The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-13 00:00:00

FRE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1860,

THE PRINCE'S VISIT TO CANADA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
MONTREAL, AUG. 30.
,Moaomnotroefrabastolamstuch talked of
on the night
andThseo
lgornegatexbpalelotoofd
of the 27th. Long as his Royal Highness may
withd a many
sas
presence, are the
hf est ei
is not
of t
lhi ek
skl
yi n
tdo haet twe
ni ldl
lhai
nov
ney
'omuanrore brilliant, better arranged, or better car-
ried out to the last, than that which was given to
him by the citizens of Montreal. I have seen many
displays of this kind, but I must admit I have
never seen anything to equal, either for taste or
splendour, the fete which terminated here so gaily
at near 6 o'clock on the morning of the 28th. When
it was understood (and it is now quite taken for
granted) that his royal highness prefers balls to any
other kind of entertainment that can be offered to
I him, the citizens of Montreal met in conclave and
determined to give him one on a scale which not
only could not be equalled in Canada, but which
should leave even New York itself no chance of suc-
cessful competition. If the latter was the object of
their ambition, as it appears to have been, I am
confident they have succeeded, for the fete of Mon-
day night was one of which any capital in Europe
might well be proud, and which none could give
without bestowing the tame care, money, and at-
tention to the whole affair which all Montreal has
done from first to last. The Hon. J. Young was
appointed president of the ball committee, and he,
with his colleagues, at once determined that not only
a ball-room, but extensive surroundings in the way
of pleasure grounds, fountains, groves, and bowers,
all lighted up like a second Vauxhall, should be
specially constructed for the occasion. Costly and
almost extravagant as such an idea might appear
to many for the sake of a single night's entertain-0
ment, it was welcomed with acclamations by the
citizens, who instead of any ecoomical curtail-
ments, bent entirely in the other direction, and even
enlarged upon the cost and proposed decorations of
the first plan. The spot chosen far the intended
edifice—for edifice, in the most permanent sense of
the word, it may be fairly called—was on the north
side of Montreal, almost at the foot of Mont Royal,
and in the centre of a large extent of meadows.
Only lye weeks from the present date the cattle
were grazing over the ground which on Monday
night looked like a fairy land. Less than five weeks
since, as I am told, the woodwork of Lhe building
was in the form of huge pine logs. The design for
the whole construction was intrusted to Mr. Toft,
who hit upon the happy idea of forming the interior
of the ball-room in one immense circle, with an or-
chestra in the centre, benea+ h. the 10.. y peaked roof.
which gradually sloped down towards the outer
walls so as to resemble in the design a circular pa-
vilion tent—though, of cout.3e, of colossal dimen-
sions, as the diameter of the ball room was nearly
100 yards from side to side. In the midst the double
orchestra was placed reaching from the ground to
the roof of the building. Tae design of this centre
ornament, if it may be so celled was light and ex-
ceedingly beautiful, and its trellis of open columns
was almost entirely concealed under garlands of
flowers. Three circles of columns, simita'ly deco-
rated, supported the roof in the space between the
orchestra and outer wall. The latter was about 25
feet high, and on this, raised some 12 feet from the
ground, was a deep balcony, or rather gallery, of
sloping seats, extending round the whole circum-
ference of the bui'ding, and in which those who
preferred the brilliant scene beneath to dancing or
flirting might survey it at their ease. Beneath this
balcony, on one sine, was a raised dais, and Royal
alcove for the Prince. Round all the rest of the
circle, except at the doors of the entrance, the sup-
per was to be served by unseen waiters, for whose
hands there was just sufficient room left between the
tiers of refreshments to enable them to minister per-
fectly to the wants of the guests without entering
the ball room. This only gives the merest outline
of the internal arrangements, and it would be quite
impossible in a hurried notice to give much more.
Every part of the room was decorated with such con-
summate taste and knowledge of effect that no por-
tion could be selected for particular admiration. The
prevailing tone of the whole was pink, but of such
a soft tint that it was only when one saw it in im-
mediate contact with white and gold that its actual
colour could easily be distinguished. Even the floor
of the ball room was stained of the same light, rosy
hue. The roof of the pavilion was painted, not alone
for mere night effect, but with a care and minute
attention that is rarely seen in such ball-room
adornments, especially when only wanted for
one evening. So also with the front of the raised
gallery and the walls beneath it. Every column was
wreathed with garlands as round the orchestra, and
three immense circles of lamps—one on the outer
diameter, one over the centre, and one round the
orchestra—nearly two thousand in all, lighted up
every part of the circle beneath with the most perfect
brilliancy. The interior, of course, was made the
feature in the design, and when such a perfect suc-
cess had been achieved, and when only a night's
entertainment was intended, the exterior might very
reasonably have been passed over with small care.

