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THE STORY OF LABRADOR

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Where the Fishers Go

The Story of Labrador

Rev. P. W. BROWNE

(^Member Historical Society Nova Scotia)

Illustrated with over One Hundred and Sixty
Photographs, Maps, etc.

TORONTO

THE MUSSON BOOK COiMPANY

LIMITED

9dp jfatJ)et

— A Pioneer of tJie Northland —

anD
0^P ^otj)er

— My Earliest Teacher —

An Expression of Love and Gratitude

for

TJieir Unfailing Guidance, Sympathy, and

Encouragement

FOREWORD.

Labrador — "where the fishers go" — has ever been to me a land of
fascination : in early days it was "the Hesperides of my youthful
dreams" ; and when in springtime I heard the thud of the mallet
and caulking-iron, and watched the departure of the f^eet which does
business in great waters, I longed to sail away to the land of myriad
charms. But the fates were unpropitious then ; and not till I had
served my missionary apprenticeship did I visit the land where

"There are magic lures in the open air,
There are wondrous things for the eyes."

In the interim I had seen the white cliffs of "Old England" ; I had
gazed upon the snow-clad Alpine ranges ; I had looked out upon the
historic plains of Lombardy ; and I had stood in wonderment before
"the vast and wondrous Dome, to which Diana's marvel was a cell" ;
but yet there came, irresistibly, the call of the Northland. I have
oft since then visited the fishers' land ; and I love this land of griev-
ing winds.

The trip to Labrador is unique : to the denizen of the grimy city,
it bespeaks restful days ; to the busy man-of-affairs, it discloses pos-
sibilities undreamed of; to the invalid, it brings the balmv breeze of
health.

The artist is already afield to sketch the iceberg and the beetling
crag, as

"The startled waves leap o'er it ; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain.
And steadily against its solid form
Press the giant shoulders of the hurricane."

To all who revel in the sterner aspects of Nature the trip from St.
John's — the Capital of the "Ancient Colony" — is delightful : the sea,
smiling and dimpling under the summer sun. is bewitching, as it
stretches away to embrace the distant horizon. Overhead huge
masses of fleecy clouds move in silent majesty across the summer
sky, while, hard by, grim, hoary headlands stand like sentinels frown-
ing defiance upon Father Neptune's vast domain.

vii

What manner of land is this place "where the fishers go"? This
is the question I shall answer in this volume. I do not claim for
it the title of a history : it is merely a little literary fabric woven from
facts and experiences, during the leisure moments of a busy min-
isterial life.

I am indebted to many friends at home and abroad for much that
this volume contains, and I wish to express my gratefulness for their
help and courtesy.

I wish to thank A. P. Low, Esq., Director of the Geological Sur-
vey of Canada, and Captain John Bartlett, the well-known arctic
explorer, for the use of maps and photographs and valuable in-
formation regarding the geology of the coast ; Messrs. Bowers and
Carroll of St. John's for interesting literary contributions; the Hon.
E. M. Jackman, ^linister of Finance and Customs, and H. W.
LeMessurier, Esq., Assistant Collector, for statistics regarding Lab-
rador trade ; P. K. Devine, Esq., for data regarding early settlers ;
Messrs. Gauvin, of Halifax, Vey, and Holloway. of St. John's, for
their photographic services ; Mr. J. P. Gleason for the use of cuts ;
Dr. Townsend, author of "Along the Labrador Coast," and Dillon
Wallace, Esq., author of "The Long Labrador Trail," for similar
favors.

To Dr. W. T. Grenfell I am indebted for many signal kindnesses.
He has supplied me with many interesting photographs, and also fur-
nished me with certain particulars of his Mission, with which I was
unacquainted.

I beg to acknowledge the courtesy of the Dana Estes Publishing
Company, Boston, and The Outing Publishing Company, N. Y.. in
permitting the use of copyright plates ; and I feel especially indebted
to Mr. T. W. J. Lynch, my cartographer, and Mr. William Hems-
worth for their invaluable artistic services.

The Author.

Halifax, N. S., March 31st, 1909.

vni

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

Dedication

Foreword

Introductory

"Where the Fishers Go"

The First Explorers of the Northland

L'Ancien Regime

The Esquimaux

The Montagnais Indians

The Naskopis .

The Struggle for Supremacy

Settlements

The Adventurers

The Harvest

The Fishers

The Genus Mercator

The Trader

The Great Company

The Moravian Settlements

The Missionary

Some Pages of Odds and Ends

The Doctor ....

Wrecks and Wreckers

"ITills Peep O'er Hills, and Steps on Steps Arise!"

Forest and Stream

CONTENTS.

Hunters' Paradise .
Fresh Fields and Pastures Xcw
The Feathered Trihe
In the Straits of Belle Isle
Up the Shore .
Going North

Indian Harbor to Hopedale
Farthest North
Conclusion

Appendix I, Customs Circular
Appendix II, Newfoundland Postal Telegraphic Service
Appendix III, An Outline Hi-tory of the y\. D. S. P. on
Labrador .........

Appendix I\\ Export Statistics .....

Appendix A', Luxuries of Labor ......

Appendix VL [Moravian ^Mission Grants . . . .

165
197
203
213

243
261

279

306

331

347
348

349
355
363
363

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Carbonear

Labrador Currency

S. S. "Neptune"

Grim, Hoary Headlands

Exploits, Notre Dame Bay

A Field of Ice

A Bit of the Coast .

An Old French Room

Lake Michikamau

A iMiniature Glacier Near Hopedale

Viking Ship .

Icelandic Map of the Northland

Castaldi's Map

Cabot

Cortereal's Map

Pistolet's Map

Jacques Cartier

Arch Rock, Catalina

Esquimau Tepik

Kenamou Esquimaux Woman

Esquimaux Women at Ungava

Building the Kayak

Ooomiak .....

Komatik and Does

FAOB

Frontispiece ii

xvii

xviii

xix

xxii

4
6

13
15
i6
i8

20
21

25
26

ILLUSTRATIONS

Igloowik .

The Papoose

Esquimaux in Kayaks

Lake Mickiman

Montagnais Indians

Montagnais Women

Naskopi Boy .

Tepik

St. John's, Looking Eastward

The French Regime

Plains of Abraham, Quebec

A Fishing Room of the Ancients

St. John's Harbor in A\'inter

A Trader

St. Pierre

A Canadian Trader

Bergs

The Okl Regime

A "Tow"

Mammoth Codfish

A "Room"

A Labrador .Mansion

An "Old Timer"

"Rooms"

A Newfoundland Outport

Torhay, an Outport

A Newfoundland Outport

The Toilers

Trinity ....

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Cartwright

Rigolet

The Moravian Mission Station at Hopedale, Labrador
Indian Hut at Hopedale
Esquimaux Types at Hopedale

Iceberg

Iceberg .

The Strathcona ....

Dr. Grenfell Attending Fishermen .
Co-operative Store ....
Reindeer Herd ....

The Albert

The Strathcona of the M. D. S. F.

A Perambulating Providence .

A Magistrate Settling Little Matters

Reindeer

Dr. Grenfell's Herd

St. Paul's Inlet

Battle Harbor .

Wrecks

Foreigners

Devil's Dining Table

Indian Harbor

Rowsell's Harbor

"Hinderland," Near Lake Michikamau

Northwest River

Indian Burial Ground

A Bit of the Interior

A Whaler

xui

ILLUSTRATIONS
A Whale Factory .
Port Aux Basques
Ready for the Carving
A Norwegian Whaler
A Leviathan
Skinning Seals
"The Three Sisters," First Sealing Brig
A Sealer .....

Captain Kean, a Successful Sealer
"The Bos'n's Watch"
Sealers Ready for Start
The Beacon
A Polar Bear
A Stag ....
Caribou Crossing a Lake
Caribou Heads
Shapes Fantastic
A Labrador Hut
Liveyeres
The Great Auk

Whitely's Room at Bonne Esperance
Salmon Bay, Straits of Belle Isle

A Trap

Dr. Grenfell at Forteau .
A Trap Skifif
Indian Cove, Cape Charles
Government House, St. John's
Parliament Building, St. John's

Off Battle Harbor

xiv

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Battle Harbor Room ....

The Largest Fish — Drying Flake in Labrador
Huts at Battle Harbor
Captain Delaney
Battle Harbor Hospital
A "House on Shores"
Culling Fish
Venison Tickle
A Kayak

Dogs and Komotik
An Esquimaux Mission
Esquimaux Types
Indian Harbor
The Princess ]^Iay
Indian Harbor
A Good Haul
A Labrador Crew-
Esquimaux Children, Hopedale
Captain Drake

Moravian Mission at Hopedale
Groups of Nain Esquimaux
Esquimaux at Hopedale .
Bound Northward .
A Fiord

Aloravian Mission at Nain
Ships of the Time of Charles II
^Moravian Mission at Ramah
Roswell's Harbor Mine
Nachvak Fiord

ILLUSTRATIONS.

In the Mountain Region

PAGE
326

An Esquimau Group in Ungava

327

Esquimaux in the Far North

328

Port Burwell

329

S. S. RosaHnd, of Red Cross Line

332

St. John's

333

R. C. Cathedral, St. John's .

334

Anglican Cathedral. St. John's

335

Grower Street Methodist Church

336

Harbor Grace

337

In Trinity Bay

338

Twillingate

339

Cape Honovuta

340

In Notre Dame Bay

341

Tilt Cove

342

The French Shore .

343

Bay of Islands

343

Bay of Islands

344

Bonne Bay

345

The Old Regime

346

XVI

XVll

INTRODUCTORY.

EN ROUTE TO THE FISHERS' LAND.

"Now, Brothers, for the icebergs of frozen Labrador
Floating spectral in the moonshine, along the low, black shore !
Where in the mist the rock is hiding, and the sharp reef lurks below.
And the white squall smites in summer, and the autumn tempests

blow ;
Where, through gray and rolling vapor, from evening unto morn,
A thousand boats are hailing, horn answering unto horn."

"The Fishermen," Whittier.

s. s. NEPTUNE. Photo, Vey.
Aly first trip to Labrador, in 1890, was a voyage de plaisir; my
subsequent voyages were missionary tours among the fishermen and
the permanent settlers, with jurisdiction over nearly one thousand
miles of coast-line. In the year 1891 I embarked, on my first mis-
sionary voyage, in the sealing steamer Ncptinie under the command
of my friend Captain Samuel Blandford (now the Hon. Captain Sam-
uel, M.L.C.) — one of the most genial and capable master mariners
in Newfoundland. A northeaster chilled the air as we steamed out
of the harbor of St. John's on the afternoon of the 25th of May,
bound for the Straits of Belle Isle. Passing down the shore, under
the shadow of Cuckold's Head and the Sugar-loaf, there were no
scenes of softened beauty, no wave-kissed, pebbly strands ; "no up-
land slopes in emerald clad"' ; for snow-capped the grim, hoary head-
lands were silhouetted against a leaden sky. We passed within hail-
ing distance of Cape St. Francis, and heard the dull, deep moan of

xix

the Brandies, as if they were chanting a requiem for the souls of
their countless victims. We enter Conception Bay and the scene
changes ; —

"The twilight is sad and cloudy,

The wind lilows wild and free

And. like the wings of sea-birds.

Flash the white-caps of the sea."

Soon, away to starboard, we see the gleam of a beacon through the
deep purple of the twilight and then the spectral contour of J]'ester>i
Head looms up in the distance. "Eight l)ells!'" we are in Baccalieu

GRIM. IKIAKV IIKADI-AXDS. Plioto. JlollolCUy.

"Tickle." ("Tickle" is a local name for strait.) Baccalieu island is
now close aboard ; and upon its northeast corner we catch a glimpse
of the lighthouse "steadfast, serene, immovable," which ''year after
year, through all the silent night" sends its lurid gleams to warn the
mariner of the dangers of the deep.

"The Tickle" is reminiscent of grim and mournful tragedies ; for
it was here that the ill-fated S. S. "Lion," having on board one
hundred souls, disappeared mysteriously on a December night in
1880. But a more prosperous voyage is ours, for at midnight we
were abreast of the "Horsechops," the outpost of the beautiful har-
bor of Trinity — one of the most picturesque ports in the world ; it is
surpassed only by Melbourne, in size, but excelled by none in its
attractiveness. At noon of the following day we steamed out of the
Southwest Arm of Trinity ; and when "eight bells" sounded again,
we had passed the Spillars { Lcs Epilicrs of the Breton sailors), and
were soon abreast of the land of Cabot — and controversy — Cape
Bonavista.

