Morning journal and courier., 1888-09-29
OLD ACADIA AND BEYOND.

| International Ra11rORd-SceneS I'm
and Around Quebee-The Fortiaca-
tiOns-DOwn the st. Lawrence.
LONDONDERRY, Ireland, Sept. IS.
| To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
1t is a long way from Sable Island to Que-
| bec by water. therefore lost sight of Cap
tain Ballast's chubby, bushy, friendly face at
the old wharves of Halifax and bade a re-
gretfu1 goodbye to the staunch little Nancy
Mary and her stanch little crew.
From Halifax to Quebec the exact distance
over the Intercolonial railway, the only rail
route through Canadian territory to the up
per provinces, is six hundred and seventy
eight miles. It will be scarcely credible to
the American reader that this far away and,
| to us, practically unknow route is else than
sinuous trail of protracted discomfort. And
| yet some of our own pretentious lines be-
tween the East and West cannot excel it Ell
| ther in running time or in all those improve
ments and eonveniences which make long
distance travel endurable. Steel rails,
| splendidly ballasted road-bed, fine coaches,
superb sleepers, snug, wholesome lunch and
dining-rootns at stations, plump, pretty and
polite Canadian girls to serve you, and in
| deed good, honest service all around, make
one involuntarily like what is experienced on
| every hand. They truly do drop their
| CHS" but never their manners and duty, in
this sometimes dreary part of the world.
But the Intercolonial is government" rail-
| way. Waving all argument upon the benef-
icence or propriety of any government un-
dertaking which should be effected by pri.
vate enterprise and capital, a substantial
fact in this instance remains. The Ottawa
government has cemented the provinces by
the strongest possible ties of common BUSH
ness interest in the building of this great
line through what was previously regarded
as an impossible and practically valueless
wilderness. Almost from the very suburbs
of Halffax-excepting the little neck joining
Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, the south
eastern portion of the latter province, and a
part of the route traversing the southern
shore of the st. Lawrenoe-to the territory
contiguous to Quebec, before this railway
/ was opened, the eye of white man, unless
trapper or hunter, had scarcely looked upon
the vast reaches of rock, spruce and hem
lock, savanna and mountain. Solitude
reigned Wolves collected the taxes. To-
day the region traversed will favorably COM
pare with that through which extend the
prosperous lines that reach from st. Paul to
the Red River and beyond. The whole dis
tance from Halifax is a period of pleasing
surprises and experiences to the American;
and when you awaken from your conjeetures
and reveries about how proud thing it
| would be for all Canadians and Americans
were there no dividing line from the Polar
seas to the Gulf, and find yourself at Point
Lewis, opposite Quebec, mingling with the
crowds at the ferry-tha noble st. Lawrence
in its grand passage between the mighty for
tilted, out-jutting crags; the sunny v1neland,
Lewis, like a dream of Normandy behind;
the quaint old city opposite; the French
peasants, priests and poultry-venders all
about with here and there a tradesman and
marketman, chatting with animation in the
French tongue; and the intermlngling
groups of British soldiery with their red
slashipgs and cordings;-one feels as if sud.
denly transported TO some old province of
France newly occupied by the British; or as
though some startling closing OF the English
Channel had occurred, aud yourself along
with all the foreign throngs had been shunted
with Calais up to within a rifle shot of the
| heiQhts and ramparts of ancient Dover.
There is just one point from which to view
| Quebec and the noble scenes out-reachlng In
| eyery direction. That is from the lofty eita-
|
! and passing through the noted St. Louis
: Gate the way ia steep, winding one through
, the slope of the eitadel's glacis. Indeed il
| one goes in any direction from the wharves
in Quebec steep, winding way must be
: trayersed. If you do it afoot you will need
: good muscle and wind. II you are Perched
upon one of the city's oldest of all vehicles,
. the caleche, whose driver diligently dives at
railing youths, and swears increasingly in
beautiful patois, your neck is likely to be
broken You are always under the mouth
of ferocious cannon or near the mouth or 8
| ferocious beggar. The main ditch Is faced
with massive masonry, and opens into q
| narrow parade overshadowed by bastion an
t giles. The Great Gate is of chain interviewer
. | in strange and curious links. But somehow
. the valueless antiquity and absurd pretense
of all this granite and iron show bring hid
t den smile behind the eyes instead of prop
t | erly respectful awe into the heart. The sen.
I | try paw and prance about like capped and
. | pantaletted bears. There much CLASH
=. and clapg when you do not come upon thess
I | chubby sentinels unawares. when you dt
Q they are quite earthly and dull.
, The bombadier at the gate gave me il
: | charge of broad -buttocked, falsetto- voiced
' | sway backed, hsping tongued artilleryman
one of the squad on guard at the entrance a
| the time, with the remark:
'FShoW this ERE Hamerican gentleman tn
r honors now, Willum. Lively now, HIM
Q sayin'!" And Willum, after few brillian
military movements which made his poor lit
| tie asthmatic lungs rattle like reveille, LEI
the altogether disheveled and unkempt way
= for it is no crime to state the fact that tn
. condition of ruinous desuetude and unkemp
n sIovenl1ness of this once mighty fortress ant
-. | still magnificent relic is unparalleled dis
u grace to British military pride and CANADIAN
!, governmental dignity.
= The Notifications, built to the very edge o
the lofty heights of Cape Diamond, whicl
1
- Lawrence, where the rivers majestic ex
y panses above and below are narrowed t.
b scarcely half mile in width, occupy fort
: acres of ground. To the city side is broat
elacis, broken by three ravelins, above whicl
are line of oasemated barracks. The bas
't er approaches, the Plains of Abraham be
J. hind and Port Lewis opposite. are tremendou
Ia in height and thickness. The interior Pa
:. rsde is in the form of triangle, with tn
y officers barracks, an unsightly structure,
9 portion of which is occupied by the Cover
n nor General as a summer residence, upon 1t
Is | south side next the riverside basttons ant
ramparts. A filthy keep or married quarter
is near And at the left stands the ricket
10 Government Observatory. On every han'
a are rust, mold, filth and decay. As torme
"a soldier with some knowledge of military at
= fairs. have no hesitancy in saying there
not q pound of properly-kept ammunition,
9, she'll that would explode, or a solid she
10 | which would not burst any one of the mon
So strous and rustic cannon, within the er
tire citadel. The garrison is slovenly; tn
as Parade Is full of unsightly hollows and poo
Or as a deserted brick-yard; tinbers are rotte
Ia and rotting; walls are crumbled and worl
:. carriages are dismantled of their guns, whic
= lie neglected in the mud; trunions are Loo
no ened from their worm-eaten beds; and the
1p are brave garrison who thus dare dissa
ID Oh the top OF tEuneatsd cone Of <h