This, however, was notso. The committee deter.
mined to do the whole thing thoroughly from be-
ginning to end, and set to work to make the out-
side almost as good in its way as the grand ball-
room itself. Four handsome entrances were ac-
cordingly made into the building, flanked with bat-

tlemen-ted towers with low 1,-Talls and turrets

connecting them, while the apex of the ball pavi-
lion was surrounded by a cupola and open lantern,
tot only to finish the effect, but to secure to the
utmost a perfect ventilation. Ido not know how
many acres of ground round the building were set
apart for the bowers, promenades, &c., but there
must have been very many—apparently not less in
all than 50 or 60 at the least. Every path over the
whole of this extent was planted with small trees,
and every branch was decorated with coloured lan-
terns. Near the building a little lake was actually
formed, with a bridge across it hung with coloured
lamps, for by this his Royal Highness was to enter
the building. The whole surface of the lake, too,
was covered with imitation water lilies, which were
lighted up in the night, and shone over the smooth
surface like little stars in the water.
The Ball, here, in fact, was made the grand
feature of the reception. All Montreal looked
forward to it—all who had heard of its intended
splendours were to a certain extent prepared for
something good in a colonial way, though quite
convinced in their own minds that it would be

nothing after all at which travellers would need be

excessively astonished. Those connected with the
fete maintained a decorous reserve ; those not con-
nected with it were incredulous, and those indifferent
or opposed to it (of which latter there were certainly
some) rather hinted at the prospect of a crush, hot
rooms, dust, drunken waiters, and a general
failure.

For the garden portion of the fete—one of the chief
attractions—there were no hopes even among the
committee ; for the weather which has caused his
Royal Highness to be called " the reigning Prince"
set in again on Monday with all the inclemency of
an English summer. It was not so much downright
heavy rain, which within certain limits a man can
excuse —for heavy showers always seem as if they
had something to do and did it—it was thick,
" muggy," wretched weather, damp and slippery in
the streets, close and depressing within doors, with a
slow, stupid, idle sort of rain that neither came down
nor stayed up, but dropped with a sullen weak
saunter through the air. This put an end to all
hopes for the gardens round the hall and all the
chances of moonlit walks and small flirtations which
might have been based thereon.
The hall itself, however, nothing in the way of rain
could interfere with, so that on the whole it perhaps
only deepened the interest in that great centre of
cswlattraction.oiosimteohle,ye a 4.1
rdi3crk desire
sraoedrnHis desire
and, as
oral) Reose
0o
otynai
(whichsl peoplen
hoe tssssufferers peffeomHighnessetreeadrt always
etiquettel
half-past
ai
talloflys suddenly.
pc
believeao asmr trs
eim9vl
smitten
reeaaernst:
fostered and goaded to the utmost by the carriage
owners), of course had only one result—that of rais-
ing.the hire of vehi▪
cles to prices little short of the
legitimate value of the entire team. For once car•
riages were not to be got at almost any price, and the
Montreal hotel busses, having much the appear-
ance, with three ti▪
mes the length of an ordinary
English hearse, were at last called into requisition
to transport whole crowds of city belles to their
great scene of action. Dank, dismal, and uncom-
fortable as the evening was, it could not rob the
gardens round the ballroom of all their bright ef-
fect, and the little lake, with its illuminated bridge
and shining water-lilies, the rows of trees covered
with variegated lamps in all directions, seemed the
more festive in comparison with the weather, and,
like forbidden fruit, became most tempting in ap-
pearance when most out of reach. Perhaps, if one
could have walked among the trees
and bowers of
this extemporized Eden, much of its illusions would
have disappeared ; but as it was, it was all couleur
(le rose from a distance, and the lake, under the dim
wood-covered eminence of Mont Royale looked like
a lake, and the little trees threw their arms abroad
with all the dignity of nature, and made believe as
if they grew there and the lamps were their natural
fruit.
The ballroom was, as I have intimated, an exqui-
sitely brilliant sight. Its soft pink tone,its bright-
ness, its rows of light, the fresh green leaves and
flowers twining up the columns, its crowds
of offi-
cers of every service intermingled with ladies in all
the glories of Parisian toilettes, long ordered, long
arranged, and at last displayed, made one rich
sudden picture of luxuriant gaiety, which, though
few who saw it can forget, none who saw it can de-
scribe. It left a vague impression of music, flowers,
rich uniforms, and splendid dresses; quiet, and yet
festivity; a sort of reserved enthusiasm of display