Before leaving the bridge I heard our commander give orders to
the watch : "North — half-east: and look ant for ice!"

EXPLOITS. NOTRE DAME BAY.

Xext morning dawned bright and clear ; and the sea was calm and
clear as crystal :

"Ah ! what pleasant visions haunt me

As I gaze upon the sea.

All the old romantic legends,

All my dreams come back to me."

At "coffee-time." in the near distance, lay Fogo Island, around
which traditions of Pamela have cast the glamour of romance ; and
away to the w'est we saw the dim contour of the coast-line of Xotre
Dame Bay, within whose confines are found some of the most enter-
prising towns in the Ancient Colony — Tzinllingate, whose commercial

importance dates from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, —
Exploits, the greatest shipbuilding center, — and Tilt Cove, whose
supply of copper is seemingly inexhaustible.

During the day we kept the land aboard ; and between "dark and
duckish" (the fishermen's term for twilight), another light peered
out of the gloom; it was Gtill Island, of Cape John. This "light
far out to sea" recalls one of the saddest stories in colonial annals ,
and as it beams forth the sudden radiance of its light, "with strange,
unearthly splendor in its glare," it speaks of a tragedy whose grue-
some story is thus recorded : — "On Tuesday morning, the 6th of De-
cember, 1867, the "Queen of Swansea," having on board mail and
passengers for the mining settlement at Tilt Cove, Notre Dame Bay,
sailed from St. John's. As night closed in a terrific gale arose, and
the brave little vessel, after hours of combat with wind and waves,
was driven one hundred and sixty miles to sea. After several days
of the most terrible hardship the vessel was cast upon the rocks on
Gull Island. All the crew and passengers landed safely on the deso-
late island. Three of the crew and one of the passengers returned
to the vessel to procure food ; while they were on board, the vessel
drifted out to sea, and was never after heard of. After days of un-
told suffering from hunger, thirst, and cold, the awful alternative
was at last resorted to — of drawing lots to see who would be sacri-
ficed as food. The lot fell to one of the unfortunate ladies — there
were two among the passengers, — when her brother, who was one
of the party, instantly offered himself instead. The note-book of
this brave and gallant young man, containing an account of this ter-
rible moment, has unfortunately been lost from among the papers.

Dr. F. Dowsley, who had been appointed to the medical staff of
the Tilt Cove Mine, and who was among the passengers, and, conse-
quently perished with the rest, tells in two letters the sufferings en-
dured by him and his unfortunate associates until death mercifully
released them. A most singular incident in this tragedy is the means
by which the remains were discovered. In April of the following
year, while a man and a boy were gunning in the direction of the
island, their attention was attracted to the peculiar movements of a
bird which kept flying from the island toward them, and then back
again to the island. At last, coming within gunshot, the man fired,
when the bird flew to the island and fell. On landing to secure it,

xxii

what must have been their horror to find beside it the skeletons of
two human beings ! Near-by, covered by a piece of old canvas,
locked in each other's arms, probably for the sake of the temporary
warmth thus afforded, were found the frozen bodies of the remainder
of the party. On further search the letters of Dr. Dowsley and Capt.
Owens were found. These letters are too gruesome to transcribe ;
but, the following excerpt records the terrible sufferings endured
by these unfortunate castaways : —

"I have been out to see if there might be any chance of a rescue ;
but no such thing. I am almost mad with thirst ; I would give all
I ever saw for one drink of water, but I shall never get it. We are
all wet and frozen. I am now going under the canvas to lie down
and die. May God have pity and mercy on my soul." (Harvey,
"Newfoundland.")

We passed within short distance of the island , and as it was
disappearing from view I retired with visions of wrecks and disaster
whirling through my brain. Next morning very early, " 'bout ha'f-
pas' two, t'ree, four," I was unceremoniously hurled from my berth
by a terrible bump as if the ship had struck a clifif ; it was only a
"growler" ; we were in the ice, in the neighborhood of the Groats
Islands. Our progress now was slow, but the monotony was some-
what relieved by the novelty of seeing occasional "sculps"' and seal
carcasses, the remnants of some sealer's "pan" during the "swillin."

During the day we dodged numerous pans, making fair progress,
till, toward evening, we "lay to." Night came on ;

"And sinking silently, the little moon
Dropped down behind the sky."

Next morning through a thick mist the lookout spied land ahead ;
this was Belle Isle, the ancient "Isola di Demoni." It certainly de-
served this appellation, as it seemed to me in the gray morning mist
a decidedly uncanny place. This Island has an evil reputation ; and
it is the "graveyard" of many a staunch fishing smack and steamer.
Here we landed a "crew" with a "fit out" for the summer fishery.
In the meantime the Captain and I climbed up the precipitous clifT,
along a sinuous path which leads to the upper lighthouse (there is
another at the base of the clifif), where we received a hearty welcome
from the worthy keeper, Mr. Colton. and his amiable wife.

Our visit was brief, as the shrill siren of the ship soon announced

xxiii

that all was ready for our departure ; and within an hour we were
steaming with the up-tide toward our destination — Blanc Sablon.
But the best-laid plans of mice and captains oft gang aglee ; we soon
ran into a fog-bank, ice. and gloom. We reached anchorage, — some-
where near West St. Modcste, on the West side of Pinware Bay.
With the coming dawn we again moved westward, passing Capstan
Island, the "Battery," and L'anse a Loup, and met the full force of
the ebb tide from Forteau Bay, off the "Shallop." For some hours
we made little progress ; but ere the sun sank in "a blaze of glorious
splendor," we dropped anchor in the little creek which the Breton
mariner. Jacques Cartier, in 1534, had named L'anse a Sablon —
known to-day as Blanc Sablon. This is historic ground, for here
were laid nearly four centuries ago the foundations of an empire.

"Ultima Thule ! Utmost Isle^
Here in thy harbors for a while
We lower our sail ; a while we rest."

"Ultima Thule," Longfellow.

A FIELD OF ICE.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO:
THE STORY OF LABORADOR.

Where the Fishers Go.

CHAPTER I.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

'Here amid the icebergs, rule I the nations."

"Tlic Saga of King Olaf," Longfellow.

A I^IT OF THE COAST.

LABRADOR is that immense peninsula lying east of the Domin-
ion of Canada, whose boundaries are : — on the North, —
Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait ; — on the East, the Atlantic
Ocean ; — on the South, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Straits of
Belle Isle. It extends from 49" N. Latitude to 63° , and lies be-
tween the 55th and 79th meridians. Its dimensions are vast, and it
has a coast-line of nearly iioo miles.

The greatest breadth of the Peninsula of Labrador
AREA, is 600 miles, and its area is equal to the areas of the
British Isles, France, and Austria combined. Only the
eastern portion belongs to the jurisdiction of Newfoundland; the
remainder now forms a part of the Province of Quebec. The Un-
gava section was attached to the Province of Quebec during the last
session of the Federal Parliament. The boundaries between New-
foundland and Canada are thus defined in the "Letters Patent con-

2 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

stituting the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the
Island of Newfoundland" ; —

"We have thought fit to constitute and order and declare that there
shall be a Governor ^nd Commander-in-Chief in and over our Island
of Newfoundland, and the islands adjacent, and all the coast of
Labrador, from the entrance of Hudson's Straits to a line to be
drawn due north and south from Anse Sablon on the said coast, to
the fifty-second degree of north Latitude, and all the islands adja-
cent to that part of the said coast of Labrador, as also of all forts
and garrisons erected and established, or which shall be erected and
established, within or on the islands and coasts aforesaid, and that
the person who shall fill the said office of Governor shall be from

AN OLD FRENCH ROOM. FROM PR0W5E S HISTORY

time to time appointed by commission under our sign-manual and
signet." The Western limit of the Government of Newfoundland
is 51° 25', N. Lat., Long. 65° W. — the meridian passing through
"Lazy Point," a little distance west of Blanc Sablon and Isle au Bois.
The Northern boundary is in the vicinity of Cape Chidley. Some
years ago a settlement was made by a Newfoundland firm at liort
Bzirwell (Killinek), but the settlers were obliged to pay duties to the
Canadian Government, in 1894. The line of demarcation is not yet

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 3

accurately defined. Difficulties have also arisen in connection with
duties levied on a lumber Company doing business in Hamilton Inlet.
This portion of Labrador was not always attached to Newfoundland.
The first annexation took place after the Treaty of Paris (1763).

While the flag of France waved over Canada the French carried
on extensive fisheries in Labrador, near the Straits of Belle Isle, to
which they attached the greatest importance. After the conquest of
Canada, a company of Quebec merchants obtained a monopoly of
these fisheries , and part of the territory was claimed en seigneurie
by the Sieur Gardeur de Courtemanche. This was abolished in 1820.

Until 1763, the fishing settlements on Labrador
JURISDICTION, were under the jurisdiction of the Government

of Quebec. After the cession of Canada to
Britain. Labrador was annexed to the Government of Newfound-
land; but ten years later (1783), owing to difficulties arising out
of the supposed vested rights of the Sieur de Courtemanche and the
Quebec Trading Company, the western portion of Labrador was
restored to Canada. In 1809 it was again transferred to the juris-
diction of Newfoundland, under which it has since remained. (Har-
vey; "Newfoundland.") .

The Atlantic coast is exceedingly irreg-
FIORDS AND BANKS, ular, being deeply cut by many long,

narrow fiords, so that the coast-line
exceeds many times the distance from Belle Isle to Cape Chidley.
Hamilton Inlet (Groswater Bay) is the largest and longest of these
inlets, extending inland for one hundred and fifty miles. Among
others, Sandwich, Kaipokok, Saeglek, and Nachvak bays are from
thirty to fifty miles deep. These narrow fiords are surrounded by
rocky hills that rise abruptly from the water to heights ranging fom
1,000 to 4,000 feet. The water of the inlets is generally deep, and
varies from ten to one hundred fathoms. A fringe of small, rocky
islands extends almost continuously along the coast, with a breadth
of from five to twenty-five miles. Outside these islands, the inner
banks extend seaward for an average distance of about fifteen miles,
and on them the water is rarely over forty fathoms deep.

From this it will be seen that the fiords have greater depths than
the banks outside the island fringe. To account for this apparent
anomaly it is necessary to consider the formation of the fiords and

4 WHERE THE I-ISHERS GO.

banks. The fiords appear to be valleys of denudation of very ancient
origin, eroded, at least in part, when the elevation of the peninsula
was considerably greater than at present. Their remote antiquity
is established by the deposition in their lower levels of undisturbed
sandstone of Cambrian age. The banks are likely of comparatively
recent formation and appear to be made from material carried off
the higher lands by glaciers and deposited by them as a terminal
moraine among and outside the fringe of islands, to be subsequently
flattened out by floating ice and currents, thus filling up the deep
channels at the mouths of the fiords. (Canadian Gcolos;icaI Snrz-ex.)

LAKE MiCHiKiMAU. Copyright, Outing Pub. Co.

The peninsula of Labrador is a high, rolling plateau,
INTERIOR, which rises, somewhat abruptly, within a few miles

of the coast-line, to heights between 1500 and 2500
feet, the latter elevation being somewhat greater than the water-
shed of the interior. The interior country is undulating, and is
traversed by ridges of low rounded hills, that seldom rise more than
500 feet above the general surrounding level, which is approximately
1700 feet.

Along the Atlantic coast, the land rises abruptly inland, almost
evervwhere, to altitudes varying from 1000 to 1500 feet, from

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 5

the Straits of Belle Isle to the vicinity of Nain. To the northward of
Nain the coast range is much higher, and, in the neighborhood of
Nachvak Bay, ranges of sharp, unglaciated mountains rise abruptly
from the sea to heights varying from 2500 feet ; while farther north
they are reported to culminate in peaks of 6000 feet, a few miles

inland.

