We Should Have Heard Of Grouse, Woodcock, Hares,
Beavers, Foxes, Caribou, Bears, &C., At That Period, As The Probable
Denizens Of The Mounts And Valleys Of Ancient Stadacona.
In 1617 the chase had doubtless to give way to tillage of the soil, when
the first resident of the Upper Town, the apothecary Louis Hebert,
established his hearth and home there.
"He presently," (1617) says Abbe Ferland, "commenced to grub up and
clear the ground on the site on which the Roman Catholic cathedral and
the Seminary adjoining now stand, and that portion of the upper town
which extends from St. Famille Street up to the Hotel-Dieu. He
constructed a house and a mill near that part of St. Joseph Street
where it received St. Francois and St. Xavier Streets. These edifices
appear to have been the first which were erected in the locality now
occupied by the upper town."
At that period there could have existed none other than narrow paths,
irregular avenues following the sinuosities of the forest. In the course
of time these narrow paths were levelled and widened. Champlain and Sir
David Kirtk bothered themselves very little with improving highways.
Overseers of roads and Grand-Voyers were not then dreamed of in La
Nouvelle France: those blessed institutions, macadamized [10] roads, date
for us from 1841.
One of the first projects of Governor de Montmagny, after having fortified
the place, was to prepare a plan for a city, to lay out, widen and
straighten the streets, assuredly not without need. Had he further
extended this useful reform, our Municipal Council to-day would have been
spared a great amount of vexation, and the public in general much
annoyance. On the 17th November, 1623, a roadway or ascent leading to the
upper town had been effected, less dangerous than that which had
previously existed.
"As late as 1682, as appears by an authentic record (proces-verbal)
of the conflagration, this steep road was but fourteen feet wide. It
was built of branches, covered with earth. Having been rendered
unserviceable by the fire, the inhabitants had it widened six feet, as
they had to travel three miles, after the conflagration, to enter the
upper town by another hill." - (T. B. Bedard.)
In the summer season, our forefathers journeyed by water, generally in
birch-bark canoes. In winter they had recourse to snow-shoes.
To what year can we fix the advent of wheeled vehicles? We have been
unable to discover.
The first horse presented by the inhabitants to the Governor of the colony
arrived from France on the 25th June, 1647. [11] Did His Excellency use
him as a saddle horse only? or, on the occasion of a New Year's day, when
he went to pay his respects to the Jesuit Fathers, and to the good ladies
of the Ursulines, to present, with the compliments of the season, the
usual New Year's gifts, was he driven in a cariole, and in the summer
season in a caleche? Here, again, is a nut to crack for commentators.
[12]
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