A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs Part 12

3rd. Take care to have your own Orders strictly obeyed by those who are under your Command but before you give any Order, be sure it is right and necessary.

4th. Attend the Parades, and learn without delay the different motions and words of Command and every part of the Duty of a Subaltern officer when upon guard; also when under Arms with the whole Battalion, or otherwise.

5th. Be always ready and willing to go upon every military duty that may be ordered. Never think you do too much in that way; the more the better and the more honourable.

6th. Be careful in doing the Company Duty, in such a manner, that the Soldiers may be kept in excellent Order and everything belonging to them; as their Arms, Accoutrements, Ammunition, Necessarys, Dress, Messing, etc., according as may be regulated by the standing Orders of the Regiment, or that may be most agreeable to your Captain or Lieutenant Commanding the Company; also not only to know every man of the Company by Name, but, as soon as possible, to know their several Characters and Dispositions that each may be encouraged, cherished, or punished, as he deserves. You ought every day, or very frequently to wait on your Captain, or Lieutenant Commanding the Company, in order to report to him upon these matters, and to know if he has any directions or Commands for you.

7th. Endeavour all you can to learn the Adjutant's Duty: To be able to Exercise the Company (or even the Battalion) in the Manual, their Manoeuvres and the firings.

8th. Make yourself fit for paying the Company, and to be exact in keeping Accounts, so that you may be capable of even being paymaster to a Regiment.

9th. You ought to practice writing Court-Martials, Returns, and Reports of all sorts, Acquittance Rolls, Muster Rolls, and Letter Writing; taking always great pains to have a good hand of writ and to spell well.

10th. It is also recommended to you to study Engineering and Drawing; To read Military Books, The occurrences and news of the time and History, etc.; Never to leave anything undone which you think ought to be done; in short, not to lose or misspend time, but constantly [to] endeavour to gain knowledge, and improvement, and to exert yourself in being always steady and diligent in the Execution of every part of your Duty.

11th. No doubt you will soon get Acquainted with all the officers of the Regiment, and to know the Companys the Subaltern Officers belong to, likewise to know the Names and Characters of all the non-Commissioned officers, and the Companys they belong to, even most of the private men and what Companys they are in. You ought to have a Book of Quarters (or List of the Army) and learn the Number, and any thing else Remarkable of each Regiment; also concerning the Generals, and Field Officers, and the Rules and Regulations of the Army.

N.B.--Never be ashamed to ask questions at any of your Brother Officers in order to gain information. The Sergeants of your Company will furnish you with any Rolls, Lists or Returns you may have occasion for respecting the Regt.

APPENDIX E (p. 104)

THE "PORPOISE" (BELUGA OR WHITE WHALE) FISHERY ON THE ST.

LAWRENCE

The so-called "porpoise" of the St. Lawrence is in reality the French _marsouin_, the English beluga, a word of Russian origin, signifying white. The Beluga (_Delphinapterus leucas_), is a real whale with its most striking characteristic the white, or rather cream-coloured, skin described by some writers as very beautiful. Like the narwhal it has no dorsal fin. Though the smallest member of the whale family it is sometimes more than twenty feet long; but usually ranges from thirteen to sixteen feet. The young are bluish black in colour and may be seen swimming beside their mother who feeds them with a very thick milk.

These young grow rapidly and become mottled and then white as they grow older. The beluga is peculiar to northern regions where the water is cold: when one is seen at the mouth of an English river it is a subject of special note. There are numbers in Hudson Bay and they have been found in the Yukon River, it is said, 700 miles from its mouth, whither they went no doubt after salmon or other fish.

Jacques Cartier saw the beluga disporting itself off Malbaie nearly 400 years ago and in summer it is still to be seen there almost daily. It is never alone. One sees the creatures swimming rapidly in single file.