Like the other portions of Northern Canada underlain
LAKES, by glaciated Archean rocks, the interior of the Labra-
dor peninsula is covered with myriads of lakes, that occu-
py at least one-fourth of the total area. In size they vary from
small tarns to lakes with surfaces hundreds of square miles in ex-
tent. Great Mistassiiii and Mickikainau lakes have areas exceeding
500 square miles. Dillon Wallace describes the latter very graphi-
cally in "The Long Labrador Trail."

He tells us that it is between eighty and ninet\- miles long, and from
eight to twenty-five miles in breadth. 'Tt is surrounded by rugged
hills which reach an elevation of about five hundred feet above the
lake. The shores are rocky, sometimes formed of massive bed-rock
in which is found the beautifully colored Labradorite ; sometimes
strewn with boulders. "No artist's brush," continues our author,
"ever pictured such gorgeous sunsets and sunrises as nature painted
for us here on the 'Great Lake' of the Indians. Every night the sun
went down in a blaze of glory and left behind it all the colors of the
spectrum. The dark hills across the lake in the west were sil-
houetted against a sky of brilliant red which shaded off into banks
or orange and amber that reached the azure of the zenith.

"The waters of the lake tcok the reflection of the red at the horizon
and became a flood of restless blood. The sky colorings during the
few days (at Lake. Michikamau) were the finest that I ever saw
in Labrador, not only in the evening, but in the morning also."

]\Irs. Leonidas Hubbard has this, presumably
LANDSCAPE, written as characteristic of the same section of

the interior : — "The air was clear as crystal, and
the water, and the greenwood, the hills and mountains with lines and
patches of white upon them, the sky with its big, soft clouds, made
such a combination as I had never seen except in Labrador." (A
JFoijiaii's IVav fJirougJi Unkiwicii Labrador.)

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Table-land is preeminently sterile , and where the country is
not burned, caribou moss covers the rocks, with stunted spruce,
birch, and aspen in the hollows and deep ravines. The whole of the
land is strewn with boulders, sometimes three and four deep ; these
singular erractics are perched on the summit of every mountain and
hill, often on the edges of cliffs , and they vary in size from one to
twenty feet in diameter. Language fails to depict the awful desola-
tion of the interior of the peninsula. (Hind, Explorations.)

The climate of Labrador ranges from cold temperate,
CLIMATE, on the southern coasts, to arctic on Hudson Strait

and the high lands of the north, and is generally so
rigorous that it is doubtful if the country will ever l)e fit for agricul-
ture, north of 51 \ except im the low grounds near tlie Coast.

A MINIATURE GLACIER NEAR HOPEDALE.

The high lands of the interior have only two seasons, summer and
winter , and the transition from winter to summer occurs, as a rule,
during the first two weeks of June.

With the disappearance of snow and ice the temperature during
the day rapidly increases, and the leaves are almost immediately put

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 7

forth by trees and bushes. Summer is of three months' duration ;
from early in October snow remains permanently, and all the
small lakes are frozen over solidly. The coldest months are Decem-
ber, January, and February. On the Atlantic coast the season is
somewhat longer ; but even here it is only possible to raise the
hardier vegetables. (Geological Survey of Canada.) .

WHERE TITE MSHERS GO.

CHAPTER n.

THE FIRST EXPLORERS OF THE NORTHLAND.

"There is, said he, a wondrous book
Of legends in the old Norse tongue,
Of the dead Kings of Norroway, —
Legends which once were told or sung
In many a smoky fireside nook
Of Iceland, in the ancient day,
By wandering saga-man or scald ;
'Heimskringla' is the volume called ;
And he who looks may find therein
The story that I now begin."

"Saga of King Olaf," Longfellow.

VIKING SHIP.

There are many traditions of early
ICELANDIC "SAGAS." discoveries of the Northland ; but only

the bold voyages of the fearless
Vikings of the North are historically certain, and the Icelandic
"Sagas" give us the first authentic pages of North American His-
tory. There are three "Sagas" which are recognized as authentic
history: — "The Karlsefini," "King Olaf's," and the "Saga of Eric
the Red" (Raud).

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 9

For the oldest written evidence of Norse discoveries we are in-
debted to A.daiii. canon of the Church of Bremen — -"the Rome of
the North" (cir. 1067). The second authority is .Iri Thorgilsson
(d. 1 148). These records all agree in attributing the discovery of
the lands of HcUidand, Markland (Woodland) and Vinland "the
Good," to Lief the "Lucky." son of Eric the Red.

Lief, in the year 1000, returning from Norway to Greenland,
where he was to introduce Christianity, discovered a land to which
he gave the name of "Helluland" (Icelandic, hcUn. a stone). His
"land-fall" was most probably at Domino, on the middle Labrador
coast, where existing conditions tally exactly with his descriptions
of the land. He speaks of the place as — "land without grass ; snow
and ice covered it, and from the shore to the mountain it was flat,
covered with stones." That this was at Domino is, I think, almost
bordering on absolute fact. Its Geographical position and its phys-
ical features are seemingly incontrovertible evidence. A glance at
the map of Labrador shows Domino as being the point whence the
Labrador peninsula trends to the westward ; and the course thence
to Markland and \"inland is almost due South (compass course; the
variation in this vicinity is 37' W.).

The Geological aspect is even more convincing. The formation
here is the Gneiss of Licbcr, the base of which is a white, granular,
vitreous quartz, with speckles of black horneblende, with a few par-
ticles of a lilac-colored mica. It forms at this locality a broad, low,
flat plain about ten miles broad and fifteen to twenty miles long. Its
surface is but a few feet above sea level, and to one coming from
the high coast to the southward, this broad, naked flat, almost wholly
destitute of vegetation, with no valleys to shelter even a growth of
spruce trees, with patches of white rock glistening in the sun, pre-
sents a strange and foreign feature, startling from its very tameness.
Behind this low, white plain the country rises into high hills and
mountains, terminating in the "Mealy Mountains," in Sandwich Bay
(Packard, Geology of Domino Run). The "Markland" of Eric and
Lief was, if the Domino "land-fall" be accepted, not Nova Scotia,
but Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, called "Green Bay" by New-
foundlanders, for a reason similar to that which suggested the name
to the Norsemen ; it is richly wooded. Furthermore, it is distant
about one hundred and seventv miles to the South of Helluland;

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

this would be about "two days' sail of twelve hours each," allowing
an average eight-knot speed. Then, it is most probable that the
"Vinland" of the Norsemen was Nova Scotia, not Rhode Island.
The claims of Rhode Island to the land-fall are not genuine, evi-
dently, as the supposed Scandinavian remains at Nczvport, R. I., are
the "ruin of a Windmill built by Governor Arnold (cir. 1670) ; and
the runic inscriptions on Dighton Rock are merely Indian picture
writing such as is found far to the South." (Cath. Ency., Vol.
I, p. 419.)

ICELANDIC MAP OF THE NORTHLAND. FrOtn PrOZVSc's HistOry.

After these early Norse voyages came the ex-
ST. BRENDAN, plorer Karlsfeni, the famous Icelandic mer-
chant, who endeavored to colonize the lands
discovered by former navigators ; but he was unsuccessful, owing to
the warlike attitude of the natives of the coasts, a "bloody, fierce
people." These were presumably Esquimaux. Karlsefeni was
accompanied by his wife Gudrid; and their son, Snorri, was the
first child of European parents born on the mainlaind of America.

There is a tradition exploited by recent writers on early American
settlements to the effect that St. Brendan, or Brandon, visited these

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Northern regions in the 5th Century. It is to this that Matthew
Arnold alhides in the following poem :

"Saint Brandon sails the Northern Main ;

The Brotherhood of saints are glad.

He greets them once, he sails again ;

So late ! Such storms ! — the saint is mad.

But north, still north, Saint Brandon steered:

And now no bells, no convent more ;

The hurtling Polar lights are near'd ;

The sea without a human shore.'"

This tradition has apparently no historical foundation ; even the
Bollandists do not recognize the pilgrimage of St. Brendan ; and
Geographers, such as \"on Humboldt, Ruge, and others, place the

Terra de Labrador

Terra de Baccalaos.

Terra de Corte /cdeGrad

IC delLoborado
VOrbelandt

Ro»«o

^ Y Boise
^ YdelllUeell

deBonaviola
P Rojno»o
dtHa»

Rero

C Lorenzo

cortereal's map. Frojii Ilozcley's Ecclesiastical History.

story amongst "Geographical legends," which are of interest for the
history of civilization, but which can lay no claim to serious con-
sideration from the point of view of Geography."' The earliest
account of this legend is in Latin : "Navigatio Sancti Brendani,"
and belongs to the loth or nth century; the first French translation
dates from 1125. Since the 12th century the legend has appeared
in the literature of the Netherlands, Germany and England.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The "Records of Zeno" are likewise relegated to the domain of
geographical dreams.

It is also claimed that a Polish Explorer, Sskolciisky, made a voy-
age to the coast of Lalirador in 1476; but this also is, seemingly, only
conjectural, though Humboldt admits its probability. (Examen
Critique 11. p. 152.)

The modern discoverer of Labrador
LATER DISCO\'ERIES. was John Cabot, who discovered

Newfoundland in 1497. It is even
claimed that the "land fall" of this brave sailor explorer was Labra-

CABOT. FRO^r AX OIJ) PRINT.

dor, not Newfoundland ; but this question has, I think, been satis-
factorily settled ; and Cape Ronavista is regarded as being the first
land seen by this "Herald of Empire."

John Cabot discovered Labrador in the same year in

CABOT, which he discovered Newfoundland, 1497. He seems

to have made a second voyage in the following year.

But to his son, Sebastian, must be accredited the exploration of the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

coast of Labrador from the Straits of Belle Isle to Davis Strait; and
his vessel was the forerunner of the large fleet of English, Portu-
guese, Basques, French and Spanish fishermen who visited these
shores during the next two centuries, opening to the world a source
of revenue more available than the wealth of "far Cathav."

It was then English seamen, in the service of Henry VII, who
first revealed to a world, which had forgotten the daring deeds of
the Northmen, the northeastern shores of the continent of America,
and brought to Europe the tidings of the harvest of the sea "richer
than the mines of Golconda or Peru."

CASTALDI S MAP.

The next explorer who visited the Northland, and the one to
whom it doubtless owes its name, was Cortercal, who, in 1500.
took possession of several areas in Newfoundland and Labrador in
the name of the King of Portugal.

The word Labrador is the Portuguese and Spanish term for
"laborer" ; and it is said to have been applied by King Emmanuel,
under whose auspices Cortereal made his voyages, to characterize
the natives whom Cortereal had brought from the western land.
These were doubtless Montagnais Indians, not Esquimaux, as is

14 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

generally supposed. If not actually of the Montagnais tribe, they
certainly belonged to some branch of the great Algonquin Nation.
King Emmanuel, having heard of the high trees growing in the
northern countries, and having seen the aborigines, brought home
by Cortereal. who appeared specially qualified for labor, thought he
had found a new slave coast, such as he had in Africa ; and dreamed
of the tall masts he would cut, and the men-of-war he would build
with the laborers ("Labradores") — from the land of Cortereal —
"Terra di Cortereale." (Galenza, "Pearl of the Antilles," p. loo.)
Following in the wake of Cortereal, the Portuguese throughout
the sixteenth century prosecuted the fisheries along the coasts and
banks of the newly discovered lands, and doubtless became familiar
with Labrador. In a map painted by \'arrese upon the walls of The
Loggia of Raphaele in the X'atican Palace, Rome, about 1556, the
southern part of Labrador is called Terra de Carte Real ; and New-
foundland is set down as "Terra di Baccalao" (Baccalao is the
Portuguese word for codiish). (From Howley's Ecclesiastical His-
tory.)

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER HL

L ' A N C I E X REGIME

"En etucliant I'histoire moderne, nos regards s'arretent naturelle-
ment stir la patrie de nos ancetres, sur la belle France, qui apparait
au premier rang des nations." (Avani-Propos: Histoire dn Can-
ada.)

PISTOLET S MAP.

