
The charm of the North Country—Sunset on the Windigo 
Thru Quebec Wilds 
By J. W. EVANS 
E started up the Montreal 
River on a prospecting trip— 
my two Indians, Fred and Joe 
by name, and myself—in the middle 
of May, just in time for the fly season. 
Our outfit consisted of two canvas- 
covered canoes, one 17 feet and one 12 
feet long, two silk, flyproof tents with 
canvas floor, and mosquito net curtain, 
three rubber sheets, aluminum cooking 
outfit and four blankets, sleeping bags, 
fishing tackle, axes, prospecting tools, 
slickers (two-piece with attached cap 
on coat), fly-oil, first aid outfit, six 
dunnage bags and three pack sacks, all 
of which were shipped by freight to Elk 
Lake, and there packed in four of the 
dunnage bags. The other two dunnage 
bags were used to accommodate the 
food supplies, which were packed in 
small canvas sacks. The pack sack held 
extra clothing, soap, towels, first-aid 
outfit, and camera, films, etc. 
A gasoline-driven pointer took us and 
another party to Indian Chute, on ac- 
count of the swift current during high 
water. There were sixteen men, and 
three thousand pounds of dunnage in 
the pointer, and a tow of five canoes, 
three of which were heavily laden with 
a man in each canoe—a very respect- 
able load. The pointer goes seven miles 
an hour, and when we struck the swift 
current it was most interesting to 
watch the “captain” maneuver to get 
into any backwater available. Some- 
times we scarcely moved at all, and at 
the sharp turns a man in front pried 
the bow around with a big paddle. It- 
would open the eyes of a southern boat- 
man to see the enormous loads they 
carry, and the manner in which they 
overcome impossible looking difficulties. 
Between dodging the logs which came 
booming down in dozens at every pos- 
sible angle, and the excitement of mak- 
ing the sharp turns, the trip was lively 
and most interesting. 
We reached Matachewan at eight 
o’clock, and the guides unloaded, put up 
both tents, and had supper cooked and 
on the table, which we found there by 
8.45. 
N°? a moment is wasted in making 
camp, one of the guides cuts the 
poles for the tents, the other puts up 
the tents, unpacks and arranges the 
bedding (balsam brush, generally, or 
spruce) while guide No. 1 builds the 
fire, prepares the food, sets the table 
(when you are lucky enough to have 
one), cooks the bacon, or fish and po- 
tatoes, and makes the tea. In rocky 
places the tent ropes are fastened to 
big logs on each side of the tent, doing 
away with pegs entirely, a few heavy 
stones keeping the logs in place. 
Took a long trip with Davidson, the 
discoverer of the Davidson Mine, to- 
day. We paddled up Davidson Creek, 
a small one, filled in many places with 
brush, fallen timber and logs, etc., 
washed down by the spring freshet, 
The 
Account 
of a 
1,200 Mile 
Canoe 
Trip in 
Northern 
Canada 
Parteh 
then tramped for several hours look- 
ing over some new claims. We covered 
about fifteen miles and were on the 
go every minute. On our way back we 
visited the Otisse mine, and the David- 
son mine. These claims look very 
promising, consisting of large irregular 
masses of quartz in a greenish schist, 
and an orthoclase porphyry showing 
free gold in many places. The gold- 
bearing porphyry extends over a large 
area. On the Otisse or Matachewan 
gold mines property a shaft has been 
sunk to the depth of one hundred and 
seventy feet, and a quantity of ore is 
on the dump ready to be treated, when 
the power from Indian Chute is avail- 
able. The ore on the dump is a light 
grey schistose rock, well mineralized 
with iron pyrites. 
WE met a wonderful old character 
at Fort Matachewan who is in 
charge there. He is eighty-six years 
old, had been fifty-five years in the 
North country, and is as bright as a 
dollar. He had two wives, both squaws, 
until a short time ago, when both died. 
He then married an Indian widow. 
When I was up the Montreal River in 
1907 I remember seeing her with her 
first husband. Her present husband, 
Old Joe, as everyone calls him has a 
great hold over the Indians, and they 
have to toe the mark in good shape. 
Old as he is, he can handle them with- 
out gloves, and has the reputation of 
being the toughest old piece of hickory 
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