SOME LABRADOR RIVERS 
of the Manitou River rising up in the dark 
forest as we steamed along the coast, even if I 
could not see the falls themselves, which are a 
mile and a half from the shore. The river is the 
third or fourth in magnitude on the coast, and 
the falls, which make a sheer descent of 113 feet, 
must be of considerable grandeur and beauty. 
Hind relates that the ‘‘ Manitou River takes 
its name from the following incident, which is 
often described in Montagnais wigwams to 
eager listeners never weary of repetition. About 
200 years ago, when the Lower St. Lawrence was 
first visited by the Jesuits, the Montagnais 
were at war with the Souriquois or Micmacs 
of Acadia, who inhabited the south shore of the 
St. Lawrence and the country now called New 
Brunswick. A large party of Micmacs had 
crossed over the estuary of the St. Lawrence at 
its narrowest point and coasted towards Seven 
Islands, but not finding any Montagnais there, 
they descended during the night-time to the 
Moisie, and thence to the Manitou River, down 
which stream a few Montagnais bands were 
accustomed to come from the interior to the 
coast, to fish for salmon and seals. The Micmacs 
landed some miles before they reached the 
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