This page needs to be proofread.
  
QUEBEC
727


Tilia Americana) and poplar, are used extensively in the making of paper pulp. The annual value of the wood cut in the province is about £4,000,000, rather less than that of Ontario, and not quite two-fifths that of the whole Dominion. An export duty is levied on all pulp wood exported.

Fur and Fish.—The value of the annual catch of fish is estimated at £450,000, most of which consists of the product of the cod and herring fisheries in the gulf of St Lawrence. From Isle Verte eastward almost all the settlers along the coast depend largely on the produce of this industry. It is carried on mainly in small boats, which put out in the morning and return at nightfall, few large vessels being employed. Throughout the province are numerous trout-streams, and many of the northern lakes are well supplied with trout, bass and pike. In Lake St John is caught the celebrated winninish, a land-locked salmon growing to the size of six or eight pounds, and well known to anglers. Moose, deer, bear and other animals provide excellent shooting in the Laurentian mountains, and in the wooded districts of the north.

Manufactures.—In manufactures Quebec ranks second among the provinces, Ontario coming first. The largest Canadian manufacturing town is Montreal, where most of the industries are controlled by the English-speaking minority. No other part of the Dominion is so rich in water power, which is provided to a limitless extent by the falls of the rivers Montmorenci, St Maurice (Shawinigan Falls), Ste Anne, the rapids on the St Lawrence and the Richelieu, and many others. Tanning, and the making of paper pulp and of furniture, prosper on account of the great forests of the province. The French-Canadian workman is hardy and intelligent, and Quebec may yet become the manufacturing centre of the Dominion, though as yet higher wages are paid in the American cities across the border, and thousands of French-speaking workmen are employed in the factories of Lowell and other American border towns.

Communications.—The rivers were long the chief roads, by water in summer, over the ice in winter; but though the St Lawrence is still the main artery of the province, the bulk of travel and of transport is now done by rail. The first railway in Canada was built in 1830 to carry stone from the wharves to aid in the construction of the citadel of Quebec. The first passenger railway was built in 1836, between Laprairie on the St Lawrence river and St John's on the Richelieu. There is now good railway communication between all the chief points, and branch lines are opening up new areas to settlement. While a few main roads are kept in good condition, those in the country parts are very indifferent.

Bibliography.—The various departments of the provincial government publish annual reports on a great variety of subjects. The annual Canada Year Book, published by the Federal Government, gives much information in a tabular form. Interesting articles are contained in J. Castell Hopkins, Canada; an Encyclopaedia (Toronto, 1898–1900). The legal enactments in which the municipal system is embodied are found in the Revised Statutes of the province (Acts 4178–4640). On education and religion A. Siegfried, Le Canada; les deux races (1905; translated into English under the title of The Race Question in Canada, 1906), is well-informed and impartial.  (W. L. G.) 


QUEBEC, the capital of the Canadian province of the same name, situated on the north bank of the river St Lawrence, at its junction with the St Charles, about 300 m. from the gulf of St Lawrence and 180 m. by river N.E. of Montreal, in 71° 12′ 19″·5 W. and 46° 48′ 17″·3 N. The origin of the name Quebec has been much disputed, but it is apparently the Algonkian word for a strait, or sudden narrowing, the river at its junction with the St Charles being about 2500 yds. wide, but narrowing opposite Cape Diamond to 1314.

