General notes on Image 9

• This is the image for October and the immigration reference is to the Netherlands.
• This image is thought to be linked to Verse 5 and a casque in Montreal, Canada.

Specific Observations

  Please record your notes about this image in the list below.  Use the letter/number grid to identify the point on the image that you're describing.  To keep things organized, 1) please start each observation with a letter/number combo (in bold), and 2) add new observations in the right place on the list to keep everything alphabetized.

• D4 -  The curls on the left side of the person's forehead may form "J19" or possibly "J9".

• D5 - The jewel is an opal, the birth stone for October.
• D7 - The smooth outline of the hat changes to irregular bulges here.  The shape of the outline is a reasonable match for a wider view of the SE bank of the St. Lawrence river where it passes Montreal. 
• F4 -  His hair below the curl forms a distinct but as yet unknown pattern.
• F4 -  The letters "GA" are formed from hair at the end of the curl. 
• F5 - The pudgy, elongated face of the man reminds some people of a blimp or balloon.  This might be a hint toward the "wingless bird" in Verse 5.
• F7 - The strands of hair here are probably forming numbers or letters.  If letters, they might be JSA, JSH, or JSR.
• E9 - The word "Fèe" is written on the wall. Its the french word for fairy. 
• G6 - The irregular shape of the white collar on the right is a reasonable match for the St. Lawrence River where it flows through Montreal.
• H4 - The flower is a calendula, the birth flower for October.
• H7 - The square symbol above the dog contains an X indicating "10" (for the tenth month, October).  It may also contain runes (see below).
• I4 - The number "67" (or possibly "467") is hidden in the flower.  The "6" could also be a musical note. 1967 is the year that Montreal hosted the universal exposition.
• I7 - The black symbol next to the legeater dog could be a car on a pier or bridge.
• I7 - The legeater dog is the most distinctive feature of this illustration and it may be a reference to a lamp post at 1440 Rue Drummond in the middle of the Golden Square Mile.  (See below for more info.)
• J6 & K6 - The hands appear to be forming some kind of symbol, possibly a church.
• K4 & K7 - The sleeve cuffs have a checkered pattern that may be a reference to the checkered flags waved at the end of an auto race.  Montreal is the location for the Canadian Grand Prix that is held on Notre Dame Island.  The sleeve cuffs are also very similar to the sleeve cuffs in Image 1.  In both cases, the squares start very clearly and distinctly at the top and then fade away toward the bottom.