which, seen under the spacious dome of that pavilion,
made it one of the most impressive yet one of the
least describable scenes which I have ever witnessed.
The eye could rest on nothing of itself remarkable
beyond the general effect. Everythiag harmonised
so well, from the bright yet soft tones of the ceiling
over the pillars of flowers, and round the spacious
gallery where laced uniforms and rustling silks
seemed natural accompaniments, down to the quiet
pink floor, promenaded by hundreds and hundreds
of the great of Canada, all as natural, too, as if they
had lived there all their lives. In fact, the ball here
stands alone of its kind and marks an era in the his-
tory and general management of such entertain.
ments, which those who wish to thrive must copy
entirely or fail to equal. New Yorkers—men espe-
cially deputed to invite the Prince to similar dis-
plays—were there in plenty, and owned at once
with frank dismay that the Empire city could do
nothing to welcome his Royal Highness in a way
that would at all bear comparison with the fete of
Montreal.

If there was anything the entertainment lacked
to make it perfectly satisfactory to those who
looked beyond the mere show and glitter of the
affair, it was the presence of the French Canadians.
But, as at the Quebec ball, very few were present,
His Royal Higness arrived at 10 o'clock, and was
welcomed with the most profound salutadon as he
passed the dais, and in a few minutes eterwards,
the ball was opened, with some 30 or 40 sets of
quadrilles, for an of which there was room and to
spare in the spacious pavilion. This fi-st set was of
course ushered in by an air which may be regarded
as almost the national song of Canada, as the maple
leaf is its emblem. Its real name is "a la Claire
Fontaine," though it is only known here by the
burden of its refrain, " Longtemps que to
jamais je ne t'oublierai." It is a sweet, sparkling,
little melody, which appropriately enough, is al-
ways played in honour of the Prince. Already the
New York bands are getting it up to welcome him
with it on his arrival in the real capital of the
States. Unfortunately for some of the representa-
tives of the American and colonial press the Prince
neither slipped nor stumbled the whole evening and
thus no thrilling narrative of princely humiliation
ran through their recollections of the fete. Every-
thing passed off well, though I should not be doing
my duty as an impartial chronicler of these events
if I failed to state that throughout the whole night
the Prince was mobbed by a crowd of sightseers.
At no other ball that has yet been given have I
seen any approach to crowding round him " for a
good look. At Montreal lam sorry to say this
was the rule all night.
Apparently, however, the keen endless scrutiny
to which he was exposed made but small impression
on the Prince, who danced and laughed awaythe
time with perfect enjoyment and unconcern. 'that
he enjoyed the ball may be guessed from the fact
that he danced every dance in the programme,
except the last of all. Before the rather lively
hilarity of " Sir Roger de Coverley" he always re-
tires, but as it was rearly 5 o'clock before he quitted
the saloon it cannot be said that he made any con-
siderable sacrifiee on the score of lea'ing too soon.
On Tuesday the 28th his Royal Highness was up
again early, though he could scarcely have had more
than two hours' sleep, and prepared to start for his
trip down the rapids of the St. Lawrence.

