ACROSS NEWFOUNDLAND 199 



met a single old mountaineer Indian, James John, from 

 Labrador, who was friendly and helpful. The Red Indians 

 or Beothicks were six or seven miles to the north at that 

 season, whilst the Micmacs were at Bay Despair. On 2nd 

 November Cormack brought his eventful journey to an end 

 at St. George's Bay, on the west coast. 



Since Cormack's day great strides have been made in the 

 geological survey of the island by such able pioneers as 

 Alexander Murray and James Howley, especially the latter, 

 who, with a little assistance from the Government, has worked 

 with untiring zeal for many seasons to fill up the gaps in the 

 unwritten page ; and yet there is still much of the interior 

 which is unmapped and quite unknown, notably the wild 

 regions between Crooked Lake and La Poile to the south- 

 east from the White Bear River to the Victoria Lake. 



On 5th September we commenced our journey into the 

 interior, having been joined at daybreak by Joe Jeddore, the 

 Micmac Indian, with six white packers whom Mr. Leslie 

 had engaged for me. After going for about two miles up 

 the river we took to the woods, the packers taking loads of 

 about eighty pounds each, and marching ahead at a good 

 rate. The necessity of employing these men became im- 

 perative, as it would have taken our four helpers at least 

 three days to have transported all the outfit and canoes over 

 the hills to Long Pond, a distance of six miles, and the first 

 of the long chain of lakes and streams that stretch two-thirds 

 of the way to the Red Indian Lake. From six in the morn- 

 ing till seven in the evening the men made three double 

 journeys, eighteen miles in all, and worked untiringly. Our 

 own men did two journeys, and at night we had brought all 

 the stuff and canoes across the range and through the forest, 

 and were comfortably camped on the shores of the big lake. 



