The Chronicles of the St. Lawrence

Front matter

$qa§id% THE C(lt0nii|U$ 4 ti\* r$t BY J. M. LeMOINE, AUTHOR OF MAPLE LEAVES ; QUEBEC, PAST AND PRESENT, ETC. PUBLISHED BY DAWSON BROS., Montreal; DAWSON & CO., Quebec ; JOHN W. LOVELL, Rouses Point, N. Y. 1878. " There is in North America a might}' river, having its head in resnote lakes, which, though many in number, are yet so great that one of the.n is known as the largest body of fresh water on the globe,— with a flow as placid and pulseless as the great Pacific itself, yet as swift in places as the ave>age speed of a, railway train. Its waters are pure and azure-hued, no marter how many turbid streams attempt to defile them. It is a river that never knew a freshet, nor any drying-up, no matter how great the rain or snrw fall, or how severe the drought on all its thousand miles of drainage o: of flow — and yet that regularly, at stated intervals, swells and ebbs within certain limits, as surely as the spring tides each year ebb and flow in the Lay of Fundy — a river so rapid and yet so placid as to enchant every travellei — so grand and yet so lovingly beautiful as to enthral every appreciative soul,^ which rises in a great fresh-water sea, and ends in the greater Atlantic — some places sixty miles wide, at others less than a mile— a river that never has yet had a respectable history, nor scarcely more than an occasional artist to delineate its beauties.

It lies, for a thousand miles, between two great nations, yet neglected by both, though neither could be as great without it — a river as grand as the La Plata, as picturesque as the Rhine, as pure as the Lakes of Switzerland. Need we say that this wonderful stream is the ST. LAWRENCE, the noblest, the purest, most enchanting river on all God's beautiful earth."

Introduction

. It has been a frequent subject of surprise, nay of disappointment, to tourists and strangers visiting each summer the noted spots on the Lower St. Lawrence, that, with abundance of material at command, no history had yet been attempted of the majestic stream which for some thousands of miles winds its course to the ocean. What, indeed, would be Canada without this main artery of commerce 1 For six months, the wilderness of snow, jeered at by the great scoffer, Voltaire, one hundred years ago ; — for the rest of the year a parched-up desert, closed to European shipping, with tropical heats and a stunted vegetation. Embracing on both banks more than one thousand miles of sea board from Quebec to Cape Gaspe" ; lined by innumerable settle ments, thriving villages, rising towns ; dotted in its whole length with numberless, fertile and picturesque islands, each having its peculiar history, its wild legend of the forest or the sea, its thrilling incident of naval warfare, possibly its harrowing tale of shipwreck and death. What a rich harvest here for the antiquarian, the historian or the novelist? Conflicts on sea and on land between the

INTRODUCTION.

. VI ferocious aborigines, those mysterious wanderers, some of whom had totally disappeared without the faintest trace, between Cartier's visit, in 1535, and Champlain's day, legends of their ferocity towards the white man, the disturber of their forest home ; scarcely a bay, a cape, a headland without a 'trace, a souvenir, of the deadly feud, which for centuries arrayed in hostile conflict Old and New England against Old and New France, in 1628-1632; 1690; 1759-1760; 1775-1783. If the distant p%st of the great river has so many teeming memories, how much of interest does it not possess in the recent settlements on its banks, for every class of readers 1 What sources of information are now available ? a few com mon-place guide-books, repeating each year monotonous, stale, scanty, stereotyped bits of gossip.

It is this want I have attempted to supply. Having once spent an entire summer on the Gaspe coast ; made several successive land and sea voyages to the most noted centres on the Lower St. Lawrence, including a visit to the leading cities of the Maritime Provinces ; had the advantage of a study, extending over many years, of the old and modern French and English works on Canada ; communicated freely with the best informed Gaspesians, I have got to believe I possessed some qualifica tions to perform successfully the task I had laid out. My labor was much facilitated, having at command, in a copious journal I have kept, a daily entry of my peregrinations. It is less fine writing and elaborate sentences, I aim at, than a familiar narra tive, a fresh, a spontaneous, (neglige' at times, perhaps,) state ment of daily sights and incidents.

