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[Illustration: Cover]
FREDERICK D. MACY
If thou art borrowed by a friend,
Right welcome shall he be
To read, to study,--not to lend,
But to return to me.
Not that imparted knowledge doth
Diminish learning's store,
But books, I find, when often lent,
Return to me no more.
Would readers all this rule obey,
For good requite not ill,
These hints need not be penn'd that they
Its dictates should fulfill.
* * * * *
Read slowly,--pause frequently,--
Think seriously.--
Keep cleanly,--return duly,
With the corner of the leaves not turn'd down.
NATHANIEL H. BISHOP'S BOOKS.
FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK BOX: A Boat Voyage of Twenty-six Hundred Miles
down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and along the Gulf of Mexico. With
numerous Maps and Illustrations. $2.50.
VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE: A Geographical Journey of Twenty-five Hundred
Miles from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico. With numerous Illustrations and
Maps, specially prepared for this work Crown 8vo. $2.50.
A THOUSAND MILES' WALK across South America, over the Pampas and the
Andes. Illustrated. A new edition. _In press._
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON.
[Illustration: HOME OF THE ALLIGATOR.]
VOYAGE
OF
THE PAPER CANOE:
A GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY OF 2500 MILES, FROM
QUEBEC TO THE GULF OF MEXICO,
DURING THE YEARS 1874-5.
BY
NATHANIEL H. BISHOP,
AUTHOR OF "ONE THOUSAND MILES' WALK ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA,"
AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY
OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND OF THE NEW
YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.
NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM.
EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS.
1882.
COPYRIGHT
1878,
BY N. H. BISHOP.
UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON & SON
CAMBRIDGE.
TO THE
SUPERINTENDENT, ASSISTANTS, AIDS, AND ALL
EMPLOYES OF THE
UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY BUREAU,
THE
"VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE"
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
AS A SLIGHT EVIDENCE OF THE APPRECIATION BY ITS AUTHOR FOR
THEIR INTELLIGENT EFFORTS AND SELF-DENYING LABORS
IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY, SO PATIENTLY
AND SKILFULLY PERFORMED, UNDER MANY
DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS.
INTRODUCTION.
The author left Quebec, Dominion of Canada, July 4, 1874, with a
single assistant, in a wooden canoe eighteen feet in length, bound for
the Gulf of Mexico. It was his intention to follow the natural and
artificial connecting watercourses of the continent in the most direct
line southward to the gulf coast of Florida, making portages as seldom
as possible, to show how few were the interruptions to a continuous
water-way for vessels of light draught, from the chilly, foggy, and
rocky regions of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the north, to the
semi-tropical waters of the great Southern Sea, the waves of which
beat upon the sandy shores of the southernmost United States. Having
proceeded about four hundred miles upon his voyage, the author reached
Troy, on the Hudson River, New York state, where for several years
E. Waters & Sons had been perfecting the construction of paper boats.
The advantages in using a boat of only fifty-eight pounds weight, the
strength and durability of which had been well and satisfactorily
tested, could not be questioned, and the author dismissed his
assistant, and "paddled his own canoe" about two thousand miles to
the end of the journey. Though frequently lost in the labyrinth of
creeks and marshes which skirt the southern coast of his country,
the author's difficulties were greatly lessened by the use of the
valuable and elaborate charts of the United States Coast Survey
Bureau, to the faithful executers of which he desires to give
unqualified and grateful praise.
To an unknown wanderer among the creeks, rivers, and sounds of the
coast, the courteous treatment of the Southern people was most
gratifying. The author can only add to this expression an extract
from his reply to the address of the Mayor of St. Mary's, Georgia,
which city honored him with an ovation and presentation of flags
after the completion of his voyage:
"Since my little paper canoe entered southern waters upon her
geographical errand,--from the capes of the Delaware to your
beautiful St. Mary's,--I have been deeply sensible of the value
of Southern hospitality. The oystermen and fishermen living
along the lonely beaches of the eastern shore of Maryland and
Virginia; the surfmen and light-house keepers of Albemarle,
Pamplico, and Core sounds, in North Carolina; the ground-nut
planters who inhabit the uplands that skirt the network of
creeks, marshes, ponds, and sounds from Bogue Inlet to Cape
Fear; the piny-woods people, lumbermen, and turpentine
distillers on the little bluffs that jut into the fastnesses
of the great swamps of the crooked Waccamaw River; the
representatives of the once powerful rice-planting aristocracy
of the Santee and Peedee rivers; the colored men of the
beautiful sea-islands along the coast of Georgia; the Floridians
living between the St. Mary's River and the Suwanee--the wild
river of song; the islanders on the Gulf of Mexico where I
terminated my long journey;--all have contributed to make the
'Voyage of the Paper Canoe' a success."
