CHAPTER II. 



THE SAULT TO MICHIPICOTIN. 



Jane 21th. — ^^The Sault de St. Marie, on the American side, is a 

 long straggling village, extending in all some two or three miles, 

 if we reckon from the outposts of scattered log-huts. The main 

 part of it, however, is concentrated on a street running from the 

 Fort (which stands on a slight eminence over the river,) about a 

 quarter of a mile along the water, with some back lanes leading up 

 the gradual slope, rising perhaps half a mile from the river. Be- 

 hind this again is an evergreen swamp, from which a rockj wooded 

 bluflf rises somewhat abruptly to the height of a hundred feet or 

 thereabouts. 



The population is so floating in its character that it is difficult to 

 estimate ; some stated it at about three hundred on the average, 

 consisting of half-breed voyageurs, miners waiting for employment, 

 traders, and a few Indians. The chaplain at the Fort, however, esti- 

 mated the number of inhabitants on both sides of the river at one 

 thousand, of whom the majority belong to the American side. 



The most striking feature of the place is the number of dram- 

 shops and bowling-alleys. Standing in front of one of the hotels I 

 counted seven buildings where liquor was sold, besides the larger 

 " stores," where this was only one article among others. The 

 roar of bowling alleys and the click of billiard balls are heard 

 from morning until late at night. The whole aspect is that of a 

 western village on a fourth of July afternoon. Nobody seems to be 

 at home, but all out on a spree, or going a fishing or bowling. 

 There are no symptoms of agriculture or manufactures ; traders 

 enough, but they are chatting at their doors or walking about from 

 one shop to another. The wide platforms in front of the two large 

 taverns are occupied by leisurely people, with their chairs tilted 



