The  reason  of  this  is,  that  many  young  gentlemen  who
come  over  from  France  with  the  ships,  are  captivated
by  the  ladies,  at  Quebec  and  marry  them  ;  but  as  these
gentlemen  seldom  go  up  to  Montreal,  the  girls  there
are  not  often  so  happy  as  those  of  the  former  place. "

"  The  ladies  in  Canada  are  generally  of  two  kinds ;
some  come  over  from  France  and  the  rest,  natives. The
former  possess  the  politeness  peculiar  to  the  French
nation ;  the  latter  may  be  divided  into  those  of  Quebec
and  Montreal. The  first  of  these  are  equal  to  the  French
ladies  in  good  breeding,  having  the  advantage  of  fre-
quently conversing  with  the  French  gentlemen  and
ladies,  who  come  every  summer  with  the  king's  ships,
and  stay  several  weeks,  at  Quebec,  but  seldom  go  to
Montreal. The  ladies  of  this  last  place  are  accused  by
the  French  of  partaking  too  much  of  the  pride  of  the
Indians,  and  of  being  much  wanting  in  French  good
breeding. What  I  have  mentioned  above  of  their
dressing  their  head  too  assiduously,  is  the  case  with  all
the  ladies  throughout  Canada. On  those  days  when
they  pay  or  receive  visits,  they  dress  so  gayly,  that
one  is  almost  induced  to  think  their  parents  possessed
the  greatest  dignities  in  the  state. The  Frenchmen,
who  considered  things  in  their  true  light,  complained
very  much  that  a  great  part  of  the  ladies  in  Canada
had  got  into  the  pernicious  custom  of  taking  too  much
care  of  their  dress,  and  squandering  all  their  fortunes
and  more,  upon  it,  instead  of  sparing  something  for
future  £imes. They  are  no  less  attentive  to  know  the
newest  fashions ;  and  they  laugh  at  each  other,  when


—  350  —

they  are  not  dressed  to. each  other's  fancy."  He  adds,,
"  The  ladies  at  Quebec  are  not  very  industrious. A
girl  of  eighteen  is  reckoned  very  poorly  off,  if  she
cannot  enumerate  at  least  twenty  lovers. These  young
ladies,  especially  those  of  a  higher  rank,  get  up  at
seven  and  dress  till  nine,  drinking  their  coffee  at  the
same  time. When  they  are  dressed,  they  place  them-
selves near  a  window  that  opens  into  the  street,
take  up  some  needle- work,  and  sew  a  stitch  now  and
then ;  but  turn  their  eyes  into  the  street  most  of  the
time. 