The route from Montreal may be chosen from three: The North Shore Railway, the Grand Trunk Railway, and the Richelieu & Ontario Steamship Line _via_ the St. Lawrence. The latter is a favorite, and unless the tourist is surfeited with steamboat riding, will be the one generally chosen. It is a night trip, and therefore less wearisome than a ride by rail, as the comfortable state rooms of the boat are preferable to the berths of a sleeping-car.
Leaving Montreal at early evening, passing the fort on the island directly against the city, and onward past the mouth of the Ottawa River below the city, the first stop is at the town of Sorel, or William Henry, at the confluence of Sorel or Richelieu River, forty-five miles from Montreal. Five miles farther on, the river expands into a lake about twenty-five miles in length by nine in width, and known as Lake St. Peter. Next we come to the ancient city of Three Rivers, taking its name from the fact that the St. Maurice River, which here flows into the St. Lawrence, is divided by islands into three channels.
[Illustration: CITY OF QUEBEC, FROM THE RIVER.]
The view of Quebec, as approached from the river, is singularly impressive. Unlike any other city on the American continent, its situation and surroundings make it an object of striking interest. The fortifications, with their towers and battlements, frown upon you from the Plains of Abraham and from the lower town, and there surrounds the place an air of mediævalism at once novel and attractive.
It is one of the oldest cities in America, as well as one of the most interesting. It was founded in 1608, and its history is replete with events of tremendous importance. The scene of many a battle and of untold carnage, the crowning event of all was the memorable engagement which transferred half a continent from France to Britain, and immortalized the names of both commanders, the victor and the vanquished.
[Illustration: CITY AND HARBOR -OF- QUEBEC, FROM THE CITADEL.]
The city consists of two divisions, known as the upper and the lower town. The upper town includes within its limits the Citadel of Cape Diamond, which covers the entire summit of the promontory, embracing an area of more than forty acres. It rises to the height of 345 feet above the river, and from its commanding position and the strength of the fortification, has been not inaptly entitled the “Gibraltar of America.”