^^" IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) fe {/ A % 1.0 I.I L^ 12.8 1 2.5 12.0 1.8 lyi iiiii_yL III 1.6 V] %' CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical IVIicroreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The institute has attempted to obtain the best originai copy availabie for fiiming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. D D D Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu6es Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge Intdrieure) L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains dAfauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous. D D D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Show through/ Transparence Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es Th< poi of filn Th( coi or api Th( filr ins Me in ( upi boi fol D Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques □ Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque D D D Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent Maps missing/ Des cartes gdographiques manquent D D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires 18 la The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol Y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Les images suivantes ont 6t4 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la netteti de I'exemplaire filmA, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la der- nidre P**'^ T*^?* I) cP^ OTTAWA "^;!^' FEB 3 lafilS American Geographical Society. EXPLORATION ON GRAND RIVLR. n'^' LABRADOR. BY AUSTIN GARY. ^ Current ideas of Labrador are derived from reports of the coast. Of the interior little is known except that it is a plateau, netted with lakes and flowages, which drain off the edges of the country in a number of very swift, rough rivers. The only account that is accessible of any extensive portion of it is that of Prof. Hind, who, in 1861, starting from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, penetrated the country for a hundred miles along the line of the Moisie River. The general height of land in this region he determined at about 2,200 feet. The country he reported to be naturally covered with caribou moss, and timbered to some ex- tent ; but great areas, cleared by fire of every vestige of soil and vegetation, presented an utterly desolate aspect of bare boulders and ledges. The Grand River, the scene of the Bowdoin Explora- tion, is not laid down on many of the maps of the coun- try. Nevertheless, it is said to be the largest river in Labrador, and was known years ago to the agents of the 'Ml I l?9t Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. Hudson Bay Co., who, in the early days of their trade, before the Indians had become dependent on trade with the whites, had stations on the lower part of its course. At length, in 1839, John McLean, in the same employ, but starting from Ungava, in the extreme north of the country, travelled up one of the Ungava rivers, crossed through the plateau lakes, and descended the Grand River, reporting on his return a great fall on the Grand River. This fall was subsequently seen by sev- eral employes of the company, but not by any accurate observer, and nothing was added to McLean's very general account.* Finally, travel on the river ceased, and river and falls were largely forgotten, until, in 1887, Mr. Randle F. Holme, of England, attempted their elucidation. He ascended the river for 1 70 miles, but failed in the main object of his search. His report,f however, served to direct attention to the falls, while he was able to make a map of the river, and to put on rec- ord many facts in the history of the region. Much that is in that report will, for that reason, be omitted from this, but it must be read with the caution that some of Mr. Holme's surmises about matters beyond the point of his own observation have proved very wide of the mark. This was the state of things when Prof. Leslie A. Lee was planning the Bowdoin Expedition to Labrador in the spring of 1891. He therefore determined to send a .!.i* i.'\* *See Hind " Explorations in Labrador," v. ii., p. 137. f Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, April, 1888. To Mr. Holme's list of men who have seen the fall, William Alves, now of Halifax, should be added. He says that about 1S60, while on a journey to "Height of Land," or Fort Nascopee, he vis- ited the fall with several others of ais party. '" Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. 3 party up the Grand River, and with that in view, boats, camp outfit and provisions suitable for such a trip were carried on the vessel which transported the entire party to the coast. The men to make up the party were all chosen from the vessel, and were either present or for- mer students of the college. Guides were neither necessary nor obtainable, and it was believed that men could not be hired who would be in all respects so sat- isfactory as those picked from our own numbers. The party then consisted of the following men : D. M. Cole, W. R. Smith, E. B. Young, and the writer. We had most of the objects of a scientific reconnois- sance, for which a leisurely trip is essential. We hoped especially to map out the river and to render a clear account of its surroundings ; and to that end went pro- vided with sextant and chronometer, aneroid, compass, etc. But the vessel had to be home in September, while in working up the Labrador coast she was so de- layed by fogs and ice that when she arrived in Hamil- ton Inlet it was decided that but thirty days could be allowed us for the trip. Now the falls were our desti- nation — they must be reached, or our expedition was a failure. Uncertain then of their distance, and of the obstacles to be met, with the example too of Holme's failure before us, it was concluded that on the up-trip nothing should be