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1 2 3

TRIP TO GASPE AND BACK f\

IN THE

YACHT '' ORIOLE,

^Jtjr-\.", is7:i.

By R; E. Xv

Montreal t

" CAKAblAJ? iLLlTSTftATED NEWS " STKAM PKII^ftNG HOtisk*

187;}.

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TRIP TO GASPE AND BACK

IN THE

YACHT ^'ORIOLE,"

JULY, 1873.

«v

The thought of having a trip down the river St. Lawrence
along the south shore to Gaspe, thence to Anticosti, and back
by the north shore was too irresistible, therefore the tvritet
readily accepted the kind invitation of one of the owners of
the yacht "Oriole," of Toronto, to accompany him and his
friends on the voyage, more especially as it had been the
writer's lot to make the passage to England two years pre-
viously with the inviter in the good steamship "Caspian,"
the pleasant recollections of which are still mutual.

The sailing qualities of the " Oriole" the writer had been
long familiar with, as she had won laurels on the stormy lakes
of Ontario and Erie, more particularly on the latter, where
she had proved herself thoroughly staunch and seaworthy,
and rode out gales that might have appalled any yachtsman,
unless he had been related to the commander of the " Flying
Dutchman."

A classical friend, in speaking of her, used to quote from an
animated little poem of Catullus, that the gay Roman had
probably written upon some favourite vessel, which, after long
service, he had thus consecrated to the twin stars Castor and
Pollux, and laid up near his beloved house on the peninsula
of Sirmio. The poem thus commences : —

Phaselus ille, quern videtis, hospites,

Ait fuisse navium celerrimus

Neque ullius natantis irapetum trabis, tto.,

Win* h raay be translated as follows and applied to the

*■• Oriole "—

The hark, ray friend"!, ^tliich you see here/
''V^illtell you that It had no peer;
And that no skitf that swam the rnainf
('ould get before it. strain for strain,
Whether it How with sail or o»r.
And this it Siiys, not Adria's shore,
With nil its bluster can deny,
Nor that TEgiuHn company,
Nor glorious Rhodes, nor aavnge Thrace^
Nor Hellespont with eith«r face,
Nor the tremendous Pontic bay. —
AVhere. till it took its watery way,
It was a thing of sylvan locks.
And tiped, on the v!yto'ian rocks
To hiss and talk, with windy haif.
<fec., «kc., ttc.

The party, twelve in number, consisted chiefly of Tofonfc
niana, whom, upofi the first introduction, the writer admired
for their enjoying temper, what the Italians call Brio-— a cer-*
tain sparkling of the animal spirits-— their blood seemed to
run quick tlirough their veins, their tempers were decidedly
cheerful, .and he found them from the first weighing anchor
to the Ja.-^t dropping of the same, all jovial, courteous, hospita-
ble ; in one word, jolly ; or, as an old nautical friend used to
express himself, " happy as a raast-maker^s dog among curled
shavings;" and he desires at the outset to record his grateful
expression of their uniform kindness, and to state that he is
not about to write a description of the lower St. Lawrence,

and the places visited, nor only the incidents of the voyage
the one has been already done ad nauseam in the " all rourui
guides " and the " tourist's guides," and the other would have
nothing of marked interest to the general reader.

THE START PROM QUi2HEC.

On the 15th day of July, in the year of grace 18^73, at the
hour of " post meridian half-|iast twelve," we began to weigh
anchor, and in half an hour afterwards we Were fairly under
sail, and, blest with a favouring wind, we soon passed the
island of Orleans, The day was deliciously clear, the burning
sun tempered by the breeze, and large masses of tiie ever-
changing cumulus clouds. The tin roofs ot the houses, con-
vents and churches which line the banks of the island and
the south shore of the river shone and glitt(ired in the snn-
beams like burnished silver, and reflected their rays with in-
tense brightness. We were all in bnoyatjt spirits, the ladies — •
for we had two on board— -keenly enjoyed the beautiful scenery,

arid at 4 p. m. as Keenly enjoyed their dinner, which was as
well Berved and as well cooked as on board one of the gulf
wteamers. Some wlio had never before visited the lower St.
Lawrence were enclianted with the mountain deliles and the
lefty banks of the river, whose slopes afford soil for a great
variety of umbrageous forest trees. As we approached Ka-
mouraska, a pretty village about ninety miles from Quebec, a
stiff breeze or puff came down the gorge of the Malbaie river
making a lively time in the cabin, and greatly alarming one
of our lady passengers, and to such an extent that she rushed
on deck pale with fright, her missal in one hand and a bottle
of hartshorn in the other, and implored the pilot to land her

• at the first convenient spot. To stop at Murray Bay or Ka-
mouraska was impossible, the sun had gone to rest, the wind
had freshened, and there was every appearance of an approach-
ing squall. The "Oriole," unmindful of her living freight,
exulting felt the auspicious wind, and heeded not the curling
waves, but bounded on like a proud horse spurning the ground
as he rushes on to the war-cry, or to the cry of tally-ho 1 The
Pilgrim's Light was soon passed, and the lighted windows of
the houses at Eiviere du Loup were shortly after seen twiuk-
li'tg in the darkness. Yet no landing could be effected —
nothing for it but to run to the Brandy Pots, where we an-
chored in smooth water for the night, sincerely regretting not

, only the fright of our fair passenger, but the loss of the breeze,
which would in all probability have carried us by the morrow's
noon as far as Matane. The little bay in which we anchored,
near the light-house, we christened <• Persuasion Bay," out of
compliment to the lady for whose comfort we laid over, as she
said it was only by the greatest- persuasion that she was in-
duced to risk her life on board the yacht, and that no per-
suasion, not even that of the Bishop of Rimouski, would ever
induce her to put her foot on board the "Oriole/' unless ehe
was snugly moored in harbour.

