A LABRADOR SPRING 



wooden crosses, on which are written or rudely 

 carved the names of the dead. 



At Mingan I had the best opportunity to 

 observe these Indians as we spent a week 

 there from the i4th to the 2ist of June, close 

 to the Hudson's Bay Company's Post at the 

 house of the old salmon- fisher of the place. The 

 Indians had not all come out of the woods, but 

 new families were arriving every day. The 

 large kitchen of the salmon-fisher's house was 

 an attractive place and was visited in the 

 evening by fur traders, salmon-fishers from the 

 mouth of the Mingan River, the clerks from 

 the H. B. C. Post and Indians. The old salmon- 

 fisher himself was a picturesque figure, tall 

 and strong, slim and wiry, but slightly bent 

 with age; his beard was long and white, his 

 eyes blue and kindly. His wife was a dark, 

 black-eyed woman, bright and intelligent, and 

 they had a large family of children of all ages, 

 speaking French among themselves, Indian 

 frequently, and English as occasion demanded. 

 The kitchen was a long, low-studded room whose 

 centre of attraction was a large iron stove always 

 filled with glowing logs. Suspended from the 

 middle of the ceiling above the stove were 



170 



