John, highways to the straggling suburbs, which yet
hung close to the protecting ramparts.

[Illustration: PETIT CHAMPLAIN STREET TO-DAY]

The houses were built of wood or of grey stone, usually to the height
of one story, being also surmounted by a tall, steep roof, through
which the tiny dormer windows peeped in picturesque disorder. Inside,
a slight partition divided the dwelling into two chambers. In the end
of the living-room stood a large open fireplace, the household
cooking-pots swinging from an iron crane. A sturdy table occupied the
centre of the floor, and benches or blocks of wood were ranged as
chairs around the walls. The inevitable cradle, consecrated to the
service of two, three, or four generations, pounded monotonously to
and fro upon the uneven floor, and by the low-set window the thrifty
housewife wove her flaxen homespun in a venerable loom. Saints, in
pictures of fervid tints, looked down serenely from low, unplastered
walls, while from the rafters of the ceiling were hung the weapons of
the family arsenal--flint-lock muskets and hilted hunting-knives, and
sometimes too an ancestral sword or silver-handled pistol.

[Illustration: OLD PRESCOTT GATE]

In the matter of dress, social distinctions were punctiliously
regarded. The _gentilhomme_ was as careful as his wife to follow the
latest vogue at Versailles. His hair was curled, powdered, and tied in
a _queue_, his headgear was the ceremonious three-cornered hat. A
stately, coloured frockcoat, an embroidered waistcoat, knee-breeches,
silk stockings, and high-heeled buckled shoes completed the toilette
of the Canadian seigneur.

"The dress of the _Habitants_," says an observer of a
much later date than Saint-Simon or Montcalm,[26] "is
simple and homely; it consists of a long-skirted cloth or
frock, of a dark grey colour, with a hood attached to it,
which in winter time or wet weather he puts over his
head. His coat is tied round the waist by a worsted sash
of various colours, ornamented with beads. His waistcoat
and trousers are of the same cloth. A pair of moccasins,
or swamp boots, complete the lower part of his dress. His
hair is tied in a thick long _queue_ behind, with an
eelskin; and on each side of his face a few straight
locks hang down like what are vulgarly called 'rat's
tails.' Upon his head is a _bonnet rouge_, or in other
words, a red night-cap. The _tout ensemble_ of his figure
is com