To prevent repetitions, each paper covers a portion of the St. Lawrence left out of the others ; the last paper of all, relating a pleasant excursion, under-

INTRODUCTION.

. VII taken with a sporting friend and party in the harbor of Quebec, affords incidents of the three Sieges. I gave it a light, sketchy form as a relief to e7inui, after so many historical facts, and closed it with the humorous description of the tribulations which befel my sporting friend, from his having speculated on a dead whale. Special attention has been given to the historical portion of these annals, intended to complete the series of sketches of Canadian History, the Maple Leaves, Album du Touriste, and Quebec Past and Present. The work is specially intended for the information and amusement of summer tourists visiting, either by steamer or by railway, the shores of the Lower St. Lawrence. J. M. LeMOINE. Spencer Grange, 17th May, 1878. Entered in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, in the year 1878, by J . M. Le Moine, in conformity with the law passed by the Parliament of Canada. "Tk Æk^kl<^ of fiwjyl X&wmm^

Part I

1. The Round Trip — Quebec — Gasp£ — Dalhqusie — S:1. John, N.B. — Halifax, N.S. — Prince Edward Island. 2. The Round Trip — Quebec — Murray Bay — Tadocuac — Chicoutimi — Cacouna, &c. PAET II. 1. Lights and Shadows in Gaspesia. 2. The Cruize of the Dolphin — Glimpses of Three Sieges, 1C90, — 1759,-1775. THE CHRONICLES OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.

PART I. CHAPTER

I. The Gulf Port Steamers — Father Loftus — Gaspe — Its Scenery and Amusements. On board the " Gasp£, " 12th Sept., 1871. On a soft and hazy afternoon the good steamer " Gaspe," Com mander Baquet, was gliding noiselessly past the many lovely isles of the St. Lawrence, past the Traverse, past the Pilgrims ; so noiselessly, in fact, that, to one standing on shore, it might have seemed that she had returned to her old trade, viz. : secretly carrying cotton from the land of Dixie to the white cliffs of Old England, in spite of the screeching of the American Eagle. Though a good sea boat, she is not by any means a fast one ; as blockade runners are expected to show at times a pair of heels, and this she failed to do, she was forced, on receiving two shot holes in her bow, to alter her ways. It is owing to this that she became a respectable Canadian craft — one of the Gulf Port Steamers.

After enjoying a substantial meal, the passengers, one and all, ascended to the deck ; some to smoke — others to talk politics — some to crack jokes : a motley assembly from every part of the Dominion, with a sprinkling of foreigners. Amongst the latter, was a big-fisted padre, who persisted in cracking ponderous jokes. There was in his behavior something peculiar ; some made him out an Armenian Deacon — others said he belonged to the Greek dis pensation. As he was fierce at times — as fierce, in fact, as a Greek when " Greek meets Greek " — we all agreed a Greek he should be, and such he remained to us, under the historic name of " Father Tom Loftus." ***** Soon the wind sprung up ; the ship rocked ; a storm was brewing. Was it owing to having clergymen on board ? An irreverent joker advised to throw one of them overboard ; it was, however, mildly suggested to " wait until morning."

No clergyman was thrown overboard, and next morning — why, it was calm. At 9 a.m. a boat came alongside, and took ashore the passengers for Father Point and Rimouski, including Mr. W , a most jovial Quebec broker. On all that day our brave steamer kept her course, under steam and sails, amidst the gorgeous scenery of the St. Lawrence. In the distance were visible the blue peaks of mountains bathed in autumnal sunshine, their wooded valleys and green gorges all aglow with the blaze of the colors which September drops on the foliage of our maple and oak trees, — gold, crimson, red, maroon, amber, pale green, brown — a landscape such as neither Claude Lorraine, nor Landseer, ever dared to attempt in their brightest day dreams ; a spectacle which invests the most humble Canadian cot with hues and surroundings denied to the turreted castle and park of the proudest English baron.

