A LABRADOR SPRING 
This point in the Romaine River where the 
known leaves off and the unknown begins is 
about 75 miles in a straight line from the sea 
according to Low’s map, or about roo miles by 
the river. The number of portages from the 
Romaine to the St. John River, according to 
Low, is thirty-one, ‘‘ and their combined length 
aggregates nineteen miles and a half.’”’ The 
water part of this route between the two rivers, 
made up of lakes and small streams, aggre- 
gates some forty miles in length. The diffi- 
culties of this long portage must be great, but 
it only serves to emphasize the fact that the 
lower course of the Romaine is impas- 
sable. 
Cabot gives an interesting derivation 
for the name of this river, a derivation 
very different from the apparent one of Italian 
origin. He says: ‘“‘ Its Indian name ‘ Alimun,’ 
meaning difficult, has passed through a re- 
arrangement of sounds unusual in the ad- 
justing of Indian names to French organs 
of speech. From ‘L’Alimun’ to ‘La Ro- 
maine’ the transition is easy, — surprisingly 
so, considering that no less a feat is involved 
than the introduction of the full rolling r 
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