That these people are capable of civilization there can be no doubt.  Missing the interpreter, without whom nothing could be done, the professor inquired for him and learned that he had returned to his wigwam.  Upon being summoned he said he was tired of talking.  Thereupon the professor bethought himself and asked him if he wanted more pay.  The interpreter, no longer tired, was willing to talk all night.

The camp was in a bend of the river and at the head of rapids about four miles from the mouth, up which we had to track, that is, one man had to haul the boat along by the bank with a small rope called a tracking line, while another kept her off the rocks by pushing against her with an oar.  At that point the river opened out into a beautiful lake from one to two miles in width, whose further end we could not see.  As this river never has been explored to its head, we were surprised that Messrs. Bryant and Kenaston, who were ready for their inland trip about a week after our party had started up the Grand River, had not chosen it as a field for their work rather than follow in the footsteps of our expedition.

[A carriage road] Of all Labrador north of the Straits, North West River alone boasts a carriage road.  To be sure, there are neither horses nor carriages at that post, but when Sir Donald A. Smith, at present at the head of the Hudson Bay Co.’s interests in Canada, but then plain Mr. Smith, factor, was in charge of that post his energy made the place a garden in the wilderness, and in addition to luxuries of an edible sort, he added drives in a carriage through forest and by shore, for about two miles, on a well made road.  Now, we are informed there is not a horse or cow north of Belle Isle.  The present factor, Mr. McLaren, is a shrewd Scotchman, genial and warm-hearted beneath a rather forbidding exterior, as all of our party who experienced his hospitality can testify.

In spite of all its attractions we could not stay at North West River.  In five weeks we were to meet our river detail at Rigolette, and during that time a trip north of 400 miles was to be made and the bulk of the expedition’s scientific work to be done.

Our day’s sail, with fresh breezes and favoring squalls, took us the whole length of the delightful lake, whose waters had seldom been vexed by a keel as long as the Julia’s, and brought us to an anchor off Eskimo Island.  Here we had one of our regular fights with the mosquitoes, the engagement perhaps being a trifle hotter than usual, for they swarmed down the companion way every time the “mosquito door,” of netting on a light frame hinged to the hatch house, was opened, in brigades and divisions and finally by whole army corps, till we were forced to retreat to our bunks, drive out the intruding hosts, which paid no respect whatever to our limited 6x3x3 private apartments, by energetically waving and slapping a towel around, then quickly shutting the door of netting, also on a tightly fitting frame, and devoting