After returning from this paper-canoe voyage, the author embarked alone,
December 2, 1875, in a cedar duck-boat twelve feet in length, from the
head of the Ohio River, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and followed the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers over two thousand miles to New Orleans,
where he made a portage through that city eastwardly to Lake
Pontchartrain, and rowed along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico six or
seven hundred miles, to Cedar Keys, Florida, the terminus of his
paper-canoe voyage.
While on these two voyages, the author rowed over five thousand miles,
meeting with but one accident, the overturning of his canoe in Delaware
Bay. He returned to his home with his boats in good condition, and his
note-books, charts, &c., in an excellent state of preservation.
At the request of the "Board on behalf of the United States Executive
Department" of the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, the paper
canoe "Maria Theresa," and the cedar duck-boat "Centennial Republic,"
were deposited in the Smithsonian Department of the United States
Government building, during the summer and fall of 1876.
The maps, which show the route followed by the paper canoe, have been
drawn and engraved by contract at the United States Coast Survey Bureau,
and are on a scale of 1/1.500,000. As the work is based on the results
of actual surveys, these maps may be considered, for their size, the
most complete of the United States coast ever presented to the public.
Much credit is due to Messrs. Waud and Merrill for the artistic results
of their pencils, and to Messrs. John Andrew & Son for their skill in
engraving the illustrations.
To the readers of the author's first book of travels, "The Pampas and
Andes: a Thousand Miles' Walk across South America," which journey was
undertaken when he was but seventeen years of age, the writer would say
that their many kind and appreciative letters have prompted him to send
forth this second book of travels--the "Voyage of the Paper Canoe."
LAKE GEORGE, WARREN COUNTY, N. Y.,
JANUARY 1, 1878.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE APPROACHES TO THE WATER-WAY OF THE
CONTINENT.
ISLAND OF ST. PAUL.--THE PORTALS OF THE GULF OF
ST. LAWRENCE.--THE EXTINCT AUK.--ANTICOSTI
ISLAND.--ICEBERGS.--SAILORS' SUPERSTITIONS.--THE
ESTUARY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.--TADOUSAC.--THE
SAGUENAY RIVER.--WHITE WHALES.--QUEBEC. 1
CHAPTER II.
FROM QUEBEC TO SOREL.
THE WATER-WAY INTO THE CONTINENT.--THE WESTERN AND
THE SOUTHERN ROUTE TO THE GULF OF MEXICO.--THE
MAYETA.--COMMENCEMENT OF THE VOYAGE.--ASCENT OF
THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.--LAKE OF ST. PETER.--ACADIAN
TOWN OF SOREL. 12
CHAPTER III.
FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER TO TICONDEROGA,
LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
THE RICHELIEU RIVER.--ACADIAN SCENES.--ST. OURS.--ST.
ANTOINE.--ST. MARKS.--BELOEIL.--CHAMBLY CANAL.--ST.
JOHNS.--LAKE CHAMPLAIN.--THE GREAT SHIP CANAL.--DAVID
BODFISH'S CAMP.--THE ADIRONDACK SURVEY.--A
CANVAS BOAT.--DIMENSIONS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.--PORT
KENT.--AUSABLE CHASM.--ARRIVAL AT TICONDEROGA. 22
CHAPTER IV.
FROM LAKES GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN TO THE
HUDSON RIVER.
THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE GEORGE BY FATHER
JOGUES.--A PEDESTRIAN JOURNEY.--THE HERMIT OF THE
NARROWS.--CONVENT OF ST. MARY'S OF THE LAKE.--THE
PAULIST FATHERS.--CANAL ROUTE FROM LAKE CHAMPLAIN
TO ALBANY.--BODFISH RETURNS TO THE JERSEY.--THE
LITTLE FLEET IN ITS HAVEN OF REST. 42
CHAPTER V.
