GASPÉ PENINSULA
1. Carleton 2. New Carlisle 3. Gaspé
The indignant chief, with his followers, immediately withdrew, and would neither be pacified nor persuaded to return, although the cause of the ill-timed merriment was explained to him.
Sunrise on the Gaspé is a beautiful sight. The long stretch of sandy beach, the opposite shore with the pine and fir trees in the far background, the houses of the fishermen, the boats on the strand, the waving fields of grain, the ever-brightening sun tinting all with increasing light, and in the distant offing the dark hull of a vessel that has not yet passed into the bay; all make a new picture.
“What a delightful haven of rest Gaspé is for the overworked and sleepless New Yorker!” remarked a Gothamite who makes this his summer home. Another, on his return from mackerel fishing exclaimed, “What a glorious spot to recuperate exhausted nature! No noise, no telegrams, no trusts, no bank troubles, no corporation frauds, no boodlers, no presidential elections!...... Instead, sleep, bracing air and incomparable landscapes.”
No one is in a hurry here. They get up when they like. They do not rush—they saunter. No feverish haste to do anything. If a thing is not done to-day—very good, it may be done tomorrow. Idle older people smoke all day, gossip a bit, take a walk, and otherwise amuse themselves. They retire early and sleep soundly, undisturbed by civilization’s din.
A characteristic little story is related by Lemoine in his excellent ‘Maple Leaves,’ or Explorations in the Lower St. Lawrence. It seems that the government of the day had sent a commissioner to Gaspé to enquire into the discipline, etc., of the county prison there. When he arrived, he found the jailer sitting on the court house steps, in an easy chair, smoking a huge Dutch meerschaum. This is a transcript of the dialogue that ensued:
“Won’t you step in, Mr. Commissioner, and see how we manage here. My turnkey is away catching his winter’s cod. My prisoners are all in good health, and I have eighteen of them.”
“I should like to see them,” replied the visiting official.
“Are you in a hurry—will it do after supper?” asked the genial jailer. “I will have them all here then.”