Montreal

(mont-re-aul',) an important city of Canada, prov. of Quebec, on an island in the St.Lawrence, 180 m. S.W. of Quebec. The newer portion is well laid out, the older being built after the French manner. M. is e entially, by virtue of its geographical position at the head of the St. Lawrence ship navigation, one of the chief commercial centres on the American continent. Its quays are extensive, and its shipping relations, with both Europe and the U. States, of very considerable magnitude. M. was settled by the French colonists abt. the end of the 17th cent., and in 1760 pa ed into po e ion of the English. Pop. 160,000,about three-fourths being of French descent. The Victoria Tubular Bridge built by the Grand Trunk Railway, and one of the finest structures of the kind in the world, spans the river at this point. [s. 616]