THE AMERICAN PAPER BOAT AND ENGLISH CANOES.
THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE PAPER BOAT.--THE
HISTORY OF THE ADOPTION OF PAPER FOR BOATS.--A
BOY'S INGENUITY.--THE PROCESS OF BUILDING PAPER BOATS
DESCRIBED.--COLLEGE CLUBS ADOPTING THEM.--THE GREAT
VICTORIES WON BY PAPER OVER WOODEN SHELLS IN 1876. 57
CHAPTER VI.
FROM TROY TO PHILADELPHIA.
PAPER CANOE MARIA THERESA.--THE START.--THE DESCENT
OF THE HUDSON RIVER.--CROSSING THE UPPER BAY OF NEW
YORK.--PASSAGE OF THE KILLS.--RARITAN RIVER.--THE
CANAL ROUTE FROM NEW BRUNSWICK TO THE DELAWARE
RIVER.--FROM BORDENTOWN TO PHILADELPHIA. 71
CHAPTER VII.
FROM PHILADELPHIA TO CAPE HENLOPEN.
DESCENT OF DELAWARE RIVER.--MY FIRST CAMP.--BOMBAY
HOOK.--MURDERKILL CREEK.--A STORM IN DELAWARE
BAY.--CAPSIZING OF THE CANOE.--A SWIM FOR LIFE.--THE
PERSIMMON GROVE.--WILLOW GROVE INN.--THE
LIGHTS OF CAPES MAY AND HENLOPEN. 98
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM CAPE HENLOPEN TO NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.
THE PORTAGE TO LOVE CREEK.--THE DELAWARE
WHIPPING-POST.--REHOBOTH AND INDIAN RIVER
BAYS.--A PORTAGE TO LITTLE ASSAWAMAN
BAY.--ISLE OF WIGHT BAY.--WINCHESTER
PLANTATION.--CHINCOTEAGUE.--WATCHAPREAGUE
INLET.--COBB'S ISLAND.--CHERRYSTONE.--ARRIVAL
AT NORFOLK.--THE "LANDMARK'S" ENTERPRISE. 114
CHAPTER IX.
FROM NORFOLK TO CAPE HATTERAS.
THE ELIZABETH RIVER.--THE CANAL.--NORTH LANDING
RIVER.--CURRITUCK SOUND.--ROANOKE ISLAND.--VISIT
TO BODY ISLAND LIGHT-HOUSE.--A ROMANCE OF
HISTORY.--PAMPLICO SOUND.--THE PAPER CANOE
ARRIVES AT CAPE HATTERAS. 148
CHAPTER X.
FROM CAPE HATTERAS TO CAPE FEAR, NORTH
CAROLINA.
CAPE HATTERAS LIGHT.--HABITS OF BIRDS.--STORM
AT HATTERAS INLET.--MILES OF WRECKS.--THE YACHT
JULIA SEARCHING FOR THE PAPER CANOE.--CHASED BY
PORPOISES.--MARSH TACKIES.--OCRACOKE INLET.--A
GRAVEYARD BEING SWALLOWED UP BY THE SEA.--CORE
SOUND.--THREE WEDDINGS AT HUNTING QUARTERS.--MOREHEAD
CITY.--NEWBERN.--SWANSBORO.--A PEA-NUT
PLANTATION.--THE ROUTE TO CAPE FEAR. 180
CHAPTER XI.
FROM CAPE FEAR TO CHARLESTON, SOUTH
CAROLINA.
A PORTAGE TO LAKE WACCAMAW.--SUBMERGED SWAMPS.--NIGHT
AT A TURPENTINE DISTILLERY.--A DISMAL WILDERNESS.--OWLS
AND MISTLETOE.--CRACKERS AND NEGROES.--ACROSS THE SOUTH
CAROLINA LINE.--A CRACKER'S IDEA OF HOSPITALITY.--POT
BLUFF.--PEEDEE RIVER.--GEORGETOWN.--WINYAH BAY.--THE
RICE PLANTATIONS OF THE SANTEE RIVERS.--A NIGHT WITH
THE SANTEE NEGROES.--ARRIVAL AT CHARLESTON. 216
CHAPTER XII.
FROM CHARLESTON TO SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.
