The Land of the Winanishe 



slopes that lead from the broad sand beaches 

 to the low hills which close in the land- 

 scape on three sides. At intervals the 

 sparkle of tin-covered spires shows where 

 the churches bring the wide-scattered par- 

 ishes to a focus. To the west a snowy 

 patch, visible from all round the lake, like 

 the topsail of a ship hull down, marks the 

 three-hundred-feet fall of the Ouiatchouan ; 

 He des Couleuvres and He de la Traverse 

 appear only as stripes of lighter green 

 against the dark forests of the mainland ; 

 Roberval is high enough, on its slaty bed 

 studded with corallites and madrepores, to 

 be seen as a cluster of white dots ; but 

 Pointe Bleue is a mere bank of indigo 

 cloud on the far horizon, and only an In- 

 dian's eyes could distinguish the Hudson's 

 Bay Post and the buildings on the Indian 

 Reserve from the crests of the waves which 

 even a light summer breeze raises so fast 

 and high. An outpost flash from the 

 church of St. Prime just indicates where, 

 at the mouth of the Ashuapmouchouan, 

 Fathers Druillettes and Dablon started "on 

 the road to enter for good and all into the 

 lands of Sathan ; " but northward there is 

 nothing but water and sky, for the sand 

 dunes and savannes of the unsettled north- 

 ern shore are far below the horizon. East- 



47 