In a work entitled "Us et Coutumes de la
THE DIEPPOIS. mer" occurs this statement: "One hundred

years before the discovery of America by
Christopher Columbus, the large and small banks of Newfoundland,
Cape Breton and Baccalaos (Labrador) were regularly visited by
Breton Fishermen ; and one of these Dieppois, Vincent Pincon by
name, retired to Palos, and later took service with the Genoese navi-
gator, Columbus, in the capacity of pilot." It is also stated that
Captain Coussin, another Dieppois, made a landing on the American

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Continent in 1488. His discovery was kept a national secret; but
Pingon divulged the story of the discovery, and placed at the dis-
posal of Columbus the maps and charts which had been made. (His-
toirc dc Dieppe, Yo\. i.)

In 1504, according to Lescarbot (Histoire de la Noiti'elle France),
Bretons frequented the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. In
this year Jean Denys, of Hontleur. published a map of NczvfoiDid-
laiid {Tcrrc Xeirc'c). Two years later Aubert, of Dieppe, is said

JACQUES CARTIEK. FROM AN OLD PRINT.

to have founded the settlement of Brest. These expeditions were
made under the auspices of Dieppe Merchants ; but subsequently the
expeditions of the Breton mariners were made under the patronage
of the King. These were troublous times in Europe ; but after the
"Peace of Cambray (called the "Ladies Peace," as it was concluded
by Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I., and Margaret of Austria,
aunt of Charles V.. in the name of these monarchs), his Most
Christian Majesty, at the instance of Philip Charbot, Admiral of
France, fitted out an expedition under the command of a Breton
sailor, Jacques Cartier, who laid the foundations of the French
Regime in the western lands. The Emperor of Spain, Charles V.,
and the King of Portugal, Joam, having already begun the coloniza-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 17

tion of America, protested against the action of the King of France.
To their protests Francis is said to have repUed : "I should like to
see the clause in our Father Adam's will which hequeaths to my
royal brothers alone so vast a heritage.''

Sailing from St. Malo, a port on the coast of Brit-
CARTIER. tany, on the 20th of April, 1534, Cartier sighted

Cape Bonaiista, twenty days later, and arrived the
same day at Cataliiia, a well-protected port, in Trinity Bay, which
he named St. Catherine's Haven (changed later into Catalina).
Several names in this vicinity are reminiscent of Breton explora-
tions: Trinity Bay, The SpiUars (Les Epiliers), Isle aii.v Oiseatix
(Bird Island Cove, recently changed by Newfoundland nomenclature
faddists into "EUiston").

After a sojourn of ten days at St. Catherine's
THE FUNKS. Haven. Cartier started northward, and on the
22d sighted a cluster of Islands which he named
"Isles aux ]\Iargaulx" — known to-day as "The Funks." The voy-
age to this point is thus described by Cartier, (translated by Hakluyt
from "The first Relation of Jacques Cartier of St. Alalo, of the new
land called New France, newly discovered in the yerc of our Lord,

1534")-

"Upcn the 21 of ]\Iay the winde being in the West, we hoised
saile, and sailed toward North and East from the Cape of Buona
Vista until we came to the island of Birds, which was environed
about with a bank of ice but broken and cract ; notwithstanding
the sayde bank, our boats went thither to take some birds, whereof
there is such plenty, that unlesse a man did see them, he would think
it an incredible thinge ; for albeit the Island be so full of them that
they seem to have been brought thither, and sowed for the nonce,
yet there are an hundred folde as many hovering about within ; some
of which are as big as jays, blackc and white, with beaks like unto
Crowes : they lie always upon the sea ; they cannot fly very high,
because their Avings are so little, and no biggere than one's hand, yet
do they flie as quickly as any birds of the air levcll to the water ; they
also are exceeding fat; we named them Aporath. In less than half
an hour we filled two boats, as if they had been with stones ; so that

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

besides them which wc did eat fresh, every ship did powder and salt
five or sixe barrels full of them. Besides there is another kind of
birds which hover in the aire, and over the sea, lesser than the oth-
ers ; and these do all gather themselves together in the Island, and
put themselves under the wing of other birds that are greater ; these
are named Godetz. There are also birds of another sort but bigger
and which bite even as dogs ; these we named Margaulx." These
were evidentlv Puffins and (iuillemots ; locally known as ' Alurrs
and Turrs.'

ARCH ROCK, CATALINA. PhotO, HoUozcay.

Cartier must also have seen the "Great Auk" —
GREAT AUK. the bird of ornithological controversy — for he

says further : "Our men found there a bird as
greate as any cow, and as white as any swan, who in their presence
leaped into the sea; and upon Whitsun-munday (following our voy-
age to the land) we met her by the way, swimming toward land as
quickly as we could saile. So soone as we saw her we pursued her
with our boats, and by maine strength took her, whose flesh was as
good to be eaten as the flesh of a calfe two years old." (Hakluyt.)

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 19

He then sailed northward, and sighted the island
CHATEAU, which former navigators had named "Isola di De-

moni," on account of its grim, forbidding aspect
and the terrible storms met with in the vicinity. Pursuing his course
northward, he entered a large inlet to which he gave the name of
"Golfe (les Chateaux," on account of the peculiarly shaped island
which forms its southeastern point.

This Island is a most remarkable pile of basaltic rocks rising in
vertical columns from an insulated bed of granite. Its height from
the sea level is upward of two hundred feet ; it is composed of regu-
lar five-sided prisms, and on all sides the ground is strewn with
single blocks and clusters that have become detached and fallen from
their places. It seems like some grim fortress of the feudal ages,
from whose embrasures big-mouthed camion were ready to belch
forth flame and smoke.

Cartier then sailed west, anchoring at a
BLANC SABLOX. creek which he named I'Ausc 0 Sablon
{Blanc Sabloji) — an open, unprotected
roadsteed, opening to the sortheast where the anchorage was inse-
cure. He then moved farther westward; an 1 on June nth made a
landing at Illetes, where, on the feast of St. Barnabas, his c'.iaplains,
presumably Franciscans ( Recollets), ofifered the Holy Sacrifice. This
is the first recorded ecclesiastical function in the great Northland,
which, in later days, was crimsoned with the blood of martyrs.

The coast appeared to Cartier so uninviting that he exclaimed :
"It must be the country which God gave to Cain ! There one
sees men of immense size and height, but untamed and savage. They
wear their hair coiled on the top of the head like a bundle of straw,
putting a skewer through it, the whole surmounted with a bundle
of bird's feathers. They are clad in skins, both men and women.
. . . They paint themselves in red colors. They use birch-
bark boats, in which they catch large quantities of seals." These
were probably not Esquimaux, but a branch of the great Algonquin
family.

Cartier went as far west as Checatica, and later explored the west
coast of Newfoundland and the Magdalen Islands (Ferland: His-
toire du Canada).

WHERE Till-: FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER IV.

THE E S Q U I M A U X .

"The E.'^quimaux frrm ice and snow now free.
In shallops and in whaleboats go to sea ;
In peace they rove along this pleasant shore,
In plenty live : nor do they wish for more."

(Cartwright's "Journal.")

ESOUl.M.\l-X TKI'IK. i'lluto, I 'uy.

W'hen the European explorers set foot on the coast of Labrador
it was in possession of a fierce, belligerent people — the Esquimaux.

According to well-established ethnological facts, they are of Mon-
golian origin , and it is an accepted opinion that they crossed to the
American continent from the extreme northeastern point of
Kamschatka. At what time this migration took place is conjectural.
They were presumably forced by the imperative demands of sus-
tenance to seek food and clothing in the Northern section of the
continent, owing to the hostility of other Indian tribes, the Algon-
quins (originally "Algoumekins") and their allies the Kilistincnous
(now called "Crees"), who are still found in the region of Hud-
son Bav.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Esquimaux (called "Huskies" by Newfoundland fishermen)
call themselves "Innuits" ("the men"). The name Esquimaux is
derived from the Abiienaqi term "eskimantsik," meaning "to eat
raw." In the Cree dialect the word is "Ashkimai" (Esquimaux is
the French equivalent). The Esquimaux are a homogeneous race,
and are perhaps the most widely spread people in the world. They
are, however, unknown in Europe, as the migrations have always
been eastward ; but they are found along the Arctic shores of North-
ern America, Asia and in Greenland. This fact seems to establish

KENAMou ESQUIMAUX WOMAN. (Copyriglit , A. P. Lozv.)

the theory that Greenland was colonized from Labrador. Turner
(Annual Report, U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 1889-90) divides the
Esquimaux inhabiting the Labrador peninsula into three or four
subdivisions, on account of sub-tribal distinctions maintained among
themselves. The- names given to them by Turner are those used
by the Esquimaux of Ungava Bay.

I. The first division includes all those dwelling along the Atlantic
Coast and along the south shore of Hudsons Strait, to the mouth

22 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

of the Leaf River. These people call themselves Suhinimynt ("those
who dwell at, or in, the sun," or "dwellers in the east").

2. The second division embraces the Esquimaux along the south
shore of Hudson Strait, between the Leaf River and Cape IVesten-
holine, at the entrance to Hudson Bay. These are called Tahagmiit
("dwellers in the shade," or the "western people"). By the Hudson
Bay Company they are known as "Northerns."

3. The third division includes those living along the east coast of
Hudson Bay, and they are designated the Itivimynt ("the dwellers
on the other side").

4. A fourth division may be made of the Esquimaux of the outer
islands of Hudson Bay, who, according to the traders and mission-
aries, differ from their neighbors along the coast, both in customs
and language.

They are known as the Kigiktagmyut (or "Island people").
Along the Atlantic coast, as far north as Hopedale, few or none
of the Esquimaux are full-blooded. To the northward, the Moravian
missionaries keep the natives from contact with the whites, and in
consequence there are very few of mixed blood. In Ungava Bay
and on Hudson Bay there are. around the Hudson Bay posts, mi/iy
half breeds, the result of marriage between the employees and Es-
quimaux women.

When the European explorers first visited these northern regions,
the Esquimaux covered the entire seaboard of the Labrador coast
as far west as IMingan ; and it is claimed that they visited Newfound-
land, and even went as far south as Nova Scotia. This is the opin-
ion of the learned historian of New France — the Jesuit Father —
Charlevoix (Histoire Generate de la Xouvelle France, p. 100).

The same writer says that they were in constant feud with their
rivals — the Montagnais.

They were gradually pushed northward; but, as late as 1765,
Esquimaux were found in considerable numbers as far south as
Chateau Bay ; to-day few, if any, are found south of Long Tickle.
Several bloody battles occurred between the Montagnais and the
Esquimaux ; and traces of these bloody encounters are found at the
mouth of the Esquimaux River, at Forteau, and it is said that the
last encounter took place at Big Caribou Island, now known as
Battle Harbor.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Other reminders of the occupation of the South by Esquimaux
are found on Esquimaux Island — one of the Alingan group, and in
St. Paul's Bay. Here large quantities of human bones have been
discovered, supposed to be the rehcs of a great battle fought between
the Esquimaux on one side and the French and Montagnais on
the other.

On Caribou Island there are traces of Esquimaux occupation in
the form of circles of stones, doubtless Esquimaux forts. At the
present time the Esquimaux on Labrador are found, chiefly at the
Moravian settlements between Maccoznck Bax and Killinek (Port

ESQUIMAUX WOMEN AT uxGAXA. (Copyright, Outing I'ub. Co.)

Burwell), at the entrance to Hudson Bay, though isolated families
are found south as far as Maccovick, and occasionally at Long
Tickle. The number at present along the coast is probably iioo, of
whom many are pagans. Physically, the Esquimaux are well built,
averaging about five feet three in height. They have extraordinary
power of endurance; and they can make a journey of several days
with little food, tho' when within reach of a carcass of seal or a
blubber puncheon, a single Esquimau will stow away more stufif
than an ordinary dog team.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

They are essentially carnivorous ; and the seal supplies the largest
part of their food, though they gladly welcome the white man's grub
of flour and molasses.

They are chiefly fishers; the special object of their fishing
trips is the seal, which not only supplies them with food, but also
material for clothing and covering for their Kayaks and Oomiaks,
as well as bridles and whips for their dog teams.

The Kayak is a shuttle-shaped boat twelve to fifteen feet long, cov-
ered with shaved sealskin, stretched on a frame of whalebone or
spruce ribs, with an open space in the upper part for the paddler.

BUILDING THE KAYAK.

