Montreal was, under both French and British rule, an outpost of Quebec until 1832, when it became a separate port. The shallower parts of the river being deepened above Quebec, Montreal became accessible to boats drawing from nineteen to twenty-two feet of water. It is now the chief shipping port of Canada. It is five hundred miles from the sea, and ninety miles above tidewater; and being at the head of ship navigation of the St. Lawrence, and at the foot of the great chain of inland lakes, rivers and canals which connect it with the very centre of the American continent, its commerce is very important. At the confluence of the Ottawa with the St. Lawrence, it is also the outlet of a vast lumber country. It feels, however, the serious disadvantage of being, for five months in the year, blockaded, and made, to all intents and purposes, an inland city, by the closing of navigation during the winter. Then, by means of the Grand Trunk and other railways, it becomes tributary to Portland, Maine, and finds, at that city, a port for its commerce. Its two miles of quays, including the locks and stone-cut wharves of the Lachine Canal, all built of solid limestone, would do credit to any city in the world; while a broad wall or esplanade extends between these quays and the houses which overlook the river. Montreal takes a front rank in its manufacturing interests, which embrace all kinds of agricultural and mechanical implements, steam engines, printing types, India-rubber shoes, paper, furniture, woolens, cordage and flour. In 1874 its exports were valued at over twenty-two millions of dollars. The population of Montreal in 1779 was only about seven thousand inhabitants. In 1861 it had increased to 70,323; and in 1871 the census returns made the population 115,926. Of these inhabitants, probably more than one-half are Roman Catholics, representing a great variety of nationalities, among which, however, French Canadians and Irish predominate. The Catholics were, at first, under French dominion, in exclusive possession of the city, and the different religious societies gained vast wealth. Ever since Canada has passed into the hands of England they still hold their own, and exercise an influence over the people, and display a magnificence in their edifices and appointments, unknown in other sections of America.