CHAP, xxvii. THE NASQUAPEES A DIVISION OP THE CREES. Ill 



of the same tongue, and who were far more numerous, 

 powerful, and independent, 300 years ago, than they are 

 at the present time. That the Nasquapees were once 

 very numerous in the Labrador Peninsula there is every 

 reason to believe ; and famine (not wars, as with many 

 other Indian tribes) has been the cause of their decrease 

 in numbers. In many parts of the Peninsula the wild 

 animals which formerly abounded have almost disappeared, 

 and consequently the means of subsistence of the native 

 races have been withdrawn. Eabbits were once quite com- 

 mon on the mainland as far east and north as the Atlantic 

 coast of the Labrador Peninsula. The porcupine was 

 everywhere abundant on the Gulf coast, and reindeer 

 ' covered the country.' The destruction of mosses, lichens, 

 and forests by fires has been the most potent cause in 

 converting Labrador into a desert. 