These great Rapids, which are formed by a series
of decliNities in the bed of the river between Lake
Ontario and Montreal, and down which the stream
rushes with a velocity varying from 17 to nearly 24
miles in the hour, are among the things which
tourists who visit Canada never fail "to do," Until
within the last few years they were considered as
too dangerous for any vessel, and it was not with-
cut great misgivings that a steamer at last at-
tempted to run them, the immediate and inevitable
destruction of ship and all on board being, of course,
foretold by everybody as a certainty. Contrary to
this general expectation, and not a little, I believe,
to the actual disappointment of those who relied
upon the invincibily of the far-famed Rapids, and
felt it as a positive indignity that they could be
traversed in any vessel with safety, the steamer
arrived at Montreal, all well. Since that date they,
have run regularly down the stream every day, re-
turning back to the head of Lake Ontario by means
of a canal with almost innumerable lock-gates to
prevent that becoming a Rapid as well as the rest.
Every one who goes to Niagara comes down the
Rapids to Montreal, and there are not a few who
make a great noise about it afterwards, as if the
feat was something perilous and wonderful. One
might as well attempt to stem the Rapids themselves
as assure the majority of tourists here that there is
really nothing very tremendous in them after all.
You are sure to be met on every side with the ques-
tions, " Suppose the steamer droke down, sprang a
dangerous leak, or struck full upon a rock, where
would the passengers be then ?"—queries which, if
they have any weight at all, apply with equal force,
to a trip across the Atlantic, which now, at least, is
not thought such a wonderful achievement as it
used to be. The fact is that the terror of these
Rapids exists far more in appearance than in reality,
for the channel they have worn is so deep that the
steamer could not get out of it if it tried. To
be sure, if the vessel went full tilt against a rock,
turned over, and threw all the passengers into
the torrent, I don't believe any would be saved ;
but, even taking this extreme view of the case,
I can't think that there would be much difference
in result between- an upset on the St. Lawrence
and on any other of the large, wild, and rapid
streams of North America. How many, for in-
stance, are saved when a Mississippi boat gets
" snagged" in the night and goes down in the
centre of that yellow, turgid, desolate stream ?
So, all who go down the Rapids are told they
have accomplished a tremendous feat, and as none
are incredulous of their own heroism the delusion
is passed on from tourist to tourist, and the ra-
vening ferocity of the waters of the St. Lawrence
maintained in as much dignity as if crowds of
rafts, barges, and steamers did not come down
them every day, and as if the steamers that have
gone ashore had not quietly disembarked their
passengers without trouble or danger. lam quite
aware that if any one fell into the Rapids it
would be a thousand chances to one against his
being saved, but I am equally sure that there
would be nearly the same chance of his meeting
the same fate in every other of the broad rapid
rivers of America I have seen.

- This language is dreadful guide-book heresy I
am aware, but the worst is yet to come. Cana-
dians tell you that if there is anything better
worth seeing than the Rapids it is the thousand
islands which dot the surface of the St. Law-
rence just where Lake Ontario ends and the river
commences. Here, you are told, the rich grandeur
of the Hudson, the wild stern magnificence of
Saguenay, and, for aught you hear to the con.
trary, the flowery beauty of the Euphrates in
spring, may all be met with.

