A BIRCH-BARK CANOE TRIP 231 



good yarns. I got a free ride into Bathurst, but could not walk 

 till planting time, and feet tender ever since ; part of big toe clean 

 gone, as you see, sir.' 



Such was Joe's terrible experience of that cold wave which 

 swept over New Brunswick in February of 1858, when the ther- 

 mometer touched 20 below zero. Well does this painful narrative 

 illustrate the dangers and hardships faced by the hardy hunter 

 in the winter months ; vividly did it remind us of the severely 

 stern aspect which this smiling scenery, now bathed in the mid- 

 summer sun, can assume in midwinter. 



Proceeding some four miles above the Grand Falls, we reached 

 another rocky gorge, called the Narrows, about one-quarter of a 

 mile in length, through which the river roared hoarsely. Here 

 must have been at one time the scene of an imposing cataract, 

 but centuries of attrition had completed their work, and cut out a 

 channel. All our stuff had to be portaged by the path ; but the 

 men were able to pole up the empty canoe. It took them some 

 length of time, and furnished me with a very pretty spectacle. 

 Lookmg over the brow of the cliff, below in diminished perspective, 

 the Indians, with every nerve and muscle at full tension, were 

 to be seen, forcing the canoe through the seething water, sometimes 

 scarcely gaining a foot in five minutes. The picture was framed by 

 the walls of dark rocks on both sides of them. 



Once more we were pitching our camp as evening fell ; this 

 time on a grassy meadow at the mouth of Nine-Mile Brook. While 

 the camping preparations were going forward, I put my rod to- 

 gether and killed sufficient trout for the pan in a few minutes. 

 In fact, small trout swarmed everywhere in this part of the river. 

 I caught one trout six inches in length, distended in an abnormal 

 fashion ; and found on investigation that its stomach contained 

 a young mole. How the fish swallowed the animal and was able 

 to take the fly, when the tail was actually protruding from its throat, 

 puzzled me very much. In the upper pools I afterwards frequently 

 caught large fish with an imitation mouse made of fur twisted 

 on the hook. I also heard of squirrels being swallowed (on 

 undoubted testimony) as they swam across the upper pools ; but 

 the captors may have been well over 4 Ib. in weight, while this 

 midge was only 4 oz., and had swallowed a creature almost as 

 heavy as himself. 



On the following day Forty-two Mile Brook was reached. 

 Landing on the river bank, I walked ahead of the canoe for some 

 distance, and shot a number of juicy young partridges, and two 

 rather tough shield ducks, to vary the fare. The beauty of a large 

 part of the river had been sadly marred by recent fires, and it 



