cuAi'. XXVII. SUFFERINGS OF THE INDIANS FROM FAMIXE. 105 



place. Ill their long journeys from the iiiteiior, the Indians 

 suffer many pri\'atioiis. In 1859 Pere Arnaud met six 

 families who had descended the Pentecost Eiver near 

 Point des Moiits, two of whom had suffered terribly from 

 hunger, bemg the picture of misery when they reached 

 the coast. One man and a child had fallen victims to 

 famine, and the others only escaped by the energy of the 

 mother and her daughter pushing their w^ay through the 

 woods by day and by night in search of another encamp- 

 ment of Indians. They were nearly exhausted when 

 they were seen at the end of a large lake by some 

 hunters, who at first took them for bear or caribou, and 

 hastened towards them, in expectation of a successful 

 hunt. When they reached the poor creatures, they 

 found them scarcely able to speak. Having given them 

 a little food, and remained with them until they had 

 regained sufficient strength to walk, they turned their 

 steps towards the deserted lodge. Arriving there, tliey 

 found one Indian and a child already dead, another 

 Indian so weak that he had not strength to move. In 

 four or five days they all returned together, bringing the 

 victims of hunger along with them for burial on the 

 coast. 



The Nasquapees, Kke many other Indian tribes, are 

 gifted with a sense of smell so delicate, that they are 

 aware of the neighbourhood of a fire long before the smoke 

 can be seen. To indicate their speed and direction on a 

 march, they thrust a stick in the ground with a tuft of 

 grass at the top, pointing towards their fine of route, 

 and they show the rate at which they are travelling 

 l)y tlu? greater or less inclination of the stick. This mode 