It is a trying thing to have to contend against
such notions, but, if an individual opinion is worth
anything, I must unhesitatingly give mine that these
thousand islands are in their way a monstrous
delusion and a snare, and will as much bear com-
parison with the Hudson or the Saguenay as the
Thames below Blackwall. Take slips of the Isle of
Dogs of all sizes, from an island as large as a foot-
stool up to 10 or 12 acres, plant the large ones with
lean stunted firs, strew the little ones over with
broken stones as if they were about to be macada-
mised, put them near the surface of the water in a
mechanical disarray, giving confusion without pic-
turesqueness and number without variety, imagine
these choking the highway of a broad noble river,
and you can fancy yourself on the St. Lawrence and
in the middle of the far-famed Thousand Islands.

The Prince went by rail to a place called
Dickenson's Landing, where he had an opportunity,
of seeing some, though only a few of these unpic-
turesque obstructions, which, even seen at their
best, look like cast•away boulders ; that disap-
pointment, as a disappointment it will surely be if
he, like everyone else, has been informed that
they are wonderfully beautiful, being reserved for
him till Thursday, the 4th of September. At
Dickenson's Landing a steamer was in waiting for
the Royal party to take them down the Rapids,
which are four in number—the Long Sault, Cas-
cades, Cedars, and Lochine. Long Sault, the first
of all, is certainly the best. The current runs there
at some 16 or 18 miles an hour, and, as the water
is very deep and the river makes a sharp bend, the
first glance of these tumbling waters as they fill
the river with a foam-like snow is really very fine.
The sight is finer still as you near them, and you
see the whole river ploughed up by a series of wild
dangerous breakers, which plunge and start up in
a broken sea nearly 20ft. in the air. These waves
are all quite fierce and dangerous enough to de-
stroy any small boat in a minute, and even give the
steamer some heavy blows, which cover her decks
with foam and spray. But the current is so strong
that, before you can well appreciate their turbu-
lence, the Rapid is passed, for the Long Sault is
scarcely more than a quarter of a mile in length.
The Cascades and Cedars are both fine Rapids,
and certainly worth seeing, especially the latter,
which foams and rushes down 'with tremendous
velocity for some four or five miles. I am told
that in three miles of its course the river hero falls
80 or 90ft., and I can well believe it, for the boat
flies past the banks like an express train. But
of danger,
as I have said before, there is
actually none. At the last of all, Lochine, where
some dangerous rocks obstruct a very narrow pas-
sage, some five or six miles above Victoria-bridge,
there very likely
may have been danger to the
boats at first ; but the pilots are now so thoroughly
used to the channel that they laugh at the idea of
risk, and run their craft through with perfect in-
difference. Through this last Rapid, however, the
Prince did not pass, as when the boat arrived

there it was getting dark, when of course it could
not be attempted. The party therefore disembarked
at the Lochine station and returned byrail to Mon-
treal.

In the evening there was a grand musical festi-
val at the Ballroom, expressly in honour of the
Prince. Yesterday, the 29th, his Royal Highness,
after inspecting some volunteers, went again to the
Lochine Rapids, to the residence of Sir George
Simpson, the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, and the head-quarters of that great corpora-
tion, whence, at the commencement of each year,
large bodies of trained voyageurs set out in canoes
with goods and packages for the various posts in
the wilderness. On the waters here, near the
Lochine Rapids, a number of large and splendid
canoes were provided, manned by boatmen in the
employ of the company, all dressed in scarlet uni-
forms, and many wearing the medal given for Arctic
services. In these canoes his Royal Highness and
the members of his suite skimmed up and down the
rapid current, the boatmen sending their light tirch-
bark skiffs over the water with the speed of arrows.
It was thought at one time the Prince would have
ventured down Lochine itself in one of these quick,
dancing little craft, in which you require to sit
with as much care and quietness as in the caiques
of the Bosphorus. lam quite sure that if the Hud-
son's Bay boatmen, who in their voyages through
the various wilds of North America shoot Rapids
far more dangerous than Lochine, saw they could
take the Prince down there safely they would have
done it. But the river was much swollen after the
heavy rains of late, and the aspect of Lochine some
two miles below, with its deluge of waters pouring
down with irresistible velocity and force, was not
inviting, and very prudently, there ore, no at-
tempt to run them was made by any of the
party. So the Prince and his suite had lunch,
and amused themselves on the water, and had for
once a pleasant and strictly private day, far from
the eager pen of Western reporters, though I fear
that their knowing nothing of what took place will
not fail to give a still wider range to their imagina-
tions, and that the most incredible paragraphs and
most thrilling woodcuts of perilous escapes will
result therefrom.

