Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1890-05-17
A River Fiend.

In very entertaining article entitled
%Some Legends of the Old st. Law
renee" contained in the February mum
Der of The NelU England Nagazine
J. Macdo4sl Oxley writes as follows:
Retracing our course somewhat, and
doubling the Gaspe promontory, We
find ourselves IN the Bale des Chaleurs
whose entrance is guarded by the Island
of MiscoU, than which no other spot
not even Anticosti itself, has borne 8
richer harvest of legend. Tales Of
marvellous monsters, and traditions OF
war, famine and shipwreck, and harrow
ing human suffering, abound. Once il
was a very prosperous fishing center,
but that day has long since passed, and
now only a handful of French Cana
dams exc out q miserable existence,
aided by the harvest of wild hay which
grows upon vast meadows daily over
flowed by the tide. According to Gov
ernor Deny, the island possessed in his
time-that is, 200 or more years ago-a
notable natural wonder, which is thus
described: "a few hundred yards from
the beach there spurts from the briny
sea gush of fresh water as big as your
two fists, which retains its freshness for
a space of twenty yards. without in
any wise blending with the surrounding
salt liquid, either at high or low tide.
The fishermen come there in boats to
fill their casks, and draw it up as if it
were from the reservoir of q fountain. +"
And Mr.. Lemoine, who is still with US,
AYERS that the truthfulness of the old
Governors narrative has been vouched
for to him by seafaring folk frequenting
those shores.
But the most famous and far-spresd
legends of Miscou are those connected
with the Gougou, concerning which
mysterious monster we had better let
its first ch ronicler, Champlain, speak
for himself. l translate the following
from his Voyages: "There is, he says,
"a wonderful thing here, we'll worthy of
mention, which many of the natives
have assured me is fact, to-wit, that
near the Bale DIES Chaleur lies an island.
upon which dwells monster with the
form of a woman, but of dreadful ap-
pearance, and of such a stature that the
top of their masts would reach only to
her waist. They describe her rs being
She has devoured many Of
their number, and continues to do so,
putting her victims, when she has
seized them, in q huge pocket, which
some, who have been so lucky IS to
escape from her dreadful clutches,
describe as being big enough to hold
one of their vessels. This monster is
constantly making horrible noises, and
bears the name of Gougou, and when
the natives speak of her it is always
with bated breath and trembling lips
Yea, the Sieur Prevent de Saint Malo,
while on a search for mines, assures me
hat he passed so close to the lair of
his dreadful creature that he and all |
IN board the yessil heard the strange |
Kissing noises she made, and that the |
natives who were with him told him |
hat was indeed the Gougop and were
o terrified that they hid themselves
wherever they could, dreading lest she
lad come to bear them off. lam of the
pinion," continues Champla5n, by way
f Judgment upon the evidence before
i'm, that the island is the residence of
ONE demon which takes delight in tor
lenting the. people in that way"