ith great edification." And this brings us to the last
incident in the romantic story of the brothers d'Amours.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE OLD MEDOCTEC FORT.

Twelve miles below the town of Woodstock there enters the River St.
John, from the westward, a good sized tributary known as Eel River. It
is a variable stream, flowing in the upper reaches with feeble
current, over sandy shallows, with here and there deep pools, and at
certain seasons almost lake-like expansions over adjoining swamps, but
in the last twelve miles of its course it is transformed into a
turbulent stream, broken by rapids and falls to such an extent that
only at the freshet season is it possible to descend in canoes. The
Indian name of Eel River is "Madawamkeetook," signifying "rocky at its
mouth."

[Illustration: Plan of Old Medoctec Village]

The Medoctec Fort stood on the west bank of the St. John four miles
above the mouth of Eel River. It guarded the eastern extremity of the
famous portage, five miles in length, by which canoes were carried in
order to avoid the rapids that obstruct the lower part of Eel River.
The rivers were nature's highway for the aboriginal inhabitants and a
glance at the map will show that Madawamkeetook, or Eel River, formed
a very important link in the chain of communication with the western
portion of ancient Acadie by means of the inland waters.

In early days the three principal villages of the Maliseets were
Medoctec on the St. John, Panagamsde on the Penobscot and Narantsouak
on the Kennebec. In travelling from Medoctec to the westward the
Indians passed from the lakes at the head of Eel River, by a short
portage, to the chain of lakes at the head of the St. Croix from
which there was communication by another short portage with the
Mattawamkeag, an eastern branch of the Penobscot. In the course of the
stirring events of the war-period in Acadia the Indian braves and
their French allies made constant use of this route, and the Medoctec
village became a natural rendezvous whenever anything of a warlike
nature was afoot on the St. John. But Medoctec possessed many local
advantages; the hunting in the vicinity was excellent, the rivers
abounded in salmon, sturgeon, bass, trout and other fish, and the
intervals were admirably adapted to the growth of Indian corn--which
seems to have been raised there from time immemorial.

The reader by examining the accompanying plan will have a better idea
of the situation o