After breakfast we crossed to Rivi6^re du Loup, landed our
fair friend and her husband, whom we were sorry to lose, as
he was proving himself not only a good sailor but " a jolly
good fellow," one who had no sympathy with the sickly fellow
who wrote some verses, off the Mingan, in 1853, against the
art of navigation, as follows :

" Ah, sure the greedy wretch is pent
In endless chains of deep damnation,
W ho tirst to plague us did invent
The cursed art of navigation I

Of ail the heavy judfrments passed
On Egypt for her sina renowned,
Halt water was reserved the last,
And Pharaoh and his host wore drowned-

• » « « * «

All you who on the land abide,
Our elem«»nt to mourn us borrow;
Let fall of tears, a briny tide.
Salt water is the sign of sorrow.

Our fair friend evidently considered that a breeze on the
"briny " was a heavy judgment, and that "salt water is the
sign of sorrow," when with force the tempests blow, *' and
watery hills in dread succession flow." Upon saying Adieu
she was loud in her protestations of gratitude to our pilot,
Thomas Simard, of Quebec, than whom a more capable and
cautious one does not exist. She rewarded him with a gra-
tuity, and promised to offer up her prayers for all persons
travelling by land or by water, &c., &c., more particularly for
all those on board the " Oriole," and there was a faint mur-
muring upon her part about founding a chapel at Bic, to be
dedicated to our Blessed Lady for the benefit of wind-bound
pilots, where they could chant every day —

A-ve Mari-a ! Car voi-ci I'beure sainte
La cloche tin-te, A-ve Mari-a!
Tous les petits anges au front radi-eux,
Chantent vos louanges, Reine des cieuxl

Our other lady passenger, although suffering from sea-
sickness, showed more courage, and continued with us during
the passage to Gaspe, doubtless thinking that if there was any
danger she had better share it with her husband.

About 10 a.m. Wednesday we left Riviere du Loup, but un-
fortunately the fair breeze of the previous evening had died
out, and it was nightfall ere we passed the light-house at Bic.
The night was clear, the sunset was a veritable feast for our
eyes ; it was followed by a brilliant aurora, which seemed to
invade the entire celestial vault, and was at once a delight and
astonishment for our minds.

On Thursday and Friday we had strong head winds, occa-
sionally under double reef mainsail and foresail. During this
time we were beating about between Metis and Cap Chatte, the
monotony was only relieved by the number of porpoises and
whales whish came up to look at us.

EXCHANGE OP PORK FOR FISH.

Saturday we made but little headway, and various were the
speculations when we should see Cape. liosier, Pooi^ were

made for midnight, but we did not arrive there for thirty-fiix
hours after ; it seemed that we should never get out of Hight
of the high mountains of Ste. Anne. During the morning wo
got close into shore somewhere about the river Pierro, and
exchanged some freshly-salted pork with a fisherman for some
halibut and codfish. We were liberal in our barter, giving
bim about four times the amount of pork, and of infinittsly
better quality, that he could have got in exchange from the
truck-shops or fishing schooners. He was an intelligent,
good-looking fellow ; there was a merry twinkle in his ey<»,
and a frankness and joyousness in his manner wiiich wan not
exhibited by other fishermen that we saw in the GaHp«'i (Hk-
trict. This Joyousness was not so much to bo attributed to
the exceedingly good bargain he had made, nor to the re-
<jeipt of a plug of tobacco, but more to a light heart, youth,
and a strong constitution ; he was not troubled with Pepouse,
et lea en/ants^ et la belle-mire. As ^e pulled away to his fishing
grouad we could hear the refrainfof— *"' .

En roulant, ma boule roulant,
Kn roulant, ma boule.
Derritir* chez nous 'ya-t-un ^tang,
En roulant ma boule.

How we should have liked to have seen him sitting down
to his meal au lard frit, he would doubtless enjoy it as much
as the epicure would canard sauvat/e en salmis and trufes au
mn champagne^ and perhaps much more so. The halibut and
codfish that we had for dinner upon this day we would not
have exchanged for the richest menu^ even if it contained pMes
de foie gras^ salades vSnitiennes, saumon froid, sauce liavigote, and
these washed down with Johannisberg, Lafitte, and Tokay.
We all ate most heartily, and should have done so, like the
Governor of Barataria, despite all the aphorisms of the doctor
of Tirteafeura, believing with Sancho Panza that " the viprf ra
upholds the heart, and the heart the belly," and that it is life
we should be well fed to keep ourselves in readiness for the
hard work of a yacht voyage.

SATURDAY NIGHT.

Saturday evening, the weather being fine and the yacht
tinder easy sail, we indulged in songs, drank to the health of
Her Most Gracious Majesty to this refrain :

" Drink to the Queen, my boys, drink !
Our hearts are as full as our glasses.
Who from the challonge will shrink ?
'Tis a toast that all others surpasses.

Tlion (liiuk to the Qiioen, my hoys, drink,
Y^)ur hearts in y )ur RlxHftiH care^H bor ;

Drink to the Oueen. my boy«. drink,
IIere'0 hea<th and long lite and God bless her.**

The toaHt of "aweothearts and wives/' wa8 rooet enthuHias^

llcally received ,
rcHponse to the
Bong :

a bachelor with a fine tenor voice led off, in
" sweethearts," with the following ftpirittd

I love thee, I love thee !

My raven-ha r'd girl
Tby lips are the rubios.

Thy teeth eaeh a rearl ;
Thine eyes are the brilliants,

In irory set,
Transcendontiy g'eaming

Thro' lashes of jet.

The married men, who formed the majority, in response to
the " wives," sang in chorus " Home, Sweet Home !"

THE FIRST SUNDAY.