The Oomiak is a flat-bottomed boat of larger size than the Kayak.
It is used by the women folk and for the transportation of the
family to the outer islands during sealing voyages. The women
can handle the paddle as deftly as can the sterner sex. Within recent
years the Esquimaux have adopted the ways of the Newfoundland
fishermen, and the Oomiak and the Kayak have yielded place to the
"whale boat" and the "jack." Even a small schooner is not now

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

beyond the aspirations of the dusky denizens of the north. Another
article of Esquimaux domestic economy is the Komatik, or sled,
which consists of two runners, varying from eight to fifteen feet in
length, shod with hoop iron or whalebone. To these runners are
attached slats or crossbars, about twenty inches in length, lashed
to the runners by seal thongs or fishing-line. The "lashing" is
preferable to nails, as it permits the Komatik to yield in rough places
where nails would be snapped ofif. In the far north the runners are
"mudded," in lieu of shoeing. This process consists in allowing a
ridge of moistened turf to freeze to the runners.

ooMiAK. I Cupyri^^lit. A. P. Lozs..J

The Komatik is the only means of transportation for the Es-
quimaux when the bays are frozen over ; and they sometimes make
extraordinary journeys when in search of food during the winter
months.

The KoDiatik is drawn by dogs of which there are
DOG TEAiM. sometimes nine in a team. The dogs are "tackled"

to the Komatik with a bridle made of sealskin,
each animal having a separate bridle. They are controlled by the
driver, who wields a whip of sealskin thong, thirty to thirty-five feet
long.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

These dogs are very vicious brutes ; and when hunger urges them,
they occasionally feast off the unwary driver. They have some-
times attacked children in the settlements, and not long since they
nearly devoured the little son of Mr. Swatfield, the H. B. C. Agent
at Cartwright. in Sandwich Bay. The Esquimaux dwellings are of
three kinds; Tcpik (skin or canvas tent), which is used when they
are away on the hunt for deer, or fishing in spring time; the
IgloozJk (or snow house), found in the far north; and the Igloo,
or permanent house in the settlements and around the missions. The
larger specimens of this type are called Igloosoaks, and are built
of logs, turf and stones. These huts are much in evidence around

KOMATIK AND DOGS.

Nain, Hopedale and other :\Ioravian settlements. They are entered
by a long, low porch ; and when entering you must walk very cir-
cumspectly, and make your way between the carcass of a seal and
a vessel of democratic shape and use, in which the sealskin is soaked
before being trimmed by the teeth of the matcrfamilias, who con-
verts it into boots or other articles which constitute Esquimaux
apparel. The furniture of the dwelling is decidedly scant ; and con-
sists of sundry vessels of stone, a soapstone lamp, a wooden frame,
presumably a bedstead , and perhaps a tin kettle or two.

Cleanliness, of course, is not one of the virtues of the Esquimaux ;

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and if you are not particularly careful you will return from your
excursion "a noun of multitude."

Their clothins: consists of sealskin, or blanketine:, and is of the
same form, practically, for men and women. Over pantaloons of
spacious width they wear a "Jumper" called — according to the
material of which it is composed — "Adikey" (if made of blanketing)
and "Netsek" (if made of sealskin). The female habiliment is of
more aristocratic type than that worn by the men. It has long
frontal and posterior flaps trimmed with braid of various colors.
A hood of large proportions is attached, sufficiently large to carry
the Benjamin of the family, known to Newfoundland fishermen as
"papoose."

IGLOO WIK.

Their language (w'hich, by the way, has no word for God) is
agglutinative and difficult to acquire, as it admits of no inflexions.
Words sometimes are practically sentences. As an illustration, the
following taken from a pamphlet published l\\' the Moravian Mis-
sionaries is submitted at Nain :

Labradormiut akkilejunguarerkartinget, sakkertitsijungualerkarti-
naget.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Esquimaux have only ten numerals ; and to count any greater
number than ten, they must resort to a very circumlocutory process —
e. g. to express the number fifty, they will say : "ten times as many
fingers as a man has on one hand," or "five times as many toes as
a man has."

The Esquimaux occupation of the coast is emphasized in a very
definite manner in the nomenclature of the coves, harbors and islands
along the coast from Wchec (Cape Harrison) to Killinek (Port
Burwell) beyond Cape Chidley. The following paragraphs from
Kohl's article on this subject describe some social features which I
have not witnessed.

"The marriage of the Esquimaux is a simple affair ; there is no
ceremon\-. except, of course, amrng the Christian section. Theii

THE PAPOOSE.

marriages are often childless ; and the greater number of children
die young. Besides this normal diminution, epidemics are introduced
through the traffic with the fishing vessels, and an extraordinary
large percentage die. They never attain a great age, rarely exceed-
ing sixty years. Formerly, they did not bury their dead, but left the
bodies exposed on the rocks clad in their best clothing and with the
things they had used in life. Xow, since they have come under the
influence of the missionary, they encase the bodies in rough wooden
boxes."

WHERE THE EISHERS GO.

The yearly life of the Esquimaux is as follows : "During the
summer, from ]\lay to December, they, with their families, are scat-
tered along the shore at the fishing places. After the men return
from the hunting in May, they take their whole family to the ofif-
shore islands to hunt seals. The seals follow the edge of the drift
ice ; and the hunters are often obliged to drive far out on dog sleds
to reach the seals' course.

"They wait on the outer islands until the coast ice moves olT,
generally in June. Then they hasten back in their Kayaks to the
Station to prepare their large sailboats, which are generally pur-
chased from the Newfoundland fishermen. With these they fetch
their families from the islands, and go trout fishing in the inlets or
the river courses. Then follows the cod fishery. In the autumn they
hunt again, after which comes the fall seal fishery, carried on in
Kayaks, often with the thermometer twenty degrees below zero. In
this temperature the Esquimaux will sit for hours with their seal-
skin clothing frozen solid as an icicle. About Christmas time they
assemble at the Mission: this is the time of schooling for the chil-
dren, and religious duties for the elders." (Bremen Geographical
Journal for 1884.)

ESQUIMAUX IN KAYAKS. PllOtO, Vcy.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER V.

* THE MONTAGXAIS INDIAN?.

"From the farthest reahns of morning
Came the Black-Robe Chief, the Prophet,
He the Priest of Prayer, the Pale-face.
\\'ith his guides and his companions."

— "Hiawatha," Longfellow,

LAKL MicKi.MAU. {Copyright. Outing Pub. Co.)

Two other Indian tribes, or, more accurately, two other divisions
of Indians, share with the Esquimaux the title to the "Aboriginal
tribes of the Labrador Peninsula" — the Moiitagnais (Coast Indians)
and the K'askopis (Highland Indians). Tliese are branches of the
great Algonquin family, and with the Huron-Iroquois are said to
have descended from the North at the beginning of the fifteenth
century. They received the generic name of Algonquin from the
French; in their own language they were called Odisquaginc ("Peo-
ple at the end of the Water"). They are supposed to have been at
the head of a Northern Confederacy similar to that of the "Six Na-
tions." In later times they became the allies of the French in their
wars against the Xodonos and Iroquois.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 31

The Montagnais occupy the southern section of the Peninsula.
The line of demarcation between them and the Naskopis is pretty
clearly drawn. The line north of Lake Mickikamau is the southern
boundary, and the George River the eastern limit of the Naskopis;
the MoH^a^«aw boundaries lie to the south and west.

The Montagnais number about three thousand, and wander over
the territory between Northzvest River and Bctsiamits. They come
regularly to the southern Hudson Bay Posts and to other settlements
along the south coast of Labrador. I have met two encampments at
the mouth of Esquimaux River, three miles north of Bonne Esper-
ance.

They are usually men of fine physique, and differ in every respect
from the Esquimaux.

Their chief occupation is hunting, though in early summer they
catch salmon and trout, which they trade wiih dealers on the coast.
They gather large quantities of furs, — fox, marten, wildcat, and otter
being now the most highly valued. Their abode is the wigwam, or
cotton tent when on the march. They do not use dogs as the Es-
quimaux do ; but they transport their lares and pcnatcs on toboggans
manufactured by themselves with an axe and a knife. They manu-
facture snowshoes of the finest description. The frames are made
by the men from split birch wattles, and the lacing (babiche) is cut
from deerskin and woven by the women. These snowshoes are of
great length, much larger than we usually see at home.

They are comparatively cleanly in their habits ; and I have visited
their encampments without any disastrous results. The Montagnais
are strictly honest when left to themselves ; and are extremely hos-
pitable : but when they come in contact with Southerners they soon
acquire the evil wavs of the white man. They are of vivacious
temperament, alert and intelligent , practically all of them being able
to read, in French, as well as in their native dialect. They are all
Catholics, and they make regular visits to the missions for instruc-
tion bv the Oblate Fathers, who have been laboring amongst them
since 1843.

Immorality is rare amongst these children of the wild ; and even
when away in the bush they are strict observers of the laws of the
Church.

They have an excellent knowledge of music, and sing Church

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

hymns in their native dialect very correctly. To many, the music of
the primitive Indian seems weird and uncouth, perhaps ; but recent
developments of these native themes demonstrate the fact that the
genius of a Mozart or Beethoven is found latent in some of the In-
dian musical airs. Practically all their music is in a minor key ; and
this is also true of other primitive races. Some years ago, during a
missionary trip to the Straits, a Montagnais Choir sang the Gre-
gorian for me one Sunday at Bonne Espcrance. Besides the regular
parts of the Mass, they sang hymns, in French, and in their native
dialect ; anrl they sang with great accuracy and precision. A great

MoxTAGXAis INDIANS. (Copyright, Outing I'ub. Co. J

number of them speak French fluently ; all of them intelligibly ; and
I was thus enabled to elicit a great deal of information regarding
their customs and mode of living. \\'hen I asked the old chief why
they sang these hymns and other morccaux in French, he answered :
"me sing, longtcmps; le pcrc chant too ; pcre Babel sing aussi.

These Indians had seemingly the greatest veneration for their spir-
itual guides ; and this is not to be wondered at when one realizes
that the missionary has been laboring among the Montagnais for
nearly three centuries.

The Franciscans (Recollets) began work among the Indians
in 1615, the first missionary being Father D'Obleaii. Later, in 1625,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the Jesuits entered the mission field ; and with only short interruption
have since been identified with Canadian Indian missions. The Rev-
erend Edmond Masse began work among the Eastern section of the
Algonquins in 1625. This mission owed its inauguration to the
benevolence of Aiitoincfte Dii Pont, Marquise de Qiierchez-ille.
Father Masse labored among the Montagnais till his death, in 1646.
The next Jesuit missionary of whom we hear was Father Paul le
Jenne, who compiled a "^lanual of Prayer?.'" in the native dialect,
for the "children of the forest." In the "Journal" of Father Lor-
brosse, another Jesuit, who had some thousands of Catechisms and

MOXTAGXAis WOMEN. I Copyright. Outing Pub. Co.)

Primers printed in Montagnais. we find this entry : "I taught many
savages to read, write, and sing by note, and assist at rites, besides
Mass and Evening service." During the first English occupation of
Canada, under David Kertk (who by the way was a Frenchman, a
native of Dieppe), the missions of the Jesuits were discontinued
temporarily ; and many of the missionaries returned to France ; but
when Canada was restored to France, by the Treaty of Saint Ger-
maine-en-Laye, in 1632, the missionaries again began active w-ork ;
and it still continues.

34 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NASKOPIS.

"It is well for us, O brothers!
That you come so far to see us !"

"Hiazcatha," Longfellow.

The name "Naskopis" has been given to the inland Indains of
the Labrador coast stretching from Strait of Belle Isle to Hudson
Bay. The word Xoskopi means "unbeliever," and it was applied
to them before they embraced Christianity. But they still, though
nearly all converted to the Faith, go under this designation in con-
tradistinction to the Montagnais, their neighbors, who used to stick
close to the shore. A great deal of unreliable literature has been
published concerning this interesting band of Indians ; and it has
been written by men who evidently deal in "second-hand goods."
A recent writer says that the Naskopis are all heathens, and dis-
cusses their social and other characteristics from reports received
from traders and others, who have possibly never seen a Xaskopi
camp. I have thumbed every page within reach dealing with the
Naskopis, but. finding such a divergence of views, I sought informa-
tion from one of the best authorities on the subject — one who has
spent nearly a quarter of a century laboring amongst this I'ery tribe
— the Rev. Lemoine.

