202 NEWFOUNDLAND 



Lake. Here we took out our rods and fished, although the 

 worst time of the day for such an operation, and soon had 

 enough ouananiche to feed our men for another day. At 

 the end of the Little Burnt Lake we again struck the Baie 

 d'Est River, which was now become exceedingly rocky and 

 difficult to neg^otiate. The stream beinsf low, the river was 

 nothing but a series of rocky levels, on which the men had to 

 be most careful with the canoes. It was in such places that 

 Joe exhibited his great superiority as a canoe man. Stand- 

 ing up in his boat, he poled it through rapids and past rocks 

 in a way that excited our wonder and admiration. The less 

 skilled white men were in the water all the time, hauling, 

 guiding, and lifting, and Little Bob distinguished himself by 

 falling out of his boat into the river. Consequently Joe was 

 always about half a mile ahead of his companions, for whom 

 he waited with a sort of patronising air. Sometimes they 

 tried to copy his method, but with indifferent success, either 

 through the poles breaking, or the stream, being too strong, 

 would turn the heads of their canoes round and land them 

 on a rock in mid-stream. However, as the red man passed 

 up stream with skill, the white men made up for it with 

 pluck and determination, and if they had a rough time 

 occasionally, it was all accepted with a never-failing good 

 nature that renders these simple people so acceptable to 

 those who employ them. 



At sunset we reached green timber again in the shape 

 of Round Lake, the largest sheet of water in Central New- 

 foundland. It was shallow in many places, but, after going 

 two miles, we put into a beautiful little bay, and camped in 

 a forest of high trees. Fresh signs of deer were noticeable 

 on the beach, and there was every prospect of seeing big 

 game very soon. As we sat round the fire and spun yarns, 