On we steamed, past Cape Chatte, a name borrowed two centuries back and more from the Commander de Chatte, a French nobleman, — and mentioned as such by Champlain in his map as early as 1612. A beacon for ships was lighted on it, on the 1 1th August last. On the opposite side, where the Laurentian chain seems to end, is Poiate des Monts, (the Point of the Mountains), and not Point Demon (the Devil's Point) as some geographers have been pleased to inscribe on the charts ; others, however, say that M. de Monts, more than two centuries ago, bequeathed it his name. Antiquarians, there is a nut for you to crack ! We had on board several " choice spirits " of an enquiring turn of mind — ever ready to make experiments in order to ascertain what was the best cure for sea-sickness. As the steamer rolled heavily at times, the enquiry had a practical bearing.

Was " hot Scotch " a specific in all cases ? Or was " Irish potheen " to be resorted to when the patient felt a kind of sinking sensation at the pit of the stomach ? Here, as well as at the Vatican,* the opinions were divided, as on the question of infallibility. After steaming thirty-eight hours, the " Gaspe" " was securely moored at Lowndes' wharf, Gaspe" Basin, one of the most snug harbors in all British North America. f The beach below is occupied by stores, warehouses, offices; the heights where the O'Harras, Perchards and Arnolds formerly lived are now held by the modern aristocracy of Gaspe and officials, on both sides of the Basin. On the south side, amidst trees, frowns Fort Ramsay with its cannon. The new and substantial residence of the Hon. John Leboutillier, M.L.C., X is conspicuous from afar, amongst the less showy dwellings of the other members of the clan.

On the corresponding shore sits the roomy dwelling of the re spected Collector of the port, J. C. Belleau, Esq., a true-hearted patriot of 1837, who, with the Vigers, DeWitts, and other men of note, were consigned to dungeons most dismal, for having dared to suspect that under the Family Compact there were 6 The famous Œcumenical Council had just closed. f Gasp6 Bay is well described by Champlain, pages 1085-90, &c. The name itself, it is suggested by his commentators, is borrowed from the picturesque rock, detached from the shore, three miles higher than Cape Gaspe, known to seamen as " Ship Head," or the " Old Woman," from the singular transformation by mirage ; the Indian name being Katsepiou, which means separate (abridged into Gaspe\) — See Champlairts Voyayes. % This gentleman has since died. some abuses in Canada.

Adjoining the Collector's residence, and facing the spot where the Royal squadron anchored in 1860, with the Prince of Wales on board, flourishes the temple of Roman Catholic worship. They were grand times, indeed, these gala days of 1860, when Albert of Wales visited his Royal mother's lieges, the Gaspesians. The officials, military and civil, turned out in tremendous force. Plumes, cocked hats, long-tailed coats, short-tailed coats, coats without tails, spurs, swords, helmets, every device, in fact, calculated to lend eclat to the pageant, was brought to tbe front. Amongst other items of news, we heard it talked of to restore to Gaspe an office of high rank and ancient creation — the office of Lieut. -Governor of Gaspe. Major Cox, in 1775, appears to have been the resident Lieut.-Governor.

We were shown a hickory chair that belonged to him. This seat did not seem firm, nor very durable, though it was a century old ; we felt, on sitting down on it, just like a Governor — pardon, a Lieut.-Governor — as Lieut.-Goveruors sit less secure and luxuriously. In the good old Tory days, many offices existed with emoluments well defined and duties very problematical. The Lieutenant-Gover norship of Gaspe, with a salary of £1,000 and perquisites ? — why, there were many things worse than that ! Messrs. Joseph and John Eden own extensive wharves and stores on the beach ; but, alas, the Free Port system, which in 1864, crammed the Gaspe" stores with goods, and deluged the coast with cheap gin and St. Pierre de Miquelon brandy, is a dream now — a melancholy dream of the past. We have to thank the aforesaid active Government officers for their courtesy to us as strangers.

The old Coffin Hotel, now much enlarged, is beauti fully located on the hill, and merely requires an experienced " Russell " to render it profitable, and a source of pleasure to the many tourists who will hereafter wind their way each summer to Gaspe Basin.* ° This hostelry was burned down in March, 1878. Higher up than their wharves, the Messrs. Lowndes have in operation an extensive saw-mill, which provides daily bread for many, many Gaspe families. Let us hope it may flourish ! One of the chief amusements at Gaspe Basin, during the summer months, is yachting and bobbing for mackerel, just outside the Basin, in the Bay. It is a most exciting and invigo rating pastime. The worthy American Consul counts on num erous American craft entering the basin so soon as the new Washington Treaty goes in force.

