36 The Lower St. Law7'ence. 



anxious to see what lay beyond, bore away on his return to 

 France. When he returned, and at last made land, he found 

 here a tribe of Indians, who appeared to him the rudest he 

 had ever seen ; a branch of the Micmac tribe ; and from then- 

 language is derived the name Gaspe, which is stated to mean 

 as nearly as possible the " land's-end." The whole of Gaspe 

 is essentially a fishing district. To the sportsman fond of 

 adventure nothing could be better adapted than a few weeks 

 in Gaspe in the summer, where, with cod, halibut, and 

 mackerel fishing, he could while away the hours, or inter- 

 sperse his amusements occasionally with the more exciting 

 chase of the whale, the seal and the dolphin. The most 

 abundant of the whale family here is the black whale or 

 " black fish." Formerly these were very numerous, but 

 being timid, and not prolific, the fishermen have already 

 driven them to the north shore of the Gulf, and will pro- 

 bably soon have to follow them farther. Mackerel fishing, 

 when the fish are plentiful, affords great amusement ; two or 

 three fish are cut up in very small pieces, and thrown on the 

 surface of the water from the boat ; the fish, allured by this, 

 rise to the surface in myriads. The hooks are then baited 

 with a piece of fresh mackerel or shark, and the line is held 

 either in the hand, or fastened to a rod, and the hauling of 

 them in becomes at last quite laborious. Cod and halibut 

 fishing from boats is performed much in the same way, 

 with the exception of the bait lying on the bottom, the 

 best bait being a small crab. Small boats can be had from 

 any of the fishermen on the coast, but we would recommend 

 the sportsman to join a party in a yawl, and proceed on a 

 fishing excursion for a few days at a time, as he, by that 

 means, will probably come in for the different kinds of fishing 

 in the same trip, to say nothing of the probabilities of a whale 

 or seal hunt, and an occasional shot at some passing sea-bird 

 to add to his collection. Gaspe Bay, to the naturalist, is 

 rich in specimens fantastic in form and curious in structure. 



