3, the arrival of the
_Swiftsure_ is noticed by the Quebec newspapers. The _Swiftsure_ had
twenty-eight passengers, besides a serjeant with six privates of the
royals, having three Americans, prisoners of war, four deserters from
the 100th regiment, and one deserter from the American army, in charge,
on board, and had been twenty-two hours and a half in running down. She
had a good engine with a safety valve for blowing off surplus steam.
The ladies' cabin had eight reposing berths. The gentlemen's cabin was
thirty feet in length by twenty-three in breadth, and contained ten
berths on each side, and two "forming an angle with the larboard side."
The cabin was capable of lodging forty-four persons, and the steerage
could accommodate about 150. The _Swiftsure_ was in length of keel 130
feet, her length upon deck was 140 feet, and her breadth of beam was 24
feet.

Lower Canada was then a wheat growing and even wheat exporting country.
So early as 1802, Lower Canada exported 1,010,033 bushels of wheat,
besides 28,301 barrels of flour, and 22,051 cwt. of biscuit. In 1810,
the value of the exports from the St. Lawrence was L1,200,000 sterling.
And the farmer of Lower Canada profitted in 1814 by the presence of the
floating army population almost to as great an extent as the merchant.
Both animal and vegetable foods were largely in demand.

Sir George Prevost, as soon as the temporary cessation of active
hostilities, in his immediate neighbourhood, would permit, called a
meeting of the Parliament of Lower Canada, for the despatch of
business. Two sessions of parliament had been held in Upper Canada,
since the commencement of the war, one was opened by Major General
Brock, on the 3rd of February, 1812, when eleven Acts were passed, and
the other by Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, during which other
eleven Acts became law. They show the temper of the times. An Act was
passed in General Brock's ruleship, granting a bounty for the
apprehension of deserters from the regular forces; another granted
L2,000 for the repair of roads and bridges; a third amended the militia
law; a fourth regulated the meeting of sleds on the public roads; a
fifth allowed L502 for clerks and the contingent expenses of
parliament; a sixth granted L5,000 for the purpose of training the
militia; a seventh extended an Act granting a certain sum of money to
His Majesty; an eighth granted L1,000 for the purchase, sale, and
exportation of hemp, and L423 for