ANGLING FOE 0UANANI<3HB 75 



splendid pools of Mr. W. A. GriflBths, on the south 

 side of the Decharge. But many of the best fishing- 

 places, both here and upon the opposite side, can be most 

 successfully reached by means of a canoe. ]S"othing 

 but a birch-bark or Peterboro canoe <5an be safely used 

 in the rapid waters of the Grande Decharge, and both 

 French-Canadian and Montagnais guides confine them- 

 selves exclusively to the use of the former. It is a 

 thrilling sensation to shoot the rapids in these frail 

 craft, and to feel that nothing but a sheet of birch- 

 bark and the untutored skill of your dusky guides stand 

 between you and eternity. But they are wonderfully 

 clever, these guides, and it is a constant marvel to 

 those who visit these waters for the first time to note 

 the consummate tact and ability with which they 

 navigate the most treacherous curi-ents and violent 

 rapids, sometimes cutting oil with their paddles the 

 top of an advancing wave, at others holding back the 

 canoe in the hollow of a rapid until the moment is 

 propitious for shooting out of it, or perhaps again lift- 

 ing it up sideways to the crest of a favorable roll of 

 water. In many waters the angler has but one guide. 

 At the Grande D&harge, and in the ascent of the 

 various tributaries of Lake St. John, two are abso- 

 lutely necessary. It would be certain death for one 

 man to attempt to guide a loaded canoe in these heavy 

 rapids ; and, besides this, one man has almost all he can 

 do to carry the canoe itself over the portages, while 

 the other is required to convey provisions and bag- 

 gage. 



The new arrival at the Grande Decharge is landed 

 from the steamer upon one of the first islands reached 



