“Steady, O pilot, stand firm at the wheel.”
Right in our path lies a ragged rock, which threatens us with instant destruction; but a turn of the wheel at just the right moment sends our good craft a little to the left of it, and the apparent danger is past. With bated breath we watch for the next peril that looms ahead of us, to find it, like its predecessor, vanquished by the strong arm and steady nerve of the man to whom every inch of the channel is as familiar as a beaten path.
Entering once more into quiet waters, we steam on our way toward Montreal, and soon the horizon is marked with the long line of the famous VICTORIA BRIDGE, which rises higher and higher as we approach it, until we glide under it and are soon at the wharf of the American Line, at the close of a day that has been filled with a succession of delights unapproachable in a day’s experience in travel elsewhere on the American Continent.
A tour from the West to the East which did not include a visit to the chief cities of Canada would be indeed incomplete. Hence, in the arrangement of summer excursions, the River St. Lawrence comprising a part of the trip, it is both easy and natural to embrace these points of interest.
MONTREAL is the metropolis of British North America. Its situation, both from a scenic and commercial point of view, renders it attractive to the tourist and prosperous as a business center. Its location is on an island in the St. Lawrence, at the base of Mt. Royal, which gives the city its name. The view of the city from the river, with the mountain in the background is beautiful and impressive, and when this is supplemented by the grand picture exhibited from the summit of the mountain, with the river and the Victoria Bridge in the distance, the observer is ready to exclaim, “Beautiful for situation!”
On arriving in Montreal, whether by boat or rail, the traveler is impressed with the idea that the entire population must indulge in riding, so numerous are the hackmen, or carters, as they are called, to be seen at every hotel, depot and landing. Their easy one or two-horse carriages are at your service for long or short trips, and their prices are very reasonable, being regulated by law. The fare from point to point within the city is twenty-five cents for one or two passengers, and fifty cents for three or four, although the usual custom of the driver is to charge twenty-five cents for each passenger, and collect it if he can. If you go outside the city limits, make a bargain in advance. In fact, there is safety in giving this rule a general application wherever you need the services of a hackman, and thereby always avoiding contention in settlement.