Chapter II

Gaspe Basin — Douglastown — Point St. Peter's — Mal Baie — New Carlisle— Paspebiac — The Great Jersey Firms. There is something singularly striking when, on a bright Sat urday morning, at break of day, with the far-reaching Bay of Gaspe before you lit up with amber sunshine, your ear catches the boom of the heavy guns fired by the two Gulf Port steamers — the one from Pictou, the other from Quebec ; their usual signal on nearing the placid waters of the Basin. They are so well timed that both frequently arrive together. Hark ! to the wild echo bounding over the waters, and then leaping from peak to peak in this weird, mountainous region. Three centuries ago and more, other echoes no less wild disturbed the quiet of this forest home — the shouts of joy of Jacques Cartier's adventurous crew, when planting a cross on the sandy point at the entrance, on the 24th July, 1534 ; and when taking possession in the name of Francis I of France ; not, however, without an energetic protest being then and there made by a great chief, " clad in a bear skin, and standing erect in his canoe, followed by his numerous warriors."

Hakluyt tells us that the old chief was enticed on board the French ships, and, on his sons Taiguragny and Domagaya being decked out in most gorgeous raiment, he was prevailed to let the vain youths accompany the French captain to the court of the French King. Poor vain lads ! had you been wise you would have jumped overboard and swam ashore when you passed Ship Head ! Look eastward on the dark waving woods hoary with age. Is this not the forest primeval 1 The murmuring pines and the hemlocks Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms, This is the forest primeval ; but where are the hearts that beneath it Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman ?

Where are now the descendants of the fierce Indians who then greeted Cartier, and whose huts were located on the rocky ledge where I now stand ? There were then no swift steamers churning these glad waters — no golden wheat-fields, as those I can now see at Sandy Beach ; but everywhere the forest primeval — its gloom—its trackless wilds — its uselessness to civilized man. On we sped, with steam and sails. Soon opened on us the extensive old settlement of Douglastown. It was not named after any fierce black Douglas, celebrated in song, but by an unassuming land surveyor of that name. Numerous descendants of the first settlers, of 1785 — the U. E. Loyalists — still survive : the Kennedys, Thompsons, Murisons, etc., industrious fishermen all. The whole bay is studded with fishing stations and small villages, in which generally the R. C. church is the most conspicuous object.

After passing Grande Greve and Chien Blanc, both the scenes of awful marine disasters, the steamer hugs the shore towards Point St. Peter's, a large and important fishing settlement, and creeps through a deep channel between the rocky ledge called Plateau and Point St. Peter's, and another thriving fishing location called Mal Baie. Accord ing to Champlain and his commentator, the origin of the name is taken from Mollies or Monies Baie (Codfish Bay) which the English turned into Mal Baie. However, don't be surprised at any transformation in these wild regions, as Cat Cape (Cape Chatte) and Devil's Point (Pointe de Monts) sufficiently testify. I might add another queer transmogrification. At St. Luce there is a deep cove and jutting point ; in spring, it is infested with mussels, which the French call des Cocques ; hence the French name VAnse aux Cocques.

But the English must have a cock instead ; they have named it Cock Point. I know I shall make the mouths of antiquarians water when I tell them I have at last, after a deal of research, got hold of the origin of the name of Father Point, a little higher up than Cock Point ; but of this hereafter. Let us hurry on to the great, grand, and growing capital on the Canadian side of Baie des Chaleurs (New Carlisle). All know why the Bay was called Baie des Chaleurs (Bay of Heat) by Cartier, though all of us on board the " Gaspe " found the place extremely cold. On a high bank, with a southern exposure, lies a fine cham pagne country laid out in square blocks of four acres each — for a town chiefly inhabited by English and Scotch. It has an Episcopalian church, a Roman Catholic church, a new court house and jail, and no less than two judges, living within view of each other.

