The Lower St. Lawrence. 39 



stormy weather ; and it, together with the evil repute the 

 whole of this coast lies under, causes the superstitious sailor 

 to the present day to give it a wide berth. 



Returning up the Gulf we pass on the south shore, Metis, 

 some 200 miles below Quebec, where is the largest and 

 longest of the government wharves. Here the inhabitants, 

 in addition to the more common kinds of fish, do a small 

 but thriving business in the way of capturing whales, which 

 are of the hump-back species, yielding from three to eight 

 tons of oil ; they are hunted in schooners and harpooned 

 after the fashion of the regular Arctic whalers. From Metis 

 there is a trail (for road it can scarcely be called) to the 

 Restigouche River in New Brunswick. Metis is a thriving 

 town, and if the Ocean Steamers should eventually call there 

 (as proposed,) it will doubtless become a place of some 

 importance. There are, however, no hotels there as yet. 



Proceeding upwards, we come to Rimouski, 180 miles 

 from Quebec, which also has a very extensive government 

 wharf, extending some distance into the river. This village 

 contains an unusual number of handsome houses, and the 

 hotel, kept by one St. Laurent, is first-rate in every respect. 

 The extensive saw-mills and ship-yards give the place a 

 thriving appearance ; but the lover of scenery and angling 

 will not remain quiet till he explores the valley of the 

 Rimouski River. As a stream for trout it is unapproachable. 

 A nameless tributary about twenty miles from its mouth, not 

 more than twelve miles long, running through four or five 

 beautiful little lakes, literally swarms with fish, many of them 

 over two pounds in weight. The mountains that hem it in 

 are covered with thick woods, and belong to that range 

 which here boldly swoops down to the St. Lawrence, and 

 form a head-land resembling the beak of an eagle, known .by 

 the name of 



Le Bic, nine miles from Rimouski. Here is a small 

 village of the same name as the promontory, opposite to an 