allowed to interfere with our prog- ress. The up-trip then resolved itself into a grand rush to reach the fall. Now, on t! way back, as it proved, we had all we could do to take ourselves out of the country ; so that the expedition, as a whole, was pro- ductive of far less accurate information than was hoped. In any inferences as to distance covered or obstacles 4 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. met, it must be taken into accoimt that what was accom- phshetl in this case was clone by yoiinj^ and vi<^orous men, worlcinjj^ steariily np to the limit of their streni^th. The vessel entered Ilamilton Inlet July 23d, a d three days later, on Sunday, July 26th, b(Mn^ then near the head of Lal<(! Melville, and within a few miles of the mouth of Grand River, she was hove to, the boats jnit over her sides, and the river f)arty left to their own resources. Next morning we entered the mouth of the river, and met with a fair sample of it in the shape of a deep, strong current, which drove us at once into shoal water. The river's mouth on the charts is put at about a mile wide, but, enterinir between the low, wooded points which bound it, ir, soon expands to two or three miles. The banks here are sand plains but a few feet in heii^ht, but gradually rising as we proceed. Several miles away on either hand, and parallel to the general course of the river, run high, steep-sided ridges, the prolonga- tion of the rock walls in which the lake below is con- tained. Both plain and hills are wooded, and in this sheltered valley the trees grow to a large size. Joseph Michelin, the only settler on the river, was found by the party chopping spars. Except a camp of Indians, he was the last human being seen on the up-trip, while his house was a welcome sh(*lter to two of us on the way down. One time and another considerable was seen of Michelin by the party. Me was a hunter and trapper by trade, in parentage a mixture of Scotch, Eskimo and French Canadian, and a very bright and interest- ing man withal. He confirmed our own judgment about the volume of the river in high water. In spring, when Exploration on Cirand River, Labrador. 5 isix feet of snow an* ineltin^^ ovc^r the country, the vol- ume which pours down this great valley must be tre- mendous. Twenty-five miles up the river is the lower fall, so- called, where a half mile of rapids, with a low plunge at each id.\\i\, makes, accordinjj; to Mr. Holme, a difference of level of seventy feet. lielow the fall the river ex- pands into a round j^ool several miles in diameter, across which, from the fall, runs a heavy and regular swell. This point was reached early on our second day, and here the crew was put to the first severe test. Hy that fall the outfit must be carried bodily, so after a square meal every man shouldered fifty pounds, carried it up the steep bank, over the level, and down to tht; water's edge on the other side. Our boats weighed eighty pounds apiece, and the outfit otherwise amounted to about 500 pounds. To carry it half a mile was a half day's work, that for the time being used up the crew. R(;st was needed, and since during the two nights out nobody had sle[)t much on account of the flies, camp was made and we prepared to take the comfort of the situation. A bed was made on the sand, with a tent of mosquito net over our heads, and then, our cooked food having given out, the cook got out his flour and tins and began his humble but essen- tial ministrations. Camp cookery at best is rather a wearing process, but the agonies of a man whose hands are tangled up in dough, and whom the flies be- cloud, competing for standing room on every exposed portion of his body, can be imagined only by the ex- perienced. Mosquitoes and flies are the chief obstacle to summer life in Labrador. When travelling for 6 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. any length of time in the woods, the blood they draw is a very serious matter. The next two days were passed without noteworthy incident. We were gradually getting hold of the coun- try. The sand plains were rising into terraces, and mounted finally to a height of everal hundred feet, The rock walls still continued, L coming more regular and even. The vegetation was the subject of remark until its main features became familiar. Spruce is de- cidedly the tree of the region,* but fir, birch, hackma- tack and alder are also abundant, while there was a variety of smaller vegetation. Berries were in places quite plentiful, and they figured largely in the diet of Cole and myself on the return. In fact, neither the weather nor the surroundings were markedly different from those that attend camping out in Maine at the same season of the year. Sixty-five miles, as the trappers call it, from the mouth of the river, is Gull Island Lake. This was reached July 30th, and found to be some three miles wide, and to lie within banks of sand. Into its head runs the first of a series of heavy rapids, and here for the crew a different kind of business began. The Gull Island is a heavy, dangerous rapid, and, as we found it, was seven miles long. The next rapid centres on the first square turn of the river seen on the map. It is divided in low water into four distinct pitches, and has on each side many hard obstacles to pass ; but the swiftest piece of water on the river, though of moderately easy passage * Along the river, as has been said, large trees are found. On the plateau, how- ever, a spruce eight or ten inches through would, so far as observed, be a large one. The trees are also thick and bushy. Exploration on Grand Rivera Labrador. 7 on the north shore, lies for about a mile above and be- low the Minninipi River.