Sunday morning was ushered in with contrary winds and a
rolling sea, consequently we could not conveniently have the
morning service, as each man had to be at his post, more par-
ticularly the commodore, who throughout the passage evinced
that cautiousness necessary for the well-being and comfort of
all ; therefore, as the duty of chaplain devolved upon him, we
waited till 5 p.m. for the evening service, by which time the
wind had abated and the sea gone down. There was no tem-
ple bell, but there was a spirit among all not to forgut Him
who holds the water in the hollow of His hand. There was a
desire to assemble together in the little cabin << td set forth
His most worthy praise, to hear His most holy Word." The
commodore read in a plain and unaffected way the evening,
service of the church of England. The psalms of the day
were not only appro^^nate, but they came with additional force
after our three days beating against head winds.

" They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in
great waters, these see the works of the Lord and his wonders
in the deep."

After the service we saw many very large whales, huge
monsters of the deep, which recalled to our minds the mag-
nificent description of God's great power in the Leviathan, as
recorded in the 4l8t chapter of Job, and made us fully realise
the saying of Milton : —

" Here Leviathan,
Hugest of living creature«, on the deep
fetretch'd like a promontory, sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land; and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.'*

CAFK K08lig<.

On the Monday w« fii^ht'*d Cipo R)sk!r; \vh<'n nearTr
abreast wo hailed a fiH)iin^-l><)at ; tht; Uslicrmaii hoiHted Hail
and soon (rame alonpsidt^ t\w. yacht an<i landed Home of onr
party at a little flshin^f siition about thrt e miles west of thti
li>i;ht-ljou.se, and adjacent to a farm-house, the residence of M.
Trudeau, ex-Iijfht-hoUHe keeper at Capo Rosier. Here wo
were refrahni with some d(dicious milk, home-made bread an<l
freah butter ; while partakinjj^ of this frugal repast the rair\
descended heavily, much to our regret, as wo were anxious to
proceed on our journey. VVe remained for about half an hour
ciiatting with our host, and had with him a social pipe. The
old gentleman, though long past three score and ten, was very
" cneerful ; he pressed us to remain to dinner, and his invitation
was most cordially extended by his daughter and son-in-law,
Mrs. and Mr. Joseph Labelle. Time would not permit us toavail
ourselves of their further hospitality, knowing that the \acht
would be awaiting our arrival at Grande Gr6ve. A hay-cart
was soon provided with a thick bed of straw laid on its floor,
and some heavy great coats for coverlids. After hasty adieus
we made ourselves as comfortable as possible, and tried to
make ourselves jolly under the circumstances ; but three
miles over a rough concession road gave us a very uncomfort-
able jolting, shaking us to such an extent that had we been
drinking rich cream it would have been churned into butter,
and probably produced a nausea as bad as that our remaining
lady passecger suflfered from during all the passage ; her
sickness we deplored, chiefly on her account, as she was much
prostrated ; again, we regretted being robbed of her society.
After half an hour's ride in the rain through a wretched farm-
ing country — the fields covered in some places with a little
miserable grass, here and there patches of oats which may
probably be in full ear by the time the harvest is ended iu
Ontario, the few nheep looked half starved, and, like their
companion cattle, partook of that rugged meagre character so
well portray 1 in the pictures of Paul Potter and Berghem,
probably from the luxuriant crop of thistles everywhere pre-
sent — we arrived at Cape Rosier light-house, which we in-
spected. Mr. Auguste Trudeau, the light-house keeper, kindly
explained everything connected with its construction and
internal economy.

The light-house is one of Professor Kingston's meteorologi-
cal stations, and is fitted up with a barometer, thermometer,
rain gauge, and an anemometer for getting the force and

direction of the wind, which can be fully and accurately de-
termined, as the wind-gauge is placed on the point of a long,
low, and flat promontory which juts out into the sea some
considerable distance from the surrounding high mountains,
thus possessing advantages over the wind instruments at the
^' Montreal Observatory," which are placed immediately under
one of the steepest ledges of Mount Royal. Our inspection
over, and having thanked the keeper for his courtesy, hospi-
tality and kindness in forwarding telegrams of our safe arrival
to our friends in Toronto and Montreal, whom we thought
would be naturally anxious about us, as it had taken the
" Oriole" six days to perform a passage which is done by the
eteamer "Secret" in thirty-six hours, we started on foot for
Orande Gr^ve, a small fishing settlement beautifully situated
on Gaspe Bay, and separai^ed from Cape Hosier Bay by a
mountainous range.

THE ROAD FROM CAPE ROSIER TO GRANDE ORiVE.

The first two miles was along the beach, by the margin of
which we sauntered leisurely, picking up a few star fish,
echinse, and brachiopoda, stopping at intervals to watch the
process of preparing and curing the codfish, which by next
Lent may be seen under the shadow of the Dogana and Piazza
di San Marco at Venice ; or under the shadow of the Castle of
St. Angelo, and the vast and wondrous dome of St. Peter's at
Rome ; or at the base of the marble statue of St. Januarius,
the patron saint of Naples, giving a relish to the poor man's
pumpkin seed and macaroni. In the preparing and curing
the codfish the fishermen are assisted by their wives and
daughters, whose labours are not accompanied with a merry
song or cheery laugh, but rather with the sobs of weariness ;
instead of sunny cheeks and Hi^htsome eyes there was to be
seen only the pale and spirit-broken look of ceaseless toil and
hopeless degradation — a degradation from which there will be
little chance of redemption until the abominable and iniqui-
tous truck system is abolished ; there will be no kind hand
ministered to them, nor cheerful voices making music in their
homoj, until this is consummated. The lives of the fishermen
between Fox River and Perce being worse than that of the
negro in the West Indies before emancipation, or the beggarly
lazzaroni of Southern Italy ; the labour of the negro being
cheered by the luxurious vegetation of the cocoa-nut palm,
the orange tree, the tamarind and the sugar cane ; and that of
the Italian by the olive groves, the sunny hills covered with

vines and flowers, the monuments of past and mightier ages —
•wonders of art no longer to be equalled — fragments of an older
and greater world! the scenes where genius and valour carried
their patriotic daring and achievements to the highest sum-
mits of human greatness and devotion ; thegloi^ious shrines^
temples, palaces and churches.

