There were three main conurbations in 18th-century Canada: Quebec, Trois Rivieres, and Montreal, each surrounded by a few relatively large villages and many smaller, extended rural communities. The latter comprised long, thin farms fronting either side of a road or river, with a few non-agricultural buildings (usually a school, a parsonage, an auberge (inn) and tradesmen's homes) and the parish church.
These communities were surrounded by virgin forests teeming with game, similar to those in upper New York. Most of the valleys encompassing the St Lawrence River and Richelieu River were extremely flat, except for some isolated mountains at Chambly and Montreal (hence the later description of this region as "Lower Canada"). There were few roads, and those poorly maintained. However, few villages were far from a river, so water was the most common means of transport. Canadians generally used canoes hollowed out of red elm, holding up to 20 men, while Indians used birch bark smeared with pitch, around hickory frames, able to carry from two to 30 passengers.
The main waterway was the St Lawrence, which linked Quebec, Trois Rivieres, and Montreal, although from 1735 they were also linked by the "Chemin du Roi" that ran parallel with, and mostly in sight of, the river. Movement of goods and people from west to east (i.e. downstream) was much faster by water than by road, but moving from east to west was more problematic. The St Lawrence was tidal only as far as Trois Rivieres, beyond which it passed through Lac St Pierre and then narrowed considerably before reaching Montreal. This produced a much faster current (about 10mph compared with four between Trois Rivieres and Quebec), which, with the added complication of islands and rapids just east of Montreal, made navigation hazardous. It took a skilled pilot to land a vessel at the right spot, while an adverse wind could make the journey from Quebec to Montreal almost as long as that from Quebec to England.
The climate in eastern Canada was one of hot, humid summers and cold winters. Mean temperatures for both seasons fell nearer large stretches of water, such as the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes, but winter temperatures were invariably below freezing (exacerbated by the mini-ice age that gripped North America and Europe from 1650 to 1850). The area between Quebec and the Great Lakes also experienced the heaviest rainfall in Canada - and the autumn of 1775 would be no exception. Snowfall was often heavy, especially along the St Lawrence (even today aggregate falls of up to 20ft (6m) are common), but as this allowed the use of sleighs, it actually made land transportation easier.
