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Sketches of the Restigouche

The Tribune

        Down the coast in 1891
Travel guide

        The following is an excerpt from a travel guide written in 1891 by none other than New Brunswicker Charles G. D. Roberts, who was far better known for his poetry.

        The name Restigouche signifies the five-fingered river - so called from the five great branching tributaries which spread abroad through Quebec and New Brunswick like the fingers of an open hand. [Ed. Note: this is not now the commonly accepted meaning. According to Geographical Names of New Brunswick it probably came from a word that meant "good river", as in good for canoeing, fishing, etc. According to the same source, the original name of the Miramichi River was almost identical and meant much the same thing. ] Of these branches the Upsalquitch is a marvelous trout and salmon stream, but difficult of access on account of its almost continuous rapids, and somewhat hard to fish successfully by reason of the preternatural clearness of its currents. The ample stream of the "Quah-ta-wah-am-quah-davic" has had its name providentially condensed by the lumberman into "Tom Kedgewick." The course of the Restigouche is nowhere broken by falls or impassable rapids; and its strong, full, unflagging current makes it a magnificent stream for the canoe man. Its salmon-fisheries are famed the world over, and are for the most part in the hands of fishing-clubs made up of wealthy Canadian and American anglers.

        The Restigouche salmon is remarkable for his size. He is a very different fish from his fellows of Nepisiguit and Miramichi. He does more of his fighting under water, and usually takes the fly when it is below the surface. He has been made the subject of a bright article in Scribner's Magazine for May, 1888. Gigantic and magnificent as he is, he is capricious in his appetite, and frequently when he is most wanted he is not there. His fame has quite eclipsed that of the noble Restigouche trout, who is always on hand to console the disappointed fisherman . . . The fishing rights to many of the best pools on the Restigouche are held by gentlemen owning the adjacent shores, and it is usually easy to get permission for a cast in one or another of the pools. From the bridge the railroad follows down the S. shore of the Restigouche a few miles to Campbellton, where there is a first-class dining hall in the station. Immediately behind the village of Campbellton rises a peculiar mountain called the Sugar-loaf, about 1,000 ft. in height. The face of the Sugar-loaf is inaccessible on the side next the village. Its base on this side is strewn thick with mighty boulders, which have detached themselves on slight provocation. The view from the summit is remarkably fine. Yonder lies the park-like amphitheatre wherein the Restigouche and Metapedia meeting, coiling hither and thither in bands of azure. Beyond, towering over innumerable lesser hills, the peak's of Squaw's Cap and Slate Mountain [Ed. Note: apparently what we call Mann's Mountain]; and over the shining waters of the Baie des Chaleurs the blue ranges of the Tracadiegash in Gaspe, the practically unexplored terminations of the Alleghany system. Below our feet the white cottages of Campbellton shine in the transparent atmosphere.

        Within the mouth of the Restigouche there stood in old times a French town called Petite Rochelle. Across the river from Campbellton lies the Micmac settlement of Mission Point, where the remains of two French vessels may still be seen at low water. The Micmac village stands upon a good coal-field . . .

        Nine miles from Campbellton the train stops at Dalhousie Junction, whence a run of 7 miles brings us to the lovely water-place of Dalhousie, with its famous summer hotel, the Inch Arran. Dalhousie lies on the beautiful and placid waters of the Baie des Chaleurs. It is the capital of Restigouche County, and has a population of between 2,000 and 3,000, with a considerable trade in lumber and fish. [Ed. Note: this number is very much exaggerated, and Dalhousie did not reach such numbers until the mill was opened in 1930. Local boosterism to the point of telling tall tales to strangers seems to have been the case then as now.] In the deep sheltered harbor of Dalhousie the boating and bathing facilities are all that could be desired. The Indian name of the Baie des Chaleurs is Ecketuam Nemaache, which signifies "a Sea of Fish", and is in the highest degree appropriate. The waters of the bay are brooded over by the charm of many legends, chief among which is that of the "Phantom Ship"whose lurid shape is said to appear at times off the coast, and to be associated in some indeterminate manner with the omnipresent Captain Kidd. Here lies the scene also of the brutal deed of Skipper Ireson, the subject of a spirited ballad by Whittier:

"Small pity for him!-He sailed away
From a leaking ship in Chaleur Bay-
Sailed away from a sinking wreck,
With his own town's people on her deck!
'Lay by! lay by!' they called to him;
Back he answered: 'Sink or swim!
Brag of your catch of fish again!'
And off he sailed through the fog and rain."

        From Dalhousie Junction to Bathurst the traveler gets some noble and spacious views from the car windows. [Ed. Note: that is, the windows of train cars.] Ten miles from the Junction is Charlo, beside the Charlo River, a small stream which has not been leased for several years although it is a capital trout stream, and one may kill a few salmon on it in the early part of the season. Sixteen miles farther on we cross Jacquet River, a famous fishing stream, which a few years ago was nearly depleted by poachers, but which is rapidly regaining its old status under judicious protection. Beyond Jacquet River we pass the unimportant stations of Belledune and Petite Roche, at the latter of which we cross the little Nigadou River . . .

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