* Connecting all these rapids is a swift current against which it is impossible to row, and in high water the rapid for this whole distance would be continuous. The passage up was rough work, and a number of short carries were necessary, while on one occasion we cut out a portage path of a quarter of a mile. Neither was the passage made without acci- dent. One boat got to leaking, while the other was upset and many valuable things lost, including our only barometer and a quarter of our provisions. This dis- aster, due to the feeling of rush which begrudged the time required to lash in the loads, has been the subject of very gr^at regret. The riv<.. along here runs generally on the country rock, which on each side lies always close at hand. Emerging from the Minninipi rapid the river becomes wider, and, while a strong current runs in its channel in- shore good progress can generally be made with the oars. Camp was made August 3d, on an island six miles above the rapid, and a cache of a little flour and a can of beef left. The next two days, tracking boing frequently necessary, we covered about thirty-five miles ; while on August 6th the last recorded rapid was passed, and we reached the great landmark on our journey. Lake Waminikapou. This point Mr. Holme called r 50 miles from the mouth of the river, and I have no reason to revise his estimate. * The party did not remain long enough about Hamilton Inlet to add to the nomenclature of the country as given by Mr. Hclme. The river mentioned, how- ever, seemed always to be pronounced as here spelled, and I have, therefore, in this respect, departed from Mr. Holme's usage. 8 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. A little beyond lay the furthest point reached by him, where, delayed by a gale, and with supplies ex- hausted, he had been compelled to turn back. This point we had reached in ter and a half days, and we felt thoroughly self-satisfied. And there was other cause for rejoicing ; for it was a fine afternoon and amid grand surroundings that we entered the lake. As we gradually worked out of the swift water, the terraces of sand and stones were seen to give way, and the ridges beyond to approach one another and to erect them- selves, until at the lake's mouth we entered a grand portal between cliffs on either hand, towering for hun- dreds of feet straight into the air. And looking beyond and between the reaches of the lake were seen, a ribbon of water, lying between steep-sided ridges, over the face of which, as we pulled along, mountain streams came pouring. It was a time for enthusiasm, but leisure for enthusi- asm was short. Rowing a few miles up the lake, we camped on the beach and made preparations for a record-breaking day on the morrow. That morrow was no disappointment. We put 40 miles to our credit, and at 6 o'clock in the afternoon in a pouring rain made camp five miles above the lake. Next morning, much to the regret of all of us, the party was divided. The dis- tance of the fall was uncertain, while, owing to the up- set, provisions were becoming short. Young, more- over, was useless. A strain, early in the trip, with con- tinued labor, had caused his arm to swell and become painful, till he was unable either to work or sleep. He and vSmith, therefore, ^'xking necessary stores, started back for the settlement. They shot most of the rapids, Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. 9 and reached Lake Melville in three days w'thout acci- dent, but in passage on a sail-boat to Rigolet, were caught one night in a squall and had to cut their boat adrift for their own safety. If these men had not turned round, the falls would not have been reached. The men who made this sacrifice did so willingly, and they de- serve as much credit for the final success as those who went on. Here I must digress a little to the structure of the country. The interior of Labrador, it is understood, is a plateau some 2,000 feet* in height; and the Grand River in this portion of it flows, not at the plateau level, but in a valley or trough cut into it to nearly its entire; depth. This valley above Gull Lsland Lake is narrow, two or three miles wide at most, and even this width is in most places largely taken up by loose mate- rial, sand and stones, left here at an earlier period. The sides of this valley from the river level present, as I have mentioned, the appearance of parallel, steep-slop- ing ridges, the contour of which is often remarkably even for long distances. This is particularly the case through Lake Waminikapou and above. Except for one great vertical bluff on a sharp turn about thirty miles above the lake, I remember no other jilace up to the end of our travel where this contour is markedly broken. Through the rapids the contour of the walls is fur less irregular, but at Gull Island Lake and for some distance below the structure comes out again with considerable regularity. The largest streams come in * See Mr. Holme's paper. Our party never ascended to the plateau level except at the upper end of our travel, and the statements in this paragraj)!! are conse- quently based on what was seen and inferred from the river level. ,1^ i f^l isii lO Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. through deep branch valleys, and such branches are indicated on the map. A very picturesque feature of the river is the large number of smaller streams which come in over the ridges as torrents and cataracts. Lake Waminikapou, it should be said, is but a section of this valley, forty miles long, which has been dammed up. The loose material too has been cleared out here, the only remains of it seen being a high sand bank on the north side near the outlet. We had two days clear rowing above the lake and must have covered fifty miles when we again struck rough water. This necessitated tracking again, but at the end of a day the river had become so rough that, after reconnoitering ahead, we concluded we could make better progress on foot ; so we made camp