554 Notes on the Labrador Eskimo [June, 
his flesh so from the bones, he made signes to the contrarie, and 
that he was slain with wolves and wild beastes.” 
Although it is generally stated that the Eskimo seldom if ever 
bury their dead, the foregoing statement would show that in early 
times at least they took pains to place the corpse in stone tombs. 
I found at Hopedale, in 1864, two skeletons, evidently Eskimo, 
interred in the following manner: while walking over a high 
bare hill north-east of the station I discovered a pole projecting 
from what seemed a fissure in the rock; it proved to be the sign 
of an Eskimo grave; the pole projected from the chasm, which 
was about fifteen inches wide and twenty or twenty-four inches in 
depth; the opening was covered by a few large stones laid across 
the fissure. At the bottom lay the remains of two skeletons en- 
tirely exposed to the elements, with no soil over them. The skulls 
were tolerably well preserved, and so were the Jong bones, but the 
vertebre, ribs, &c., had mostly decayed. Judging by the way in 
which such objects are preserved in the open air on this coast, the 
burial must have been made at least over half a century ago, but 
more probably from one to three centuries since. 
We now glean the following extracts from Hind’s excellent Ex- 
plorations in the Interior of the Labrador peninsula, which show 
that the Eskimo spread south-westward along the coast of Lab- 
rador as far as the Mingan islands. 
Speaking of the Montagnais or coast Indians of Labrador, he 
writes: “ Of their wars with the Mohawks to the west, and the 
Esquimaux to the east, between 200 and 300 years ago, there not 
only remain traditions, but the names of many places in the Lab- 
rador peninsula are derived from bloody battles with their bold and 
aie enemies, or the stolid and progressive Esquimaux = (1, 
p. ii 
-Fhe sinkinit of the Great Boule, 700 feet above the sea, and 
the brow of the bold peninsula on the west side of the harbour 
[Seven Island bay] were two noted outlooks in the good old 
Montagnais times. They are not unfrequently visited now, when 
the Indians of the coast wish to show their country tothe Nas- 
quapees from the interior, and to tell them of their ancient wars 
_with the Esquimaux. * * * They were able to hold their 
own against the Esquimaux in consequence of the almost exclu- 
oe sively maritime habits of the people, who rarely ascended the 
rivers further than the first falls or rapids: and they fearlessly 
