SALMON-RIVERS OF BRITISH PROVINCES. 391 



can who settled there forty years ago, also accommodates 

 anglers; and those who prefer more retired quarters, stop 

 with him. Mr. Packard is a fine, erect, hale old man of 

 seventy, has followed lumbering on most of the rivers of 

 New Brunswick, and being communicative, and, like most 

 Yankees, a little inquisitive, will interest a stranger while he 

 posts him on the geography and history of the province. He 

 is also thoroughly acquainted with the canoe-men, and the 

 requirements of the angler when on the river, and will put 

 him into good hands. 



Although most of the pools on the Nipissiguit are fished 

 from the shore, a canoe is indispensable in getting to them, as 

 well as in travelling the river. Those in use are made by the 

 Indians of birch bark. They are preferred on account of 

 their light weight, a great desideratum in making the portages, 

 which occur frequently on this river. 



There are many requisites that go to make a good canoe-man. 

 He should have a character for sobriety and honesty; he should 

 be athletic, quick, cool, of unflinching nerve, and good-humored ; 

 he should be acquainted with every rapid, pool, and eddy in 

 the river ; where the fish are accustomed to lie at different 

 stages of water ; and should be a thorough woodsman, as well 

 as a good river-man. The canoe-men of the Nipissiguit pos- 

 sess these amphibious qualities to a great degree. There are 

 whole families — the Chamberlains, the Venos, the Levins, the 

 Buchets, the Youngs, and others — who take to poling and 

 paddling a canoe as young ducks take to water. Many of 

 these have spent every summer from their boyhood in the 

 employ of anglers from England, Ireland, Scotland, the Pro- 

 vinces, and the States, drawn thither by stories of the fishing 

 on the Nipissiguit. Some of these men are also expert 

 anglers, and can give the tyro many useful hints. I shall 



