]38 THE LABRADOR PENmSULA. chap. xxix. 



distance in clear weather, hangs over the spot. From the fall 

 to the foot of the rapid, a distance of thirty miles, the zigzag 

 course of the river presents such sharp angles that you see 

 nothing of it until within a few yards of its banks. 



The Kenamou Eiver, which enters Hamilton Inlet from 

 the south, cuts through the Mealy Mountains, thirty miles 

 from the coast ; it is a succession of rapids, and scarcely 

 admits of navigation, even by canoes. The Nasquapee or 

 North-west Eiver falls into the inlet on the north side, 

 nearly opposite the mouth of the Kenamou. The inlet is 

 here twelve miles across. About two miles from its 

 outlet the Nasquapee Eiver passes through a long narrow 

 lake, bordered by high mountains. It takes its source in 

 Lake Meshikumau (Great Lake), and the river itself, 

 according to Indian custom, is called by the Nasquapees 

 Meshikumau Shipu. There is a canoe communication 

 between this river and the Ashwanipi, which is shown on 

 two maps, constructed by Montagnais Indians, in my pos- 

 session. The country in the neighbourhood of Hamilton 

 Inlet abounds in lakes of aU sizes and shapes ; they are 

 all shallow, however, a feature apparently common to all 

 the lakes on the slopes of the table-land, according to the 

 observations of McLean and Davies. The lakes on the 

 table-land are said to be deep. 



The face of the country near Hamilton Inlet, towards 

 the north and west, is extremely rugged and hilly. It is 

 composed of ranges of round-backed hills, traversing the 

 country in all directions, the intervals being filled with 

 lakes and marshes. The greater portion of this district 

 south of the inlet was once wooded, but fires have laid 

 bare the rock and burnt aAvay the mossy soil. The 



