1 Marine ^Biological Laboratory Library ods o(ole, Massachusetts OF (EXPLORATION Collected UHOMPSOM MONTGOMERY (1907-1986) architect, nevherf of Ihomas ^Harrison Montgomery (1673-1912 \ OMENIQl ; E, CHIEF OF THE MONTAGNAIS OF LAKE ASHWANIPI. as of Ashwanipi Lake, stepped on shore, shouting ' Qua ? Qua ? ' How are you ? How are you ? He was followed by a young Nasquapee, and then by his squaw and four children, a couple of dogs and a young- beaver. After a few words and salutations, the delicate canoe was taken out of the water, and the squaw pre- pared the camp for the night, while Domenique came to CHAP. v. DOMENIQUE THE MONTAGNAIS. 7!) our fire to have a smoke, make enquiries, and answer questions. Nothing could exceed our delight at this meeting ; Domenique would be able to tell us all about the upper country what Indians we should meet, what game we should find, and perhaps he would go with us as a guide, or let the young Nasquapee show us the old Montagnais road to the interior. These and many other thoughts found expression as we were finishing our supper, while Domenique was smoking his pipe close by, every now and then stealing glances at our faces, and slowly and thoughtfully picking a bit of tobacco from a large plug I had given to him, when he expressed his intention of ' coining to our fire.' We watched them take their worldly wealth out of the canoe. It contained the produce of their winter hunt, wrapped in a seal-skin covering. A rather worn and dirty blanket, several reindeer skins, a fox-skin robe, two or three tin kettles, some rolls of birch-bark, one or two wooden dishes, a small bag of reindeer skins containing a few fragments of dried reindeer meat, one duck, a pillow of down of the eider-duck for the baby to kick about on at the bottom of the canoe, and a snow-shovel. 'Ask him how he is off for provisions, Louis,' I said. ' Starving,' was the brief reply. Domenique held up the duck and the few fragments of reindeer meat. ' This is what we have left ; when that is gone, must hunt for more.' 4 Are any more canoes coming down the river ? ' ' No ; four canoes gone by the East Branch. I thought the river too bad, and came down the main stream. The water is very high.' 80 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. v. Louis acted as interpreter, Pierre not understanding the Montagnais language sufficiently well. 'Ask him, Louis.' I said, 'if we can pass up the river ?' As soon as Louis had propounded this question, Domenique turned to his squaw and said a few words. Both of them looked towards the gorge. The squaw shook her head, and said 'No.' Domenique looked at Louis, shook his head, and said ' No.' Louis looked at me, and, with a roll of his head from side to side, said emphatically ' No.' Domenique, turning to Louis, attempted to comfort us by saying, ' When the water falls the canoes can go up.' A cold thrill passed through me when I saw the squaw's manner, and heard Domem'que's answer ; but knowing well how easily Indians are deterred from any efforts involving great labour, especially if waiting a week will enable them to accomplish what they have in view without it, a few minutes' reflection convinced me that it would be very foolish to give up the hope of forcing a passage through the gorge without waiting until the waters fell. After a while I told Louis to ask him about the upper country, whether there was much snow left. ' Full of ice,' answered Louis, interpreting Domenique's reply. ' No snow, but much ice.' ' Where has Domenique been wintering ? ' ' On this side of Ashwanipi Lake, close to the dividing- ridge where the waters flow the other way.' ' Did he kill many animals ? ' ' Thirtv reindeer and four bears.' / 'What furs did he get?' CHAP. v. WINTER HUNTING. 81 'Very poor hunt - - only eight marten, eleven foxes, one black fox, three otter.' 'Are there many fish in the lakes we are going to ?' 'No; only in "Big Lake." Plenty of trout in the rivers no big fish.' 'Any duck or geese ?' 'Very few ; some geese on Ashwanipi, but much ice.' ' When did Domenique leave his winter camp ?' ' His tribe broke up camp seven days ago.' 'When did the ice leave the upper lakes ?' ' Ice broke up seven days ago. Domenique and other Indians left same day.' ' Ask Domenique when Ashwanipi broke up.' ' Domenique says Ashwanipi still fuh 1 of ice. Some of his tribe came from Ashwanipi a week ago - - say it is full of ice ; full, full.' 'Any other Indians on this river?' ' No ; all gone down - - four canoes.' 'Any Nasquapees coming down ?' ' Perhaps - - don't know.' 'Any Nasquapees on Ashwanipi Lake ?' ' Some families near where Domenique made winter camp. Domenique think they will come down Moisie. They have never been to the coast before. Domenique say he gave them a map to show the road and the portages.' ' Are there any Indians at the other end of Ashwanipi Lake?' ' Yes, perhaps ; but ah 1 Indians on Ashwanipi, who don't come down the Moisie, go to Petichikapau, or the coast of Hudson's Bay.' ' Ask him \vhere the most Indians are to be found now ? ' VOL. i. G 82 THE LABRADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. v. ' Near Petichikapau, he says ; near the Post of the Company.' ' How many families are there ? ' ' Fourteen.' ' Fourteen ! and where are the rest ? ' ' There are no more on the level high land, in the lake country. The others are beyond, towards Esquimaux Bay (Hamilton Inlet) and North- West Eiver ; and far away beyond Petichikapau, towards Ungava, and on the other side, towards the sea ' (Hudson's Bay). ' Where are all the Indians gone who hunted on Ash- wanipi Eiver ? ' ' Gone north, or east, or dead many dead, he says ; not many left.' ' Tell him after supper I should like to ask him more questions about his people ; now, give the squaw some flour and pork.' Louis was going to fulfill his mission, when I said, ' Stop, Louis; just ask him. where the Nasquapee came from?' ' Domenique met him near Petichikapau, two winters ago, when he was hunting there : the father and mother of the lad are dead, and Domenique adopted him.' ' What are those marks cut over the cheek-bone ? ' ' Nasquapees always mark themselves so ; it is a cus- tom of their people.' ' How do they do it ? ' ' With knife or fish-b6ne ; then they put in colour powder, perhaps.' ' Do all Nasquapees cut themselves like this one ? ' ' Mostly all ; once all did ; but now some don't. All CHAP. v. THE YOUNG NARQUAPEE. 83 old men and women are marked on the lace like this lad.' 'Do you think Domenique would go back with us?' ' Think not ; got children and squaw.' ' Do you think he would let the young Nasquapee go with us, to show us the portages ?' ' Perhaps ! better not speak about it to-night ; give Domenique good supper ; also Nasquapee ; make them good Mends, and let them sleep well. I will talk to him to-morrow about young Nasquapee ; perhaps he let him go, if you make him good present.' ' You think, then, you had better not speak about it to-night?' ' No, no ! Let Domenique eat and sleep ; then he talk to-rnorrow.' We gave the two Indians a good supper, and sent some flour and pork to his wife, who had made her camp about thirty yards from ours at the foot of a large tree. I pro- posed to myself the pleasure of visiting them at daylight, to see how the Montagnais made their camp in the woods. ' Where are you going to, Louis ? ' some one enquired, as the Indian was rolling off into the woods with a torch of birch-bark, about an hour after supper. ' Get birch-bark for map.' 'What map?' 1 Domenique going to make map of portages, to show us the way. To-morrow,' continued Louis, with a knowing- leer, ' I speak to Domenique about young Nasquapee ; Domenique well pleased like supper, like tobacco, like everything. Think he will let young Nasquapee go. 7 When Louis returned with the sheet of fresh birch- G "2 84 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. v. bark for Dornenique to draw his map on, I asked the cause of the scarcity of game in this country. Two reasons were given by the chief : the first being that the Moisie was the old Montagnais path to Ashwanipi and the table land, just as the On-na-ma-ne River which will be described in the sequel was the road to Hamilton Inlet from the coast below Mingan and JSTatisquhan. The deer, and bear, and smaller animals have been killed and frightened off this river and its tributaries. The second reason was that the country towards the dividing ridge was burned. We should have to pass for three days through a bruU, or burnt country, where there was no food for animals. He also said there was much burnt country on the old Montagnais road, in consequence of the fires of the Indians having spread so rapidly through the moss. ' When your people were numerous,' I said, ' were not the deer plenty ? ' ' Yes ; plenty.' ' When did the deer begin to diminish ? ' ' When the white people bought their skins, and gave us guns and ball to kill them with. Before my people had guns, they could not kill many deer ; it was very hard work to shoot them with arrows, and follow them for miles. My people then only killed for food and for clothing. Since the white man gave us guns, they kill them to sell the skins, and the deer soon pass away.' ' Are your people ever starved during the winter ? ' ' Yes ; when they cannot get deer, they must starve.' ' When deer were plentiful on Ashwanipi, were your people many ? ' CHAP. v. DIMINUTION OF DEEK. 85 ' Many as the trees you see on every hill ; but the country was not much burnt. Indians were careful of fire, and they made much winter meat. White men came and the Indians killed deer for their skins, to get guns and other things. When the deer were gone, my people went away too ; they could not live many together. Some went to the coast, some to the north-west, many died one by one. Only my tribe left now on Ash- wanipi. Give me the bark, and let me draw the map.' The destruction of the reindeer after the introduction of fire-arms, was no doubt one of the chief causes of the decline of the Montagnais and Nasquapee Indians. Even in Upper Canada, during the early period of its settlement, we have records of the ravages committed by w r olves among the deer of the country, during winters of extreme severity, having caused a famine. It is a fact which may now be received with astonishment, that, in the memory of many still living in Upper Canada, wolves created a famine in a part of the country which is now one of the oldest settled and most beautiful tracts. So marvellous are the changes which civilisation induces, and so pre- carious is the existence of improvident man in the woods. ' I am myself * one of the eldest born of this country, after its settlement by the loyalists, and well remember the time when, as Bishop Berkeley observes, " a man might be the owner of ten thousand acres of land in America, and want sufficient means to buy himself a breakfast ! ' : One half of the land on the Bay of Quinte the Garden of Canada - - could, within my remern- * Mr. Buttan, President of the Provincial Agricultural Association, 1849, 86 THE LABRADOR PEX1NSULA. CHAP. v. brance, have been purchased for five pounds a two-hun- dred acre lot, and many a one has been sold for a half joe. All this cannot be matter of wonder, when I tell you that a great scarcity of provisions prevailed for two or three years consecutively, in consequence of failures in the crops, and what brought on the famine, or " scarce year" (about the year 1790, if I am not mistaken), was the almost entire destruction of the deer by the wolves for two consecutive years. The snow lay upon the ground from December until April, at the depth of from four to five feet. In the month of February of the last of these years, a near relative of mine sent all the way to Albany, in the State of New York, a distance of more than two hundred miles, for four bushels of Indian corn ! and this was to be brought all that distance by two men on snow-shoes ! It took them about eight weeks to accomplish this journey, and during this time about one-third of the quantity was necessarily consumed by the men ; the residue of this precious cargo, pounded up in a mortar made of a maple stump, with the winter greenberry, and mucilaginous roots, latterly boiled with a little milk, constituted the principal food for two families, consisting of seven souls, for the space of four or five months ! It was remarked, I have heard some of the oldest settlers assert, that the usual supply of fish even had failed. The few cattle and horses which the settlers, at great cost and trouble, had collected, were killed for food. The faithful dog was, in several instances, sacrificed to supply that food which he had so often been the means of furnishing to his then kind but starving master. The famine this year was general throughout the Bay of Quinte ; and such was the distress, that, during this CHAP. v. FAMINES CAUSED BY WOLVES. 87 winter, several persons died from starvation. In the Hay Bay settlement, one of the most heartrending occurrences took place. Some time during the month of April, the husband and father was found buried in the snow, which lay upon the ground at an average depth of five feet, w r hilst within the shanty was exhibited the awful spectacle of the dying mother, pressing to her bosom her dead infant, still in the position of attempting to gain that sus- tenance which its mother had for some time been unable any longer to afford it.' If such a calamity as is described in the preceding paragraph could occur in the early settlement of a country like Western Canada, owing to wolves, need we be surprised that the Montagnais and Nasquapces should have diminished on account of the gradual destruction of the reindeer their principal supply of food ? 88 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. CHAPTEE VI. THE FIRST GORGE TO THE SEE-WAY-SIXI-IvOP PORTAGE. Montagnais Map of the Country Domeuique's Camp in the Woods Michel, Domenique's adopted Son -- Domenique's Ob- jections to the young Nasquapee going with us as Guide His Energy and Threats Conclusion of the Bargain The First Gorge of the Moisie Difficulties of the Passage First Fcdls of the Moisie The See-way-sini-kop Portage Trout, Salmon Salmon-spearing by Torchlight Appearance of Indians spearing Salmon Self-control and Skill Scene at the Foot of the Cataract by Torchlight The Salmon The Light extinguished The Darkness The Rapid Coolness and Intrepidity of the Indians Excitement. WE sat by the fire till a late hour talking to Domenique and the young Nasquapee. The lad appeared to be very intelligent, and apparently knew the upper country well. He and Domenique together constructed a map of the Moisie and the old Montagnais route, as far as the dividing ridge showing the point where the Ashwanipi Eiver took its rise, and began its long course of several hundred miles to Hamilton Inlet, on the Atlantic coast of Labrador. He put in an the portages, and explained the map to Louis and Pierre. The latter took charge of the map, and before we rose went over every little detail to see if he understood it perfectly. Just before entering my tent, one of the voyageurs, CHAP. vi. MONTAGNAIS SLEEPING-PLACE. 89 whom we called Ignace, came to me, gleefully, and said that the water was falling fast : ' It has fallen four inches since we came here ; it will have fallen eight before morn- ing.' ' But the Indians say it must fall two feet before we can get through the gorge, Ignace,' I replied, ' and we cannot wait ; we shah 1 consume all our provisions before we reach the Big Lake, at this rate ; we must start after breakfast to-morrow, and see what we can do.' At sunrise I went to Domenique's camp. They were just waking ; but I was in time to see how they had spent the night. Ranged in a semicircle before the fire, placed at the foot of a large balsam spruce, the whole family lay side by side, the mother and father occupying the outer ends of the curve with the four children, and the young Nasquapec between them. The children were covered with a blanket. The father and mother had each a sheet of birch-bark over them ; the Nasquapee a couple of reindeer skins. Two dogs were lying under the birch-bark, close to the fire, at the feet of Domenique. The family bed consisted of spruce boughs laid on the wet moss, with the frozen soil beneath ; their roof was the black sky, with twinkling stars coldly glittering be- tween the motionless branches of the spruce, as silent, as lifeless, and as uncharitable as the grave. Domenique rose as I approached, and saluted me with the customary ' bonjour." We lit our pipes and smoked ; he said some words to me in Montagnais, but I could not understand them ; so we sat and smoked in silence. Meanwhile the mother rose, put the little baby Indian in a sitting posture on the eider-down pillow, and commenced to rake the ashes together and arrange fresh wood on the 90 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. fire. I saw that the children had been lying on the rabbit-skin robe, and looked warm, fat, and comfortable, although the thermometer during the night was 3 below the freezing-point in the woods, and ice had formed on the edge of the river. While breakfast was preparing, I called Louis and told him to ask Domenique whether he would go with us ; and if not, whether he would allow his adopted son, the Nasquapee, to show us the road. Louis turned to the chief and spoke a few words, interpreting Domenique's reply shortly afterwards to the effect that he could not accompany us : he must go and see the priest ; he had promised two years ago. He was sorry the other canoes had not come down this way ; if they had, he would have sent one of the young men with us. But if we waited three days, he Avould catch them below the Forks at the Grand Rapids, and send a canoe back with one man for our guide. 'What did he say about the Nasquapee ?' ' No speak to him about Nasquapee yet,' said Louis. ' Wait a bit ; let Domenique get breakfast think and speak easier after breakfast. Wait a bit.' Although very anxious to know what he would say, I let the Indians take their own way. We had another long talk during breakfast, and when pipes were filled all round, we left Louis to broach the subject of the young Nasquapee's companionship. I was sitting on a rock opposite the gorge, admiring the exquisite symmetry of the delicate little Montagnais canoe which lay bottom upwards at my feet, when Louis came with a desponding look and slouching gait over CHAP. vr. INDIAN NEGOTIATION. 91 a sheet of ice, which streamed like an infant glacier from the woods to within a few feet of the river's edge. 'Well, Louis, what does Domenique say ?' ' No let him go ; want him to hunt.' ' Tell Domenique to come here,' I said. Louis called him. With a light and springing step he came from the fire to where we were sitting; held his hand above his eyes, and peered into the gloom of the Gorge. ' Current swift swift ! ' lie exclaimed ; ' canoes can't get up to-day- -too much water.' ' Louis, tell him I want him to let his son go with us ; we will take great care of him, and not let him carry anything. We will feed him well, pay him well, and make Domenique a present when we return to the mouth of the Moisie. What is the name of the JSTasquapee ?' ' Domenique calls him " Michel." ' Tell the chief what I said to you.' After a short conversation Louis began : ' He has not got any clothes. Hia father say he has no shoes, and he cannot go.' ' I will give him clothes and moccasins, a coat, a shirt, and trousers ; and I will give Domenique a handsome present.' Domenique turned to his squaw, and told her to come near. They then spoke together for a while, after which Domenique said : 'White people have often deceived me on the coast down there and at Esquimaux Bay. How do I know you will bring him safe back ? ' ** o Louis said, in his careless way, ' Perhaps if you give 92 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. Domenique some tobacco now, and a coat to Michel, lie no think white man tell lies.' I took the hint, and told one of the men to give the chief a dozen pieces of tobacco, together with some flour, pork, and tea to his squaw. This little piece of diplomacy having been finished, I brought a flannel shirt, a rough blue Hudson's Bay coat with brass buttons, and a pair of buffalo moccasins. Laying them at the feet of the chief, I told Louis to tell him that these were the clothes I would give now to his son, and a complete suit when we arrived at the Moisie Bay on our return. Domenique spoke again to his squaw, and also to Michel. Turning round and looking at me, he said, 'Who is to steer my canoe if anything happens to my son ? Who is to hunt for these little ones if anything happens to me ? He is my only treasure my only son. These are little children yet ; it will be many years before they can be sons like this one.' 'Tell him we will return his son safely to him; we only want him to show us the portages on the old Mon- tagnais road to Ashwanipi.' When this had been interpreted to Domenique, he drew himself up, raised his arm above his head, with dilated eyes looked me in the face, and in a loud voice said : ' Michel shall go with you ; but if you do not bring him safe back, I follow you to the sea, to the woods, to the place where you live. You '11 remember me until you die, and you '11 die soon if you do not bring my Michel back to rne safe.' ' Tell him again, Louis, that I will take care of him, and bring him safe back.' CHAP. vi. INDIAN RHETOEIC. 93 ' He says I must tell you,' spoke Louis, ' that white men often tell lies, and deceive poor Indians. He says that if you do not bring back Michel safe, he will track you, and find you wherever you go. He says Michel shall go with you, and show the old Montagnais road ; but he says he is terrible when men deceive him, and Michel is his only son.' I held out my hand to Domenique ; he grasped it firmly, and putting the other hand on Michel's shoulder, looked at me with a fiendish glare, hissing out with a slow and distinct utterance sentence after sentence, while he waited for Louis to interpret, still holding me fast by the hand, and apparently working himself into a rage. Presently, letting go my hand, he returned to his squaw and spoke some words in Montagnais, moving at the same time towards his canoe, which he lifted up and put into the water. The squaw quickly loaded the canoe, Michel standing by. Domenique came and shook hands with me and the other gentlemen, and with Louis, who since he had been called upon to act as interpreter, was getting very talkative and bumptious. They left the blanket with Michel, but, true to their Indian nature, they were not seen by any one to bid him good-bye, or take any notice of him when they embarked in their beautiful little craft. The mother handed the little girl a tiny paddle, the father cried, ' Ya-mah ! ya-mah ! ' Good-bye! good-bye! and with a few strokes of the paddle they reached the middle of the stream, and were swiftly carried down towards the sea. ' Was that passion of Domenique's put on, Louis ? ' 94 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. VI. ' Perhaps, perhaps not ; likely Dom-nick thought he would frighten you. Make you bring back Michel safe. Dom-nick great man to talk, perhaps he '11 do it ; don't know.' ' Now for the Gorge ; we will make my canoe light, and see if we can pass it. Mr. Gaudet will come in another canoe and help us with a line to pass the first point.' Following these directions, two canoes started for the Gorge. A long line was thrown out into the river from the farthest point we could reach by land. The stick attached to one end floated down the stream, and was picked up in the eddy at the foot of the first point - the great difficulty in entering the Gorge. Pierre caught the stick, and began to haul in the line which TKACAlNG UP THE FIK.ST GOKGK. was fastened to a tree. Meanwhile Joseph and I fended off, and, when opportunity offered, pushed the canoes on, CHAP. vr. ROCKS OX EACH SIDE OF THE GORGE. 95 with our paddles resting against a slight roughness in the rock, or assisted with our hands in drawing it up against the torrent. We succeeded in rounding the point, and then took to our paddles ; with the utmost exertion we made ten yards against the stream, then held on to the rocks and rested. Again we tried the paddles where -the rocks on either side were perpen- dicular and so uniformly smooth that we could not find the least projection or even a crevice to give us a hold. With some difficulty we got into an eddy and rested again. We then shot across to the opposite side, the breadth of the river here being about forty yards, the rocks on either side 800 to 1,000 feet in perpendicular altitude. We got on better until we came to a rapid, which fortunately had two triangular pieces of rock jutting out of the stream, round which the water foamed and surged with great noise and fury. By dint of taking advantage of the inequalities which occurred in the surface of the rock, and of eddies, we succeeded in surmounting this difficulty, and finally, after two hours' hard labour, we reached the other extremity of the Gorge, with torn hands and tired limbs. ' We can do it,' said Pierre ; ' we know the way now, and that is half the difficulty : we can take two bags of liour at a time, and get through the big creek by to- morrow night ; but it 's the hardest bit of water I have ever seen.' Back we went like an arrow, rushing in triumph out of the Gorge into the pool on the banks of which our camp was made, and infusing new life and spirits 96 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. into the party, who were getting very down in the moutli at the idea of having to stay under the shadow of those tremendous rocks until the water fell as Doinenique had predicted. By the following night we had passed the first Gorge of the Moisie, but canoes and men were strained, bark was cracked, hands were torn with holding on to the rocks, baggage was wetted. But what did all that signify ? Our health was excellent, our spirits roused to the highest pitch, and we all felt glad and thankful that we had overcome this difficulty which threatened to bring our explorations to a very sudden and unexpected close. How noiselessly we paddled into the great pool at the foot of the first falls of the Moisie, half a mile above the Gorge, when Pierre pointed his paddle in the direction of two objects swimming towards the shore, and whispered ' Otters ; ' and how we laughed and shouted when Louis with a yawn blustered out 'Seals!' Seals they were, without doubt, sporting among the trout and salmon, which were leaping up the successive steps of the falls on their way to the spawning grounds higher up the river. It was necessary to repair the canoes after the struggle in the Gorge. Indeed one of the canoes was broken when quite close to the extremity, and we had to wait for more than an hour on a slippery rock to build a fire and mend the bark. Night had closed upon us before our tents were up on the shores of the beautiful basin at the foot of the See-way-sini-kop Portage, so named on account of its passing over a bank of drift- CHAP. vi. THE ' UP-AND-DOWN ' PORTAGE. 97 sand, sixty feet high and one foot broad at the top ; a narrow peninsula of drift, wearing away with every shower of rain, as the protecting covering of grass and trees has long been removed by Indians in then: passage over it. It is now quite bare near and at the carrying place, needing only time and exposure to level it, or at least greatly reduce its altitude. It is well named the ' Up-and-Down ' Portage, for you have merely to ascend sixty feet and descend fifty to the river on the opposite side. The isthmus of sand joins a magnificent rock with a mountain chain. The river rushes over an irregular bed, with a fall of eight feet, and sweeps past the base of a treeless mountain of gneiss on the opposite side, many hundred feet in height. We fished and caught some fine trout in the beautiful pool below ; and were it not for the difficulty of reach- ing it, the See-way-sini-kop falls and pool would be by far the most attractive salmon-fishing ground it has been my good fortune to see in the wilds of Eastern Canada. We were not ready to start until eleven o'clock on the following day. The task of mending the canoes, and carrying the baggage across the portage, had occupied nearly the whole morning. I made a cache here of some preserved vegetables, powder, shot, &c., in consequence of the improbability of our meeting with many Indians on the table land, or near the sources of Ashwanipi. A hole was dug in the sand, spruce boughs laid at the bottom, and the articles cached laid on them, and thickly covered with other boughs of spruce. Sand was then heaped upon it, and a few logs VOL. I. II 98 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. or trunks of dead trees drawn over the cache. It was made on the side of a hill forming the boundary of the valley of a small tributary to the Moisie, which came down ice-cold from the neighbouring mountains. We saw numbers of salmon leaping up the falls, but not one could we catch with the most gaudy and attrac- tive flies. Even the celebrated fiery brown failed to decoy them, and we, who were so anxious to husband our provisions, saw the most noble of fish leap and plunge before our eyes with perfect impunity. No duck or other wild bird, with the exception of a kingfisher, was visible even at this beautiful pool ; and although fish life was abundant, there was apparently an absence of four-footed animals of any kind whatever. The pool into which these falls pour their foaming waters is one of the favourite Indian resorts for spearing salmon by torchlight. This mode of taking salmon is very properly interdicted by the Canadian Government, on account of the great waste of fish to which it leads. But a description of one of the most successful artifices employed by the savage wanderers in British America for procuring food will perhaps be acceptable to the reader. Spearing any kind of fish during the day time is a tame and monotonous occupation compared with the irrepressible excitement which attends spearing salmon by torchlight, with Indians who understand their work. It has been my fortune to witness the spearing of dif- ferent kinds of fish in places far apart, and under widely different circumstances: whitefish, with Ojibways on Lake Huron ; pike and whitefish, with the Swampies on the Lower Winnipeg ; sturgeon on the Assinniboine ; but CHAP. vi. INDIAN SALMON-SPEAKING. gg salmon-spearing in the wilds of Eastern Canada far sur- passes them all in excitement and skill. It unfolds the real character of the Indian in its most striking pecu- liarities. It displays untutored man in the full strength of his natural gifts, expresses his capabilities for intense enjoyment, and shows how he may be roused to exert, for hours together, the utmost activity of body and the greatest presence of mind. See how gently they step into their canoe, in the gloom of the evening just passing into night. They whisper one to another, although there is no fear of the sound of their voices disturbing the prey of which they are in search. Watch the one in the bow, trying the flexible clasping tines of his ' negog,' or salmon spear, springing them backwards to see if they have lost their elasticity, or if they can be trusted to hold a powerful fish in their grasp. Now he strengthens the long and slender shaft, and lays it tenderly under the bars of the canoe within reach of his hand. He next examines the rolls of birch-bark which he will use for torches, and fastens to the bow of his canoe a cleft stick, in which he will insert one ex- tremity of the flaming roll. Turning round, he asks his companion if he has ' fire ; ' receives a low grunt a reply which is followed by a subdued howh ! howh ! They grasp their paddles, and away the canoe glides, with a looker-on seated in the middle, towards the foot of the rapids near a well-known shallow, or close to the tumbling waters of the cataract where the fish are wont to He. The torch is lit, and the spearman, relinquishing his H 2 100 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. paddle, stands in the bow of the canoe, glancing eagerly from side to side. Suddenly he pushes his spear in a slanting direction, and quickly draws it back, lifting a salmon into the canoe ; a second push, and another victim. Now he attaches a thin line of sinew to the end of his spear, and twists it round his arm. Like an arrow he darts his spear it is whirled away with a sudden jerk, and trembles in the stream. Gently but steadily he draws it towards him with the line of sinew, and grasping it when within reach, lifts his quarry into the canoe. Look over the side .of the little craft. The salmon are coming to the light ; they gaze for a moment, and glide away like spectres into the black waters. Some of them swim round the canoe, and come to look again and again, pausing but for a moment to speculate on its brightness, and the next lie quivering at the bottom of the canoe. Both Indians at the same moment see a fish of unusual size approach the light gaze without stopping, and quickly move off hover about at some little distance, suspicious and mistrustful, but still attracted by the lure. Gently and noiselessly the canoe is urged towards it by the Indian in the stern. No words pass between him and his companion ; both saw the fish at the same moment, and both know that they will take it. But look at the Indian with the spear ; look at his face, lit by the red flare of the burning torch. His mouth is half open with suspense, but he does not breathe through it ; his dilated eyes are flashing intent he stands so motionless, with uplifted spear ready to strike, that he looks like a statue of bronze. But there is life in that expanding and con- tracting nostril life in the two thin streams of vapour CHAP. vi. INDIAN SALMOX-SPEAEING. 101 which puff from his nostrils into the keen night air ; and is there not sudden and vigorous life in that swift dart of the spear in that momentary light which flashes from his eyes, and in that triumphant smile which he throws at his companion, as, without uttering a word or sound, he lifts with both hands the heavy fish straight from the water, holds it struggling over the canoe, and shakes it from his spear ? Is this the languid, drowsy savage which you have often seen slouching through the day, indolent and listless, a sluggard and a drone ? We are going to the foot of the cataract ; the largest fish lie in little eddies close to the rocks, waiting for an opportunity to take their leap up the tumbling waters to sheltered pools above, where they may rest in their difficult ascent. Now is the full measure of the Indian skill required : the broken water, at the edge of the main rapid at the foot of the cataract, rocks the canoe, and would serve to destroy the spearer's aim ; the water is deep, and he must throw his weapon, he cannot push it, as in a shallow or quiet stream. The Indian who is paddling and steering must beware of strong eddies, of whirlpools, of getting under the cataract, or of sidling into the rapid below. He must have his eyes on the canoe, the water, and the salmon, and his hands ready at any moment to edge off from danger, and never may he give way to a momentary excitement, even when the spear is thrown and a heavy fish struck. The rocks, the impetuous torrent, the tumbling waters of the cataract at the bow of the canoe, the flickering light, not always to be relied on, must all be seen and con- stantly watched, for a slight change in an eddy may 102 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi. swamp the fragile craft, bring it under the fall, or break it on a rock. How shall I describe dancing at the foot of a cataract, in a tiny birch-bark canoe, by the red light of a torch, on a night without a moon? You see before you a wall of water, red, green, and white, tumbling inces- santly at your feet ; on either hand you gaze on a wall of rock, rising so high as to be lost in the gloom, and apparently blending with the sky. You look behind, and there is a foaming torrent rushing into the blackness of night, sweeping past the eddy in which your birchen craft is lightly dancing to the loud music of a waterfall. No sound but its never-ceasing din can reach you no near object meets the eye which does not reflect a red glare. Suddenly the torch falls, and is instantly extinguished in the seething waters ; absolute darkness envelopes you ; the white foam, the changing green of the falling water, the red reflected right of the broken waves, all become uniformly and absolutely black. Nothing whatever is discernible to the eye ; but perhaps another sense tells you of swift undulating motion, a rolling ride over stormy waves, with a lessening roar. Your eyes gradually recover their power of vision, and you find yourself either swaying up and down in the same eddy, or far away from the cataract on the main channel of the river, secure against whirlpools and rocks, with the Indians quietly paddling the canoe, and about to turn again to resume their savage sport. The instant the light fell into the water, an event which often occurs with birch-bark torches, the Indian in the stern decided whether to remain in the eddy CHAP. vi. THE EXTINCTION OF THE TOECII. 10;] or to enter the rapid and descend until the power of vision was restored. This is a contingency for which all salnion-spearers in such situations must be prepared. Indecision might prove fatal, for if the eddy were safe in absolute darkness for an eighth of a minute, it would be wise to remain ; but if there is danger of being sucked under the fall, it would be well to seek refuge from a sudden deluge, or from rocks and whirlpools, in the swift but tumultuous rapid. This can only occur in a large river, and at the foot of a cataract. Water in rapid motion is a terrible power, and none know how to take advantage of its humours better than the wild Indian salmon-spearer, who avoids its dangers with matchless skill and self-possession, who is prompt to decide in cases of peril or difficulty, and who seeks the excitement it offers as if it were the main-spring of his life or the aim of his existence. 104 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. vn. CHAPTER VII. THE SECOND GOEGE OF THE MOISIE TO COLD-WATEE EIVEE FOETAGE. Beautiful Scenery Second Gorge Magnificent Eocks An Accident Michel Michel's Description of the Upper Country The Terrible Current Rabbits Their Uses to Indians Rabbit Pemmican Forest Medicine Indian Intermarriages The Current again The Cold-water River Portage Trout A Land Slide Labradorite Rich Forest Chaos Crossing the Slide A Cache Nothing lost on an Indian Trail A Beaver Meadow Cold-water River Styx More Trout. WE sewed, patched, and gummed the canoes on the See-way-sini-kop Portage, and did not get off until noon. Snow still lingered on the mountains before us ; but the weather in the valley was warm and pleasant. The tracks of the beaver were numerous on the banks, but we were not so fortunate as to see this wary animal. The birch grows to a large size on the flats, and spruce two feet in diameter is by no means uncommon below the second Gorge, where we arrived early in the evening. Against the strong current of the Moisie paddling was out of the question ; we used poles and tracking lines, and without them we could not have made any progress. The scenery on the river is everywhere charming, sometimes grand. The entrance to the second Gorge is perhaps more y o D: o o Q z; o u kl CHAP. vn. MICHEL S DESCRIPTION OF THE UPPER COUNTRY. 