forest and stream 
465 
Up The Peribonca To Tchitagama And Manouan 
ii 
A Canoe Trip Through the Wild Country North of Lake St. John, Quebec-The Indians Have Followed 
This Route for Many Years, but few White Sportsmen Have Tackled It 
By John M. Maguire 
(Concluded from July Forest and Stream ) 
Sooty and hot, we climbed aboard a little be¬ 
fore twelve and paddled to a place for lunch. 
The wind was blowing great guns from the 
south. A curtain of smoke covered the sky and 
gave the sun a coppery glare. Clearly there was 
a large fire below us, the first sign of which had 
been that peculiar cloud seen at the rapids. Some 
mites ahead the smoke of another big fire boiled 
up, heavy and oily looking. 
We hoisted the sail and sped along. The 
\\ ind had kicked up a sea, but as the waves went 
slowly against the current we outran them and 
they did not bother us. When we lost our 
breeze, with the approach of sunset, we took the 
paddles and headed through a narrow gut be¬ 
tween the shore and an island. That island 
stretched prodigiously and the dogged current 
pushed strong against us. For an hour we pad- 
died wearily, then came simultaneously to the 
end of the island and an excellent camp on the 
mainland. Others had been there recently, ap¬ 
parently for a long stay. Fire-wood and tent- 
pegs were ready cut. A toy canoe of birch-bark 
lay on the beach. Most eloquent sign of luxury, 
a barrel converted into a bee-hive hung from a 
pole! Smoke from the southern fires drifted 
mistily about. The view down river was ren¬ 
dered particularly beautiful by its cloaking of 
distances. Directly opposite us burned the big 
blaze which we had seen at noon. It was leap¬ 
ing along the side of a steep hill. Every now 
and then flames spread into view as a new clump 
of trees caught. Amid the lighter colored smoke 
rose a dark, twisting pillar, slanted toward the 
north; it swelled and shrank rhythmically, like 
a beating pulse. 
We unwrapped J-’s foot and delivered 
opinions. Appearances were improved. J- 
continued to examine it morning and eve with 
the same care bestowed by Lars Porsena’s wise 
men on their soothsaying linen documents. But 
he never had reason to worry again. No doubt 
the wound's feelings were hurt by neglect, and 
in revenge it proceeded to hurt back. 
Even with all the comforts of home we had 
a poor sleep. It was a very hot night. J_ 
and I did not adjust our mosquito protection 
properly. The tent soon resounded with howling 
carniverous insects. I went through successive 
cycles of discomfort. While awake, I could keep 
the blanket over my head and swelter. Once 
asleep, I reverted to the primitive desire for cool, 
fresh air. Off went the fold of four point Hud¬ 
son Bay and zee-e-e-e, bang! an alert mosquito 
We Straddled the Canoe Across Pocket Holes. 
dug an inch or so into my nose, bringing me to 
with a start. Then came the dismal round all 
over again. At last, like that fellow Glamis, the 
heat and bugs pretty well murdered sleep. I lay 
head out, slapping at every bite. Occasionally a 
breath of air dragged heavily through the trees 
diagonally across stream to avoid shallows. 
The current was right on the job, as usual, and 
when the south wind came up we gladly ran 
ashore and rigged the sail. We drove along 
1-ast good scenery on the west bank—cliffs, de¬ 
tached hills, and one or two small waterfalls, 
omoke obscured most of the east. The more the 
wind blew, the hazier things became. During the 
afternoon we could see no sky at all. I distin¬ 
guished myself by steering up the wrong side of 
an island and sticking tight on a sand bank. We 
had to carry everything two or three hundred 
yards through mud and water. When it came 
time to camp neither shore looked promising. 
The western seemed to hold out the best possi¬ 
bilities. Search there turned up an old clearing, 
overgrown with what J- said was poison ivy. 
I thought he was wrong and we bickered a bit. 
Neither could prove his contention, so we com¬ 
promised by looking for another place. Well, 
upstream I stumbled at last on a large but long 
unused camp site. The others were by the 
The Ever Changing Vista of Lake and Mountain Scenery 
over our heads. But it brought no comfort. The 
smoke had b’own away and I could see the 
moonlit sky. Of course, I went off finally. One 
always does. But preliminaries are weary affairs. 
August 6—Starting >n the morning we struck 
canoe half a mile behind, and came paddling up 
on my signal. The river ran fast and they won 
ground most laboriously, arriving tired and dis¬ 
gusted. We had expected surely to reach the 
Manouan this day. The wind was our undoing. 
