CHAP. i. THE NASQUAPEE INDIANS. 15 



Mr. R.: There is a passage in his letter; I want to ask you 

 whether you are at all cognizant of the facts. Quoting from a 

 letter received by him, he says, ' You will be grieved to hear 

 that the curse which had effect in the old country has extended 

 here, though arising from causes of more frequent occurrence 

 than even the failure of the crops. Starvation has, I learn, 

 committed great havoc among your old friends the Nascopies, 

 numbers of whom met their death from want last winter : whole 

 camps of them were found dead, without one survivor to tell 

 the tale of their sufferings ; others sustained life in a way the 

 most revolting by using as food the dead bodies of their 

 companions ; some even bled their own children to death, and 

 sustained life with their bodies ! ' Quoting from another letter, 

 he says, * At Fort Nascopie the Indians were dying in dozens 

 by starvation ; and among others, your old friend, Paytabais.' 

 A third he quotes as saying, ' A great number of Indians 

 starved to death last winter ; and - - says it was -'s fault 

 in not giving them enough of ammunition.' Do any facts like 

 that come within your knowledge ? 



Sir G. S. : No ; that is an exaggerated statement. 



Mr. R. : In your thirty-seven years' experience in that terri- 

 tory, you have never heard of any transactions like that, and 

 deaths like that ? 



Sir G. S. : Never, except in Mr. Kennedy's letter. 



Mr. R. : Not in your own experience ? 



Sir G. S. : Certainly not. 



