44 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. chap, xxiii. 



mortal hatred towards the Bersiamits, and not iinfre- 

 quently invaded their country, an attempt generally re- 

 sulting in bloody encounters, and in the death of many 

 combatants. These battles were chiefly confined to the 

 coast, as the Micmacs did not often venture far into the 

 interior. Their country was for along time called Acadia, 

 the origin of which name is said to be as follows : — ' The 

 aboriginal Micmacs of Nova Scotia, being of a practical 

 turn of mind, were in the habit of bestowing on places 

 the names of the useful articles which could be found in 

 them, affixing to such terms the word Acadia, denoting 

 the local abundance of the particular objects to which 

 the names referred.' * 



They w^ere first described by Jacques Cartier in 1535, 

 and subsequently called by the French missionaries Gas- 

 pesiens. ' They appeared,' says Cartier, ' to have no pro- 

 perty but their bark canoes, under which tliey slept at 

 night, and nets made of some kind of Indian hemp ; and 

 were probably a fishing party, whose wigwams might 

 have been at the head of the bay, where their descendants 

 still reside. They had abundance of maize and various 

 kinds of fruits, some of which they dried for winter use.' 

 The name Gaspe is derived from the language of these 

 Indians, and is stated to mean as nearly as possible the 

 'Land's End.'f 



The Micmacs of Gaspe frequently crossed over to 



* Acadian Geology, by J. W. Dawson, F.G.S. 



t M. Hamel, quoted by Stuart in a paper on Canadian Names in Proc. 

 of Quebec Lit. and Hist. Society, gives the meaning as ' Bout de La pointe 

 de terre.' It is, perhaps, identical with the termination ' gash ' in names of 

 points of land in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick ; as, Malagash, Fraeade- 

 gash. 



