4 THE LABRADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. f. 



declared it was impossible to ascend, on account of the 

 large quantity of water coming down from the melting 

 snows of the upper country. 



They counselled us to wait a fortnight at least ' to give 

 the river time to fall.' ' No canoe,' they exclaimed, ' can 

 pass the gorges while the water is high ; perpendicular 

 rocks, smooth as glass, flank the river on each side, and it 

 rushes between them like a rapid. You can't put out a 

 line to tow, there is no ground to walk on, nothing but 

 high rocks, high, high ! * You must wait until the river 



falls.' 







We experienced great difficulty in prevailing upon 

 Indians to accompany us, and no pecuniary inducement I 

 could offer was adequate to persuade any of the Nasquapees 

 at Seven Islands, who had visited the coast for the first 

 time two years ago, to venture on the journey. This 

 unwillingness arose partly from sickness and habitual 

 indolence partly also from a wish to await the arrival 

 of the Eoman Catholic priest, who was expected to visit 

 Seven Islands during the month of July. We soon found 

 that the Montagnais and Nasquapees, who linger on the 

 coast, rapidly lose the energy and bodily strength which 

 characterise them when living in the interior, and which 

 are absolutely necessary in order that they may maintain 

 themselves in a mountainous country thinly stocked with 

 game. Once on the coast, their habits soon change 

 they learn to live on seals and fish, become very susceptible 

 of changes in the weather, and are liable during the 

 spring of the year to prolonged attacks of influenza ; the 



* When Indians wish to be very emphatic in their description, they 

 repeat the adjective twice, and sometimes three times. 