THE INTERIOR WATER ROUTE TO JEHOSSEE ISLAND.--GOVERNOR
AIKEN'S MODEL RICE PLANTATION.--LOST IN THE HORNS.--ST.
HELENA SOUND.--LOST IN THE NIGHT.--THE PHANTOM SHIP.--THE
FINLANDER'S WELCOME.--A NIGHT ON THE EMPEROR'S OLD
YACHT.--THE PHOSPHATE MINES.--COOSAW AND BROAD
RIVERS--PORT ROYAL SOUND AND CALIBOGUE SOUND.--CUFFY'S
HOME.--ARRIVAL IN GEORGIA.--RECEPTIONS AT GREENWICH
SHOOTING-PARK. 261
CHAPTER XIII.
FROM THE SAVANNAH RIVER TO FLORIDA.
ROUTE TO THE SEA ISLANDS OF GEORGIA.--STORM-BOUND
ON GREEN ISLAND.--OSSABAW ISLAND.--ST. CATHERINE'S
SOUND.--SAPELO ISLAND.--THE MUD OF MUD RIVER.--NIGHT
IN A NEGRO CABIN.--"DE SHOUTINGS" ON DOBOY
ISLAND.--BROUGHTON ISLAND.--ST. SIMON'S AND JEKYL
ISLANDS.--INTERVIEW WITH AN ALLIGATOR.--A NIGHT
IN JOINTER HAMMOCK.--CUMBERLAND ISLAND AND ST.
MARY'S RIVER.--FAREWELL TO THE SEA. 291
CHAPTER XIV.
ST. MARY'S RIVER AND THE SUWANEE WILDERNESS.
A PORTAGE TO DUTTON.--DESCENT OF THE ST. MARY'S
RIVER.--FETE GIVEN BY THE CITIZENS TO THE PAPER
CANOE.--THE PROPOSED CANAL ROUTE ACROSS FLORIDA.--A
PORTAGE TO THE SUWANEE RIVER.--A NEGRO SPEAKS
ON ELECTRICITY AND THE TELEGRAPH.--A FREEDMAN'S
SERMON. 313
CHAPTER XV.
DOWN UPON THE SUWANEE RIVER.
THE RICH FOLIAGE OF THE RIVER.--COLUMBUS.--ROLINS'
BLUFF.--OLD TOWN HAMMOCK.--A HUNTER KILLED BY
A PANTHER.--DANGEROUS SERPENTS.--CLAY LANDING.--THE
MARSHES OF THE COAST.--BRADFORD'S ISLAND.--MY
LAST CAMP.--THE VOYAGE ENDED. 334
LIST OF MAPS
DRAWN AND ENGRAVED AT THE
UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY BUREAU
FOR THE "VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE."
PAGE
1. GENERAL MAP OF ROUTES FOLLOWED BY THE AUTHOR
DURING TWO VOYAGES MADE TO THE GULF OF MEXICO, Opposite 1
* * * * *
GUIDE MAPS OF CANOE ROUTE.
2. FROM QUEBEC, CANADA, TO PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK
STATE, 12
3. FROM PLATTSBURGH TO ALBANY, 42
4. FROM ALBANY TO NEW YORK CITY, 71
5. FROM NEW YORK CITY TO CAPE HENLOPEN, DELAWARE, 98
6. FROM CAPE HENLOPEN, DELAWARE, TO NORFOLK,
VIRGINIA, 114
7. FROM NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, TO BOGUE INLET, NORTH
CAROLINA, 148
8. FROM BOGUE INLET, NORTH CAROLINA, TO BULL'S
BAY, SOUTH CAROLINA, 180
9. FROM BULL'S BAY, SOUTH CAROLINA, TO ST. SIMON'S
SOUND, GEORGIA, 261
10. FROM ST. SIMON'S SOUND, GEORGIA, TO CEDAR KEYS,
FLORIDA, 317
ILLUSTRATIONS.
ENGRAVED BY JOHN ANDREW & SON.
PAGE
HOME OF THE ALLIGATOR. (Frontispiece.)
GREAT AUK (_Alca impennis_). Extinct. 11
ANCHORED AT LAST, 56
A FULL-RIGGED NAUTILUS CANOE, 57
THE ROB ROY CANOE, 68
THE ABORIGINAL TYPE, 74
* * * * *
Photographed at Disco, Greenland.
