Each flat communicates with the adjoining one by broad, splendid black walnut staircases decked with arabesques in gilt carving. The design, elevation and general plan of the edifices, were prepared and drafted by Mr. Eugène Taché, the Assistant-Commissioner of Crown Lands. The internal divisions and specifications were laid out under the direction of Mr. P. Gauvreau, the Engineer of Public Works; the contractor was F. X. Cimon, M.P. Messrs. Beaucage & Chaliauvert, undertook the cut stone work, which was carried out by their foreman, Mr. Bourgeaud. Messrs. Cerat & Vincent, of Montreal, are contractors for the sculpture in stone, and the galvanized iron roof and ornamentation in the same material and in zinc was executed by Messrs. De Blois & Bernier, of Montreal, whilst Mitchell & Co. contracted for the heating apparatus. The whole building when completed is expected to cost about $800,000. Opposite looms out the long tea-caddy-looking building, built by the Sandfield Macdonald Government in 1862,--the Volunteer Drill Shed. Its length, if not its beauty, attracts notice. "Ferguson's house," next it, noted by Professor Silliman in his "_Tour between Hartford and Quebec in 1819_," is now difficult to recognize; its present owner, A. Joseph, Esq., has added so much to its size. This antiquated dwelling certainly does not belong to a new dispensation. Another land-mark of the past deserves notice--the ex-Commander of the Forces' lofty quarters; from its angular eaves and forlorn aspect it generally went by the name of "Bleak House." I cannot say whether the place was ever haunted, but it ought to have been. [149] On the summit of the plateau, formerly known as _Buttes- à-Nepveu_, and facing Mr. John Roche's stately mansion, Hon. P. Garneau and M. Bilodeau have constructed handsome terraces of cut-stone dwellings. We are now in the _Grande Allée_--the forest avenue, which two hundred years ago led to Sillery Wood. On turning and looking back as you approach Bleak House, you have an excellent view of the Citadel, and of the old French works which extend beyond it, to the extremity of the Cape, overlooking _l'Anse de Mères_. A little beyond Bleak-House, at the top of what is generally known as Perrault's Hill, stands the Perrault [150] homestead, dating back to 1820, _l'Asyle Champêtre_--now tastefully renovated and owned by Henry Dinning, Esq. The roof and facade of a _Chalet Suisse_ would much enhance its appearance. The adjoining range of heights, occupied by the Martello Towers, the Garneau and Bilodeau Terraces, &c., were called the _Buttes-à-Nepveu_, after one of their first French owners. "It was here that Murray took his stand on the morning of April 28th, 1760, to resist the advance of Levis, and here commenced the hardest-fought, the bloodiest action of the war, which terminated in the defeat of Murray, and his retreat within the city". The Martello Towers