boulders. A curious old town is Quebec--thoroughly like a French town,
with French spoken everywhere, and French dirt and air of poverty and
untidiness, as in the remoter and older towns of France.

Lord and Lady Lansdowne received us most kindly, and besides there was
Lady Florence Anson (her niece, who is engaged to Captain Streatfield),
Lady Melgund, whose husband is away in Ottawa looking after canoe men
for Egypt, and a young Mr. Anson, A.D.C. After seeing the view from the
balcony--a splendid panorama of Quebec and the river St. Lawrence, with
its tributary St. Charles, and the surrounding country backed by blue
mountains, we went in to our second breakfast, and much we enjoyed our
tea. Lord Lansdowne sat next me and was very pleasant. Afterwards he
asked John and E--- and me and the boys to dine, apologising for not
asking us all to sleep there, on the grounds of not having room, which
is true enough, for the house is not large. I thought it best to decline
for myself and two sons, as I was going with them for the night to this
place (Mr. Dobell's), four miles away. Then came a Secretary of the
Local Committee to discuss arrangements with John, and alter the
programme somewhat for next Friday and Saturday, when we are expected to
revisit Quebec.

John is much afraid that the long-list of engagements will bring on his
rheumatism and knock him up for the real Business in Montreal. After
this we had the carriage and drove in state to the Hotel where John and
E--- were to sleep, arranged about our berths on the steamer for
Montreal, saw numbers of our fellow-passengers who had not gone to
Montreal, and drove to the wharf and only brought a little luggage to
come here with. They told me I should not want umbrellas ("Our climate
here is very different from yours," said they), nor wraps, but I
persisted in bringing a few, fortunately, for it has been pouring all