244 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



howevc]', for of hito years tlic little ragged vircliins from 

 the Aeadian settlement on the south shore have iml)il)e(l 

 u strong love of sport in addition to their hereditary 

 poaching propensities, and with a rongh j)ole, a few 

 yards of coarse line, and a hait in appearance anything 

 hut a salmon fly, they will hook some dozen or more 

 salmon in a day when tliey are running freely, of 

 course losing nearly every fish. 



Distant ahAit miles from Bathurst, and accessil)le 1)^'" 

 a fiiir waggon road, are the Pabineau Falls, one of the 

 choicest fishing stations on the river. The scenery here 

 is most beautiful ; the forest has now claimed the banks, 

 and, as the stranger emerges from its shade, and stands 

 on the l)road, smo.^th expanses of light grey and pink 

 rocks which slo}»e from him towards the brink of the 

 stream, viewing its clear grass-green waters rolling in 

 such fierce undulations over long descents, and thun- 

 dering, enveloped in mist, through various contracted 

 passes into boilnig jjooLs, witli congregated masses of 

 foam ever cii'clijig over their black (lei)ths, he becomes 

 impressed with the idea, of irresistible power, and is 

 constrained to acknowledge that he stands in the pre- 

 sence of no ordinary stream, but ■ ^ a mighty river. 



I have here stocjd by tlie maig..i of the water, where 

 hundreds of tons momentarily rushed past my feet in 

 a compact mass, and watched the bright gleam of the 

 salmon as they would dart up frcjui Itclow like arrows to 

 encounter the fall ; a sUght pause; as they near the head ; 

 another convulsive effort, and they are safely over ; but 

 many fall back, at present une(|ual for the contest, into 

 the dark pool. 



There are several wel' built bark shanties on the rocks 



