80 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
The late Professor Robinson Smith of Cambridge, one of the 
editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica, and an expert philologist, to 
whom copies of the inscriptions were sent in 1886, pronounced some 
of the words to be Basque. Now that we have correct copies, we find 
that they are all pure Basque with the exception of one word which 
is French. 
DAME M EM 

No. 1 (front). 
We owe th2 correct reading and interpretation of the epitaphs 
to the Right Revd. Monseigneur LeGasse, Prefect Apostolic of St. 
Pierre, Miquelon. This learned prelate is a Basque by birth, and 
not only speaks the language as his native tongue but is also a scholar 
in the grammar and literature of this very unique and interesting 
language. On paying a visit to St. John’s, in the summer of 1900, 
he remained a day or two at Placentia and made a careful and intelli- 