Quebec is built on the northern extremity of an elevated tableland which forms the left bank of the St Lawrence for a distance of 8 m. The highest part of the headland is Cape Diamond, 333 ft. above the level of the water, and crowned by the citadel; towards the St Lawrence it presents a bold and precipitous front, while on the landward side and towards the St Charles the declivity is more sloping and gradual. The harbour of Quebec is spacious and deep enough to hold the largest ships, and, with the Louise basin and Lorne graving-dock, -the latter on the opposite shore at Lévis,—forms one of the best harbours in America. It is usually open from the end of April to the middle of December, being closed by ice during the winter. The Louise basin consists of twin wet-docks and tidal harbours, with areas of 40 and 20 acres respectively, and a minimum depth of 26 ft. The harbour is protected towards the north-east by the island of Orleans, on either side of which there is an approach, though that to the north of the island is used only by small vessels. The spring tides rise and fall about 18 ft. Quebec is divided into upper and lower town,—access to the former being obtained by steep and winding streets, by several flights of narrow steps, or by an elevator. Much of the lower town still recalls the older portions of such French provincial towns as Rouen or St Malo. The streets, with one or two exceptions, are narrow and irregular; but it remains the principal business quarter of the city. In the upper town, where the streets are wider and well paved, are the better class of dwelling-houses and public buildings, most of the churches, the public walks and gardens, and many of the retail shops. To the west are the suburbs of St John and St Roch. The latter occupies the lower plain, and is of some commercial importance; the former is on the same level as the upper town. South-west of St John stretch the historic Plains of Abraham. On this battleground stands a simple column 40 ft. high, marking the spot where General Wolfe fell. It was erected in 1849 by the British army in Canada, to replace a monument erected in 1832 by the governor-general, Lord Aylmer, which had been broken and defaced by ruffians. Till 1908 the Plains were also disfigured by a gaol and a rifle factory, but these have been removed, and the battleground converted into a public park. In the governor’s garden, which overlooks the St Lawrence, is a monument 65 ft. in height, erected in 1828 under the administration of Lord Dalhousie, dedicated to the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm. An iron pillar surmounted by a bronze statue, the gift of Prince Jerome Napoleon, stands on the Ste Foy road, and was erected in 1855–60 to commemorate the achievements of the British and French troops in the brilliant but fruitless French victory of April 28, 1760. The chief point of interest in the upper town is Dufferin Terrace, a magnificent promenade overlooking the St Lawrence, 1400 ft. long and 200 ft. above the level of the river. Part of this terrace occupies the site of the old Chateau St Louis, which was destroyed by fire in 1834. At the eastern end of the terrace stands a fine statue of Champlain, erected in 1898. Near by, and conspicuous from the river, is the Hotel Frontenac, erected by the Canadian Pacific railway on the model of an old French château. Nothing remains of the fortifications erected under the French régime. The present walls and the citadel, which covers an area of about 40 acres, were built in 1823–32 at a cost of over £7,000,000. Since then, several of the gates have been destroyed, and others rebuilt, but in other respects the walls are practically intact, and, though obsolete as fortifications, add greatly to the picturesque beauty of the city. Between 1865 and 1871 three forts were built on the Lévis side of the river, but were neither manned nor armed. Quebec’s natural position still makes it one of great military strength, though depending on naval control of the sea and of the gulf of St Lawrence.

Besides numerous Protestant churches, including a. small Anglican cathedral, there is a Jewish synagogue; but the bulk of the population is Roman Catholic. The cathedral, founded in 1647, and enlarged at intervals, is a large but not very striking building in the upper town. It contains some good oil paintings and some much-prized relics, but is rather garish in its ornamentation. Of the numerous other churches the most interesting is Notre Dame des Victoires, in the lower town, erected in 1688, and named in honour of the defeat of Phips in 1690 and the shipwreck of Sir Hovenden Walker in 1711. Laval University, which derives its name from Francois de Montmorency Laval, the first bishop of Quebec, who founded in 1663 a. seminary for the training of priests, is under strict Roman Catholic control. It was instituted in 1852 by a royal charter from Queen Victoria and in 1876 received a charter from Pope Pius IX. The building is large and spacious, and the university includes faculties of theology, law, medicine and arts, a library of 125,000 volumes, a museum and a picture gallery. A large branch of the university has been established at Montreal, and has often, but vainly, sought permission to become an independent Catholic university. In connexion with Laval are the grand seminary founded in 1663, where theology is taught, and the minor seminary for literature and