162 LABKADOE 



are engaged in propelling the canoe, the load should not 

 greatly exceed eight hundred pounds in weight. 



As the whites know nothing about river work, and the 

 Indians are few and unreliable, it is necessary to secure 

 canoemen in Canada, and take them along to Hamilton 

 Inlet. On my trips through the country, I have used Indians 

 and French half-breeds from the Lake St. John district 

 of Quebec, and have found them good, willing, and reliable 

 men. Similar men may be obtained through the officer in 

 charge of any of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts along 

 the frontier. Fish are plentiful in the rivers, especially 

 above the Grand Falls, and a net set nightly affords great 

 assistance in securing the surprising amount of food re- 

 quired by a party of able-bodied men. No reliance should 

 be placed upon the killing of game during the summer 

 months, and if by good luck caribou or bears are met with, 

 it is easy to throw away a corresponding amount of pro- 

 visions, but a sufficient supply for the entire trip should 

 be taken in case of ill luck ; this is an essential matter, as 

 more parties have had to turn back from the northern 

 wilderness owing to lack of food than from other reasons. 

 A good supply of provisions means good-natured canoe- 

 men, willing to go anywhere without a thought of danger, 

 whereas the suspicion of starvation will change the same 

 men into a discontented, mutinous crew. Mr. Leonidas 

 Hubbard, subeditor of Outing, lost his life in 1903 in 

 this district from starvation. His assistant, Mr. Dillon 

 Wallace, and his half-breed guide only just succeeded in 

 getting out alive. He .had relied almost entirely on what 

 game he could capture. 



Mrs. Hubbard and Mr. Dillon Wallace have since led 



