254 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



gri'at k'Vfl peut i>lain, with many simili liikt-s, iind the streams have little 

 fall. Midway of the routv is a i)iiK' grove, called "Coffee Island," a favourite 

 camping jjlace for travellers. This route luus lun-n used by the Indians within 

 the memory of Mr. Lewis, and tradition says it \v;is the regular route for the 

 Freiu'h from Miramiciii to Beauséjour. 



Tlu' route is clearly shown on tlu' FnuKiucliu-l K'.Mculles ma]) by the con- 

 tinuous line used on it to show port^ige routes. It is perhaps this route to 

 which Denys, in 1072, refers as a route from Miramichi to Kichibucto, 

 though in speaking of Richibucto, he clearly states that it ran from a branch 

 of tliat river, which seems an impossibility. 

 C— Eel River-Portage River. Another Portage River empties into Miramichi 

 waters eiist of (iraud or Eel River, and heads in lakes near others on 

 Eel River, emptying into Northumberland Strait ; (Map No. 10) this probably 

 formed a minor porUtge route, especially for those going directly North or 

 South along the coast and keeping inside the islands, enabling them to 

 avoid the winds of Cape Escuminac. Possibly a route ran between the two 

 Portage Rivers. 



10. St. John-Nepisiguit. 



A. — Nictor Lake-Nepisiguit Lake. This was one of the most important routes 

 across the Province, though not an easy one tf) travel. Tlu- Tubique is from 

 its head a very swift river though but little broken by rai>id.s and not at all 

 by falls. The Xepisiguit however, as its Indian name Win-pcg-ij-a-uik 



^^' 



Sco )e - /mile 





Map No. 11. The Tobique-Nepisiguit Portage. 

 From Berton's Plan of 1837 ; x 3. 



signifies, is a "hard river," falling a thousand feet in seventy miles, and 

 much broken by falls and rapids. Hence as a through route this was 

 probably less used than the much easier Restigouche. The Portage between 

 the lakes is an easily travelled path somewhat over two and a half miles 

 long ; it is still used and no doubt is very old. Its course is shown on the 

 accompanying map No. 11, and it is marked on the Geological Survey and 

 other maps. This portage is marked on the Franquelin-DeMcuUes map of 

 1686 by the word Oniguen, the Mai iseet word for Portage (Oo-?!e-.7un), and 

 the Lakes are given correctly, more so than upon any map for the next 

 hundred and fifty years. It was probably by this route that Father 

 Bernardin was travelling from Nepisiguit to the St. John when he perished 

 of hunger and fatigue in 1621.' 



On the Nepisiguit the old portages around Indian Falls, the Narrows and 

 Grand Falls are all on the north or left bank. 



1 LeClercq, NoureUe Bolation, 211. 



