come to the Post each spring to barter or sell their furs. In the
olden time there were nearly a hundred families of them, whose hunting
ground was that section of country between Hamilton Inlet and the
Upper George River.

These people now, for the most part, hunt south of the inlet and trade
at the St. Lawrence Posts. The chapel was erected about 1872, but ten
years ago the Jesuit missionary was withdrawn, and since then the
building has fallen into decay and ruin, and the crosses that marked
the graves in the old burying grounds have been broken down by the
heavy winter snows. It was this withdrawal of the missionary that
turned the Indians to the southward, where priests are more easily
found. The Mountaineer Indian, unlike the Nascaupee, is very
religious, and must, at least once a year, meet his father confessor.
The camping ground since the abandonment of the mission, has lain
lonely and deserted, save for three or four families who, occasionally
in the summer season, come back again to pitch their tents where their
forefathers camped and held their annual feasts in the old days.

Competition between the trading companies at this point has raised the
price of furs to such an extent that the few families of Indians that
trade at this Post are well-to-do and very independent. There were
two tents of them here when we arrived--five men and several women and
children. I found two of my old friends there--John and William
Ahsini. They expressed pleasure in meeting me again, and a lively
interest in our trip. With Mr. Cotter acting as interpreter, John
made for me a map of the old Indian trail from Grand Lake to Seal
Lake, and William a map to Lake Michikamau and over the height of land
to the George River, indicating the portages and principal intervening
lakes as they remembered them.