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Few Canadian legends are as bizarre as this one. Chasse-galerie is the tale of a group of people who need to travel a great distance. So they make a deal with Satan, allowing their canoe to fly through the air quickly. They can use to to travel but they are not allowed to mention the name of Jesus, otherwise Satan will claim their souls. But they get drunk on rum during the journey and their navigator starts shouting the names of God and Jesus. The other crew members try to stop him. But in doing so, they crash the canoe and fall to the ground. The fall knocks them unconsciousness and they only awaken after they had been taken to hell.
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La Chasse-galerie also known as "The Bewitched Canoe" or "The Flying Canoe" is a popular French-Canadian tale of Coureurs des bois who make a deal with the devil, a variant of the Wild Hunt. Its best-known version was written by Honoré Beaugrand (1848–1906). It was published in The Century Magazine in August 1892.
The story can be traced back to a French legend about a rich nobleman named Gallery who loved to hunt. He loved it so much that he refused to attend Sunday mass. As punishment for this sin he was condemned to fly forever through the night skies, chased by galloping horses and howling wolves, in a fashion reminiscent of the Wild Hunt.
When French settlers arrived in Canada, they swapped stories with the natives and the tale of Gallery was combined with a First Nations legend about a flying canoe.
Once upon a time, long ago, there lived a man in Quebec whose name was Jean Baptiste. One day the devil visited Jean Baptiste and offered him a deal.
"If you will give up your God for one whole year," the devil said, "I'll grant you a wish. Any wish."
Well, this sounded fine to Jean Baptiste. Surely one year would be easy, and what did he wish? Ah, he looked out at the sea of snow around him. He thought it would be nice if he could travel with ease in the long winter months.
"Make my canoe fly," Jean Baptiste said. "If you do, I shall happily give you my soul."
"Done," the devil said, "so long as you do not utter the name of your God. And one more thing: You must return the canoe to its starting place before dawn, or you'll forfeit your soul."
