THE HAMILTON RIVER AND THE GRAND FALLS 145 



along the Labrador, except that nowhere else can vege- 

 tables be grown, owing to the settlements being nearer to 

 the Arctic current on the outside coast. Although it 

 may not appeal to many, it is a much better and freer 

 life than is the lot of the poor in civilization, with its 

 monotonous daily grind for a mere subsistence. 



As regards the chances of sport about Hamilton Inlet, 

 the summer season is unfavourable, there as well as else- 

 where. The big game consists of barren-ground and 

 woodland caribou, black bear, and seals. Caribou are 

 found in small bands on the Mealy Mountains immediately 

 south of Lake Melville, while in the winter large bands of 

 barren-ground caribou come out on the coast to the north- 

 ward, and have been killed in great numbers within a few 

 miles of the inlet. Bears are found on the burnt areas, 

 where they feed on blueberries in the late summer. The 

 seals, especially the harbour seal, are common in the waters 

 of the inlet, and often afford good sport with the rifle. 



Wild fowl and geese are very abundant in the spring and 

 fall, and are killed in great numbers below Rigolet. The 

 curlew, which formerly passed in great flocks on their 

 migration southward, are now nearly extinct ; the Canada 

 grouse, or spruce partridge, is abundant about the head of 

 the inlet, and the ruffed grouse is also common. During 

 the winter, great numbers of willow ptarmigan migrate 

 southward and feed in flocks on the willow buds in the 

 valleys. 



Hamilton Inlet was once famous for its salmon-fishery, 

 but the use of numerous cod-traps along the coast has 

 practically exterminated the salmon, as far as concerns 

 rod-fishing in the rivers. I have visited the inlet in October, 