105 beautiful than the first, but not so difficult to pass. The rocks, rising 600 to 800 feet above the river, are of a deep purple hue, and sometimes exquisitely adorned with thin lines of birch and spruce, following cracks or lines of fracture. Before entering the second Gorge, one of the canoes was nearly smashed, and had not the men jumped into the river, the least we might have had to deplore would have been a broken canoe and wetted baggage. As it was, the frail vessel was so much strained, and opened so freely at the seams, that it became necessary to gum her, which delayed us for more than an hour. I had now time to examine Michel, and, by means of Louis' good offices, to obtain some information from him respecting the country through which we were about to pass. ' Where did you winter, Michel ? ' ' Near where the water flows the other wayi' * How many portages are there before we get to your winter quarters ? ' ' Three tens and one nine.' ' Does he mean thirty-nine ? ' He held up both hands four times, and put one finger down the last time. 'That is thirty-nine, eh ? ' ' Perhaps I suppose.' ' Can't you count, Louis ? ' ' Quite enough for Indian,' replied the imperturbable Montagnais. ' Where did he winter the year before last ? ' 'On the Esquimaux Eiver, near Esquimaux Bay' (Hamilton Inlet). 106 THE LABKADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. vn. ' How did he come to the Moisie ? ' ' By the Ashwanipi Eiver, and by the Ashwanipi Lake.' ' How many portages between the lake where he win- tered and the Ashwanipi Eiver ? ' ' One.' ' Shall we see it ? ' ' Yes ; very low no high mountains there.' ' Are there plenty of reindeer? your caribou, I mean.' 'No.' ' Any rabbits in the country where he wintered ? ' 'No.' ' Any ducks or geese ? ' 4 In the spring and fall ; none now.' 'Any fish?' ' Some.' 'Any bear?' ' Very few.' ' What is the reason why there are so few animals ? ' ' Much of the country burnt.' ' What ! are the trees destroyed ? ' 1 Yes, burnt ; moss, too.' ' Why did Domenique winter there ? ' ' Suppose good place for marten ; Michel don't know : perhaps winter come on before he got to Ashwanipi, perhaps not.' The river where we camped at the foot of the second Gorge is a torrent swiftly flowing over a gravelly bot- tom, with huge boulders here and there in its bed. It is about 150 yards across, and full of shoals. The character of the scenery is greatly changed. Bold CHAP. vii. THE SECOND GORGE OF THE MOISIE. 107 mountain rocks stand out by themselves ; others assume a peaked form, and are much higher than those below. Silver waterfalls, corning from banks of snow near their summits, leap several hundred feet down the sides of the purple mountains. Where patches of drift remain, the trees are tall, and of fine luxuriant growth. The pale bluish clay still appears in sheltered spots fifty to seventy feet in thickness ; they are chiefly under the lea of huge rocks, which rise like gigantic bastions from the swift flowing river. But the strong current wearies the men terribly. It is a perpetual conflict, and we have sometimes to abandon both paddles and poles, and take to the tracking line whenever the ground is favourable. The strength of the canoes is astonishing ; one would think such frail craft would never be able to stand the wear to which they are subjected in ascend- ing this rapid river. The men had great difficulty in bringing the heavy canoe up to the camp. They waded in the shallow water, pulling the canoe after them. The current in ' the lead,' that is, in the deep water, was too strong for paddles, and too deep for poles. During the morning of the 20th, we had heavy rain, which did not cease until eleven o'clock. Dense masses of mist rolled magnificently through the Gorge, and enveloped the mountain-tops with a veil of clouds which completely shut them from view. When the rain ceased, and the men were drying their clothes, Pierre set to work to bake bread, others to cut fresh poles, and others to hunt for rabbits. Not even a track was to be seen. No sign of animal life but a few gulls, and a loon. 108 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. vn. Eabbits and porcupines formerly existed in great numbers throughout this country, (so the Indians say), but now none are to be found. The first-named animal is of the greatest importance to Indians, and was formerly one of their most reliable sources of food. The disappearance of the rabbit must have been largely instrumental in driving Indians from the Moisie. There are now many parts of Eastern Canada which would not sustain even a few families of hunters, if it were not for the rabbits. In the region west of Lake Superior, rabbits are very numerous, and form the main-stay of the Indians there. When Mr. Gaudet was exploring the Lake of the Woods in 1858, he visited 'the Pelican,' a chief among the Ojibways. His family consisted of ten persons, and they caught and consumed forty rabbits a day. Eabbits at the best are very poor food, and when In- dians are compelled to live for months together on this little animal, they become weak, emaciated, and prone to disease. A party of fourteen men, including two Indian hunters, took 2,000 rabbits at the Savanne and Prairie Portage during the winter of 1858-9, and made some capital rabbit penimican, by boiling down sixty rabbits at a time, with a little pork fat, taking out the bones, and letting the gelatinous soup freeze. The spruce partridge are also very numerous in the Lake Superior region, but here there are none to be seen. They go about the Savanne Portage* in droves of 100 and * The Savanne Portage is near the dividing ridge between Lakes Superior and Winnipeg. The country abounds in rabbits and partridge, and the lakes teem with fish. CHAP. vii. FOREST MEDICINE. 109 200, walking on the snow like the prairie hen, and feed- ing on spruce-buds. Eabbits are very easily caught with snares, both in summer and in winter. Their tracks in the winter intersect the country in all directions, and make it look like network on a large scale. After a snow-storm, all tracks are obliterated, but in two or three days they are numerous again. During the winter, rabbits burrow in the snow to the surface of the ground and form a warm round nest where they may he in safety, secure from the most penetrating cold, which, in those elevated regions, is not unfrequently severe enough to freeze mercury. How difficult and uncomfortable it is to cook break- fast in heavy rain, none but those who have tried can tell. Pierre begged to be allowed to come into my tent to knead the dough for bread, ' or the rain would spoil it.' On receiving permission, he brought a large fresh sheet of birch-bark, which he had just cut from a neighbouring tree, and laying it on the spruce boughs, began to make his bread. A shout of alarm from one of the voyageurs, who was chopping some wood, drew us from the tent. He had cut his foot with the axe. It was the work of a moment to pull off his loose boot, run to the nearest balsam spruce, get a tea-spoonful of the fresh balsam, and apply it to the wound kept tightly closed with the finger. A bit of rag was then put over the sticky gum, which caused it to adhere so firmly, that the blood ceased to flow, and in three days the wound had healed. 'Pierre, w T hy do these Montagnais and Nasquapee 110 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vn. Indians die so quickly when they go to the coast ? ' I said, as we returned to nay tent. ' Well, perhaps,' said Pierre, ' because they marry so much together in one family. It is the same every- where in " the woods." Among the Ojibways, all the way from Lake Superior to Eed Eiver, intermarriages form the rule instead of the exception. One may visit a small camp, and find them all cousins, or brothers, or half-brothers, or half-cousins, but nearly always related to one another. It is curious that the children of a brother and sister can marry, but the children of two brothers or of two sisters cannot. They call one another brother and sister. One often finds that the first wife, even if she has no children, is mistress over the others, the younger ones doing the work. The wives call each other sisters, and the children of one call the others aunts. After breakfast we passed the second Gorge without great difficulty. The labour was severe, but there was no necessity for discharging any part of our cargo. The men and some of the gentlemen were compelled to wade occasionally, when the water was shallow close in shore,- and the current too strong for paddles, and too deep for poles in the main channel. The presence of boulders in the middle of the stream was sometimes very troublesome, requiring great care and hard labour to get past them. Bitterly did the men complain among themselves of the current of the Moisie, and they looked aghast at the answer Michel gave to the following questions which I put to him when we ah 1 stopped to rest. CHAF. vii. THE COLD-TFATER EIVER PORTAGE. Ill ' Is the current less rapid when we get a mile or two beyond the Gorge ? ' ' Worse.' ' How far up is the river very bad ? ' ' The farther you go up, the more rapid is the river ; it gets worse and worse, until canoes cannot be hauled, or paddled, or poled up it, even in summer, when the water is low.' 4 Shall we soon get to the portage ?' ' The portage is on the other side of that bend two points away ; we leave the river then, and go to the lakes.' Suddenly the countenances of the voyageurs changed, as they heard Louis' interpretation of the young Nas- quapee's answer to my last question. They shouted, laughed, joked, and sang ; took off their caps to the Moisie, and expressed regret that they would soon be compelled to leave it. Louis muttered, thoughtfully, ' Ka-pi-ta-gan, Ka-pi-ta- gan.' ' What is Ka-pi-ta-gan ? ' I asked. ' Ka-pi-ta-gan is Montagnais for " portage." ' WeU, why are you calling out Ka-pi-ta-gan in such a melancholy strain ? ' ' Michel just tell rue the portages are long, very long. He say, too, that the portages are high, very high ; many, very many. I think those men will not laugh so loud when they are halfway across one of the portages : w r e shah 1 see.' ' What is the name of the first portage we come to ? ' ' Michel says, Cold-water River Portage.' 112 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vii. ' Away, then, for Cold-water Eiver Portage ; and good-bye for a while to the dreadful current of the Moisie.' ' Hup ! hup ! hup ! ' shouted the Indians, as they dipped their paddles in the water, some of them little dream- ing of w T hat was in store for them, and very far from thinking that the Moisie, notwithstanding its currents, would soon be remembered with regret, in the midst of greater troubles and severer toil. Another hour brought us in sight of Cold-water Eiver and the old Montagnais portage clearly marked on its banks. A very remarkable remnant of the drift which formerly filled the whole valley of the Moisie, to a height varying from. 120 feet at the Cold-water Eiver to 70 feet below the Grand Eapids, lies under the shadow of a mountain about 700 feet in altitude. Cold-water Eiver is not more than thirty feet broad at its mouth. Trout abound in it, and we soon caught enough to furnish us with an excellent dinner and supper. The remains of old Montagnais lodges, and a well-worn path, showed that this was once a favourite resting-place, and even now it is one where the few families who pass up or down the Moisie always stay a day or two to fish and hunt. Eain set in soon after our baggage was landed ; but fortunately it did not last long. Late in the afternoon we all started to examine the portage, and clear the path of the trees which had grown upon it, for the passage of the canoes. About fifty yards from our camp, which was made at the mouth of the river, the portage ascends the CHAP. VII. EFFECTS OF A LAND-SLIDE. 113 mountain to a height of 320 feet. The rise is very abrupt, and even difficult in some places ; but when we reached the altitude just named, a wonderful sight burst upon our view. We emerged from a fine forest of spruce and birch, to the border of a complete chaos of rocks and trees. A land-slide, on a stupendous scale, had taken ],AN'l>-ST,mE ON Cl)l,n-WATr,l; UIVER PORTAGE. place during the spring of the preceding year. Above rose a dark-green precipice, several hundred feet high, with trees overhanging its crest ; below, and all the way down a steep incline, were masses of shattered rock, mingled with trunks of trees heaped upon one another in the wildest confusion. At the bottom of this chaotic mass w r as the forest, which had been crushed into the valley below by the falling fragments. It appeared as if a por- tion of the mountain, from 200 to 300 feet in height, and half that measure in breadth, had become detached from VOL. i. I 114 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vir. the summit, and in its headlong fall was shattered into countless pieces of all sizes and shapes. These had ploughed their way through the forest, and carried the trees before them in their resistless rush to the valley below, where they lay matted together over roots, rocks, and broken limbs in inextricable disarray. A close inspection of the mineral characters of the rocks developed another feature of high interest. The rock was no other than the celebrated Labrador felspar, not unfrequently distinguished by the exquisite play of colours which its surface exhibits when seen at particular angles of vision. A mountain range of Labrador felspar, no doubt the fire-rocks of the Nasquapees, small areas of which, under favourable conditions and aspects, charm the eye with changing lustre, and reflect the most lovely greys, the most delicate blues, and the softest golden yellows. The time I could give to an examination of this stupendous land-slide, and the beautiful rocks of which its ruins were composed, only enabled me to detect in a few instances the lustre of the Labrador felspar. But the entire mass of the mountains as well as the debris were unquestionably composed of it. After having feasted on the wild beauty of this extraordinary scene, I turned my eyes towards the mountain, on the opposite side of the valley, about two miles distant, where I saw another land-slide, the counterpart of the one at my feet, but of much more ancient date. The birch had begun to grow among the shattered fragments, but the large crushed trees were withered and dead, and lay at the bottom of the slide in most intricate disorder, CHAP. vii. CROSSING THE LAND-SLIDE. 115 easily discerned with a good glass. Those in the valley near me were not all dead ; some of the birches had put forth their leaves, and looked green and fresh amidst the forest of broken trunks so rudely torn from the spot where they grew. I was struck with the singular luxu- riance of the vegetation, and the comparatively great size of the forest trees in this valley, but the discovery of the Labradorite rocks at once explained the cause. La- bradorite is a lime felspar, which, upon decomposition, yields a very fertile soil. We were almost afraid at first to speak, lest the vibration of a sound should dislodge some of the masses which seemed ready to descend the hill at the slightest touch. We picked our steps over the fragments with great but needless caution, for they had evidently all attained a stable position, and with few exceptions allowed us to pass over them without being displaced or shaken. The men who, with ' weary step and slow,' had followed us with heavy burdens up the hill, paused in amazement and doubt as they came to the edge of the slide. They looked up at the dark-green mountain-wall from which the shattered masses had fallen ; they looked down into the deep valley where the fragments were strewn and heaped ; they looked across the path of the slide and traced our footsteps one by one over the treacherous incline, the foremost calling out in a low voice, ' Is it safe ? can we pass ? ' ' Put your feet in our steps ; don't touch any of the loose rocks, or you'll send them tumbling down the hill, and come as quick as you can, one by one.' i 2 116 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vii. We were sitting on a piece of rock on the opposite side of the path of the slide when this reply was given, and we watched them make the traverse with a little anxiety. There was no difficulty in lightly skipping across the side of the hill at an angle of 45, loosely covered with debris ; but when rapid motion was impeded by a burden of 100 Ibs. on the back, great care became necessary in order to secure a firm footing. Ah 1 crossed in safety, and lodged their burdens on the other side, returning to camp deeply impressed with the wildness of a scene where disorder seemed to reign, and fully alive to the beauties, and, perhaps, most of all, to the silence of those remote mountain wilds. They spoke in whispers, lest the sound of their voices should detach loose fragments from the overhanging cliffs ; and it was not until they had reached the valley below in the dusk of the evening, and saw the red glow of the camp fires lighting up the forest, that they broke into their usual buoyant spirits, and, brightening up, made those silent woods resound with joke, laughter, and song. At daylight on the following morning (21st) I was going to the river to fish for trout, when I saw the young Nasquapee at the foot of a large birch close to the portage path, gazing at something about two feet beyond his reach. I went to the object, and saw that it was a roll of birch -bark, tightly tied with sinew and suspended to a branch. I motioned the Nasquapee to get up the tree and take it down ; he did so immediately, and, handing it to me, I was enabled to trace some letters upon it CHAP. vii. NOTHING LOST ON AN INDIAN TRAIL. l|7 rudely written with charcoal. They made the word Bar-tel-ini ; on opening the roll I found in it eight narrow plugs of tobacco. ' Ah ! I know,' said Pierre, when I showed him the little cache ; ' it is some tobacco which Indians have left for Bar-tel-mi ; he hunts on this river, and on these lakes : they have brought it here from the Moisie Bay, and he will find it when he conies back to the portage.' The birch-bark roll was retied and suspended to the branch where it was found. A thermometer was dis- covered to have been left at the last camping place. No doubt it will be found by Indians and taken back to the Moisie next spring, if we do not get it as we return. It is remarkable that a delicate instrument like the thermometer should survive the shocks to which they are subjected in forest travelling. Mr. Gaudet left one on Savanne Eiver, near Fort Pelly, in 1858 ; in 1859, it was brought by Swampy Indians to Fort Garry at Eed Eiver Settlement. In 1857, I left one hanging to a branch on the Eoseau Eiver, west of the Lake of the Woods ; in the following spring it was brought to Fort Garry by the Ojibways, who hunt on that river. Nothing ' which is not obviously useful, such as a knife or an axe, is lost in the woods on an Indian trail. It is sure to be found sooner or later by the lynx-eyed wanderers, and "brought to the nearest fort or post in the fur countries. At 4 A.M. we despatched the men with a load, instruct- ing them to carry it as far as a beaver meadow on a high valley between conical hills about half a mile from our camp, and then return for breakfast. We fished, and 118 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. vii. caught some large speckled trout, wandered in the fine forest which filled the narrow valley, and gathered some beautiful and rare species of flowers which grew with singular luxuriance in the moist woods. After breakfast the canoes were sent forward to the beaver meadow, and we broke up camp. It was heavy work carrying them up the steep, 320 feet up an incline of 45, the remains of former land-slides, thinly covered with slippery black mould. This morning's work bruised the shoulders of the men, and damped their spirits. We were compelled to use the line with the big canoe, and haul it inch by inch up the steepest parts. The remains of Indian lodges are not uncommon after reaching the plateau ; but the vegetation loses its luxuriance, and dwindles to stunted spruce and birch. But an old beaver meadow in the valley of a little streamlet, at the foot of a rock from 600 to 700 feet in perpendicular altitude, was the most charming little bit of scenery we had yet found. It was the perfection of seclusion, and a most delightful place to camp in ; wood and water in abundance, a green sward fringed with low-growing spruce, a huge purple rock sheltering this lovely spot from the midday sun, and near at hand the rotting tent- poles of Indian lodges, telling a sad tale of former life in this now desolate wilderness, and speaking as if from the grave of a race that has passed away. The mosses and lichens grow here with even more luxuriance than on the Grand Portage, and Michel tells me that as we get near the dividing ridge, the country is covered with mosses richer, deeper, and more beautiful than we sec here. CHAP. vii. COLD-WATER RIVER FALLS. 119 We reached the Cold-water Eiver again late in the afternoon, and found the height of the cascades, which the portage avoids, to be 183 feet. They are very much broken and hidden by the foliage of trees, which, in the sheltered ravine through which the river flows, grow to a large size, but are composed almost exclusively of spruce and birch. The river itself is sixty feet broad, and very much choked with fallen timber, through which we had to cut our way with the axe. It is the most gloomy stream on which I have ever floated in a canoe. The waters are black and sluggish, and high purple rocks rise perpendi- cularly from it. No ray of sunlight can penetrate part of the Gorge in which it flows, and the narrow flats which occur at intervals are thickly clothed with trees. Otter traps, belonging to Bartelmi, are numerous on its banks ; but the transition from the beautiful beaver meadow above to this damp and gloomy defile, is like the sudden change from a bright and breezy day in spring to the dispiriting damp and heaviness of a November afternoon. But these frowning rocks, this black and almost noisome river, slowly winding and creeping along, half choked with trees, and accumulating a scum on its surface at every little jam, this can't last long, surely : ' Listen, Pierre ! - - what 's that ? ' Pierre pointed with his paddle to a small mass of froth floating slowly past us, then to another, and another, uttering at the same time the monosyllable, ' Falls.' In two minutes we turned another point, and the roar of the falls came loud upon the ear ; the froth 120 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vn. was more abundant in the stream, and bubbles began to appear. ' There they are ! ' shouted my bowsman, as we entered a little pool not seventy yards in diameter, and saw the second falls of the little river before us. ' Do you see the trout jumping ? ' A capital place to camp, fish, and make a cache of a box of tea. In half an hour we caught a considerable number of trout and one musk-rat, carried the flour and pork across the portage, which was only 150 yards long, and gathered wood for an illumination of the rocks after nightfall. Words cannot paint the effect of that ruddy light on those grand old cliffs. Lost in the upper air, their summits were no longer visible, however bright we made the flame with fresh supplies of birch-bark. The shadows were black as pitch, the gloomy river, or as much of it as was visible from our camp, looked like what Styx might be supposed to be, and the little cascade, close to which our bonfire was placed, leaped with a cheerful glow in the pool, alive with speckled trout, which came to gaze at our glowing fire. 121 CHAPTEE VIII. ' THE LAKE WHERE THE SAND LIES ' TO ' GNEISS TEREACES.' Moose Moose Country Moose Calling Shaw-a-Gunsch A Moose Story Another Accident Canada Balsam again The ' Lake where the Sand lies ' Stillness and Beauty of the Scene Effect on the Men A Race Trolling Mosquitoes and Blackflies The ' Gneiss Terraces ' Their Symmetry and Charac- teristics Mosses and Lichens Making Tents comfortable Rain Wandering over the Terraces Wonderful Lichens and Mosses The Labrador Tea-plant. ' ~T\0 you think there are any moose in this country, -L/ sir ? ' enquired one of the voyageurs as he was looking round for dry birch-bark to light the fire at the dawn of day. ' I don't think so. Why do you ask ? ' ' I thought I heard a moose cah 1 in the night.' ' They don't call at this season of the year, it 's late in the fall before the moose begins to cah 1 .' ' I have not heard them myself, in the woods ; but Laronde has been away up the Ottawa, and he was tell- ing us last night about moose calling. I thought he said that they did cah 1 in the early summer, so I think it must have been the cow moose calling her calf.' When Laronde came back, I questioned him about the moose, as we sat round the fire waiting until breakfast was ready - - all the things but the cooking utensils being at the other end of the portage. 122 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vin. 'Joseph thinks he heard a inoose call last night, Laronde.' ' He must have dreamt it, sir ; there are no moose in this country : perhaps it was a wolf he heard.' ' I know the cry of a wolf,' replied Joseph indignantly. ' Besides,' continued Laronde, ' moose don't call at this time of the year. I have often called moose, and killed many a one on the Ottawa and the St. Maurice.' ' How far east have you met with moose ? ' ' I don't believe there 's a moose on this side the Saugeuay. I expect there used to be, but they Ve been killed off.' ' How do you call moose ? ' asked one, who was a moose hunter himself when opportunity offered, and wished to know what Laronde knew about it. Laronde took a piece of birch-bark and rolled it up in the form of a trumpet, and made a noise with it like the deep bellow of a bull. His questioner made another little trumpet, and an- swered it with a similar sound. ' Ah ! ' said Laronde, ' I see you know how to call the moose.' The experience which several of the party had enjoyed in moose hunting led to the narration of the following extraordinary instance of success in this wild sport, among others of less striking character. In 1859, an Indian was coming into a large lake, near the Lake of the Woods, with his canoe in search of wild rice. He had no gun with him, only his paddle and a knife ; straight before him he saw three moose swimming across the lake he killed them all. He paddled as fast as he could alongside one of them, CHAP. vin. MOOSE-HUNTING. 123 and threw his blanket over his head. Leaving this one to swim about, he gave chase to another - - caught him, and threw his coat over his head, and left him to swim about too ; he then gave chase to the third, but if it had not been for a fair wind, he would never have caught him. As it was, he only came up to him when within fifty yards of shore. The moose was tired, and did not make much way. The Indian hit him on the nose and stunned him for a moment ; he then gave him a rap on the head, and finished him after a few more blows. But it requires very skillful paddling to kill a moose in the water, and he would not have done it so easily if the poor animal had not been tired with swim- ming across a broad lake. After he had dragged this one into shallow water, he turned to look where the others were ; he saw them swimming round and round in the middle of the lake they could not see which way to go. After resting a while, the Indian paddled up to the one nearest him, and turned him towards shore always keeping a little behind, and going from one side to the other, according as the moose wandered from a straight line. When he came near the land he paddled up to him, and served him as he had done the first - tied him to his canoe and tugged him into shallow water. He then went after the third, who was still swimming round and round, but very weak. He got him with difficulty near the shore, and despatched him in the same style as the others.* * The following account of the habits of the moose is by Mr. James E. Powell, a hunter iu Maine, and was read before the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in June 1850 : ' In regard to the moose, I speak of it 124 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vi.i. Formerly the moose* was found as low down as the Bersiamits Eiver, about 230 miles below Quebec. These only as I am acquainted with it in this State (Maine), other latitudes causing some slight variation in its habits. When the snows have left the ground entirely bare, which in the favourite haunts of the moose happens about the middle of May, they leave their winter haunts and approach the marshes, ponds, and rivers, where they come to search for their summer food, consisting of all the various aquatic plants which flourish in this region. Their favourite food, however, is the water-lily and rush, in all their varieties, and at this season they crop them, as soon as they appear, close to the bottom, frequently holding their heads under water a minute or eighty seconds, and often wading in water so deep that when they put their heads down under the surface to obtain the small lily-leaves, or to dig up the root of the plant (which they often eat at this season) before the leaves are plentiful, only a portion of the back is visible. About this time the females go apart, seeking the most impenetrable thickets that border on or near the water, and there bring forth their young : those of three years old and upwards almost invariably producing two still I have occasionally, but very rarely, seen and known three at a birth : those of two years old never produce more than one. They shed their coats of long rough hair, too, at this period, and are soon covered with short, smooth, and fine hair, of a dark- brown colour, which, however, soon becomes a jetty glossy black on the sides and back, and grey on the legs, with the exception of one variety of animal, which is of a grey colour, and which is now very scarce here. As the season advances, the moose frequent the water still more, and remain in it longer at a time. In May or early in June they seldom stay in it more than half an hour at once, but in July and August they sometimes remain in the water several hours, and also frequent the waters very much during the night, especially in hot, dry, sultry weather, or thunderstorms, which they seem particularly to delight in, swimming back and forth, apparently in a high state of enjoyment. During these visits to the water, the female secretes her young with great care, to protect them from the ferocity of the old males who would destroy them. For this purpose they commonly select a very dense clump of large bushes, or a spruce or fir thicket, which, from its density, prevents the male from reaching them on account of his horns, which generally sprout in April. They grow rapidly, and are very tender and easily hurt at this time. By September the horns are out of the velvet, and have acquired hardness, and towards the close of this month the moose leave the water for two or three weeks, and resort to the moun- tains. At this period the males are frequently very fat (I have killed them with nearly three inches in thickness of fat on the rump), and are often very fierce and savage, sometimes even attacking the hunter ; but in the course of * Cervus Alces. CHAP. viii. HAUNTS AND HABITS OF THE MOOSE. 125 fine animals were mentioned by Pere Jean de Quen, in 1652, in his description of the country of the Oumamiois a few weeks they become thin and poor, in consequence of their continual roaming and their many combats. They also neglect food at this time. At this period the loud bellow of the male is frequently heard and distinguished by the watchful hunter at the distance of two or three miles, in the stillness of the night. The males also make another noise, which, from its peculiar sound, the hunters call chopping ; it is produced by forcibly bringing together and separating the jaws in a peculiar and singular manner, and, as its name implies, resembles the sound of an axe, used at a great distance. They also emit a variety of strange sounds and cries. When they return to the water they spend a great deal of time in it for a week or two, but after- wards they gradually shorten their visits until the sharp frost sets in. Still they occasionally come into it till ice forms an inch thick during the night. Then they leave and return to the mountains, where they select their fall and winter haunts, roaming about, and subsisting on the bark of small trees, which they peel or gnaw off, and the twigs of the fir tree and other woods. When the deep snows fall they select a spot well adapted to their wants, and commence to browse and peel more closely. This is called " yarding," and as the snow deepens and crusts form on its surface, they peel and break down bushes and browse closely, in preference to wallowing through the snow in search of choicer food. A " moose yard " frequently occupies about 100 acres, more or less, but the latter few weeks of the season are fre- quently spent on an area of ten acres, or less. ( The old males and females never " yard " together, but sometimes the young animals are found occupying the same " yard." Still they are seldom found in close company. The females and their calves frequently "yard " together, the calves remaining with their mother one year. The oldest males invariably yard alone, choosing some lonely knoll or mountain peak, where they reside in utter solitude. Indeed, as age increases, the moose becomes more solitary in his habits, avoiding th'e common resorts of other moose, and frequenting some lone little pond or stream. The moose of two or three years old, also, often yard alone ; but the males between the ages of three and ten years are very gregarious. I have known as many as nine in one yard. When hunted at this time (deep snow), they go off in Indian file, each moose stepping accurately in the footprints of its prede- cessor, so that any but an experienced hunter would scarcely suppose that more than one moose had passed, when perhaps six or seven had gone in reality. Still, when they are closely pursued, and the one that is first becomes tired in consequence of having to break the way through the snow that one turns out a very little, and the rest, having passed him, bring up the rear. So they change in rotation, the males showing the most chivalrous spirit in aiding the females or weaker ones. Sometimes, too, thev break their order of troiug in awkwardly passing a tree, when hard 1-26 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vm. or Bersiamits Indians, a tribe of the Montagnais nation. In 1670, Pere Albanel states that 'the moose approach the country of the Oumamiois.' On the south side of the St. Lawrence, in the Gaspe District, the moose is still common, and the hunters kill large numbers of this animal for the sake of their skins. ' We were informed,' says Mr. E. Bell,* ' that a party of hunters had procured 300 skins in 1857 ; and that another party of only three Indians had killed, during the same season, between 90 and 100 on one expedition, as many as six falling a prey to them in one day ; yet these noble animals roam in numbers over the district.' After breakfast, we started full of pleasant anticipa- tions for the lakes. A flock of those merry birds, the pressed, some going on each side, but instantly falling into line again when the obstacle is passed. ' At this season the "spikehorn," or two-year-old male, is noted as affording the longest and most difficult chase ; and the oldest male for making the most gallant fight. In fact, they often refuse to run at all. 'A moose " yard " presents a strange sight to those not familiar with it, with its broken bushes and peeled trees ; for sometimes when the snow is very deep and difficult for them to get through, they break down and browse closely the tops of young fir trees five or six feet from the ground, and where they are two or three inches in diameter. They also reach up and peel and browse ten or twelve feet high above the ground, raising the fore legs and allowing the weight of the body to rest on the hind ones. Al- though so fond of browsing the fir, they never eat the bark of it, yet they seldom kill any other tree, as they generally peel only one side off those they use for food ; they also break down the bushes in one direction, pulling them towards them, so that the direction the moose has taken is known to the hunter by this sign, when he first approaches a "yard." ' The young fir trees are killed by the males rubbing their heads against them instinct teaching them in that manner to apply the balsam of fir, which possesses great healing powers, to the sore and tender places caused by the loosening and falling off of the horns. ' The favourite winter food of the moose is the twigs of the fir tree and the bark of the mountain ash, and of a species of dwarf maple, and the young twigs of the " moose- wood." * Geological Survey of Canada. CHAP. viii. THE ' LAKE WHERE THE SAND LIES.' 127 whisky-jacks, followed us up the silent and gloomy river, and did not leave us until we entered the Ka-wa-si-ta-ga- wish, or ' Lake where the Sand lies.' The quiet lake lay calm and fair as we gently stole upon its waters - - smooth as a mirror, and reflecting with perfect fidelity the green and purple mountains on its shores. This is truly a land of contrasts. From a sluggish river coated with slime, with a heavy, damp, dispiriting atmosphere brooding over it, to a bright and limpid lake, full of sunshine and colour, is but a step over which you slip insensibly, but not without instantly realising the change. The day is hot, but the shadows of the purple moun- tains are deep, and the waters of the lake ice-cold. Passing from sunshine into shade, a chill thrills through every limb, and you turn back to the pleasant glow again to enjoy the warm air and brilliant light. Ice lingers on those distant cloud-capped peaks, but all around, the trees, where trees can grow on the sloping rocks, wear their summer dress. Still, something weighs upon the spirits which you find it impossible to shake off. What is it? All, more or less, are under its influence. The Indians are silent as the grave. The French voyageurs neither laugh, nor talk, nor sing, but move their paddles mechanically, dipping them carefully into the water to make as little noise as possible. What is it that seems to weigh upon the spirits of us all ? It is the absence of life, it is the consciousness of being in a desolate wilder- ness. Eocks and trees and water are as beautiful as they can be imagined, yet there is no bird, or beast, or fish to cjive animation to this lovely scene. o / 128 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vm. Our expectations had been roused by the associations which had hitherto attached themselves to the idea of a mountain lake. We expected to find water-fowl at least but there were none. The Nasquapee told us w r e should see no duck, but AVC scarcely liked to believe him. We thought that we should see fish rising, but the surface of the lake was like a mirror, and you could detect no difference between the mountain pointing to the sky above and its image below. The only motion was produced by our own canoes, the only sound by the gentle subdued dipping of the paddles in the water. One blessed little bird suddenly broke out into a sweet song on that desolate shore, and woke me as from a dream. This will never do, I thought the men will get superstitious, and want to go back. ' Now for a race!' I shouted, 'a race to the point a-head.' The men in the other canoes stared at me wonderingly, as if I had rudely broken in upon their meditations, and profaned a place sacred to day-dreams or self-communing, but they showed no signs of increasing their speed or arousing themselves from the half stupor in which they were plunged. There is nothing like action in such a case, so I told my men to paddle with a will. As soon as the others saw us leaping away from them, they caught the spirit, and in two minutes more we were waking the echoes with our shouts in the brief excitement of a canoe race. ' Suppose we put out a trolling hue, and try and catch a trout,' said Mr. Caley. ' I see them about the canoe ; CHAP. vin. CONTEASTS. 