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Show .... TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: On the fourth night of om voyage w encamped, as uJual, on the main b.nd oppofite the ifl.111d of St. Regis; and the excellent viands we h3d procured from the Indi..tns having been ookcd, we fet down to fLI] per before a large .fire, materials for which are never wanting in tbi woody country. The night was uncommonly {\.:rene, and we were induced to remain until a bte hour in front of our tent, talking of the various occurrences in the courfc of the day; but we had fcarc ·ly retired to rcfl:, when the {ky became ov -rcafi, a dreadful ftorm arofe, and by day-break the next morning we found ourfdv , and every thing belonging to us, drenched with rain. Our fi.tuation n w was by no mean ,1gr ·able; torrents fiill came pouring down; neither our tent nor the woods afrordcd us any !heltcr, and the wind being very fhong, and a , adverf<.: as it could blow, th r was no profpeft of our being enabled fpccdily to get into better quarters. In this ftate we had remained for a confidcrable time, when one of the party, who h <.d been rambling about in order to difcovcr '"hat fort of a nei ,hbourhood we were i11, returned with the plcafi.ng intelligence that there was a houfc at no great difiance, and that the owner had politely invited us to it. It was the houfe of an ld provincial fficer, who had received a grant of land in this part of the country for hi pail ferviccs. We gladly proceeded to it, and met with a moO: cordial welcome from the captain and his fair daughters, who had provided a plenteous breakCtfi, and fpar d no pains to make their habitation, during our fia.y, as pleafing to us as poffible. We felt great fttisfaetion at the i ca, that it would be in our power to fpt;nd the remainder of the day with thefe worthy and hofpitable people; but alas, we h<td all formec1 an erron ous opinion of the weather; the '"'ind futldcnly ve red about; the fun broke through th~.: thick lauds; the conduCtor gave the parting order; and in a few minutes we found ourfelves once more fated in our bateau. From h nee upwards, for the difiance of forty miles, the current of the river is extremely firong, and numberlefs rapids arc to be encountered, which, though not fo tremendous to appearance as thofe at the Cafcades, and " Le Coteau du Lac," are yet both more dangerous and more difficult to pafs. The great danger, however, confifts in going down them; it \V I L D P I G E 0 N . it arifes from the fhallowncfs of the water and the great m1mber of iharp rocks, in the miufi of which the veffels are hurried along with fuch impetuofity, that if they unfortunately get into a wrong channel, nothing can [ave them from bt:ing dallied to piece~; but [o intimately arc the people ufunlly employed on this river acquainted with the dif~ rent channels, that an accident of the fort is fcarcely ever heard of. " Le Long Saut," the Long Fall or Rapid, fi.tuated about thirty miles above Lake St. Francis, i the moft dangerous of any one in the river, and fo diilicult a matter is it to pafs it, that it re<Juires no lefs than Gx men on {hore to haul a Jingle bateau again!l: the curr nt. Th re i a third canal with locks at this pbcc, in ordct· to avoid a point, which it would be wholly impratlicabk to weather in the ordinary \·vay. The(e different canals and locks have b<.:en made at the cxpencc of govt.:rnment, aml the profits arifing from the toll pa.id by every bateau that paffcs through them arc placed in the public: trcafury. At thcfe rapid , and at fevcral of the others, there are very cxtenfive flour ~m l f~tw 1 1ill . On thL: fifth night we arrived at a iinall farm houft:, at the top of the " Long aut," wet from hGad to foot, in confequencc of our having been obliged to wall paft the rapids through V\ oods and bufhes ilill dripping after the heavy rJ.in that had fall<;.t; in the morning. The woods in thi neighbourhood are £1r rnor majdl:ic than on any thcr p~1rt of the l)t. Lawrence; the pines in particular arc uncommonly taU, and fc:em to wave their tops in the very cl uds. ln Canad.1, pine grow on the richdl: foils; but in the United States they grov mo(Uy n poor ground: a traCt of land covered folely witb pines is there geuerally dellominatl:d "a pine barren," on a count of its great poverty. During a confiJcrablc part of the next day, we aJ{() proceedt:d on foot, jn order to dcapt.: the tedious pafi~ gc up the " .Rap ide Plat," aud fomc of the otl er dat gerous rapids 1n this part of the river. A we paired alon r, we had excellent diverfion in !hooting pigeons, il:vtral large flights of which we met with in 1he woods. The wild pi6l.!Ons of Canad·t are not unlike the common Englifh wood pigeons, except that they arc of a much fmaller fizc: their fl.en1 is very well fhtvourcd. During particular yeats, theft.: birds come down from the northern regions in flights that J |