They come to the surface with a prolonged sigh accompanied by the throwing of a small jet of water; the perfectly white bodies writhe into view as the small round heads disappear. Sometimes the beluga makes a noise like the half suppressed lowing of oxen and, since the aquatic world is so silent, sailors have christened the beluga, for this slender achievement, the "sea canary." It is a playful creature and is apparently attracted by man's presence. Before its confidence in him was shaken it used to linger about wharves and ships. But, in spite of the extremely small aperture of its ear, it is very sensitive to sound and modern man with his fire arms and clatter of machinery frightens it away. In 1752 the Intendant Bigot issued special instructions to check the use of firearms on the point at Riviere Ouelle, in order that the beluga might not be frightened, to the ruin of the extensive fishery that has existed there for more than two hundred years. Its sight, touch and taste are also well developed but it has no olfactory nerve and is apparently without the sense of smell. The creature has qualities that we should hardly expect. It has been tamed and almost domesticated. The enterprising Barnum exhibited in New York a beluga which drew a boat about in his aquarium. At Boston another beluga from the St. Lawrence drew about a floating car carrying a woman performer. It knew its keeper and at the proper time would appear and put its head from the water to be harnessed or to take food. This beluga would take in its mouth a sturgeon and a small shark confined in the same tank, play with them and allow them to go unharmed. It would also pick up and toss stones with its mouth.

The beluga is greedy. In the early spring, when he is thin and half starved, capelin and smelt in great numbers come to sp.a.w.n along the north and south sh.o.r.es of the St. Lawrence. With high tide comes the beluga's chance to feed on the sp.a.w.ning fish and he will rush in quite near to sh.o.r.e for his favourite food. So voracious is he that with the fish he takes quant.i.ties of sand into his stomach. In eight or ten days he will eat enough to form from five to eight inches of fat over his whole body. "The facility with which he thus grows fat is explained,"

says the Abbe Casgrain, "by the easy a.s.similation of such food and by the considerable development of his digestive apparatus."

No doubt the beluga enjoys himself hugely. But Nemesis awaits him. His fish diet has a soporific effect; gorged with food he becomes stupid and is easily taken. Man's trap for him is simple and ingenious. A century and a half ago it was to be seen at Pointe au Pic and to-day it is in operation at Riviere Ouelle on the south side of the river. The weir or fishery for the beluga must be on a large scale and is expensive to keep up; it is for this reason that when the number of these creatures declined it was no longer possible to maintain the fishery at Pointe au Pic. At Riviere Ouelle annually more than 7000 stakes, from 18 to 20 feet long, are necessary to keep in repair the fishery which is almost entirely destroyed each year by ice. Beginning at the sh.o.r.e a line of stakes is carried out into the river placed perhaps a foot apart to form a rough semi-circle about a mile and a third long. The stakes curve back to the sh.o.r.e leaving however a pa.s.sage of perhaps 1000 feet open between the farther end and the sh.o.r.e. This outer end of the weir is completed by a smaller circle of stakes, so arranged as to make entrance easy by following within the line of stakes, but exit difficult. The distance between high and low water mark at Riviere Ouelle is about a mile and a half and along this great stretch of beach the small fish come in great numbers to sp.a.w.n. There is a considerable point at the mouth of the little Riviere Ouelle. The wide beach, bare at low water, and this point furnish an admirable combination for the beluga fishery. At high tide the beluga comes rushing in near to sh.o.r.e after his prey, sometimes in water so shallow that his whole body comes into view. In his progress along the sh.o.r.e he is checked by the stakes reaching out from the point, so close together that he cannot get through. The stakes sway with the current and sometimes strike together making considerable noise. Early whalers thought the beluga would try to pa.s.s by squeezing between the stakes and to prevent this they fastened the stakes together with ropes.

But this was not necessary. Frightened by the noise the timid beluga's instinct leads him to make for the open water. He dashes across the semi-circle of the fishery only to be checked by the line of stakes on its outer edge. The line like a wall he follows, looking for an opening, and may be led insensibly into the labyrinthine circle at its end from which he will hardly escape. If he heads back towards sh.o.r.e where he came in, he is frightened by the shallow water which he disregarded only when in pursuit of his prey. Where was shallow water indeed he may now find dry land for the tide is running out. So the creature becomes bewildered. He swims about slowly, as it were feeling his way, or disappears at the bottom, to be stranded when the tide goes out and thus becomes the prey of his enemy, man.

