The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-04-19
The sagnenay River.

The river is probably the deepest
stream in the world; excepting a few
places the general depth is from 600
to 800 feet; and the bottom of the
Saguenay at its mouth is 600 feet below
the bottom of the St. Lawrence. Thus
low point of the rock at tue shore or
an island is really the top of a great
hill springing up 'steeply from the bot
tom, and many Of the cliffs are not
half out Of water. As the spring tides
rise about eighteen feet, the currents
of the river are violent and eccentric;
in some places the ebb stream runs
from four to six miles an hour; the
eddies along the shores are like those
on rapid; and the undercurrents
sometimes lay hold of a vessel and
turn her about or hold her still in spite
of tow-boat. Before the use of tow
boats. a vessel left helpless by a calm
sometimes drifted against the rocks,
lodged on a ledge, and when the tide
fell capsized in deep water. As an
chorage is very rarely found, large
iron rings were let into the rocks, and
vessels even now sometimes tie up to
the cliffs and await a fair wind The
tide for some unexplained reason, ad-
vanees with extraordinary rapidity in
the Saguenay; thus, notwithstanding
the fact that the ebb current very
rarely ceases to flow out of the river.
yet high tide arrives at Chicoutimi
only forty-fve minutes later than at
Tadousac-seyenty miles. On the St.
Lawrence the tide advances in the
same time only from Tadousac to Muir
ray Bay-about thirty-five miles.
The source of the Saguenay, Lake St.
John, seems like a Northern sea. The
pale twilight lasts far into the night
until the aurora borealis hangs its
mystic veil across the sky. The
beaches, mile or more wide in sum-
mer, the sharp waves raised by q wind
on this very shallow basin, the scream
ing gulls all make you look for a tide
and for white-winged ships. But only
a bark canoe now and then comes
along from one of the thirteen rivers
descending by many falls and cas-
cades from the forest-covered noun
tains; and the pinched-up farms scat
tered along the shores add to the arctic
sentiment, felt even on summers day.
The Saguenay comes into being as
lusty twins, the Little and the Grand
Discharge-deep narrow channels
worn in the rock. They run on separ-
ately for some miles through rapids
and pools, and finally come together at
the foot of Alma Island. at the Vache
Caille. There begin the Gervais
Rapids. three or four miles long; at
their foot the river enters a smooth,
quiet stretch of fifteen miles to the
Grand Remous-the most furious cas-
cade and the most turbulent eddy of
the river; and then. after q few more
miles OF falls and cascades, the Sague-
nay ands its rapid career where it
meets the tide near Chicoutimi. With
the exception of few clearings, the
forest still covers the abrupt hills
crowding upon the river The Grand
Discharge is a beautiful region; the
stream is filled with an archipelago of
small islands. some black bare rocks,
others tree-crowned or decked with
rich MOSES; 1t has all the virgin Sc
clusion and quiet of a lake. enclosed
by shore of bold, picturesque bas-
tions and walls of rocks, surmounted
by stately balsams that rise like senti-
nels above the birches. poplars, cedars,
and nooks full of tender green grass.
But this quietness is full of life; the
islands divide the river into a labyrinth
of streams; the water runs silently and
swiftly in many opposite directions
down, across. even up the general
course of the river; one is piqued. sur
prised. at its coquetry and shyness.
And farther down it leaps away in the
furious rapids of lie Maline. The Lit
tie Discharge is so rapid that it de-
stroys logs in its falls and cascades;
the government therefore built an
aqueduct. "the Slide," for running the
timber. over these dangerous places.
After fishing few days for the active
wannoniche-said to be the landlocked
salmon-and exploring the waters of
,hese twin Discharges. l joined the
men driving logs at tine Vache Caille,
md began my acquaintance with the
Foyagers. Magazine.