The text below is taken from pages 13 and 14 of the 1896 book Football by Walter Camp and Lorin F. Deland. The book is primarily about American football, but includes a section about the history of football generally, along with short descriptions of other varieties of football as they existed at the time, including this description of Canadian football. The full book is in the public domain and is available on the Library of Congress website.
Canadian Football. Football is played to a considerable extent in Canada, where the various provinces play different games. For instance, in Halifax, Winnipeg, and Victoria, the English Rugby Union rules are adopted, while the Ontario, Quebec, and Canadian Unions play under their own rules.
The Canadian game is played by fifteen men on a side, on a field 110 yards long by 65 yards wide. The goals are the same as in the English Rugby game. At the kick-off, which opens a game, the ball must be kicked at least five yards and must not fall out of bounds. When a runner has been fairly tackled and held, the ball is placed dead upon the ground and the scrimmage1 takes place. Any player of the side then having possession of the ball may put it in play by rolling it in any direction with his foot. In the mean time no opponent can interfere in this operation, which must take place immediately, or the side not offending may be awarded a free kick by the referee. This method of putting the ball in play is nothing but the unpopular custom in England of heeling out, which has been adopted as the simplest and quickest method of putting an end to the tiresome scrimmage. The ball when thus put in play may be picked up and passed to any other player for a run, kick, or any other play. It is unlawful to engage in any unnecessary rough play, or to knock or throw the ball forward (except when thrown in from touch) under penalty of disqualification or award of a free kick to the unoffending side.
The matches are decided by a majority of points which can be scored as follows: goal from a try, 6; from drop-kick, 5; from flying or free kick, by way of penalty, 2; from free kick, 4; a try without the goal, 4; safety touch, 2; and rouge, 1. "Safety touch" and "rouge" are the only points which need to be explained, the other terms having been already mentioned in descriptions of other games. Safety touch is similar to the American "safety," and a rouge is like the American "touch back," i. e., the former is a retreat from danger and performed by the side defending its goal, while the latter is merely the result of a kick by the opponents passing over the goal line without making a goal. The time of a regulation game is two halves of forty minutes each, an intermission of ten minutes being left between them.
1 The English word "scrummage" has been converted on this side of the ocean into "scrimmage."