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. 



