68 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. v. 



were the exclamations which simultaneously arose from 

 the canoes. ' Can you paint that ? ' I asked my brother. 

 You can paint the rocks, the trees, and ice,' he replied, 

 ' but the radiance and the light are beyond human art.' 



The river grew in beauty as we ascended its current. 

 Its waters became clear and swift, but cold as ice : the 

 hills rose into mountains, and the towering rocks frowned 

 magnificently on the stream. Soon after the sun had set, 

 we pitched our tents, enjoying, before retiring to much- 

 needed rest, the long twilight and the tranquil first hours 

 of the night, with no sound of bird, or beast, or fish to 

 break the stillness, and nothing but the murmur of distant 

 waterfalls to remind us that in this beautiful but desolate 

 wilderness there was anything capable of producing a 

 sound. 



We were mistaken. Not much more than a mile from 

 us, opposite a huge wall of rock which sloped suddenly 

 into the river, caribou or reindeer came to drink during 

 the night, and bathe in the waters. The place where 

 their tracks were seen next morning was on a gravelly 

 beach. We did not expect to find them so near the coast ; 

 but these animals are great wanderers, and sometimes 

 appear where they are least expected ; and as no Indians 

 had come down from the interior this year, the caribou 

 had not been disturbed. The sight of the tracks was 

 very cheering, for it inspired us with hopes that we might 

 meet with this animal sooner than we expected, and in 

 greater abundance than the Indians at the mouth of the 

 river led us to believe. Both Louis and Pierre were 

 surprised, and said that caribou must be crossing to the 

 north-Avest. But Pierre did not know the country well, 