129 they are small, but anything is better than this unearthly stillness ; and we can't be always racing.' No sooner said than done. A delicate little spoon, about the size of a tea-spoon, ornamented with a single crimson feather, and armed with a treble hook, was dropped into the water and dragged along by the canoe. One small trout, not half a pound, was the reward of this suggestion ; but it served to show us there were fish which would be caught even by spoons, and that was something. At length we got to the end of the lake, which is about two miles long, and hastened across the succeeding portage. The ' Lake where the Sand lies ' is 330 feet above the sea ; in order to reach it from the Moisie it is necessary to rise 293 feet above Cold-water Eiver, and descend 110. In making the passage of the Cold-water Portage, a second rise of sixty feet over a small carrying-place round the Cold-water Falls, about 150 yards long, fol- lowed by a mile of river, leads into the lake. If we complained of no life on the water, there was enough of it on land, for no sooner had we stepped on shore than the mosquitoes and black flies began to tor- ment us, and a kingfisher flew screaming from one leafless branch to another, on the dead larches near the head of the lake. High up on the portage, which rises 292 feet, we obtained a fine view of the surrounding country. The ' Lake where the Sand lies ' was seen to have many deep bays, and to join with another lake occupying a valley to the north-west of our course, and consequently lying be- tween us and the Moisie. White streams of water tumbling VOL. i. K J30 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vur. down deep declivities of bare rock, glistened in the sun. Long bright-green strips on the mountain sides showed where the birch had found a kindly soil, amidst a sea of dark spruce or a dreary waste of herbless rock. We bathed in the second lake, but the temperature of the water was not much removed above that of melting snow. Crossing the second lake, we came to the Ka-te- tu-kois-pish-kos, or Level Portage, with a rise of 197 feet, and a length of three-quarters of a mile. Cold-water Eiver falls 270 feet, between the lakes, in a distance not exceeding 1200 yards. On the Level Portage we found much to admire, and still more to speculate upon. First we crossed a beaver meadow, but the beaver-houses had long since been broken open, and the beaver were gone. As we ascended 100 feet or so of bare gneiss, the half-decayed poles of Montagnais lodges, rotting where they fell, lay near a mountain rill close to our path. But the Montagnais, like the beaver they hunted, are gone, or wander in scattered bands on the coast. De- scending in converging lines to the lake are old caribou tracks ; but the caribou now shun this part of the country, or are only rarely met with in small bands. Both cari- bou and beaver will come again, and people this desert once more ; but there will be no Montagnais or ISTasqua- pees to hunt or disturb them in their secure retreat. The Labrador tea-plant is in bloom, and casts a faint but delicious fragrance around. The gneiss, which rises in gigantic terraces, one above the other, is covered with brilliant-coloured lichens in rings, crescents, and ovals of every hue, from the pale cream-coloured ' reindeer moss ' CHAP. vin. A BEAUTIFUL WILDERNESS. 131 to the vermilion ' cup moss,' growing in bunches, groups, and beds all over the grey gneiss. Larches and birches, branching free from the deep cracks in the rocks, are wonderfully symmetrical. A scented breeze drives insect tormentors away, bringing an evening blessing in these desolate wilds. From the summit of that peaked mountain in the lofty chain to the north, 1,500 to 2,000 feet above, the Nas- quapee says he has seen ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the level country where Ashwanipi flows, the great river of the Labrador table land. And, lastly, there looms, on the opposite side of the valley, another great land-slide, as recent as, and more gigantic than, the one passed over a few days ago. The slowly sinking sun reddens the mountain tops, the black shadows move swiftly across the lake ; loons, with wild prophetic cries, fly like arrows towards their nests ; the long twilight fades softly into night, and the silence of a beautiful but lifeless wilderness depresses the spirits and saddens the heart. Our camp was made at the foot of the gneiss terraces, on the bare rock, as, except in the wet beaver meadow, there was no soil where we could pitch our tents. Had it not been for the warning note of the loons, we should have rolled ourselves in our blankets, under a starry roof ; but the wild birds foretold an approaching change, and admonished us to prepare for the worst. The next day was Sunday, and, in accordance with a rule we always observed in the woods, no work would be done until the day was well advanced. We supported the sides of our tents with stones, found with difficulty, for erratics, K 2 132 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vm. both large and small, were as yet of rare occurrence at a distance from the river. We made the inside of our tents comfortable with fresh spruce boughs, the most fragrant of beds. The Indians peeled the bark from the birch trees growing in fissures, and laid them on the rock under the canoes, to protect them from the wet in case it should rain before morning. The voyageurs followed their example, and covered the floor of their tent with sheets of bark. It was late before we retired to rest ; we sat up longer than usual to watch the change taking place in the heavens. Light fleecy clouds came swiftly from the west, followed by others more heavy and opaque ; before midnight the sky was overcast, and a gentle moist wind sighed through the scattered trees. When we bade each other ' Good night,' the sky was black as pitch, and large drops of rain began to fall. It rained until noon of the following day. The men, jaded with their week's work, slept long and soundly. We did not break our fast until the rain had ceased. In the afternoon the clouds were dispersed, but mists rolled up from the deep valleys and settled around the hill tops. The mountains before us were invisible until towards evening, when the sky and earth again became clear, and even more beautiful than on the preceding day. Before nightfall the canoes were brought across the portage, and the necessary preparations made for crossing the third lake at break of day. I spent the afternoon in wandering over the gneiss ter- races, five in number, the highest being about 1,000 feet above the sea, and backed by a stunted birch and spruce- CHAP. viii. GNEISS TERRACES. 133 clad mountain, some 800 feet higher still. My tent was pitched opposite these terraces, on a shelf of lichen- covered rock, which commands a full view of the valley below, through which a mountain stream foams and frets, coming from the next succeeding lake through which we were to pass. The prospect from the highest terrace was grand in- deed : quiet lakes and rugged rocks, deep jagged ravines, and green wooded valleys, were all within view. I shall endeavour to describe the prevailing character of these terraces, commencing from the highest one. The sloping sides of these abrupt steps are rounded, polished, and furrowed by glacial action. Cuts half an inch deep, and an inch or more broad, go down slope and over level continuously. Bounded and water-worn boulders are perched here and there on the edge of the uppermost terrace. These strange memorials of the drift begin to be more common. Not many have yet been seen in this part of the country ; but now they are getting numerous. No lichen or even moss grows on many parts of these stern old rocks. They seem to preserve their original integrity, and have apparently contributed little to the detrital matter in the ravine which lies below them. Descending towards the valley, we come to a spot, however, where the lichens have succeeded in effecting a lodgement. Small, circular grey time-stains, from the size of a sixpence to a foot in diameter, encrust the rock, and begin the process of decay. They are like ' fairy rings,' dark in the centre, and shining at the circumference with brilliant lustre, when the sun first strikes them. Most of 134 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vin. the smaller rings are thin as a sheet of writing-paper, but firmly attached to the rocks, and slowly effecting its disintegration. A little farther on, and these first efforts of vegetable life give place to a different species, larger, growing in alternate concentric green and grey rings, forming broad circles on the rock. Detaching one with a knife, we find below it some minute grains of sand, the result of its growth the beginning of a soil. Moving on to a spot more favourable, perhaps, because it is level, small patches of caribou moss begin to show themselves. A few steps farther on and they grow luxuriantly in bunches and round tufts ; beneath each bunch is a little collection of sand. They are very feebly attached to the rock, and with a gentle push of the foot may easily be moved. In little hollows club mosses and kindred species have established themselves, and with their deep-green contrast beautifully with the prevailing purple-grey of the caribou lichen. Now we arrive at some scattered clumps of the Labrador tea-plant ; and a little farther on are two acres of this unyielding shrub, through which it is trouble- some to walk. It grows amidst a profusion of the preceding mosses, which have prepared the soil for it. Here and there a larch or spruce finds sufficient nourishment for a free and beautiful growth. Dwarf birches occupy crevices wherever they find moisture and plant-food. On tearing up a larch, the roots are seen to stretch far and wide over the rock, under the shelter of the moss and Labrador tea- plant. The birch has sent its roots deep into the crack, and defies all attempts to pull it up. Descending still lower down the terraced rocks, we come to the edge of CHAP. vni. VEGETATION IN LABKADOR. 135 the valley, where spruce and larch and birch grow freely in clusters. But the soil is composed of sand only a few inches deep, which the lichens have separated and rains have washed from the terraces above. The mosses and tea-plant protect the shallow soil from the sun and retain the moisture. A streamlet runs through the valley in the early spring when the snows are melting, and the beaver have taken advantage of this, and put a dam across the valley half a mile lower down. This has changed the aspect of some hundred acres over which its influence has extended. A beaver meadow has been formed. Rich long grass grows in its centre, and the spruce has invaded it and formed a margin of forest. The centre is marshy and soft, and vegetable soil has accumulated to the depth of two or three feet on each side of the valley. Just be- yond the boundary of the gneiss terraces the hills are sloping, and the birch, alder, willow, and aspen grow, which formed the food of the beaver when they revelled in these solitudes. Such is the aspect of a part of this portage, and such scenes are constantly recurring on the elevated portion of the rocks, whose shape will not admit of the accumu- lation of vegetable matter, or whose constituents are as unyielding as the hard and impenetrable gneiss. 136 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. ix. CHAPTEE IX. THE KA-PI-STA-WA-TI-SAGAN, OR EIDQE PORTAGE, TO THE OJIA-PI-SI-TAGAN, OR TOP OF THE RIDGE. The Ridge Portage Beauty and Character of the Lake A Saw- bill Duck and her Young Tenderness and Sagacity of the Bird Habits of the Saw-bill Duck A Cache The ' Top of the Ridge Lake ' A-ta-chi-ka-rni-shish River Its Descent of Five Hundred Feet in Two Miles and a Half Mosquitoes and "Black Flies The Mountain Portage Legend among the Lumbermen respecting the Mosquitoes Trout Beautiful Lake and Scenery Beautiful Variety of Trout Louis' Ya-mah-pish Proposed Ascent of a Mountain The Nasquapee 'Ups ' Magnificent View Reindeer or Caribou Old Nasquapee Camp Nasquapee Intelligence Mode of indicating Distance Mode of indicating Time Mode of obtaining Fire Height of the Mountain or Top of the Ridge Portage Mosquitoes Laronde. L EAYING the ' Level Portage ' early on Monday morning, we crossed a small lake on the summit of a low dividing ridge, named the Ka-pi-sta-wa-ti-sagan, or Eidge Portage. The rise is 139 feet, and the descent into the Ojia-pi-si- tagan Nipi, or Top of the Eidge Lake, 195 feet. The rocks on the shores of this lake are very grand and im- posing. They rise on one side to an immense height, are quite perpendicular, and of a beautiful purple colour. The lake itself is only 781 feet above the ocean; but the summit of the escarpment on its western shores cannot be less than 1,500 feet, and it forms part of a chain of CHAP. ix. A SAW-BILL DUCK AND BROOD. 137 precipitous mountains which form a small watershed, and whose direction is roughly east and west. I could not approach the purple cliffs, but at the time thought they were composed of labradorite. The rock on the portage was a gneiss. There are no fish in this lake, at least so the Nasquapee informed us ; it is not more than half a mile broad, and discharges its waters by a small streamlet into Cold-water Eiver. If fish are absent, the larvre of water-beetles, or blood-suckers, as the voyageurs called them, as well as leeches, are disgustingly abundant. Always on the look- out for ducks, I stole cautiously to the edge of the lake on the other side of the next portage, and observed a saw-bill duck, with a brood of nine young ones, not a dozen yards from the shore. The old bird evidently suspected the approach of something dangerous, for she was gently drawing her young brood farther from the shore, with a low coaxing note. Making a slight noise as I advanced, the old bird instantly called all the little ones to her side, and swam with them as fast as the tiny things could paddle towards the middle of the lake. The mother encouraged the little brood with low cries, and looked continually from side to side to see if they were all there, and keeping close to her. So compactly did they swim, that at a distance of thirty yards they looked like one object. I suddenly showed myself, running to the beach ; not with the intention of shooting them, but rather to watch the manner in which the old bird would act towards her young. She rose with a wild cry of alarm ; the little ducklings, perhaps not a week old, instantly scattered themselves over the surface of the water, some 138 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. ix. going on one side, some on another, but always keeping within a certain distance from the shore. The mother flew to and fro across the bay of the lake, alighting about fifty yards from the shore and calling her brood. She remained about ten minutes on each side, swimming about, then flew back again, and so on. She was evidently gathering the two divisions of her young together on either side of the bay. The time occupied in making the portage afforded me an excellent opportunity of watching the manner in which she would bring them together. After the lapse of three-quarters of an hour, it appears that the little ducklings had aU answered the call of the mother, and were collected in two groups about a quarter of a mile apart, for I saw the mother and about five of the little ones swim across the bay and join the other four who had remained on the opposite side. One could easily conceive the quacking congratulations which the ducklings addressed to one another at their happy meeting. The anxious care and tenderness of the mother were quite delightful to witness. The low note of warning ; the gathering flock round her ; the wary manner in which she drew them from the shore away from danger ; the instinct which prompted them to scatter, then to gather at their mother's call, and quietly wait on one side until she brought them together ; all this was a beautiful and instructive lesson in wild woods remote from help in time of need. The saw-bill duck frequently returns to the same nest year after year. On an island in Eainy Lake, in 1858, we found a saw-bill's nest in the hollow trunk of a pine, which, from the ac- cumulation of feathers, must have been there for many CHAP. ix. THE ' TOP OF THE EIDGE LAKE.' 139 years. Out of this nest we took ten eggs. On another occasion a voyageur said to rne, ' There is a saw-bill's nest on that point : I have taken eggs front that nest for two years past ; if we go there now we shall perhaps find some.' Anxious to see whether his prediction would turn out to be true, as well as to get some fresh eggs, I turned the canoe ashore, and found seven eggs in the saw-bill's nest. We made a cache of a bag of flour on the Dividing Eidge, carefully protecting it from bears and wolverines. The old Montagnais path was in excellent condition over this portage, and at its northern extremity we found an abundance of wild currants and raspberries in flower, growing luxuriantly near masses of ice which remained in fissures of the rocks. The ' Top of the Eidge Lake ' is two miles and a half broad where we crossed it, and contains a few trout. It is drained by A-ta-chi-ka-mi-shish, or Cold- water Eiver, which falls in a series of cascades a little more than 500 feet in a distance of two miles and a half. The mosquitoes and black flies were terrible after the rain of yesterday in the wet woods. We were compelled to breakfast in a cloud of smoke in order to drive away our tormentors. Before us lay the dreaded mountain portage, which the Nasquapee called the ' Top of the Eidge.' The mountains around the beautiful lake are worn and rounded, but in the distance, towards the west and north, apparently very much peaked and of great height. The valleys are well wooded with spruce and birch, but 140 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. ix. vegetation appears to cease, except in strips, about two- thirds up the mountain sides. 'I should like to know for what purpose these mos- quitoes were created,' said one, as we sat at the edge of the lake waiting for the canoes to be brought across the portage. ' Do you know what the voyageurs on the St. Maurice say about the mosquitoes ? ' asked another. ' No ; what ideas have they on the subject ? ' ' They believe that a certain saint was banished from heaven for disobedience to the commands of one of the higher angels, and condemned to dwell alone for a long period in one of the uninhabited parts of the earth. She found the time hang heavy on her hands, until at length she prayed that even a few flies might be sent to amuse her. 'The mosquito, the black fly, and the brulot were forthwith created, and during the remaining period of her punishment they gave her more employment than she wanted in resisting their attacks. 'The saint was restored to heaven, but the flies re- mained behind to keep us in constant remembrance of the folly of seeking for amusement to distract attention from sorrows which we have brought on ourselves by indiscre- tion or sin.' At this moment Michel and Louis came with a load to where we were sitting, in the doubtful enjoyment of a ' smudge ' to keep off the tormenting flies. ' What sort of a Ka-pi-ta-gan is that tremendous mountain ahead of us ? ' I asked. Michel raised his hand a little, then a little higher, CHAP. ix. THE MOUNTAIN POETAGE. 141 then a little higher still, and suddenly brought it down again a few inches, terminating his imaginary profile of the mountain with a long horizontal sweep of his hand. ' Michel says,' interpreted Louis, ' you must go up, up, up, and then down until you come to a lake. He says it is high, high, and long as the Grand Portage.' ' Which way does the portage path run ? ' ' See that mountain with ice on top ? ' ' Yes.' ' See other mountains, over there ? ' ' Yes, I see the other mountains.' ' Well, the Ka-pi-ta-gan goes between those mountains,' replied Louis, with a grin. ' Long portage, very high, think we shan't get over it.' ' Nonsense, Louis ; a strong Montagnais like you would run over that portage after a caribou without stopping.' We often found ourselves very much deceived in attempting to estimate the altitude of precipices or rocks over which we had to pass ; and on this occasion I noted down the opinion of each of the party who was supposed to be able to form one respecting the height of the portage and mountain before us, previously to measuring them with the aneroid. Neither the Abenakis, the Montagnais, nor the Nasquapee could express their ideas in a multiple of a measure, such as feet or yards ; but, by comparison, the first two said the portage path between the mountains might be twice the height of the Grand Portage, or about 600 feet. The Nasquapee, who had crossed it several times, said it was three times the height of the Grand Portage. Other estimates (if we judged solely from our point of view, which appeared to be five miles 142 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. ix. distant from the highest part of the valley between the two mountains) varied from 400 to 700 feet, and for the mountains themselves from 800 to 1,200 feet above the lake. After careful measurement, both backwards and forwards, we found the highest point of the portage path to be 818 feet above the lake, or about 1,460 feet above the sea, and when we reached this point one of the mountains appeared to us higher than ever, and could not have been less than 1,500 feet above us, or nearly 3,000 feet above the sea. The men came with the last load, looking very much exhausted with the heat, the flies, and the fatigue of walking with heavy burdens over the steep and slippery rocks. They wore veils or handkerchiefs tied round the neck and over as much of the face as possible, to protect them from their tormentors, and hastened to load the canoes and push off into the beautiful Ojia-pi-si-tagan Kipi, or Top of the Eidge Lake, to escape from the pertinacious little insects. A breeze soon drove the pests away, and we paddled slowly across the lovely sheet of water, enjoying the new life into which we seemed to plunge as soon as we left the shore. Soon we began to hear the roar of Cold-water Eiver as it came tumbling down the steep, and our expectations were roused when the JSFasquapee informed Louis that we ' should find trout and carp thick as leaves ' in the little rapids through which we should have to pass before reaching the foot of the terrible Mountain Portage. The Indian scarcely exaggerated the numbers of fish ; they scurried over the gravel and stones in thousands as we CHAP. ix. BEAUTIFUL LAKE AXD SCENEKY. 143 passed up the stream, but none of them were more than ten inches in length. Hastening to the portage half a mile farther on, we unloaded the canoes, and despatched the men with a pack, instructing them to carry a mile, and then return to pitch the tents, while we took a canoe, and hurried back to the rapids to fish for our supper. We caught 120 trout, sufficient for supper and break- fast all round. The men did not return until late in the evening, having found the Montagnais path very rough, and in many places wet with rills coming from the melting snow and ice in the clefts of the mountain, over the lower part of whose flank the path runs. We all agreed that the lake was by far the most beautiful we had yet seen ; the still and bright day, coupled with the excellent sport we enjoyed and the absence of insect tormentors, no doubt heightened our appreciation of it. The mountains, green, purple, and grey, as the eye wandered higher and higher, were most sublime ; the river rippling over its gravelly bed was ' like a child at play ! ' The brilliant crimson spotted trout, leaping wildly at our gaudy flies, flashed in the evening sunlight. The pure and invigorating air sighed past us, perceptibly perfumed with the fragrant Labrador tea-plant ; and, being all in excellent condition and in the enjoyment of perfect health, we felt glad and thankful that we possessed the rare opportunity of seeing Nature in these silent and distant solitudes. ' To-morrow will tell the tale,' said one ; ' we shall not get over that mountain portage without a long and heavy pull at it ; it 's 600 feet high if it's an inch.' ' It's 700,' 144 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. ix. said another ; ' and that mountain where the patch of snow lies is 2,000 feet above us.' The variety of speckled trout which we caught so freely was remarkably beautiful. Two deep crimson stripes ran down the whole length of the body from the pectoral fin to the tail. The throat and part of the belly were silver white, the back dark green ; the side of the fish was speckled with salmon-coloured spots margined with white. Some of the spots were crimson surrounded with a silver ring. The flesh of a few of them was quite white, but of the majority of a deep salmon-colour. Early on the following morning we despatched the men with a load and went to fish again, catching five and a half dozen. One of the men returned to breakfast quite unwell ; he had drunk too much cold water on the preceding day. I prescribed for him essence of ginger, as usual, and after two or three hours he was able to resume the march. After breakfast we made the following arrangement. Mr. Caley and I were to go on in advance, and endeavour to ascend the nearest mountain and ascertain its altitude ; Mr. Gaudet was to measure the portage, assisted by the young Nasquapee ; my brother was to sketch the scenery from the highest point of the portage. The men were to carry the baggage and canoes to the same spot, and make the camp there. As Caley and I were about starting, Louis rolled up to me, and said, with a queer expression of countenance, ' You go up top that mountain ? ' ' Yes, I said, we are going to try.' Louis held out his hand, saying, ' Ya-ma-pish,' ' Good- bye for a little.' CHAP. ix. PEOPOSED ASCENT OF A MOUNTAIN. 145 ' Why do you say " Ya-mah," Louis ? ' I said. 'You go top that mountain, not see you again for two or three days ; want to wish you good-bye for a little while.' 4 What ! Do you mean to say it will take us two days to get to that peak ? ' ' Think not,' said Louis ; ' think you won't get there at all. Nasquapee tell me the way to the top of that mountain is on the other side ; rocks this side too steep.' This was a poser. The mountain looked accessible enough, but the air was so clear, and distances apparently so much smaller than they are in reality among those lofty hills, that I felt rather uncomfortable at Louis' proffered farewell. ' At all events, Louis,' I said, ' we'll try.' ' Try ; p'r'aps you get up there, p'r'aps not.' The ' p'r'aps not ' was said with such a solemn shake of the head, that I began to think Louis' experience among the mountains of this part of the Labrador peninsula was worth more than a confident reliance on our own powers of endurance. However, after breakfast, we started, and with what results will be seen hereafter. Caley and I set out each with a small knapsack con- taining our aneroids, hammers, and a ' bite,' followed by my brother with his sketching apparatus. For half an hour we followed the Montagnais path through a brule, or burnt track of country, in the valley of Cold-water Eiver. The path then turned suddenly to our right, and led us up the side of the mountain. We soon came to a series of gneiss terraces covered with lichens, and, having VOL. I. L 146 THE LABRADOR PENIXSULA. CHAP. ix. readied the highest one, we found its altitude to be approximately 300 feet. ' This must be one of the Nasquapee " ups," ' said my companion ; ' if the others are like it, the portage will be three times as high as the Grand Portage.' The Cold-water Eiver was far below us, roaring and foaming through a narrow cleft which separated us from the mountain on our left. We gazed up at the moun- tains, first on one side, and then on the other ; and all three agreed that they looked higher than when seen from, the lake. Still we talked of ascending the one on our right. After another half hour's toil we reached a second plateau, which was about 250 feet above the last terrace of gneiss. Here we sat and drank in the view, catching a glimpse of the two lakes we had passed the day before. Higher and more rugged seemed the moun- tains ; and yet we had ascended 600 feet. Another half hour brought us to the summit of the ' Top of the Eidge Portage,' and we computed its altitude to be 800 feet above the lake from which we had camped. The scene which we beheld was indeed grand. The whole valley of Cold-water Eiver, for many miles, lay below us, bounded only by the distant range of mountains touching the Moisie where we had left it. On our left rose the mountain which we had purposed to ascend, with a deep gulf between us and it, in which the Cold-water Eiver foamed and fretted and fell in numberless little cascades. My brother took out his sketch-book, and said, with the least trifle of satire in the tone of his voice, ' I will sketch while you ascend one of those mountains.' The D <0 u X h / all about it ; it almost made me give up lumbering, it shook me so. Put your arm in mine ; sit close. I will put my foot out to mark if the creek rises, and it may please God that we may get through the night." ' We sat for a long time without speaking, the noise of the river was too much for us. Jerome was just telling me that the water had risen to within two feet of the top of the rock. I was in the act of lean- ing forward to feel it, when something thumped heavily against the rock. Jerome felt with Ms foot, to see if it had lodged. At the same moment there was another thump, then a grating and jarring against the rock ; something had rested on it, for the water curled up sud- denly, and came within one foot of w r here we were sitting close together. We strained, and pushed, and strained again, but we could not move the lodged stick. Just as we gave up all thought of getting it off, another stick came down, then another, and jammed against the one on the rock, pushing it across. Jerome screamed to CHAP. x. A BROKEN ARM. 1G1 me to step over the sticks and let them pass ; he, still holding by my hand, did so at once. I tried, and slipped, and fell between two sticks, just as they were being jammed together, and the arm was broken like a twig, and the flesh crushed. Jerome heard me cry out, and thinking I was falling off the rock, pulled me back with all his force. The stick of timber slid over the rock, followed by the others, and away they went down the stream, while I sank almost fainting with pain into the water. Jerome pulled me back, asking me what was the matter. Suddenly I saw light. The joy made me for- get my pain. " It 's day again ! " I cried. What a sight was then revealed around us! The timber from the upper part of Beaver Creek was coming down with the freshet. Several sticks had lodged on our rock, and it w r as a mercy we were not both swept away. My arm began to pain me, and yet in my confusion I saw no way of getting off until the creek fell, which we knew would be in three or four hours. I was looking up the river, watching the timber coining down, and nursing my broken arm, when Jerome cried out, "It's jamming at the rapid below ; we shah 1 soon get off." True enough, there was a jam about fifty yards from us at a turn of the river, and near the head of the rapid. Jerome caught a good- sized stick. I held on to it with my sound hand and arm, and soon we were safely landed on the jam. 4 We reached the shanty after the men had dispersed to work, but in the course of the day Jerome and I got a ride to the settlement, where I soon got cured of the night-blind and of my broken arm. ' Now, sir, I have told you what I know about the VOL. I. M 162 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. x. night-blind; and my experience is such as I hope few will ever be troubled with ; but one of the gentlemen has been far in the lumbering country, and I've no doubt he has seen many night-blind men. He will tell you as well how it comes on and how it is cured ; and now by your leave, sir, I '11 light my pipe, just take three whiffs, and turn in.' I picked my way through the spruce woods to my companions' tent, which shone like a gigantic Chinese lan- tern, highly illuminated, but of one colour only, and that almost pure white - - for the tent was new, and made of very white but strong American cotton. I pushed aside the canvas curtain of the tent, which was closely shut to keep out the mosquitoes, and found my friends on each side of a large sheet of paper, on which they were plotting the day's work. ' I thought,' said one, ' you had turned in half an hour ago.' * ' So I should have done,' I replied, ' had not Laronde kept me awake with a story of night-blindness, with which he was attacked when in the Matawan ; and I came to ask you whether you ever heard of or saw a night-blind man when you were on the Ottawa or the St. Maurice?' ' I have known as many as seven night-blind men,' he replied, ' in one shanty of thirty.' ' How are they affected ? ' I asked. ' They are absolutely blind during the absence of the sun ; they are insensible to any artificial light, although, perhaps, they might see a strong Hash from an electrifying machine, as they can see when it is lightning. I myself have led blind men over portages. In lumbering districts CHAP. x. CAUSES AND CURE OF NIGHT-BLINDNESS. 1G3 this disease is so well known now, that when driving the timber in the spring, the night-blind men always leave the drive in time to reach the shanty by daylight if necessary.' ' What is the cause of night-blindness ? Did you ever have any satisfactory explanation ? ' 4 Never ; the lumbermen think it arises from eating too much fat pork during the long winter months. The men do not seem to suffer much pain. There is no inflammation, as in snow-blindness ; the only pain is above the eyes and across the forehead in the line of the eyebrows. It does not interfere with their work in the day-time ; at night they have to be led to their bed, and their food placed before them. They must be treated in every respect like stone-blind men ; but as soon as the sun is about to come above the horizon, they see without difficulty.' ' You do not think that the snow has anything to do with it, then ? ' ' Certainly not ; I have been snow-blind myself, and you know well enough what that affection is ; but night- blind men don't suffer at all, as far as I could see. It is worth knowing, perhaps, that night-blind men always recover their sight as soon as they reach the settlements and get a change of diet.' M 2 164 TT1E LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. CHAPTER XL THE MOUNTAIN, OR TOP OF THE RIDGE, PORTAGE. Cooking in the Woods Balsam Trees Michel's Musk-rat Michel's Breakfast Details of the Top of the Ridge Portage The Mountain Michel and the Theodolite Louis and the Canoe Nipi nipi ! Louis' Caution about drinking cold Water when hot Death of Indian Louis' Beverage Indian Burial Rites Tete de Boule Affection Swainpy Crees, Mode of Burying their Dead Pope's Allusion to the Dog being buried with his Master- Customs of Indians never change Montagnais Burials in 1631 Curious Customs Pointing with the Lips Indian Mode of Snaring the Canada Grouse Trout Lake A Camp on Wet Moss Precautions against Colds Montagnais formerly anointed their Bodies with Seal Oil Odahwah Customs. IT rained all night, and I let the men. sleep till late in the morning. They were weary with yesterday's work, and the gentlemen undertook to cook breakfast while they slept. We had had some experience in that de- partment during our explorations of the country between Lake Superior, Eed River, and the Saskatchewan Valley. One arranged the fire, a most important operation in rainy weather when cooking is in contemplation ; two were despatched to cut large sheets of birch-bark to knead the bread on ; a fourth chopped wood and assisted in coax- ing the fire to burn. Our efforts were quite successful, for, notwithstanding the pouring rain, we made a large fire, which was pronounced fit for any camp in wet CHAP. xr. COOKING IX EAINY WEATHER. 165 woods. The operations of kneading and baking, or rather roasting in the frying-pan, were successfully performed under cover of a birch-bark umbrella, and before the men had ' finished their sleep,' we had made bread, such as it was, sufficient for the day's consumption. Our fire was placed at the foot of a large balsam spruce. The heat soon made the resinous matter ignite, and while we were in the height of our culinary operations, the tree took fire, and, notwithstanding the rain, the forked flames crackled among the branches with so loud a noise as to wake the Indians who were lying under a temporary tent constructed of spruce and birch-bark. The Nasqua- pee sprang up, and, running to the burning tree, snatched something from, one of the lower branches. It was a musk-rat which he had killed the evening before, and designed for his breakfast. The other Indians after looking at the burning tree for an instant, turned round and went to sleep again. Michel busied himself with his musk-rat, preparing it for roasting, while we threw water on the trunk of the tree and extinguished the flaming resin, which was slowly trickling down and making our fire uncomfortably smoky. It is not an easy matter to cook in the open air during heavy rain : the bread requires to be protected, both during the important process of kneading as well as when roasting before the fire in a frying-pan ; everything is wet and unpleasant, and india-rubber coats are not the most suitable garments for those engaged around a hot fire. Considering the inconveniences under which we laboured, the effort was highly successful and thoroughly appreciated. Michel roasted and ate his rat with great gusto, inviting 106 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. XT. each in turn to partake of the delicacy, but we were content with our soup of pressed vegetables and pork, tea cooled by the rain, and innocent of rnilk or sugar which were voted useless luxuries for hard-working explorers in these magnificent wilds. After breakfast we retired to one of the tents, compared notes, and summed up ' The Top of the Eidge Portage.' Its length is two miles and forty-one chains, or a little over two miles and a half. The greatest elevation of the Montagnais path is 818 feet above Ojia-pi-si-tagan Lake, and 1,460 feet above the sea. It descends very suddenly at its northern extremity 312 feet to a lake from which Cold-water Eiver issues. This stream falls consequently 506 feet in about two miles and a half, by a series of cascades, some of which are very beautiful, but broken by masses of rock and boulders without number. The fore- going details will show that this portage is a most formidable obstacle, and it required much exertion to carry our baggage and canoes over it. The men suffered much from the heat and the flies, but, with the exception of one who drank too much ice-cold water, none of them complained. The gorge or narrow valley through which Cold- water Eiver has found its way is flanked by magnifi- cent mountains rising about 2,000 feet above the lake, wildly rugged, boulder covered, and for the most part without vegetation. The most westerly mountain possesses a peculiar interest on account of its being a long-established land-mark and rendezvous of the different tribes of the Montagnais nation. Michel could not tell me the name by which it was known among the tribes. He called it CHAP. xi. THE * GREAT MOUNTAIN.' 