14 



The following testimony from an old and intimate East- 

 ern friend will surely confirm all this ; he recently wrote : 

 " Late in the Fall of '854, Mr. Bell was removed from the 

 " post of Godbout to Mingan, and on his way there he was 

 " shipwrecked and narrowly escaped drowning, — in fact, it 

 " was thought he had perished, and a man was therefore sent 

 " from Isle Jeremie to replace him. He had an outpost also 

 " besides the charge of Mingan. This was named Natashquan, 

 " situated a hundred miles to the Eastward. During the winter 

 " he visited that place, and when returning therefrom while 

 " travelling with one man and a sled of dogs over rather thin 

 " and insecure ice, he and his man went through, as did the 

 " sled — the man was drowned, but Mr. Bell got hold of one 

 " of the dog traces and the dogs hauled him out to solid ice. 

 " This accident occurred on La Cornez river, some thirty miles 

 " from Mingan. He was wet through, of course, and had 110- 

 " thing to strike a fire with. He saved but one of his snowshoes 

 " and lost both mitts and cap ! He kept tramping round the 

 " small island on which he landed, all night, in order to keep 

 " himself from freezing to death, — he was afraid to travel 

 " during the darkness for fear of again breaking through the 

 " ice. There was not a solitary settler or hunter at that time 

 " between both points. He, however, started out at dawn next 

 " day — the accident had happened after sunset — and never 

 " stopped until he reached Mingan. When he got there he 

 " found his toes frozen and lost several of them. In my 

 " opinion this was a remarkable feat of endurance — few men 

 " would have got so far after such a cold bath, and under such 

 " terribly trying circumstances. 



" In 1856, Mr. Bell was appointed to Esquimaux Bay 

 " district, Labrador, then in charge of Mr. Smith, now Lord 

 " Strathcona. He took passage in the brigantine " Independ- 

 " ent " — the wind being contrary, they anchored at a small 

 " place called Tug Harbor. In the night the wind changed 

 " suddenly to the Southeast, blowing a gale right on the shore 

 " — the vessel dragged her anchors and got stranded. Mr. 

 " Bell was washed ashore clinging to the mainboom, and nar- 



