We now congratulated each other on our good fortune, and had just resolved to be happy, when we discovered a number of Indians in the river spearing salmon by torch-light; and as it was after midnight, and the heathen were spearing on our fishing-ground, we mournfully concluded that our morning sport was at an end. But, while in the very midst of this agreeable mood of mind, a lot of skylarking musquitoes discovered our retreat, and we were again besieged. We now endeavoured to find relief on board the boat which had brought us from the Saguenay, and here it was that we spent the two last hours of that most miserable night.
Though not exactly in a fitting condition to throw the fly with any degree of comfort, we made an effort after salmon in the morning, and succeeded in killing a portion of the thirteen already mentioned. That we enjoyed the good breakfast which we had prepared for our especial benefit, and that we departed from Esquemain as soon as possible, are facts which I consider self-evident.
The mouth of the Saguenay, as I have before remarked, is completely hemmed in with barriers of solid rock; and when the tide is flowing in, from one of these points, first-rate salmon fishing may occasionally be enjoyed. I have frequently had the pleasure of throwing the fly on the point in question, and on one occasion was so carried away with the sport that I took no notice of the rising tide. It was near the sunset hour, and on preparing for my departure home, I discovered that I was completely surrounded with water, and that my situation was momentarily becoming more dangerous. The water was bitter cold and turbulent, and the channel which separated me from the main shore was upwards of a hundred yards wide. I was more than half a mile from the nearest dwelling, and could not see a single sail on the Saguenay, or the still broader St. Lawrence, excepting a solitary ship, which was ten leagues away. My predicament, I assure you, was not to be envied. I could not entertain the idea that I should lose my life; and, though I felt myself to be in danger, my sensations were supremely ridiculous. But something, I was persuaded, must be done, and that immediately; and so I commenced throwing off my clothes for a final effort to save my life. I had stripped off every thing but shirt and pantaloons, and to a flock of crows which were cawing above my head I must have presented an interesting picture. I thought of the famous swimming adventures of Leander and Lord Byron, and also of the inconveniences of being drowned (as Charles Lamb did of being hanged); but just as I was about to make the important plunge, an Indian in his canoe came gliding around a neighbouring point, and I was rescued, together with one salmon and some dozen pounds of trout.
But I have not finished my story yet. On the night following this incident, I retired to bed in rather a sober mood, for I could not banish the recollection of my narrow escape from a ducking, if not from a watery grave. The consequence was, that in my dreams I underwent ten times as much mental suffering as I had actually endured. I dreamed that in scaling the rocks which lead to the point alluded to, I lost my footing, and fell into the water. While in this condition, drinking more salt water than I wanted, floundering about like a sick porpoise, gasping for breath, and uttering a most doleful moan, I was suddenly awakened, and found my good landlord at my side, tapping me on the shoulder, for the purpose of summoning me—from the back of the nightmare I had been riding.
As I may not have another opportunity of alluding to this portion of the Saguenay, and to the rocky point already alluded to, I must give my reader another and a remarkable incident connected with them. Some years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company had in its employ as clerk, at Tadousac, an intelligent and amiable young man, whose name was McCray. For some unaccountable reason he became deranged; and on one occasion, a cold and stormy winter night, he took it into his head to cross the Saguenay upon the floating ice, which was running at the time. When first discovered, he was about half-way across the stream, and making frightful leaps of ten and fifteen feet from one block of ice to another. His friends followed in close pursuit, with a boat, as soon as possible; but on reaching the opposite shore, the unhappy man was not to be found. On the day following, however, some people who were hunting for him in the woods, discovered him perched in a tree, almost frozen to death, and senseless as a clod of the valley. He was taken home, the circulation of his blood restored, and he is now an inmate of the Quebec Lunatic Asylum. The mind of this worthy man was thought to be of a high order; and it is certain that he possessed an extensive knowledge of botany and geology. From remarks that escaped him subsequently to the wonderful feat he performed, it is supposed that, at the time of starting across the river, he was thinking of a particular book which he wished to obtain, and had been told could be purchased in Quebec, towards which place (unattainable by land) he had set out. It is worthy of record, that poor McCray is the only man who ever crossed the deep and angry Saguenay on the ice, as it is never solidly frozen; and it is almost certain, that the feat he performed, can never be again repeated.
But to return to my piscatorial remarks. Next to the salmon, the finest sporting fish of this region is the trout. Of these I have seen two species, the salmon and the common trout. Of the former I believe there is but one variety; but that is an exceedingly fine fish for sport or the table, and is found in the lower tributaries of the St. Lawrence, from five to fifteen pounds. They are taken chiefly in the salt water, and possess a flavour which the trout of our Western lakes do not. Of the common trout, I have seen at least six varieties, differing, however, only in colour; for some are almost entirely white, others brown, some blue, some green, some black, and others yellow. These are taken everywhere in the St. Lawrence, and in all its tributaries. Those of the Saguenay are the largest, most abundant, and of the rarest quality. Upon the whole, I am inclined to set this river down as affording the finest trout-fishing that I have ever enjoyed, not even excepting that which I have experienced at the Falls of St. Mary, in Michigan. Almost every bay or cove in the Saguenay is crowded with trout; and, generally speaking, the rocks upon which you have to stand afford an abundance of room to swing and drop the fly. In some of the coves alluded to, I have frequently taken a dozen two-pound trout during the single hour before sunset.
Trout fishing, in this region, possesses a charm which the angler seldom experiences in the rivers and lakes of the United States, which consists in his uncertainty as to the character of his prize before he has landed him; for it may be a common or salmon trout, or a regular built salmon, as these fish all swim in the same water. It is reported of a celebrated angler of Quebec, that he once spent a week on the Esquemain, and captured within that time seventy salmon, and upwards of a hundred trout. This is a very strange story, but I have faith enough to believe it true.
And now for a few remarks upon the fish of the St. Lawrence generally. Cod are taken to a very great extent, and constitute an important article of commerce. Herring and mackerel are abundant, also the hallibut and sardine. Shad are also taken, but not in sufficient quantities to export. The lobster, flounder, and oyster are also found in this river; and, with a few unimportant exceptions, these are the only fish that flourish in this portion of the great river. The sea-bass, the striped-bass, the blue-fish, and the black-fish, for which I should suppose these waters perfectly adapted, are entirely unknown.
CHAPTER XV.
Seal-hunting on the St. Lawrence—The white Porpoise.