THE TRUCK SYSTEM.

The truck system is a system of bondage, a serfdom. The
writer knows of no spot in Canada where human nature —
manhood — is in a greater state of social degradation than on
the shores of the codfishing grounds between Magdelaine and
the Bay of Chaleurs, and he commends these wretched toilers
of the seas to the notice of the Minister of Marine and
Fisheries, the Hon. Peter Mitchell, whose Christian name
doubtless was given him by pious parents in remembrance of
the Peter, from whose fettered limbs the Angel of God struck
his chains and led him forth from the dungeon of the prison
house to life and liberty, — the Peter who in his first general
epistle says, " Above all things have fervent charity amongst
yourselves — have compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful."

The petition of these fishermen is to you, the Minister of
Marine and Fisheries, and it says : "Good sir, deliver us from
the bondage of hard task-Jiiasters. This truck system is a
hidden oppression which weighs heavily but silently upon
our souls, sometimes upon our livep. It is an oppression which
our tribunals do not punish, neither does philanthropy, which
exercises itself in large cities for the prevention of cruelty to
animals, attempt to mitigate, nor the Legislature to arrest.
It is the indifference to our position we complain of. No song
accompanies our labour ; if we listen, we only hear a sound
of dull and lagging footsteps, as of those that are weary in
body and sick at heart. Have mercy upon us — let us have
liberty."

It may truly be said that ''night's daughter. Ignorance,
have wrapt, and wraps" all round the district. At Cape
Rosier and Grande Greve we cannot say of the poor fisher-
men —

with little blest

Patient of labour when the end was rest.

Indulged the day that housed their annual gain

With feasts and offerings, and a thankful strain.

The j ys their wives, their sons, their daughters share,

>]a3ed of their toil and partners of their care.

The laugh, the jest, attendants on the bowl,

Smoothed every brow and oiyened every soul.

No! they seem to be ground down by abject poverty.

PBSCRIl'TION Of A MOUNTAIN PASS AND MORALIZINQS THBUEOM.

Here is a long halt by the way, we must now proceed on
our journey. After leaving the huts of the fibhermen the rest
of the road lies through a mountain pass or gorge hemmed
in by bold rocke about 1200 feet high — the ascent from the
beach is sudden auvi abrupt — these rocks are sometimes
covered with the dark green foliage of the fir, anon they are
naked and ragged, fitting altars for the sacrifice of the ignor-
ance and poverty of the neighbourhood, where the children
look melancholy, and the pigs are attenuated, half-starved
looking animals, with sharp pointed snouts, their chief food
being the refuse and entrails of the codfish. The look and
habits of the pigs which are probably infVisted with trichinas,
made us realize more fully the extra-brightening up of the
fisherman's countenance off River Pierre, when we gave him
some of the best mess pork that could be procured. *^There
are few spots in Lower Canada where the eye can rest on
wilder and more romantic scenery — yet without the rugged
grandeur of the Saguenay district — than is to be found in this
mountain pass, the top of which is about 800 feet high, ex-
ceedingly narrow, and beetles perpendicularly over the sea.
It made us dizzy to ca^^t our eyes so low ; the sea-gulls that
winged the midway air showed scarce as gross as sea-swallows,
and the fishermen upon the beach appeared no larger than the
inhabitants described in the interesting travels of Captain
Lemuel Gulliver, more particularly the illustrious houyhnhnms,
who were cut off from all commerce with other people, and
whose buildings were very rude and simple, and who had no oc-
casion of bribery, or flattering, or pimping to procure the favour
of any great man or of his minion ; nor where there amongst
them bullies and drunkards (as no spirituous liquor can be
obtained at Cape Rosier from the truck-shops, without a cer-
tificate from the priest that it is wanted for medicinal pur-
poses), neither were there to be found physicians to destroy
their bodies, nor lawyers to ruin their fortunes, nor scoundrels
raised from the dust for the sake of their vices, nor fiddlers,
judges, and dancing masters. Would we could add they wanted
no fence against the fraud and oppression of the factors who
aro the upholders of the degrading truck-system to which we
have alluded.

In an umbrageous valley of this mountain pufis, which is
eminently beautiful we revelled ; in it we collected a number
of lichens, mosses, luxuriant ferns, and wild flora. At one
turn a narrow path with crumbled rocks, then a deep glen

with its brij^ht green trees, filled up at the mouth with tb^
bright azure sheet of the bay below, it looked but a step out
of the leafy covert into blank infinity. Every turn of tho
valley was replete with beauty } to describe it wants the word
painting of Ruskin, or the brush of a Creswick, or the poetry
of a Wordsworth. It was green and woody and refreshed the
eye :

*' It was a spot which you might aptly call
The valley of seclusion."

Its very stillness was almost oppressive, there was no sound
of birds, no lark at heaven's gate singing, no rossignols, no
warblers of the wood, no exquisite harmony from the shrill
treble of a flock of birds ; no flocks or herds, no bleating of
sheep or lowing of cpttle ; nothing but the soft melancholy
of the alto of the moaning trees commingled with the bass of
the unseen surge below. It was solitude— a solitude which
is sometimes the best society— a solitude where the mind
unburthens itself with ease and freedom— a sort of Vauclusd
wherein we could, in imagination, conjure up P«^trarch retired
from Love and Avignon, enduring the abs -nee of his beloved
Laura, and relieving himself from the false joys of a vicious
and corrupted court — -ar the forest of Arden where the Duke
with the melancholy Jacquis and his co-mates and brothers
in exile,

" Exempt from public haunt

F »und tonsues in tree?, books in the runninj? brooks,

iSermon? in stones, and good in everything."