Two resident judges in New Carlisle remind one of the two rival Roman Catholic churches staring at one another at Trois Pistoles — one evidently wdl have to knock un der, the place cannot afford such a luxury. It is said there is here enough litigation to fatten three resident lawyers, and that there are three physicians in the place. It is healthy notwithstanding, and some of the inhabitants have been known to attain great ages. Little or no fishing is done at the shire town. I had no time to find out whether it derives its name from an Earl of Carlisle, or from Tom Carlyle, the great Essayist and coiner of words. From the readiness with which words and names are altered, one would fain believe it hails from the great essayist. One case in point : that of the neighboring fishing settlement — its commercial emporium — Paspebiac.

This is an Indian name — the English-speaking population have altered it into Paspy Jack. They call themselves Paspy Jacks, and the French, who get their backs up readdy, especially since they have had Parliamentary elections to manage, call it Pospillat and themselves Des Pospillats. In Bishop Plessis's account of his mission, here, in 1811, we read that in many instances the maternal ancestors of the Pospillats were Micmac squaws, much to the disgust of the neighboring settlements. These half-breeds were then accounted fierce and revengeful. Tom Carlyle must have had something to do with this word-coining. But let us return to the county town. The view from the heights is most imposing. You notice here and there a better style of dwelling, trim flower-gardens interspersed with the scarlet clusters of the mountain ash or roan berry— comfortable old homesteads, like that of the Hamiltons — splendid new residences, like that of Dr. Robitaille, M.P.* There are several educated families located at New Carlisle which renders it a most pleasant residence, especially during the summer months ; but beware how you utter the word " Election," and keep a dignified reserve on this explosive sub ject until you are at least past, on your return, Ship Head or Fox River.

Talking of fiercely-contested elections reminds one of the great election of Eatanswill, mentioned in " Pickwick." Forty five green parasols be it remembered, judiciously bestowed, had turned the scale on that eventful day. In Canada, barrels of flour and the coin of the realm, are said to be more effective. However, let us hope that in Bonaventure, the election was carried with that lofty patriotism and exquisite purity, the shining characteristic of all Canadian elections, in June last ! ! ! Hem ! J For tourists in quest of health, sea-bathing and good fishing, I 5 NewCarlisle was first settled by American Loyalists : that is, by persons whose loyalty to the British Crown induced them to leave the United States at the period of the Revolution. These persons obtained free grants of land, agricultural implements, seed and provisions for one year.

Lieut.-Governor Cox was appointed, in or about 1774, as Governor of the district of Gaspe1, and seems to have resided alternately in two shire towns, New Carlisle and Perce. He appears to have been sent for the purpose of settling the Loyal ists in New Carlisle and Douglastown, and to have expended between the two places upwards of £80,000 sterling, a large amount when we consider the little progress made in either locality. The Abbe Ferland states that Judge Thompson once jocularly observed to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, that " this sum can only have been spent in making excavations underground, nothing appearing on the surface to justify such an outlay." — Pye's Gaspe Scenery. know few places more eligible than Baie des Chaleurs and Gaspe Basin. Paspebiac, with its roadstead running out to a point in the Bay, is the seaport — the great fishing stand of the Messrs. Robin and the Messrs. LeBoutillier Brothers.

The fishing establish ments — a crowd of nice white warehouses, with doors painted red, comprising stores, offices, forges, joiners' shops, dwellings for fishermen, even to powder magazines — all stand on a low beach or sand bar, connected with the shore by a ford for horses, and a trestlework bridge for foot passengers, which is taken down every fall and restored in the spring at the expense of the Messrs. Robin. It seems singular that the business and wealth centered here cannot afford a bridge. Crossing by ford at night, when the tide is high, is anything but an agreeable prospect. It is scarcely safe. Perhaps when some of the magnates of the place are found drowned in the ford, the Bridge question will assume a more tangible phase. Paspebiac is three miles east of New Carlisle. Here the Custom House is located.

The Collector (1871) is J. Fraser, Esq., an active, well-informed old Scotchman.* The bar on which the fishing warehouses stand, is a triangle formed by sand and other marine detritus. The interior of the triangle is gradually filling up. Here the fishermen dwell in summer ; they remove to their winter quarters on the heights in rear in December. It was in 1766 that Charles Robin, Esq., first landed at Pas pebiac and explored the coast in a small brig called the " Sea- Flower." One hundred and forty-six years previous (1620) other explorers, the Pilgrim-Fathers, were landing a little to the south in the " May-Flower." On 11th June, 1778, two American privateers plundered Mr. Robin's store of all his goods, furs, and seized his two vessels, the " Bee " and the " Hope ; " both were moored in the Paspebiac Roads.

