116 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. chap, xxvin. 



you who govern should take our present distress into your con- 

 sideration without loss of time, and for which we will most 

 gratefully ever pray. 



(Signed) 



DoMENiQUE, Chief. 



Bartholemy. 



Jerome. 



Moisie : 

 June 30, 1861. 



The testimony of those who have long had dealings 

 with the Montagnais will supply the answer to this 

 appeal. But in receiving such testimony, it must be 

 constantly borne in mind that the Montagnais as well as 

 the Nasquapees occupy an immense tract of country, and 

 many of their bands have long been brought under the 

 influence of the missionaries and the traders ; others have 

 only recently become Christians, and some are still heathen 

 — indeed, by far the greater portion of the Nasquapees 

 have no knowledge of the true God. Hence the statements 

 and opinions of different persons who speak of Indians 

 in localities far removed from one another will afford 

 descriptions which appear to differ in some material 

 points, but which are reconciled when the geographical 

 position of the tract of country occupied by the band is 

 borne in mind. 



The following table gives a close approximation to 

 the number of Indians frequenting the posts of the 

 Honourable Hudson's Bay Company in the Labrador 

 Peninsula : — 