Some old belugas are very cunning; they are called by the French Canadian the _savants_, the knowing ones, and seem to understand the wiles of the fisherman. They warn off the others and so foil the design against them. But greediness proves often their destruction. From over-feeding year after year they become fat and stupid and they too are likely in time to be taken. The less knowing beluga has usually slight chance of escape when once he encounters the line of stakes stretching out from the point and, since they follow each other blindly, if one is taken a whole troop is likely to meet the same fate.

The Abbe Casgrain, who, since his childhood was spent at the Manor House at Riviere Ouelle, was long familiar with the "porpoise" fishery, describes the scene witnessed there by him on May 1st, 1873. It was a glorious day and the belugas appeared in greater numbers than for many years. They swarmed off the mouth of the Riviere Ouelle. At high tide they came in, skirting the rocks within a stone's throw of sh.o.r.e and devouring greedily the innumerable small fish. The surface of the shallow water in which they swam was white with their gleaming bodies.

When they puffed they spurted jets of water into the air which fell in spray that sparkled in the sunlight. The Abbe then describes how the creatures became entrapped in the fishery. Instances of the mother's devotion are recorded. They have been known to wait outside the stakes for their young, caught within, and to allow themselves to be stranded and killed rather than leave their offspring.

When the tide is low the slaughter begins. In the season of the spring tide the water at Riviere Ouelle retreats so far that the entrapped "porpoises" are left high and dry in the fishery and are readily killed.

But in the season of neap tides enough water is left for them to swim about within the semi-circle of stakes. Boats are taken into the fishery through the outer line of stakes and then begins a regular whale hunt within a very circ.u.mscribed area. If the belugas are numerous their captors have not a moment to lose for the creatures may escape with the next tide. And numerous they sometimes are; 500 have been taken in a single tide; at Riviere Ouelle, about 1870, 101 were killed in one night by only four men. They had not expected such a host and had no time to send for help before the tide should rise again.

The captors are armed with barbed harpoons and with spears. The harpoon is sometimes thrown at the beluga from a considerable distance. When struck the creature rushes to the surface, plunges and rolls to get free. He never defends himself but thinks only of flight. It is an accident if a boat is upset by the stroke of its tail; such accidents sometimes happen but the victim gets little more than a soaking, much to the merriment of his companions. The harpooned beluga will make off at full speed dragging in his wake the a.s.sailant's boat which flies over the face of the water, boiling with the mighty strokes of the monster's tail. Soon the water is red for each beluga sheds eight or ten gallons of blood. When he is tired the boat is drawn in closer by the rope fastened to the animal. As opportunity offers the spear is used and, driven home by a strong hand, it sometimes goes clear through the body.

A skilful man will quickly strike some vital spot; otherwise the beluga struggles long.

"Picture if possible," says the Abbe, "the animation of the beluga hunt when a hundred of them are in the weir, when twenty-five or thirty men are pursuing them, when five or six boats dragged by the creatures are ploughing the enclosed waters in every direction, when the spears are hurled from all sides and the men are covered with the blood which gushes out in streams. Some years ago the pa.s.sengers of a pa.s.sing steamer from Europe were witnesses of such a scene and showed their keen interest by firing a salvo of cannon."

When the belugas have been killed the next task is to get them to sh.o.r.e.

The work must be done quickly for the next tide will stop all work and may sweep the animals away. Horses are brought and the bodies are dragged ash.o.r.e or partly floated with the aid of the rising tide. The task of cutting up and boiling follows immediately. Workmen with long knives take off the skin and separate the blubber from the flesh. The Abbe Casgrain describes the process in detail. In the end the blubber is cut up into small pieces and boiled in huge caldrons. The poor never fail to come for their share of the catch and, with proverbial charity, the Company carrying on the operations never send them away empty. "The share-holders" says the Abbe Casgrain, "are convinced that the success of their labours depends upon the gifts which they make to G.o.d, and their generosity merits His benediction," Many a habitant goes home with a ma.s.s of blubber in his pot or hooked to the end of a stout branch.

