THE CRUISE OF THE " HOBO 



189 



under the walls of Fort Montgomery, and 

 after landing and going over the old ram- 

 parts, continued on up the Richelieu River 

 to St. Johns. The river proved to be beau- 

 tiful in a way, but the shores were too 

 marshy to make good camping ground. St. 

 Johns being twenty-four miles from Rouse's 

 Point, this made a good day's work, espe- 

 cially as the wind had been against us all 

 day. We pitched our tent in a little strip 

 of woods about a mile below the town. 



Here at St. Johns we found a fine canoe 

 club. Much interest is taken in the sport, 

 "two race meets being held every year. In 

 fact, this was the only town we stopped at 

 where much is made of canoeing, and our 

 canvas-covered canoe was, much to my 

 surprise, quite a novelty. As we sat by our 

 cheery campfire after supper, pleasure par- 

 ties were constantly passing up and down 

 the river, some in launches and many in 

 canoes. All seemed to be having a fine 

 time, and we heard their merry voices long 

 after turning in. 



As we did not know what might be be- 

 fore us the next day, we got an early start, 

 and after procuring a "clearance" started 

 through the canal. This clearance cost us 



loaded canoe down, except in the early 

 spring, so we were forced, much to our re- 

 gret, to go through the canal. 



After a paddle of half a mile, we reached 

 the first lock. There were seven boats 

 ahead of us, and as we did not care to run 

 the risk of entering the lock with one of 

 the unwieldy canal boats, we carried around 

 it, and as the wind was blowing steadily 

 from the south, hoisted sail and reached 

 the first lock at Chambly in a little over 

 two hours. 



As we wished to see Montreal and the 

 Lachine Rapids, we made inquiries as to 

 the distance and the possibility of getting a 

 wagon to carry us and our canoe overland. 

 The Richelieu and the St. Lawrence here 

 run almost parallel, so that it is only fifteen 

 miles across country at Montreal, while 

 the water route by way of the Richelieu 

 to Sorel and then up the St. Lawrence is 

 about ninety. 



The lock-keeper agreed to carry us the 

 fifteen miles for $3, so we struck a bargain 

 and sat down to eat our lunch of bread, 

 butter and apple sauce, while he went to 

 harness his horse. When he finally appeared 

 I doubted whether we should see Montreal 



.;-ff< : % 



. , .. ■. 



Lake Champ-lain Can Kick Up an Ugly Sea 



25 cents, and was a very elaborate affair, 

 giving our tonnage as one ton, name of 

 ship, name of master, destination • and 

 cargo; but with it went the right to be 

 locked through, while' without it we should 

 have been compelled to carry around the 

 locks, of which there were seven — one at 

 St. Johns and six at Chambly, at the other 

 end. There are twelve miles of rapids 

 here, but they are too shallow to take a 



that day. The wagon-box was exactly six 

 feet six inches long by measurement, and 

 into this we had to load our sixteen-foot 

 canoe, camp dunnage and three men. We 

 got there, but it is a fine advertisement for 

 the Maine builders that there was anything 

 left of the canoe. The roads were awful, 

 but between my wrestlings with the canoe, 

 to keep it in the wagon, I had opportuni- 

 ties to note the country and people. 



