CHAPTER VIII 



THROUGH THE PETITE RIGOLET TO THE 

 ST. AUGUSTINE RIVER 



ON July 22, 1833, Audubon went in a 

 small boat from Bale de Portage, where 

 the Ripley lay at anchor, to a harbor a mile 

 to the -eastward, where an island shut off the 

 sea to the south, and high hills kept off the 

 northern winds. Here he found a French Cana- 

 dian, a seal-catcher, who entertained him with 

 an account of his work in netting seals, trap- 

 ping foxes, and shooting bears, wolves, and 

 caribou. This was Big Mecattina Harbor, and 

 Audubon says in his "Episode" on "The 

 Squatters of Labrador": "Pierre Jean-Bap- 

 tiste Michaux had resided in that part of the 

 world for upwards of ten years. He had run 

 away from the fishing-smack that had brought 

 him from his fair native land, and expected 

 to become rich some day by the sale of the 

 furs, Seal-skins, eider-down, and other articles, 

 which he collected yearly, and sold to the 

 traders who regularly visited his dreary abode. 



166 