The fishery is old and has been very profitable. La Potherie describes the industry as it existed at Kamouraska in 1701: that at Riviere Ouelle is found in 1707 and it remained in the hands of the heirs of the original promoters until, in 1870, it was found necessary to form them into an incorporated company. The oil is highly valued. It is very clear and has good lubricating qualities. Before the universal sway of petroleum it was much used for lighting purposes; an ordinary lamp would burn for 72 hours without going out. The Abbe Casgrain says that a barrel of the oil is worth from 100 to 200 dollars and since each beluga would yield not less than a barrel the value of the fishery in a good season is evident. The skin is very thick and of extraordinary strength.

It has no grain and will take a beautiful polish.

[Beddard, "A Book of Whales" (London, 1900), pp. 244 _sqq._

Sir Harry Johnston, "British Mammals," (London, 1903), pp. 22 _sqq._

La Potherie, "Histoire de l'Amerique Septentrionale," (Paris, 1703), Vol. 1, Lettre X., pp. 273 _sqq._

Casgrain, "Une Paroisse Canadienne au XVIIe Siecle," Oeuvres, Vol. 1, pp. 530 _sqq._

Casgrain, "Eclairciss.e.m.e.nts sur La Peche aux Marsouins," Ib. p. 563 _sqq._]

APPENDIX F (p. 122)

THE PRAYER OF COLONEL NAIRNE

(There are several versions of parts of the Prayer. It is, I think, partly copied from some other source, partly Nairne's own composition.)

We believe in Thee our G.o.d; do thou strengthen our faith; We hope in thee; confirm our hope; we repent of all our Sins; but do thou increase our repentance. As our first beginning we worship thee; as our benefactor we praise thee; and as our supreme protector we pray unto thee that it may please thee, O G.o.d, to guide and lead us by thy Providence, to keep us in obedience to thy justice, to comfort us by thy mercie, and to protect us by thy Almighty power. We submit to thee all our thoughts, words, and deeds, as well as our afflictions, pains, and sufferings, and in thy name and for thy sake [we desire] to bear all adversity with patience. We will nothing but what thou Willest, because it is agreeable to thee. Give us grace that we may be attentive in prayer, vigilant in our Conduct, and immovable in all good purposes.

Grant, most merciful Lord, that we may be true and just to those who put their trust in us, that we may be Courteous and kind to all men, and that in both our words and actions we may show them a good example.

Dispose our hearts to admire and adore thy goodness, to hate all errours and evil ways. a.s.sist us, most gracious G.o.d, in subduing our pa.s.sions, covetousness by liberality, anger by mildness, and lukewarmness by zeal and fervency. Enable us to Conduct ourselves with prudence in all transactions, to show courage in danger, patience in adversity, in prosperity an humble will. Let thy Grace illuminate our understanding.

Direct our will and bless our souls. Make us diligent in curbing all irregular affections and Zealous in imploring thy Grace, careful in keeping thy Commandments and constant in working out our own salvation.

We humbly beseech thee, O Lord, to a.s.sist us in keeping our temper and pa.s.sions under due restraint to reason and to virtue, so as not only to contribute to our internal peace of mind, honour, and reputation in this life, but also to our eternal Comfort and happiness in the life to come; and to defend us, O Lord, from the arts and subtilties which designing men may work against us in order to lead us into evil or idle purposes.

Finally, O G.o.d, make us sensible how little is this world, how great thy Heavens and how long will be thy blessed eternity. O! that we may well prepare ourselves for Death and obtain of thee, O G.o.d, eternal life through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

APPENDIX G (p. 144)

THE CUReS OF MALBAIE

Of the early missionaries I have found no record, though no doubt one could be compiled from the episcopal archives. The registers at Malbaie do not begin until 1790 but I find a note that in 1784 there were sixty-five communicants. Isle aux Coudres, Les Eboulements and Malbaie were then united under one cure, M. Compain, who lived at Isle aux Coudres. He served Malbaie from 1775 to 1788. This cure has a share in the legend of Pere de La Brosse, which, since it is characteristic of the region, is worth repeating.

Pere de La Brosse was a much loved and saintly missionary priest, dwelling in his later years at Tadousac. On the evening of April 11th, 1872, he played cards at Tadousac at the house of one of the officers of the post. Rising to go at about nine o'clock he said to the company: