CHAP. v. DOMENIQUE THE MONTAGNAIS. 7!) 



our fire to have a smoke, make enquiries, and answer 

 questions. Nothing could exceed our delight at this 

 meeting ; Domenique would be able to tell us all about 

 the upper country what Indians we should meet, what 

 game we should find, and perhaps he would go with us 

 as a guide, or let the young Nasquapee show us the old 

 Montagnais road to the interior. These and many other 

 thoughts found expression as we were finishing our 

 supper, while Domenique was smoking his pipe close by, 

 every now and then stealing glances at our faces, and 

 slowly and thoughtfully picking a bit of tobacco from a 

 large plug I had given to him, when he expressed his 

 intention of ' coining to our fire.' 



We watched them take their worldly wealth out of the 

 canoe. It contained the produce of their winter hunt, 

 wrapped in a seal-skin covering. A rather worn and dirty 

 blanket, several reindeer skins, a fox-skin robe, two or 

 three tin kettles, some rolls of birch-bark, one or two 

 wooden dishes, a small bag of reindeer skins containing a 

 few fragments of dried reindeer meat, one duck, a 

 pillow of down of the eider-duck for the baby to kick 

 about on at the bottom of the canoe, and a snow-shovel. 



'Ask him how he is off for provisions, Louis,' I said. 



' Starving,' was the brief reply. 



Domenique held up the duck and the few fragments of 

 reindeer meat. ' This is what we have left ; when that 

 is gone, must hunt for more.' 



4 Are any more canoes coming down the river ? ' 



' No ; four canoes gone by the East Branch. I thought 

 the river too bad, and came down the main stream. The 

 water is very high.' 