167 the ' Great Mountain,' and usually added, ' from which you see Big-water and Ashwanipi.' About noon the rain ceased, and we sent the men to bring the canoes and remaining part of the baggage from the summit, where they had been left the night before. In an hour and a half they began to drop in with their loads, and wretched-looking beings they were, being thoroughly wet with the drops from the bushes and trees bordering the path. The ISTasquapee came first, carrying the legs of the theodolite, which Mr. Gaudet had given into his charge, and which he regarded with great respect, always placing them by his side at night. He looked upon the theodolite as a great medicine, and thought he was highly honoured when entrusted with the legs of this instrument. His tatooed face was bearn- ing with cheerfulness as he gently laid his treasure down on the rock and looked towards the owner for the usual genial nod of approbation with which he rewarded him. Next came Louis : in fact, the Nasquapee and the Montagnais were always together ; they alone could understand one another, and both bein^ of rather a O talkative turn, they lost no opportunity of having a chat. Poor Louis was carrying a canoe, and as he lifted his burden from his shoulders and disclosed his face, he presented a most ludicrous figure. His long hair hung in lank masses over his face ; his eyes shone like glow- worms beneath and through them ; he was perspiring most profusely, and evidently a little exhausted, for as soon as he laid his burden upon the grass, bottom upwards, he sat down upon a fallen tree, swept the hair from his face, 168 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. and said to Michel, ' Nipi, nipi ! ' (Water, water !). I jumped up and gave him a tin cup full of warm tea ; he tossed it off, and I asked if he would like some more ? ' Soon, not good to drink too much when hot.' * Warm tea will not hurt you ; cold water is very bad.' ' Seen Indian die, drinking too much cold water when hot.' ' When did that happen ? ' ' Oh, one day hunting caribou. I was with another Indian ; we wounded a caribou, and ran after it far, far. Day very hot, sun hot, rocks hot, everything hot ; we came to a piece of ice in a hole, and water near it, Indian stooped down to drink. I said, " Don't drink much, just wet mouth," and ran on. Caribou fell ; I cut its throat and waited for Indian. Indian no come ; went back, saw him lying with his face in the water, called him, touched him Indian dead.' ' And how did you manage to run so far on a hot day without drinking ? ' ' Drank when I got caribou.' 'What did you drink ? was there water near?' ' No ; drank caribou blood first, then when I got to water where the Indian was dead, drank a little water, by and by a little more.' 'What did you do with the Indian's body?' ' Covered it with stones : too far to carry it back to lodge. Squaw come next day, carry him to lodge and bury him.' Do the squaws among your people carry the bodies of CHAP. xi. TETE DE BOULE AFFECTION. 169 their husbands or children to their burying places if they die a long way off? ' ' Yes, in winter always ; in summer sometimes, not always.' A singular instance of Indian affection or superstition regarding the body of a deceased relative or friend occurred among the Tete de Boule Indians,* on the St. Maurice. A young fellow went out hunting in his canoe, alone, and was absent for several days longer than his mother, a widow, expected ; she became anxious, and finally set out in search of him. She knew the lakes well where he was gone to hunt, and examined them one after the other. After three days' search, she saw a canoe on the opposite side of a lake. Paddling towards it, she found her son lying on the sand in front of his canoe, shot through the heart. His gun had evidently gone off as he was lifting it out, the cock having pro- bably caught the bar of the canoe. The mother wrapped the .body of her son in birch-bark and brought it for a distance of thirty miles to her lodge. The country The Tete de Boule Indians hunt about the headwaters of the St. Maurice, a large tributary of the St. Lawrence, draining a considerable area of country between Montreal and Q,uebec. They were once a numerous and formidable people, but small-pox, that terrible devastator of the Indian race, and rum, the white man's swift agent of destruction, has so greatly reduced their numbers, that they do not now exceed thirty families. They have the curious custom of placing near the graves of their departed friends, which are generally neatly covered with birch-bark, a small pile of fire-wood, for the use of the spirits of the dead, on their journey to the happy hunting- grounds. The Indians of the interior and the prairies place tobacco and wild rice in or near the graves of their relatives, and thus provide for their comforts on the long journey to the land beyond the setting sun. The superstition is of the same character, but displayed in a different manner. 170 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. XT. is very rough, and the portages many and long, neverthe- less this poor Tete de Boule squaw carried the body of her son over them all, that he might He by the side of his father. The Montagnais and Nasquapees bury their dead like the Swampy Crees, who dig with their wooden snow-shovels a hole about three feet deep, which is sometimes lined with pieces of wood. The body is placed on its side, as if sleeping, but sometimes it is put in a sitting posture. They wrap it in skins, or a blanket if they have one, with the gun, axe, fire-steel, flint, tinder, and kettle placed by its side. Sometimes the Indian's dogs are hung up at the head of the grave. They always place the body east and west the head towards the west, the land of the happy hunting-grounds. A medicine man stands before the grave and harangues the soul of the dead, giving it advice how to act in the other world whither it has gone. Then the grave is filled up, and a little birch- bark hut built over it. Through the little window which is left the relations thrust in bits of tobacco, deer meat, and other trifles. When a woman is buried, her paddles are placed in the little lodge over the grave, as well as her wooden dishes. When a child is buried, all its little play-things are carefully collected and laid in a little lodge over it, and sometimes tiny snow-shoes are hung before it. 'Who remembers Pope's allusion to the custom of Indians killing and burying the dog along with his master ? ' ' I don't,' said one, ' I don't,' said another, and ' I don't,' said a third. rii.vp. xi. INDIAN CUSTOMS NEVER CHANGE. 171 4 Well, here it is : Lo, the poor Indian ! whose untntor'd mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind ; ****** But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall bear him company.* ' These customs are common, from the Pacific to the Atlantic ; they differ only in minor details sometimes they lay the body on a platform eight or ten feet from the ground, and sometimes, where there is no soil, as on those barren rocks, they pile a heap of stones over the dead, as on Lake Huron. Indian customs never change ; they are like the Indians themselves, they will all go unchanged down- to the grave as long as they remain heathens.' ' Well, but how did Pope know about the dogs ? ' said one of the listeners. c I tell you the customs of Indians in a savage state never change, and all the Algonkin races have the same customs. The Montagnais and Nasquapees are Algonkin as well as the Crees and Ojibways. Surely Pope had plenty of opportunity of reading accounts of Algonkin races in his time. Besides, there is not a Huron grave in Upper Canada, or an Iroquois grave in the States that you may chance to open, but you will find the bones of a dog or some other small animal in it.' 'Well, but the Hurons and Iroquois were not Algoukins.' That only shows the custom of burying the dog with his master is common to different Indian families or races. But here are the men coming with the other canoe, so we must let Pope alone for the present. * Pope's ' Essay on Man.' 172 THE LABKADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. When the Montagnais were first visited by the Jesuits in 1631, if any member of a family died in a lodge, the body was not taken out of the door, but an opening was made in the back close to where the dead body was lying, and through this opening the body was drawn. The door was considered to be for the living, not for the dead. In winter, when the ground was frozen hard, the corpse was placed on a stage ten or twelve feet from the ground, there to remain until the ground was thawed in the spring, when it was buried in their places of sepulture. At the death of any member of the family, the relations struck the sides of the lodge, uttering loud cries of ' Oue ! one ! oue ! ' in order, as they believed, to draw the spirit of the departed out of their dwellings. All the property of the deceased was buried with the body, and his or her name was never mentioned again in ordinary conversation, or when they were spoken of it was by another name. If the deceased was a man, his bows, arrows, and spear and shield were placed above his grave, and a dog was buried with him ; if a woman, her moccasins and snow-shoes. The body was bent double, the head being placed between the knees.* It continued to rain at intervals during the afternoon, but we pushed on regardless of the wet. Silver waterfalls were seen tumbling down the sides of the stupendous rocks on the Sixth or Ka-jib-wa-le-ka-pas Lake. The peaks of the mountains were veiled in mist, all was gloomy, silent and grand. As we approached the shore, I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder ; it was Pierre, my steers- man. I looked round, and observed him pointing with his * Relations cles Jesuites, 1031. CHAP. xi. POINTING WITH THE LIPS. 173 lips towards an object on shore. It was an otter ; but the noise made by the other canoes alarmed the animal before we got within gunshot. Two kingfishers * were flying from one dead branch to another, but none of us thought it worth while to wake the echoes by firing at such game, although the Indians looked at them as if they thought they would make a capital addition to our smoked bacon. The manner in which Indians point with their lips is very peculiar, but it is universal among wood Indians, and it arises no doubt from their hands being em- ployed with the paddle, or from a desire not to make any motion which might disturb the object to which they wish to call attention. Long practice enables them to protrude their lips, so as to give them a very un- pleasant appearance ; even when on shore they frequently point with their lips, if their hands are engaged. An Indian steering a canoe has neither of his hands at liberty ; from his position being more elevated, he gene- rally discovers a bird or animal in the water before the bowsman. To avoid alarming the animal he gives a jerk to the canoe, his companion looks at him, and his attention is directed to the object by the steersman pointing with his lips, with a forward and upward motion of the head. We crossed the next portage in the rain, and, being thoroughly wet, thought it best to move on. The ascent was only fifty-four feet, and the distance to carry eighteen chains, or about a quarter of a mile. Another lake brought us to another portage, also short, and with a rise of fifty-seven feet, which led us into Ojita-scu-tagan, or * Alceclo alcyon. Linn. 174 THE LABKADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. Height of Land Lake, at the foot of a subordinate water & ]0f parting. In crossing the portage Pierre saw a partridge, or Canada grouse, sitting on the branch of a tree. He stopped with his load, and said that if I fired I might frighten any larger game which it was not improbable we might see, as he had just observed fresh caribou tracks. He then cut a stick eight feet long, and made a noose of twine, and cautiously approached the bird, which, ac- cording to its habit, quietly waited until the noose was placed before it, when it thrust its head in and was caught ; but as Pierre was triumphantly carrying his prize towards me, with the bird struggling in the air, the noose gave way and off it flew, after short but very embarrassing gyrations on the ground, during which we vainly endeavoured to catch it. This mode of snaring the partridge, or Canada grouse as it ought to be called, is usually practised by the Indians, as well as by settlers in the inhabited parts of Canada, where the bird is common. Mr. Bell, of the Canadian Geological Survey, took large numbers of this bird in the same manner. His description is given in Sir William Logans' Eeport for 1857. On the way we killed a number of Canada grouse every day, but other game was rather scarce. The grouse were always very tame, and we generally killed them in a way that would surprise most people. When we came upon a covey we gave it a sudden start, which made the birds fly up into the sur- rounding trees. A rod was then cut, to the end of which was fastened a noose. This was held up close in front of the nearest bird, which generally darted its head into the noose ; but if it did not do so, then the noose was gently passed over the head, and by a sudden jerk the bird was brought to the ground. In this way we went from one bird to another, and usually CHAP. xi. TEOUT LAKE. 175 secured all we saw that were within reach. Sometimes they are killed with stones, and it is wonderful to see how pertina- ciously a bird will sit, however near the stone may whiz past it, until it receives such a blow as will knock it over. Even when struck, if not severely injured, it will occasionally remain sitting. Two hours more brought us to the Ma-ta-me-gose-ka- tats, or Trout Lake, which lies at the summit, and from which Cold-water Eiver takes its rise. The portage sepa- rating the last two lakes is very steep, wet, and rough. It rises 326 feet, and its summit is 1,556 feet above the sea. The Indians called it the Height of Land Portage ; but it really is nothing more than a spur of the great table land of Labrador, coming from the JSTW. and separating the waters of the east branch of the Moisie from those of the main river. Cold-water Eiver, in a course of twenty miles, falls 1,430 feet. Some idea of the mountainous character of the country may be obtained from this great fall in so short a dis- tance. The lichens and the mosses on the portages became more beautiful than ever. These pioneers of vegetation assume the most fantastic forms and brilliant colours. Most commonly they grow in circles, some two and even three feet in diameter. They are found in all parts of the rocks, and add a singular beauty to the wild scene. The lichens and mosses are silently destroying the sur- face rock and preparing it for the disintegrating action of atmospheric agents. I measured the depth of the caribou moss, and found it to be sixteen inches. Other species were of more luxuriant growth still, and in some low and THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. moist places the lovely carpet was two feet thick, and soft as a bed of eider down. Fresh reindeer or caribou tracks were seen on the portage, not more than a few hours old ; but we could not spare the time for hunting. The country was so much more difficult than we expected, that every hour was valuable which would allow us to make progress and get nearer to the table land. In making our camp, we had to choose between deep wet moss and hard rock. We preferred the moss, although we could push a stick two feet through without any difficulty, and a pool of water soon filled the impression made by our feet after standing for a few minutes. But how were we to make camp in such a wet bed ? Nothing more simple when sapin* or balsam spruce is at hand. The tent is first erected, and a layer of sapin, about a foot thick, is placed over the floor of the tent. It forms a dry and comfortable bed. I often wondered why none of us took cold. We were wet all day long, ever since we left the Moisie. This arose from crossing wet places on the portages, or floundering through acres of Labrador tea-plant covering deep moss. We often slept on wet ground, and when it rained we had nothing but wet sapin with which fo cover the floor of our tents ; yet none of us took cold except the Indians, who, not having any very extensive change of garments, were sometimes com- pelled to sleep in their wet clothes. I always instructed the men to change their clothes at night, and when they were weary and would gladly have slunk off and lain down in their wet clothes, I took care that they should * The brandies of the white spruce. CHAP. xi. ODAHWAH CUSTOMS. 177 change or dry them before retiring to rest. It is to this great caution in avoiding sleeping in wet clothes that I attribute the excellent state of health in which they all were who strictly adhered to the practice of sleeping in dry clothes. Formerly the Montagnais were accustomed to anoint their bodies, from head to foot, with seal oil. They be- came by this artifice less sensible to heat and cold, less liable to suffer from the effects of continued exposure to wet and damp, and were not so much exposed to the attacks of mosquitoes, black flies, &c. It will be shown in the sequel, that since most of them have adopted European habits, and ceased to anoint then- bodies with seal oil, they are very liable to colds and influenza, and numbers die every year on the coast. In former times many of the Indian tribes adopted excellent customs for ensuring hardihood and bodily endurance, some of which, when carried to too great an extent, no doubt proved very injurious to their consti- tutions. The Odahwah Indians were in the habit of subjecting the young to severe discipline, and one of their regulations was the taking of a bath at daybreak every morning in the spring of the year when the water was cold.* * Assikinack, the l Odahwah Warrior,' to whom reference is made in a preceding chapter, describes the mode of bringing up children among the Odahwahs of Lake Huron in the following words : - ' With regard to the manner of bringing up Indian children, nothing can be more erroneous than to suppose that the young were allowed to grow up without any sort of discipline. So far from this having been the case, in addition to the ordinary way of correcting children, there were many other restraints imposed upon the young. The Indians knew in their primitive state, apparently as well as civilized communities, that children too much VOL. I. N 178 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xi. humoured and neglected in moral training when young, as they grow up are apt to become turbulent and bad members of society. As one of the most effective means for training and forming the character of the Indian youth, fasting seems to have been established and practised from time immemorial, and prevailed, I am led to believe, universally among the Indian tribes of this continent. As soon as children were thought capable of reasoning they were required to practise fasting, imtil they were married. Besides their regularly abstaining from food for so many days successively, at different parts of the year, they were obliged to fast before they were allowed to take any of the wild fruits of the earth, at the different seasons as they became ripe. The same rule was observed with regard to the produce of the farm. ' The Indians were most exact in enforcing their rules of fasting. With young children it lasted the whole day, and if a child put anything in his mouth during the day, as, for instance, snow or a piece of icicle which children are very apt to do when playing in the open air in winter that day went for nothing, the child was then permitted to eat, with strict in- junctions to renew his fast the next day. It was also imposed as a punish- ment upon those children who manifested a disposition to be disobedient and disrespectful ; and was found an excellent means of discipline to make children sensible of their duties, and exercised a wholesome restraint upon the youth. With young men from sixteen to twenty-five years of age it was no longer necessary to remind them of the practice. It was looked upon as a duty by every young man, who had too much honourable feeling to sub- mit to the sneers of his companions as a worthless glutton. They moreover believed gluttony to be highly displeasing to the Great Spirit; and that, in order to obtain special favours from him, it was absolutely necessary to restrain the appetite. The young men frequently spent one or two months during the winter in fasting, taking only one meal in the day after sunset. In summer less time was spent, but the fast was more severe ; it lasted from two to four and even five days, according to 'the strength of the individual. On these occasions it was usual for the young men to withdraw from the family residence to a retired spot, under the shade of a tree, where they passed their time in fasting and contemplation. To this spot the mother sometimes repaired with a small bunch of wild unripe berries, which she suspended from a twig about a foot and a half from the ground, so that the young man might have the poor consolation of fixing his eyes occasionally upon them. The sight of these berries had the effect of watering the mouth in the same way as we feel before tasting any unripe fruit, especially when we have reason to suspect its being sour. The dreams of the last night which terminated their regular fasting days at any time of the year were considered the most important, and were carefully studied as revelations from the Great Spirit. In the evening small wigwams were put up at a little distance from the family residence, each just big enough for the accommodation of one person. The youths who were practising the rite of fasting had to take up their quarters in these lodges for the night, using, if possible, only new furniture. Next morning it was the 'duty of the grand- CHAP. xi. ODAHWAH CUSTOMS. 179 mother, or some other elderly female, to visit the young fasters by daylight. The first thing she did was to make a very thin corn soup, or some kind of broth, after which she went to ask them one by one of their dreams. She congratulated those who had favourable dreams upon their good fortune ; but for those who had unlucky dreams she threw a piece of fur of some animal on the fire, in order to avert the consequences of such ill-omened visions. The longest fast practised among the Indians lasted ten days, during which time it was indispensable that the candidates for the special honours which it secured should neither taste anything nor sleep. They were made to dance every night, and sometimes were put in small cribs suspended from the ground, which were moved sideways, like a cradle, for the purpose of inducing sleep. Those who yielded, and fell asleep, were dismissed forthwith as unworthy. Most frequently all the candidates failed ; but on some rare occasions one or two succeeded in completing the time. Even with these, however, this severe undertaking seems to have exceeded the powers of nature, as those who were successful though regarded ever after with a certain degree of superstitious veneration never fully recovered from the effects of it. Besides fasting, the young people had to abstain from certain kinds of animal food, and from certain parts of animals, for instance, the head, the meat near the bone, and the marrow. They were also strictly prohibited from eating blood until after they were anarried, when they were no longer subject to restraint. Girls were considered marriageable at fifteen, but it was customary for a young man to remain single until he was twenty- five years of age, after which he might take a wife if he liked, or rather if his parents chose. 'Young girls when fasting rubbed clay on their temples, whilst the young men partially blackened their faces, or occasionally painted them with one or two other colours. This custom can scarcely fail to recall a similar one recognised among the Jews, as the disfiguring of faces on fasting days is distinctly noticed in the New Testament. Like the Jews, also, the Indians regarded several animals as unfit to be eaten ; in fact, they had strong prejudices against their flesh. Among the feathered tribes I may mention the raven, the crow, the blue jay, the owl, and many others ; and amongst quadrupeds the fox, the mink, the wolf, &c. ' The degrees of relationship extended a great way among the Indians ; and it was prohibited by custom to contract marriage within the forbidden bounds. To give an idea of the operation of this usage, suppose that au Indian A. had a cousin B., the son of A. and the grand-daughter of B. would be placed within the forbidden degrees of kindred, and should marriage take place between the parties, the son of A. would be considered as marry- ing his niece. In the English language, it has often appeared to me, there is a great want of words to express the various degrees of relationship. Instead of using different words, the Englishman says my first, second, third cousin, and so on. In Indian there are appropriate terms to express the different degrees of consanguinity ; even in speaking to, or of, female relatives, the same terms are not used as when speaking of the men.' N 2 180 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xii. CHAPTER XII. TROUT LAKE TO LAKE NIPISIS. Trout Lake The 'Outlook' Magnificent Scenery Beauty of the Lichens A Herd of Caribou Too late Bear Skull Anecdote of a Bear Dogs scenting a Bear in the Winter Bear Hunts Ferocity of these Animals Montagnais Supersti- tions Bones of Porcupine Bones and Blood of Bears Mosquito Lake A Labrador Trout Stream Anibro and Ambrosis Michel sick The Hospital in the Wood Indian Medicines Dreams and Visions Causes of Disease amongst Indians Wolves Ferocity of Wolves A Storm on Lake Nipisis Wind- bound Vegetation on Lake Nipisis Manicouagan Lake The Fire Mountain of the Nasquapees Pere Arnaud Journey up the Manicouagan Nasquapee sick Lamentable Incident among the Tete de Boule Indians Pere Arnaud's Difficulties Winter Life in the Woods of the Labrador Peninsula The Ptarmigan The Return of the Priest. ' nHHIS is the lake where we separated from the four other canoes,' said Michel to Louis, as we stood on the summit of a bare mound of gneiss, 330 feet above Trout Lake and commanding a magnificent view. 'There is Atachikamishish, or Cold-water Eiver, it rises in Mata- megosekatats, or Trout Lake, below us. At the other end of that lake, where we go to-morrow, is a little stream full of trout ; it leads to Lake Nipisis, where there is also plenty of trout and ko-ko-mesh (a variety of salmon* trout). The east branch of the Moisie flows through Lake Nipisis, and goes past those mountains away round that high peak ; we go up Lake Nipisis, then up a river CHAP. xir. THE ' OUTLOOK NEAR TROUT LAKE. 181 and through lakes to the Height of Land ; Ashwanipi lies just on the other side. 1 Trout Lake is 1,548 feet above the sea, and about a mile and a half broad. It is very shallow and contains nume- rous fragments of rocks, and abounds in trout : hence its name. But the chief point of interest which attaches to it arises from the fact, that it is the lake where the two trails to the coast meet ; and no doubt in former times it was a place of some importance to the Indians, and a well- known rendezvous, where food could always be obtained, and an outlook from which they could distinguish the telegraphic fires by night or smoke by day made by their friends to give notice of a successful hunt, of the welcome neighbourhood of caribou, or of the dreaded approach of an enemy. Looking south from the mountain where we were sitting, surrounded by bleached bones of deer, the remains of former feasts, we saw the jagged crests of the range of the Top of the Eidge projected clearly against the blue sky, or wrapped in clouds which rapidly passed away to be replaced by others coming swiftly from the west. Some of the lakes of Cold-water Eiver valley were visible like distant ponds, and glistening patches of snow shone brightly on the north side of the mountains, although July was at hand. But the colours of the rocks were most striking, and contrasted with the gloomy green of the spruce forest and the narrow strips of birch which intersect them in the valley. Out of those dark solitudes rise the purple moun- tains in grand walls of labradorite, or sloping away to the sky in cold masses of gneiss ; near at hand are dwarf trees growing from crevices in the rock, but with forms of 182 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. exquisite grace as they hang over a precipice or grow under the shadow of a roche moutonne. Language fails O ' to express the beauty of the mosses and lichens. They are of ahl colours, from frosted silver to vermilion, from deepest orange to velvet black. All countries and all climes have some peculiar beauty which they may claim exclusively as their own. The .wilds of the Labrador Peninsula in the interior have their mosses and lichens, for ever eliciting expressions of wonder and admiration from our lips, always making us regret that we could not carry away some of those miniature gardens of beauty, or preserve the wondrous time-stains, which, like fairy rings, cling to the harsh gneiss, and clothed even it with loveliness. From a mere time-stain to a thick, heavy, and pulpy thallus, varying in colour from the most vivid green through all the greys to the richest and deepest velvet black, they creep over the harsh and unyielding rocks, cover the deep cracks with a treacherous mantle, beautify jagged points, growing and flourishing wherever light can come. Sometimes the pendant usnea hung in masses from old trees, and stunted forests for miles are clothed with this hoary livery. The rock where we were seated is even now a favourite c outlook ' of the Indians who hunt on the Moisie. It has evidently been a spot to which they have resorted for ages past. Michel was just saying that caribou were common here once, and that we might see many old tracks and paths in the valley below. I was engaged at the time in ' taking notes,' my brother was sketching the landscape, when I heard a CHAP. xir. CAUTION OF CARIBOU HERDS. 183 low hiss behind me ; it was Louis, who wanted to call our attention without making any noise, and who dared not move in order to touch us. My brother and I turned round just in time to see the Nasquapee stretch his arm cautiously up the rock to get a gun which I had put out of harm's way, and Louis, with suppressed ex- citement, was pointing towards a herd of caribou which were passing at the foot of the hill, not 150 yards from where we were seated. The deer stopped, hearing the noise of the men bringing the canoes on the opposite side, they pricked up their ears and sniffed the air, and, before Michel could point the gun, bounded off. Stuck on a dead branch hard by was a bear's skull. Michel said that Domenique had killed it there two years ago. I took it down and was going to bring it with me, but Michel beo-aed Louis to ask me to let it remain ' It Do was not lucky to take it away, it ought not to be touched. But he would leave a piece of tobacco between the jaws, if I would give him a bit, and that would preserve our luck, otherwise we should see no more bears during summer.' I asked Louis whether the Nasquapee had any super- stition about the bones of animals, and particularly of bears. He shook his head in reply, and said that it was much better to leave the bones alone ; he remembered the time when he was hunting with two other Indians and they came to a bear hole, and while he was em- ployed in cutting away the brandies which the animal generally draws before the entrance to the domicile he has adopted or scooped out, the bear sprang through 184 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. the branches, passed between his legs, and bit the other man, who was standing ready with his gun. He was finally killed by the other Indian, who shot him as he lay rolling on the ground in the very act of folding his victim in his horrible embrace. Not perceiving the connexion between the bear and the dead bones, I asked Louis to explain himself, which he did characteristically as follows. ' I tell you ; Indian who was bit in leg was once standing close to a tree where there was a bear skull like this. Indian saw partridge quite close on branch, he had no gun, no bow, no stick ; he took skull and threw it at partridge. When he got home medicine man told him bear would bite him some day and kill him.' Dogs are very useful to Indians, in finding bears during the winter, when their hiding-places are covered with snow. They smell the torpid animal, and thus discover his den ; but in spring the warmth of the bear melting the snow above him reveals his resting-place. A bear hunt is one of the most exciting events to the Montagnais, and it proves not unfrequently both dangerous and disastrous. They love to relate round their camp fires the history of their encounters with this redoubtable animal, and to show the wounds they have received in conflict with him. The bears of Labrador are large and formidable, and when hungry very ferocious. They have been known to attack and kill Indians during the night-time when sleeping under their canoes. Bears are very fond of blue- berries, and are almost always to be seen in brides a few years old, where they find a berry which the Montagnais call mask-i-min, or bear-food. When a bear is killed by CHAP. xn. MONTAGNAIS SUPEESTITIONS. 185 these Indians a feast is proclaimed, and all in the vicinity are invited to partake of it. Louis knew a Canadian who was swamped with his canoe in a rapid on the river St. Marguerite. One month afterwards he found his bones in the bush a mile from the river. ' Bear found body, dragged it into the bush, eat it. Bears often go two, three, four together : don't like them then, let them pass.' Among the superstitions formerly prevalent among the Montagnais, and still retained by those who do not regularly visit the coast, are the following. It was considered very unlucky to spill the blood of the beaver, as that would prevent the hunter from being successful in the beaver hunt. Particular bones of the beaver and porcupine were never allowed to be given to the dogs, but were always burnt. A curious custom relative to particular bones exists at the present day among the Ojibways, who hunt between Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay ; the bone forming the cap of the knee of rabbits and beaver is cut off before the animal is cooked.* The Montagnais threw the flat bones of the porcupine into the fire, so that they might judge by the appearance of the flame whether they would be suc- cessful in their hunt for these animals. They were very careful that the dogs should not touch the bones or taste the blood of the bears they killed, burying the former and pouring the latter on the fire. When they threw pine or spruce branches on their lodge fire, and a hissing noise was produced as the * Private Journal, Lake Nipigon, 1840, by James Anderson, Chief Factor of Mingan. 136 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAF. xn. branches burned, they muttered some words that were considered as a charm, which would enable them to kill porcupine during the next hunt. The Ojibways of Lake Superior have a similar superstition at the present time. If the wood of a hut fire makes a noise like an escape of air, some one must get up and point to the fire, making a similar noise, or one of the inmates of the lodge will die. The Indians frequenting the Moisie, as well as those .of Mingan and Labrador, on leaving the sea-coast in the fall of the year, observe still an ancient custom of pre- serving the antlers of a doe out of the first slaughter of deer which they may encounter on their march inland. Before they return to the coast in the spring, they place the antlers on a lake, where they sink to the bottom when the ice breaks up, and they are thus not gnawed by any carnivorous animal. This custom is said to arise from the regard entertained by the Montagnais for the caribou, on which their sustenance so largely depends. ' What does Michel say, Louis ? ' I asked, observing the Nasquapee pointing to the range of hills and mountains through which we had passed, and then to the com- paratively level country before us. * Michel says we have got through the bad country ; there are no more high mountains like these the portages are short and low- -lakes many, but the rivers shallow and swift.' Passing through Trout Lake we arrived at the mouth of a small stream flowing in a northerly direction. There we caught abundance of trout. While the men were portaging to a lake into which the streamlet issued, we CHAP. xn. MOSQUITO LAKE. made a way through the boulders for the canoes after having carried the baggage over. From Trout Lake to Lake Nipisis we descended through four sheets of water and their connecting rivers, having to carry everything over four portages, which separated them. The lakes are all small, and, according to Michel, have no Indian names. The first we called Mosquito Lake, from the extraordinary numbers of that troublesome . insect, which tormented us when crossing it and the succeeding portage. The little connecting streamlet swarmed with trout, and in it we caught a large number with the fly. The foliage of the spruce and Banksian pine were remarkably beau- tiful in the second of these secluded sheets of water ; but the insect pests were as bad as ever, and scarcely permitted us to enjoy the rocks, trees, and lichens. All the men were compelled to wear veils, their faces and necks were becoming very much swollen, and as they paddled mournfully across these little lakes they looked from a distance like veiled sufferers from snow-blindness in the spring of the year, fearing and shunning the light. The most ardent sportsman could scarcely stand the attacks of the mosquitoes, even when three fine trout would rise and hook themselves on separate flies at every third or fourth cast. We fished until we caught enough for supper, and then gathered round a ' smudge.' The last portage before reaching Lake Nipisis was long, being nearly one mile, and letting us down 177 feet, the difference in level between Trout and Nipisis Lakes being 233 feet. On a small island in one of the lakes we 188 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. found a cache, containing birch-bark for a tent and fishing-hooks of Montagnais manufacture, a few plugs of tobacco, a little dried caribou meat, and other trifles ; tliey were neatly packed in birch-bark, and suspended to the branch of a tree. Michel said they belonged to Ambro-sis, his brother-in-law. ' Why is lie called Ambro-sis, Louis ? ' 'Michel says that he has two brothers-in-law called Ambroise by the missionaries. One is older than the other, and they belong to different families ; but in order to distinguish one from the other, the elder is called Ambro, the younger Ambro-sis, or little Ambro.' ' Sis ' is, in Montagnais as in Ojibway, a diminutive, and generally signifies ' little ' or ' small ' when applied to the names of men or things. Nipi-sis signifies ' little water,' probably so called on account of its shallowness. Michel complained at night of pains and cramps in his limbs. The poor fellow had been wet for several days together, and sometimes lay down to sleep under a canoe without sufficiently drying his leggings. He found it impossible to find dry spruce to lie on, and being, like all Indians, very careless and indifferent to the future, he would sleep in a wet blanket, regardless of consequences. I made him take off his wet clothes, and wrap himself in a dry blanket, while the men brought a canoe and placed it bottom upwards near the camp fire ; they then collected spruce boughs and made a dry bed under the canoe. The unfailing dose of essence of ginger was then administered, and Michel was told to he down. His feet were then covered with spruce boughs and the fire kept up. Louis undertook to feed it during the night, but before we CHAP. xn. INDIAN MEDICINES. 