Quebec, city in North America, capital of Canada, with a harbour, a port, a fortified castle, and a diocese that answers only to the pope.

It is to the lord of Champlain, gentleman of Saintonge, that the French owe the establishment of Quebec . He founded it in 1608 and died there in 1635, after 27 years of labour. The city is on the northern bank of the Saint Lawrence River, twenty-six leagues from the sea, between a small river called the Saint-Charles and a large cape known as the cape of diamonds , so-called because false diamonds similar to the stones of Alençon are sometimes found there.

The English were forced to lift the siege of Quebec in 1690, but they took the city in 1759. Long. according to Cassini, 307. 38'. 30". latit. 46. 55 . and according to Harris, long. 386. 38'. 48". latit. 60 .

In 1744 Mr. Gautier estimated that his thermometer had descended to the 33rd degree of that of Mr. de Réaumur; we say estimated because given that the mercury retreated into the bulb after the 32nd degree, he was unable to assess the final term of the cold except by estimating. This temperature was approximately 17 degrees colder than that of 1709 in our climates, which is the coldest artificial temperature that Fahrenheit was able to produce. Peculiarly, Quebec is more or less beneath the 46th to 47th parallels, which corresponds to the middle of France; evident proof that the severity of cold does not always depend on the location from which it is observed.