On this evening there were firemen's processions
all over the town, each man carrying torches and
Roman candles, and ringing bells, so that a lively
night was the result.

AUGUST 31.

The Prince went last night to the People's Ball, to
the intense delight of every one present. Almost
for the first time since his visit, the night was mild
and splendid, with a full, clear moon, and soft,
warm air. It was also the night chosen for the
grand display of fireworks at the foot of the Mount.
These pyrotechnics, like everything else that has
been undertaken here, were really splendid, and
thousands of persons of all classes assembled to wit-
ness them. The Prince of Wales's plumes in coloured
rockets, and the Royal arms and motto in fires of
every hue, were of course among the greatest
attractions of such a night ; and, though the illu-
minations of the arches were continued, as they have
been ever since the Prince entered the city, they
last evening, for the first time, "failed to draw."
Every one went to the fireworks, and, once there,
waited for another and another, and then "only one
more," before they went to the ball ; so that as the
time drew nigh when his Royal Highness was
expected there were only some 2,000 present—a
mere handful in a building of such size and space
of floor. It was built to accommodate 8,000
people, and 2,000, therefore, made but a scanty
morsel in its wide expanse. Of those present,
too, such a considerable majority had collected
round the Royal dais, and near the entrance where
the Prince would enter, that at the first glance it
seemed as if the room was almost empty. By and
by, however, they began to drop in faster, and
before ten o'clock some 3,000 or 3,500 were assem-
bled. The announcement of "no restriction as to
dress" was taken advantage of on the most liberal.
scale, and the few who ventured into the arena in
real evening dress became as much objects of curio-
sity and interest as they would have been at an
ordinary assembly in a suit of chain mail. White
ties became unpleasantly conspicuous objects, and
were, on the whole, rather tolerated than viewed
with favour. The "no restrictions as to dress" was
popularly interpreted to mean corduroys, brown or
gray shooting-jacket, yellow vest, and scarlet neck-
tie, without gloves, or with thick leather ones, as
the case might be; and those who attended in
evening costume were regarded rather with dis-
favour than otherwise, and as having taken advan-
tage of the committee's leniency in point of toilet
to an unwarrantable extent. The toilets of the
ladies, of course, are never alluded to except in
terms of praise, but it may be said that I would
praise them more if there had not been rather a
sameness in the matter of bonnets and shawls.

Before the Prince came, the Mayor, still robed
in municipal splendours, made an attempt to open
the ball with a quadrille. It was not successful,
however, as no one followed the example save
four young men who danced, with a strange in-
dependence of time or tune, among themselves,
and whose eccentric movements unfortunately
rivetted the attention of the band to such an ex-
tent that when they stopped the music stopped ;
and the Mayor's party—a little oasis of festivity
in the great desert of floor—were left unsupported
in the Midst of their figure, and slunk back again
with a disconcerted air, though trying to " make
believe" that it was quite en regle, and that they
rather liked the band stopping suddenly than other-
wise. Tnings in general were getting very flat,
when, fortunately the Prince came with his suite,
in evening dress, and entered a box in the gallery
overlooking the circle. He was welcomed, of course,
with tremendous cheering, but was not tempted
thereby to descend and join the dancers.

He starts for Ottaw'a in the course of an hour,
and will arrive there at six o'clock this evening.