for
full-sized steamers to pass. The road was alike good and uninteresting,
running by the side of the canal, whose banks were here and there
enlivened by groups of wild flowers.

A stage of twelve miles brought us to Grenville, where we again took
steamer on the Ottawa, and, the weather being finer, we had an
opportunity of enjoying the scenery, which is very peculiar. It has none
of the wild features of grandeur which one associates with comparatively
unknown streams, in a country where all is gigantesque. There is nothing
mountainous or craggy, but the banks and hills at the back being
luxuriously wooded, and conveying the idea of being well tenanted, the
absence of human habitations seems unnatural, and gives the solitude an
air of mystery, only broken at long intervals by a bowered cottage or a
wreath of smoke. The most remarkable building is the French chateau of
M. Papineau, very prettily situated on the northern bank, commanding an
extensive view of the river, and looking in its isolation as though its
occupant was a second Robinson Crusoe, and monarch of all he surveyed.
Night soon buried all scenery in its sable mantle, and, after sixty
miles steaming, we reached Bytown, where we found friends and
conveyances ready to take us over to Aylmer, there to sleep preparatory
to a further excursion up the river early in the morning. As the
distance was only eight miles, we were soon at Mr. Egan's hospitable
board, from which we speedily retired to rest, so as to be ready for the
morrow's trip.

Early dawn found us on hoard and steaming merrily up the glorious
stream, which, spreading out very widely, has been lakefied, and is
called Lake Chaudiere and Du Chene, thus named, I suppose, because the
water is cold and there are few oaks to be seen. Be that as it may, the
scenery, though possessing neither striking features nor variety, is
very pretty and cheerful. A quantity of lovely little villas stud the
banks, some ensconced snugly in cosy nooks, others standing out boldly
upon the rich greensward; and, for a background, you have full-bosomed
hills, rich in forest monarchs, clad in their dense and dark mantles.
Suddenly the scene changes, the Chats Falls burst upon the sight; and
well does the magnificent view repay the traveller for any difficulty he
may have had in his endeavours to reach this spot. About three miles
above the rocky and well-wooded island that creates the falls, the river
contracts very considerabl