' 



THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF LABRADOR 53 



interior of Labrador. The amalgamation of these rival 

 companies led to the abandonment of many of these small 

 posts, of which all trace is now lost. 



"In 1824, the Hudson's Bay Company sent Dr. Mendrys 

 from Moose Factory on Hudson Bay, across the peninsula 

 in canoes, to establish Fort Chimo on Ungava Bay. This 

 rip was the basis of Ballantyne's popular story, Ungava. 

 At the same time James Clouston was mapping the 

 country between the Nottaway and East Main rivers, 

 which flow into Hudson Bay. The next record of explora- 

 tion is contained in Twenty-five Years in the Hudson's Bay 

 Territory by John McLean. In the period 1838-1840 he 

 made annual trips from Fort Chimo to Hamilton Inlet, 

 and on one trip discovered the Grand Falls of Hamilton 

 River. In 1857 the Hudson's Bay Company had nine 

 posts and outposts established in the country north of 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Owing to changes in the con- 

 ditions of the Indians, these posts have been gradually 

 abandoned, and but two, Nichicun and Mistassini, remain 

 at the present time. These are situated on the head 

 waters of the Big and Rupert rivers, which flow into Hud- 

 son Bay, and are not within the province of this book. 

 The old posts of Nascaupee, Michikamou, and Winokapau 

 on the Hamilton River were abandoned in 1873, and the 

 Indians belonging to them now trade at posts on the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence. 



"With the closing of the trading posts all knowledge of 

 the interior was lost, and it can only be recovered by new 

 explorations. In 1887, R. F. Holmes attempted to reach 

 the Grand Falls of the Hamilton, but being without proper 

 canoes and crew, only reached Lake Winokapau, a little 

 over halfway up the river. Two separate expeditions 

 from the United States ascended to the Grand Falls within 

 a few days of each other in 1891, and accounts of their trips 

 were published in the geographical journals and in the 

 Century Magazine. 



