Townships Heritage WebMagazine

Rock Donda stands before us like a nut-brown maid, quietly holding herself aloof from the waters that have paid her homage all these years.

Many men, and women, too, have smothered sorrow and disappointment in the daily grind of a hustling, bustling life, either business or social, while others have turned their backs to the world and all it offered and found peace amid Nature's kindly offerings.

It is a noticeable fact that a man who makes the latter decision almost invariably goes to a lake-shore retreat. There he finds the solitude his wounded spirit craves and at the same time an allurement that tends to hold him to his decision...

Many a strange, weird happening which took place along the shores of the lake lying partly in Canada, partly in the United States, has been recorded, and among them is the story, or legend, of the barrel of rum.

Balance Rock is a famous boulder situated on Long (formerly Manitou) Island in the middle of Lake Memphremagog. The rock has long been associated with Native legend. According to tradition, the Abenakis who used to inhabit the area believed that it guarded the entrance to the afterlife. It was a sacred place and few dared to venture near it.

Lake Memphremagog is located partly in Canada and partly in the United States. Europeans have been living around the lake for only the last two centuries; before their arrival, the area was occupied by the Abenakis, the indigenous people who gave the lake its name, which roughly translates as "beautiful waters."

The Council fire cast weird shadows amongst the trees and the waters of the river reflected its glow. The Chieftain of the Abenakai tribe, tall and commanding, with flashing eyes, but features calm and immovable, stood in the midst of the fire-lit circle. Addressing his tribesmen the Chieftain spoke thus:

On November 5, 1915, the Parliament of Canada issued an Order in Council authorizing the organization of the 117th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force , to be recruited in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Belgium, Nov 10th [1915]

Dear Carl,

I often think of you all especially when the full moon floats over head and wish I might drop in and see you all—

Upper Canada felt the sting in the opening days of the War of 1812. But for many residents of Lower Canada life continued as usual.

(Continued from Part 1)