1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Saguenay

SAGUENAY, a river of Quebec province, Canada, flowing into the St Lawrence 120 rn. N.E. of Quebec. It drains Lake St John, from which it issues by two impassable rapids, La Grande and La Petite Décharge. Thence for 40 m. it flows E.S.E. in a series of rapids, navigable only by skilled boatmen in canoes, to Chicoutimi, the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, a prosperous little town exporting great quantities of lumber. Six miles farther down is Ha Ha Bay, a favourite summer resort. From Chicoutimi the river is navigable by small Steamers, and from Ha Hay Bay to the mouth by vessels of the largest size. It is indeed rather a loch or bay than a river, containing neither rock nor shoal, and having at its mouth a depth of some 600 ft. greater than that of the St Lawrence. Its width varies from three-quarters of a mile to two miles, and the waters are blackened by the shadow of treeless cliffs, over 1000 ft. in height, separated here and there by narrow wooded valleys, and culminating in Capes Trinity and Eternity, 1600 and 1800 ft. in height. Above Chicoutimi it runs through hills of about 400 ft. in height, densely wooded with spruce, maple and birch. Tadoussac, at its mouth, is the oldest European trading post in Canada.

Lake St John is a shallow basin, 26 m. by 20, with an area of 365 sq. m. It receives the waters of the Ashuapmuchuan, often spoken of as the upper course of the Saguenay, the Mistassini, the Peribonka and various other important streams. A numerous farming population live near its shores. It is well known to anglers as containing the celebrated ouinaniche, or land-1ocked salmon, which attains a weight of about 6 ℔.