Here it bent a
little to the northeast, but two miles farther on it again bore
away to the north. In the distance we could see the mountain tops
standing far apart and knew that there, between them, a lake must
lie. Could it be Indian House Lake, the Mush-au-wau-ni-pi, or
"Barren Grounds Water," of the Indians? We were still farther
south than it was placed on the map I carried. Yet we had passed
the full number of lakes given in the map above this water. Even
so I did not believe it could be the big lake I had been looking
forward to reaching so eagerly.
As we paddled on at a rather brisk rate I sat thinking how
beautiful the river, the mountains, and the morning were. I had
not settled myself to watch seriously for the Nascaupee camp, when
suddenly George exclaimed, "There it is."
There it was indeed, a covered wigwam, high up on a sandy hill,
which sloped to the water's edge, and formed the point round which
the river flowed to the lake among the mountains. Soon a second
wigwam came in sight. We could see no one at the camp at first.
Then a figure appeared moving about near one of the wigwams. It
was evident that they were still unconscious of our presence; but
as we paddled slowly along the figure suddenly stopped, a whole
company came running together, and plainly our sudden appearance
was causing great excitement. There was a hurried moving to and
fro and after a time came the sound of two rifle shots. I replied
with my revolver. Again they fired and I replied again. Then more
shots from the hill.
As we drew slowly near, the men ran down towards the landing, but
halted above a narrow belt of trees near the water's edge. There
an animated discussion of the newcomers took place.
We all shouted, "Bo Jou! Bo Jou!" (Bon Jour).
A chorus of Bo Jous came back from the hill.
George called to them in Indian, "We are strangers and are passing
through your country."
The sound of words in their own tongue reassured them and they ran
down to the landing. As we drew near we could hear them talking.
I, of course, could not understand a word of it, but I learned
later from George what they said.
"Who are they?"
"See the man steering looks like an Indian."
"That surely is an Indian."
"Why, there is an English woman."
"Where have they come from?"
As the canoe glided towards the landing, one, who was evidently the
chief, stepped forward while the others remained a little apart.
Putting out his band to catch the canoe as it touched the sand he
said, "Of course you have some tobacco?"
"Only a little," George replied. "We have come far."
Then the hand was given in greeting as we slipped ashore.
It was a striking picture they made that quiet Sabbath morning, as
they stood there at the shore with the dark green woods behind them
and all about them the great wilderness of rock and river and lake.
You did not see it all, but you felt it. They had markedly Indian
faces and those of the older men showed plainly the battle for life
they had been fighting. They were tall, lithe, and active looking,
with a certain air of self-possession and dignity which almost all
Indians seem to have. They wore dressed deer-skin breeches and
moccasins and over the breeches were drawn bright red cloth
leggings reaching from the ankle to well above the knee, and held
in place by straps fastened about the waist. The shirts, some of
which were of cloth and some of dressed deer-skin, were worn
outside the breeches and over these a white coat bound about the
edges with blue or red. Their hair was long and cut straight round
below the ears, while tied about the head was a bright coloured
kerchief. The faces were full of interest. Up on the hill the
women and children and old men stood watching, perhaps waiting till
it should appear whether the strangers were friendly or hostile.
"Where did you come into the river?" the chief asked. George
explained that we had come the whole length of the river, that we
had come into it from Lake Michikamau, which we reached by way of
the Nascaupee. He was greatly surprised. He had been at Northwest
River and knew the route. Turning to the others he told them of
our long journey. Then they came forward and gathered eagerly
about us. We told them we were going down the river to the post at
Ungava.
"Oh! you are near now,", they said. "You will sleep only five
times if you travel fast."
My heart bounded as this was interpreted to me, for it meant that
we should be at the post before the end of August, for this was
only the twentieth. There was still a chance that we might be in
time for the ship.
"Then where is the long lake that is in this river?" George
enquired.
"It is here," the chief replied.
We enquired about the river. All were eager to tell about it, and
many expressive gestures were added to their words to tell that the
river was rapid all the way. An arm held at an angle showed what
we were to expect in the rapids and a vigorous drop of the hand
expressed something about the falls. There would be a few portages
but they were not long, and in some places it would be just a short
lift over; but it was all rapid nearly.
"And when you come to a river coming in on the other side in quite
a fall you are not far from the post."
There was a tightening in my throat as I thought, "What if I had
decided to turn back rather than winter in Labrador!"
"Did you see any Indians?" the chief asked.
