40 BOWDOIX BOYS IN LABRADOR. 



in tow put forth their best efforts to reach the mouth of the 

 river and alee before the approaching squall should strike them. 



The squall came first, and as it blew heavily directly out of 

 the river, we could simply lay to and wait for it to blow over. 

 Then a- calm followed and by the time the next squall struck 

 we were in a comparative lee. After the heaviest of it had 

 passed, the Grand River boys clambered into their boats and 

 with a hearty "good by" pulled away for the opening Close at 

 hand. The yawl meantime had grounded on one of the shoals, 

 but pushing off and carefully dodging the boulders that dot 

 those shallow waters, she squared away for North West River, 

 following around the shore, and with the aid of a fresh breeze 

 reached the schooner shortly after 10 o'clock P. M. 



The river party was made up of Austin Cary in charge, and 

 W. R. Smith, '90, occupying one boat, and Dennis Cole and E. 

 B. Young, '92, with the other, all strong, rugged fellows, more 

 or less acquainted with boating in rapid water,and well equipped 

 for all emergencies. Their outfit included provisions for five 

 weeks, flour, meal, buckwheat flour, rice, coffee, tea, sugar, beef 

 extract, tins of pea soup, beef tongue, and preserves. They 

 were provided with revolvers, a shot gun and a rifle, and suffi- 

 cient ammunition, intending to eke out the stores with what- 

 ever game came in their way, although the amount of time 

 given them would not allow much hunting. All the sup- 

 plies, including the surveying, measuring and meteorological 

 instruments, were either in tins or in water-tight wrappings,while 

 the bedding and clothing were protected by rubber blankets. 

 The boats, made by Rushton, the Adirondack boat-builder, 

 were of cedar, fifteen feet long, five feet wide, double-ended, and 

 weighed eighty pounds apiece. A short deck at each end of the 

 boats covered copper air-tanks, which made life-boats of them 

 and added much to their safety. Each boat was equipped with 

 a pair of oars, a paddle and about one hundred feet of small line 

 for tracking purposes. Proceeding about three miles the first 

 camp was made on the south shore of Goose Bay, amid an 

 abundance of mosquitoes. The next day twenty-five miles were 

 made through shoals that nearly close the river's mouth, leaving 



