188 LABRADOR 
Beaver, bear, and lynx, with the caribou, may be reckoned 
under the latter description. 
The latter days of June — Nipish Piishum, the “ Leaf 
Moon ”’ — find the country pretty well vacated by the out- 
goers. July — Shetan, or ‘Ste. Anne Moon,” for Saint 
Anne is their special saint —is dedicated to church observ- 
ances and quiet life at the shore. The Oblate Fathers give 
religious instruction from the missions on the reserves, and 
the younger Indians are taught to write their own language. 
Canoes are built; a little near-by fishing is carried on; the 
season on the whole is one of festivity. 
The physical condition of the people is apt to deterio- 
rate in summer, for the elements of the reserve life are 
largely foreign to the native habit. There is crowding 
into small houses and cabins; doubtful drainage, water, 
and food; more whiskey than ought to be, and the ordinary 
diseases of civilization. At Pointe Bleue, on Lake St. John, 
rheumatism is prevalent, and the constitutional instability 
of the mixed race makes for consumption and the minor dis- 
eases always present in the large town of Roberval near by. 
The month of August is known as O-pé-0 Ptishum, 
“Moon of Flight,’ for then the young ducks begin to fly. 
They are welcome for the kettle during the canoe journeys 
to the hunting-grounds. As the month goes on, a busier air 
comes over the reserves; trading is completed, and the 
refitting brought to a close. One by one the families 
slip away, until at last only those who hunt comparatively 
near are left. By the last of September, Ushakau Piishum, 
when the ‘caribou horns harden,’ most of the cabins 
are empty, the tents have vanished, and few but the very 
helpless are left upon the reserve. 
