THE PERIBONCA AND TSCHOTAGAMA* 



THE largest and wildest of the great tributaries of 

 Lake St. John is the Peribonca, or Peribonka River, 

 whose musical name in the Montagnais dialect signi- 

 fies " the river with the sandy mouth," an appellation 

 whose significance cannot fail of appreciation by all 

 who have seen its low, sandy estuary of more than two 

 miles in breadth. The error of translating Peribonca 

 " The Curious Eiver " has sometimes been made. 



The Peribonca is from three to four hundred miles 

 in length, and drains an extent of country almost equal 

 to the combined area of England and Wales. It is rich 

 in roaring cataracts and boiling rapids. It is famous 

 for the monster ouananiche and trout that are found in 

 its upper lakes, and for the enormous pike that roam 

 among its deep waters. Scarcely any but Indian hunt- 

 ers have ever fired a shot at the ducks that frequent 

 its upper waters, or buried a bullet in the body of even 

 one of the many big black bears that browse the au- 

 tumn berries about Lake Tschotagama. 



The trip to Lake Tschotagama is of deepest interest 

 to the woodsman and canoeist, no matter from what 



* Parts of this chapter are reprinted from the author's articles 

 that appeared in Shooting and Fishing in August, 1893. 



