10 msTorJCAL sketch. 



SrFl'KKIXGS OF THIC BEOTHIKS. 



The coming of iIr' wliite uv-n .><eale(l their (loom. For three 

 liuiulrcnl yeav.s afterwai-ds tliey continued to exist l)ut were gra- 

 dually liecoming weaker and weaker. For a short time friendly 

 relations l)etweeu tliem and the invaders existed, but soon quar- 

 rels arose. Deeds of violence led to acts of savage vengeance. 

 The iirst rude trappers, hunters and tisliermeu, as they spread 

 into tlie northern parts of the island, were outside the control of 

 law, and but little disjMjsed to try conciliation and kindness on a 

 tribe of savages Avhose pre>^ence interfered witli tlnnr pursuits. 

 The poor Beothiks \v(Me treated with the most brutal cruelty 

 nm\ for a long pei'iod were regarded as vermin to be hunted 

 down and destroyed. Such treatment led the Red Man to deeds 

 of tieice retaliation and " war t<:) the knife "' became the ])ractice 

 l)et\veen tlie two races. In such a conte-t the weak must go to 

 the wall. Their wea])ons coidd avail litth' against the tireai'ms 

 of the white man. (Gradually theii- muubfrs were reduced and 

 tliey were driven from the ]>e^t limiting and fisliing grounds. 

 Famine and disease thinned tlieii' rank.-. 



THE RACK FXTIXCT. 



Wlien at lengtli, in m-j,lern days, the spirit of humanity awoke 

 jiml attempts were nuule in 1760, and renewed up till 18-^3, to 

 eonciliate the Red Men and save the poor remnant from destruc- 

 tion, it proved to be too late. Sad experience led them to dis- 

 trust and hate the white men, and they could jiot be apjji'oached 

 with kindness. In despair the forlorn band that remained re- 

 treated to their last refuge, at Red Indian Lake ; and here they 

 died, one by one, till not a living re^jresentative of a once 

 vigorous and warlike race remained. There is no darker chap- 

 ter in the history of the white man's progress in the New AVorld 

 than that which records the fate of the unhappy Beothiks. 



A 3IKLANCHOLY IJKCOKD. 



In 1828 a final effort was made to i)]>en communication with 

 n remnant of them wliich were supposed to still survive. An 

 expedition was organized which penetrated to llu'ii' last retreat 