The very stones preached to us, they seemed to say :—
" Cry aloud, spare not the avarice and greed of those mer-
chant-fishmongers — hard task-masters who permit in some
Instances the wives of the fishermen to salt down the flesh of
the whale (whack) for winter food, and charge them exorbi-
tant prices for the necessaries of life, so that the poor arc
always deeply in debt, and must either starve or fish." There
is no escape — no competition for labour like that in the
corn fields of Ontario ; on the wharves of Montreal or Quebec ;
and in the wood-forests of Ottawa ; no competition in open
market where prices are regulated by supply and demand ; —
but they are doomed to live where the mi;rchant buys the flnh
ut his own valuation, and aUj barter>! out the goods sold at
his truck-shop at his price, so tliat if fish is bought from the
fisherman at half its value and the necessaries of life are sold
to them at double their value, the merchant becomes rich and
the fisherman becomes poor— miserably poo; — there's no help

1 ■

for it. — Dives and Lazarus — the parable may occasionally be
read with profit. The truck system is fraught with most
awful consequences to the independence and moral condition
of the poor fisherman. There can be no doubt that the moral
and social condition of the poor of the district of Gaspe has
been for a long period becoming degraded and deteriorated,
and the writer believes that if the truclt system were abolish-
ed and the fishermen were paid a fair price for their fish, or
proper money wages for their daily labour-, they would soon
become more respectable in station, independent in feelings,
and comfortable in circumstances. How can these poor
Gasp6 fishermen ever better their condition if by unfair
means they are compelled to expend the whole of their earn-
ings at the merchant's shop ? There is no doubt that much in-
justice is done to them, and that great misery results to their
wives and families.

If the fishmonger-merchant kept his shop for the purpose
of securing good articles, at fair prices, to the fishermen, and
he afforded no inducement to purchase at his shop except the
superior cheapness and quality of his articles, there would be
no reason to complain ; but the cruelty which is at present
inflicted on the fishermen by the purchase of his fish in goods,
is often very severe — and the severity is proven by the hor-
rible condition of the people.

The subject is commended to those merchants and traders
who signed a requisition for an indignation meeting in Mont-
real anent the '' Pacific Scandal." It is further commended
to the leaders of the Opposition,

" Whose ardent minds
8hape goodliest plans of happiness on earth,
And peace, and liberty, and reform."

Assuredly men whose political eyes are too pure to behold
an infringement of the liberties of the people's representatives,
ought not to wink at the perpetuation of a system which
depraves and degrades the poor fisherman. But let us now
leave the topic, and let us most fervently hope that the atten-
tion of the Prime Minister may be called to it, for without
descending to political abstractions it is the duty of a Prime
Minister, more particularly if he adopts a conservative policy,
to see that the voice of disaffection is not heard, and that the
misery of depressive circumstances should be forgotten in
the midst of physical enjoyment ; and to consult the public
interest, and to provide for the public good.

GRANDE GRfiVK.

It is now high time that we left this valley of seclusion and
dropt sermonizing. Half an hour's sharp walking brought U9
fn sight of Grande Gr^^ve, with the appearance of which we
were much struck, and a few minutes more brought us to the
beach, where we called at the residence of the worthy mayor^
Mr. William Hyman, who was unfortunately from home. In
his absence we were courteously received by the representa-
tive of the firm of William Fruing & Co., of Jersey, who kindly
gave us any information we required. The next morning,
Tuesday, boats were placed at our disposal, or rather at the
disposal of those " Orioles" who felt inclined to " go a-fishing."^
At break of day eight of them started, and after about four
hours' toiling, which were not spent fruitlessly, even though
they did not succeed in hooking a multitude of fishes, yet they
obtained abundantly more than were required for the yacht's
consumption. The superflux was sold for about one half cent
per pound in part payment for the hire of the boats, so that
codfish is cheap at Grande Gr^ve j it is a pity, we thought, that
there's not some means of getting a plentiful supply on a
Friday in Montreal or Toronto ; even without oysters, fine
fresh cod is not bad fasting — better than frogs, fricassee de
ffrenouillea, which Sterne somewhere says is very good fish for
a Good Friday.

eASPfi BASIN.

^ In the afternoon we weighed anchor and arrived at Gaspe
Basin about 6 p.m., firing our gun as we entered the inner
harbour, the report of which brough t a number of people upon
the wharf, who, probably from our rig, rakish look, and the
blue ensigh of the T. R. Y. C. flying at the main, took us for
a government cutter. The first to welcome us was the harbour
master, Mr. Jos. Eden ; we then went to the Custom House
and paid our respects to the collector, Mr. Belleau, by whom
we were cordially welcomed and hospitably entertained, and
whose genial society, heightened as it was by that of Madame
and Mdlles. Belleau, made us forget that the shades of
evening were closing darkly around us. Adieu ! good night j
it was like tearing ourselves from felicity. A long sigh, then
to the yacht again — to sleep, perchance to dream. There
being no night-watch, and everything quiet, we all slept
soundly, and found when we woke the sun many degrees above
the horizon and shining brightly. After breakfast the majority
went lobster fishing — ignoble sport compared with angling

