26 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. it. 



or by the solitary trapper .who now and then passes this 

 way during the winter season, to hunt for the highly-prized 

 martens of Labrador. 



Just before reaching Captain Strachan's spruce-bark 

 lodge, we met a canoe full of Montagnais Indians, who 

 had been seal-hunting, but without success. They turned 

 out to be Louis' father-in-law and three of his family. We 

 stopped to say a few words, when the old man embraced 

 the opportunity to ask me for some medicine, at the same 

 time commending his son-in-law to my care. I gave the 

 old man some powdered rhubarb, and told him to take a 

 pinch occasionally before going to bed. But these general 

 directions did not suit him, and I was compelled to give 

 precise answers to his numerous questions respecting the 

 exact quantity of water to be taken with the rhubarb - 

 how long before or after what he should eat before and 

 after how long he should lie in bed and whether he 

 might be permitted to drink cold water until the effects 

 of the medicine had passed away. When I had answered 

 with as much precision and gravity as possible these and 

 several other questions of a more precise but less agreeable 

 character respecting the effects of rhubarb, the old man 

 expressed himself satisfied, said he would try ' a pinch ' 

 that very night, and bade us good-bye. He had not 

 paddled fifty yards when he shouted to us to stop, and, 

 hurrying back, insisted that I should show him the exact 

 quantity of rhubarb he ought to take at a dose ; this done, 

 he said a few words to Louis, and went his way. 



As soon as he was gone, Louis gave the signal for a 

 race. Away the canoes leaped through the water, until 



