HAMILTON INLET, formerly INvux ToxE or ESQUIMAUX BAY, Labrador (q.v.), the estuary of the Hamilton or Grand River and the largest of the many fiords or inlets indent ing the Labrador Coast. It is located in lat. 54° 30' N., is about 150 miles long and has an average width of 14 miles and a maximum width of about 25 miles. The surrounding country is high and rocky, possessing, however, extensive forests. The Hamilton, Northwest and Kenamon rivers drain into Hamilton Inlet. Together with other parts of Labrador it has been the cause of frequent boundary disputes between Newfoundland and the province of Quebec. It was apparently first visited in 1500 by Corte-Real, a Portuguese navigator, redis covered in 1586 by John Davis and then left alone for a long time. In 1777 the English first entered the inlet. Trading posts had previously been established by the French, but were abandoned later. The first English trad ing post was established in 1785 by a Quebec firm, and in 1837 the Hudson's Bay Company (q.v.) established a trading post, Rigolet, on
its north shore which is still being maintained. Its present name was given to it in 1821 by Capt. W. Martin in honor of the governor of Newfoundland of that day, Sir Charles Hamil ton. It was first surveyed in 1860 by Sir L.
McClintock of the Imperial Survey; since then it has been visited frequently by explorers and is gradually gaining in development and importance. Consult Gosling, W. G.,