After months of patient waiting. I received a detailed account
of the life, manners and customs of this interesting people of which
so little accurate information has been given to the public.

My authority is a member of the Oblate Order whose missionaries
have been laboring among the Eastern and Northwestern Indians
since 1843. The late Archbishop Tache, and the Venerable Father
Lacombe, the man who is called "The Father of the Northwest," are
names familiar to Canadians ; and the Oblate Order numbers these
among its members. I met the Father, who has supplied me with
this interesting narrative during one of his missionary tours on the
Labrador coast nearly twenty years ago ; and he has been ever since
a valued friend. His account is so extensive that it cannot be repro-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

duced within the narrow limits at my disposal now ; but, if circum-
stances permit, I hope at some future date to publish it in extenso.
I extract the following paragraphs which bear directly on my sub-
ject:

"Awav in the bush the Naskopis managed to escape the mission-
ary's sway for a long time ; and it is only fifty years since Fathers
Arnauld and Babel came into contact with them, and began their
conversion. These Indians first had missions at Nekupan and
Petetstakupan, then at Northwest River, up Hamilton Inlet (H. B. C.
Posts) ; and lastly, and up to now, even, at 'Seven Islands.' What
their belief was before they embraced Christianity is not quite clear.

NASKOPi BOY. {Copyright, Outing Pub. Co.)

It seems, however, that conjuring formed a great part of it , for, even
yet, they are caught at it, when meeting in the woods away from the
missionary's gaze. They carry on what they call Kushaptshigan.
They pitch a small tent, and make it fast by stakes driven into the
ground. The conjurer alone gets in ; the other Indians sit around as
spectators. He then exerts himself, gesticulating in the most ex-
citing manner, though without touching the tent. Soon a white
partridge is seen hovering on the top, though not placed there by
any visible means. Immediately the tent moves up and down, as if

36 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

jerked by violence, though not touched, or in contact with any visible
object. After this solemn manifestation of his power, the conjurer
tells the enthralled people the cause of their evils and failures in the
hunt, and predicts the happenings for the coming season.

"But the Indians place little confidence in his
CONJURER, prognostications, though they wonder greatly at
the 'doings' of this mysterious fellow who carries
on the KiishaptsJiigati. They indulge in conjuring through curiosity,
but all of them declare they do not place any confidence in the con-
jurer, and they say "Only God can give us good or evil."

As regards the musical art, the Naskopis sing Church hymns and
chants taught them by the missionaries — these take the place of canoe
and war songs. None of the Indians has ever told me that his an-
cestors' knew anything else in the line of music.

Do not believe all you hear or read concerning the Moiita<^iiais
or the Xaskopis from travelers Z\.'lio pretend to lecture or write on
Indians. They will likely tell you that these tribes have a monosyl-
labic language. This is not the case. This belief arises from the fact
that explorers, noticing that they disconnect all the syllables, wrongly
conclude that the syllables thus set apart are so many words. We
find it very difficult now to make people outside understand what
the Indians actually are. and do, owing to the gross misrepresenta-
tions of Indian life made by incompetent lecturers and unscrupulous
adventurers. The truth is, the Naskopis' language, which is also the
language of the Montagnais. is a set of verbal conjugations, tb.e
various parts of which are far from being monosyllabic. Compare
the English "we sing their praises'' with the Xaskopi "ki nikanwsh-
tatanots," which is a common manner of speaking in this dialect.
In fact, most words in the Xaskopi language are longer than either
French or English. Many words are made up of ten or more sylla-
bles. How to pronounce them ? Ah, this is the least difficulty. The
trouble is getting into your head more than thirty dififerent conjuga-
tions which the verbs require. The whole system is described in
my "Dictionary-Francais-IMontagnais" — published by Cabot, of Bos-
ton ; it also contains a grammar. Like all Northern Indians, the
Xaskopis hunt for a livelihood, sometiriies procuring food and cloth-
ing from the captured animals ; but more frequently trading the fur

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

of these animals for tlie various commodities offered them by traders.
Their chief hunt is trapping foxes, martens, minks and other fur-
bearing animals. Cleanliness has not, as yet, had much influence
on their habits, and they deem it below man's notice to care for the
body other than by food.

Among the A'askopis, as among other Indians, the women attend
to all the household work, including wood chopping and water
carrying. Moreover, they hold a secondar}- place in the household,
at all meetings and at banquets, where the mother has to bow even
to her son's superiority. Happily, men are beginning to realize the
true position of womanhood, and they are beginning to treat women
more kindly than formerly. I have just mentioned banquets. Well,
they are somewhat different from the powwows of politicians and
others amongst civilized people.

TEPic. {Copyrii^Iit, Outing Pub. Co.)

The banquet with the Indian — which is called Makushaii — is a
very important affair. He goes there to eat, and in this respect
really he differs little from his white brother. I have attended a few
of these Makushans amongst the Xaskopis. They started eating at
9 a. m.. and kept on coming and eating by turns till 7 p. m., when I
thought I had better interrupt this somewhat protracted function.
All they had to keep them going was a pile of little blocks about two

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

inches square ; these were of gray appearance, as soUd as sugar
cubes, and were said to be the fat mixed with a Uttle flesh of the
Caribou allowed to cool, and then cut up into small squares. These
seemed particularly palatable to the Indian; of course, my tastes
were not consulted. These Makushans are generally held at the time
of the Mission or during the meets in the winter. Speeches are de-
livered at the opening.

Gradually we are weeding out these barbarous customs, and the
Naskopis now ofifer little opposition to the advance of Christian
teachings."

Dillon Wallace in "The Long Labrador Trail" speaks differently
of these Indians ; but, as he admits, in a footnote, his knowledge of
the habits and manners of the Naskopis was gltancd from the officers
of trading companies and some natives around the coast of Fort
Chimo.

ST. John's, looking eastward. Photo, HoUoivay.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER MI.

THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY.

'"AH are Architects of fate.
Working in the walls of time ;
Some with massive deeds and great.
Some with ornaments of rhyme."

"The Builders." Loxgfellow

THE FRENCH REGIME.

Cartier laid the foundation of French regime in the
CARTIER. western land : and his enterprise added large areas

to the already extensive dominions of His Most
Christian Majesty. After planting the Heur-dc-Us on the coast of
Labrador, he made a landfall at Gaspe (an Indian term for "Land's
End"), and there he erected a cross thirty feet high on which he
placed a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis and an inscription, emblemati-
cal of the sovereignty of France in America. Thus was accom-
plished a memorable event, and Canada was silently and incon-
spicuously incorporated into a mighty empire. Thus, too. was com-
pleted that three-fold act of discovery in America — Spain in the
West Indies, England in Newfoundland and Labrador, and France in
Canada — which, as a natural consequence, placed side by side on a
vast unknown continent, the symbols of the sovereignty of three of
the greatest nations of Europe.

40 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Cartier's second voyage to the West resulted in
ROBERVAL. the founding of the City of Montreal ; and his
third, in the establishment of French Colonies
along the coast of Labrador.

A "fable" is recorded by some historians, who have doubtless bor-
rowed it from Thevet, in connection with Cartier's third voyage,
which he made as second in command to the Sieur de la Rocque de
Roberval. The latter was a native of Picardy, and held such sway
in his Province that Francis I. dubbed him "The little King of
Vimeux." The "fable" (for such it evidently is) is this: "Accom-
panying Roberval on this voyage were a relative, the Lady Mar-
guerite, and a young nobleman whose conduct displeased Roberval.
He put them ashore at Belle Isle — the Tsola de Demoni' — of former
navigators, where the young nobleman died. Marguerite was left
alone on the gloomy island until some fishermen, who were in the
neighborhood, rescued her from exile and death. Thevet, with
whom this story originated, sometimes locates this incident at Isle
Demoiselle, farther up the Straits."

Belle Isle is represented on old maps as covered
BELLE ISLE, with devils rampant, with wings and tails and

horns ; and the terror-stricken seamen of olden
times used to hear in the air, on the tops, and about the masts, a
great clamor of men's voices, confused and inarticulate, such as you
may hear from a crowded fair or market place ; whereupon they
knew that the "Isle of Demons" was not far ofif.

During the years following Cartier's voyages, coloni-
COLONS. zation went on apace along the Eastern sections of

the newly acquired territory ; and evidence of this
occupation is permanently established in the names of the little vil-
lages and hamlets situated in the Straits of Belle Isle, Western
Labrador and in the St. Lawrence Gulf and River, from Cape St.
Francis to Quebec.

Toward the close of the seventeenth century an alliance between
the French and the Montagnais Indians on the Labrador coast was
effected ; the latter soon acquired the language of the French colons,
and frequent marriages occurred between them. Their descendants

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 41

are still, in many localities, found among the fishers and trappers of
the Straits of Belle Isle.

Two objects engrossed the attention of the French
PELTERIE. administration — the conversion of the Indian tribes

and the extension of the peltcrie trade. As a
means of carrying out these projects, exploration and discovery v^ere
dominant features in French colonial life.

By the Treaty of Paris (1763), France
TREATY OF PARIS, forfeited all her possessions in North

America, with the exception of Louisi-
ana and the islands of St. Pierre and Alic^uelon (off the south coast
of Newfoundland), and received back ^Martinique and Guadeloupe,
in the West Indies — England retaining Grenada and the Grenadines
—while Spain received Cuba in exchange for Florida. This Treaty
was the occasion of momentous scenes in the British Parliament.
Lord Chatham denounced it as "an infamous transaction" ; and
Lord Bute was openly charged with bribery (the very sum was
named — three hundred thousand pounds — which had been paid

him by the French).

Junius, in one of his celebrated let-
CHARGE OF BRIBERY, ters. charged one of Bute's col-
leagues— the Duke of Bedford —
with bribery ; and he concludes by this caustic assertion : "Belle Isle,
Goree, Guadeloupe, S. Lucia, J\Iartinic|ue, the Fishery, and the
Havanas, are glorious monuments of your Grace's talents for nego-
tiation. . . . ^ly Lord, we are too well acquainted w'ith your
pecuniary character to think it possible that so many public sacrifices
should have been made without some private compensation. Your
conduct carries with it an internal evidence beyond all legal proofs

of a Court of Justice."

Lender the new regime the Government
STRUGGLE FOR was rather a civil and a social bond than
SUPREMACY. an expression of the embodied will of
the Imperial authorities ; hence, explora-
tion and discovery within the colony formed but a subordinate part
of the objects and pursuits of the English colonists. When, there-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

fore, the rival colonists came into contact, it was rather in a struggle
for enlarged boundaries for trade than for influence over the Indian
tribes. The momentous conflict which led to the separation of Can-
ada from France put an end to the struggles between the French
and the English colonists for dominion over the Indian tribes, and
for the monopoly of the fur trade.

It also brought to a close a protracted contest for commercial and
national supremacy, waged for nearly a century and a half between
the two foremost nations of Christendom. That contest, although
it was too often selfish in its aims and purposes, nevertheless uncon-
sciously developed in a wonderful degree, even in both colonies, a
spirit of enterprise and discovery which has rarely had a parallel in
later times, when steam and electricity have added, as it were, wings
to man's locomotive and physical powers.

PLAINS OF ABRAHAM, QUEBEC.

LABRADOR UNDER
JURISDICTION OF
NEWFOUNDLAND.

