206 ANTICOSTI. 



thought that it would one day be used to knead a loaf of 

 bread in) ; 9. A bucket ; 10. No end of empty pun- 

 cheons and barrels; 11. Coal; 12. Empty bottles. Then, 

 as I said before, the amount of driftwood is incredible, in 

 every shape and form, from sticks as big as a man's finger 

 cut by the beaver, to magnificent pine logs, the pick of the 

 Canadian forests. Along one particular mile of beach I 

 saw enough square timber to load a large ship, to say 

 nothing of boards, deals, &c. In another place I found 

 the figurehead of a vessel a gentleman in blue, red, and 

 gold, resembling the pictures I have seen of the discoverer 

 of America. I cut off his head, intending to take it home ; 

 but, with many other relics, I was obliged to leave it 

 behind. 



" Anticosti would be a charming place in summer were 

 it not for the flies. They are an intolerable pest, and I 

 think have done as much towards preventing the settle- 

 ment of the island as anything else. Cold and heat can 

 be endured, but I defy a thin-skinned person to exist in 

 Anticosti during the months of July and August. It is 

 the home of the black fly. Mosquitoes, too, abound, but 

 not many sand flies. This plague is attributable to the 

 quantity of swamp and stagnant water. It may be Irish, 

 but I cannot help making the remark that the greater 

 part of the land is water lake, pond, swamp, and river. 

 Though the lakes look shallow, the soft black mud is 

 almost bottomless. One of the few inhabitants of the 

 island when I was there fell into one of these ponds, while 

 trudging along after nightfall with a gun and wild goose 

 on his shoulder. He got out with great difficulty, at the 



