Fantastic tales

The following story is based on a popular belief that dates back to the fur traders and travelers Northwest."People yards" have continued the tradition. I met many a traveler who claimed to have seen sailing in the air-filled canoes "possessed" by going to see their "blondes," under the auspices of Beelzebub. The shantymen of a later date have taken up the tradition, and it is in the French settlements, bordering the St. Lawrence River, that the legends of la chasse-galerie are specially well known at the present time. The writer has met many an old voyageur who affirmed most positively that he had seen bark canoes traveling in mid-air, full of men paddling and singing away, under the protection of Beelzebub, on their way from the timber camps of the Ottawa to pay a flying visit to their sweethearts at home.