A LABRADOR SPRING 



This point in the Romaine River where the 

 known leaves off and the unknown begins is 

 about 75 miles in a straight line from the sea 

 according to Low's map, or about 100 miles by 

 the river. The number of portages from the 

 Romaine to the St. John River, according to 

 Low, is thirty-one, " and their combined length 

 aggregates nineteen miles and a half." The 

 water part of this route between the two rivers, 

 made up of lakes and small streams, aggre- 

 gates some forty miles in length. The diffi- 

 culties of this long portage must be great, but 

 it only serves to emphasize the fact that the 

 lower course of the Romaine is impas- 

 sable. 



Cabot gives an interesting derivation 

 for the name of this river, a derivation 

 very different from the apparent one of Italian 

 origin. He says: "Its Indian name ' Alimun,' 

 meaning difficult, has passed through a re- 

 arrangement of sounds unusual in the ad- 

 justing of Indian names to French organs 

 of speech. From * L'Alimun ' to ' La Ro- 

 maine ' the transition is easy, surprisingly 

 so, considering that no less a feat is involved 

 than the introduction of the full rolling r 

 230 



