190 



RECREATION 



It is a marvel to me how England was 

 able to take Canada, and after taking it to 

 keep possession. The people, in this dis- 

 trict at least, speak French entirely, and 

 seem wholly French in their sympathies 

 and customs. There were many French 

 flags flying, the launches and boats carry- 

 ing them and many of the boat-houses 

 along the Richelieu. 



We arrived at Longueuil, opposite Mon- 

 treal, at three o'clock and launched our 

 canoe on the famous St. Lawrence. As 

 rain was threatening, we cast about for a 

 camping spot, but the outlook was dismal 

 indeed. Nothing in sight but houses and 

 farms on our side and the city on the 

 other. Finally, after paddling down about 

 a mile below the town, we applied to and 

 obtained permission from a farmer to camp 

 in his orchard. After supper, the tent was 

 invaded by about a dozen young Canadians, 

 who kept up a continual jabber in French, 

 while we did our best to entertain them; 

 though I was not in the best of humor at 

 the sight of five of them reposing on my 

 light cot. However, as there was no way 

 of warning them off with my limited stock 

 of French, I had to trust the cot and guar- 

 antee which gave 500 pounds as its capac- 

 ity. After a somewhat warm and animated 

 debate as to whether our tent would leak 

 in a heavy rain, they finally departed. Then 

 Brooks, who had been giving an occasional 

 groan ever since we reached the river, con- 

 fided to me that on the way over the driver 

 had persuaded him to fill his pipe with 

 some Canadian tobacco, and he was now 

 taking the consequences. 



However, he was all right the next morn- 

 ing, and leaving our camp in charge of the 

 farmer, we walked to Longueuil and took 

 the ferry across to Montreal. After spend- 

 ing about two hours wandering about the 

 city, we took "The Seeing-Montreal Car," 

 fare 50 cents, and spent two hours in visit- 

 ing the noted landmarks. This trip in- 

 cludes the ride around the famous moun- 

 tain for which the city is named. From its 

 summit a fine view of the surrounding 

 country is obtained. When one has but 

 one day in the city this trip affords the 

 best means of seeing the principal places 

 of interest. 



After dinner, a half-hour's ride by trol- 

 ley brought us to Lachine, where we took 

 steamer for the nine-miles' run through 

 the rapids. The "Sovereign" was making 

 the trip, and on account of her size the 

 rapids were not so impressive. On Sun- 

 day, when the smaller steamers run, the 

 effect is much finer. After supper in the 

 city we returned to Longueuil in the even- 

 ing. 



Started away on our 180-mile run to 

 Quebec the next morning with a hearty 

 send-off from the farmer and his family. 



The son, a graduate of the Montreal Vet- 

 erinary College, insisted upon our taking a 

 glass of wine with him before leaving. 

 Courtesy is a marked characteristic of' the 

 people, and in this they remind me of the 

 mountaineers of North Carolina, among 

 whom I have spent some time and whose 

 hospitality is entirely unselfish. 



Our camping-ground that night was five 

 miles from Sorel. We had covered forty 

 miles, due mainly to the strong current 

 which whirled us along at such a speed 

 that there was little resistance to the dip- 

 ping paddles. Neither of us had ever been 

 on the river before, and enthusiastic friends 

 had prepared us for some fine scenery; but 

 that first day's travel proved very disap- 

 pointing. The shores were low and flat and 

 lined with the houses of the poorer class, 

 not even having the redeeming feature of 

 being picturesque ; while the islands with 

 which this portion of the river is dotted 

 and which we had looked forward to as 

 promising camping sites, proved to be mere 

 mud flats. It was with difficulty that we at 

 last found a camping-place which did not 

 form a part of somebody's front yard. 



We awoke to hear the sound of wind- 

 driven rain on the tent the next morning, 

 but as there were no inducements to linger 

 in our present dreary camp, we took a 

 hasty breakfast, packed our dunnage and 

 started for Sorel. Flere we stopped long 

 enough to get our mail and allow the cus- 

 tem's official to charge Brooks $1.50 on a 

 suit of under-clothes worth about $2, and 

 then started on. 



After paddling about three miles, we 

 reached the western end of Lake St. Peter. 

 Here the river broadens out into a shallow 

 lake, ten miles wide by twenty-one long. 

 Camping time found us about four miles 

 down the lake on the southern side, with 

 the rain coming down in sheets and noth- 

 ing in sight but marsh. It was certainly a 

 dismal outlook, but after making a cold 

 supper we decided the only thing to do 

 was to push our boat through the rushes 

 in search of a firm bit of ground with two 

 trees for the tent. Paddling in as far as 

 possible, we got out into water and mud up 

 to our knees and pulled the canoe about 

 two hundred yards farther to a small hil- 

 lock of firm ground. Leaving the canoe 

 here, after covering up the provisions, we 

 shouldered the cots, blankets and tent and 

 floundered on a quarter of a mile through 

 tall marsh grass to a strip of woods. It 

 had been pouring all day and everything 

 was saturated, while the ground under us 

 was little more than a bog; so a fire was 

 out of the question. How we longed for 

 the dry birch bark of the north woods ! 

 But, making the best of a bad job, we 

 pitched the tent and after setting up the 

 cots, crawled into our blankets. And it 



