10 ALL AFLOAT 



be. But even more remarkable are the sea 

 terms universally current among the French 

 Canadians, who come from the seafaring 

 branch of a race of landsmen. Under the 

 French regime the army officers used to say 

 they felt as if they were on board a man-of- 

 war as long as they stayed in Canada. The 

 modern Parisian may think the same to-day 

 when he is told how to steer his way about the 

 country roads by the points of the compass. 

 The word lanterne is unknown, for the nautical 

 fanal invariably takes its place. The winter 

 roads are marked out by ' buoys ' (balises), and 

 if you miss the ' channel ' between them you 

 may ' founder ' (cater) and then become a 

 * derelict ' (completely degrade). You must em- 

 barquer into a carriage and debarquer out of it. 

 A cart is radou'ee, as if repaired in a dock- 

 yard. Even a well-dressed woman is said to 

 be bVn gre-yee, that is, she is ' fit to go 

 foreign.* Horses are not tied but moored 

 (amarres); enemies are reconciled by being 

 re-moored (ramarres) ; and the Quebec winter 

 is supposed to begin with a ' broadside ' of 

 snow on November 25 (la bordee de la Sainte- 

 Caiherine). 



No wonder Canadian French and English 

 speech is full of sea terms. Even when the 