there in the spruces on the bank, and in the morning the boat was brought into the woods out of reach of the sun, the stuff stowed snugly away under it, packs made up, and we started off. A blanket bag apiece, one rubber blanket, the camera and compass, a hatchet, a revolver with shot cartridges, and provisions for a week, made up a load for each man of twenty or twenty-five pounds. The first move was to get somewhere where we could see. A steep climb up over the old beaches brought us for the first time on the Labrador plateau. We could see the river course for some distance above and below, but what was of mo»-e account was a bare round-topped mountain some miles to the north, rising clear of any neighboring elevation. This we determined to climb, hoping that from it we might see the mist of the fall ; and so, compass in hand, we set out for it, tramping among bushy spruces growing scatteringly out of deep Exploration on Grand River y Labrador. 1 1 springy beds of moss. At length we gained the top. No sign of the fall greeted us. We could see the river valley stretching for miles, looking in its contour and regularity like the Colorado canon. On the opposite side above two branch valleys came in. A large lake lay just to the east of us. Another was shining away off in the north, while ponds of various sizes were scattered over the country in every direction. All the near country was wooded, but off in the northeast a number of bare ridges were seen, and in their neighborhood a fire was raging. Taking the bearing of important points, we returned to the plain. The night was spent close to the river, and next morning travel was resumed along its shore. A large branch on the opposite side was passed, and dinner taken where a second came into the main stream. Here the river abruptly contracts and turn;^ a right angle, while we were driven on to the plateau by the narro'.vness and steepness of its gorge. The next day was the 13th of August. We had been jumping at the work ever since the start, and it had begun to tell severely. The food in our packs was by this time half gone, and, whether or no the falls were reached, it looked as if that day must be the last of our forward march. With the idea then of making that day tell for as much as possible, we quit following the wind- ings of the river, and struck out parallel to its general course ; and so for an hour or two, pestered by flies and expecting little, we plodded along rather listlessly. And we had just sighted a hill in the distance and had de- termined to make for it, when Cole called my attention to a roar coming from the direction of the river. We jn I V\ 12 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. had often heard such sounds on the previous day, and going up could always look down into a great deep gorge, where the river, hundreds o*" feet beneath, was plunging along in ' vy rapids ; Lut this sound was perhaps heavier than others, and the river we knew was a long way off, so we headed up for it and began to travel with more snap and interest. The sound at first held off, but that was a trood sicrn. At len^^th it (jrad- ually increased, became greatly heavier, and as we trav- elled now more hopefully, the roar of a sudden changed character, — it seemed tremendous and close to, and somehow as if it were not muffled up in a caflon — while from away down to the left came a periodical pounding. That put us into a run, and in a minute we caught the flash of white water through the spruces, and, bursting through the fringe of bushes, found ourselves on the shore of a heavy rapid, at our own level, and the falls were smoking and pounding below. The roar which had attracted us was that of the river running at the plateau level. Where we came out upon it, about a mile above the fall, the river was nearly 200 yards wide, a heavy boiling rapid. Walking down over the great blocks of rock which form the shore, the river is seen to narrow ; it becomes rougher too, and makes two or three minor plunges of ten or fifteen feet. Going down to the brink of the main fall, and standing on the ledge beside it, the river is seen coming down from the north, plunging right at you. Just above where you stand, the river gathers itself into a narrow, straight shoot of tremendous velocity and power, which, at first nearly horizontal, curves gradually downward over a similar curve in the jointing of the rock, until, after a Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. 1 3 long steep slide, it drops vertically into a basin filled with flying mists. Below the fall the river for half a mile flows east, the abrupt turn at the fall rendering impossible a face view of it from the left bank. The opposite side of the basin is vertical, but the nearer side, while very steep, has seams in it with occasional fringes of bushes, which make it possible for a man to climb down to the level of the river. Mr. Cole scrambled down with our Kodak camera, and took pictures of the fall and gorge which are used in illustration. The writer at the same time was occupied in an attempt to get at the height of the fall. Our sextant was at the boat and the aneroid in the Horseshoe rapid, so an original device was rigged. The theory was good, and the result would doubtless have been tolerably satisfac- tory had not a couple of the little black flies, which had otherwise done us so much injury, crawled !n by the cross-levels in the bottom of my compass and vitiated the sights. The height of the fall was estimated at not over 200 feet, but it has since been determined to be considerably greater. An estimate of the volume of water is very difificult to give. We saw the fall at a time of low water, but the volume then running amounted to a very considerable river, as large, I should say, as the summer volume of any of the rivers of Maine. Tradition