THE IMPROVED TYPE.--PAPER CANOE MARIA THERESA, 74
A CAPSIZE IN DELAWARE BAY, 108
DELAWARE WHIPPING-POST AND PILLORY, 147
BODY ISLAND LIGHT HOUSE, 179
CROSSING HATTERAS INLET, 190
RECEPTION AT CHARLESTON POST-OFFICE, 259
THE PANTHER'S LEAP, 345
THE VOYAGE ENDED, 351
[Illustration: General Map of Routes followed by the Author during two
Voyages made to the Gulf of Mexico.
MAP OF ROUTES FOLLOWED BY N. H. BISHOP IN PAPER CANOE
"MARIA THERESA" AND DUCK BOAT "CENTENNIAL REPUBLIC" 1874-1876
_Copyright, 1878 by Lee & Shepard_]
VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
THE APPROACHES TO THE WATER-WAY OF THE CONTINENT.
ISLAND OF ST. PAUL.--THE PORTALS OF THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE.--THE
EXTINCT AUK.--ANTICOSTI ISLAND.--ICEBERGS.--SAILORS' SUPERSTITIONS.--THE
ESTUARY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.--TADOUSAC.--THE SAGUENAY RIVER.--WHITE
WHALES.--QUEBEC.
While on his passage to the ports of the St. Lawrence River, the mariner
first sights the little island of St. Paul, situated in the waste of
waters between Cape Ray, the southwestern point of Newfoundland on the
north, and Cape North, the northeastern projection of Cape Breton Island
on the south. Across this entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence from cape
to cape is a distance of fifty-four nautical miles; and about twelve
miles east-northeast from Cape North the island of St. Paul, with its
three hills and two light-towers, rises from the sea with deep waters on
every side.
This wide inlet into the gulf may be called the middle portal, for at
the northern end of Newfoundland, between the great island and the coast
of Labrador, another entrance exists, which is known as the Straits of
Belle Isle, and is sometimes called "the shorter passage from England."
Still to the south of the middle entrance is another and a very narrow
one, known as the Gut of Canso, which separates the island of Cape
Breton from Nova Scotia. Through this contracted thoroughfare the tides
run with great force.
One hundred years ago, as the seaman approached the dangerous entrance
of St. Paul, now brightened at night by its light-towers, his heart was
cheered by the sight of immense flocks of a peculiar sea-fowl, now
extinct. When he saw upon the water the Great Auk (_Alca impennis_),
which he ignorantly called "a pengwin," he knew that land was near at
hand, for while he met other species far out upon the broad Atlantic,
the Great Auk, his "pengwin," kept near the coast. Not only was this now
extinct bird his indicator of proximity to the land, but so strange were
its habits, and so innocent was its nature, that it permitted itself to
be captured by boat-loads; and thus were the ships re-victualled at
little cost or trouble. Without any market-value a century ago, the
Great Auk now, as a stuffed skin, represents a value of fifteen hundred
dollars in gold. There are but seventy-two specimens of this bird in
the museums of Europe and America, besides a few skeletons, and
sixty-five of its eggs. It was called in ancient days Gare-fowl, and was
the _Geirfugl_ of the Icelander.
Captain Whitbourne, who wrote in the reign of James the First, quaintly
said: "These Pengwins are as bigge as Geese, and flye not, for they have
but a little short wing, and they multiply so infinitely upon a certain
flat island that men drive them from thence upon a board into their
boats by hundreds at a time, as if God had made the innocency of so
poor a creature to become such an admerable instrument for the
sustenation of man."
In a copy of the English Pilot, "fourth book," published in 1761, which
I presented to the library of the United States Coast Survey, is found
this early description of this now extinct American bird: "They never go
beyond the bank [Newfoundland] as others do, for they are always on it,
or in it, several of them together, sometimes more but never less than
two together. They are large fowls, about the size of a goose, a
coal-black head and back, with a white belly and a milk-white spot
under one of their eyes, which nature has ordered to be under their
right eye."
Thus has the greed of the sailor and pot-hunter swept from the face
of the earth an old pilot--a trusty aid to navigation. Now the
light-house, the fog-gun, and the improved chart have taken the place
of the extinct auk as aids to navigation, and the sailor of to-day sees
the bright flashes of St. Paul's lights when nearly twenty miles at sea.
