Proceeding east over the Intercolonial Railway along the south shore we pass in turn the prosperous towns of Montmagny, Cap St. Ignace, L’Islet, St. Jean Port Joli and Ste. Anne de la Pocatière opposite Baie St. Paul and the Isle au Coudres. Montmagny is fairly near the railway station, but the other places are on the river front and a drive of a mile or two is necessary from each station to reach a town.
Baie St. Paul, on the north shore, is a place of call for the St. Lawrence steamboats, and is within easy reach of Quebec. In a country where the grandeur of nature is visible on every hand, it is difficult to do justice to all the beautiful sights without seeming to overpraise them. And yet in this romantic little resort is a wealth of beauty that must be seen if all that is lovely in nature is not to be slighted. It is French through and through, and therefore delightful. Looking up the valleys of the two rivers, Gouffre and Moulin, there is a fine view of a mountain range that fades away in the far distance in different shades of blue. Following the rapid course of the Gouffre there is a road from which many charming views may be seen. The beautiful groves of trees, the bright cottages, and the water falling over the precipice in long, silvery bands are pleasant features of the landscape. There is a grand view from the top of Cap au Corbeau, after the birds that make this place their haunt have been frightened away. It was off Les Eboulements that Jacques Cartier’s three little vessels, the Grande Hermine, Petite Hermine and Emerillon, anchored in the bay, near the end of Isle aux Coudres, when he made his second voyage to the West.
Isle aux Coudres is even more French than Baie St. Paul. Here Jacques Cartier landed on his second voyage to New France. He gave to the island the name it has since retained, a name derived from the numerous hazel trees he found here. It is recorded that in 1663 a mountain was lifted by an earthquake and cast bodily over the water on to this island. It was thus made much larger than before. At present the inhabitants are content with their acreage, and have no desire for further additions of this kind. A survival of the old Norman life is here, and for this and the view of island and mainland it is worth a visit. Small white whales are often caught near here in great abundance.
A quartette of famous north-shore resorts is brought within pleasant reach by the Canadian Government Steamship Champlain. There is a hotel here where people from nearby places stay in the summer time to enjoy the cool river air. The steamship Champlain leaves the wharf twice daily for north-shore resorts, making connection on its return with trains going east and west each morning and afternoon. On Sundays the boat goes to and returns from Pointe à Pic only, but as the other resorts are only a few miles from that place, it is easy to reach them by carriage. Stopping at Rivière Ouelle Junction, taking the train there to the wharf and boarding the smart river steamship, an enjoyable run of about sixteen miles brings up at St. Irénée, from which place the Champlain passes on eastward to Pointe à Pic and Murray Bay, and thence to Cap à l’Aigle. On alternate trips the order of calls is reversed; the Champlain proceeding first to Cap à l’Aigle and then going west calls in inverse order at the other points.
The four resorts are entirely different in character, and to some extent in scenery. The name Murray Bay is frequently applied to the whole district reaching from Pointe à Pic to Murray Bay, a distance of about three miles. This causes some confusion in addressing and receiving letters, and it is well to remember that the steamboat landing is at Pointe à Pic, that the Manoir Richelieu, most of the hotels, and the heart of the resort, all within easy driving distance of the wharf, are included in the Pointe à Pic postal district; while the name Murray Bay properly belongs to the postal district surrounding the old village on the Murray Bay River some three miles distant.
Pointe à Pic is a beautiful summer resort much in favor with wealthy people. It is decidedly fashionable in its general tone, and there are many handsome residences and bungalows on the heights and down along the cliffs and sloping fields of the Bay shore. Carriage-driving, tennis, golf and boating are the chief amusements. Murray Bay, by which is meant the old French village near the river bridge, is a quaint place, less fashionable, much more compact and town-like, and where the hotels—smaller and not so expensive as those at Pointe à Pic—are in the midst of the busy little main street, but within a stone’s throw of the open country on both sides of the river. St. Irénée is smaller and quieter than either of the foregoing places. It is about six miles south of Pointe à Pic. Here a delightful life may be enjoyed at a quiet family hotel right on the beach, in the midst of a charming country side for walks and rambles. Cap à l’Aigle is the quietest resort of all. It is about three miles east of Murray Bay. There are no hotels, but the roomy farm houses on the cliffs have been adapted for the reception of visitors, and the summer life is altogether rural and free from fashion’s trammels.
ST. IRÉNÉE
1. Habitant’s House 2. Where the Brook Meets the Tide