162 LABRADOR 
are engaged in propelling the canoe, the load should not 
greatly exceed eight hundred pounds in weight. 
As the whites know nothing about river work, and the 
Indians are few and unreliable, it is necessary to secure 
canoemen in Canada, and take them along to Hamilton 
Inlet. On my trips through the country, I have used Indians 
and French half-breeds from the Lake St. John district 
of Quebec, and have found them good, willing, and reliable 
men. Similar men may be obtained through the officer in 
charge of any of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts along 
the frontier. Fish are plentiful in the rivers, especially 
above the Grand Falls, and a net set nightly affords great 
assistance in securing the surprising amount of food re- 
quired by a party of able-bodied men. No reliance should 
be placed upon the killing of game during the summer 
months, and if by good luck caribou or bears are met with, 
it is easy to throw away a corresponding amount of pro- 
visions, but a sufficient supply for the entire trip should 
be taken in case of ill luck; this is an essential matter, as 
more parties have had to turn back from the northern 
wilderness owing to lack of food than from other reasons. 
A good supply of provisions means good-natured canoe- 
men, willing to go anywhere without a thought of danger, 
whereas the suspicion of starvation will change the same 
men into a discontented, mutinous crew. Mr. Leonidas 
Hubbard, subeditor of Outing, lost his life in 1903 in 
this district from starvation. His assistant, Mr. Dillon 
Wallace, and his half-breed guide only just succeeded in 
getting out alive. He had relied almost entirely on what 
game he could capture. 
Mrs. Hubbard and Mr. Dillon Wallace have since led 