189 retired to our tent Michel and Louis were fast asleep, and when morning dawned all unpleasant symptoms had passed away. As we sat before the fire after supper, the conversation naturally turned on Indian remedies. The vapour bath amonff the Indians of the Labrador Peninsula is as O common as among the Ojibways and Crees of the Saskatchewan basin ; at almost every portage and old camp ground we saw the stones which had been used in preparing it. The root of the blue iris (Iris versicolor\ which grows on the coast and in the swampy tracts of the interior, is a strong purgative, and a common medicine among the Montagnais. A decoction of the red willow (Cornus alba vel stolonifera), the red osier cornel of Sir John Eichardson, the osier rouge of the voyageurs, is used as a purgative and also as a vomit. It is called the red stick, or mith- wka-pe-min-aktik, by the Crees, which its Montagnais name resembles. They also call the fruit mask-mina, in Cree uiuskwa-mina, bear-berry. They smoke the inner bark. Canada balsam (Abies balsamea), from the spruce, is considered an excellent remedy for frost-bites. This is the sapin of the voyageurs. A decoction of the bark of the larch is employed to clear and heal flesh wounds, so also is the thallus of the tripe de roche. The fat of the skunk is considered an excellent remedy in certain diseases. A drop of the fetid secretion is used for tooth- ache and rheumatism. The roots of the white water- lily, the roots of rushes (both as food in times of scarcity 190 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. and as a medicine), and the roots of the thistle are all employed medicinally, and when these fail they have recourse to the conjuror's arts, for with many of the Montagnais Indians, when in the woods, the conjuror is still much esteemed and dreaded. The Indians of the Labrador Peninsula place im- plicit faith in dreams, and their visions of the night often lead them to commit shocking crimes. The poor igno- rant wretches follow their dreams with the utmost pre- cision, wholly regardless of any consequences other than those to which the fulfilment of the dream may lead them. Happily the labours of the missionaries are fast dispelling these superstitions from the minds of those who frequent the coast, but it is to be feared that the medicine men still exercise a powerful influence among the different bands who spend the greater part of their lives in the interior. In the time of the Jesuit missionaries the Montagnais were noted for their super- stitions, and for their reliance upon the power of their conjurors. Many different plants were formerly used by the In- dians inhabiting the now more settled parts of Canada. Some of these plants are found as far as the Moisie, and their properties are known to the Montagnais.* * GOLDEN SEAL (Ht/drastis Canaclwisis). The root only is used. It is of a beautiful yellow colour internally, and is used by Indians as a dye. It is a powerful tonic. LOBELIA (Lobelia inflata). This remedy was a favourite with the medicine man among the Indians long before the settlement of Canada by the whites. Both the plant and the seeds are used in medicine. They are emetic, and in small doses expectorant and diaphoretic. MANDRAKE (Podopliylhtm pdtdhrni). The mandrake was well known to the Indians of Canada, and much used by them as a purgative. The root is CHAP. xii. CAUSES OP DISEASE AMONG INDIANS. 1!)1 The late Dr. Darling, Government surgeon at Mauitou- alin, had many excellent opportunities of studying the constitution of wild and half-civilised Indians. As many as 5,800 Indians would assemble on that island, in Lake Huron, about eighteen or twenty years ago, to receive their annual presents. In a report drawn up for the information of the Commissioner appointed to investigate the condition of the Indians in Canada, in 1844, Dr. Darling says : The diseases to which the Indian tribes are most subject, are those arising from original weakness of constitution ; the causes of debility may be imputed to the severity of their climate, their irregular mode of life, constant exposure, deficient clothing, wanting in nutritious food, filthy habits, the alternate periods of repletion, want, and drunkenness, producing more or less derangement of the digestive organs. only part used, and the proper time for collecting it is in the latter part of October, when it will be found full and plump. It is an active and certain cathartic. A resinoid, called Podophyttm, is prepared from the root, which contains all its properties in a concentrated form. This is more ex- tensively used by all classes of practitioners, and as au aperient and alterative medicine it takes with the eclectic physician the place of mercurials. SLIPPERY ELM BARK ( Ultmts ftdca). The inner bark is the part used. It is a valuable demulcent and emollient, and in the form of effusion has been found highly beneficial in inflammation of the stomach and bowels. STRAMONIUM (Datura stramonium'). All parts of the plant are medicinal. It is a powerful narcotic, poisonous in large doses. BLOODROOT (Sanguinaria Canadcnsis). The root is the only part used in medicine. It is a powerful and valuable remedy, acting in small doses as a stimulant and expectorant, in over doses producing nausea and vomiting. WILD CHERRY BARK (Prunus Virgineanct). The inner bark is the part used, and is strongest when gathered late in the fall. Its taste is agreeably bitter and aromatic, with the peculiar flavour of bitter almonds. This bark unites with a tonic and stimulant a sedative influence.* * A list of Canadian medicinal plants has been published by Mr. W. Saunders of London, Canada. 192 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. Scrofula should not be regarded as a disease confined to the unhappy few who transmit it from father to son, from one gene- ration to another, with undeviating regularity, but as a disease of circumstances (if the expression may be allowed), and that it might be engrafted in almost any constitution, provided the causes were permitted to operate. It is well known that this disease can be produced in many domestic animals by unwhole- some food. It is a popular opinion that the Indian race is endowed with great vigour and stamina, but a more intimate acquaintance with the subject will prove its fallacy. The Indians of Lake Huron are seldom above the middle size, slender, but for the most part well formed ; the chief defect in their figure is in their chest, which is generally flat and narrow. They are certainly capable of great exertions, but only for a limited period, and always followed by long intervals of repose. To enumerate all the diseases to which Indians are liable would be only a catalogue of almost all the ills of which flesh is heir, but a few desultory remarks may be acceptable. Acute diseases of the organs within the skull and abdomen are com- paratively rare, while those within the chest are the seat of the most frequent and fatal attack ; during the summer heat, great numbers of infants are destroyed by diarrhoea, and survive only to be carried off by miasmatic disease. They are likewise greatly infected with worms. The females suffer much from headache, owing chiefly to constipation, and not unfrequently to obstruc- tions. They can scarcely be said to suffer during parturition, and accidents attending it are rare. Fever, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, is almost unknown. Hooping cough is to them a most distressing disease, and when attended with fever between the paroxysms, almost invariably fatal. Tubercular consumption, bronchitis, and pleurisy are the most frequent and fatal diseases. It is impossible to give an estimate of the comparative mortality between them and Europeans, but Dr. Darling is decidedly of opinion that it is higher amongst the former than the latter. The mortality amongst the cliil- CHAT, xir. FEROCITY OP WOLVES. 193 dren is great, and the adults seldom attain an advanced age.* 'What's that?' said one of the voyageurs, who was lying full length before the fire, listening to the conversa- tion, as a distant howl was distinctly audible. 4 A wolf,' answered Pierre. 'Be still, and you will hear it again soon. There ! ' ' But that is in a different direction, the first noise carne from over yonder.' ' One wolf answers another,' said Pierre. ' Perhaps you will hear half a dozen yet ; but I don't think there are many wolves here, there is nothing for them to eat.' Canadian hunters will never fire at a wolf during the winter, if they are alone, unless they are sure of killing him. They think that, if he is only wounded, his cries will attract others as he runs aw T ay through the woods, who will first kill and eat him, and then follow the tracks of the hunter and attack him. They are not afraid of wolves, provided the animals have not recently tasted blood. When three or four hunters are together, they can bid defiance to any number of wolves by waiting * Amongst all the tribes, especially those in a civilised or semi-civilised state, much harm is done, and the constitution irreparably injured, by re- peated bleedings. Even in slight rheumatic pains, or the stiffiiess arising from fatigue, they almost invariably resort to this mode of cure, which affords temporary relief, but ultimately can scarcely fail to prove injurious. The plants and roots used by them as purgatives and emetics are extremely harsh and violent in their operation, and consequently hurtful in many of their diseases ; as there is no better established fact in medicine, that in proportion as the strength is diminished the liability to disease is increased, and this especially holds true in scrofulous subjects. The Indians bear pain with considerable fortitude, and are amenable to the directions of the me- dical attendant. Generally they require much larger doses of medicine than Europeans. A purgative which does not produce a proper proportion of griping is not regarded as effectual to the evil for which it was taken. VOL. I. O 194 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xu. till nightfall and making a large fire. The brutes will come within shot, and when one is wounded the rest fall on him, so that their appetites are soon satisfied, and they slink away and leave the hunters at rest. On the following morning, the 28th, we entered Lake Nipisis ; but the wind raised such a swell that we were compelled to make for an island and seek shelter under its lea. The breeze rose to a gale, and the gale to a storm, and we found ourselves windbound and prisoners on a rugged rock a few acres in extent. Although the last week in June, ice several feet thick remained in fissures. The ferns were only unfolding their first fronds, and water-lilies just beginning to appear above the mud in the secluded bogs of the lake, but no leaves had yet reached the surface of the water. Boulders or erratics were very numerous on the hills which surrounded us, many being perched on the crests of precipices, and several apparently ready to roll off with the slightest touch. I employed the time during which we were windbound on the island in obtaining information from Pierre, the Abenakis, who had spent the winter of 1859 on the Manicouagan Eiver. He drew me a map of the route and of the portages with that minuteness of detail which is so distinguishing a feature of the Indian race generally, but particularly of those who inhabit this country. The Manicouagan Eiver enters the St. Lawrence nearly under the 49th parallel, and takes a course about NNE. for 250 or 300 miles. It took Pierre six weeks to reach Manicouagan Lake, travelling with his winter supply of provisions ; but in a light canoe two men have been known to reach the lake in fifteen days CHAP. xn. THE MANICOUAGAN LAKE. 195 from the sea. The country some distance north of the sources of this river is probably the most elevated on the Labrador Peninsula. Many rivers running in very diverse directions take their rise a httle to the NE. of the lake, such as the Ashwanipi, the Moisie, and a river which emp- ties itself into Mistassinni Lake, and then by Rupert's River flows into Hudson's Bay. North-east of Manicouagan Lake there is a very high mountain, which the Montagnais say is the highest in the country. On its summit snow often lingers throughout the greatest portion of the year. Pierre says it is one of the famous ' fire mountains ' of the aborigines. A light is said to glow near the summit, respecting which more will be said in another place. Some parts of the valley of the Manicouagan abound in game, particularly caribou. Pierre stated that the lower portion, was very like the Moisie valley, but rich in fur-bearing animals ; he caught fifty-seven martens in one month, while on the Moisie he only trapped twenty-two during the whole winter. Among the few books we brought with us I had some of the Reports of the Roman Catholic missionaries among the Montagnais to the Archbishop of Quebec. I read a portion of them which referred to the Manicouagan to Pierre, who declared the description to be exact. The succession of precipitous escarpments and narrow gorges through which the river flowed like a torrent were similar to the scenes we had witnessed some days before, and are characteristic of most of the rivers which flow into the Gulf. Pere Arnaud, who voyaged up the Manicouagan and wintered among the JSTasquapees on one of the upper lakes, describes a copious spring of salt water issuing from o 2 196 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. the foot of a high mountain, which he thought might possess some medicinal virtues. He drank frequently of it, and found the effect beneficial. The description given by Pere Arnaud of his journey up the Manicouagan, and his residence with the Montagnais in the interior, is very inte- resting. I met Pere Arnaud at Seven Islands, and also one of the Indians who accompanied him on his perilous journey. The Indian drew a map of the country, which I subsequently compared with one which I obtained from Pierre. The delineations of the windings of the river and of the lakes and portages resembled one another so completely, that if I had not seen the Indian draw the map in my tent I should have thought that one had been copied from the other, on a different scale. Pere Arnaud started from the mouth of the Mani- couagan on August 29, 1853, in company with a little flotilla, consisting of seventeen birch-bark canoes, eleven manned by Montaguais who were returning to their hunt- ing-grounds, and six by Nasquapees who had come from the far interior to see the priest of whom they had heard so much from their Montagnais neighbours. A singular inci- dent happened to one of the Nasquapees when they were about halfway on their journey, which may account for some of the extraordinary actions of Indians in the savage state. After a very fatiguing portage, under a hot sun, a Nasquapee suddenly fell down in an unconscious state. They brought him to life again by throwing cold water over him, but as soon as he could stand he became furious and rushed into the woods, articulating sounds which none of his companions could understand. The mountainous character of the country prevented him wandering far, CHAP. xn. SINGULAR INCIDENT. iy7 and he gradually recovered his senses, expressing astonish- ment that his companions should be watching him, and apparently wholly unconscious of his recent vagaries. The other Indians thought that his temporary insanity arose from his having eaten some herb or fruit capable of producing that effect. Another singular but lamentable incident is related by Pere Andrieux, who was stationed at Wamoutashing, among the Tete de Boule Indians, which I shall give in his own words : ' Pendant les exercices de cette mission de Wamoutashing, un des sauvages se tenait ordinairement derriere tous les autres. II me semble decouvrir dans cette singularite quelque chose d'extraordinaire ; ici encore je laisse faire quelques jours, puis j'aborde mon homme et veux savoir de mi la raison de cette conduite si particuliere. " Kobe-noire," me dit-il alors d'un ton timide et plaintif ; " je ne prie pas moi, je ne suis pas chretien; au contraire, je te fuyais toujours, parce que je ne voulais pas quitter la liqueur de feu ; mais 1'hiver dernier j'ai etc saisi d'horreur a un spectacle dechirant dont j'ai ete temoin. II y avait parmi nous une femme qui disait quelquefois : ' il me faut de la chair : je veux manger de la chair' On ne comprenait pas pour- quoi elle parlait ainsi ; lorsque, un soir, prenant son cou- teau, elle 1'enfonce dans le sein de son enfant, et dans un etat de fureur qui ne pent pas s'exprimer, elle le fait rotir et le mange a la clarte du meme feu. Saisis d'horreur, nous nous enfuimes tous de ce lieu maudit. En meme temps mon cceur changea ; il me semblait que je devais embrasser la priere (religion) qui defend ce crime. Voila pourquoi je viens te demander de m'instruire et de me recevoir a la priere." 198 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAI-. XIT. Pere Arnaud lost the whole of his baggage at the foot of a rapid they were endeavouring to ascend, and after a month's toil they reached the borders of Lake Mushualagan at the beginning of October. At this lake the Montagnais who accompanied him determined to winter, not only be- cause it was good hunting-ground, but also on account of its being a great rendezvous in the spring for the heathen Indians of their tribe. Lake Mushualagan is about fifty miles long, and varies from three to nine miles in breadth ; it is surrounded by high mountains, is very deep, and contains pike, the kokomesh, a variety of salmon trout, the memehil, ' a red kind of fish,' &c. Pere Arnaud was soon left by the Montagnais and Nas- quapee who journeyed with him to Lake Mushualagan. The Indians found that they could not support such a large party by fishing and hunting in one locality. The Montagnais departed to seek better hunting-grounds, the Nasquapees set out to rejoin those of their people who had their lodges on Lake Pletpi, three days' journey from Mushualagan, only one family of Montagnais remaining with the missionary. Three weeks were spent in endeavouring to lay up a store of food for the winter, when another party in eleven canoes came to the lake from the coast, but many of them were ill, and an unusually large proportion were widows and young orphan children. The fish began to retire to deep water beyond the reach of nets, the hunt in the woods was unsuccessful, and a rigorous winter began to set in. The Indians who had left the missionary some weeks before began to return, having also been unsuccessful in their hunt ; so that the entire party were compelled to CHAP. xii. 1'HRE ABNAUDS DIFFICULTIES. 199 X have recourse to their supply of winter provisions until the snow became deep and hard enough for snow-shoes, and the caribou to descend from the mountains to the valleys. As soon as the caribou season at the beginning of December arrived, the camp was raised, and the whole band proceeded to fresh hunting-grounds. They soon found tracks in the snow ; but, to their despair, they ascertained that wolves had been in pursuit. The hunters followed the tracks, and after three days returned with the announce- ment that they had come upon the bones of a freshly-killed deer, and that wolves were numerous in the neighbour- hood. ' Wolves are around us ; they will block and dis- perse the caribou : we cannot escape death if this con- tinues," exclaimed the distressed Indians. A party of hunters arrived from a different direction two days after- wards, and brought with them, the flesh of six caribou and two porcupines ; but they confirmed the impression which began to prevail that the wolves had driven the caribou away, and it would be necessary to seek other and distant hunting-grounds. Their only hope was the tripe de roche when the caribou failed, and they could not support strength for any length of time on such meagre diet. At this period a runner came from the Nasquapees, who had left them at Lake Mushualagan, bringing the intelli- gence that this people were starving, and begging for some provisions. He was soon followed by a poor Indian with his family, who had become blind during the previous week. The Indian imputed his misfortune, unparalleled in the forests, which cover the country like a sea, to having slept on the snow, with spruce branches for his pillow, without fire or any covering beyond the clothes he 200 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xn. wore. He was overcome with fatigue, and far too weary to make a temporary lodge of spruce boughs, and per- haps, like all his- race, too indifferent to the consequences which might follow the terrible exposure to which he so thoughtlessly submitted himself. Fortunately for the missionary, the ptarmigan, or white partridge, came in large numbers to the borders of the lake where they were at this juncture, so that he was able to relieve the necessities of the Nasquapees and the blind Indian's family. They also caught some porcupine and a few rabbits, which enabled them to delay having recourse to the tripe de roche. It now became evident that the whole encampment must break up and separate into single families, scattering them- selves over a wide extent of country, in order to find the means of subsistence. During three long months Pere Arnaud remained in one encampment with a number of the Montagnais who still clung to him ; but no heathen Nasquapees came near their lodges, as he had been led to expect. Provisions now began to fail ; the ptarmigan, which had been the principal means of support, were about taking their flight to the north. They tried to fish, introducing nets below the ice, but without much success. Their misery increased day by day, until at length it became absolutely necessary to separate and hunt in a new tract of country. Pere Arnaud returned with a young Canadian, who had accompanied him to Lake Mushualagan, still 279 to 300 miles from the sea. He descended in the spring to the mouth of the river, after having endured much privation and suffering. 201 CHAPTEE XIII. LAKE NIPISIS TO BEAR LAKE. Nasquapee Camp Copper Fish-hook -- A Cache Caribou Horns Nipisis River - Fresh Tracks A Fire on the Portage Narrow Escape of the Canoes Destructiveness of Fires in the Woods Desolation of Part of the Labrador Peninsula produced by them Magnificent Spectacle of a Spruce Forest on fire at Night Wild Fowl falling into the Flames Nipisis River Sketching under Difficulties The Snow-white Rock The early Morn in Labrador Silence -- Ducks A Bear Caribou - Beaver smell the Fire Importance of the Caribou Its Habits. AT the northern extremity of Lake Nipisis we came to a fresh encampment, where Indians had been some twenty or thirty hours before us ; we all set to work to examine the tracks and endeavour to make out the direction they had taken. It was decided that they had come from the north, that they were going south, probably to the coast, and that they were Nasquapees. I asked Michel how he knew they were people belonging to his race; he answered by pointing to a fish-hook made of wood and copper, which he found suspended to the branch of a tree near the spot where they had camped. He also pointed to a cache, in which we found some clothing of caribou skins, some sinews, two fish-hooks of copper, and some birch- bark. We replaced all the articles, with the exception of the fish-hooks, but in lieu of them I left a dozen large steel 202 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. XIII. hooks attached to gimp. We also found in a cache snow- shoes and snow-shovels, and near their camp fire the re- NASQUAPEE COPPER AND IKON FISH-HOOKS. mains of salmon trout on which they had fed a few days before, having probably caught them in Nipisis Lake. At the end of this beautiful sheet of water I saw a splendid pair of caribou horns, which had been placed on the branch of a tree during the winter. I did not think it unwise to appropriate them. They are now placed in my collection between a magnificent pair of wapiti horns from the Assiniboine and those of a young bufialo bull from the south branch of the Saskatchewan. Beaver tracks began to be abundant, but we did not succeed in shooting any of these cautious animals. As we left the lake and entered a river, which we took to be the east branch of the Moisie, or one of its tributaries, fresh caribou, fox, and bear CHAP. xiii. A NARROW ESCAPE. -_>03 tracks were visible on the banks, and we stole along the river in a state of half suspense and excitement, hoping and expecting to see game at every turn ; but the current began to be strong, and the men had to get out of the canoes and haul them up the stream, wading in the water amono; fragments of rocks and water- worn boulders. This o o was enough to frighten any animal in advance of us, and we could not stop to hunt, time being precious, for the water in the rivers was foiling fast, and we feared that as we approached the Height of Land it would be necessary to carry the canoes. Breakfasting at the foot of a rapid, we caught plenty of trout, which were cleansed, fried, and eaten with almost painful expedition. The country began to grow less interesting in outline ; for although the rocks were grand, yet we had recently seen such magnifi- cent walls towering to the skies, that a precipice three or four hundred feet high was passed by almost without notice. An incident, which had wellnigh cost us our canoes, oc- curred here. The day was hot and sultry, the caribou moss dry and brittle, and, notwithstanding every precaution, a fire we made to cook dinner caught the moss and spread with amazing rapidity. The portage we were then making was not more than a third of a mile long, and every- thing but the canoes had been carried to the other end ; O the men were returning to fetch their last load, when the increasing smoke informed them of the spread of the fire. They rushed to where the canoes were lying just as the fire reached them ; lifting them up, they hastened as fast as they could run with their heavy burdens, but the wind drove the flames with terrible rapidity over the dry moss ; 204 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. XIII. the smoke rose in dense volumes and hid the men from our view ; our anxiety at this moment can better be imagined than described. We ran to meet the men, but the smoke blinded us. We lost the portage path, and were compelled to run towards the river to seek safety in its waters. Most fortunately we passed the path just as the hindermost canoe was being borne on the shoulders of the men at full speed, a few feet in advance of the flames. ESCAPE FROM A FIRE ON THE PORTAGE. We offered to relieve them of their load, but there was no time to change, the smoke and ashes surrounded us with a dense cloud, for the wind increased with the spread of the fire, and came in little whirlwinds, driving the thick air in circles and hollow cones before us. The men hurried on without resting for one instant, and did not stop until they had dashed the canoes, one after the other, into the river, which luckily at the end of the portage was still and deep. The Nasquapee, seeing the flames advancing, had. HAP. xni. DESTRUCTIVENESS OF FIRES IN THE WOODS. '205 with his usual presence of mind, moved all the baggage to the edge of the river on to a little beach of sand, where O it would be safe from the advancing fire. The voyageurs, as soon as they had relieved themselves of their bur- den, threw themselves on the ground in a state of utter exhaustion. We crouched low to let the hot smoke and ashes pass over us, and in ten minutes more the air was clear above ; but far in advance, following the banks of the river, the fire roared and hissed through the moss until it reached the borders of a lake, through which our course lay. The same fire continued to burn for several days, for we saw the smoke when more than thirty miles away ; but its onward progress had been arrested by the wet moss of the forest bordering Lake lash-ner-nus-kow, into which we entered late in the afternoon of the 29th. The Indians generally exercise great caution in putting out their fires before they leave a camp during the summer season, but notwithstanding their carefulness in this respect, most disastrous conflagrations not unfre- quently take place. It is a common practice with a party of Indians to make a large smoke on a hill or mountain when they wish to discover the whereabouts of their friends ; this is answered by those of whom they are in search with another smoke, and it sometimes happens that the fires thus made spread over the country and cause a most lamentable destruction of forest trees and moss, thus consuming the food of the caribou on which the Indians depend for their subsistence. A few days later we had a painful proof of the awful change in the features of a country produced by wide-spreading fires, and there appears to be little reason to doubt that a very 206 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xm. considerable portion of the Labrador Peninsula has from this cause been rendered an uninhabitable wilderness. Mr. Davies, in his ' Notes on Esquimaux Bay and the surrounding Country,' gives a graphic description of a ereat fire of which he was the innocent originator. o o In 1840, he ascended the Grand Eiver (Hamilton Inlet) for the purpose of exploring it ; after having been out ten days, he felt anxious to ascertain if any Indians were in the neighbourhood, in order to acquire information from them respecting the country in the vicinity. Accordingly he gave orders to a couple of Indians to make a signal by smoke, so that if any Indians were in the neighbour- hood, they might be warned of his approach, and come and meet him. He encamped for that purpose, and while the men were engaged in pitching the tent, the Indians went to the summit of a neighbouring hill, about a mile off, and there collecting a quantity of moss, set fire to it. About half an hour afterwards, while sit- ting at the door of his tent enjoying a cool breeze that had just sprung up, he was startled by 'a noise like thunder,' and ere he could spring to his feet, he was warned by the frantic shouts of his men of the danger that was approaching. It was with the utmost difficulty that they could launch the canoe, and, hastily throwing the baggage into it, contrive to decamp before the fire reached their encampment. All the haste would have been of no avail, had they not fortunately been encamped in a spot of green wood. Such Avas the rapidity with which the flames advanced, that one of Mr. Davies's men, who had wandered a little way from the encampment, had the utmost difficulty in saving himself, even at the top of CHAP- xin. THE BURNT COUNTRY. >207 his speed. Before they readied halfway across the river, which was there about a mile in breadth, the whole mountain, from top to bottom, was one sheet of fire. The lire lasted for upwards of three weeks, and spread over and completely destroyed an area covering some hundreds of square miles. It may be asked, why fires are more common at the present period than formerly ; for, from the age of many forests, it is apparent that fires have not devastated them for centuries, and if a large portion of the Labrador Peninsula were once covered with stunted trees, when did the conflagration take place which consumed them? It must have been in recent times, for the charred stumps are standing over immense areas, many thousand square miles being now a burnt country. No doubt fires have become much more frequent since the Indians became acquainted with Europeans, and learned how to make tinder with powder and to use the flint and steel, and, still more recently, the common friction match. In early times they were dependent altogether on two pieces of flint and 'punk,' a fungus growing on the birch tree, or on the bow and drill, when they wished to make a fire an operation in itself laborious in damp weather, and very difficult after a prolonged rain. The extent of fires is generally very much exaggerated in a thickly wooded country, but in a region of moss like Labrador it is not im- probable that they may sweep over vast areas. But still we find that fires are generally confined to the country through which the main line of communication runs, such as the Moisie, the Ashwanipi, and Eupert Eivers. During dry seasons, fire will run for an immense distance- 208 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xin. probably for some hundreds of miles and such an event took place in 1857 and 1859, as will be described farther on. There is also presumptive evidence to show that conflagrations of extraordinary extent occurred in 1785 and 1814, and gave rise to those unexplained phenomena the 'dark days of Canada'- -which are of sufficient importance to deserve an independent notice. A burning forest of spruce and birch is a spectacle of extraordinary sublimity during the night ; it is like a magnificent display of fireworks on a stupendous scale, and far surpasses the conflagrations of the heavier forests in more temperate climates. A spruce tree flashes into flame from the bottom to the top almost instantaneously, with a crackling hissing roar, which when viewed close at hand rivets a breathless attention, not unmixed with anxiety and fear. The light which it casts is vivid and red, the noise sharp, quick, and loud, like an infinite number of snaps repeated with just perceptible intervals. The awful but splendid light thrown through the forest casts the blackest shadows wherever its rays cannot reach. The birch trees flame steadily, pouring forth huge volumes of dense smoke, which whirling high in the air form an opaque screen above the burning forest, from which a lurid light is reflected ; at intervals gusts of wind sweep through the trees, followed by a train of smoke and sparks which, winding through the charred trunks or meeting with violent eddies, rise up in a spiral form to rejoin the black clouds above. When the wind is favourable, a burning spruce forest viewed from an eminence is awfully impressive ; from ten, twenty, to fifty trees at a time columns of flame shoot up, wildly twist- CHAP. xin. EFFECTS OF A CONFLAGRATION. 209 ing and darting high above the trees, and then subside ; a few minutes later another outburst illuminates rocks and mountains, which appear indescribably vast, silent, and immovable. Wild-fowl, disturbed and bewildered by the dazzling light, fly in great circles high above the burning forest, and sometimes, descending rapidly in spiral flight, plunge into the fires ; others drop from an immense height like a stone into the flames, probably suffocated by the hot air and smoke in which they have been wheeling round and round for hours, fascinated like moths by the fitful glare below them. Still continuing up what we supposed to be the last branch of the Moisie, we arrived at some very formidable rapids, having a total fall of fifty-eight feet. The follow- ing day being Sunday, we determined to camp early and catch a supply of trout, of which there were great num- bers at the tail of the rapids. The valley of the river here is broad, and deeply overspread with sand to a considerable extent, which is covered with caribou moss and stunted Banksian pine and spruce. The gneiss hills on either side are about 500 feet high, and run in ranges symmetrically related to one another, and appearing to come generally from the north-east like spurs from the table land. My brother took a sketch of the rapids, but the mosquitoes were so numerous that it was necessary to make a smoke before and behind him to drive off the clouds of insects which issued from the neighbouring forest. The bed of the river is full of boulders, and between them the water flows turbulently in a shallow channel crossed by ledges of rock. We saw several swallows during the day, and a spruce partridge with her VOL. i. P 210 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAT 1 . XIII. young brood. The tracks of different animals were so numerous that I determined to rise before daybreak and try iny luck with a rifle. The lake where we camped was one of the most sin- gular and beautiful we had yet seen ; it had no striking feature of rock-scenery, but its shores were broken by low > v - DESCENDING THE NIPISIS. promontories, thinly wooded, stretching far into it, backed by walls of gneiss from 200 to 300 feet high. Within half a mile of our camp was a snow-white rock, one which we had mistaken for ice many miles before we came opposite to it, and we almost doubted the Nasquapee when he assured us from the first that it was not snow or ice, but white rock. I went early to my spruce-carpeted tent, hoping to wake at dawn, but rather overdid it, waking at half-past twelve instead of two, and fearing to CHAP. xni. THE EARLY MORN IN LABRADOR. 211 go to sleep again lest I should miss the opportunity. At two I stole away, and after half an hour reached the summit of a hill, which I had visited the evening before, and selected as the spot where I could sit and watch. It was morning twilight when I reached my point of observa- tion, and the stars were unclouded. Not the faintest mist was visible, and not a breath of air disturbed a leaf to break the perfect silence that reigned. It was far too cold for the mosquitoes ; they scarcely trouble one when an aurora is quivering in the north, as it did on that cold summer morning. As the light increased, but long before the sun had risen, three ducks alighted on the lake and began to feed. I distin- o o guLslied a black object walking slowly on the sandy beach in the direction of our tents, and stopping now and then to look at the water ; with my glass I saw it was a bear, not half a mile aAvay, hunting for dead fish. He approached slowly, and was evidently intent upon finding a morning meal. While watching his gradual approach with beating heart, I saw him raise his head and sniff the air. Satisfied of its purity, he continued to advance, and, had he kept the beach, he would have passed within one hundred yards of where I was sitting on the soft caribou moss ; but he soon raised his head again, and, gently swaying it backwards and forwards, sniffed the air suspiciously. He smelt the smoke of our fire, the embers of which were still alive. It was enough to turn him, for after a pause he retreated for a hundred yards or so on the beach, and then went into the woods. Disappointed and dis- couraged, I went to the other side of the hill to survey the magnificent caribou grounds we had passed the day p 2 212 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. xni. before, and where we had seen fresh tracks. It was not light enough to see distinctly any considerable distance, so I returned again to my former outlook. Just as I had seated myself I heard a splash in the lake at the foot of the hill : it was a willow bush which had fallen into the water at the mouth of a little stream, and the beaver which cut it down swam towards it, drew it in shore, and began to eat the juicy bark. The faintest tinge of crimson on the summit of the distant mountain which we had passed reminded me that it was time to look for caribou Eeturning to the opposite side I scanned the caribou ground with my glass carefully and anxiously ; and not without success, for at the distance of half a mile I saw three does with their fawns feeding and walking towards the lake. A loon flew over, uttering its wild note ; they looked around, but soon began to feed again. They seemed to be cropping the flowers of the Labrador tea-plant, and of one or two other shrubs which grew among the moss. They came within a quarter of a mile of our tents, when they suddenly stopped ; all raised their heads together, and gazed in the direction of our camp. They looked but for an instant, when, turning round, away they galloped witli long bounds towards the nearest range of hills. They, too, had smelt the fire. It was then that the caution often given me by Indians came in full force upon my recollection ' When you want to watch for deer or bear at daybreak, always put your fire out before you go to bed : it is better to make no fire at all.' Slowly I went back to my old post above the lake. Golden light had begun to tinge the summits of the higher hills, still the shadows were deep and well defined. As the sun approached the horizon, the THAI'. XIII. THE CARIBOU. 