TDRNEBO THE INDIANS. 181 



if lie attempts any deception or trickery they are certain to be ever 

 suspicious of him, and it is difficult to regain their favor. 



Their courage and ability are not to be doubted, and when they are 

 given a due amount of encouragement they will perform the most 

 arduous tasks without complaint. 



THE INDIANS. 



The Indian inhabitants of this region may be divided into three 

 groups, differing but slightly in speech, and even less in habits. 



(1) The Mountaineers, "Montagnais" of the early Jesuit missiona- 

 ries, roam over the areas south of the Hamilton inlet and as far as the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. Their western limits are imperfectly known. 

 They trade at all the stations along the accessible coast. Many of them 

 barter at Rigolet and Northwest river. 



In customs they diifer little from the Indians to the north of them. 

 Their means of subsistence are the flesh of reindeer, porcupines, and 

 various birds, such as geese, ducks, ptarmigan, and grouse. 



The habits of the reindeer in this portion of the country are very er- 

 ratic. They are often absent from large tracts for several years, and 

 appearing in abundance when little expected. The scarcity of the rein- 

 deer renders the food supply (juite precarious; hence, the Indians rely 

 much upon the flesh of the porcupine, hare and birds for their ijrin- 

 cipal food. 



Their clothing is of the tanned skin of the deer when they are able 

 to procure it. As nearly all the skins of the reindeer are used for gar- 

 ments, few are prepared for other purposes; hence the northern stations 

 (Fort Chimo) furnish great numbers of these skins in the parchment con- 

 dition to be puichased by the Mountaineers, who cut them into fine 

 lines for snowshoe netting and other purposes. 



They procure the furs of marten, mink, fur beaver, muskrats, lynxes, 

 wolverines, wolves, and foxes. A considerable number of black bears 

 are also obtained by these Indians. By the barter of these furs they 

 procure the articles made necessary by the advent of the white people 

 among them. They are quiet and peaceable. Many of them profess a 

 regard for the teachings of the Roman missionaries, who have visited 

 them more or less frequently for over a hundred and fifty years. I was 

 unable to obtain the term by which they distinguish themselves from 

 their neighbors. That they are later comers in the region than the 

 Innuit is attested by the bloody warfare formerly carried on between 

 them, of which many proofs yet exist. The Mountaineers applied to the 

 more northern Indians the term of reproach, "Naskopie." This word 

 denotes the contempt the Mountaineers felt for the Naskopies when 

 the latter failed to fulfill their i)romise to assist in driving the Innuit 

 from the country. 



It was impossible to obtain a satisfactory estimate of the numbers of 

 the Mountaineers. My stay in their vicinity was too short to learn as 

 much about them as was desired. 



