TOURING QUEBEC AND THE MARITIMES 31 second largest river on the seaboard, and with its numerous tributaries drains a territory of approximately 30,000 square miles. The first white man to set eyes on this mighty river was Samuel de Champlain , the intrepid French explorer, who discovered it on June 24th, 1604, the day of St. John the Baptist; and being a man of deep religious convictions, he gave it the name of that illus¬ trious saint. Journeying southward we rejoiced to see a lovely level farming country, and many cultivated islands softly wooded, with willows and elms. Approaching St. John the river narrows suddenly, through a high rocky gorge. Here occurs the Reversing Falls, a conflict between the river flowing down and the sea tide rising. When the tide is out, occasioning a drop of some twenty-six feet, an incredible volume of water rushes down, plunging, roaring through the gorge, and leaving a confusion of eddies, and whirlpools in its wake. But six hours later, Fundy thrusts back the advance of the river,—thrusts and pushes and triumphs, squeezing it between those tortured rocks and for a distance actually running "uphill." There is an interesting Indian legend which explains the phenomenon of the Reversing Falls. It runs thus:— The Indians complained to Glooscap that because of the strong current in the river, they had difficulty in paddling their canoes up the river. He at once gave orders to have the water run up stream half the time as far as Currie's Mountain, and down stream the remainder of the time. So said, so done, and it is so even to the present day. Thus the legendary explanation of a scenic marvel, the only reversing falls in the world. The Indians tell us that when Glooscap left New Brunswick , he travelled on the back of a whale to "a beautiful land in the West," and they are confident that some day he will return and right