The River Sagaenay. 29 



see a fall there ? " The climate in the vicinity of the lake is 

 said to be preferable to that of the~.sea coast. The Jake lies 

 about 150 miles north-east of the St. Lawrence and nearly- 

 due north of Quebec. The original Indian name of the 

 Saguenay was Chicoutimi, signifying deep water ; but the 

 early Jesuit missionaries gave it the name it now bears, 

 said to be a corruption of St. Jean Nez. The scenery here 

 is wild and romantic in the highest degree. The first half 

 of its course averages half a mile in width, and runs through 

 an untrodden wilderness ; it abounds in falls and rapids, and 

 is only navigable for the Indian canoe. A few miles below 

 the southern fall on the river is the village of Chicoutimi, at 

 the junction of a river of the same name, which is the outlet 

 of a long lake named Kenocami, with the Saguenay. Here 

 is a range of rapids which extends ten miles. The Indians 

 say there is a subterranean fall above the foot of the rapids 

 which they call " Manitou," or the " Great Spirit." To avoid 

 these falls there is a carrying place called " Le Grand 

 Portage." An extensive lumber business is transacted here ; 

 the village has an ancient appearance, and contains about 

 five hundred inhabitants. The only curiosity is a rude 

 Catholic Church, said to have been one of the earliest 

 founded by the Jesuits. It occupies the centre of a grassy 

 lawn, surrounded with shrubbery, backed by a cluster of 

 wood-crowned hills, and commands a fine prospect, not only 

 of the Saguenay, but also of the spacious bay, formed by the 

 confluence of the two rivers. In the belfry of this venerable 

 church hangs a clear-toned bell, with an inscription upon it 

 which has never yet been translated or expounded. From 

 ten to twelve miles south of Chicoutimi, there recedes from 

 the Saguenay, to the distance of several miles, a beautiful 

 expanse of water called Grand, or Ha ! Ha ! Bay. The 

 village of Grand Bay, 132 miles from Quebec, is the resort 

 of those who want to remain any time here. The name Ha ! 

 Ha ! is said to be derived from the surprise which the French 



