276 THE LABKADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. xvii. 



ruled reached about seventy miles from east to west. 

 He parcelled off the different lakes and waters to the several 

 members of his family as they grew old enough to hunt 

 for themselves. He was alive and well in 1830. 



In Chapter IX. the view from the Top of the Eidge 

 Portage was described as magnificent. So it appeared 

 then, in the full glare of noon-day ; but on our re- 

 turn it even seemed to be more beautiful than before, 

 more imposing and sublime. It was one of those scenes 

 which one likes to contemplate in silence and alone 

 when the thoughts which it suggested might come with- 

 out restraint and be wholly in keeping with such beauty 

 and loneliness. 



The distant mountains at this time were enveloped in 

 smoke, which rolled in vast masses from the west, and 

 evidently came from an extensive conflagration. 



The day was hot, and it was with great difficulty that 

 I prevented two or three of the men from drinking 

 copious draughts of water from a little rill which issued 

 from beneath a mass of ice, which partially filled one of 

 the numerous crevices on the portage. On the Top of 

 the Eidge Portage I saw a lizard five inches long, the 

 only reptile of the kind observed in the Moisie Valley. 



When we arrived at the lake where I had seen the 

 sawbill duck and her brood, I searched for them again 

 with my glass, and found them swimming near the oppo- 

 site shore, close to the spot where they were first noticed. 

 I could only count seven : two had disappeared, having 

 probably fallen a prey to foxes and martens. When we 

 approached within 200 yards the wary bird uttered her 

 warning note, and the whole family quickly made for the 



