These views record MontrÄal and Quebec City as they appeared in 1720. The legends identify the main buildings of religious or military significance. QuÄbec was by far the most important city. It was the capital, the centre of civil, military and religious administration, and had a college and a seminary. The town's elite attempted to re-create the civilized social life of France. Activities at the port, shipyards and craftmen's shops generated employment and attracted people from the countryside, with the result that the population grew quite rapidly and reached 8 000 by the end of the French regime. MontrÄal, which was a six-day journey from QuÄbec, was a much rougher town and activity centred on the fur trade. The fur-trading elite were, on the whole, less educated and refined than the elite of Quebec City. MontrÄal offered only limited employment opportunities for local youths and they were drawn by the freedom and promise of life in the West or Louisiana; many never returned. Following rapid development in the seventeenth century, MontrÄal's population grew slowly and barely reached 5 000 by 1760.