By a provision of the Treaty of Paris
(1763), the coast of Labrador received
special attention ; and in order to es-
tablish a free fishery, open to British
subjects upon the coast, the whole of
that coast, from the Rk-cr St. John to Hudson Strait, was placed
under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Newfoundland, whose title
henceforth was to be : "Governor and Commander-in-Chief in arvd
over the Island of Ncivfoundlafid, and of the coast of Labrador,
from the entrance to Hudson Strait to the River St. John."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

During the years immediately fol-
SIR HUGH PALLISER. lowing the Treaty of Paris consider-
able development had taken place
along the coast of Labrador ; a number of Europeans had taken up
their abode in a part of the territory, and, by wantonly injuring, had
alienated the natives. At the same time much confusion had arisen
in the country, due, in a large measure, to Canadians who claimed to
have vested rights over certain areas. At this juncture the Governor
of New^foundland — Sir Hugh Palliser, who was a man of great busi-
ness capacitv. devoted himself to an earnest study of the conditions

-A. FiSHiXG ROOM OF THE ANCIENTS. Froui Prozi'sc's History.

existing upon the coast. He personally surveyed the District, and
by certain prudent measures he greatly modified the existing diffi-
culties. He had set his heart on making his newly acquired territory
of Labrador, Anticosti and the Magdalen Islands into a great fish-
ery, governed by the Rules of William's Act. Palliser's first object
was to establish Fort Pitt, in Chateau Bay ; and he accomplished
this with little difficulty. A'isiting all the places
FORT PITT, within his territory, he later encountered serious
obstacles from the resident population, and from
the French Canadians, but especially from American Whalers. In

44 WHERE Till' FISHERS GO.

a letter to the Governor of Massachusetts, August 7, 1776. he says:
"The great trouble and difficulty I meet with in keeping good order
amongst the fishers in Labrador, is occasioned by disorderly people
from your Province. ... 1 am well informed that some New
England vessels . . . went to the Northward, robbed, plun-
dered and murdered amongst the Esquimaux, some old men, women
and children ... so I expect mischief will happen this year ;
revenge being their declared principle."

New Englanders abetted the settlers in
NEW ENGLANDERS. their opposition to the Governor's reg-
ulations, which demanded the destruc-
tion of their posts, under the Fishing-Admiral Rules; and ultimately
to avoid further difficulties, the Imperial Government restored Lab-
rador to Canada, and reversed all Palliser's regulations, in 1774, by
the Quebec Act, 14 George III., Cap. Ixxxiii. Soon there arose a
new source of difficulty, entailing serious consequences for the settlers
along the coast, in the War of American Independence. The first
Congress, in September, 1774, forbade all exports to British posses-
sions ; and this blow fell heavily on Newfoundland and Labrador,
whose inhabitants had been accustomed to obtain supplies from the
New England States. This trade was largely
SMUGGLING, siituggling. which enriched the coffers of the
settlers and the New England merchants. Pri-
vateers harassed the coast, and destroyed much valuable property.
In the summer of 1778 the American Privateer Minerva, under the
captaincy of John Grimes, attacked Cape Charles, one of Cart-
wright's stations, and carried away booty to the value of fourteen
thousand pounds. In 1796 a French fleet bombarded the English
fort in Chateau Bay. and after a long engagement the English
retreated into the back country, after burning the settlement. The
remains of this fort are still visible, and Antelope Tickle, nearby, is
a reminder of the English occupation.

The Treaty of J^vsailles (1783)
TREATY OF A'ERSAILLES. brought these international hos-
tilities to an end ; and by the
same Treaty permission was granted American fishermen to fish on

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, on the same footing as
settlers; but they were allowed to come and "dry," only "in the
unsettled bays, harbors and creeks of Xova Scotia, the ^lagdalen
Islands, and Labrador."*

Americans have constantly prosecuted the fisheries along the
Labrador coast, and several localities, such as American Harbor,
American Tickle and American Island, are witnesses of their pres-
ence. Not many years ago there were thirty schooners from Uncle
Sam's domain fishing at American Harbor, on Southern Labrador.

\ formidable rival to colonial enterprise entered Lab-
H. B. C. rador by the incoming of the Hudson Bay Coinpany,

which received a charter from the Imperial Govern-
ment in 1670, and the familiar inscription. "H. B. C.," is seen in
several settlements from Cartzcrii^ht. in Sandwich Bav, to Fort
Chimo.

♦This Treaty has recently been the subject of considerable discussi'in.
owing to the action of the Newfoundland Government in connection with
the fferring Fishery at Bay of Islands. 'l"he matter has been referrel to
The Hague Tribunal for final settlement.

ST. JOHN S HARBOR IX WINTER.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER VHI.

SETTLEMENTS.

"W'liither, ah, whither? are not these

The tempest-haunted Hebrides,
Where seagulls scream and breakers roar,
And wreck and seaweed line the shore?"

"Ultima Thule," Longfellow

A TRADER.

We have little knowledge of the earliest French settlements of
Labrador beyond the vague records found in the History of Canada ;
and these are neither lengthy nor very definite. In the "Relations
des Jesuites" and the "Journal" of Father Charlevoix, we have
practically all that is extant, of a reliable nature. From the data
available we learn that colonization continued under the administra-
tions of the successive French Governors

EARLY TRADERS, from 1550 to 1627. The pelterie trade

attracted the attention of the adventurer

and the courtier, so that, previous to 1627, several Associations had

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 47

been org"anized to engage in the development of the eastern section
of New France, of which Labrador was an important part. The
history of these companies is a record of iniquitous transactions ;
and their greed was such that even missionary enterprise was
thwarted by the "Adventurers."

To repress the rapacity of these soulless organizations the Com-
pany of New France, otherwise known as "The Company of the
Hundred Associates," was founded by Cardinal Richelieu, in 1627,
who pledged themselves to foster religious development and to deal
in a humane spirit with the savages and the colonists ; but these
pledges were not fulfilled. Canada came into the hands of the
English in 1629, through the services of David Kertk (Kirk), a
native of Dieppe, who was battling for English interests ; and dur-
ing the period of English Dominion (1629-1632) missionary and
other interests were in abeyance. Canada was again ceded to
France by the Treaty of Saint Gcrniaine-en-Laye (1632), and mis-
sionary enterprise received an impetus which has never relaxed. A\'ith
the missionary came the colon and the settler. The only authentic
record of the development of Labrador by English settlers is
by Major George Cartwright, who has left a monumental work on
the subject. It is entitled : "A Journal of Transactions and Ez'cnts
during a residence of nearly sixteen years on the Coast of Labrador,
containing many interesting particulars bofJi of the country and its
inhabitants not hitherto known. Illustrated with proper charts."
This is a ponderous diary, in three octavo volumes.

Cartwright was born in England, and after
CARTWRIGHT. service in the army he came out to New-
(Seepage85.) foundland, in 1776. After some months of

exploration in the interior of the island he returned to England.
He came out to Newfoundland again in 1768; and in 1770 he en-
tered into a partnership with Lieutenant Lucas, Perkins, and Cogh-
lan, of Bristol, to carry on business at Labrador under the firm of
Perkins, Coghlan, Cartzm-ight and Lucas. Cartwright located at
Cape Charles, in 1770, removing later to Sandwich Bay, where he
founded the settlement of Cartwright, now owned by the Hudson
Bay Company. "Cartwright was a singular character; frankly im-

WHERE THE EISHERS GO.

moral, he was at the same time mo^^t assiduous in his rehgious
devotions, and anxious for the conversion of the savage."

The earhest "settlement"' on the coast of Labrador
BREST, was Brest, situated at the mouth of Bras d'or Bay.

Its actual founder is unknown, but it became known to
Europe through Dciiys of Honflcur and Aubcrt of Dieppe. It was
colonized by Bretons, and evidently occupied, in early colonial days,
a position similar to that now held by the French Colony of St.
Pierre (off the coast of Newfoundlaiid). The site was admirably
chosen, as it afforded easy access to the fishing grounds in the

ST. PIERRE.

Gulf and in the Straits of Belle Isle. Cartier visited it in 1534. It
was strongly fortified, and its garrison protected the settlers from
the predatory incursions of the Esquimaux. The fort was known
as "Fort Pontchartrain." It was the chief town of Neiv France,
the residence of the Governor, the Almoner, and other public offi-
cers; the French drew from there large quantities of haccalao (cod-
fish), zvhale-fiiis, and train (oil), together with castor (beaver), and
other valuable furs.

At the close of the sixteenth century Brest was at the height of
its prosperity; and it contained two hundred houses, besides stores
and fishing rooms, and had a permanent population of one thousand
souls, which in summer time was increased to three thousand by
the influx of marins, from Breton seaports. It began to decline in

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 49

the early days of the following century, and its first cause of decay
was the grant en scigncuric of four leagues of coast, on each side,
embracing the town, to the Sicnr de Courtemanche, whose family
held it in possession until France ceded to England its northern
possessions, by the Treaty of Utrecht, which, says the Abbe Raynal,
snatched from the feeble hands of Louis the portals of Canada,
Acadie, and Newfoundland.

Soon after the granting of this section of the coast to the Sieur de
Courtemanche, the whole tribe of Esquimaux, who had given the
French so much annoyance, were totally extirpated, or expelled
from the gulf shores. This and other causes dispersed the fisher-
men who had frequented Brest to other stations, and the place
began to decline, and, indeed, was little more than a private estab-
lishment towards the close of the century, and the name was
changed to Bradore ( Englishmen had then begun to invade these
haunts of the French). While the French occupied the country.
Brest was the centre of a large trade. An old Frenchman named
Junot says that when he tirst came to the country he saw one hun-
dred and fifty vessels anchored in Bradore Bay, with five ships of
war, preparatory to their departure for France.

This was the case every year; Junot spoke of the year 1720. The
town of Brest remained in the hands of the Courtemanche family
for three generations, and then came into possession of M. de
Brouages, one of the "Council of Seven" of Quebec, who was either
a nephew or grandson of the last Sieur de Courtemanche. He held
it until the conquest in 1763. After the conquest Bradore and one
hundred and fifty miles of the coast westward were monopolized by
a company called "The Labrador Company," established in Quebec,
which for fifty years carried on the fishery, chiefly for seals, with
success, until the last fifteen years, when the fisheries declined, and
finally failed, when they were obliged to sell out. This happened
in 1820, since which time this part of the coast has been gradually
filling in with settlers. (Robertson: Azotes on Labrador.)

Not far from the site of this once
SMUGGLERS' CACHES, bustling town there is a little inlet

known as L'anse des Dimes (Vulgo-
Linsey-Din) . This little creek is one of the most interesting spots

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

on the coast. It is still reminiscent of the Ancicn Regime ; it pos-
sesses a trim little church, built by a French-Canadian missionary
more than fifty years ago. It was my privilege to officiate there
frequently during my missionary trips to the coast, and the settle-
ment is now regularly visited by the Eudist Fathers, who have estab-
lished several missions along the lower gulf coast. A few French
families still live in the vicinity.

A CANADI.\N TRADER.

Near this settlement there are several caches, where the smuggler
deposited his wares in days of old ; but these haunts no longer know
the silent tread of the vendor of contraband wares. Some interest-
ing stories are told of "Old Bradore." In early times its people
had money in abundance ; and some years ago the residence of an
old "planter" had the distinction of possessing a stairs paved zi'ith
silver dollars, ingeniously set in the oak planks to prevent them
from wearing! High "Jinks" and "Jamborees" (they would be
called "socials" in this artistic age) whiled away the long winter
nights in former times ; and cargoes of liquor are

BRADORE. said to have been consumed by festive roysterers.

On one occasion, I am told, a chariot-race was

held on the strand (the horses having been brought especially for

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 51

the event from Quebec). Then came evil days, the wasteful prodi-
gals tasted of the "waters of Mara," and the descendants of the
bacchanals of the prosperous age are to-day not infrequently the
wards of public charity.

Tempora mutantur! Tlie Brest of the Ancien Regime is to-day
a rude fishing hamlet, and "fish lakes" cumber the ground where
the gallant sons of the empire often trod.

Away to the eastward, along the shore of the
CHATEAU. Straits of Belle Isle, there is another vestige of
Old France, Chateau. This settlement was estab-
lished by Cartier, in 1534; but there is no evidence that it ever
assumed such importance as Brest.

The Esquimaux then held unrestricted sway in this region, and
doubtless were a constant menace to Cartier's foundation. There
certainly was an English settlement in this neighborhood previous
to 1750.

It is claimed that an Acadian colony settled here
ACADIANS. in the autumn of 1756, the year following the

expulsion from the "peaceful village of Grand
Pre" ; but, notwithstanding researches made in various quarters, I
have not been able to verify the statement.

In the year 1763 a British garrison was located in Chateau to
protect the interests of British fishermen, who, at this date, came
in great numbers to the Newfoundland and the Labrador coasts.
The remains of the fortifications are still visible in Chateau Bay,
though they are now almost completely overgrown by thickets.

52 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER IX.

THE ADVENTURERS.

"Men from out the Isles of Jersey and Devon." (Chronicle.)

BERGS.

