24 



Tt is true th:it IhiTc is another place, Mont Louis, mueh further down 

 on thi' Gaspe coast, but the mere siuht of this jwrt to which the Shiek- 

 sh;)ek chain runs down in forniidabh' rapes and promontories is sulheient 

 to v-p:l the hardiest seamen. Therefore, only the port of Matanor(in:'.ins. 

 OiMii a ehan ai-d you will at onee observe that the naturid route of .hips 

 coming up iVon) iheClulf and wiH(Oi invariably steeribr Poiul -des-Mouts 

 is from (he latter point to Matane. 



lu 1ST8. the Melveiudt' Govt-riimenl und'^rieok ih.' eoii ^Lueiiuii oi an 

 imm''ns"je!ly wiiieh would havi' made a reiiiark.'ible jxjil of Mat;ii:', a 

 po:. ol siieileV \vh(>r«> vessel.-, could put in ami obtai!-. supplies, a port lor 

 riv'- and ocean trade whi(di -wcuild have s"rved lor the whole oi'lhe Lower 

 8i i/awrence a.nd the immense jieniusula of (vasp"sia. lT)ilorluiia,iidy 

 this undertakir.ii' was not carried out, after nearly l"U! hundred feet td the 

 jetty had been Imilt, as, on the fall of the McKcJi^'iieGovernmeiil, Ih*' w'ork 

 was discontinued, no one knows why. 



The current of ihe Malaue river is very swifl. It eariies down with 

 it groat quantitich of sand whicdi it heaps up at the mouth (d'ihe river so 

 aslo form a l)ar. A little insidi> the l)ar thv; Messrs Price have bmit a 

 •whari for ship-ping their deals to the vessels at anchor, ileiween this 

 wharl' and th' jetty there is a space of ;d)0ut eight hundred lert wiuch 

 would have to be lilled up to unite the two wharv(>s, so that the cnrrent, 

 confined betwecni the shore on one side and the jetty on the other, without 

 a br ak, would be rendered still more vapid and carry the sand much 

 further out, or it would so scatter it that the bar would b ■ formed at a 

 greater distance and in deeper water. 



TheFedeial (loveriiment has recently sent two eiigiueiU's on the 

 Spot to useoriain \vh -ther the interruj^ted work should b.' resumfd. It is 

 inl iid.'d. it is said, to add one hundred and fifty f 'et to the lirst section 

 of I'! ' jetty but this cannot l)e produetiv*- (d'any kistiug result or ehaugo 

 th i)rs;>nt state ol thini-'.-; to any extent. If th," Matane River were uti- 

 lix. d as it might be, if the country w re developed on a large scaL', it 

 would otirr unique advantages li is the only om' whicdi alfords a passau'c 

 through the Shi<dcshoek chain ot mountains, so t hid by foliowiuL;' its 

 c, urse we mi^iht open up a wide colonization r(>ad or in time budd a 

 railway from Matane totlnr Haie des ChaLurs. Moreover, by means of 

 this : ,-er and the chain of lakes to which it givv's a<'ce.ss, one can gv) as 

 fai us CJaspe l?ay its<df. 



A road of any kind into the interior throixgh so vast a country wh"re 

 merchantable limber is to be lound in incalculable (juantitit s and where 

 the soil, especially l)eyond the Shickshoeks. is of a great fertility, would 

 compLtv ly alter tliis region and make it one of the most productive in 

 the cv)tinlry. It is lu-edless to say how such a n-sidt would be obtained ; 

 there are some things whitdi are self-evidtMit and with referem^e to which 

 it is mere childishm>ss to enter into details. 



