the flag was raised, which feat Captain Grey, who commands the
Pelican, regarded as a great joke on the post. Once a year the
Pelican arrives from England, and the day of her appearance is the
Big Day for all the Labrador posts, as she brings the year's
supplies together with boxes and letters from home for the agents
and the clerks. From Rigolet she goes to Ungava, then returns to
Rigolet for the furs there and once more steams for England.

We found Captain Grey to be a jolly, cranky old seadog of the old
school. He has been with the Hudson's Bay Company for thirty
years, and has sailed the northern seas for fifty. He shook his
head pessimistically when he heard about our expedition. "You'll
never get back," he said. "But if you happen to be at Ungava when
I get there, I'll bring you back." "Sandy" Calder, the owner of
lumber mills on Sandwich Bay and the Grand River, who came from
Cartwright Post on Sandwich Bay with Captain Grey on the Pelican,
also predicted the failure of our enterprise. But Hubbard said to
me that he had heard such prophecies before; that they made the
work seem all the bigger, and that he could do it and would.

At noon on Monday Dr. Simpson came with the Julia Sheridan, and we
said good-bye to Rigolet. The voyage down the inlet to Northwest
River Post was without incident, except that the good doctor was
much concerned as to the outcome of our venture, saying: "Don't
leave your bones up there to whiten, boys, if you can possibly help
it." We reached Northwest River at two o'clock on Tuesday
afternoon, and found the post to be much the same as Rigolet,
except that its whitewashed buildings were all strung out in one
long row. The welcome we received from Mr. Thomas Mackenzie, the
agent there in charge, was most gratifying in its heartiness. Mr.