was not able to make a contribution." Philosophy, history,
political economy, medicine ¹ and divinity, his stalwart un-
derstanding had studied and made its own. Left alone
with his books and his thoughts, he had pondered much over
the great problems besetting human life. The self-discipline
through which he passed during these solitary winters in
Labrador made him the strong man, independent alike in
his thinking and acting, that he afterwards showed himself.
Among other volumes in the 'post's' library were works on
zoology and botany, and these he perused with great care,
so as to enable him to identify the few animals and plants
inhabiting the country which he was wont to traverse."

Although the descriptions and nomenclature of the books
he studied differed not a little from those now employed, he
knew the things and was able to differentiate them, while
confessing that he could not attach to them their technical
specific names. He knew all about the polar bear, the
walrus, the eider-duck, and the wild goose, as well as about
the fur-bearing animals in which, as a trader, he was an
interested expert.

"In like manner he recognised the mosses, the lichens and
stunted shrubs which were found growing in the crevices
of the rocks on their surface. He also acquired a clear in-
sight into the peculiarities of the Esquimaux, of the Montag-
nais and other Indian tribes with whom business brought
him in contact, of whom he was ever ready to become a
champion. And as he appreciated their finer native quali-
ties, so they reciprocated his kind sympathy with them by
reposing in him implicit confidence. He was to them at
once physician and priest, healing their sick, marrying them,
and burying their dead. His dealings with the natives helped
to make him a keen, shrewd judge of men. His shaggy
brows gave to his eyes a telescopic look significant of his
penetrating perception and far-sightedness. The fuller in-

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