Over Its Foundation An Elm Has
Grown, - 'tis Now A Handsome And Large Tree; Six Feet From The Ground Its
Circumference Measures Two Fathoms (12 Feet), Which Makes Its Diameter
About Three And A Half.
Heriot thus describes the locality in 1806:
-
"From hence to Cap Rouge the scenery, on account of its beauty and
variety, attracts the attention of the passenger. At Sillery, a league
from Quebec, on the north shore, are the ruins of an establishment which
was begun in 1637, intended as a religious institution for the conversion
and instruction of natives of the country; it was at one time inhabited by
twelve French families. The buildings are placed upon level ground,
sheltered by steep banks, and close by the borders of the river; they now
only consist of two old stone houses, fallen to decay, and of the remains
of a small chapel (the chapel has of late been repaired and fitted up for
a malt house, and some of the other buildings have been converted into a
brewery). [192] In this vicinity the Algonquins once had a village;
several of their tumuli, or burying places, are still discoverable in the
woods, and hieroglyphics cut on the trees remain, in some situations, yet
unaffected." [193]
On the 6th June, 1865, we determined to afford ourselves a long-promised
treat, and go and survey, with Abbe Ferland's Notes on Sillery open
before us, and also the help of that eminently respected authority in
every parish, the "oldest inhabitant," the traces of the Sillery
settlement of 1637.
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