96 SALMON FISHING IN CANADA. 



sugar, spices, and a large cask of vinegar. A good-natured 

 American general, with his aide-de-camp, were our fellow 

 passengers in the steamboat to Quebec. They were 

 heretics of the utilitarian school, and thought it not a 

 little extraordinary that we should make so long a journey 

 to catch fish that might so easily be obtained in the 

 market. 



" On reaching Quebec, we found, to our great mortifica- 

 tion, the wind blowing up the river, strong against us, and 

 no steamboat running whither we were bound. We were 

 therefore obliged to wait there three days, and then take 

 our passage in a miserable schooner from Kamouraska; 

 the captain engaging to land us at our destination on the 

 opposite shore. The voyage was extremely tedious and 

 disagreeable, lasting four interminable days and nights, 

 though the distance was only ninety miles. Moreover, 

 our lubberly skipper very nearly upset us half a dozen 

 times, by bad management during the gale from the 

 eastward that lasted almost the whole voyage. To add to 

 our misfortunes we were half starved as well as half 

 foundered ; for our sea stock was laid in under the anti- 

 cipation of a few hours' voyage, and consisted only of a 

 loaf, a quarter of cold lamb, and a bottle of wine. Thirty 

 or forty dirty habitans from Kamouraska were on board, 

 and occupied the limited space below ; we were therefore 

 obliged to wrap ourselves in our cloaks and bivouac under 

 the ' grande voile ' on deck. This was all very well as 