Image Matches

The left side of the white shirt collar may form the outline of southwestern Quebec, where the boundary drops south, turns eastwards for awhile, and then makes a final, short drop to the south beside Montreal.
The right side of the white shirt collar forms a very reasonable representation of the St. Lawrence River, as it flows northeast through Montreal.
The flower on the shirt is a calendula, the birth flower for October.  It's also very similar to the Montreal city logo (far right) that was adopted and publicized in 1981 after a contest.  Each lobe of the "flower" is meant to be a combination of the letters V & M, for "Ville de Montreal."   The calendula appears to contain the numbers 76, 67, and/or 767. Expo 67 was held in Montreal in 1967.  The Olympics were held in Montreal in 1976.  Both events were staged (at least in part) on Notre Dame Island, an artificial island in the Saint Lawrence River.
The broad, low profile of the man's beret might be a representation of Mount Royal, which forms the skyline over downtown Montreal.     If the man's head represents Mount Royal, it would make sense that the face would be half sad, because half the hilltop is taken up with a cemetary.     This photo was taken from the northeast side of Mount Royal, looking to the southwest.  The obelisk in the foreground is the monument to Sir George-Étienne Cartier.  It has stood in the park since 1919 and may be connected in some way to the search.     Obviously, the wavy lines on the right side of the hat must be a representation of something.  It would be very helpful to find the right match, because that might tell us where we should be standing when we face the hilltop.	By Montrealais at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2974363
The image has a repeated motif of gold-colored squares.  They appear on the beret, the cuffs, and the neckline of the jacket.  This is very likely a strong hint in the direction of the Golden Square Mile, a neighborhood of historic older homes at the foot of Mount Royal in Montreal.
The "legeater" design on the shirt matches the (bizarre) bases on the lampposts outside the George Stephen House located at 1440 Drummond Street, near the center of the Golden Square Mile.  The house was built in 1883 for George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen.  The lamps are an Italian design and very similar lamps are still in use in Palermo, Sicily.  (See photos here, here, here, and here.)  However, no other examples of this design have yet been found in North America.
By far the best match that has been found for the pattern on the man's neckline is the roofline of Trafalgar School for Girls in Montreal.  The Trafalgar School is located within the Golden Square Mile, across Avenue du Docteur Penfield from Percy Walters Park.
The shape beside the legeater dog has not yet been explained.  It appears to be formed from a series of connected squares with a few curves on one side.     If the gold-colored rectangle represents Montreal's Golden Square Mile, it's possible that this is a cross-section or floor plan for one of the historic buildings.  To identify the building, we may need to look at aerial photos from around 1980.     The other interpretation that has been proposed for this shape is that it is an abstract representation of the Habitat 67 Building, which is visible across the St. Lawrence River from Notre Dame Island.
The two checkered cuffs may be a representation of the checkered flags that indicate victory in an auto race.    The most prominent auto racing venue in the Montreal area is the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Notre Dame Island in the Saint Lawrence River.  The track was built in 1978 and is the home of the FIA Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.
The square with the X appears to contain two runes.  The one on the left appears to be wunjô.  The one on the right appears to be a reflected version of laguz.    The "runes" have an interesting resemblance to the characters in the logo for Expo 67.  The logo appears prominently on a wall at the Place des Nations, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held.		By Julien Hébert - Official Expo 1967 Guide Book. Toronto: Maclean-Hunter Publishing Co. Ltd. 1967. p.29, Public Domain.
The collar of the man's robe may have an outline that represents the roads around Mount Royal.  (Note that the map at far right is turned almost upside-down, so north is at the lower right.)     If this interpretation is correct, the lowest, central park of the neckline (between 4 and 5) would correspond to the George-Étienne Cartier Monument on Av du Parc.  The stretch between 3 and 4 would be contained inside the campus of McGill University.     Note that this map interprets the edge of the shirt collar (the blue line) as the Voie Camillien-Houde, the road that divides Mount Royal between the cemetery and the park.  For a different interpretation, see below.
The shape of the Montreal and Laval islands could be shown in the man's mouth and chin...
... or perhaps in the man's mouth and nose.  Either way, it's a strong match for the city of Montreal.
Additionally, the man's mouth and upper lip outline could represent the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Formula One Raceway
The hair contains various curves that could be numbers.
The steps and checkerboard may be a nod to the Sunlife Building that borders Dorchester Sq. in Montreal.  (Note that the outer edge makes the "stairstep," while the windows form the "checkerboard.")

Latitude / Longitude Hints

Montreal is between the latitudes of 45 and 46 degrees north.  It is between the longitudes of 73 and 74 degrees west.

The Rembrandt Connection:

Image 9 appears to be a visual reference to Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar, which was painted by Rembrandt in 1659.   Each painting shows a single individual seated before a flat, golden-brown background that only varies in subtle degrees of light.  Each subject is wearing dark robes that tend to fade into the background and is seated with clasped hands, looking directly at the viewer.
The figure in each portrait is wearing a beret that crosses the forehead in a broad arch.  Graying, curly hair protrudes from under the beret on each side, partially covering each subject's ears.
The tunic worn by each subject has a high collar that runs along the lower edge of a cheek before plunging down to leave an open neckline where it meets the chin.

