Being furnished with a proper assortment of merchandise,
I left Quebec, and proceeded to Tadousac,[1] which
is at the end of the Saguenay River, near the River
St. Laurence. About nine miles from Quebec there is a
village inhabited by the Loretto Indians, who are properly
of the nation of the Hurons.[2] They embraced
Christianity, through the means of the Jesuits, and
follow the Catholic religion. The women have remarkable
good voices, and sing hymns in their own language
most charmingly. They cultivate the ground, and bring
the produce to market; and in their manners they are the
most innocent and harmless of all the Savages in North
America. Their houses are decent, and built after the
Canadian fashion; they are an exception to the generality
of Indians, seldom drinking any spirituous liquors; they
are for the most part tall, robust people, and well shaped;
have short black hair, which is shaved off the forehead
from ear to ear, and wear neither caps nor hats. With
————
- ↑ Tadoussac, at the entrance of the Saguenay River, is one of the oldest trading stations on the St. Lawrence, having been founded before Quebec. It was the site of an early Jesuit mission begun before 1642. A church built for the mission (1747-50), is still standing.— Ed.
- ↑ The mission colony of the Hurons at Lorette was established by the Jesuits on their seigniory in 1673. There is still a settlement of these Indians near this place.—Ed.
