblage of small hills, rising one above another in “ gay theatric pride:" And, on each side, are a number of wellcleared farms in an advanced state of cultivation. Every thing combines to render it pre-eminently beautiful. The dwellings are built of wood, and tastefully painted; and the Court-house, on an elevated situation at the back of the village, seems, from its superior size, to be the guardian of the villagers, an idea of my fancy, which I did not seek to confirm by entering within its doors. Brockville contains 450 souls: It has a Parsonagehouse, but no Church has hitherto been erected.

Sixty-seven miles from Prescott, and seventynine from Brockville, is the town of KINGSTON, in Jat. 44 deg. 8 min. North, and 76 deg. 40 min. West longitude. This town was built in 1784, and is now a place of great importance to the British Interests in Canada. It is the naval depôt of the Upper Province, and is strongly protected by a fort called "Fort Frederick." In Kingston harbour, which is deep and well-sheltered, there are several large ships, particularly the St. Lawrence of 102 guns, which is said to have cost the immense