New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-08-21
the lights Of Montreal r.As.ted in the dark waters


Of the st. Lawrence.
The keen nor'west wind, next morning. told us
we had reached q higher latitude. 1t was beau
tiful day, the people said but we shlvered In our
Summer garments Montreal, in her nun-like dress
of gray granite is scarcely to be called cheerful
CITY. but she possesses much to interest the
stranger. The mixture of most-English English
and quaintest of French peculiarities in the popu
laton is also to be noticed in the external features
of the city. The stately churches and public ed-
fees, gloomy converts and gay shops, palaces and
novels, side by side, show that, though the two
elements cOexist, they never amalgamate. Either
from st. Lambert, or from the Mountain, the view
is truly grand and imposing, but all the inter
pictures belittle these impressions. A certain air
of English stability however, is always present,
and the soberness of the cOlors is, on the whole
preferable to the glare of many of our brick cites
During the day we took a drive around the
Mountain-some eight or nine miles. The grass
was almost burnt off the soil, the fields brown and
wintIy the trees dull and languishiDg presenting
an appearance of intense drOuth, which was IN
consistent with the sharp chillness OF the air.
Canada, this Summer has suffered greatly from
II e want of rain. The haycr In many districts,
il almost entirely ruined and much distress is an
ticpated next Winter in cor sequence. The drouth
seems TO commence at the frontier. There has
been no lack of rain in Vermont, where the noun
tains act as rain-cOnductOrs
Our Irish coachman took great delight in calling
our attention to the clearness of the atmosphere.
If his stories were true, it was certainly remark
abb. A range of hills, which appeared to be
twelve miles distant, were in reality thirty-hve,
and country church which we saw with great
distiDctness, nine miles of. The broad valley, tx.
tending from the Ottawa River to Lake st. Louis,
lay before us, parched arid and brown-in fact,
half shorn of its usual beauty. We were all dis
appointed with our drive. There" exclaimed
the coachman, determined to interest us in some
way, did you ever see an Independent black
Imam ? That place (pOintiDg to comfortable
cottage by the road-side) belongs to one. The
I" iintlemen from the States thinks it's great Gu
riosity: they niver see one in the South"
Montreal is now in futter of loyal excitement.
The Prince is coming and the people are all at
once waking up TO the deficiencies of their city.
So much has been undertaken, that if the manage
ment of the festivities were in less energetic hands,
we might doubt whether they would come of
according to the programme. A crystal palace
(partly brick), and large circular ball and con-
ce1t-room are in course of erectiOn fountains are
to be placed in the principal squares; there is to be
an exhibition of Canadian industry, Indian games,
&c. Our Northern brethren have heretofore been
considered rather slow, and they are now showing
how much enterprise they have held in reserve
hitherto. The Princes visit from present indica
tiOns, will form an era in Canadian history.
Unfortunately for the traveller, there are only
night boats between Montreal and Quebec. We
preferred day travel on the Grand Trunk-monot-
onous as it is-tO night in close berths. The
train carried us across the Victoria Bridge, which
we found interesting, though by no means agree
able. The immense structure impresses you by lis
figures rather than by its appearance. Its great
length takes away from its apparent hight and
bulk-and length, / have observed, is the least
effective element in architecture. You would
naturally describe it as very long bridge. You
must know the depth of the river, its rapdty, the
dimensions of the piers, the tuns of granite, the
span of the tubes, the amount of iron, the labor
and the cost, before you can properly appreciate
the work. Then notice the speed of the train
take out your watch, and count the minutes, after
pluDgng into the dark roaring, rafting tunnel.
One-twO-three; and still the narrow windows
fit past you-four-fve; and still your ears are
stunned with the sharp reverberatiOns of the iron
tube--fre and a ha!E and you emerge into day
light Montreal, where you made your plunge,
now lies in the sunshiny distance, with two miles
of the st. Lawrence between. Then you at last
realize that this bridge is one Of the wonders of the
age.
From Montreal to st. Hyacinthe, you pass over
broad, well-cultured, thickly-settled plain, re-
leved in its mOnotony by the picturesque, isolated
hils-outposts of the Green MOuntains-which
here and there rise suddenly above its level.
Thence to Richmond, the country is slightly undu-
latng and mostly wooded, while the remaining
ninety-six miles are level wilderness-almOst a
continuous forest-intO which settlement has been
carried by the railroad, and we lost nothing from
the circumstance that it rained during the whole
of our journey.
Tomorrow we 60 down the ST. Lawrence on
our way to the Saguenay. b. T.
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