248 RIVER LIFE. 



distinguish a £5 from a $5 or five shilling note. As there are 

 no regular taverns in this settlement, every family the traveler 

 calls upon will furnish accommodations, for which they expect a 

 reasonable compensation, and he will be always sure of kind treat- 

 ment, which is beyond price. I have been thus particular to 

 speak of the Acadian settlers of Madawaska, because little is gen- 

 erally known of their manners and customs, many people having 

 the idea that they are demi-savages, because, like the aboriginal 

 inhabitants, they live principally by hunting."* 



There are several important tributaries to the St. John's, and 

 among them mention may be made of the Aroostook, which, 

 from its historical associations with the boundary question be- 

 tween the States and Great Britain, has become familiar to all. 

 " This river is a broad and beautiful stream, having a gradual 

 descent, free from obstructions, so that a raft may run to the 

 falls at its confluence with the St. John's," a distance of over one 

 hundred miles. " Its bottom is composed of pebbles for the prin- 

 cipal part of its course, and there are a few low islands in its 

 midst." The soil varies on different sections of the river as you 

 pass down, sometimes being of a " chocolate brown" or " yellow 

 loam," the latter being in some places covered with •' a black 

 vegetable mold several inches deep." The country around is 

 covered with a majestic grove, composed of towering Pines, Rock- 

 maple, and the various Birches, Spruce, Fir, &c. "Where the at- 

 tempt has been made, the soil is found to be exceedingly pro- 

 ductive. Its principal products are square timber, hewn from 

 the giant Pines found upon its borders, and sugar, produced from 

 the sap of the Rock-maple, magnificent groves of which grow upon 

 its banks. Beds of iron ore are found in its vicinity, and in some 

 places limestone abounds ; { and, from indications, it is highly 

 probable that beds of anthracite coal will, when necessity shall 

 prompt investigation, be found in its vicinity.' In an agricul- 

 * Dr. Jackson's Geological Reports. 



