Montreal to Qttebec. Z-i^ 



established by the French in 1737 ; at the conquest of the 

 Province the right of the French King devolved on his 

 Britannic Majesty, and these forges have been let to private 

 parties, who have worked them very successfully. Three 

 Rivers is the See of a Roman Catholic Bishopric, and the 

 Cathedral is a stately edifice and one of the finest in Canada, 

 well repaying a visit. Comparatively little is known of the 

 St. Maurice, or of the country through which it flows, but 

 in the section of country lying between it and the Saguenay 

 innumerable quantities of small lakes occur, varying from 

 two to a hundred square miles. A trip up the river will 

 amply repay the tourist, both for scenery and for sport, the 

 waters teeming with fish, and the woods with game of every 

 description. The banks of the river are generally high. 

 About thirty miles up, the River Shawenegan joins the St.- 

 Maurice, and a little above its confluence, though on the St. 

 Maurice, the stupendous Falls of the Shazvenegan are met with, 

 one hundred and fifty feet perpendicular, and second only to 

 Niagara. The general mode of accomplishing a visit to them 

 is by engaging a canoe with voyageurs at Three Rivers. 

 They will ascend as far as the Portage des Grais, where the 

 tourist, having arrived by vehicle, will meet them, as a boat 

 at the spot without, previous arrangement cannot always be 

 relied on. After entering the canoe, the Isle aux Tourtes is 

 passed, and on approaching within about a mile of the fails, 

 they can be distinctly seen through the tops of the highest 

 trees. Notwithstanding the numerous rapids below the 

 falls, there is much less difficulty in ascending than might 

 be expected; for while a current runs down the mid- 

 channel, at the rate of five or six miles an hour, there are 

 opportunities of taking advantage of an eddy on either side 

 running up, by shooting rapidly across the main stream. 

 When the water is high in April and May, there are three 

 distinct falls unconnected with each other, and meeting in a 

 large basin. The rocks that separate the fall are respectively 