But the " Bee " and the 0 This worthy, aged official, having since accepted a pension lives in his old homestead, formerly the residence of the historian, R. Christie, at Cross Point ; he is Warden of the County. New England privateers were all recaptured in the Restigouche, by H. B. M. vessels, " Hunter" and " Piper; " and the heavy salvage Mr. R. was called on to pay, viz. : one-eighth, caused him to fail ; he was off for Jersey. In 1783 he returned, sailing under French colors, and continued to accumulate wealth until 1802, when he left for Europe. On the green hdls in rear, the great Jersey houses have splen did farms, dwellings, gardens, parks. Fish manure and kelp are bountifully supplied here and largely used. The winter resi dences of the Managers of Messrs. Robin, and Messrs. LeBoutil lier Bros., are most commodious, most complete.

I was aUowed to inspect a large store for the packing of pork on the estabHsh ment of the Messrs. Robin — the first I had ever seen on this prin ciple. The thawing is done in the depth of winter without any artificial heat, and merely by a device which, whilst it excludes the cold air, retains the natural heat generated in the earth. In about a week the frozen pigs gradually thaw and are fit for salting. The walls of this budding, between earth, sawdust, timber, etc., are about twelve feet thick, with a vacuum between each layer. It is well worth a visitor's attention to examine the vast facdities and arrangements devised to carry on the gigantiG trade in fish, oil, etc., of the two wealthy Jersey houses, whose head establishments are at Paspebiac. The western point of the bar, or beach, is occupied by Le Boutillier Bros., a respectable old Jersey house ; but though a worthy rival of its neighbors, it is not so ancient as the great house of C. R. C. (Charles Robin & Co.) None of the Robins, however, reside here.

C. R. C. is a mighty name on the Gaspe" coast. It has existed more than a hundred years. Whether the " Co." is represented by sons, as formerly, I cannot tell ; perhaps, bke the great London house immortalized by Dickens, C. R. C. might now mean daughters — it is beyond doubt " Dombey & Son " turned out to be a daughter.* C. R. C. amongst the GaBpesians represent mile Since these lines were written in 1871, a notice of transfer of commercial rights appeared in the Morning Chronicle of Quebec, Oct. 8, 1877, giving the B lions ; seven vast establishments rejoice under this mystic com bination. It would be akin to sacrdege to say, at Paspebiac, that they could be affected by hard times. No one can fathom their resources : no one dare dispute the principle on which each es tablishment is carried on.

The poor clerks and managers, 'tis true, cannot own wives or famibes at their residences at Gaspe7 ; the founder of the house ordained it otherwise one hundred years ago, and their business rules are like the laws of the Medes and Persians — they alter not. C. R. C is really a grand, a glorious name, a tower of strength in Gaspesia, though it may mean a monopoly. Its credit is calculated to last untd the end of time. Canada Banks may get in Chancery ; the Bank of England may feel tight, hard up ; but C. R. C. never. Its cre dit stands higher on all the range of this vast coast than the Bank of England. I should be the last to attempt to dim the lustre of these great Jersey firms ; their word is as good as their bond, and in times of need, when the fishery fads, the poor fisher man never appeals to them in vain.

I cannot leave Paspebiac without noticing one of the most prominent elements of progress recently introduced — the exten sion of the Electric Telegraph, all the way down from Metis to Baie des Chaleurs and Gaspe\ Times are indeed changed since those dark ages when a Gaspe" or Baie des Chaleurs mad was made up once each winter and expedited to Quebec on the back of an Indian on snow-shoes. Thanks to their Parbamentary Members, thanks to the wealthy Jersey firms, thanks to the enterprise of the people who furnished the telegraph posts, (the Montreal Telegraph Co. agreeing to put them up), the wires place them now in hourly intercourse with every city of Amer ica and of Europe. following as the members of the commercial firm of Charles Robin, viz. : " Messrs. Raulin Robin, Philip Gosset and William Lempriere, all of the Ibland of Jersey, in Europe, where is situate the head office."