THE HAMILTON RIVER AND THE GRAND FALLS 159 
ably used as kitchen and shop. The foundation of an- 
other small building about twenty yards in the rear is 
probably the remains of the servants’ house, while the 
powder-magazine, half buried in the ground, stands farther 
back. Adjoining is a small burying-ground with a large 
cross in the centre; no marks were found on the graves. 
In the attic of the main building a fragment of the Albion 
of March 7, 1846, was found. Close to the house are several 
patches of rhubarb in a flourishing condition. The whole 
forms the ruined remains of what corresponded to a typical 
inland post of to-day, as, for example, those of Nichicun and 
Mistassini. Such a post is in charge of a postmaster, usually 
graduated from the ranks of the superior servants of the 
larger posts, and married to an Indian woman. He has 
generally two or three Indians or half-breeds under him, 
and these with their families make up the settlement. 
Owing to the great distances from the coast and the diffi- 
culties of transportation, the amount of civilized provisions 
brought in is small, and the daily ration is very meagre. 
About one pound of flour per day falls to the share of each 
family, with tea and sugar in proportion, so that all must 
look to the country for food. This is largely provided by 
nets, as the posts are always located conveniently to some 
good fishing lake. Ptarmigan and other game birds 
provide most of the flesh, supplemented with caribou, bear, 
beaver, lynx, muskrat, and rabbits. 
At Nichicun potatoes will not grow in the short summer 
season, and this was probably the case at Nascaupee, so 
that the farinaceous food was limited to the family share 
of the daily pound of flour. The life at an inland post is a 
lonely one. With the departure of the ice in spring, the 
