84 Montreal to Quebec. 



called "La Grand- Me re" and " Le £>onkomme." In the 

 chasm below, where the waters of the different falls meet, 

 the scene is sublime and terrific, giving the appearance of 

 an enormous mass of snow violently agitated. There are 

 large fissures in the precipitous rock, into which the waters 

 are driven with great force, and which rebound again in 

 sheets of spray with a deafening sound. Immediately above 

 the falls the current is unbroken and quiet, though very 

 rapid, as may be observed on seeing a huge log suddenly dip 

 one end and wholly disappear on approaching the edge of 

 the precipice. These falls have been rendered memorable 

 for the melancholy drowning of the son of the late Governor 

 General, which took place there a few years ago. Proceed- 

 ing up the river the traveller arrives at the Portage des Hetres, 

 or Beech Portage, where he has to leave the canoe and walk 

 round the rapids ; resuming it again, a few miles will bring 

 him to the Falls of the Grand-Mere, which, though 

 not equal to those below them, are well worthy of a visit. 

 The length of the St. Maurice is estimated at about 400 

 miles, though nothing definite is known respecting its head 

 waters. From Grandes Piles to La Tuque there is a 

 steamboat plying, but above that, some seventy or eighty 

 miles from Three Rivers, so many rapids and cascades occur 

 that, with the requisite portages, the navigation becomes 

 tedious and dangerous. The forests abound with deer and 

 caribou, and good sport can be relied on by those desirous 

 of hunting ; but the disciple of St. Hubert must be prepared 

 to make his couch of hemlock boughs, and bid farewell to 

 civilization for the time being. Several Indian hunters of 

 the tribe of the Algonquins can be obtained at Three Rivers, 

 who for a gratuity will take the sportsman safely through 

 the otherwise inextricable mazes of the bush ; and a week 

 of this life late in the fall or early in the spring will amply 

 repay in 'game the hardships of a " tramp in the woods." 

 It is not improbable that the sportsman may, in the proper 



