342 THE LABEADOK PENINSULA. CHAP. xx. 



his fingers rather slow work, and nodded his thanks to 

 me with Ho ! ho ! ho ! when I handed him a spoon. 

 After the molasses and pancake, he tried the pork and 

 potatoes, and then the cod fish, finishing off with a 

 handful of sugar which I presented to him. 



The other Indians, having been accustomed to the 

 proprieties of at least half-civilised life, behaved very well, 

 and abused the Nasquapee for his want of manners, at 

 which he laughed and said he would do better next time, 

 but was not in the least degree abashed. He told Louis 

 confidentially, after the dinner was over, that the sugar 

 was very fine. I gave him a piece of tobacco by way of 

 dessert ; he thanked me with another Ho ! ho ! ho ! and 

 begged for a pipe. Having filled and lit it he stretched 

 himself before the fire, and looked the picture of con- 

 tentment. After dinner and pipes they came into my 

 tent to explain the map of the rivers flowing into the gulf 

 below the Moisie, which they had drawn at my request, 

 and with the assistance of Louis I gleaned a fair amount 

 of information from them respecting the country, all of 

 which was confirmed by other descriptions and maps 

 which I obtained a few weeks later at Mingan. 



The burying-ground at Seven Islands is close to the 

 chapel. It contains the remains of ISTasquapees, who have 

 come from their distant hunting grounds to see the robe 

 noire. To many of these people the visit to the coast is 

 a journey to the grave ; comparatively few return. ' They 

 die,' said an old French Canadian half-breed to me, ' they 

 die like rotten sheep as soon as they get here ; the 

 climate kills them ; they cannot stand the damp sea air ; 

 they catch cold and go off at once.' 