xi^ilh a fly for tiout in the Bergeronne or for salmon in the
Marguerite. It could hardly be said to be as exciting as snig*
gling for eels, because the lobsters are very abundant, and can
be distinctly seen among the sea- weed at the bottom of the
basin, the water being exceedingly clear ; so that it is merely
drawing these crustaceous shell-ftsh out with a small boat*
hook. The only thing that commended the sport was its
novelty. Others went for a drive along the road skirting the
banks of the river that empties itself into the basin. The
river scenery is very beautiful, and the farms to the right of
the road are well cultivated, and the cottages have small
gardens in their fronts, delighting the eye, thus forming a
striking contrast to the farms and cottages between Fox River
and Cape Rosier. By the time we returned to the yacht we
were honoured with the company of a large party which the
commodore had invited to luncheon ; the steward and purser
were found equal to the occasion. The merry twinkling eyes
of the ladies demanded something more sparkling than limpid
water, and their vivacity something more palatable than or*
ill nary ship*8 fare ; we had an impromptu symposium. In the
evening we accepted the kind invitation of the Harbour Mas*
ter, and went to his house before sunset in order to enjoy the
surpassingly beautiful view of the basin whi'^h presents itself
from the verandah. As the stars made their appearance,
troupes of the fair belles of Gaspe,— some with a blue tender*
ness of the eye, long fair hair, rosy cheeks, blooming with
health— began to arrive, until eventually the house was filled.
Then came music, song, and the dance, which were not ended
until the iron tongue of midnight had told twelve One of
the charms of the entertainment was its informality 5 there
was no presiding genius, each vied with the other to make the
night joyous. The town of Gaspe may be recommended for
three things t the [ icturesqueness of its scenery^ the hospital-
ity of its peopl ', and the beauty of its demoiselles, qualities
which will ever be impressed upon the " Orioles." One thing
is, however, req lisite to render this delightful harbour nearly
perfect, and that is a good, commodious, comfortable and well-
conducted hotel. The present one is poor in accommodation,
{ind has none of the attractions or necessaries requisite for a
watering-place or a summer resort for those seeking health of
mind and body, or to recruit worn thoughts and wearied
spirits, or to throw off the long coil of busy care With a good
hotel, there is no more desirable sp )t on the lower St. Law-
rence than Gaspe Bisin ; it miy be called the paradise of the
Gulf.

i'Nx

1 1

STARTING FOR HOMR.

We bade adieu to it on Thursday morning with a tolerably
*tifF breeze, but upon rounding the bay we found a head-wind ;
It was blowing very hard, and accompanied with a heavy sea,
BO that we had to put back to Little Gaspe, a small protestant
district about a mile from Grande Gr6ve, where we anchored,
and were soon joined by three schooners who had put in for
shelter, one of them containing a valuable cargo of the mys-
teries of the deep, and having on board a party of savans,
•chiefest among whom was Mr. Whiteaves, the well-known
curator of the Montreal Natural History Society, a keen
naturalist who is not content with picking up the wonders of
the shore, but is actively engaged in the deep-sea dredging of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At this little anchorage we re-
mained wind-bound until Saturday. During the night of
J'riday we had a thunder storm, the reverberation of the
thunder claps from the neighbouring mountains being some-
thing awfully grand. While wind-bound we were not spell-
bound, the "wonders of the shore being nothing but pebbles,
"with here and there dislocations of the limestone rocks, with
dykes and with veins of calcareous spar, and lead. Close to
our anchorage were wh^t appeared to us some unproductive
lead quarries, also a diminutive trout stream, which afforded
the fishermen of our party a few hours' amusement. The trout
were not much larger than smelts, but they were of good
flavour and in sufl&ciency to make a good addition to our lunch.
Others went rasptjerry picking, and thus provided us, with
the aid of some cream obtained from a cottager, an after-dinner
dessert. We added nothing to our collection of fauna, flora,
fuci, or algae ; there was not much fertility on the shores of
our little water-world^—

Here were no coral bowers,

And grots of madrepores,

And banks of sponge, as soft and fair to eye

As e'er was mossy bed,

Whereon the wood-nj'mphs lie

With languid limbs in summer's sultry hours.

We Were getting languid with two days comparative inac-
tion, and were rejoiced to weigh anchor again on Saturday
morning. Unfortunately there was scarcely any wind, arid bj
the time we got again off Cape Rosier the wind had died away
«ind there was a calm accompanied by a long rolling sea
which made the night very uncomfortable.

[{

OUR SECOND SUNDAY.

Sunday morning still calm. At 11 a.m. we had the mom-'
ing service, the simplicity of which was enjoyable. We had
no surpliced choirs j " no,'' as Buskin calls it, " dramatic
Christianity of the organ and aisle, no chanting hymns through
tracericd windows for back-ground effect and articulating the
' Dio' through variation on variation of mimicked prayer;"
but, we trust we had our hearts and minds in accord with the
beautiful liturgy of the Church of England, when we said,
" The Lord's name be praised," " And His mercy is on them
that fear Him throughout all generations."

During the afternoon, to relieve the monotony of the calm,^
many whales came up to look at us, monstrous fellows, " out
of whose nostrils goeth smoke as out of a seething pot or
caldron." They were not. like trout, to be drawn out with a
hook, and we certainly felt no inclination *' to play with them
as birds," of which we saw but few, and these, for the most
part, sea-gulls and sea-swallows, occasionally a few wild duck,
and loons or northern divers (colymbis glacialis) ; the latter
seem to have a sort of diving-bell apparatus enabling them ta
get a supply of air at great depths, and to remain under water
for a considerable time. At 3 p.m. a gentle breeze and fair
wind sprung up, and away went the " Oriole," " walking the
waters like a thing of life ;" the waves bounded beneath us as
a stud that knows his rider, our course being for west point
of Anticosti. The sun shone brightly, there was an intensely
blue sky, with patches of light fleecy clouds (cirrus) in the
zenith ; we had, all of us, the sunshine of cheerfulness and
hope in our hearts, which lightened the little clouds of dis-
appointment we experienced from all the head-winds and
calms on our voyage. The sunset was magnificent, gilding
the whole western sky with rich alchemy. With the setting
sun came also a calm, and looking northerly, the direction of
our course, we were reminded of Byron's description of the
ocean in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage :

Boundless, endless, and sublime,
The imago of eternity, the throne
Of the invisible ; even from out thy slime
The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone
Obeys thee ; thou goest forth, dead, fathomless, aloue.

