44 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. CUAP. nr. 



Mingan Islands, were conceded in 1677. It is therefore 

 very probable that, as the country both above and below 

 the Moisie was known and allotted two centuries ago, the 

 symmetrically-arranged group of boulders on the Grand 

 Portage was the work of the Jesuit missionaries of that 

 period. Frost may have slightly shifted the position of 

 the boulders, most of which weigh more than a ton, and 

 the form no doubt was originally that of a cross, to which, 

 as before stated, they bear a close approximation in their 

 present arrangement. 



Strolling still farther on, I came to a deep valley about 

 100 yards broad, with steep walled sides. In this valley 

 the vegetation was rich and luxuriant. The trees were 

 protected from the cutting winds which in winter sweep 

 over the bare rocks on the summit level, and the snow no 

 doubt drifts deeply in this depression, for patches of ice 

 still remained at the bottom some feet in thickness. A 

 rich soil had accumulated in the huge crack for it was 

 nothing more and here I saw some whisky jacks and a 

 few small warblers. 



From one end of the Portage to the other we passed a 

 series of marten traps, cut out of the butt-end of trees 

 where they were found sufficiently large for the purpose. 

 They were from 100 to 300 yards apart, according as 

 the trees afforded opportunity for their construction. A 

 marten trap is made in the following manner. A tree is 

 felled about three feet from the ground its diameter 

 must not be less than six inches or exceed ten ; the top 

 of the butt-end is squared off, and two side pieces, about 

 twelve inches long, five broad, and one thick, being 

 merely chips from the tree, are inserted into crevices at 