213 lines of huge boulders perched on the summit of bare rocks towards the north-east seemed greatly magnified, and stood like giant sentinels on those weather-worn hills. I returned to camp to prepare for a trip to the snow- white rock, which had excited our curiosity and speculation the day before ; Pierre went to examine the bear-tracks, BEAR LAKE. which he pronounced to be those of a young one, not more than two years old. / The caribou* is the mainstay of the Montagnais and * Tlie Caribou, or American Tleindeer (T(/rti//(/nx hasta/is, Agass.), .some- times called the Woodland Caribou, to distinguish it from the Barren Ground Caribou. When pursued, the caribou immediately makes for a swamp, and follows the margin, taking at times to the water and again footing it over the firm ground, and sometimes turning towards the nearest mountain, crosses it by another morass. If hard pressed by the hunters (who now and then follow up the chase for four or five days), the animal ascends to the highest peak of the mountain for security, and the pursuit becomes veiy fatiguing and uncertain. Upon one occasion two men followed up several caribou for a whole week, when, completely tired out, they gave up the chase, which was then continued by two hunters, who at last succeeded in killing a couple of the animals at long shot. Sometimes, however, fresh 214 THE LABEADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xm. Nasquapee races : it is to them as important an animal as the buffalo is to the Prairie Indians. In the summer they are found on the mountains, whither they go to avoid the flies and to feed on buds, flowers, the fruit of a plant which grows upon the mountain-sides, and on what the Indians call Atik-min, or caribou food, which is wholly different from the caribou moss on which they subsist during the winter. When the snow begins to fall in October, the caribou collect in bands o ' and commence their singular peregrinations, which are characteristic of this animal. If undisturbed by wolves or Indians, they wander in a circle of many miles in radius, always on the move except when sleeping. When the snow is deep, they take it in turn one by one to lead the band when not feeding, and open a way through the snow ; as soon as the leader is fatigued, he retires to the rear and another takes his place. Every third or fourth year they emigrate to a distant part of the country, revisiting their former pasture- tracks are found, and the caribou is surprised whilst lying down or browsing, and shot on the spot. When the snow is not deep, and the lalces are covered with ice only, the animal, if closely pursued, makes for one of them, and runs over the ice so fast that it is unable to stop, if struck with alarm at any object presenting itself in front, and it then suddenly squats down on its haunches and slides along in that ludicrous position, until, the impetus being exhausted, it rises again and makes off in some other direction. When the caribou takes to the ice, the hunter always gives up the chase. Sometimes, when the mouth and throat of a fresh-killed caribou are ex- amined, they are found to be filled with a blackish-looking mucus, resem- bling thin mud, but which appears to be only a portion of the partially decomposed black mosses upon which it feeds, probably forced into the throat and mouth of the animal in its dying agonies. When overtaken in the chase, the caribou stands at bay and shows fight, and when thus brought to a stand-still will not pay much attention to the hunters, so that he can approach and shoot them with ease. Audition and Bachman. CHAP. xin. THE CARIBOU. 215 grounds after the lapse of the same period. In April, as soon as the snow begins to get soft, they migrate towards the quarters where they intend to pass the summer, travelling always at night. During the day they rest or feed chiefly on the moss which bears their name. In Forester's ' Game in its Season,' the author gives a very lively description of the caribou, having reference to this species. He states that as regards the nature of the pelage, or fur for it is almost such of the caribou, so far from its being remarkable for closeness and compactness, it is by all odds the loosest and longest haired of any deer he ever saw, being, particularly about the head and neck, so shaggy as to appear almost maned. ' In colour it is the most grizzly of deer, and though comparatively dark brown on the back, the hide is, generally speaking, light, almost dun-coloured, and on the head and neck fulvous, or tawny grey, largely mixed with white hairs. 4 The flesh is said to be delicious, and the leather made by the Indians from its skin, by their peculiar process, is of unsurpassed excellence for leggings, moccasins, or the like, especially for the moccasin to be used under snow- shoes. ' As to its habits, while the Lapland or Siberian rein- deer is the tamest and most docile of its genus, the American caribou is the fiercest, fleetest, wildest, shyest, and most untameable. So much so, that they are rarely pursued by white hunters or shot by them except through casual good fortune ; Indians alone having the patience and instinctive craft which enable them to crawl on them unseen, unsmelt : for the nose of the caribou can detect 216 THE LABEADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xnr. the smallest taint upon the air of anything human at least two miles up wind of him, and unsuspected. If he takes alarm and starts off on the run, no one dreams of pur- suing. As well pursue the wind, of which no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth. Snow-shoes against him alone avail little ; for, propped up on the broad natural snow-shoes of his long elastic pasterns and wide- cleft clacking hoofs, he shoots over the crust of the deepest drifts, unbroken, in which the lordly moose would soon flounder, shoulder-deep, if hard pressed, and the graceful deer would fall despairing, and bleat in vain for mercy; but he, the ship of the winter wilderness, outspeeds the wind among his native pines and tamucks, even as the de- sert ship, the dromedary, out-trots the red simoom on the terrible Sahara, and, once started, may be seen no more by human eyes, nor run by fleetest foot of man no, not if they pursue him from their nightly casual camps, un- wearied, following his trail by the day, by the week, by the month, till a fresh snow effaces his tracks and leaves the hunter at the last as he was at the first of the chase, less only the fatigue, the disappointment, and the folly. ' Therefore by woodmen, whether white or red-skinned, he is followed only on those rare occasions when snows of unusual depth are crusted over to the very point at which they will not quite support this fleet and powerful stag. Then the toil is too great even for his vast endurance, and he can be run down by the speed of men inured to the sport and to the hardships of the wilderness, but by them only. Indians by hundreds in the provinces, and many loggers and hunters in the Eastern States, can take and keep his trail in suitable CHAP. xiii. THE CHASE OF THE CARIBOU. 217 weather. The best time is the latter end of February or the beginning of March ; the best weather is when a light fresh snow of some three or four inches has fallen on the top of deep drifts and a solid crust the fresh snow giving the means for following the trail the firm crust yielding a support to the broad snow-shoes, and enabling the stalkers to trail with silence and celerity combined. Then they crawl onward, breathless and voiceless, up wind always, following the foot-prints of the wandering, pasturing, wantoning deer ; judging by signs umnistaken to the veteran hunter, undistinguishable to the novice, of the distance or proximity of their game, until they steal upon the herd unsuspected, and either finish the day with a sure shot and a triumphant whoop, or discover that the game has taken alarm and started on the jump, and so give it up in despair. 'One man perhaps in a thousand can still hunt or stalk caribou in the summer season. He, when he has dis- covered a herd feeding up wind, at a leisure pace and clearly unalarmed, stations a comrade in close ambush well down wind and to leeward of their upward track, and then himself, after closely observing their mood, motions, and hue of course, strikes off in a wide circle well to leeward, until he has got a mile or two ahead of the herd, when, very slowly and guardedly, observing the profoundest silence, he cuts across their direction, and gives them his wind, as it is technically termed, dead head. This is the crisis of the affair ; if he gives the wind too strongly or too rashly, if he makes the slightest noise or motion, they scatter in an instant, and away. If he gives it slightly, gradually, and casually as it were, 218 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xin. not fancying themselves pursued, but merely approached, they merely turn away from it, working their way down wind to the deadly ambush, of which their keenest scent cannot, under such circumstances, inform them. If he succeeds in the inch by inch, he crawls after them, never pressing them, or drawing in upon them, but pre- serving the same distance still, still giving them the same wind as at first, so that he creates no panic or confusion, until at length, when close upon the hidden peril, his sudden whoop sends them headlong down the deceitful breeze upon the treacherous rifle. ' Of all woodcraft none is so difficult, none requires so rare a combination as this, of quickness of sight, wariness of tread, very instinct of the craft, and perfection of judgement. When resorted to, and performed to the ad- miration even of a woodman, it does not succeed once in a hundred times ; therefore not by one man in a thousand is it ever resorted to at all, and by him rather in the wantonness of woodcraft, and by way of boastful ex- periment, than with any hope, much less expectation, of success.' '219 CHAPTER XIV. THE SNOW-WHITE KOCK TO CARIBOU LAKE. Trip to the Snow- white Rock Pine Forest Character of the Snow-white Rock - - Young Forest Beauty of the Scenery towards the East Awful Desolation of the Country towards the North and West Character of the Scene A burnt Country - The burnt Portage The River at the Beginning of the burnt Country Moss-covered Boulders Treacherous Walking Dif-~ ference between the Country in the Valley of the Saskatchewan and Table Land of Labrador A Walk through the burnt Woods- Tiers of Boulders Infinite Number of Erratics Desolate Cha- racter of the River Shallows River becoming impassable - Caribou Lake River impassable beyond Caribou Lake Re- markable Erratics ' Desolation desolate ' Caribou Moss Its Uses and Beauty Lichens of Labrador Their general Diffusion. MR. CALEY aiid I started early in the morning of the 30th to visit the ' snow-white rock ' which had excited our curiosity during the past two or three days, being visible from an immense distance in the direction of our route. We took a canoe and crossed a bay of the lake, landing at the foot of a steep bank of sand, clothed with willows and a few Banksian pine. Having securely fastened the canoe, we ascended the bank and found ourselves upon a level plateau extending to the foot of a range of hills about half a mile distant, of which the ' snow-white rock ' formed a part. We soon came upon a well-beaten caribou track, and saw several recent 220 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xiv. impressions. The forest on the lower part of the hill surprised us : the birch were not less than fifteen inches in diameter, and well grown, thus showing that on a good soil trees will flourish well at the altitude of 1,700 feet above the sea, notwithstanding the rigour of the climate. An examination of the 'snow-white rock' ex- plained the origin of the soil and the luxuriance of vege- tation. A belt of spruce through which we passed also contained some very fine trees: they averaged eighteen inches in diameter and about fifty feet in height. After a long and tedious walk, we came suddenly upon the ' snow- white rock,' and found it to be a very coarse gneiss, such as is commonly, but very erroneously, called granite, consisting of magnificent crystals of flesh-coloured felspar, clear and brilliant quartz, with a sprinkling of mica. The felspar was largely in excess and weathering white : it gave to the rock a brilliant appearance in the sunshine, exactly resembling a mass of snow in the distance. The ' snow- white rock ' was nothing more than a narrow strip of the hill-side exposed by a land-slide ; it was fifty feet broad, and perhaps 300 feet in length, inclined at an angle of 60 to the horizon. We ascended to the summit of the hill, and arrived at a plateau, where the forest had been burnt ; but the second growth consisted of cherry and a great profusion of currant and raspberries. Crossing the plateau we made another ascent, and sat down to mark the particulars of the wonderful scene winch lay before us. We were some hundred feet above the lake, and from that elevation could see the country far and wide in all directions, except the one in which our course lay. A bold projecting peak, 200 or 300 feet CHAP. xiv. DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. 221 higher than that on which we were perched, obstructed our view towards the north. Towards the east all was beautiful and serene ; a succession of lovely lakes studded with islands filled a valley whose outlet we had passed the day before. Bare rocks rising out of a vast forest were the other elements of the picture towards the east ; but north and as far as we could see north-west, and behind us towards the south-west, there lay an awful scene of deso- lation, far surpassing any we had seen before. We looked upon a burnt country, where the dead standing trees still wore the marks of fire, or were bleached by years of lifeless exposure. We saw myriads of boulders strewed over the hills and mountains, without a green moss or a grey lichen to show that life had ever been there. This, then, was the beginning of the burnt country which the Indians had told us lay near the Height of Land --the great table land of the Labrador Peninsula. Michel had told us that it took them a whole day to pass through as they descended a month ago, when the rivers were full from the melting snow. It would take us three days to pass it travelling against the current with the water diminishing every day. One fact we noticed with delight. On that vast gloomy expanse there were nume- rous little islands of forest which had escaped the fire, little green oases in a black desert ; something that might lead us to picture in our minds' eye the aspect of the country before the fire swept over it and destroyed its summer beauty. In descending the hill we took another direction through the really luxuriant forest : the birch and spruce were intermixed with larch, and trees of a size which would have done no discredit to the soil and climate of 222 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xiv. Western Canada grew on the steep slope of the hill, and at its base, on a deep rich soil evidently derived from the decomposition of the felspathic rock. The hill-side faced the east, and it was clothed with a forest which had escaped the numerous fires which have devastated the greater part of the country. Not far from our ' snow-white rock ' the face of the hill changed, and became a vast mural preci- pice between 300 and 400 feet high, of a dark-purple colour, but frequently much shattered and broken into masses, which seemed on the point of falling. Eeturning to camp we found them all ready for continuing our journey, and in a few minutes were again on our way. The lake passed, we entered a shallow and rapid river, up which we were compelled to wade and drag the canoes. We camped where a party of Nasquapees had made their fire a few days before, and left the bones of large trout, geese, and ducks, the remnants of their savage meal. The portage before us was a formidable one, and well named Kes-ca-po-swe-ta-gan, or the Burnt Portage, usher- ing us into the burnt country : its length was one mile and three quarters, and its altitude 329 feet, or 1,754 feet above the ocean. A large part of the tract of land over which we passed had escaped the devastating fires, and was beau- tifully ornamented with free-growing larch and spruce, with the unfailing caribou moss in the richest abundance. The erratics, however, were the most striking features of the scene ; for, besides being very numerous, they were of extraordinary size, and exquisitely painted with green and grey circles of time-stains and other lichens. When hunting for partridge in a lovely valley, fair and beautiful to the eye, I frequently sank two and even three feet CHAI>. xiv. TREACHEROUS WALKING. 223 through the moss, sometimes without touching bottom. At the time I thought I had fallen into a fissure in the rocks over which the moss was grown, but the experience of the next few days told a different tale, and laid open the remarkable feature in this country, which might have escaped attention if the fire had not destroyed the beautiful covering which hid from view the chaotic mass of erratics which were piled one above the other in these, treacherous glades. Our observation for latitude showed that we were under the same parallel as the Touchwood Hills in the valley of the Saskatchewan, forty degrees of longitude farther west. What a difference in climate and vegetation at nearly the same height above the sea level! We find in the prairie country luxuriant vegetation, an infinite num- ber of wild-fowl, vast herds of buffalo, and a summer heat sufficiently long to ripen early varieties of Indian corn. In the rocky eastern country, the rivers and lakes arc frozen from October to the end of May, the woodland caribou replaces the buffalo, birds are few in number, and their species very limited, consisting of a few varieties of duck, geese, the spruce partridge, the ptarmigan, wood- peckers, and gulls ; the trees in general stunted, and only represented by the birch, spruce, larch, and Banksian pine ; flowers almost arctic in their character, and in place of rich and nutritious grasses, lichens and mosses grow over the rocks and swamps, covering everything witli green, grey, yellow, purple, or black. Formerly many animals extended much farther east than they do at present, having been destroyed by the Indians. 224 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xrv. Charles Tache enumerates the elk and ground hog as common about the Saugenay previous to 1823. The elk was hunted down chiefly by the Montagnais Indians for the sake of their skins, which they disposed of to the fur traders. Tache considers the destruction of the elk as one of the reasons of the rapid disappearance of the Montagnais nation from the neighbourhood of Lake St. John and the Saugenay. The moose was also very common in the country drained by this river, and in the time of the Pere Le Jeune it formed one of their chief sources of food. In 1670 Pere Albanel stated that the moose approached the country of the Oumamiwek on or near the Eiver Godbout. We found it necessary to adopt an expedient to hurry on the men, who were getting dismayed and scared at the wild and inhospitable appearance of the country as we approached the burnt land. We sent Pierre with a canoe to the end of the Burnt Portage, and told the cook to follow, and cross over to the other side of the next lake, which was a small one, and prepare our supper there. Leaving the men to carry the things across the portage, we went on in advance, and, in crossing the lake, began to look out for our camp ground. The cook came to me to ask for matches to light the fire, but I had recently changed my coat, as the evening promised to be cold, and left the match-box in the pocket othe garment which I had packed in my leather bag at the other end of the portage path. No one else had any dry matches, and we had to draw the charge of shot and fire off a gun in order to light a lucifer match from the burning wad, not being disposed to wait until Michel could procure fire for us with his drill. We CHAP. xiv. APPROACH TO THE BURNT COUNTRY. 225 often observed the caution with which the Nasquapee put out the fire before we left any camp ground ; and those who have ever had an opportunity of witnessing scenes similar to some which met our eyes, will readily understand the fear they have of fire spreading and de- stroying their hunting-grounds. Leaving the Burnt Portage on July 1, we descended eighteen feet, and came into a lake in the burnt country. What desolation ! what dreadful ruin all around ! Not . ruin from fire only, but ruin exposed by fire. Close on the banks of the lakes and their connecting rivers lies the burnt country. Sand conceals the rocks beneath and hides what lies below from view ; but as- cending a slight eminence away from the immediate banks of the river, the true character of the country becomes apparent. Conceive marching for miles over charcoal, the burnt remains and ashes of moss once two feet deep ; imagine your steps arrested by blackened trees, or dead trees with bark fallen off, and the trunks bleached white, in singular contrast to the black ground. Suppose that you pass through this level waste and reach the foot of a hill, a hill of boulders or erratics, all water- worn and smooth, without moss or lichen on them, and piled two and three deep, and, for aught you know, twenty deep. You peer between the interstices of the first layer, and see the second layer ; and sometimes through spaces between the boulders of the second layer, and find a third layer visible. The well-worn masses of all sizes, from one foot t.o twenty feet in diameter, and from one ton to ten thousand tons in weight, are washed clean. Mosses, ever green and bright, once covered them, VOL. I. Q 226 THE LABEADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xiv. filling the spaces between, and changing their harsh and unyielding outlines into a level green plain or a gently sloping hill, fair to look at, but dangerous to trust. Lying at full length on a giant erratic, and looking over its well-worn edge, I could without difficulty see three tiers of these ' travelled rocks,' and in the crevices the charred roots of trees which had grown in the mosses and lichens which formerly clothed them with perennial beauty. Where did all these boulders come from ? What brought them ? and where are they yointj ? Turning again to the black wilderness of charred trees standing on the charcoal- covered flats of sand bordering the river, I met the men who were engaged in carrying the canoes and baggage across the portage. They were nearly as black as the ground they walked on, and looked like a procession of weary chimney-sweeps, silently, hur- rying through a country especially their own in Indian file. The burnt country looks like a land of the dead ; and everything, in fact, is dead. Although the fire in one part of it occurred three years ago, yet no new moss has begun to grow or grass to spring up ; there is no herb on the sand or lichen on the rocks, all is dead. It was a pleasant change to enter one of the little oases in this black desert ; it was delightful to see the sparkling river, and the trout boldly darting out on flies : there at least was life, and in one of its most beautiful forms. I asked Michel how far we should have to travel before we had passed through the boulder country, point- in" 1 at the same time to the vast numbers which were O strewn around us. Michel shook his head solemnly, as he slowly said that rocks like those around us became more CHAP. xiv. THE BURNT COUNTRY. numerous and large the farther we ascended, until we came to Ashwanipi. Embarking again in our canoes, we paddled slowly against the stream ; but it was dispiriting work. The river reflected the black banks, the dead spruce stretched their bare arms wildly in the air ; huge blocks of gneiss, twenty feet in diameter, lay in the channel or on the rocks which here and there pierced the sandy tract through which the river flowed ; while on the summits of mountains and along the crests of hill-ranges they seemed as if they had been dropped like hail. It was not difficult to see that many of these rock-fragments were of local origin, but others had travelled far. From an eminence I could discover that they were piled to a great height between hills 300 and 400 feet high, and from the comparatively sharp edges of many, the parent rock could not have been far distant. Although regretting that destructive fires should have so changed the face of the landscape, I could not but rejoice that their occurrence had been the means of displaying L */ O the astonishing character of this boulder-covered country. But why all boulders ? Where is the clay which is almost invariably associated more or less with travelled rocks in other parts of the world ? It would have been delightful to have lingered in the midst of such awful ruin, and gone back in imagination to the infinite past, striving to trace the history of those ' travelled rocks ' which, I felt persuaded at the time, is not yet fully un- derstood. The huge fellows, perched on the very edges of the cliffs, so well seen against the clear sky, were par- ticularly inviting. But we must hurry through this desolate land, painting its picture on our memories and a 2 228 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAI-. xiv. its moral on our hearts ; we have no time to meditate here. We spent a quiet night in the burnt country, but we looked rather dingy in the morning. The river now began to get very shallow, with scarcely water enough to float the canoes. The bottom was composed of fine and coarse sand, beautifully sorted and ripple-marked by the action of the current. We were evidently approaching the source of the river, for when we came to the next portage the Nasquapee said we could not go any farther with the canoes ; there was not water enough on the other side of the carrying place. Anxious to judge for ourselves, we proceeded about a mile farther, to Caribou Lake, in the middle of the broad valley in which the river flowed, and weU known to Michel, who said that he had fre- quently been there last winter. We then decided to go to the summit of a hill which appeared to be about four miles distant. While breakfast was preparing, I crossed the portage and examined the river. It was quite clear that there was not enough water to float loaded canoes. The Indians in descending had to exercise the utmost t_- caution even in their little craft, which did not draw more than five inches, and in ascending beyond the spot at which we had arrived they were accustomed to drag and lift their canoes through the water, except during freshets. I directed Pierre to make a cache of flour and what- ever other articles were not absolutely required, intending to leave the canoes in charge of four men, and push on- wards on foot with the rest as far as we could go. In this solitary lake, connected with the river we had left by a dry channel, probably a small watercourse in the spring, there were some fine trout, a few of which we CII AT. XIV. CARIBOU LAKE. 229 caught On all sides of this little sheet of water, which & might be a third of a mile across, the fire has swept away trees, grasses, and mosses, with the exception of a point of forest which came clown to the water's edge, and formed the western limit of the living woods. For far to the west and north the raging element had spread and carried desolation with it, but towards the east the country was green wherever trees or herbs could grow. The long lines of enormous erratics skirting the river looked like Druids' monumental stones; for in many instances they were disposed in such a manner as would almost CARIBOU LAKE, NEAR THE TABLE LAND. lead one to suppose they had been placed there by artificial means. No language can adequately express the utter desolation of the scenery around this lake. The dead trees were blanched white ; the sand was blown into low dunes ; the surrounding hills were covered with 230 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xiv. millions of erratics, most of them white. Both birds and beasts seemed to shun so dreary a scene, and only here and there did the mosses and willows appear to be making feeble efforts to rise again in greenness and life, and cover the terrible nakedness of the land. In surveying a vast tract of country profusely covered with lichens and mosses, our thoughts naturally turn to the uses of these beautiful plants, and the part they perform in the general economy of nature. Lichens, it is well known, are distributed over every part of the world, but in some regions they acquire a very extraordinary development, and supply food to man and animals, as well as important materials used in the arts. Deriving their food chiefly from the air, they grow upon dead and living plants, upon rocks and stones ; but they appear to prefer certain kinds of rocks in preference to others. We found them most abundantly upon gneiss, and much less frequently upon labradorite : indeed, the uniform purple hue of this rock, when seen in great masses, is probably due to the absence of lichens and mosses, which so frequently beautify the surface of gneissoid hills. First in importance to the wandering Indian in subarctic North .America is, indirectly, the reindeer or caribou moss (Cladonia rangiferina], which at every step inspires the traveller in the Laurentian country with admiration for its beauty, its luxuriance, its wonderful adaptation to the climate, and its value as a source of food to that mainstay of the Indians, and consequently of the fur trade in these regions, the caribou. The Laplanders not only depend on it as the prin- cipal food for their herds of domesticated reindeer, but they gather it during the rainy season and give it to their CHAP. xiv. VALUE OF CARIBOU MOSS. '231 cattle. I did not hear whether the Labrador Indians made use of this lichen as an article of food, but we often used to chew a few fragments, and found it not unpalatable : when boiled it is slightly bitter and acrid. The reindeer moss forms the softest carpet when moist with rain or dew, but in the heat of the sun it is so dry and crisp, that when walking over it the stems snap off, and the impression of the foot is permanently left. The tracks of caribou made during the night are easily effaced when this lichen is soft and yielding, but if the animal has wandered during the day-time in dry weather, the impression is lasting. The Indians can often determine by this means the time when a caribou has passed a certain spot, by carefully examining the tracks. If the stems are broken, it must have occurred during the day- time, in dry weather ; if they are merely pressed, it may have been recent, but were made during the night, after a shower of rain. Next in importance to the caribou moss ranks the tripe de roche (Sticla pulmonaria) throughout the colder parts of the North American continent. It is found in abundance on the trunks of trees, as well as on gneiss rocks, and frequently attains a very great age, probably exceed- ing the number of years allotted to man. Like the well- known Iceland moss, it contains some nutritive principles. It is used medicinally, and appears to be not unfrequently employed by the Indians for cleaning and healing wounds, and in times of scarcity both Nasquapee and ]M/)ntagnais, as well as the Canadian hunters, eat it after being boiled. In order to use it as food, it should be digested for a short time in a weak solution of carbonate of soda, washed, and then boiled ; it yields a jelly which is 232 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. ni.\p. xiv. very palatable when flavoured with lemon or wine. The tripe de roche grows very abundantly in most parts of Labrador, and may yet become economically valuable as the source of a brown dye, for which it is largely employed by the peasantry of Northern Europe. Spring- ing on the edges ' of tufts of caribou moss, the red cup lichen (Cladonia gracilw) is extremely common ; some- times it gives to the surface of the rock a vermilion hue for a considerable space round the tufts, under whose shelter it seems to flourish. The vast distribution of lichens in the Labrador Penin- sula, from the mournful beard moss which hangs from the branches of dying spruce to the ever-beautiful caribou moss, will possibly give some importance to those rugged wastes, more especially as the applications of lichens to the arts are daily becoming more numerous ; and it is both singular and most interesting that the probability has been shown, on good grounds, that a lichen, the Lecanora esculenta of Pallas, was the manna of the Bible.* One of the characteristics of this beautiful class of plants is their duration in general. They grow with exceeding slowness, but retain their general form and vitality for very many years. They are truly ' time-stains,' and well do they deserve that harmonious name. They survive the most intense cold, and live during long summer droughts in tropical climates. From the polar zones to the equator, under all conditions of heat and cold, on the most unyielding and barren rocks, on the living and on the dead, wherever there is light, lichens grow. * ' What to Observe in Canadian Lichens.' By G. "W. Lauder Lindsay, M.I).,F.L.S. (Annals of the Botanical Society of Cnnarla.') '233 CHAPTEE XV. THE BURNT COUNTRY AND THE TABLE LAND. An Excursion on Foot Aspect of the Country Elevation - Scenery The Dividing Ridge The Burnt Country Numerous Lakes Boulders Absence of Animal Life Ruin everywhere Reflections Life in the Desert The Montagnais and the Nas- quapees Bear Feasts Caribou Feasts Winter Life Michel and his Cousins Caribou Hunt His Affray with Wolves Starvation in the Winter Tripe de Roche and Birch Buds Cannibalism The Advent of Spring The Geese The Value of Gee.se to Indians The Number of Geese in Hudson's Bay killed by Indians The probable Number of Geese in Northern America Mode in which Domenique and the Nasquapees passed the Winter Employment of the Women Shifting Camp Difficulty of catching Fish Ojibway Mode of catching Fish in Winter Return to Camp. THEEE of us started from Caribou Lake soon after breakfast to attempt the ascent of a hill which appeared to be about four miles off, and some 400 or 500 feet high. My brother, glad of the opportunity, took his sketching materials to a favourable point of view, with one of the men to make a smoke to drive off the irritating mosquitoes, while he sketched, in all its sin- gular detail of desolation and ruin, the wild surrounding country. The rest of the men were engaged in repairing the canoes, making a cache, and arranging the baggage. In the direction of the hill, from our camp, a strip of woods had most fortunately escaped the fire, so that we '234 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. were able to see the character of the forest trees which once thinly covered the burnt region before the confla- gration occurred. After toiling for a couple of hours over boulder-strewn rocks, we reached the summit of the hill, and found it to be 450 feet above the lake, or 2,214 feet above the ocean level, and 120 miles distant from the mouth of the Moisie by the course we had taken, which did not deviate materially from a straight line. The view far exceeded our expectations ; it was one possessing a sublimity of character which could only be found among such extraordinary elements as those which composed it. The first striking feature was the number of lakes, occupying distinct valleys, which seemed to lie between low ranges of hills projecting from a table land. A shallow depression in the horizon instantly struck us as the Dividing Eidge, separating the waters of Ash- wanipi from, those of the Moisie, the waters which flow into the North Atlantic from those which flow into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The large lake below the Dividing Eidge was the one which the Nasquapee said we should see, where he had wintered with Domenique and his tribe, and from which he had departed scarcely a month before. Far to the north-east was a very high range of mountains, on whose top the snow, glistening in the sun, could easily be distinguished with a glass. We were on the edge of the burnt country, which extended to the north-north- west and south, while towards the east forests of stunted trees bordered the lakes, and crept a little way up the sides of the hills. The whole country appeared to consist of a succession of low mountains, few of them exceeding in height the one which formed our point of view. CHAP. xv. THE LAKE COUNTRY. 