Anon came out the stars of Orionis, UrsaB Majoris, Canis
Minoris, Bootis, and the Pleiades, that have watched since
first the world had birth ; the twilight melted away as they
appeared garnishing the heavens. Anon the brightness oi

i..

. .»

hey

■

the stare melted away with the brilliancy of the aurora, look-
ing like a long silver drapery floating in the atmosphere, fold-
ing and reopening in a thousand ways.

CALM AND F0<».

Early morning we found ourselves becalmed off Anticosti,
nearly abreast of Ellis Bay, and in company with one of tho
Lake clipper ships, bound inwards, trading between Liverpool
and Montreal, but about a mile astern of her. The wind was
very light, and we did not part company with her until night,
when it came on to rain and afterwards sprung up a dense fog,
making the night-watch wretchedly disagreeable. Our classic
friend to whom we alluded in the opening of our narrative
would probably in imagination have Ifeen Thetis (Iliad, Book sj/
iv. p. 359) rising out of the sea to console Achilles, and, like
the Argonauts, would have, had he been on board, prayed to
Apollo for some guiding light to have taken us past the Mani-
couagan shoals, near to which we were fast approaching. The
fog was as thick as the dark cloud which Jupiter threw over
the valley of Temp^ to oonceal his amour with JLo. Had we
been fortunate enough to have had a copy of Ossian, the poet
who is most conversant with mists, we might have whiled
away the time more preciously than we did listening to the
screeching fog horns answering one another, ** piercing the
night's dull ear," and only relieved by the screams of the fog
whistle at the Manicouagan light-house. About half-past one
p.m. the next day the fog cleared or lifted, and brought us a
«trong head-wind which soon enabled us to weather the
'' lake ship," and a schooner with whom we had been in close
company all the night. When nearing Father Point we had
some curious effects of mirage, bringing the coast line ap-
parently nearer and giving us images of the sails of vessels
which were below the horizon, and these images very much
distorted. These constant atmospheric changes and phenomena
were to the writer highly interesting, and helped to make up
one of the greatest charms of the voyage. They enchained
the attention of many of our company, and those who had an
intelligence capable of their deep appreciation will doubtless
in futuro feel a greater interest in the science of meteorology
than they hitherto have done. All yachtsmen as well as
sailors are, or ought to be, interested in that science, which
enables the scientist to prognosticate coming storms. Many
on board the "Oriole" contemplated, with no child-1'ke feel-
ings, the sublime scenery of the sky, with its ever-changing
clouds, its glorious sun-rises and sun-sets, its thunders and

'^0

lightninfi^s, Uh anroral displays, its rainbows, with which the
great architect has clothed the orb of heaven. They may have
thought with Crashttw, one of the good old seventeenth cen-
tury poets —

The self-remembering soul sweetly recovers
Her spirit with the stars : not basely hovers
Below— but meditates th' immortal way,
Home to the source of l^^ht and day.

At night-fall we passed Rimouski with a fair wind, and the
" Oriole " saucily passed every vessel during the night and held
on her way until we passed the Grand Bergeronne^ a good
trout stream well known to all the frequenters of the Saguenay.
By this time the sun had risen, « gilding the top of the hills
with gold " and with his rising he brought a dead calm ; the
tide was at the full flood so that there was nothing for it but
to drift with the ebb backwards or tow the yacht into the
anchorage ground about two miles east of the entrance to the
Saguenay. All hands to the gig and make fast a tow rope.
Two hours and a half hard pulling — half hourly reliefs —
brought us to safe anchorage. Then a wash and a hearty lun-
cheon, and after these refresheners we started for Tadoussac,
putting on board the steamer " Union " one of our co-voyagers
whom we were sorry to part with for he was such ** a jolly
good fellow, and so said all of us" ; and should these rambling
disjointed lines ever cross the optics of Captain Mountain, of
the " Union," let him take this notice of his extreme) courtesy
as a hearty and unanimous vote of thanks from the " Orioles "
for stopping his vessel when under way at the mouth of the
Saguenay, thus enabling our friend to pursue his way to Toronto,
whither especial business compelled him to be before the
yacht could possibly have got to Quebec.

TADOUSSAC.

We were now fully in front of Tadoussac Bay, in shape like
a deep orescent with lofty shores of rock on either side, and at
its concave a beautiful sandy beach with a lofty shore studded
with houses, right and left of the little Roman Catholic church
— one of the oldest in Canada, Conspicuous among these
houses are two — the new marine residence of His Excellency
the Governor General, Lord Dufferin,and the hotel, under the
able management of Mr. James Fennel, to whom we take this
opportunity of tendering our hearty thanks for his attention
to our wants while we remained at Tadoussac. At the hotel
about 6 p, m., we all of us sat down to a good dinner washed
down with some excellent Bass' bitter beer and claret which we

t ,

most thoroughly enjoyed, the more so from onrharmg had no-
thing for four days but salt pork and " hard-tack." After dinner
we sauntered down to the Indian quarters and learnt from the
squaws the mysteries of basket making in which thev are ^reat
adepts ; thence we walked across the tongue of land which sepa-
rates the bay from the little harbour ofL'Anse a I'Eau to secure
staterooms in the steamer St. Lawrence for Hal Hal Bay,
whence five of our party purposed going — four of them for the
first time.

THE SAGUBNAY.

