Beyond the Atlantic; on PEN AND INK SKETCHES OF MEN AND THINGS AMERICAN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 30, 3 February 1894, Page 4 (Supplement)

Beyond the Atlantic; on PEN AND INK SKETCHES OF MEN AND THINGS AMERICAN.

By Rev. Dr. Whitelaw.

Down the Sb. Lawrence—The Thousand Isles—The Rapids—The Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Bridges—Lachine— Montreal. At five a.m. the anchor was again weighed^ and the ship, steering out into the stream, was off Down the St. Lawrence, surely one of the most splendid waterways in the world. Shortly after, at this unconscionably early hour, at least tor an idle man w,ho had no particular reason urging him to hurry up, the bell was rung calling; drowsy headed sleepers to awake. Breakfast was to be set out immediately, as we were nearing the Thousand Isles. So said the steward. Starting from my couch I was soon inside my clothes, outside my berth and downstairs in search of a morning repast, and having by this time learned somewhat to appreciate the luxuries of the table, I felt on this occasion considerably disappointed. A cvowd of passengers, mostly Christian Endeavourers, had come up during the night from Montreal in order to sail down the Rapida. Having been received on board at Kingston, they got the starb ot sleepy heads like myself, and nob only secured the best seats at the feast, like acme people mentioned in Scripture, but so crowded the dining tables and so taxed the energies of the attendants that ' a poor friendless creature' Buch as I was that morning, had to bide his turn without complaining, as well as bake what he could get \ and be thankful. On that memorable morning I had a secret conviction that I had scarcely got the worth of my money either in edibles or enjoyables. Id was a squeeze and a hurry with eoi-ie risk of a worry and the charge was 50 cents paid in advance. A wise arrangement on the parb of the steward ! However, The Thousand Isles were at hand, and what soul could be co sordid sa to grumble over losing of a breakfasb when such a feast for eye and mind and heart an these presented was about to be spread by the bounteous hand of Nature, and all without money and without price ! By six a.m., we were entering the labyrinthine mazes of those far famed islands, and I cannot remember to have ever witnessed scenes more enchanting than those which for the next four hours met my gaze. Imagine a broad river like an arm of the sea filled with islands, 1,750 in number, of every variety of size, form, colour, and general aapecb, and the smoothly sailing vessel peacefully threading its way amongsb them, in "and out for a distance of over 50 miles. Nor are the islands barren rocks by any mean 3, bub many of them large, finely wooded, skilfully cultivated, prettily laid out, and covered with charming villages and country mansions. The islets in Locho Lomond and Katrine at home afford in miniature an idea of what the Thousand Isles present on a giant scale. Winding in aud out among the islands one was frequently reminded of the Rhine, between Coblenz and Mainz, with its landlocked waters and lovely castles on outstanding prominences. To o lover of nature, even withonb the trained eye of an artist, it was a spectacle of loveliness to be lingered over and meditated on ; and this I could have done with greater pleasure and profit had not tho ship's deck l^een crowded with the aforesaid Christian Endeavourers, who, having gor, the most of the breakfast, showed, by their constant gabbling and giggling at their own small wit that they wanted least ot the scenery. Nevertheless, in spite of tho distraction caused by their often eonseloss chatter, I, being (I hope) a Christian, endeavoured, not altogether unsucceasfuliy, to clriiik up the loveliness around and bo muse on tho works of Him who is perfect in counsol and excellenb in working, and who hath made everything beautiful in His time. Since caching home I have obsorved that the Canadian Government has decided to offer the Thousand Isles for tale by auction. If the auction has taksn place 1 hope they have not been allowed to paae out of Canadian Territory.

Soon after leaving Brockville, a town 50 miles distant, from Kingston, and named in honour of General Brock, who fell ab Queenstown Heights, Niagara, in 1812 (see article IV), the renowned Rapids began to make bheir near neighbourhood felt by the gradually strengthening current, the increasing eddies which appeared in the water, nnd the upheaving surges which lifted and rocked the boat from side to side. Ib was a queer sensation to find one's ship with the stoam nhub off, sailing down a brae ab one time borne on the current at a speed of 20 miles an hour, at another time ' wobbling' through miles of broken water, and a third tirno shooting through a passage between two rocksfScylla nnd Charybdis) so narrow as to suggest doubts whether it could be gob through withoub disasbor. The firsb or Galop Rapid, neither extensive nor exciting, served to prepare those on board for the ' sensations' that were coming. The Long Sanlb followed with a stretch of nine miles of broken water, not unlike a foaming ocean, through which the bravo craft rocked and pushed along, pitching and tossing like a ship ab sea. The Cofceaw Rapids lower down ran for two miles with high speed ; while at ' one point in the Cedar Rnpids, next encountered, the steamer seemed for an I instant as if about to settle down in the Kbream. Up, however, hbe again rose and hurried on to the Split Rock, so caller! from the two enormous bouldors through which she urged her way, rushing along at a quick pace, in imminent danger, as it looked, of dashing herself to instantaneous destruction. Hardly was she out of this when the Cascade Rapids, a fine series eleven miles in extent, with white crests foamine on their dark waters, lay before her. T'heso passed, she glided into the peaceful Lake St. Louis, formed by the broadening oub of the majestic St. Lawrence aba point where it receives into its bosom the dark waters of one of the branches of the Ottawa. For the next twenty miles the sailing was smooth, till ab the exit of the lake, nine miles from Montreal, the village of Lachine was reached, having on the opposite bank of the St. Lawrence Caughnawaga, an Indian reservation, so named from its earliest inhabitants being called 'Caughnawagae,' or praying Indians. The village of Lachine, which is said to have been so styled because ir,s firsb settler?, on arriving at the place where it is situated, thought they had lighted on the way to China, has now acquired additional importance from marking the point at which the St. Lawrence is spanned by the magniGcont

Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge, upwards of two miles long, a light and airy fabric, resembling the great International Railway Bridge at Niagara exhibited in my recent lime-light lecture, constructed on the cantilever principle offering small resistance to tho wind, and combining the minimum of weigbb with the maximum of stability. Ab Lachine Quay an additiooal pilot came on board—an old Red Indian who had been accustomed to shooh the rapids in his fragile canoe. From this point on the presence of three men at the wheel instead of two enabled those on deck to realise the gravity of the situation. All knew that the culminating sensation of the voyage was at hand. Having swept beneath the bridge, the Spartan quickly showed she had once more

been caught in the boils of the demon of the waters. The Lachine Kapids. were before her, the lasb and moßb dangerous of bhe descents she had bo make before gliding into port ab Montreal. Fully conscious of whab was coming all on board held bheir breath. Conversation ceased. Swifter and swifter, with her head down, rushed the gallant steamer, plunging and rising a3 she encountered wave after wave, on towards a narrow channel between two rocks, whoso jagged peaks,, visible above the foam, lay so close that the slightest deviation from the appointed course, one false lurch, must have meant mischief. Bub, straight as an arrow, without?a quiver, or the smallest hesitation she shot along and—thanks under God to the old Islay captain and the Indian pilot, both of whom knew every inch of the way —ran through in fine sbyle, sweeping round the bend the river takes before it reaches Montreal, stealing underneath another monster bridge, and landing us in the city 'on time' as the Americans say, i.e., at the registered hour, 6.30 p.m.

The Victoria Bridge just mentioned, which connects the Island of Montreal with tho South Shore of the St. Lawrence, is certainly entitled to be ranked along with the Canadian Pacific Bridge ab Lachine, the Tay Bridge ab Dundee, and the Forth Bridge of Queensferry, among the engineering feats of the century. Like the Menai Bridge, it id builb upon the tubular principle, and is two miiea long, the tube through which the railway brack is laid being 22 feet high and 16 wide, the whole having cost £1,260,000. Lik« the Menai Bridge also, it is the work of the celebrated Robarh Stephonson, who, in this, however, was assisted by a fellow engineer, A. M. Ro«s. Ib is the property of tho-Grand Trunk Railway, whose line to Now York rune across it. Up to this point I have said little about my fellow voyagers onb his exciting trip. I confess I was not greatly taken with the crowd of

Christian Endeavourers who were shipped at Kingston. Whether ib was because they had got) the best of the breakfast, or because they sprawled over the deck, monopolising all the chair.3, and leaving hardly standing room for those who belonged not to their company, or because they chattered and laughed in a kind of meaningless way like ordinary eioners, I was nob powerfully attracted by them. So far as I could discern, nothing showed them bo be what they were, except the pink ribbons with the letters Y. P. S.C.E. (Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour), which the gentlemen wore upon the lapels of their coats, and the ladies on their drens fronts. Apart from these, the affair seemed to be an ordinary Sabbath School teachers' trip, with a spice of ;lad and lass' about it. Not that I objected to this, for no better fate can befell a high spirited youth than to surrender before the fascinating glances of a loveable young woman, and vice versa — no higher happiness can be in store for a maid of sweeb seventeen than to win the affection of a high principled, Christian young man ; and to do my Christian Endeavourers justice they seemed in all reBpecvs remarkably well suited to each other. Whether they were deliberately endeavouring to captivate each other's hearts or not ib would be somewhat ri«ky to affirm ; bub as they appeared to be quite as much taken up with each other as with the scenery, I should nob be surprised if some silent siege vrork was done on board the brave Spartan as it danced along upon the wave between Kingßbon and Montreal. When the Spartan drew up at Montreal Quay, bhe passengers disembarked, some taking ship fot Quebec, others like myself repairing to a hocel, (To be Contimced.)