The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-03-24
THE sAGUENAY RIVER.

THE SAGUENAY RIVER.
Some OF the Beauties of the Worlds
Deepest Stream.
The river is probably the deepest
stream in the world; excepting i'll
few places the general depth is from
500 to 900 feet; and the bottom OF the
Saguenay at its mouth is 600 feet be-
low the bottom of the St. Lawrence.
Thus a low point of rock at the shore
Or an island is really the top OF agreat
! hill springing up steep]y 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 eddles
along the shores are like those on q
rapid; and the undcrcurrents some-
times lay hold of 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 OIL ~ ledge. ana
when the tide fell capsized in deep
water As anchorage is very rarely
found, large iron rings were let into
the rocks. and vessels even now some
times tie up to the cliffs and await a
| fair wind. The tide, for some unex-
planned reason, advances with extra-
ordinary rapidity in the Saguenay;
thus notwit]s standing the fact that the
obb current very rarely ceases to flow
out of the river, yet high tide arrives ut
Chicoutimi only forty-hve minutes later
than Enthusiastically miles. On
the St. Lawrence the tide advances in
the same time only from Tadousae to
Murray Bay--about thirty-dve miles.
The source OF the Saguenay, Lake st.
John, seems like a Northern sea- The
pale twilight lasts far into Che night
until the aurora borealis hangs its
mystic veil across the sky. The beaches,
mile or more wide in summer, the
sharp waves raised by wind on this
very shallow basin, the screaming !guils
all make you look for q tide and for
white winged ships. But only bark
canoe now and then comes along from
one Of the thirteen rivers descending
by many falls and cascades from tao
Ifores3-covered mountains; and the
pinched-up farms scattered along the
shores add to the arctic sentiment, felt
even on {, summers day, The Sagu-
enay comes into being as lusty twins,
the Little and the Grand Discharge
deep narrow channels worn in this
rock. They run on separately for some
miles through rapids aud pools, and
finally come together at the foot OF
Alma Island, NJ the Vache Caille.
There begin the Geryais Rapids, three
OF four miles long; at their foot the
river enters smooth, quiet stretch of
fifteen miles TO the Grand Remous-
the most furious cascade and the most
turbulent eddy OF the river; and then,
after q few more miles of falls and
cascades, the Saguenay ends its rapid
career, where it meets the tide near
Chicoutin1i. With the exception Of "a
few clearings, the forest still covers
the abrupt hills csoweing upon tho
river. The Grand Discharge is q beau"
tiful region; the stream is filed with an
archipelago Of small islands, some
black, bare rocks, others tree-crowneA
or decked with rich moses; it has all
Tie virgin seclusion and quiet OF q
lake. enclosed by shore Of bold, pic"
G,,resque bastions and walSs of rock,
surmounted ly stately balsams THAI rise
like ssntiaels above tbs Soirches, pop"
lars, c,sdsrs, and noczs 1ull Of t@E'dsz
green grass. But this qnietness is full
Of life; the islands divide the river
into a labyrinth of streams; the
water runs silently and swiftly
in many opposite directions -dow4,
across, even up the general course Of
the river; one is piqued, surprised, at
It's coquetry and shyness, And farther
down it leaps away in the furious
rapids OF lie Maline. The Little Dis"
charge is SO rapid chat it destroys logs
in its fall aud cascades; the Govern
ment therefore built an aqueluct, "ths
Slide," for running the timber over
these dangerous places After hshlng
a few days for the active wannoniche
said to be the landlockad salmon
and exploring the waters Of these twin
Discharges. joined the men driving
logs at the Vache Caille, and began my
acquaintance with the voyagers. &C. Il
Fiarmham, l1s Harper's Aaga*ine.
The Proper Size.