CHAP. IX. 



A DEEE PASS. 147 



thought of Louis' ' Good-bye ' came upon us with full 

 force. We agreed, without the least discussion, that it 

 would take us two days to ascend the one from which the 

 Nasquapee said that ships could be seen in the sea, look- 

 ing south, and Ashwanipi, on the table land of Labrador, 

 looking north. The idea of ascending either mountain 

 had to be abandoned at once, as we could not afford the 

 time it would have required. A careful survey with a 

 marine glass revealed precipitous cliffs, where not even a 

 stunted birch grew to assist us in scaling. 



The summits, fully 1,500 feet above us, as we imagined, 

 and perhaps much more, were bare, bold, and jagged. 

 Perched on jutting peaks were huge boulders, ready, as 

 they seemed, to be pushed over with scarcely an effort ; 

 and yet they had remained there for many thousand 

 years how many, who can tell ? 



Wandering from the path, I strolled to a ridge of gneiss 

 on the edge of a ravine, in which were the lodge-poles of 

 an old Nasquapee camp, and scattered near it lay the 

 horns and some of the bones of a caribou. This was 

 once a famous deer pass, and several caribou had been 

 killed here during the preceding autumn by a party of 

 Nasquapees, who had wandered far from their own 

 hunting-grounds. 



I thought I saw a herd of reindeer high up those moss- 

 covered rocks, lying where the fresh breeze would drive 

 away tormenting flies. I saw two walking apparently on 

 the edge of the precipice, near the summit of the oppo- 

 site mountain, and stopping now and then to crop the 

 lichens. 



' How will they get the canoes up here ? ' I exclaimed, 



