A Main Peculiarity In This, Compared With Other
Views Which I Have Beheld, Is That It Is From The Ramparts Of A
Fortified City, And Not From A Solitary And Majestic River Cape Alone
That This View Is Obtained....
I still remember the harbour far
beneath me, sparkling like silver in the sun, - the answering headlands
of Point Levis
On the south-east, - the frowning Cape Tourmente
abruptly bounding the seaward view in the north-east, - the villages of
Lorette and Charlesbourg on the north, - and farther west, the distant
Val Cartier, sparkling with white cottages, hardly removed by distance
through the clear air, - not to mention a few blue mountains along the
horizon in that direction. You look out from the ramparts of the
citadel beyond the frontiers of civilization. Yonder small group of
hills, according to the guide-book, forms the portals of the wilds
which are trodden only by the feet of the Indian hunters as far as
Hudson's Bay." (Thoreau).
Mrs. Moodie (Susannah Strickland), in her sketches of Canadian life,
graphically delineates her trip from Grosse Isle to Quebec, and the
appearance of the city itself from the river: -
"On the 22nd of September (1832), the anchor was weighed, and we bade
a long farewell to Grosse Isle. As our vessel struck into mid-channel,
I cast a last lingering look at the beautiful shore we were leaving.
Cradled in the arms of the St. Lawrence, and basking in the bright
rays of the morning sun, the island and its sister group looked like a
second Eden just emerged from the waters of chaos. The day was warm,
and the cloudless heavens of that peculiar azure tint which gives to
the Canadian skies and waters a brilliancy unknown in more northern
latitudes. The air was pure and elastic; the sun shone out with
uncommon splendour, lighting up the changing woods with a rich mellow
colouring, composed of a thousand brilliant and vivid dyes. The mighty
river rolled flashing and sparkling onward, impelled by a strong
breeze that tipped its short rolling surges with a crest of snowy
foam.
"Never shall I forget that short voyage from Grosse Isle to Quebec.
What wonderful combinations of beauty and grandeur and power, at every
winding of that noble river!
"Every perception of my mind became absorbed into the one sense of
seeing, when, upon rounding Point Levis, we cast anchor before Quebec.
What a scene! Can the world produce another? Edinburgh had been the
beau ideal to me of all that was beautiful in nature - a vision
of the Northern Highlands had haunted my dreams across the Atlantic;
but all these past recollections faded before the present of
Quebec. Nature has ransacked all our grandest elements to form this
astonishing panorama. There, frowns the cloud-capped mountain, and
below, the cataract foams and thunders; woods and rock and river
combine to lend their aid in making the picture perfect, and worthy of
its Divine originator. The precipitous bank upon which the city lies
piled, reflected in the still, deep waters at its base, greatly
enhances the romantic beauty of the situation.
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