CHAPTER XVI 



A WINTER WITH THE LUMBERERS 



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FINNOCK having completed his business at Tadoussac, we 

 started for Goose Creek, the journey of some seventy 

 miles being to be performed on foot. Goose Creek is a 

 local name given by the lumberers to the spot. The 

 only map in my possession that appears to indicate the 

 place is an old French one, and according to this the 

 creek is called the Chekoutimiens River. It is a very 

 insignificant stream, at the bottom of steep rocky banks 

 which are, in many places, at least a hundred and fifty 

 feet high. When the thaws of spring take place, there 

 is sufficient water to rush the rough logs along to the 

 Saguenay, whence they are dashed down to Tadoussac. 



I use the words " rush " and " dash," for no others 

 will properly describe the motion of the logs in the water, 

 so powerfully are they hurried along by the furious 

 current. It sometimes happens that the logs cross and 

 intertwine, and form a temporary obstruction at the 

 heads of the rapids, checking the rush of the water until 

 sufficient weight has collected against the obstruction to 

 force it. Then it is burst asunder with a terrific impulse, 

 and sometimes with a report equal hi intensity to that of 

 a small cannon. 



We started, as I have said, on foot, there being no 

 other available means of travelling; the country being 

 impossible for sleighs, and there being no means of sub- 

 sistence for horses. The first day's journey was supposed 

 to be about fifteen miles, and it took us nearly eight 

 hours to do it on snow-shoes. These we were often 



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