82 CAPTAIN CARTWRIGHT'S 



nine feet in circumference. We killed a spruce- 

 game, and returned to the tilt in the evening. 



Sunday, June 9, 1771. At ten o'clock this morn- 

 ing we set out homewards. About two miles 

 lower, we met with a small river on the* South 

 West side of the bav. I named it the Alexander; 

 abundance of that plant ^ growing on its banks. 



A warm day, but froze sharp in the night. 



Monday, June 10, 1771. We made sail down the 

 bay at five this morning. On the South shore 

 were several groves of good birch, fit for hoop- 

 poles; plenty of trees proper for rinding; and 

 many spots of good grass fit for hay. I killed a 

 goose and wounded two more. We visited the 

 traps in Mary Harbour, and had an otter. We 

 then went to Hutton Island, where I killed five 

 ducks and a shell-bird; we also gathered twenty- 

 nine eggs, and fomid a goose-nest with seven. 

 At half past seven we left that place, and, with 

 the help of our sails and oars, reached home at 

 midnight, very well pleased with the discoveries 

 which had been made: for, beside the above-men- 

 tioned advantages, there are many good rubbing 

 places, and the country seems likely for martens; 

 but not so for beavers. We saw but few signs of 

 deer or black-bears; nor were there many ves- 



^ Cartwright frequently speaks of " alexander " by which he un- 

 doubtedly means the cow-parsnip, Herocleum lanaium, belonging to the 

 carrot family, Umbellifereae. This plant resembles superficially the 

 English Smyrnium olusatrum or alexander, with which Cartwright was 

 doubtless familiar. This was used as a pot herb in England just as H. 

 lanaium was used in Labrador by the Indians. I found the cow-parsnip 

 very common at Cape Cliarles and in the Mary Harbour region. 