about the Inlet has it that the first white men who ever saw the fall were attracted to it by the mist which was seen from a distance of many miles; that when they came nearer the ground shook, and that only the most courageous of the party dared to ap- proach the brink. Little wonder that the Indians avoid, as a supernatural object, such a manifestation of power f ;[•[ m 1 4 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. \\\ m n V For the sake of completeness I shall say here that Mr. Cole walked up stream to a point three or four miles above the fall, and there climbed a tree from which he could see a couple of miles further. The river was a heavy rapid all the way. The elevation climbed the day we left the boat was christened Mt. Hyde. The distant lake seen from its summit, and outlined on the map, was supposed to be Petchikapou, where old Fort Nascopee was located. Plotting our data as best I can, I judge the lake to be not more than fifteen miles from the fall, and in the direction from which the river is flowing. At the fall begins the structure which we have taken the liberty to name " Bowdoin Cafion." One of the illustrations is a view in its upper end, looking down stream from the foot of the fall. The vertical wall on the opposite side is somewhpt higher than the fall. Some four miles below, in a turn to the west, the river has cut into the northern face of a hill, and here again the wall is vertical. The river is very wild meanwhile, and if the fall is 300 feet in height, this cliff cannot be less than 500. On the return we travelled as directly as possible from the head to the foot of the caflon, and estimated the distance at nine miles. One way or the other, nearly the whole length of the cafion was seen. Its course was very winding, with many sharp turns, and I have no hesitation in saying that its entire length is as much as twenty miles. The river occupies the whole width of the bottom, averaging, it is judged, something like 100 yards. For the whole distance it is exceedingly rough, and there are many minor falls and plunges which make the change of level Exploration on Grand River ^ Labrador. 1 5 very rapid. At its foot, therefore, the structure era- nut be less than 800 or 1,000 feet deep, while it is prob- ably deeper. It was descended but once, at the head, and so steep are the sides that at but few points through- out its length would descent have been possible. I have previously described the character of the river valley below. It is, in brief, a trough cut into the plateau, differing from the caflon in being wider, and in having walls much less steep. It is, in short, an older struc- ture. Now the cafion opens into the side of this val- ley, and at right angles to it. The valley extends straight by, continuous in direction and character, but while, as seems evident, the main drainage of the coun- try once flowed through this channel, it now holds but a small stream compared with the volume pouring out of the cafton. The branch coming in from the west some miles below is much larger, carrying probably one-fourth the volume of the main stream. Here I shall briefly close my narrative, leaving for the end the task of gathering up a few salient points. One day was spent in the neighborhood of the fall, then we set out on the return. Late in the afternoon of the second day we reached the spot where we had left[our boat. A hard sight was before us. Our camp- fire had hung in the ground, and in the middle of a half-acre of burnt moss and uprooted trees we found the ashes of our outfit. With the nearest cache 150 miles av/ay, this constituted a serious situation ; so fishing everything useful out of the fire, and throwing away all unnecessary load, we once more slung on the packs and struck out down river. Progress was made on rafts and afoot. We had a little food to start with. 1' ( I 16 Exploration on Grand River, Labrador. % Trout and berries added something-, while the squirrels helped out still more. Fourteen days from the burnt boat the river was behind us, and we turned up at Joseph Michelin's door; and three days later, on Sep- tember I St, we met the vessel at Rigolet, and climbed over her sides to a square meal and a hearty welcome. Society, literature, aesthetic pleasures were for us super- fluous. Life for the next few weeks was a round of eating and sleep. One inference drawn from this experience I wish to spread as far as the knowledge of it goes, — and that is the value at such a time of sleep. We carried our blankets through and made it a point every night to build a brush bed, have a camp fire, and take all the com- fort possible. This sometimes cost a good deal, but it paid abundantly. It is my judgment that a man, caught in circumstances where strength has to be carefully hus- banded, should sacrifice almost anything for the sake of sound sleep. To sum up the main points, Labrador is a part of the oldest land on the American continent, and its sur- face is the product of long erosion and of glaciation. This surface in the region under discussion is according to Mr. Holme 2,000 feet above the sea, and, so far as our limited observation goes, it is reduced in the interior to a pretty even general level with perpetual minor ele- vations and depressions. The Grand River flows in a valley cut '^ ^eply into the plateau, a vaMey shaped for the most pai t by the action of water and ice. The cafton is a younger structure, and untouched by glaciation. The magnitude of these structures is evident ; but when it is remembered that they are formed in the hardest Exploration on Gvond River, Labrador. i/ crystalline rocks, their grandeur and impressiveness are multiplied. The length of the river from Lake Melville to the fall is thought to be a little less than 300 miles. Points of the compass where mentioned in the text are magnetic. of I