14 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. i. 



formation of that country, viz., that a large river should 

 flow for so considerable a distance on the top of the ridge, 

 if I may so express it, between the head waters of the 

 rivers falling into the St. Lawrence and those falling into 

 Hudson's Bay and Straits ; for they are said by the 

 Indians to be quite close to the waters of the Grand Kiver 

 on either side. The course of the river from Fort Nas- 

 capee to the place where it forces itself through the 

 mountains is to the southward of east ; it then turns to 

 the east, and finally to the north-east. The latter course 

 it pursues until it falls into Esquimaux Bay.'* 



An insight into the condition of the inhabitants of the 

 north-eastern portion of the Labrador Peninsula was given 

 in the ' Evidence before the Select Committee of the 

 House of Commons on the Hudson's Bay Company, 1857,' 

 The following is the passage referred to : 



Mr. Roebuck: You still have instances in your recollection 

 of cannibalism occurring ? 



Sir George Simpson : Cannibalism has occurred repeatedly. 



Mr. R. : When did it occur in your recollection ? 



Sir G. S. : I do not exactly recollect. I think there were 

 some cases of cannibalism in the last few years, in the Atha- 

 basca country. 



Mr. R. : I have before me a letter of Mr. Kennedy: I suppose 

 you have heard of Mr. Kennedy ? 



Sir G. S. : There are several Kennedys ; which Kennedy do 

 you mean ? 



Mr. R. : He is a person who has quarrelled with your Com- 

 pany, I believe, and he wrote a letter to Lord Elgin. 



Sir G. S. : William Kennedy. 



* Notes on Esquimaux Bay and the surrounding Country, by W. H. A. 

 Paries, Esq. (Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec; 

 1842.) 



