This is the largest affluent of the St. Lawrence, which it joins about
120 miles below Quebec. The scenery of the Saguenay is strikingly grand
and romantic, and unlike anything else east of the Rocky Mountains. It
is usually visited by boat, and the trip down the St. Lawrence to
Tadousac, at the junction of the two streams, and up the Saguenay among
its bold, wild scenery, should not be omitted, even at the expense of
slighting some other point of interest lying in the highways of
fashionable travel.
Leaving Quebec by steamer, you pass through some remarkably fine
scenery, in which the majestic St. Lawrence abounds, the river being in
some places thirty miles in width, and dotted with a multitude of
islands, abounding in game. The Falls of St. Anne are on the river of
that name, which enters the St. Lawrence off the lower end of Orleans
Island through a bold ravine. The quarantine station on Grosse Isle is
passed, and is associated with sad memories of the famine in Ireland. It
received twenty thousand plague-stricken emigrants, of whom six thousand
now lie in a single grave, marked by a stone monument.
Ninety miles below Quebec is the fashionable watering place known as
Murray Bay. The river is here twenty miles wide, and the tides have a
range of twenty feet in height. On the south shore of the river, still
further down, is Riviere du Loup, a place of some importance, and six
miles below it is Cacouna, already quite famous as a pleasure resort,
and yearly increasing in popularity. Across the river from Cacouna is
Tadousac, at the mouth of the far-famed Saguenay, formerly a place of
some commercial importance as a post of the Hudson Bay Company, and one
of the first towns on the St. Lawrence fortified by the French. It has a
good hotel, near which is a little church over 250 years old.
[Illustration: TADOUSAC, AT MOUTH OF SAGUENAY RIVER.]
The Saguenay River is remarkable, not only for its great depth, but also
for the marvelous height of its banks. It seems to flow through a rift
in the Laurentian Mountains, which appear to be cleft, as it were, to
the very foundations, the height of the cliffs rising from the edge of
the river being equaled only by the depth to which they descend below
the surface. The source of the river is 130 miles from its junction with
the St. Lawrence, in Lake St. John, which is fed by eleven rivers,
draining an immense watershed, the great volume resultant pouring
through this remarkable gorge, in many places unfathomable. At St.
John’s Bay, 27 miles above Tadousac, the water is one mile and a half in
depth, and but little less at Eternity Bay, six miles beyond. At the
latter place, the wonderful capes, Trinity and Eternity, like giant
sentinels guard the entrance, rising 1,500 and 1,900 feet, respectively,
above the water.
Ha-Ha Bay is sixty miles above Tadousac, and is nine miles long by six
wide. It has also been named Grand Bay. The first-named title is said to
have come from the exclamations of delight which sprung from the lips of
the navigators of the river on its discovery; and in contrast with the
gloomy and forbidding aspect of the lower portions of the river, it
would seem that such an outburst might be perfectly natural. The
mountains around Ha-Ha Bay abound in whortleberries, or blueberries, as
they are here called, and a very important industry with the natives is
the gathering and shipment to market of the bountiful harvest thus
kindly furnished by nature, the picking season extending from the middle
of July until the falling of the snow, and the supply being
inexhaustible.
[Illustration: HA-HA BAY, SAGUENAY RIVER.]
[Illustration: CAPES ETERNITY AND TRINITY.]
[Illustration: INDIAN CURIOSITY SELLER.]
Chicoutimi, a few miles beyond, is at the head of navigation, the river
being obstructed above this point by rapids and falls. Lumbering is one
of its important industries, the immense forests of the vicinity being
as yet almost in their virgin state, and the harbor accessible to the
largest vessels, thus giving it natural facilities of great value.
The fishing in the Saguenay River and its tributaries is one of the
chief attractions to the sportsman. Salmon abound, and the quality of
the fish taken from such deep, cold water can readily be inferred by the
disciples of Walton. Game also abounds in the forests, some specimens
being well worthy of the skill and nerve of the trained hunter.
A student of character will find an interesting subject in the person of
the Canadian Indian, to be met in various localities in Canada.
Combining with his native craft the shrewdness of a Connecticut Yankee,
he will often appear in the role of a vender of curiosities, in which
“taking” attitude our artist presents him.
In closing our notes on the Saguenay, we feel that but faint justice can
be done to its wonderful attractions. It has been tersely described by a
writer as a “region of primeval grandeur, where art has done nothing and
nature everything; where, at a single bound, civilization is left behind
and nature stands in unadorned majesty; where Alps on Alps arise; where,
over unfathomable depths, through mountain gorges, the steamer ploughs
the dark flood on which no sign of animal life appears.” A better
summing up of its peculiar features, in so few words, could not be
written, and the tourist who visits the scenes we have briefly described
will indulge in no regrets, unless it be that want of time to do justice
to the trip gives only hurried glances where hours and days might be
enjoyed in realizing the sublime grandeur of the surroundings.
_Ogdensburg to Portland._
The route by the “all-rail” line from the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg to
the ocean at Portland, presents many attractions to the pleasure
tourist, which we deem worthy of special mention in this connection. As
an avenue of approach to the Adirondacks, Chateaugay Chasm, the Green
Mountains of Vermont, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, it
offers a combination of desirable routes for summer travel. Indeed, the
entire line extends through a succession of lake, river, and mountain
scenery, of charming beauty and variety.
THE ADIRONDACKS are best reached by way of MALONE, a station on the
Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad, about sixty miles from Ogdensburg.
