90 LA SOCIETE ROYALE DU CANADA 



the surrounding country and the largest portion of the Lake. It 

 forms a tongue of land with an abrupt descent to the East and North 

 overhanging the Lake and the Valley of the Little River. A spring 

 of delicious water which never freezes in winter gushes out of the 

 side of the hill below the Barracks. 



"As the Portage is the only communication with the lower Prov- 

 inces at present available, its importance as a military station is 

 great; for whatever Power happened first to gain possession, it would 

 be next to an impossibility in the present state of the country to dis- 

 loge them. From the settlements on the St. Lawrence to the Lake 

 shores, the whole country is a dense forest intersected with lakes and 

 rivers and steep ridges of mountain land. 



"Through this tract runs the present Portage Road, crossing one 

 very considerable stream, the River du Loup, which has a long wooden 

 bridge. Some Americans came from the River St. John in canoes 

 up to the River St. Francis, and landed within 1| miles of the Portage 

 Road. There are about 50 to 60 acres of land cleared on each side 

 of the Portage P.oad at the Lake shores. A slightly elevated, sandy 

 ridge bounds this clearance. 



"At the period where the people of the State of Maine made an 

 inroad into the disputed territory they were preparing to push along 

 the lee of the Madawaska and take possession of the foot of the Por- 

 tage on the Lake. An enemy once in possession of that point could 

 easily send a force across the Portage; and, by holding the bridge 

 over the River du Loup on the Portage, and the N.E. side of the 

 village of River du Loup on the St. Lawrence, would effectually cut 

 off not only the communication with Lake Temiscouata and the Ma- 

 dawaska, but also the communication with the Métis Portage and the 

 Restigouche: — that is, in plain English — with England in the winter 

 season. The only means of dislodging an enemy in such positions 

 would be to cut them off from their communication with the Fish 

 River on the River St. John; — at best, a doubtful experiment. But 

 were a British force once in possession of the foot of the Portage with 

 a supporting force at the River du Loup, the communication between 

 Canada and the River Restigouche by the Métis Portage, would at 

 all events be effectually secured. 



"At the present moment about 60 armed Americans are at the 

 junction of the Fish River with the St. John's — a few miles below the 

 St. Francis. Their avowed object is to throw a boom across the 

 Fish River, but make no secret that the clearance they are making 

 is for the purpose of fortification. It has been already remarked 

 that canoes can ascend the St. Francis within a mile and a half on the 

 Portage, and, in the winter, this river would form an excellent road. 