It need hardly be said that the four were startled with
the wild and picturesque scenery of this most remarkabie
river, with its almost fathomless depths, its bold granitic
hills of stupendous grandeur culminating in those two famed
promontories capes Eternity and Trinity standing out at the
entrance of a small bay like two mighty portals, or sentinels,
to guard the banks of the river which falls into the bay, in-
habited originally, perhaps by the Titans or the Gods ; the
place seems too awful for the residence of ordinary mortals.
Language cannot describe the emotions of awe and wonder
and almost fear which aifect the beholder as ho gazes upon
this display of the Almighty Creator's power. Ono i 3 remind-
ed of a rhapsody of Samuel Taylor Coleridge '.vhen after
gazing upon the view presented to him from the >x>p of Wind-
clifi', says : — " It seemed like Omnipotence 1 Goa methought
had built him there a temple I Blest hour — a luxury to be."
Beautiful, grand, majestic, and sublime as the river Saguenay
is, some people are not affected by its granitic hills, towering
like Alps upon Alps ; some never experience that sense of
littleness which made a person once exclaim when looking over
the vast expanse of the Mediterranean from Mount Carmel,
'» I never before felt my utter insignificance. I am only like a
tiny dew-drop in a bucket of water, then what must 1 be in
the presence of such infliiity." Some we say are not affected
when gazing up at the triple peak of Cape Trinity, the highest
of which is 1600 feet above the water level of the river and
beetles over at as great an angle as the leaning tower of Pisa.
The writer remembers a few years since pointing out Cape
Trinity to a couple of couples of genuine '' down-easteis"
whom he thinks must have been doing the " Honeysuckle
Tour," as they lolled about the sofas of the cabin on board the
steamer " Magnet " reading " Aurora Floyd " or <<Romola"and
the Woman's Kingdom," and he never will forget the elder of
the two spoony bridegrooms saying, as he strained his neck

*>«>

to look up at the summit of the Cape — << Wal 1 I guess stranger
it's pritty tall." The writer collapsed and secretly vowed
that he would never again disturb connubial bliss even if he
saw Eve herself revisiting the glimpses of the moon, making
night beautiful and causing all the stars of heaven to hide
their diminished heads at her approach.

▲ SECOND FOQ.

But to return to the " Oriole." Our Saguenay party crossed
over to Riviere du Loup by the steamer, and those left at
TadoussaCj after rambling through every nook and corner of
it, started for the yacht which was still at anchor in the place
we left her the previous day. The night was very foggy, and
in the morning we found we had a barque for a companion
Anchored about a quarter mile from us ; the fog was then much
too thick off the land to start for Riviere du Loup, and again
there was no wind and the tide was ebbing. What can we
do? Visit the barque, suggested the pilot, "I think I know
her by her rig, and if I am not mistaken it is a French barque
that i piloted last year ; if so you will find the " Capitaine " a
very genial person." All right, pilot, launch the gig and let
us go — we did, and found the predictions of the pilot verified.
The name of the barque was the St. Louis of Toulon, the
Captain's name was Dion, and a finer specimen of a French
sailor, perhaps, has not been seen on the St. Lawrence since
Jacques Cartier landed at the mouth of the Saguenay. Wel-
come scarcely realizes the salutation. We were ushered into
the cabin, the only ornament in it being a picture of the
sainted King going barefooted to the cathedral of Notre Dame
to implore the help of heaven on his mission to the last
crusade he shared in. Out came from a private locker some
fragrant Bordeaux and some choice Havanas, which we enjoy-
ed ; and by way of a parting glass a bottle of champagne was
opened of as good a quality, perhaps, as was drank by the
courtiers of Louis XIV. at his nuptials with Maria Theresa.
The Captain returned with us to the yacht and lunched, before
the meal was finished a light breeze sprung up, and the fog
lifted a little, the anchor was again weighed and after a hasty
adieu to the Captain the " Oriole " was, before he reached his
ship, a mile on her way to Riviere du Loup, where we arrived
about 7 p. m. Upon enquiry we found our Saguenay party at
Cacouna. We telegraphed for advice — reply. Stop till to-
morrow morning, when expect a party on board to luncheon.

CACOUNA.

l^nowlng that Cncouoa is a favourite resort with yonn^
widows, the most interesting portion of the lair >«ex, if she
does not happen to he your own^ tLn party oo board were left
In surmise whether the ladies who w. mM form the monrow'9
party would he in delicate half monrning-^Iavender slightly
trimmed with black, or black heavily trimmed with lavender.
About noon arrived upon the wharf two omnibus loads, con-
taining some of the prettiest girls ever seen in the lower St.
Lawrence. There was not the weeds of mourning upon one
of them, they were all decked in colours as bright as those ta
be seen on a summer's afternoon in the Champs Elys^es at
Paris. The gig was soon lowered and after about six trips to
and fro all were on board the " Oriole," where they were most
heartily welcomed and hospitably entertained. The cabin
was never more joyous — it was a " felix hora ; " our classical
friend would have quoted from Catullus, and said : — '* Quis
datur a divis felici optatius hord " 7 What indeed can the
Gods give more than a happy hour spent in charming society
unless they give a second, which in this instance they did— '
happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again. All our
guests safe on shore, we one and all accompanied them to the
hotel where we spent the evening, leaving early in the morn-
ing for the yacht which two days after arrived safely in Quc-
Ibec, and thus ended one of the most pleasurable trips it had
ever been the lot of the writer to make. Had any one of the
readers of this rambling narrative been on board during the
round trip from Quebec to Gasp^ via Riviere du Loup, and
back via Anticosti and^e Saguenay, they would have given
three cheers for the " Oriole," three more for the pilot, Thomas
8imard, and three times three for the Commodore, who, with
his crew, may God bless. R. E. X.

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