The name of this magnificent link in the colonial chain with which England has encircled the world, is a matter of considerable doubt. [1] It has been dignified with some research and ingenuity, however, and we can record the result, leaving the choice of solutions to the reader. Hennepin thus unfolds his idea of its origin:—“Les Espagnols ont fait la première découverte du Canada. Ayant mis pied à terre, ils n’y trouvèrent rien de considérable. Cette raison les obligea d’abandonner ce pays, qu’

THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. Having given, from the best authority, the condition and characteristics of the aboriginal tribes of America, we go on briefly to enumerate the prominent events in the first stage of discovery and civilization. Those who read the curious picture we have been enabled to present, in the foregoing pages, of a nation almost, we may say, recently sprung to light, and who now look into the singular events of the first civilized history of the land they possessed

LATER EVENTS IN CANADA. Having presented the first two phases of the history of Canada—its last period under the rule of the savage, and its first under that of civilized man; we pass to the next, which brings us to our own time—its rule by the government of England. The war commenced by the United States against Britain in 1812, produced a formidable crisis in the history of Canada, especially of the upper province. [4] It is not proposed to enter into any discussion of the grounds or merits of

CONDITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA. We have now brought the historical part of our labours to a close, and proceed to what is more interesting to the general reader—the social and moral condition of this interesting people. The inhabitants of Canada are divided into three classes, among which no complete amalgamation has yet been formed. These are, the original French colonists, commonly called habitans , the British settlers, and the Indian tribes. The habitans , at the time of the conquest

IMPRESSIONS OF CANADA ON TRAVELLERS. Among the various books on Canada, there is none which seems to us written with a more friendly, fair, and philanthropic spirit than that of Mr. Hodgson, who was there in 1822. A great part of his large volume is occupied with his rambles in the United States; but from that which is strictly Canadian, we extract the following interesting letters:— Scene among the Thousand Isles....

MONTREAL AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. The rural districts of Trois Rivières, so far as they lie northward of the St. Lawrence, form a continuation of the same kind of territory as that below, and are in general flatter, and capable of more uniform cultivation. To the westward, especially in ascending the river, it presents a succession of flourishing settlements and gay villages, occurring every eight or nine miles. These extend, particularly along the Lake of St. Peter, a wide expansion of the St. La

QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. The district of Quebec occupies the whole coast watered by the gulf and river of St. Lawrence, from the eastern limit of the colony to the mouth of the river St. Anne, about thirty miles below Trois Rivières; and thence, in a direct line, to the northern boundary. The greater part of this extensive section belongs to the uncultivated portion of the country, and presents a chaos of mountains, lakes, and torrents, tenanted only by wild beasts and a few wandering India

EASTERN TOWNSHIPS. The county of Sherbrooke embraces the greater part of the district of St. Francis, immediately south of Trois Rivières, to which it is often considered as attached. Being quite beyond the range of the Seigniories, it has been divided into twenty-nine townships, which include much valuable land. It presents in general a broken and varied surface, sometimes rising into mountains clothed with fine timber, is well watered, yet not so encumbered with swamps as the more western dist

SUGGESTIONS ON EMIGRATION. The Edinburgh Cabinet Library, in a most valuable paper on emigration, makes the following remarks and statements, which, being drawn up after evidently most careful observation and research, are better worthy than anything we could write, of being recorded in a chapter on this subject. “Britain can conveniently spare every season not less than 50,000 or 60,000 of her inhabitants, retaining a sufficient number for every useful purpose, and with much advantage to those

SPORTING IN CANADA. The pursuit of most kinds of game in Canada does not differ sufficiently from that of other countries to make a description worth our while. That of the bear, however, is a sort of aboriginal sport, which sometimes involves rough adventures. Mr. Talbot, in his Travels, gives the following, which seems as perilous as any we can quote:— “One of my father’s settlers, of the name of Howay, discovered the tracks of three bears on the morning of the 11th December; and, after follow

IMPRESSIONS OF CANADA, NIAGARA, THE ST. LAWRENCE, ETC. UPON EMIGRANT SETTLERS. The Falls of Niagara impress travellers very differently. Most persons, having heard of this wonder of the world from their childhood, have aggrandized their imagination of its appearance in proportion with the growth of their minds, and visit Niagara, at last, with the expectation of seeing an ocean poured from the height of the clouds. A very graphic and sketchy account of past impressions at the Falls is given by a

NEW BRUNSWICK. The Province of New Brunswick holds an important position amongst the colonies of Great Britain. To the political economist it presents a tract of country 27,704 square miles in superficial extent,—blessed with a salubrious climate,—a rich and productive soil, capable of receiving the whole tide of British emigration, should it turn in that direction, and of contributing to the comfort and happiness of the surplus of our industrious population. To the trader and capitalist the adv