The Habitans, of whom I am now to speak, are the most numerous, and so peculiar in their appearance and manners as to attract the particular attention of travellers. The men are usually tall and slender, of sinewy build, and with a dark brown complexion; the girls are black-eyed, and disposed to be beautiful; while the women are always dumpy, but good-looking. Their dress is similar to that of the French peasantry; the men wear the old-fashioned _capote_ on their heads, every variety of fantastic caps and hats, and on their feet a moccassin made of cow-hide; the women wear jackets or mantelets, which are made of bright colours, and on their heads either a cap or a straw hat, made in the gipsey fashion. Occasionally they make an effort to imitate the English in their dress, and at such times invariably appear ridiculous.
As a class, they are devoted principally to agriculture; but as their opportunities for obtaining instruction are exceedingly limited, their knowledge of the art of husbandry is precisely what it was one hundred years ago. They seem to be entirely destitute of enterprise, and tread in the beaten steps of their fathers. They who live in the vicinity of Montreal and Quebec, generally supply those markets with vegetables; but those who reside in the more obscure parts, seem to be quite satisfied if they can only manage to raise enough off of their farms for the purpose of carrying them through the year. They are partial to rye bread, and never consider it in a cooking condition until it has been soured by age; and their standard dish, which they make use of on all occasions, is a plain pea-soup. The consequence is, that the pea is extensively cultivated.
You seldom find a farmer who is so poor as not to be able to sell from five to fifty bushels of wheat, and this article he appropriates to the same uses that most people do their money. Their plough is distinguished for its rudeness, and their farming implements generally would not be creditable even to a barbarous people. If an individual happens to have a stony field, the idea does not enter his head that he might build a fence with those very stones, and the consequence is, that he piles them in one immense heap in the centre of the field, and draws his rails a distance of perhaps two miles. But with all their ignorance of agriculture, the Habitans are sufficiently careful to make their little farms yield them all the necessaries they require, particularly their clothing and shoes, their candles, soap, and sugar.