[victorin] 



LE PORTAGE DU TÉMISCOUATA 



89 



"Whether it will be longer than 

 the present Road." 



"Whether its advantage is so 

 great as to induce the Govern- 

 ment to abandon the present line 

 of Road and adopt it." 



The present Portage Road is 36 

 miles, and the intended Road 

 that is, from Cacouna to the 

 Lake, 30 miles; but following 

 the main road from St. Andrew 

 to the Village de la Plaine is 

 about 12 miles, which will 

 make it six miles longer from 

 Quebec to the Lake, but the 

 advantages which the intended 

 road will possess over the pre- 

 sent (should it be opened) will 

 far surpass this distance. 



In my opinion, its advantage 

 would be very great, as from 

 the nature of its soil and timber, 

 it is certain of its being shortly 

 settled, and considering the 

 sums the present Road cost 

 from time to time, and it is 

 supposed the intended Road 

 would not require, and less 

 after its being settled, and the 

 advantages that would derive 

 to travellers, that have to pass 

 through it. 



Si l'entretien et la sécurité de la route préoccupaient à bon 

 droit l'autorité militaire, sa défense commençait aussi à s'imposer. 

 Cette même année, 1829, le lieutenant Ingalls est envoyé sur le Lac, 

 au pied du Portage, pour y construire un fortin de bois rond, 

 ainsi que les locaux nécessaires pour le baraquement des troupes. Cet 

 officier adresse à son chef, Charles Gore, un mémoire intitulé: A Feiv 

 Remarks on Lake Temiscouata." J'en détache quelques passages. 



"The only inhabitants at present on the Lake consist of four 

 families at the foot of the Portage, and one, six miles lower. On the 

 banks of the Madawaska are occasionnally seen a few settled clear- 

 ances. 



"A site has been fixed upon where log Barracks are now erecting 

 on an elevated sandy flat, from 80 to 90 feet above the Lake, and 

 about 100 yards north of the Portage Road. The view from this 

 spot is remarkably beautiful commanding a considerable distance of 



