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.
