Yes, I agree the song is more Quebecois than Acadien; it's a padding (voyageur) song and very widely known. The "lieues" I've always taken to be "leagues" (i.e. a long way). The "en haut" (lit. up high) is a common reference in paddling songs. It refers to the country upriver, away from the city: and thus takes on all the other overtones it shares with the Australian "outback" and north American "bush". "Le pays d'en haut" is the land of work and nature: "Le pays bas" the land of pleasure and culture. This concept has been written about by several folk, including Francois Brassard ("Fais dodo, l'enfant de la cage" in the Canadian Folk Music Journal Vol 4 (1976), but is not unique to French language cultures: it is commonly found to in drovers' and shearers' songs in Australia, logging/lumbering songs in Canada, cowboy songs in the US and also sea songs and shanties. "Parler" is surely meant instead of "porter".

Jon Bartlett