From Rivière du Loup, where we passed the night and ate our first
“Tommy-cods,” our thread of travel makes a big loop around New
Brunswick to St. John, thence out and down through Maine to Boston,—a
thread upon which many delightful excursions and reminiscences might be
strung. We traversed the whole of the valley of the Metapedia, and
passed the doors of many famous salmon streams and rivers, and heard
everywhere the talk they inspire; one could not take a nap in the car
for the excitement of the big fish stories he was obliged to overhear.
The Metapedia is a most enticing-looking stream; its waters are as
colorless as melted snow; I could easily have seen the salmon in it as
we shot along, if they had come out from their hiding-places. It was
the first white-water stream we had seen since leaving the Catskills;
for all the Canadian streams are black or brown, either from the iron
in the soil or from the leechings of the spruce swamps. But in New
Brunswick we saw only these clear, silver-shod streams; I imagined they
had a different ring or tone also. The Metapedia is deficient in good
pools in its lower portions; its limpid waters flowing with a tranquil
murmur over its wide, evenly paved bed for miles at a stretch. The
salmon pass over these shallows by night and rest in the pools by day.
The Restigouche, which it joins, and which is a famous salmon stream
and the father of famous salmon streams, is of the same complexion and
a delight to look upon. There is a noted pool where the two join, and
one can sit upon the railroad bridge and count the noble fish in the
lucid depths below. The valley here is fertile, and has a cultivated,
well-kept look.
We passed the Jacquet, the Belledune, the Nepissisquit, the Miramichi
(“happy retreat”) in the night, and have only their bird-call names to
report.
INDEX
Anemone.
Angler, a born; eagerness of the.
Arbutus.
Asters.
Audubon, John James.
Aurora borealis, an.
Balsam Lake.
Barrington, Daines, his table of English song-birds.
Basswood, _or_ linden.
Bear, black.
Beaverkill, the; trouting on.
Bee. _See_ Bumblebee _and_ Honeybee.
Berries.
Berrying.
Big Ingin River.
Birch, yellow.
Birds, eyes of; imperfect singers among; human significance of; songs
of English; relative pugnaciousness of English and American; species
common to Europe and America; small and large editions of various
species of; their ingenuity in the concealment of their nests.
Birds of prey.
Biscuit Brook.
Blackbird, European; notes of.
Blackbird, red-winged. _See_ Starling, red-shouldered.
Bloodroot.
Bluebird (_Sialia sialis_), struggling with a cicada; courting; cares
of housekeeping; and screech owl; notes of; nest of.
Blunder-heads.
Bobolink (_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_); song of.
Boy.
Brooks. _See_ Trout streams.
Buckwheat.
Bumble-bee.
Bunting, European, notes of.
Bunting, indigo. _See_ Indigo-bird.
Bunting, snow, or snowflake (_Passerina nivalis_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account