2C6 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. cuap. xxxiv. 



their canoes. Without a moment's hesitation, one man 

 made a spring, and succeeded in leaping the cliasm ; a 

 second followed, but, not quite clearing the gap, fell into 

 the water, and as his head came in contact with the low 

 wall of ice, he was stunned, fell backwards, and sank 

 before his companions could catch hold of his clothes. 



The squaws and remaining men were relieved from 

 their perilous position by the Indian who had succeeded 

 in leaping across the gap. He brought the canoes round 

 to the floe, and they quickly took in the cargo of frozen 

 seals, and in sadness returned to their lodges. 



A captain of a small sailing schooner told me a very 

 painful story of the fate of several seal-hunters a year or 

 two ago, on a floe of ice near Anticosti. 



' I started from Bic in March,' he said, ' and reached 

 Anticosti about the 20th ; there were large fields of ice 

 between us and the north shore, and seals in plenty. 

 We got on the ice and killed a score or more, and were 

 just sailing away to another field, when one of the hands 

 called my attention to a floe about a mile from us, on 

 which a black object was visible. They took it for a 

 bear, but with my glass I saw it was motionless, and too 

 large for any animal in these waters. I put the helm 

 down and bore towards it ; we could make nothing out 

 of the black mass which, half covered with snow, lay still 

 on the ice, about a couple of hundred yards from the 

 edge. I went with three men towards it, and found two 

 Indians and two squaws huddled together on the lee 

 side of a small mound of ice they had collected together 

 to shelter them from the wind. They were frozen fast — 

 all stone dead. No doubt they had been blown off" the 



