20 BOWDOIN BOYS IN LABRADOR. 



starting in the boat they had secured. That was the last we 

 saw of them, till they reached North West River, two days after 

 our party had started up the Grand River. 



North West River is the name of the Hudson Bay Co.'s post at 

 the mouth of the river of the same name, flowing into the western 

 extremity of Lake Melville, about fifteen miles north of the 

 mouth of Grand River. Hamilton Inlet proper extends about 

 forty miles in from the Atlantic to the " Narrows," a few miles 

 beyond Rigolette, where Lake Melville begins. A narrow arm 

 of the lake extends some unexplored distance east of the 

 Narrows, south of and parallel to the southern shore of the 

 inlet. The lake varies from five to forty miles in width and is 

 ninety miles long, allowing room for an extended voyage in its 

 capacious bosom. The water is fresh enough to drink at the 

 upper end of the lake, and at the time of our visit was far 

 pleasanter and less arctic for bathing than the water off any 

 point of the Maine coast. About twenty miles from the Nar- 

 rows a string of islands, rugged and barren, but beautiful for 

 their very desolation, as is true of so much of Labrador, nearly 

 block the way, but we found the channels deep and clear, and 

 St. John's towering peak makes an excellent guide to the most 

 direct passage. 



One night was spent under way, floating quietly on the lake, 

 so delightfully motionless after the restless movements of Atlan- 

 tic seas. A calm and bright day following, during which the 

 one pleasant swim in Labrador waters was taken by two of us, 

 was varied by thunder squalls and ended in fog and drizzle, 

 causing us to anchor off the abrupt break in the continuous 

 ridge along the northern shore, made by the Muligatawney 

 River. Although in an insecure and exposed anchorage, yet 

 the fact that we were in an inclosed lake gave a sense of security 

 to the less experienced, that the snug and rocky harbors to 

 which we had become accustomed, usually failed to give on 

 account of the roaring of the surf a few hundred yards away, 

 on the other side of the narrow barrier that protected the rocky 

 basin. 



