"The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls" by Robert Todd. Although this scene was painted in 1845, the same type of sleigh was used during the French regime. It was the only means of transport in winter. Between Quebec and Montreal the farmers were required to drive their cattle along the road through their properties after every snowfall to keep the road passable for sleighs. For much of the way, the route was tramped out along the frozen surface of the St. Lawrence river. The censitaires were required to mark it with small spruce or fir trees planted in the snow at regular intervals. On that surface the sleighs traveled like the wind, and such rides were a favourite winter pastime for the fur-bundled passengers.
Colonel Bougainville, one of Montcalm's officers, wrote in 1756: "It is a pleasure of the ladies of this country to go by carriole in winter on the snow or ice, even in weather that would seem to oblige one to stay indoors. These carrioles travel at an incredible speed." Rapport de l'archiviste de la province de QuÄbec 1923-1924, pp. 244,249.
Courtesy: National Gallery of Canada, National Museums of Canada