235 I counted twenty-two large lakes, besides numerous small sheets of water, which evidently merged into swamps, and are probably more or less connected in the spring of the year. A countless number of erratics were scattered in every direction, best seen, however, towards the south and west in the burnt country. The hill-sides appeared to be covered with them, and many were of very large dimensions. Those on the bare rock wdiere we stood were well water- worn, lichen-covered, and appeared to consist of gneiss, to the exclusion of every other variety of rock. I looked for glacial stria?, but saw none ; I searched carefully for moraines, 1 but could not distinguish any, unless every valley could be said to possess its own moraine, an idea which the absence of glacial stria? for a time dispelled. The stria? may long since have dis- appeared under the singular atmospheric influences of the climate of this elevated region. The entire peninsula was perhaps once covered with ice as Greenland now is. The erratics appeared to be uniformly distributed ; but it must be observed, that in the valleys the caribou moss covered them, so that their number or the manner of their distribution could not be well discerned. Long and anxiously I looked round in every direction to see if I could distinguish any signs of animal life, but with- out success. No sound was audible except the sighing of the wind. A marshy lake lay at the foot of the hill, which we had ascended with the greatest caution on the opposite side, but no waterfowl were visible or even fish seen to rise. Not a bird, or butterfly, or beetle appeared to inhabit this desolate wilderness. Behind us lay the burnt country, built up of erratics. Yet what a history 236 THE LABRADOR PENIXSULA. CHAP. xv. did it unfold ! A history of continental glacial ice, wear- ing down rocks and grinding out lake basins - - a history of deep seas, bearing boulder-ladened floes of ice, drop- ping their burdens as they floated over a history of stranded icebergs and irresistible currents - - a history of gradually emerging land, of changing coast lines, and of continual change in the position of the travelled rocks- a history of frosts, snows, swollen lakes and rivers of long dreary winters, short scorching summers and, finally, a dreadful conflagration. But most bewildering of all reflections was the age the infinite age of the rocks of the Labrador Peninsula. What exposure to elemental warfare ! what a lonely ex- perience of the changes which this world has undergone ! The earliest known continent, the longest above the sea, dry land during the countless ages which formed the great Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous periods. First, ice-covered for ages, during which frozen epoch it underwent that change in surface to which Greenland is now being subjected ; then, possibly, dry land, when all the south and west was deeply covered with the ocean, and the immense Secondary deposits were being elaborated all the way from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, slowly sinking and submerging during part of the Tertiary and post-Tertiary periods to the depth of many thousand feet, slowly rising subsequently fully 3,000 feet above the ocean level, yet preserving still the same old front, though far more worn but much less troubled than in those dim and distant ages at the close of the Laurentian period, when it emerged fresh and new from a Laurentian sea. CHAP. xv. DREARY ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 237 Cartwriglit, in his ' Sixteen Years in Labrador,' speaks of the boulders disclosed when fire has swept off the covering of moss, and his account refers to the north- east coast, 400 miles from the head- waters of the Moisie. ' When a fire happens on a peat soil, at the end of a very dry summer, the whole of it is burnt away to a great depth, and wiU not only produce no timber again, but also is both dangerous and troublesome to walk over ; for great numbers of lame stones and rocks are then left O o exposed on the surface, and the Indian tea, currants, and other plants, which grow between, often prevent their being discovered in time to avoid a 1 >ad fall ; but if the fire happens early in the summer, or when the ground is wet, the soil takes no damage. The burnt woods are also very bad to walk through, until the trees are felled and pretty well gone to decay ; but in how many years that will be I had no opportunity to observe: I know it is not a few, and that it depends on particular circumstances.' In the narrow tongue of forest through which we had passed on our way to this mountain, the only trees seen were small spruce, larch, and birch, with a few Banksian pine. Growing in crevices and hollows of the rock, the Labrador tea-plant was common and caribou moss abun- dant; time-stains, tripe de roche, with other lichens of similar growth, painted the gneiss, and a few other fami- liar dwarfed shrubs and flowers decorated this lonely and dreary wilderness. Of birds we saw only one - - a spruce partridge, tenderly luring us from her nest and young. The country we were surveying was on the borders of the table land of the Labrador Peninsula, through 238 THE LABKADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. which the great river Ashwanipi flows towards the Atlantic. Domenique, Bartelemi, and our Nasquapee guide, all told us that the portage which separated the lake before us from the tributary of the Ashwanipi was short and low. It seemed to be a broad valley between two rounded hills, apparently on the same level as the one on which we stood. We estimated the distance of the lake on this side of the Dividing Eidge at less than fifteen miles from us in an air line, and deeply did we regret that the low stage of water in the river prevented us from reaching it. Had we been a fortnight earlier, it would have been possible to pass with half loads, if our canoe did not draw more than six inches of water. The old Montagnais path over the portages was quite as clearly marked here as on the Great Portage. The re- mains of .their camp grounds until we entered the burnt country were also numerous ; and it is worth observing, that even where the moss on either side had been destroyed by fire on sandy ground, the old well-beaten path was plainly visible. This is one of the winter hunting-grounds of the tribe i_^ t_j of Montagnais of which Domenique is Chief. JSTo doubt before the fire occurred, three years ago, caribou moss was very abundant and the deer sufficiently numerous to sustain a few families. How utterly desolate I thought the whole Ashwanipi valley must be if Domenique pre- ferred living last winter on the shores of the lake before us, with such a wide expanse to the north-east and north to choose from ! He himself killed in this neighbourhood thirty caribou ; and yesterday Michel pointed triumphantly to the last Map of tlie lllllt ING COUNTRY LABRADOR EXPEDITION. oint :lat.50 t A W R E N c jr CHAP. xv. LIFE IN THE DESERT. 239 lake we had crossed, saying, ' Here I killed a caribou last winter.' What a life to lead among these rocks and frozen lakes ! But no doubt when a pure mantle of white covers rocks, blackened trees, lakes, boulders, and burnt land, the aspect of nature changes, and assumes the same outline as in all other undulating regions where snow falls deep and lasts long. Five or six families wintered on the other side of the low Dividing Eidge in the valley of the Ashwanipi. They were Nasquapees ; and Michel told me that his father's tribe and they were accustomed to pay visits, for the purpose of holding a feast, when either party had been successful in killing two or more caribou. Savage life, in such a wilderness as the one I am de- scribing, is sometimes joyous to the Indians themselves if they can kill enough to eat. The excitement of the chase, the pride, delight, and temporary comfort of success, more than compensate for privations to which they are ac- customed, or for the anxieties which they do not trouble themselves about. They kill a caribou, store away a little, make a gluttonous and wasteful feast of the greater part, sing, boast, and sleep, until hunger wakens them, and the cold reality of their desolation is before them again, to be relieved and forgotten in never-changing routine. At no time does an Indian look so well, and, if he is fine-featured, so really handsome, as when just returning from a successful and not too fatiguing hunt in the c_ .- o winter. His step is firm and proud, his eye dilated, clear, and brilliant not bloodshot and contracted, as it usually is from exposure to smoke in his lodge. His cheek is perceptibly tinged with crimson, seen through the dark skin ; his hair is soft and drooping, wet with severe toil 240 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. notwithstanding the intense cold. He enters his o with a loud shout of greeting, throws down his burden, cuts off a slice, hands it to a relative, saying, 'Eat ! Kim and tell so and so to come. I have killed a deer ; w r e will feast.' Michel told me of a great feast his father made last winter, when he had killed a fat bear, how he and one of his cousins were sent on a message of invitation across the Dividing Kidge to the people of his own tribe, bearing also with them a small supply of meat for the squaws and children who could not come such a long- distance a full day's journey on snow-shoes, that when he was close to their lodges, he met two hunters coming to Domenique's camp, bringing part of a caribou and an invitation to a feast, for they had killed four. The whole party returned to the Nasquapee camp, bringing the news, and on the following morning nine in all set out, each with a little present of meat, and arrived late in the evening at Domenique's camp. The feast then began ; the bear was cut into two halves, and one half placed on each side of a large fire in Domenique's lodge. Each Indian had a short stick and a knife. They cut off bits of meat, roasted it for a minute, and ate it, and so continued feasting until the bear was demolished. Some of them, when satisfied, would lie down, and after a short time rise again and renew their meal. The bear was -not com- pletely eaten until daylight on the following morning. They slept during the whole of that day and the following night. On the third morning, Domenique and several other Montagnais went back with the Nasquapees to their camp and had a similar feast of caribou. Michel spoke of this savage enjoyment without much emotion ; CHAP. xv. INDIAN BEAR FEASTS. 241 but poor Louis, who eagerly interpreted his friend's narrative, was painfully affected. To use a common but- expressive phrase, ' his mouth watered ; ' he wished he had been there. It did not often happen to the lazy Louis to be the invited guest to such a feast, and his diet during the winter had been seals, which he said were very good, yet not so good as bear. ' Nothing like bear fat bear very fine.' c On which side of the lake did you hunt last winter ? ' I enquired of Michel, who was surveying the country from the summit of a knoll near Caribou Lake. Louis had to repeat the question thrice before Michel answered, and even then I saw him looking towards the east, moving his hand gently up and down, and apparently following some imaginary object. His face was particularly bright and intelligent, and when he suddenly turned round to Louis and pointed towards the north and north- east, I was very much struck with the peculiar excited expression of his face. 'What's the matter with Michel?' I exclaimed. Louis made due enquiries ; but although Michel spoke rapidly, and pointed in various directions, yet Louis answered not. Arousing him, I said ' What is he saying, Louis ? ' ' Tell you soon ; wait a bit ; ' was the only reply I could elicit. Louis now began to question Michel, and an. animated conversation sprang up between them, in which Michel made many references to the surrounding country, and Louis listened with more than ordinary attention. At last, with his face brighter than I ever observed it before, VOL. I. R 242 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. he told me the reason of Michel's excited manner and the subject of conversation. It appeared that last winter Michel and two of his cousins had been stationed near Caribou Lake by Do- menique to watch for caribou, and prevent them from taking a certain path over precipitous rocks which they were known to frequent, and over which the hunter could not follow them swiftly enough when only a little snow was on the ground. The object of the hunter was to drive the caribou through a favourable pass, which would make the death of some of them a matter of certainty. Michel, when we first saw him on the mound, was mentally reviewing the incidents of that day's hunt, and indicating with the undulatory motion of his hand the direction the caribou had taken. The story which he was telling related to a singular incident which happened to himself. He had been watching for some hours with his companion, when they heard the clatter of hoofs over the rocks. Looking in a direction from which they least expected caribou would come, they saw two caribou pursued by a small band of wolves, making directly for the spot where they were lying. They were not more than 300 yards away, but coming with tremendous bounds, and fast in- creasing the distance between themselves and the wolves, who had evidently surprised them only a short time before. .Neither Michel nor his companion had fire-arms, but each was provided with his bow and arrows. The deer came on ; the Indians lay in the snow ready to shoot. The un- suspecting animals darted past the hunters like the wind, but each received an arrow, and one dropped. Instantly taking a fresh arrow they waited for the wolves. With a CHAP. xv. CHASE OF CARIBOU BY WOLVES. 243 long and steady gallop these ravenous creatures followed their prey, but when they came within ten yards of the Indians, the latter suddenly rose, each discharged an arrow at the amazed brutes, and succeeded in transfixing one with a second arrow before it got out of reach. Leaving the wolves, they hastened after the -caribou. ' There,' said Louis, ' quite close to that steep rock, the caribou which Michel had shot was dead : he had hit it in the eye, and it could not go far. Michel stopped to guard his caribou, as the wolves were about ; one of his cousins went after the deer he had hit, the other went back after the wolves which had been wounded. The wolf-cousin had not gone far back when he heard a loud yelling and howling. He knew what the wolves were at ; they had turned upon their wounded companion, and were quarrelling over the meal. The Indian ran on, and came quite close to the wolves, who made so much noise, and were so greedily devouring the first "he had shot, that he approached quite close to them and shot another, killing it at once. The caribou-cousin had to go a long distance before he got his deer.' Such was the substance of Louis' narration of Michel's story ; and the excited manner and heightened colour of the Nasquapee arose from his killing his caribou over again, in a happy mental renewal of the wild hunt which he and cousins had so triumphantly brought to a close. 'Did you always have plenty to eat during last winter in this part of the country, Michel?' I asked. The bright eye soon resumed its natural lustreless expression as the young JSTasquapee's thoughts reverted to painful scenes of distress, arising from want of necessary food and even absolute, starvation, to which he had been R 2 244 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. an eye-witness, not three months since, in these same dreary wilds. In the spring- of the year, before the geese began to arrive, the caribou left this part of the country, travelling north. Domenique could not follow them, as it was impossible to transport his family across the country when the snow was beginning to go. The ptarmigan, or white partridge, passed away with the deer, and the interval between the disappearance of these animals and the arrival of the geese is always one of suffering to the improvident Indians of this country. ' What did you eat ? ' I said to Michel. He pointed to some patches of tripe de roche which were growing on the rock close to us. ' Is that all ? ' I asked. He advanced a step or two, looked round about him, then said something to Louis. 'He says they made broth of the birch buds.' ' Tripe de roche and broth of birch buds ! anything else? ' 'Nothing.' Ask him whether he ever heard of Indians eating one another ? Louis asked the question, but Michel made no answer. Louis however volunteered the information, that Indians did eat one another when they were starving, naively saying, 'if they did not, all would starve.' There can be no doubt that instances of cannibalism not unfrequently occur among the Nasquapees in the winter season. Even Pere Arnand, the zealous missionary, states that such is the case. 'On a egalement a. declarer quelques cas d'antropophagie, mais dont les souffrances excessives de la faim avaient ete le seul motif determinant, CHAP. xv. INDIAN CANNIBALISM. 245 et encore ce sont la des traits tout-a-fait a part. Car nos Indiens se montrent generalement bons, en toute occasion, les uns envers les autres ; on voit qu'ils airnent a se rencontrer et a se rendre service.'* The advent of the geese is a joyful time to the Montag- nais and Nasquapees, who winter in the far interior of the Labrador Peninsula. When caribou, partridge, and fish fail, there is little left until the geese come. Indeed throughout North America the advent of the geese is o < ~ > honoured or welcomed in many different ways. Even the name of a month or moon is derived from the 'moon when the goose lays her eggs.' The goose- dance is a time-honoured custom among the Crees of the Saskat- chewan ; and similar rejoicings ami ceremonies exist among the heathen Montagnais and Nasquapees. On the coast of Hudson Bay the coming of the geese is watched with the greatest anxiety. When the long and ^dreary winter has fully expended itself, and the willow grouse have taken their departure for more southern regions, there is frequently a period of dread starvation to many of the natives, who are generally at that time moving from their wintering grounds to the trading Posts. The first note, therefore, of the large gray Canada goose is listened to with a rapture known only to those who have endured great privations and gnawing hunger. The melancholy visages brighten, and the tents are filled with hope, to which joy soon succeeds, as the son or brother, returning from a successful hunt, throws down the grateful load.f * Rapport sur les Missions du Diocese de Quebec, 1854. f Recollections of the Swans and Geese of Hudson's Bay, by George Barnston, Esq., of the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company. Read before 246 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. It is computed that not less than 74,000 geese are killed annually by the Indians of Hudson's Bay, and that not less than 1,200,000 geese leave their breeding grounds by the Hudson's Bay line of march for the South, being the probable proportion of the vast army of at least 2,000,000 geese, which with wild clang pass across the continent between the Atlantic and the Eocky Mountains, to seek a winter home in the South.* The mode in which Domenique with his tribe of Mon- tagnais on one side of the Dividing Eidge, and the Nasquapees on the other, passed their winter, may be described in a few words. Having selected their camp ground near the lake, they swept away the snow with little wooden shovels con- structed for the purpose, and pitched their lodges of caribou skin. The inside of the tent was lined with spruce branches, with the exception of a space about five feet square in the centre, where the fire was placed. Spruce branches were also placed round about the tents to the height of three or four feet. This miserable shelter formed their home throughout the intense cold of an almost arctic winter, and it has formed the dwelling places of these Nomadic tribes for centuries. When the weather permitted, the hunters went out to seek for caribou or ptarmigan, and to set and visit their traps, which were arranged in a circuit of many miles. Towards evening they brought home the proceeds of the day's hunt. The squaws set to work to skin the marten or the Montreal Natural History Society. TJie Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, October 1861. * Ibid. CHAP. xv. WINTER LIFE OP THE INDIANS. 247 foxes, and prepare the stretchers. The men lay before the fire after having eaten, and smoked, talked or slept. If they succeeded in killing a caribou, they would have a feast, and eat much more than was absolutely necessary, lying throughout the next day in a half-stupid condition. The women employed themselves in dressing the caribou skins, either for sale at the Hudson's Bay Com- pany's Post in the following spring, or to convert into articles of clothing. They also made snow-shoes, mo- cassins, and decorated their new garments with por- cupine quills. If the weather was bad, so that the men could not visit the traps, they made bows and arrows or fish-hooks, or wiled away the time in smoking and telling stories of their success in hunting, or other incidents of savage life. After having remained for a few weeks in one place, the whole tribe move camp, following the caribou, or going where fresh tracks of those animals had been observed perhaps two or more days' journey distant. The tents are taken down, the baggage and little children placed in sledges made of two thin birch boards, laced together ; all who can walk attach their snow-shoes, and the procession sets out in single file. The young men lead the way, making the road through the snow for the others to follow. When they reach the point of their destination, the whole process of raising the lodges and lining them with spruce boughs has to be repeated, . indeed, every time they move camp, which, when the caribou are wild, occurs frequently during the winter for they must follow the wandering animals, on which they depend to a great extent for subsistence. The lakes do 248 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xv. not teem witli fish like those north-west of Lake Superior and Huron. It is very difficult for the Montagnais or ISTasquapee of the interior to catch fish in winter, both on account of their scarcity, and the severity of the climate, which freezes the lakes to a great depth. In the region between Superior and Winnipeg, the Ojibways plant four or five sticks in the ice, round a hole which they are careful to keep open with their hatchets. A young squaw, on the coldest morning, throws her blanket round her, hurries to the hole in the ice, casts her blanket over the sticks, crouches beneath it, and begins to fish, catching in half an hour a dozen or more pickerel or wall-eyed pike, with which she returns to her lodge. But the Indians of the Labrador Peninsula have no such resource, and if the caribou fail they must look to the ptarmigan (now that the porcupine is gone), .to the accidental proceeds of their traps, or to the tripe de roche the last resource of sharp hunger. Otelne, a Nasquapee from Ashwanipi, told me at Seven Islands that even ' he remembered the time when starvation was rare among his people ; but the caribou and porcupine were numerous then.' Such is the precarious winter-life of these savages, and truly the aspect of the country which they delight to call their home is sufficient to cool the ardour of the warmest admirer of a life in Labrador wilds. After we had returned from our excursion, and held some conversation with Michel, we became convinced that it was wholly useless attempting to proceed any further on foot, and it would be impossible for us, with our small supply of provisions, to go round the shores of the lakes, and through the swamps which' separated them CHAP. xv. RETURN TO THE CAMP. 249 for many miles. Had there been any hope of procuring caribou, rabbits, ducks, porcupine, or even a sufficient supply of fish, we should not have hesitated ; but to attempt to penetrate into such a country wholly dependent upon the provisions which we could carry on our backs, was out of the question. Even if I had been sufficiently selfish to insist on the men subjecting them- selves to the mere fatigue of journeying over barren rocks, surrounded by treacherous moss-covered boulders and succeeded by deep swamps, it is not improbable that the mosquitoes and black flies would soon have settled the question. The only way in which we could advance was by dragging the canoes through the river, whose bed was so much obstructed by large stones and boulders, that we might endanger the safety of our frail craft, already, with one exception, much shattered. To lose our canoes would be almost equivalent to losing the lives of the whole party, for it would have been almost impossible for some of us in summer time to have reached the coast on foot. In winter most of the difficulties of such a journey disappear, for the road then lies over frozen lakes. Caribou are more plentiful, and far more easily tracked and taken ; there are no tormenting flies, and rapid progress can be made. Soon after returning to camp, I made up my mind that it would be as well to prepare to descend without delay, and therefore I arrested the operations of the men, opened the cache which had been made, and, after a few hours' rest, we commenced our return. 250 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. CHAPTEE XVI. 'THE DAEK DAYS OF CANADA.' Traditional Accounts of Conflagrations in Labrador Dark Days of 1785 Chief Justice Sewell's Account of the Dark Days of 1814 Ashes, Smoke, and 'thick Weather' Traditional Account of Volcanoes in Labrador Henri Nouvel's Account of the Earthquake in 1663 Lieutenant IngaU's Statement Captain Baddeley's State- ment M. Gagnon's Account of an Eruption in 1785 in the rear of St. Paul's Bay List of Earthquakes in Canada from 1663- 1861 The Fire-Mountain of the Nasquapees Probability of 'the Dark Days ' having been occasioned by Fires in the Interior burning the Lichens and Mosses Mr. Davis' Account Interest of the Subj ect. ACCOUNTS of extensive conflagrations in the interior of the Labrador Peninsula are traditional among the Indians, but it is very difficult to form any true concep- tion of the area over which trees and moss were destroyed by fire, from the very imaginative forms of expression fre- quently adopted by these people, as well as from the difficulty of meeting with those who are personally familiar with the whole of the country overrun. It is very evident, from the description given to me by Otelne and Arkaske, Nasquapees at Seven Islands, by Domenique, who had often hunted in Ashwanipi and below that great lake, by Bartelemi and by Michel, both of whom had hunted near Petichikapau, that a vast portion of the table land of the Labrador Peninsula is a burnt country. Fire has CHAP. xvi. THE DARK DAYS OF CANADA. 251 destroyed the stunted trees, the thick lichens, and luxuriant mosses, and driven the main body of the caribou to the north-eastern and northern part of the country. The occurrence of a great conflagration is an interesting question in the history of so wild a region as eastern Canada and Labrador; for, with the destruction of the means of subsistence, the nomadic Indian races must dis- appear. Annual fires in the great prairies of the valley of the Saskatchewan have driven the woods back some eighty miles from their former limit, and the same de- structive agent has extended the prairie land east of the Eed Eiver on the north towards the Lake of the Woods. It is not improbable that those singular phenomena, which produced what have been called ' The Dark Days of Canada,' may have been occasioned by the burning of a vast area of moss and forest in the Labrador Peninsula, and have originated much of its present mournful aspect. In the year 1785, several so called ' dark days ' occurred in Canada, and excited much apprehension among the ignorant and speculation among the learned. Lower Canada only was peopled by civilised man at that time, so that we have no account of the occurrence of the ' Dark Days ' in the upper province. It is recorded in the ' Quebec Gazette ' of October 20, 1785, that on Sunday, October 16, 1785, it was so dark soon after ten in the morning that printing from ordinary type could not be read. The phenomena are described with some degree of minuteness by Chief Justice Sewell. ' On October 9, 1785, a short period of obscurity 252 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. occurred at Quebec about four in the afternoon, and during its continuance the sky in the north-east quarter of the heavens exhibited a luminous appearance upon the line of the horizon of a yellow tinge. On the 15th there was a repetition of the same phenomena at a little earlier hour, with violent gusts of wind, lightning, thunder, and rain accompanied, as on the 9th. The morning of October 16 was perfectly calm, and there was a thick fog. Towards nine o'clock a light air from the north-east sprang up, which increased rapidly. The fog by ten o'clock was entirely dissipated ; black clouds were then seen rapidly advancing from the north-east, and in half an hour print could not be read. The darkness lasted for about ten minutes. At twelve a second period of obscurity took place ; then a third, and a fourth, and fifth, at intervals : at half-past four it was dark as midnight.' Four distinct accounts of similar phenomena are recorded by Chief Justice Sewell* as occurring on July 3, 1814. One from the pen of an officer of the Eoyal Engineers, supposed to be Captain Payne, taken from Tulloch's ' Philosophical Magazine,' describes the appear- ances at the Bay of Seven Islands above Anticosti on July 2nd and 3rd. A second describes what occurred on the 2nd at Cape Chat, from observations made by some officers, who were on board the transport Sir William Heathcott, which lay the whole of the day at anchor in the Eiver St. Lawrence at that point. The third contains some additional observations respecting the appearances on * A Few Notes on the Dark Days of Canada. By the Honourahle Chief Justice Sewell ; President of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. CHAP. xvi. THE DARK DAYS OF CANADA. 253 July 2, made on the same day in another ship, which also lay off Cape Chat. And the *last relates to the phenomena which were observed by the Chief Justice himself upon the banks of Newfoundland. ' On July 3rd, twenty miles from the Bay of Seven Islands, the clouds appeared to be coming rapidly from the northward ; the atmosphere was thick and hazy, and at night the darkness excessive. About 9 P.M. a sort of dust or ashes commenced falling, and continued during the night ; towards the morning the whole atmosphere appeared red and fiery to a wonderful degree, and the moon, then at the full, not visible ; the appearance through the cabin windows and crystal lights singular in the ex- treme, as if surrounded by a mass of fire ; the sea sparkling much, and in a manner not usual in these lati- tudes.' On the following day the sea was found to be covered with ashes, the wind having died away to a dead calm early in the morning. A bucket of water taken up looked as black as writing ink ; the ashes ' appeared as if those of burnt wood' On July 4th, the ashes were still observed to be falling in small quantity. ' The ashes collected on deck appeared to be those of burnt wood, but darker and more heavy than the ashes of a tobacco pipe.' The narrative of the officers who were on board the transport Sir William Heathcott states that on July 2nd, 1814, there was a heavy fall of ashes and sand. The wind blew gently from the north shore of the St. Lawrence. The third account states that on July 2nd, when off Cape Chat, for three days previously some ashes and smoke had been observed, but on the second no appearance of 254 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvr. burnt wood was seen ; but at 2.30 P.M. of that day the sun was obscured, and a total darkness set in, which con- tinued until about sunset. The Chief Justice's own observations were as follows : ' July 1814 Sunday. A most extraordinary day. In the morning dark thick weather, and fog of a deep yellow colour, which increased in density and colour until 4 o'clock P.M., at which hour the cabin was entirely dark, and we dined by candle-light; the binnacle also was lighted shortly after.' The relative positions of the different observers at the time when the phenomena described in the preceding paragraph occurred, shows that the northerly wind which blew on July 2nd carried clouds of ashes, sand, smoke, and vapour across the Eiver St. Lawrence, in a line from the Bay of Seven Islands, to Cape Chat, and then by the westerly wind which set in on the night of July 2nd across the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Island of New- foundland to the great banks, and on July 3rd enveloped the vessel in which the Chief Justice was sailing in the same obscurity with which the other ships off the Canada coast were shrouded on the preceding day. Chief Justice Sewell attributes these phenomena to volcanic action rather than to an extensive conflagration. He says : ' As to the conflagration of a forest. The facts of which we are in possession, do not appear to warrant a belief that such can be the cause. It seems impos- sible to suppose that the conflagration of a forest could have produced a mass of smoke so dense and so extensive as to overspread, as it did in October 1785, the surface of a territory exceeding certainly 300 miles in length, and CHAP. xvi. THEIR ALLEGED CAUSES. 255 probably 200 miles in breadth, and producing at its utmost longitudinal extremity, and at mid-day, the obscurity of the darkest night. And as the whole of the cause of this obscurity proceeded, apparently, from the Labrador country, where forest trees are few in number, stunted in size, and spread in isolated patches over a general surface of rock, it is the more improbable.' . The Chief Justice inclines to the view, that the pheno- mena of the ' Dark Days of Canada' are to be attributed to an active volcano in the Labrador Peninsula, and he draws attention to the coincidence in the facts stated in the narratives of the different observers quoted, and those which are mentioned by Charlevoix in his description of the earthquake in 16G3 : 'A Tadousac 1 ,' says Charlevoix, ' il pleut de la cendre pendant six heures' torn. i. p. 367 ; also on page 336, he adds, ' Une poussiere qui s'eleva flit prise pour une fumee, et fit craindre mi embrasement universe!. ' Tadousac was situated at the mouth of the Saugenay Eiver. The Chief Justice also states that amon; the o Indian tribes on the north shore of the St. Lawrence a traditional belief of the existence of a volcano in the Labrador country is said to prevail. In the journal of a voyage in the country of the Papinachois, a Montagnais tribe on Lake Manicouagan in 1664, Henry Nouvel, a Jesuit missionary, states that on May llth he arrived at a river which the Indians called Kouakoueou, and saw the effects of the earthquake on the rivers, the water which flowed in them being quite yellow, and preserving this colour until they mingled with the St. Lawrence. The same effect was noticed on the 256 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. Bersamits Eiver, and the Indians dare not venture on them in their canoes. He also relates that the earthquake had such a powerful effect upon an Indian conjuror named Ouiskoupi, that he renounced his craft and gave up his medicines to the missionary, who burnt them.* Lieutenant Ingall, who explored the country between the St. Maurice and the Saugenay in 1828, states that the opinion very generally prevails, borne out by tradition, that an active volcano is somewhere in existence among the mountains south-east of the Saugenay, but, he adds, it wants the confirmation of ocular proof, for not one of the Indians who traverse those regions in search of game have ever seen the slightest appearance of fire issuing from the earth, nor did Lieutenant Ingall hear of any scorias or vitrified rock having been discovered in the country, f Without doubt the coast between Cape Tour- mente and Malbay is frequently troubled with shocks of earthquakes, but whether these shocks are occasioned by the working of some neighbouring volcano is a matter of mere speculation. Nor does the appearance of the land bear evidence of there having ever existed a volcano to the south of the Eiver Saugenay, as from the well-known fertility of decomposed lava we should find a very different soil from that hitherto discovered. If a volcano is at the present period in a state of active operation, I should be much more inclined to suppose it * Relation des Jesuits. f Remarks on the country lying between the Rivers St. Maurice and Saugenay, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. By Lieutenant Ingall, 15th Regiment. Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Quebec, 1830. Vol. ii. CHAP. xvi. SUPPOSED VOLCANIC ACTION". 257 seated among the unexplored mountains of the talkie- land of Labrador, to the north-east of the Saugenay or the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In October 1785 the obscurity extended so as to com- prehend on one side Fredericton, New Brunswick, and on the other Montreal. A ship, the Adamant, was on the morning of October 16th off the end of the island of Anticosti. There it was then clear weather ; but towards the west the ship's company saw a heavy black cloud, and by twelve on the same day had sailed into it, and very shortly afterwards found themselves in darkness. In 1828 Captain F. H. Baddely, E.E., was engaged by the Canadian government in exploring the Saugenay country, and in his Eeport, which was published at the time, he states that Malbay or Murray Bay, on the St. Lawrence, 90 miles below Quebec, has long been remark- able for the frequency of earthquakes. Shocks are most frequent in January or February : they occur about nine or ten times a year. 'It is not,' says Captain Baddely, ' perhaps generally known that there exists highly respectable evidence of a volcanic eruption having happened somewhere in the rear of St. Paul's Bay, not far from Murray Bay. No one, we think, will feel disposed to doubt the fact after perusing the following account of it ; with which, through the politeness of Messrs. Gagnon and Chaperon, we have been furnished. It is the former gentleman who writes :. ' In the place of a journal, which happens to be lost, be kind enough to receive the following :-^ ' Tuesday, December 6/7i, 1791. At St. Paul's Bay, and at other neighbouring places, at about a quarter after VOL. i. s 258 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. seven, a severe earthquake was felt; the whole night was disturbed by small ones repeated at intervals, and by a sudden shaking running towards the east. The shocks were felt for forty- one days, from two (shocks) to five a day. On Monday, December 5th, the shocks were fully one-third weaker than those of the 3rd ; the others were only small ones, or rumbling noises, the weather being always gloomy. Before the night of the 26th, 27th, I had not yet remarked any eruption or thick smoke, at tunes curling into a flame. The temperature at a quarter after seven in the evening was 11 above zero by the thermometer of Eeaumur (plus 56 '7 of Fahrenheit) ; the next morning the heat had risen to 21 (plus 79^ of Fahrenheit). Two mountains near my dwelling at some 40 north-west have a valley between them, so that you may see beyond them. It is by this valley or passage that I saw a continual eruption, mixed with smoke and flame, which appeared very plain on the horizon, at other times struggling among themselves, as if too oppressed in their issue. I have remarked several times that this eruption is always followed by shocks of earthquakes the same day, and when it fails a dark and yellowish day follows. When the earthquake arises, you can predict that it is going to be so much the nearer as this agitated smoke struggles to get out. Some persons to whom I had shown these preparations of the earthquake, warned me in their turn that in a moment the earth would shake. And the effect confirms it. Finally, on this night of the 26th, 27th, a most beautiful spectacle was produced. The whole atmosphere was in flames and agitated, one's face suffered from the heat, the weather was very calm, CHAP. xvi. ACCOUNT OF EARTHQUAKES. 259 the eruption continued the whole night with flames. The certain approach of the earthquake is known when, by the passage between the mountains, you see a cloud, or smoke, quiet or agitated, and on the left and right the horizon is perfectly clear. 'A fall of ashes covering the snow in 1791 was also within the recollection of many of the inhabitants of St. Paul's Bay.' '.-.'.[' The following list of earthquakes which have occurred in Canada is from the Catalogue prepared by Mr. Mallet for the British Association.* Tear Month Remarks 1663 February 5 . . Very violent, 1665 24 . . Tadousac and Murray Bay, violent. October 15 . . Violent. 1672 March, and April f 1732 September 5 1744 May 16 . . Quebec. 1755 October . . Unusual rise and fall of the water of Lake Ontario. { * Quoted in Notes on the Earthquake of October 1860. By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.G.S. t This earthquake was observed by Pere Francois de Crepieul, in the country north of Tadousac, and is recorded by him in a letter dated June 2, 1672. The Pere says that it was the continuation of the terrible earthquake of 1662, ' which has not since ceased in this quarter of the north, although it is felt but little and at intervals.'- Relation de la NouvcUe France en VAnnec 1672. f The greatest fluctuations in the Canadian Lakes, during ten years' observations, are found to be in Lake Ontario, where between the low water of 1857 and the high water of 1858 there was a range of 4-5 feet. The observations of Professor Dewey, of Rochester, extending as far back as 1846, show this to be the maximum range during the whole period. Colonel "Whittlesey states the extreme range of Lake Erie, as observed, to be 5-25 feet, and Mr. Lapliam's observations at Milwaukee give for the extreme range of Lake Michigan 5 - 5 feet. The survey of these great lakes, conducted by Captain G. G. Meade, United States Topographical Engineer, has produced the following results: s 2 260 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. XVI. Tear Month 1791 December 1796 February 1816 September 9 , 16 , 1818 October 11 . 