What an exhilarating spectacle, and how the waters dash, foam and roar as they are hurled headlong down the steep descent. What a splendid place to camp anywhere near here—one would surely never tire of such delightful surroundings. As we sit and watch the water assume ever-changing forms, we think of the Indians and their life on these waters in the long ago, and in fancy we see them mounting the crests of the billows and passing up and down the river in perfect safety.
Up and down is doubtless wrong, for who could propel a boat upstream against a foaming current going over ten miles an hour, and often nearer fifteen! Discussing this with our guide, he declares he feels like going up in the motor-canoe as far as he can, and, he adds, “By George, I believe I can get through!” We laugh him to scorn. He persists in trying it. At last we decide to join in the experience.
We oil up and make all ready. Off we go! right into the midst of the foam at the lower end of the rapids. The engine works furiously at full speed while we watch results.
We are making rapid progress in the wrong direction; for working full speed ahead, we gain just enough way to get into the direct current and then downstream we go, stern first, Davidson joining in the laugh at his expense. “Never mind,” we say, “we were right in the midst of it, and the boat did splendidly.”
FREDERICTON
1. Waterloo Row, Fredericton 2. York Street, Fredericton 3. Walnut Park, Fredericton 4. Phoenix Square, Fredericton
Is there need to describe the pleasures of the return journey? How our host of the previous night, Davidson’s brother—who had come with us from his ferry to the rapids—insisted on our stopping off at his house for dinner; how we did so and found by experience that city “cream” has a very rich but distant relative known as “country cream” which turns tea into nectar. Nor is there need for a description of how we operated the ferry, said “good-bye” and went downstream—wind, current and gasolene all in our favor—at a clip of twelve miles an hour and sometimes faster; nor how we sped by the men poling their rafts downstream, giving them time only to greet us with a friendly call and wave of the hand before we were well by; or how we gasolened triumphantly into Fredericton by eight at night, just in time for a nice supper at the hostelry near to the steamboat landing, and to take a little turn on the Promenade before retiring for sleep that came so fast as to almost close our eyes before head could be well cushioned in downy pillow........ all the details attending these various incidents must be left to the imagination: and also those of the moose we saw in the woods, the wild birds on the wing, the flocks of wild ducks in the water—twenty and more at a time—that allowed us to pass close by without taking fright, the young deer that watched us cunningly from woodland and thicket, the partridges, the soaring eagles, the leaping salmon, and the fishermen hauling in their well-stocked nets.