The Percy Walters Park Theory:

  Most of the discussion on the Verse 5 page centers on Saint Helen's Island in the St. Lawrence river, but the clues in the image seem to point in a different direction.  One strong match that has been proposed is Percy Walters Park at the base of Mt. Royal near downtown Montreal.  Consider the following evidence:

The use of the man's beret as a representation of Mount Royal would make sense for Percy Walters Park, which is located at the base of the hill.
The golden rectangle on the front of the man's shirt may be a reference to the Golden Square Mile, a neighborhood of historic older homes near downtown Montreal.  Percy Walters Park (outlined in red on the map at far right) is inside the Golden Square Mile.
The best match that has been found for the "stairstep" pattern on the man's neckline is the top of the Trafalgar School for Girls in Montreal.  The Trafalgar School is across the street from Percy Walters Park.		Photo by wiki user Delilah.  (Thanks!)
On the south side of the park, where Avenue McGregor makes a bend, there is a sign with a gold-and-black checkerboard pattern that resembles the pattern on the man's shirt and cuffs.		Photo by wiki user Delilah.  (Thanks again!)
No one has ever offered a strong explanation for why the "legeater dog" is in the picture. The lamp bases at the former Mount Stephen Club are not a strong symbol for Montreal and most searchers agree that the casque is not buried at that spot.  But if the gold-colored rectangle refers to the Golden Square Mile, we may be looking for a place that is somehow associated with dogs inside those boundaries.  And Percy Walters Park is an off-leash dog park.  (This might also explain why the image is considerably more dog-like than the original lamp base, which may actually show a cat of some kind.)
And, finally, there is the interesting interview that Byron Preiss gave to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on 10/25/1982.  In describing his adventures burying the casques, Preiss volunteered that "dogs got in an uproar" at one site.  None of the other proposed locations in other cities are in off-leash dog parks, so it makes sense that Montreal would be the site of this experience.

Other Notes:

• The left half of the background is dark and the right half is light.  In addition the individual is smiling on the left side of the image and frowning on the right.  If you place a mirror along the line of the jewel and the nose, you can create either a smiling face on a dark background or a frowning face on a light background.  (The smiling, sharp-nosed fellow with the wide hat and high collar looks very much like Napoleon Bonaparte. Note: There is a restaurant in Montreal named Bonaparte, close to the St. Lawrence River.)

• The combination of a happy face (representing comedy) and a sad face (representing tragedy) is a traditional symbol for theater and acting.  This may be a reference to some nearby place where plays are performed.  Some people have reported that there is an old theater near the Salvation Army Montreal Citadel, although we don't have a name or an address for that.
• The repeated use of a checkerboard pattern on the cuffs, collar, and hat might be connected in some way with the checkered flag used to signal a winner in an auto race.  The Canadian Grand Prix has been held in Montreal (almost) every summer since 1978.  The race is held on Île Notre-Dame, an artificial island located in the Saint Lawrence River just east of downtown Montreal.  The island was originally built as a location for Expo 67, held in 1967 to celebrate Canada's centennial.  That connection to Expo 67 might explain the "67" in the flower.
• Several people have suggested that the design on the front of the shirt might actually be a map of the area on the southeast side of Mount Royal in Montreal.  (Click on map below to see a larger version.)

• Under this interpretation, the zig-zag neckline would be the "stairstep" boundary of Mount Royal Park.  The lowest point of the neckline would be the Trafalgar School (which also has the stairstep profile).  The legeater dog in the gold box would be the George Stephen House inside Montreal's Golden Square Mile.  And the flower could represent the rosette window at the College Dawson.
• The Abbot's fingers form an X more or less directly over Edifice/Academie Bourget, however, his hands take up so much space in the picture that the "church" he's creating could be the Anglican Church of St. James the Apostle (Rue St. Catherine X Rue Bishop), or the Soeurs Grises Convent (there is a mall on the NW side that has a large arch-shaped window that could be the "arc of lights" from the verse). 
• All of the clues currently point to areas on the north and east sides of Mount Royal in Montreal.  It might be very helpful to find some students at McGill University who would be interested in working on the puzzle.

Questions, questions, questions...

• Is there some significance to the way the hands are clasped with certain fingers raised?
• What is the meaning of the two runes in the square with the X?
• What is the meaning of the black shape beside the "legeater dog"?  If it's a floor plan, what building does it match?
• What do the curves at the right edge of the hat represent?  (A road?  A river?)