time prolonged into the night as they are nowadays.  Therein, however, New France did not differ from other lands.  In the seventeenth century most of the world went to bed at nightfall because there was nothing else to do, and no easy or inexpensive artificial light.  Candles were in use, to be sure, but a great many more of them were burned on the altars of the churches than in the homes of the people.  For his reading, the habitant depended upon the priest, and for his writing, upon the notary.

Clothing was almost wholly made at home.  It was warm and durable, as well as somewhat distinctive and picturesque.  Every parish had spinning wheels and handlooms in some of its homes on which the women turned out the heavy druggets or etoffes du pays from which most of the men’s clothing was made.  A great fabric it was, this homespun, with nothing but wool in it, not attractive in pattern but able to stand no end of wear.  It was fashioned for the habitant’s use into roomy trousers and a long frock coat reaching to the knees which he tied around his waist with a belt of leather or of knitted yarn.  The women also used this etoffe for skirts, but their waists and summer dresses were of calico, homemade as well.  As for the children, most of them ran about in the summer months wearing next to nothing at all.  A single garment without sleeves and reaching to the knees was all that covered their nakedness.  For all ages and for both sexes there were furs in plenty for winter use.  Beaver skins were cheap, in some years about as cheap as cloth.  When properly treated they were soft and pliable, and easily made into clothes, caps, and mittens.

Most of the footwear was made at home, usually from deerhides.  In winter every one wore the bottes sauvages, or oiled moccasins laced up halfway or more to the knees.  They were proof against cold and were serviceable for use with snowshoes.  Between them and his feet the habitant wore two or more pairs of heavy woolen socks made from coarse homespun yarn.  In summer the women and children of the rural communities usually went barefoot so that the soles of their feet grew as tough as pigskin; the men sometimes did likewise, but more frequently they wore, in the fields or in the forest, clogs made of cowhide.

On the week-days of summer every one wore a straw hat which the women of the household spent part of each winter in plaiting.  In cold weather the knitted tuque made in vivid colors was the great favorite.  It was warm and picturesque.  Each section of the colony had its own color; the habitants in the vicinity of Quebec wore blue tuques, while those around Montreal preferred red.  The apparel of the people was thus in general adapted to the country, and it had a distinctiveness that has not yet altogether passed away.