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Jesuit Relations v. 38, ch.1
".1Tadusac is the first port, which is usually set down as being about three hundred miles up the river Saint Lawrence. It is deserted except at the arrival of the ships; and then a Mission is held there, and the wandering Barbarians—who assemble there from various countries, at a distance of 300 miles, and over—are instructed for the space of two or three months.

2. Kebek is 120 miles further inland, and is a Fortress of the French, which commands the same river, on whose bank it is constructed upon a mountain, at the narrowest point on this river, which is here about a mile wide. There is a French Colony there, and, quite recently, a Huron one; and the Barbarians called Algonquins spend several months of the Year there before going to their hunt.

3. Four miles distant from Kebek, on the shores of the same river, there is a Residence of the Society, called Saint Joseph, where the Algonquin Christians spend half of the Year, with some French families: it is otherwise called Syllerì, from the founder, who was the Chevalier de Syllerì.

4. Ninety miles beyond, still up stream, there flows into this King of rivers,—which at its mouth is 60 miles in width, and here more than a mile and a half, with both flow and ebb of the tide, although more than 400 miles distant from the sea,—there flows into it, I say, a tributary which we call the three rivers, because it issues as if from three mouths, by reason of two Islands, which divide it into three streams. At that place is the second fort of the French on the river Saint Lawrence, and a second Colony of theirs,—and, during a certain time of the Year, of Algonquin Barbarians.

5. Then, ten miles further, still up stream, is the lake called St. Pierre,—24 miles in length and 10 or 12 in width,—famous through the incursions of the Hiroquois. A river prolongs it; and six miles beyond, at the mouth of this river (which is named after the Hiroquois, because it comes from their lake), was the fort of Richelieu.

6. Fifty miles beyond is the great Island of Mont Reale, 180 miles distant from Kebek,—which was formerly thickly inhabited by Barbarians, while now they are very few. There is a fort of the French, with some families, who are founding a third Colony. This Island is about a hundred miles in circumference; and there the two branches unite which form our great river. And let this be sufficient. for the understanding of what we shall say in this history."

Pierre Boucher, 1664
"There is a fine fortress and a fine garrison. There is also a beautiful church which serves the parish and which is the cathedral for the whole country. ... There is s Jesuit college and an Ursuline convent which teahes all the young girls. .... But let us not forget the habitation of Trois-Rivieres. It is a beautiful ountry to see, a flat country which has magnificent forests. Montreal, which is the most recent of tour French habitations, has made the most progress in terms of land. It is situatied on a beautiful big island called Mount Royal Island. The land there is very good."