THE RESTIGOUCHE — WITH NOTES ON ITS FLORA. 17 



waters, and in a few minutes we stood on the bank of the 

 E-estigouche, whose praises have been celebrated in poetr}^ 

 and prose by delighted anglers from both continents. Its 

 clear waters now gliding swiftly over the pebbly bottom, 

 now reposing in some quiet pool, gave the anglers an 

 invitation to " cast " which was promptly accepted, and a 

 few speckled beauties gave promise of sport and welcome 

 additions to our not over-abundant camp supplies. We 

 found the water very low — not deep enough in the shallow 

 places to float a loaded canoe — and that meant work for 

 the canoemen. But who would object to a little work in 

 that clear mountain air and the prospect of a run of over 

 a hundred miles on the Restigouche ! We pitched our 

 tent on that famous camping ground near the mouth of 

 the Waagan, the resting place for many years of voyageurs 

 like ourselves — a pretty bit of meadow but whose edges 

 were blackened by the fires of too careless campers of 

 other years. The camp of the absent warden was taken 

 possession of by our guides, and before sundown we had 

 everything in good shape for a comfortable night. But 

 we had reckoned without our hosts — the flies. They 

 came in swarms — mosquitoes, black flies, sand flies, bite- 

 'em-no-see-'ems and others of the vile horde that are the 

 anathema of woodsmen. We used all the resources at 

 our command — smudges, veils, ointments and the mildest 

 adjectives that our vocabulary would allow us to use, but 

 they would not ofi". They wanted tribute and, like 

 Macbeth, they would have blood. We paid the tribute 

 as calmly as we could, and gained in experience what we 

 lost in flesh. I took a bottle of villanous ointment that 

 caused me more discomfort than the flies ; a mosquito net 

 kept out the largest and was not uncomfortable on hot 

 days, with a breeze that would drive the air through it. 

 A " smudge " is eflfective but it is as likely to drive you 



