PERILS OF FORESTS AND RAPIDS 25 



which so much depends. Returning from the 

 Rocky Mountains, I found myself in the company 

 of a young farmer from Medicine Hat on his way to 

 the college for a special course on scientific and 

 dairy farming. A farmer from Winnipeg who had 

 sent his daughter to be trained as a teacher was 

 amongst the visitors on the opening day. 



Between Ste. Anne's and Montreal there are the 

 celebrated Lachine rapids of the St. Lawrence, 

 which supplied the inspiration of Tom Moore's 

 "Canadian Boat Song." A pleasure steamer on 

 the river shoots them. Pressing up stream the great 

 Canadian river leads to its source in Lake Ontario in 

 the south-west. The Ottawa flows from the north- 

 west — a twin river fed by innumerable streams and 

 minor lakes. It was this that Champlain navigated 

 it the spring of 1603, which forms a thrilling chapter 

 in the life of the early pioneer. Its rapids, which 

 nearly cost the explorer his life, still plunge over 

 rocks and down steep declivities, as on the day when 

 he first breasted them. Carrillon and Long Sault 

 seethe and foam, evoking answering calls from the 

 neighbouring forest. Scattered homesteads and 

 budding towns here and there encroach on the 

 Ottawa's banks, but the upper reaches are as much 

 a solitude as when Champlain pressed through the 

 dense forest, or lay at night by the Indian camp 

 fire. Trustfully yielding himself to the mercy of 

 the savage tribes of that locality, he faced the 



