THE HALCYON IN CANADA. 247 



Saguenay, we should perhaps have possessed that 

 generous and receptive frame of mind that open 

 house of the heart which makes one " eligible to 

 any good fortune," and the grand scenery would 

 have come in as fit sauce to the salmon. An advent- 

 ure, a bit of experience of some kind, is what one 

 wants when he goes forth to admire woods and wa- 

 ters, something to create a draught and make the 

 embers of thought and feeling brighten. Nature, 

 like certain wary game, is best taken by seeming to 

 pass by her intent on other matters. 



But without any such errand, or occupation, or in- 

 direction, we managed to extract considerable satis- 

 faction from the view of the lower St. Lawrence and 

 the Saguenay. 



We had not paid the customary visit to the falls 

 of the Montmorency, but we shall see them after all, 

 for before we are a league from Quebec they come 

 into view on the left. A dark glen or chasm there 

 at the end of the Beaufort Slopes seems suddenly to 

 have put on a long white apron. By intently gazing 

 one can see the motion and falling of the water, 

 though it is six or seven miles away. There is no 

 sign of the river above or below but this trembling 

 white curtain of foam and spray. 



It was very sultry when we left Quebec, but about 

 noon we struck much clearer and cooler air, and 

 soon after ran into an immense wave or puff of fog 

 that came drifting up the river and set all the fog- 

 guns booming along shore. We were soon through 



