The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West. 1770
QUEBEC CITY
Entering Quebec is like stepping across an imaginary line and falling into Europe. It’s not that everyone speaks French, it’s the architecture. Walking around the old quarter of Quebec City is like hitching a ride on Orson Well’s time machine.
The history of Quebec City is inextricably linked to the history of Australia. The year is 1758, France and England are once more at war and Canada is the prize. Quebec City is under siege. Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm – the general defending Quebec City believes the river is unassailable. He cites history for his evidence. In 1711 850 British sailors smashed their ships upon the river rocks and drowned. After such a disaster the river was considered unnavigable. What the Marquis does not realise is that in a few short months he is about to become a minor footnote in the history of the world’s greatest navigator and be shot in the guts on the Plains of Abraham.
In 1758 General James Wolf, hero of the battle of Louisburg, commissioned a brilliant cartographer: Master of the Pembroke, James Cook, to charter the St Lawrence River. The Gulf of St Lawrence is massive. To give you an idea of the scale, some estimate 5000 whales call these waters home. Quebec City, however, is situated where the St Lawrence River narrows, navigation is dangerous and cannons cover both banks. The task is desperate and almost a certain death sentence.
Beneath the cannons, at night by stealth and disguise Cook charts the icy river. In September 1759 General Wolfe attacks. The date is written on his tombstone. Quebec City is taken and Montreal falls shortly after. Eventually during negotiations for peace France grants Canada to England.
Cook’s career goes stellar! His first maps of the Gulf of St Lawrence are published back home. His charts of the river win him a commendation. He is commissioned to Lieutenant, maps the West coast of Canada, meets a bloke called Sir Joseph Banks and charts the great southern continent previously only imagined and dreamt of, that would be later called Australia.
Mary, Matilda, Josephine and I revel in the European feel of the city. We dine at a Spanish restaurant and eat escargot! They are good – not slimy - just imagine eating little bits of chicken that smell a bit like snail bait or maybe that was all the garlic.
Mary and I eat paella with lobster and mussels and prawns and I am in love...
Entering Quebec is like stepping across an imaginary line and falling into Europe. It’s not that everyone speaks French, it’s the architecture. Walking around the old quarter of Quebec City is like hitching a ride on Orson Well’s time machine.
The history of Quebec City is inextricably linked to the history of Australia. The year is 1758, France and England are once more at war and Canada is the prize. Quebec City is under siege. Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm – the general defending Quebec City believes the river is unassailable. He cites history for his evidence. In 1711 850 British sailors smashed their ships upon the river rocks and drowned. After such a disaster the river was considered unnavigable. What the Marquis does not realise is that in a few short months he is about to become a minor footnote in the history of the world’s greatest navigator and be shot in the guts on the Plains of Abraham.
In 1758 General James Wolf, hero of the battle of Louisburg, commissioned a brilliant cartographer: Master of the Pembroke, James Cook, to charter the St Lawrence River. The Gulf of St Lawrence is massive. To give you an idea of the scale, some estimate 5000 whales call these waters home. Quebec City, however, is situated where the St Lawrence River narrows, navigation is dangerous and cannons cover both banks. The task is desperate and almost a certain death sentence.
Beneath the cannons, at night by stealth and disguise Cook charts the icy river. In September 1759 General Wolfe attacks. The date is written on his tombstone. Quebec City is taken and Montreal falls shortly after. Eventually during negotiations for peace France grants Canada to England.
Cook’s career goes stellar! His first maps of the Gulf of St Lawrence are published back home. His charts of the river win him a commendation. He is commissioned to Lieutenant, maps the West coast of Canada, meets a bloke called Sir Joseph Banks and charts the great southern continent previously only imagined and dreamt of, that would be later called Australia.
Mary, Matilda, Josephine and I revel in the European feel of the city. We dine at a Spanish restaurant and eat escargot! They are good – not slimy - just imagine eating little bits of chicken that smell a bit like snail bait or maybe that was all the garlic.
Mary and I eat paella with lobster and mussels and prawns and I am in love...