From here an excellent stage line takes the tourist to the Adirondack
Wilderness, by way of Ayer’s, Loon Lake, Meacham Lake, and St. Regis,
the latter being the location of “Paul Smith’s” famous hostelry.
CHATEAUGAY, a station twelve miles east of Malone, is another gateway to
the famous resort, the stages going _via_ the Chateaugay Lakes.
The “Adirondack District” is a term applied to a tract of country having
for its general boundaries the St. Lawrence River on the north, Lakes
Champlain and George on the east, the Mohawk River on the south, and the
Black River on the west. The encroachments of civilization have so
trenched upon these boundaries, that the “Wilderness,” so called,
comprises only the central, unsettled and uncultivated portion of this
tract, almost in its primeval state, with a border of settled country on
all sides. The limits of this work forbid an extended description of
this region, which as yet is only partially explored. Indeed, one of its
chief delights consists in the new discoveries that the venturesome
tourist may make in his search for the game which abounds in its
forests, or the fish which teem in its waters.
The following, from the report of the Superintendent of the Adirondack
Survey, gives a good idea of the character of some portions of this
wilderness:--
“In these remote sections, tilled with rugged mountains, where unnamed
waterfalls pour in snowy tresses from the dark, overhanging cliffs, the
horse can find no footing, and the adventurous trapper or explorer must
carry upon his back his blankets and a heavy stock of food. His rifle,
which affords protection against wild beasts, at times replenishes his
well-husbanded provisions, and his axe aids him in constructing from
bark or bough, some temporary shelter from storm, or hews into logs the
huge trees which form the fierce, roaring, comfortable fire of the camp.
Yet, though the woodman may pass his lifetime in some section of the
wilderness, it is still a mystery to him. * * It is a peculiar region;
for though the geographical center of the wilderness may be readily and
easily reached in the light, canoe-like boats of the guides, by lakes
and rivers, which form a labyrinth of passages for boats, the core, or
rather cores of this wilderness extend on either hand from these broad
avenues of water, and, in their interior, spots remain to-day as
untrodden by man, and as unknown and wild, as when the Indian paddled
his birchen boat upon those streams and lakes. Amid these mountain
solitudes are places where, in all probability, the foot of man never
trod; and here the panther has his den among the rocks, and rears his
savage kittens undisturbed, save by the growl of bear or screech of
lynx, or the hoarse croak of raven taking its share of the carcass of
slain deer.”
[Illustration: CASCADE AND BUTTRESS.]
[Illustration: GIANT GORGE--PULPIT ROCK.]
A mile and a half north of Chateaugay is the wonderful CHATEAUGAY CHASM,
a newly discovered rival of the far-famed Ausable. The waters of the
Chateaugay Lakes here find a passage on their way to the St. Lawrence,
through a narrow gorge, walled in by sandstone cliffs, the river in one
place making a descent of fifty feet in a beautiful cascade. Several of
the more noticeable features of this wonderful chasm are presented in
our illustrations. The “Cascade and Buttress” exhibits an appearance of
constructive design, as layer upon layer of sandstone rock forms a
terraced buttress, resembling some ancient ruin. “Giant Gorge” is a
narrow defile, with frowning walls, having the romantic and interesting
feature of a cavern, called “Vulcan’s Cave,” with an entrance in the
side of the rock, sixty feet above the river, and one hundred and twenty
feet below the top of the cliff. It was first explored by means of
spliced ladders, but is now reached by an enclosed stairway. It is about
thirty feet square, and presents an interesting study for the
geologist. The cave was doubtless hollowed out of the sandstone by the
action of water which trickled down through the ledge above in tiny
streams, wearing away the softer stone by slow degrees, and leaving the
masses of harder deposit in a variety of singular and grotesque shapes.
A series of architectural pillars, supporting gothic arches or miniature
dormer windows, may be seen on the one hand, and at certain angles, odd
and fantastic figures, some of them half human in appearance, present
themselves, while here and there a block of stone appears like the
unfinished work of the sculptor.
[Illustration: SPARTAN PASS--RAINBOW FALLS.]
“Spartan Pass” and “Rainbow Basin and Falls” are peculiarly interesting,
the water descending to the basin over a succession of rocky steps,
nearly a hundred in number, coming to a rest in the “basin,” only to
dash on again, in ever-changing forms and merry cadence, in their race
through the gorge, to the St. Lawrence. “Pioneer Crossing” receives its
name from the fact that in early times a bridge spanned the chasm, on
what was then the great highway of the wilderness. On the north side of
this crossing a huge rock affords an extensive view of the gorge, from
which fact it has been named Point Lookout. In other parts of the Chasm,
grottoes, arches, columns, etc., afford subjects of study for the
curious, and of admiration for the lovers of the odd and fantastic in
nature. A fine hotel has been erected near the entrance to the chasm,
from the cupola of which splendid views may be had of the scenery.
Coaches connect with trains at Chateaugay.
[Illustration: PIONEER CROSSING--POINT LOOKOUT.]
At Rouse’s Point, the terminus of the O. & L. C. R. R., connection is
made with the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. Railroad for Lake George,
Saratoga, Troy, Albany, and New York, and with the Central Vermont for
St. Albans, Worcester, Providence and Boston. Continuing our journey
toward Portland, we here traverse a small portion of the Central Vermont
Railroad to Swanton, where connection is made with the