1819 August 15 November 10 1821 February 1823 May 30 1828 August 20 1831 July 14 1833 1840 1841 1842 1844 1847 March and April September 10 Spring November 8 and 9 Remarks Severe shocks at St. Paul's Bay. A violent shock. A severe shock at Montreal. A second shock, less violent. Felt near Quebec. At St. Andrew's. At Montreal, slight, followed by an awful storm, with rain impregnated with matter like soot. At Quebec, a slight shock. On shore of Lake Erie. At Murray Bay, Beauport, &c. Walls and chimneys thrown down at the former place. Severe shocks at Murray Bay. At Hamilton. Said to have been felt at Quebec. Montreal, Three Rivers, &c. Montreal. 'First. That the lakes are sensibly and rapidly affected by winds and storms, depressing the water on the side from which the wind blows, and raising it on the opposite side. (In November 18-59 the ranges due to winds in Lake Erie amounted to 5-59 feet at Monroe, and to 6-20 feet at Buffalo.) ' Second. That independently of the wind fluctuations, the lakes are subjected to changes of level, due to the relative proportions of their supply and discharges the supply arising from rains and drainage of the water- sheds the discharges arising from evaporation and the flow through their outlets. 1 Thirdly. That, as a general rule, these last fluctuations occur annually, there being a high and low stage every year the former in summer, the latter in winter and that within small limits of time these annual changes are very nearly simultaneous. ' Fourthly. That these annual fluctuations, both the high and the low stages, vary in degree from year to year, they being the effects of variable causes, and that the extreme ranges, as yet reported between the highest and lowest waters, has amounted to 5 - 5 feet in other words, the above phenomena are those of a great river flowing through extensive reservoirs, which receive and absorb the freshets, and thus modify, both in degree and time of occurrence, the ordinary fluctuations.' CHAP. xvr. CANADIAN EARTHQUAKES. 261 Year Month Remarks 1856 May 1 . .At Ottawa and its vicinity. 1857 October . . In the Upper Province. 1858 January 15 . .At Niagara. May 10 . .At Richmond, slight. 1859 . .At Metis (Lower St. Lawrence). 1860 October 17 . . Very violent at the River Ouelle, and other places in the Lower St. Law- rence ; chirnnevs were thrown down, and walls damaged. 1861 July 12 . . Violent at Ottawa, throwing down chimneys. The number of earthquakes which have visited Canada since its discovery by Europeans has been at least twenty- nine,* but it is highly probable that this enumeration falls far short of the actual occurrences of this phenomenon. Eespecting the fire mountain of the Nasquapees north of Lake Manicouagan, about 200 miles from the coast, too little is known to assert positively that it is an active volcano. The name is suggestive, although it is probable that, from the long intercourse between many families of this people and the fur traders, such a remarkable feature of the country would have been known to them. Lake Manicouagan was visited by a Jesuit missionary in 1664, but although he mentions the earthquakes, he does not allude to the fire mountain. Assuming that there existed in the great peninsula of Labrador no other combustible material besides the stunted trees, there would be good ground for attributing the 'Dark Days of Canada' to some other agency than that of burning vegetable matter ; but when we reflect that the country is almost everywhere covered with a thick coat of lichens and mosses where these have not been * Notes on the Earthquake of October I860. 262 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. burnt, and that they are even better adapted, when dry, to burn with extraordinary rapidity and afford during their combustion a greater cloud of smoke than forest trees, it will be apparent that the precise element for producing the phenomena of smoke and ashes existed in the Labrador Peninsula to a remarkable degree. Dry caribou moss burns with wonderful rapidity, as we found to our cost ; it also emits dense volumes of smoke, and leaves behind a great quantity of ash and charcoal. There is no reason to suppose that the table-land of the Labrador Peninsula was covered with forest centuries ago, for the missionary before mentioned, Henri JSTouvel, states that an Oumaniiois chief told him that in the country north of Lake Manicouagan the trees were very small, and there was no birch bark to make canoes. The whole of the burnt country through which we passed is still covered with charcoal and ashes, where sand forms the substratum: from the rocks they have been washed away by rains, but on the sandy flats they form still a black cake. The occurrence of sulphur in the ashes, as described by the writer in the ' Quebec Gazette' of Oct. 27, 1785, is problematical. After having witnessed the combustion of caribou moss on a large scale, and the appearance of the burnt country on the borders of the great table-land of La- brador, I am inclined to the opinion that the 'Dark Days of Canada ' were the result of a vast conflagration in the interior of the Labrador Peninsula, and that the materials which assisted most in feeding the fires were the lichens and mosses which grow in such rich and extraordinary luxuriance and beauty in that desolate CHAP. xvi. POSSIBILITY OF VOLCANIC ACTION. 263 country. The astonishing speed with which fire runs through the moss is well described by Mr. Davies, quoted in Chapter XIII., and there is no valid reason why a fire should not stretch from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in a few days, as far as the com- bustible nature of the fuel is concerned; but its pro- gress is arrested by the presence of lakes, many and broad, and the swamps by which many of them are terminated. A broad sheet of flame stretching for many miles across is at once divided by a lake, and as these lakes often occur one after another for many miles, the fires are broken and become local in their effects, except in certain cases when the direction of the wind changes in such a manner as to distribute them more widely. A fire in the Labrador Peninsula, where the trees are few and far between, very much resembles a fire in the prairies ; but owing to the extraordinary dryness of the caribou moss it spreads with much greater rapidity. It would be im- possible to escape from an approaching sheet of flame in Labrador by speed. The only plan is to scrape the moss from a few square yards, which is done with the utmost ease, as it adheres to the rock or soil very loosely, and then to he down upon the bare earth. The smoke arising from a fire made from this material is very penetrating, as I experienced when our canoes were in danger on one of the portages. The air is filled with fine dust arising from the ashes ; and on sandy plains, where the lichens and mosses are deep, and other varieties besides the caribou lichens exist in abundance, the charcoal that remains behind covers the soil with a uniform mantle of black. If a volcanic eruption had taken place since the 264 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvi. time when Canada was discovered, it is probable that the early missionaries, the Courriers des Bois, the fur traders, or the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, would have recorded the phenomenon or learnt the fact from Indians. Still it must be acknowledged that the term ' fire moun- tains,' taken in connection with the earthquakes which have visited the region of the Lower St. Lawrence from time to time, and the testimony of Monsieur Gagnon, is quite sufficient to turn attention to the probability of such an occurrence having taken place in recent times and the possibility of its renewal. 265 CHAPTEE XVII. THE KETUKN. The Fishing Spoon Dimensions of Esquimaux Fishing Spoons A French Half-Breed Description of a Trout Trout caught with a Spoon in Lake Superior In Lake Huron Large Trout of Lake Huron Ice in July Descending Rapids Ke-way-den -Ke-way-den going down a Rapid -- Ke-way-den and the Compass Nasquapee Letter and Map Nasquapee Post-Office Lonely Lake Muskeg Lake Vegetation in full Leaf at Trout Lake Tradition of a Battle near Trout Lake Paul le Jeune in 1632, and the Montagnais The Death of an Iroquois The Incursions of the Iroquois into the Labrador Peninsula The Mistassimi Indians Names of Places and Rivers derived from Historical Incidents The Falls of She-wa-na-he-gan The Kou-kou Cache The Tete de Boule Indians Majeshk Indian Graves Beauty of the Scenery near Trout Lake A Lizard The Sawbill Duck again The Game of Bones Tea Effects of Ice-cold Water Ginger as usual A Ludicrous Accident Louis Taboguayiug Louis's Loss Canada Balsam Beauty of the Moisie Salmon Gambling common among the Ojibways and Crees The ' Dawn of the Day ' ' Stony ' Ke-way- den again ; his Gambling Propensities Indian Repugnance to mention Names Paul le Jeune's Account of this Repugnance in 1633 Indian Customs at the naming of a Child Super- stitions respecting Names An Accident The Descent of the Rapids of the Moisie The Third Rapid Seals A Narrow Escape at the Fourth Rapid The Steep Rock Portage The Fishing Station. LATE hi the afternoon of July 2nd, we put the canoes in the water and turned their bows down stream. Our progress was very rapid from the swiftness of the current, but the large canoe was several times in 266 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvii. considerable danger, the water in the river having fallen so much as barely to aiiniit her passage, although she did not draw more than six or seven inches. When we came to a shallow place the men jumped out and lifted the canoe over the pebbles, so that the bark, already in a very shattered condition, might not touch a stone. We arrived at sunset at the lake where the Nasquapees, whose recent camps we saw a few days before, had caught some large fish, the bones of the head and vertebras being strewed round the camp fire. Under the direction of Michel we set a gill net, some sixty yards in length, and while it was light I trolled with a spoon, but without success. Although the spoon is unknown to the Indians of this country, yet it appears to be in common use among the Esquimaux, for when we reached Mingan a few weeks later, Mr. Anderson, C. F., showed me two Esquimaux spoons made of bone, with a hook of iron attached, which he had obtained from the Esquimaux at the mouth of Anderson's Eiver, between the Mackenzie and the Copper- mine. These spoons were very ingeniously contrived, and the line is adjusted first through two holes at the end of the spoon, afterwards passing to one in the side, so as to give it, to a certain extent, a revolving motion when drawn quickly through the water, similar to that produced by a swivel. The following are the dimensions of those in Mr. Anderson's possession : Length of spoon and hook . . . . 4j inches Length of bone spoon ..... 2 T 4 o Hook of copper or iron nearly two-tenths of an inch thick, without barb. CHAP. xvir. ESQUIMAUX BONE SPOONS. 2G7 The spoon is in common use in Lake Superior, and many of the largest lake trout are caught by it. The size to which this fish grows in that inland sea is remark- able. Mr. Mackenzie, the officer in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company Post at Fort William, took a trout in a net at the close of the fishing season in 1858, which weighed eighty pounds. A French half-breed caught one of nearly the same dimensions, and when asked to describe it, naively said, ' You see that little woman there ? well, she is my wife. She gave me a little son last November ; I caught my trout in October. I measured my wife when I caught the trout; the trout was just two span bigger than my little woman you understand.' A correct idea of the vast number of fish which are taken annually in Lake Superior by the spoon may be derived from the perusal of the following paragraph from the Eeport of the Fishery Overseer for the district of Lakes Huron and Superior for 1859 :- ' On Lake Superior, in September 1858, John Finlayson, a subordinate officer of the Fort William Post, with a common spoon hook and line, caught, in two hours and a half (paddling), over four miles of coast, between Pigeon Eiver and Big Trout Bay, seventy-four trout, averaging five pounds each. He told me that he was tired of pulling them in, or could have filled his canoe two or three times. On September 27, 1859, on the shoals between Horse and Yeo Islands, Joseph Trudeaux with a common spoon hook and a railroad spike for a sinker, caught (sailing) 152 trout in six hours. I saw the fish next morning ; they averaged eight pounds each, 268 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvii. and some of them weighed sixteen pounds. At the same time, and on tlje same shoals, greatly to the annoyance of the lessees, four boats of Indians and half-breeds were similarly occupied, tacking about the shoals, with two trolling lines attached to each boat. I was told that in 1858, on the same shoals, an Equimico Indian in one day caught 250 trout of about the same weight. ' In October 1859, E. Boucher, of Vail's Point, in two hours caught, with trolling tackle, fifty-eight trout. On the 27th of the same month, round and amongst the islands at the entrance of the Georgian Bay, Indians and half-breeds were catching, with the trolling hue, two or three barrels of trout per day. During the night of July 3rd, ice formed on the canoes ; the morning was bitterly cold until the sun rose. We ah 1 hoped that the frost had killed the mosquitoes, but this hope was vain : they soon appeared again in millions, and allowed us no rest. During the day we descended many rapids, up which we had toiled wearily or portaged round, but in one instance the large canoe was nearly swamped, and had it not been for the presence of mind of the men she would have been lost. Wholly regardless of themselves they sprang into the water, and the lightened canoe bounded over the rock against which she had struck. Two of the men held on to her sides as she cleared it ; but one unfortunate fellow was too late, and he was left standing & in the middle of the stream, just able to keep himself from being swept down by the force of the current. The depth was so small that he might easily have escaped with a ducking, but the force of the current was such that he would have been swept against some of the CHAP. xvn. PASSAGE OF RAPIDS. 269 boulders in its bed and probably received severe bruises. With difficulty a paddle was thrown to him, which he dexterously caught, and with its assistance he succeeded in stemming the torrent and reaching the shore. Descending rapids is certainly one of the most delight- ful features of canoe travelling. With skillful canoe men there is little or no danger, if the water is sufficiently deep, but many sad accidents have happened from want of proper caution or skill. Indians generally delight in running rapids, and, being accustomed from their youth upwards to use the paddle, they thoroughly understand its power, as well as the force of the water against which they have to contend. Ke-way-den (North wind), an Ojibway, was one of the most daring Indians in the descent of a rapid I have ever met with. The Seven Portages on the magnificent Winnipeg are very formi- dable, almost cataracts, and can only be descended by well-manned canoes, thirty to thirty-six feet long. When shooting these rapids with some of the Canadian exploring party in 1857, Ke-way-den would stand in the bow of the canoe just as the frail craft was about to make the plunge, and, whirling his paddle round his head, he would utter a wild scream of excitement, turn round, and look at the men in the canoe, who were as intent and earnest as if they were paddling for their lives. As the bow of the canoe dipped, Ke-way-den would resume his proper position and glance back with a smile, as much as to say, ' There 's fun for you.' But poor Ke-way-den, bold as he was at the head of a rapid or battling with its heaving and surging billows, shrank with superstitious awe from a little harmless compass. 270 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvii. He was employed by the Expedition in 1858, and during a passage across a broad bay of Lake Winnipeg, a dense fog came on, so that the Indian in the stern did not know which way to steer. Ke-way-den, who was bowsman, insisted on one direction ; the steersman was equally positive that the point they wished to reach lay in a different course. In order to settle the dispute a compass and map were referred to, and the steersman instructed to guide the canoe accordingly. Ke-way-den grumbled, and said if they went on they would be far out of then- course, but in half an hour the desired point was reached. Ke-way-den was astonished, and ever afterwards, when disputing on any subject, and rudely maintaining his own opinion a sad failing with him - it was only necessary to draw the compass out of its case and look at it, holding it before him ; when Ke- way-den would instantly relapse into silence and quietly yield to his antagonist. On Lake Tash-ner-nus-kow we found a ' letter ' stuck in a cleftpole overhanging the bank. It was written on birch bark, and consisted of a small map of the country, with arrows showing the direction the writer had taken, some crosses indicating where he had camped, and a large cross to show where he intended to make his first winter quarters. It was probably written by some Nasquapees as a guide to others who might be passing up the river or hunting in the country. Near the letter was a small birch-bark roll containing a little tobacco. These articles were found in the neighbourhood of an old camp ground which had evidently long been frequented by Indians. The men took their dinner here, and were CHAP. xvn. MUSKAIG AND LONELY LAKES. 271 sketched during their repast with their handkerchiefs and mosquito nets about their faces. The water of the lake had already fallen a foot since we passed through it before. On our return through the small lakes between Nipisis and Trout Lake, we fished with great success, catching as many trout as we wanted for our noon-day and evening meal. We also had an opportunity of securing a sketch of Muskaig and Lonely Lakes, which the interference of the mosquitoes prevented during our upward journey. Lonely Lake is very picturesque, and full of trout. On the 5th we reached Trout Lake, and found a great change in the vegetation as well as in the little river through which we had passed the canoes. The Labrador tea plant was in full bloom and scented the evening air ; the water lilies were beginning to show their leaves on the surface, and every kind of tree, with the exception of the larch, was in full leaf. There is a tradition respecting a battle which was once fought near Trout Lake between the Montagnais and a people from the west. But neither Domenique nor Bar- telmi nor Otelne could give any information respecting the name and country of the people. They were probably the Iroquois, whose excursions extended far to the east of their own hunting grounds. The wars between the Montagnais and the Iroquois are of very ancient date. Paul le Jeune * relates that when * Paul le Jeune may be regarded as the father of the Jesuit missions in Canada, although he arrived so late as 1632, after the restoration of Quebec to France. He soon made himself familiar with the Montagnais language, iu which he wrote a catechism for the Indians. In 1649 he was recalled to France and made Procureur des Missions Etrangeres. 272 THE LABEADOE PENINSULA. CHAP, xvn, he arrived in Quebec in 1632, or 230 years ago, he found several Iroquois prisoners in the hands of the Montagnais, and that, while he remained there, they inflicted on the Iroquois the most dreadful tortures before putting them to death. He describes one Iroquois chief as singing while at the stake, and when he finally sank beneath the awful cruelties to which he was subjected, the Montagnais tore out his heart, cut it into little pieces, and gave it to their children.* At this period the Montagnais lived in daily dread of a surprise by the Iroquois. In 1665 the Iroquois penetrated into the country of the Mistassmni Indians, whose hunting grounds interlocked with those of the Montagnais. The Iroquois, one hundred in number, divided into three parties, one going towards Mistassinni Lake, another into the Montagnais country, where they came upon a fortified camp on Lake Pia- gouagami. The Iroquois killed several of the unfortu- nate Montagnais and took some prisoners ; but as they were retracing their steps, the Montagnais, having gathered their friends, came up with them. A battle ensued, in which the Iroquois were routed, but not before they had tortured and killed some of their prisoners. f In 1672 le Pere Albanel passed through Lake Mistassinni, which he describes as so large as to require twenty days of fine weather in order to voyage round it in a canoe. He states that, eight or ten years before he arrived there, the Mistassinni Indians were numerous, but, on account of the invasion of the Iroquois, they had deserted the shores of * Relation de la Nouvelle France, en 1'Annee 1632 ; Relation des Jesuits. t Relation des Jesuits, .1665. CHAP. xvu. WARS OF THE MONTAGNAIS AND IROQUOIS. 273 that magnificent lake, which abounds in game of all kinds common to the country. He found a large fort, constructed of trees by the Iroquois, "guarding all approaches to the lakes, and from which these warlike Indians made excursions against the Mistassinni and Montagnais. No aboriginal nation appears to have made such extensive conquests as the Iroquois. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the head of Lake Superior they pushed their victorious marches, always leaving behind them terrible memorials of their success and cruelty. In eastern Canada, the names of many falls and rapids on some of the larger rivers are derived from the treacherous murders committed by that ferocious and conquering race. On the St. Maurice, at the magnificent cataract of She-we-na-he-gan, 150 feet in perpendicular descent and about twenty-five miles from the present town of Three Elvers, a terrible slaughter of the Algonkin tribes took place about 180 years ago. These Indians were accustomed to visit the St. Lawrence during the summer months, and on their journey down the St. Maurice they had to make a portage round the She-we-na-he-gan or 4 eye of the needle.' The Iroquois, whose object at that time appears to have been the total destruction of races to the north and east of the great lakes, selected the portage round these fells as their place of ambush. A large number of Algonkin canoes descended the river together, and the camp was made at the head of the falls. During night time the Iroquois came with deadly stealth upon the sleeping Algonkins, and did not permit one to escape. They then made their way up one of the tributaries of the St. Maurice, called the Vermilion Eiver, and stationed VOL. i. T 274 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvn. an Iroquois in a tree to watch for the canoes which one of their prisoners had told them would arrive in a day or two. The Iroquois was to imitate the cry of the owl when he saw the canoes ; the others lay in ambush ready to kill and destroy as soon as the unsuspecting Algonkins came within reach of their unerring arrows. The note of the Kou-kou was sounded, but it excited no surprise among the Algonkins ; in a few minutes they were all within range, and mercilessly destroyed. The remnant of the Algonkins tribe at the present clay always approach the Kou-kou cache or owl-ambush with the same feelings as an Ojibway of Lake Huron visits the scenes of former surprises by the Mohawks. The falls of She-we-na-he-gan are also memorable in Indian traditions on account of the death of a party of Hurons, under circumstances very characteristic of the Indian race in former times. After the dispersion of the first-named people in 1648, a large number established themselves north-east of the St. Maurice, that river being fixed as the boundary between them and the Algonkins. A party of Hurons had been hunting on the banks of the river, and were returning with loaded canoes down stream. They were at that time at war with their neigh- bours the Algonkins. On approaching the head of the She-we-na-he-gan they heard a signal, and, looking up, they saw a party of their enemies half hidden in the foliage of the surrounding trees. The Hurons had advanced too far to recede : it was impossible to paddle back against the stream, and to land at the head of the falls was to throw themselves into the hands of their enemies, and submit to the unsparing scalping-knife. The Huron chief, glancing CHAP. xvu. THE HUROXS AND ALGONKINS. 275 at his enemies, gave a war-whoop of defiance, and steered his canoe to the edge of the falls. In this resolute action he was followed by his people, and the whole party were precipitated down the dreadful abyss and for ever lost to view.* The upper part of the valley of this river is now occupied by the Tete de Boule Indians, also speaking a dialect of the Algonkin tongue, and once a formidable tribe, but reduced by small-pox, measles, and rum, to a small remnant of their former numbers. They attain to a great age : from reliable data, it was formerly not at all an uncommon event to meet with a Tete de Boule 100 years old. The name is not characteristic of the people, for although they have very bushy hair, yet they are decidedly good-looking. Their hunting grounds in- terlock with those of the Mistassiuni Indians, who border on the Nasquapees. They are exceedingly careful of their burying-places, and generally place a little pile of wood near the grave for the use of the spirit of the dead. So far back as 1830, one of them, named Majeshk, was supposed to have been a century old. He remembered the English Conquest of Canada, and at that time he had been for some years a married man. In his prime he was an ambitious and successful warrior and chief, having conquered all the small Indian tribes, who after the destruction of the Iroquois had returned and reoccupied the territories of the great Algonkin nation, from which they had been driven by their powerful and victorious enemies. The extent of country over which Majeshk * Exploration of the St. Maurice and Ottawa, by Lieutenant Inga.ll, 15th Regiment, 1829. T 2 276 THE LABKADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. xvii. ruled reached about seventy miles from east to west. He parcelled off the different lakes and waters to the several members of his family as they grew old enough to hunt for themselves. He was alive and well in 1830. In Chapter IX. the view from the Top of the Eidge Portage was described as magnificent. So it appeared then, in the full glare of noon-day ; but on our re- turn it even seemed to be more beautiful than before, more imposing and sublime. It was one of those scenes which one likes to contemplate in silence and alone when the thoughts which it suggested might come with- out restraint and be wholly in keeping with such beauty and loneliness. The distant mountains at this time were enveloped in smoke, which rolled in vast masses from the west, and evidently came from an extensive conflagration. The day was hot, and it was with great difficulty that I prevented two or three of the men from drinking copious draughts of water from a little rill which issued from beneath a mass of ice, which partially filled one of the numerous crevices on the portage. On the Top of the Eidge Portage I saw a lizard five inches long, the only reptile of the kind observed in the Moisie Valley. When we arrived at the lake where I had seen the sawbill duck and her brood, I searched for them again with my glass, and found them swimming near the oppo- site shore, close to the spot where they were first noticed. I could only count seven : two had disappeared, having probably fallen a prey to foxes and martens. When we approached within 200 yards the wary bird uttered her warning note, and the whole family quickly made for the CHAP. xvn. TOP OF THE RIDGE PORTAGE. 277 shore and hid themselves among the Labrador tea-plant, which grew quite close to the water's edge. During our rapid descent we saw the tracks of deer and caribou on the portage path, and in one instance we were quite close to a bear ; but the noise made by the men carrying their loads through the trees alarmed the animal before I could get ready to fire, and he sprang into the bushes out of sight. One evening during our return I observed Michel, who was always doing something when in camp, making some little disks of wood, with a hole in each, and string- ing them on a piece of leather ; he attached a thin strip of wood to the end of the string, and, with Louis, was soon engaged in a game similar to our Cup and Ball. Upon enquiry I found that the game was common among his people, and was frequently played by them at their lodges. According to his description, the apparatus is made in exactly the same manner as the Nah-bah-wah-tah of the Ojibways, or the game of bones (the Nah-bah-wah-gun- imk). The Nah-bah-wah-gun-nuk, or instrument with which the game is played, is constructed in the following- manner : The bones are made from the hoof of the deer, or caribou, and made to fit one within the other to the number of twelve, the one nearest to the hand when the instrument is held for play being the largest. A hole is bored through the centre of each, and the bones are strung upon sinew or a short deer-skin thong ; at one end of the thong a bone needle or skewer is attached, and at the other extremity a piece of leather four inches long and one and three-quarters wide, cut into the shape of an oval. Small holes are made in the piece of leather, which is called the tail, and four holes are drilled into the last 278 THE LABRADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. xvn. ' bone.' The thong is weighted with a piece of lead close to the tail, the last bone slipping over it. The players agree upon the stakes, which are placed before them in the lodge, and one of them takes the bones and begins to play. His object is to catch as many as he can on the needle or skewer in a certain number of trials ; the last bone, if caught singly in one of the holes drilled into it, counts the highest ; if the tail is caught, it also counts next to the last bone. The other bones count one each, and a skillful player will sometimes catch eight or ten at one throw. One morning everyone of the party, with the exception of the Indians, complained of restlessness during the night. This appeared the more strange, as we had all undergone unusual fatigue during the preceding day, and were glad to retire to our tents at an early hour. I have no doubt the inability to sleep arose from drinking too much tea. I was fearful lest the men should be overcome by thirst, and be tempted to drink ice-cold water while the blood was in a very heated state, and with a view to prevent this, I sent the cook forward to the end of the Top of the Eidge Portage to make a large supply of tea. We were all very thirsty, and drank copious draughts of this most re- freshing beverage, besides tea at breakfast, dinner, and supper ; -the consequence was that none of us could sleep for several hours. Notwithstanding the precaution I had taken, three of the men drank ice water on the portage, and during the night were seized with vomiting and severe pains. It re- quired several doses of ginger in hot tea to restore them. On the morning of this day we arrived at the mouth of CHAP. xvn. COLD-WATER RIVER. 279 Cold- Water Eiver, and saw the Moisie once again. In de- scending the steep mountain where the land-slide before described had occurred, an accident happened, which might have been very unfortunate both to Louis and myself. The path was wet with rain which had fallen during the night, and in many places very slippery. I was a few steps in advance of Louis, who was carrying a canoe ; my burden consisted of a knapsack rather heavily freighted with geological specimens, weighing between sixty and seventy pounds. When we arrived at the steep descent I called to Louis to be careful of his footing, and began to pick my steps with the caution enjoined on him. When about a quarter of the distance down the steep, I heard a loud ' Ugh ' just behind me, and at the same moment the bow of the canoe touched my knapsack, drove me off my balance, and down the precipitous hill. I caught hold of the bushes, as I was rushing wildly forward, and so checking my fall, was brought up against a spruce tree with a violent shock, the effect of which lasted some time. No sooner had I touched the tree than the bow of the canoe passed over my head, taking off my cap, besides giving me a severe scrape ; it was also brought up by the trunk of the same tree. Turning round I saw Louis sitting on the ground with the canoe still on his shoulders, holding on to it with strong determination that it should not be injured if he could help it. He was glad to be relieved of his burden, and when he had swept his long hair from his face he looked at me with a piteous expression, placing his two hands beneath him. 'Are you hurt?' I said. 280 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvn. ' No, not hurt.' 4 Why don't you get up, then ? the canoe 's all right.' Louis smiled faintly, but did not stir. ' Did you slip, that you came down the hill as if you were tabognaying ? ' * 'Yes, I slipped I didn't want to break the canoe, so I sat down and slid as if I was tabognaying.' I looked up the hill, and saw Louis' track over the wet soil and moss. About twenty yards above us there was a piece of a garment which had been torn from Louis during his rapid descent. ' Louis,' I said, ' you've lost part of your trousers.' ' Seems like it,' he said, assuming a recumbent position by leaning against the trunk of a small tree near him, and having apparently no intention of rising from the ground. ' Shall I give you a pair of trousers will that do? ' ' Thank you, do very well.' The same evening I saw him collecting some balsam from the tree near our camp, and storing it in a little birch- bark cup he had made. 'What are you getting that for?' I said. ' Oh, nothing just a little balsam.' ' Well, what 's the balsam for ? ' Louis looked round cautiously to see if anyone was within hearing, and whispered to me ' Got bit of linen ? ' ' Yes,' I said. c Very glad if you give me bit of linen.' * The 'tabognay ' is a little sledge upou which people in winter ,111111 s" themselves in descending hills covered with snow. CHAP. XVII. ON THE MOISIE. '281 ' Are you scratched ? ' I said. 4 Yes, scratched.' ' Does it hurt you ? ' ' Not much ; think I put a little balsam on ; better to-morrow.' ALMOST AN ACCIDENT. I brought Louis the linen, and he retired into the woods. The men observed that he sat with considerable uneasiness for two or three days, but he put off their enquiries by saying he had hurt his leg a little. The '282 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvn. poor fellow was afraid of the ridicule if they became aware of the nature and seat of his trouble. Once again we embarked on the rapid Moisie, but then it was descending instead of ascending, and the torrent carried us along with delightful rapidity. We travelled in a few hours the same distance that had taken us several days' hard toil to win as we strove against the stream. The great exertion we made during the last three days to get to the river, in consequence of the torment to which the mosquitoes and black-flies subjected us, caused the sickness of three of the men, so that when we floated on the Moisie the canoes were but half manned. But the relief obtained from the cessation of the attacks of the flies soon had a good effect upon our health and spirits. I was glad to find that the impressions produced by the magnificent scenery as we ascended the river were by no means changed or modified during our descent. It was most delightful to glide past the towering purple rocks of the second gorge of the Moisie, and to gaze on the lovely scenery without any harassing cares, or distress- ing doubts. The current bore us swiftly along, and we scarcely heeded the salmon rising with sudden leap to their full length in the air. At the Si-way-si-ni-cop Portage we stayed to take up a cache, and fish for half an hour at the foot of the falls. One of us caught a very fine trout and some salmon fry ; but all attempts to lure the grilse, which were numerous at the foot of the falls, proved unavailing. Louis had evidently recovered from his slip on the Cold- Water Eiver Portage, for he rolled down the steep hill of sand which forms the Up and Down Portage CHAP. xvn. TA9TE FOR GAMBLING. 233 in the highest state of glee, looking wilder and more truly savage than at any other time. I sometimes thought it strange that neither he nor Michel or Pierre ever seemed to think of gambling during rainy weather when we were compelled to remain in camp. The Ojibways and Crees with whom I have come in contact near Lake Winnipeg seem to embrace every opportunity to indulge in their favourite pastime. But Pierre said that the priest had forbidden it, and none dare to disobey the injunction in this particular, at least when in a mixed company, lest it should come to his ears. The taste for gambling is very determined among Indians generally, and especially among heathen Indians, and even among those who, having become Christians, are yet frequently thrown into the society of heathens. Some singular instances of this passion occurred when encamped near the Lake of the Woods during the winter of 1858. There were two Indians belonging to the party named Stony and Ka-jig-a-kanse, or the 'Dawn of the Day.' One winter's evening, when the thermometer was at zero, they went away to a camp of Ojibways about three miles off to indulge in their favourite game. They returned just before daylight in the face of a cutting wind, the thermometer a few degrees below zero. Mr. Gaudet was surprised to find the two men apparently sleeping under one blanket on some pine branches laid on the snow. He called them, but received no answer ; he went to them and tried to pull the blanket off them, but they held it fast. After some enquiries and a sudden pull he found that they were both naked, and that they had only 284 THE LABRADOR PEMNSULA. CHAP. xvn. just returned in that condition across the prairies, having gambled and lost every article of clothing except their waist-bands and breech-cloths, to the Ojibways of Lake Plat. They did not even deign to borrow a blanket to shelter them from the cold of the pitiless breeze blowing in their teeth. ' They ran for it,' Stony said, ' and they beat the frost, for when they got to the camp they were too warm, but were getting rather cold now.' They were supplied with fresh clothing, and cautioned not to go from the camp again without leave. At sunset Ka- jig-a-kanse, who was spokesman, begged leave to go with Stony and try to win back their clothes, saying that he was sure they would be successful this time- -in fact, he knew it. The two scamps returned in the morning triumphantly bringing back all their old clothes and some others they had won. It appears that, before they departed, they had concocted a plan to cheat their antagonists, which they worked out successfully. Stony was a curious Indian full of contradictions. Every month he would go into the settlements at Eed Eiver and spend or gamble away his earnings ; he was excessively fond of whiskey, and nothing could keep him from it, if it could be obtained anywhere in the neighbourhood by stratagem or money. After a week's dissipation he would return sick and humble, and ask to be employed again. He was very well liked, and an excellent hunter, so that he was generally forgiven. He exhibited his pride, like most Indians, in a rather singular manner. It became necessary that some of the men should haul some sledges laden with provisions over the snow, because the do