Having passed the little isle, the ship enters the great Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and passes the Magdalen Islands, shaping its course as wind
and weather permit towards the dreaded, rocky coast of Anticosti. From
the entrance of the gulf to the island of Anticosti the course to be
followed is northwesterly about one hundred and thirty-five nautical
miles. The island which divides an upper arm of the gulf into two wide
channels is one hundred and twenty-three miles long, and from ten to
thirty miles wide. Across the entrance of this great arm, or estuary,
from the high cape of Gaspe on the southern shore of the mainland to
Anticosti in the narrowest place, is a distance of about forty miles,
and is called the South Channel. From the north side of the island and
near its west end to the coast of Labrador the North Channel is fifteen
miles wide. The passage from St. Paul to Anticosti is at times
dangerous. Here is an area of strong currents, tempestuous winds, and
dense fogs. When the wind is fair for an upward run, it is _the_ wind
which usually brings misty weather. Then, from the icy regions of the
Arctic circle, from the Land of Desolation, come floating through the
Straits of Belle Isle the dangerous bergs and ice-fields. Early in the
spring these ice rafts are covered with colonies of seals which resort
to them for the purpose of giving birth to their young. On these icy
cradles, rocked by the restless waves, tens of thousands of young seals
are nursed for a few days; then, answering the loud calls of their
mothers, they accompany them into the briny deep, there to follow the
promptings of their instincts. The loud roarings of the old seals on
these ice rafts can be heard in a quiet night for several miles, and
strike terror into the heart of the superstitious sailor who is ignorant
of the origin of the tumult.
Frequently dense fogs cover the water, and while slowly moving along,
guided only by the needle, a warning sound alarms the watchful master.
Through the heavy mists comes the roar of breaking waters. He listens.
The dull, swashy noise of waves meeting with resistance is now plainly
heard. The atmosphere becomes suddenly chilled: it is the breath of
the iceberg!
Then the shrill cry of "All hands on deck!" startles the watch below
from the bunks. Anxiously now does the whole ship's company lean upon
the weather-rail and peer out into the thick air with an earnestness
born of terror. "Surely," says the master to his mate, "I am past the
Magdalens, and still far from Anticosti, yet we have breakers; which
way can we turn?" The riddle solves itself, for out of the gloom come
whitened walls, beautiful but terrible to behold.
Those terror-stricken sailors watch the slowly moving berg as it drifts
past their vessel, fearing that their own ship will be drawn towards it
from the peculiar power of attraction they believe the iceberg to
possess. And as they watch, against the icy base of the mountain in the
sea the waves beat and break as if expending their forces upon a rocky
shore. Down the furrowed sides of the disintegrating berg streamlets
trickle, and miniature cascades leap, mingling their waters with the
briny sea. The intruder slowly drifts out of sight, disappearing in the
gloom, while the sailor thanks his lucky stars that he has rid himself
of another danger. The ill-omened Anticosti, the graveyard of many
seamen, is yet to be passed. The ship skirts along its southern shore,
a coast destitute of bays or harbors of any kind, rock-bound and
inhospitable.
Wrecks of vessels strew the rocky shores, and four light-houses warn
the mariner of danger. Once past the island the ship is well within
the estuary of the gulf into which the St. Lawrence River flows,
contributing the waters of the great lakes of the continent to the
sea. As the north coast is approached the superstitious sailor is
again alarmed if, perchance, the compass-needle shows sympathy with
some disturbing element, the cause of which he believes to exist in
the mountains which rise along the shore. He repeats the stories of
ancient skippers, of vessels having been lured out of their course
by the deviation of the guiding-needle, which succumbed to the potent
influence exerted in those hills of iron ore; heeding not the fact
that the disturbing agent is the iron on board of his own ship, and
not the magnetic oxide of the distant mines.
The ship being now within the estuary of the St. Lawrence River, must
encounter many risks before she reaches the true mouth of the river,
at the Bic Islands.
The shores along this arm of the gulf are wild and sombre. Rocky
precipices frown upon the swift tidal current that rushes past their
bases. A few small settlements of fishermen and pilots, like Metis,
Father Point, and Rimousky, are discovered at long intervals along
the coast.
