





CHAPTER XXIX. 



^'otcs in Labrador — Indians — Civilities on Board the Quebec Cutter— 

 The Fur Compatiy — Severe Weather — Winds and Rain — Excur- 

 sions on Shore — Hut of a Labrador Seal- Catcher — Great Maca- 

 tine Islands — Officers'' Bivouac Ashore. 



UNE 23. We met here two large boats loaded 

 with Mountaineer Indians, about twenty, old 

 and young, male and female. The boats had 

 small canoes lashed to their sides, like whale boats, for 

 seal fishing. The men were stout and good-looking, and 

 spoke tolerable French ; their skins were redder and 

 clearer than any other Indians I have ever seen. The 

 women also appeared cleaner than usual, their hair was 

 braided, and dangled over their shoulders, like so many 

 short ropes. They were all dressed in European cos- 

 tumes except their feet, on which coarse moccasins made 

 of seal skin supplied the place of shoes. 



" On leaving the harbor this morning, we saw a black 

 man-of-war-like looking vessel entering it, bearing the 

 English flag ; it proved to be the Quebec cutter. I 

 wrote a note to the commander, sent him my card, and 

 requested an interview. He proved to be Captain Bay- 

 field of the Royal Navy, the vessel was the Gulnare, and 

 he replied that he would receive me in two hours. After 

 dinner, taking some credentials in my pocket, I went 

 aboard of the Gulnare, was politely received, and intro- 

 duced to the surgeon, who seemed a man of ability, and 

 is a student of botany and conchology. Thus the lovers 

 of nature meet everywhere, but surely I did not expect to 