In these St. Lawrence hamlets, and throughout Lower Canada, a patois is
spoken which is unintelligible to the Londoner or Parisian; and these
villagers, the descendants of the French colonists, may be said to be a
people destitute of a written language, and strangers to a literature.
While holding a commission from Francis the First, king of France,
Jacques Cartier discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, during his first
voyage of exploration in the new world. He entered the gulf on St.
Lawrence's day, in the spring of 1534, and named it in honor of the
event. Cartier explored no farther to the west than about the mouth of
the estuary which is divided by the island of Anticosti. It was during
his second voyage, in the following year, that he discovered and
explored the great river. Of the desolate shores of Labrador, on the
north coast, he said, "It might as well as not be taken for the country
assigned by God to Cain."
The distance from Quebec to Cape Gaspe, measured upon a course which a
steamer would be compelled to take, is four hundred and seven statute
miles. The ship first enters the current of the river St. Lawrence at
the two Bic Islands, where it has a width of about twenty miles. By
consulting most maps the reader will find that geographers carry the
_river_ nearly two hundred miles beyond its usual current. In fact,
they appropriate the whole estuary, which, in places, is nearly one
hundred miles in width, and call it a river--a river which lacks the
characteristics of a river, the currents of which vary with the winds
and tidal influences, and the waters of which are as salt as those of
the briny deep.
Here, in the mouth of the river, at the Bics, secure anchorage for
vessels may be found; but below, in the estuary, for a distance of more
than two hundred and forty-five miles, to Gaspe, there is but one port
of refuge, that of Seven Islands, on the north coast.
As the ship ascends the river from Bic Islands, a passage of about one
hundred and sixty statute miles to Quebec, she struggles against a
strong current. Picturesque islands and little villages, such as St.
Andre, St. Anne, St. Rogue, St. Jean, and St. Thomas, relieve the
monotony. But very different is the winter aspect of this river, when
closed to navigation by ice from November until spring. Of the many
tributaries which give strength to the current of the St. Lawrence and
contribute to its glory, the Saguenay River with its remarkable scenery
is counted one of the wonders of our continent. It joins the great river
from the north shore, about one hundred and thirty-four statute miles
below Quebec. Upon the left bank, at its mouth, nestles the little
village of Tadousac, the summer retreat of the governor-general of the
Dominion of Canada.
American history claims for the Roman Catholic church of this settlement
an age second only to that of the old Spanish cathedral at St.
Augustine, Florida. For three hundred years the storms of winter have
beaten upon its walls, but it stands a silent yet eloquent monument of
the pious zeal of the ancient Fathers, who came to conquer Satan in the
wilderness of a new world. The Saguenay has become the "Mecca" of
northern tourists, ever attracting them with its wild and fascinating
scenery. Capes Eternity and Trinity guard the entrance to Eternity Bay.
The first towers sublimely to a height of eighteen hundred feet, the
other is only a little lower. A visit to this mysterious river, with its
deep, dark waters and picturesque views, will repay the traveller for
the discomforts of a long and expensive journey.
Where the turbulent current of the Saguenay mingles angrily with that of
the St. Lawrence, there may be seen disporting in the waves the white
whale of aquariums, which is not a whale at all, but a true porpoise
(_Delphinopterus catodon_, as he is now called by naturalists), having
teeth in the jaws, and being destitute of the fringed bone of the
whalebone whales. This interesting creature is very abundant in the
Arctic Ocean on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides, and has its
southern limits in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, although one is
occasionally seen in the Bay of Fundy, and it is reported to
have been observed about Cape Cod, on the Massachusetts coast.
As the ship nears the first great port of the St. Lawrence River, the
large and well cultivated island of Orleans is passed, and the bold
fortifications of Quebec, high up on the face of Point Diamond, and
flanked by the houses of the French city, break upon the vision of the
mariner. To the right, and below the city, which Champlain founded,
and in which his unknown ashes repose, are the beautiful Falls of
Montmorency, gleaming in all the whiteness of their falling waters and
mists, like the bridal veil of a giantess. The vessel has safely made
her passage, and now comes to anchor in the Basin of Quebec. The sails
are furled, and the heart of the sailor is merry, for the many dangers
which beset the ship while approaching and entering the great water-way
of the continent are now over.
[Illustration: GREAT AUK.]