The peltcrie and the fishing wealth of the coast early attracted
the Breton merchants to the French settlements ; and, previous
to the Treaty of Paris, the "Adventurers" of Quebec strove to ob-
tain a monopoly of the Indian traffic ; but with the fall of Quebec the
Gcntleman-Adi'cntiircr of the French regime disappeared.

But a new phase of commercial activity
JERSEY TRADERS, began with the coming of the West of

England and Jersey merchant traders ;
and before the close of the eighteenth century we find several Jersey
and English firms located along the coast. Jersey firms located
at Blanc SabJon, Fortcau, Isle an Bois, and Bradore, and they did
a lucrative trade with the settlers for upwards of a century. The
Jersey houses were established, as far as I can learn, about 1779.
De Quetiville had two fishing establishments, one at Blanc Sahlon,
the other at Forteau. in 1 774 ; and Falle <Sr Cie had an establish-
ment at Admiral's Point in 1795. Boutillier Freres carried on a

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 53

large trade at Isle aiix Bois about the same time ; and later the firm
of Robin, which had been engaged in business in Cape Breton, es-
tablished an agency near Long Point.

These fishing establishments were practically settlements, and a
hamlet arose wherever the "Concern" was located. They had a
lengthy list of clerks and helpers, wdio were paid exceedingly small
wages. Usually the chief clerks were shareholders in the business ;
and later some of them became the proprietors, whilst the under-
strappers lived in respectable serfdom.

West-of-England adventurers, Americans

ADVENTURERS, and Newfoundlanders followed the Jersey
merchants ; and we find the firms of Nich-
olas Darby and Cartwright and Lucas in Cape Charles in 1768, and
Noble and Pinson in Temple Bay (Chateau) in 1768. An interest-
ing lawsuit, tried before Lord Mansfield in 1780, arose out of the
capture of two of Noble and Pinson's vessels, "Hope" and "Anne,"
on a fishing voyage from Dartmouth and Waterford to Temple
Bay. On the thirteenth of August of that year an American pri-
vateer captured both vessels, and the firm of owners sued Kenno-
way, the underwriter, for the insurance. (Prowse.) Cartwright's
"venture" at Cape Charles was an extensive one ; and from the
gallant major's "Journal" we glean some interesting details of
how things were done in those days.

Cartwright evidently ruled with an iron hand, and doubtless a
similar modus operandi obtained in the other "Concerns." He pun-
ished refractory servants with the "cat-o'-nine-tails," and his naval
training had taught him diverse other barbarous means of admin-
istering castigation to his menials. These early establishments were
not remarkable for the observance of the Christian virtues , and
sobriety was evidently not held in great esteem. We have, in one
instance, a "record" in Cartwright's Journal, which is devoted to
an account of the "White Bear Settlement at Cape Charles" :

"December 24, 1774. at night, all hands were drunk and fighting,
according to custom." There were strikes on the score of "grub"
at repeated intervals and general misconduct.

Following those early settlements we find Slade, established at

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

St. Francis Harbor, Battle Harbor, and Venison Tickle; Hunt and
Henly, at Henly Harbor, Grady and Lojig Island; Warren at Indian
Tickle, and Mottv at Murray's Harbor.

TH1-: OLD REGIME.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 55

CHAPTER X.

THE HARVEST.

"Richer treasures than the mines of ^Mexico and Peru." (Bacon.)

The "Codlands" of North America had attracted the fishermen
of the Western nations of Europe even as early as 1500; and
it is recorded that, though the Northland was discovered by Eng-
lishmen, other nationalities were the first to reap there "the harvest
of the sea." The English, in the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury, prosecuted a fishery in Iceland ; but they soon found their way
across the Atlantic, and in 1540 vessels from London, Bristol, Bid-
deford and Barnstaple were engaged in fishing on the Newfound-
land Banks, and likely ofif the coast of Labrador. In 1610 the
"Company of Planters," composed of the Earl of Northampton,
Lord Bacon and others, was organized to promote the fishing in-
dustry which contained "richer treasures than the mines of Mexico
and Peru." The aggressive attitude of the French and the bounty
system of the French government forced the Newfoundland fisher-
men ofif the Eastern coasts of the "Old Colony"' at the beginning of
the last century, "and then began the Labrador fishery of Newfound-
landers, which has been vigorously prosecuted ever since. Whales,
seals, cod, salmon, herring and mackerel were found along the coast
in abundance, and the Labrador fishery is still a source of wealth
seemingly unfailing.

The whale fishery has been from earliest
WHALE FISHERY, times an important industry along the
western and southern coasts of Labrador.
Basques and Bretons carried on whaling, even before the discovery
of Newfoundland, in the North Atlantic; and from 1545 to 1700
prosecuted the whale fishery in the Grande Bale (Lower Gulf),
and presumably in the Straits of Belle Isle. We have no authentic
records of whaling by English or American fishermen previous to
1764. From that date Americans have carried on a successful

56 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

fishery, in the eadier times along the south coast of Labrador and
more recently in the North. Newburyport and New Bedford, in
Massachusetts, were large whaling centres ; and the latter is still
regarded as the "home of the whaler."

In former times whaling was carried on in "brigs," each of
which had several "whaleboats."

The modern method of whaling is entirely different from that in
vogue in former times ; it is now conducted by steamers, which will
be described in a subsequent chapter.

The seal fishery is a very important
THE SEAL FISHERY, industry along the coast of Labrador.

and it has been prosecuted from time
immemorial. It has always been the chief fishery of the Esquimaux .
and it is said that the constant feuds between them and the Lpper
Coast Indians (Montagnais) were occasioned by disputes over seal-
ing grounds. Europeans, according to Abbe Raynal, prosecuted
this fishery as early as 1763. This industry is prosecuted with great
vigor by Newfoundland sealers; but their methods differ entirely
from those in vogue on the coast of Labrador. Newfoundlanders
carry on their sealing in large steamers, each carrying a crew pro-
portionate to its tonnage. An average sealing crew is two hundre 1
men ; and fishery is conducted amongst the ice floes of the North.
The Labrador seal fishery is carried on along the coast ; it is
known as an "inshore" fishery; and is prosecuted by means of nets,
or "seal frames." These nets" are made from large twine (com-
monly known as ''swile twine"), and they vary from twenty-five
to forty fathoms in length, with a mesh of fourteen or sixteen
inches.

In former times "hauls" of six or seven hundred
CATCH, seals on the Labrador coast were not unusual ; but
now the average catch rarely exceeds one-fifth of that
number. This fishery is carried on from May to June loth
(spring "run"), and from 20th November to loth or 15th December
(fall "run"). It was formerly the largest item in the settler's
fishery, and we find evidence of its importance in the names along
the south and west sections of the coast ; there are numerous Seal
"Islands," Seal "Rocks," and Seal "Bights."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The seal is valuable both on account of its "fat" and
VALUE, the "i^elt," which in recent }'ears has assumed great
commercial importance. It is even asserted that some
of our Dongola Sunday shoes are the product of the vulgar "swile" ;
and, "tell it not in Gath!" it is said that higJi-gradc seal oil enters
into some of the decoctions sold by cheap grocery stores as "Genu-
ine Lucca."

Be this as it may, a quantity of Newfoundland seal oil finds its
wav into the Italian market cverv vear.

The seal of commerce which fetches the greatest price is known
as "the Harp"- — so called from having a broad, curved line of con-
nected dark spots proceeding from each shoulder and meeting on
the back above the tail, and forming something like an ancient
harp.

Two species of the "Royal Fish" are

SALMON FISHING, found on the coast of Labrador ; the

Salnio salar (Linn), which is the "true

salmon," and the Sal mo Iiiiiniiclatiis (Storer), which is known to

fishermen as "salmon trout." (I^ackard.)

This fishery has been vigorously prosecuted for centuries along

58 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the coast, from Bonne Esperance to Hamilton Inlet. It is carried
on at the mouths of the larger rivers and in the inlets; but it seems
that it is also doomed to extinction in the near future, owing to
the recklessness displayed by fishermen who contravene the fishing
regulations.

Notwithstanding the vigilance exercised by the Newfoundland
government, the law is often set at defiance, and some fishermen
have no scruple in destroying the "breeders." Salmon are a con-
siderable item in the trade of the Moravian Missions and the Hud-
son Bay posts at Cartzvriglit and Rigolette. They are exported,
usually in tierces of three hundred pounds weight, but sometimes
in smaller packages. Several experiments have been made within
recent years to send salmon fresh across the ocean ; but none, as
far as I know, has been a commercial success.

The Esquimaux in the far north
WALRUS AND NARWHAL, still hunt the walrus and nar-
whal, but on Southern Labra-
dor both walrus and narwhal are now practically extinct.

Mackerel fishing also once formed a considerable
MACKEREL, item in the fisheries of Labrador ; but few of
these valuable fish are now seen on the coast of
either Labrador or Newfoundland.

The herring fishery in past years
THE HERRING FISHERY, was a very valuable industry ; but

it has so declined in recent times
that the genuine Labrador article is now rarely seen. The her-
ring of the Labrador coast are reputed to be the richest and finest
as regards quality in the world. They were taken in nets, or seined,
during the months of September and October, and packed in bar-
rels of two hundred pounds weight for export. In recent years few
herring are seined on the coast. When Labrador herring were ex-
ported in large quantities little care was taken of either the cure or
packing, and complaints of a serious nature were frequent. In fact,
it was almost impossible to find remunerative prices in any large
fish-consuming centres, owing to the evil reputation of packers. It

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 59

was not unusual in former times to find sundry rejectamenta of the
"splitting" table packed amongst the herring. Some years ago part
of a cargo was sold in Montreal for seventy-five cents a barrel — a
net loss to the shipper of at least one thousand dollars on the
cargo.

The greatest asset of Labrador is its
THE COD FISHERY, seemingly inexhaustible cod fishery.

One rarely hears the word codfish — all
other members of the finny tribe being qualified by their respective
names. The cod fishery has been regularly prosecuted along the
coast since 1700. Prior to that date English fishermen visited the
coast at intervals, but no regular coast fishery was carried on. The
Basques and Bretons had large fishing establishments in the Straits
of Belle Isle in 1550. There were no settlers between the Straits
of Belle Isle and Hamilton Inlet. Under the regime of Governor
Palliser (1764-68) regulations were drawn up whereby "the Labra-
dor fishery should be conducted as a 'Ship Fishery' " ; and in order
to protect the vessels engaged in it, he established Fort Pitt, in
Chateau Bay, placing it under the command of Lieutenant Adams,
who held the position of civil and military officer. A great impetus
was thus given to the cod fishery ; and, as we have already seen,
several "Rooms" were then established along the south coast which
were bases of supplies for the English and Newfoundland fisher-
men who regularly visited it. After the War of Independence,
American fishermen frequented the coast in great numbers, and
their catch exceeded the catch of English fishermen by 400,000
quintals annually. This seems an exaggeration, but the accuracy of
the figures is vouched for by reliable authority. (Robinson, R. N.,
quoted by Prowse.)

Permanent stations were made towards the
SETTLEMENTS, northward about 1782. Cartwright estab-
lished the settlement which bears his name
in Sandivich Bay in 1788; Hunt and Henly located at Long Island
in 1800, Warren at Indian Tickle in 1830; and a few Newfoundland
"planters" went north as far as Domino as early as 1825. New-
foundland fishermen went down to Groswater Bay (Hamilton In-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

let) alx)ut 1830; and ever since these venturesome "toilers of the
sea" have pushed their way north. They have now reached Cape
Chidley in quest of the festive cod. lushing on the south coast of
Labrador became uncertain about 1840; and the "planters" were
forced to seek locations farther north. One of the first vessels to
go north of Cape Harrison belonged to my grandfather. I think
her name was the "Traveller." The northern portion of the coast
affords the most promising fishing grounds, as it is fringed with a
vast multitude of islands forming a continuous archipelago from
Cape Ailik to Cape Mugford, and extends seawards possibly thirty
miles.

MAMMOTH CODFISH. PllOtO, HoUozVily.

Outside these islands and about fifteen miles seaward

BANKS, from them are numerous banks and shoals which form

the summer feeding grounds of the large cod ; and a

second range of banks, outside the shoals, which are probably their

winter feeding grounds.

This island-studded area is immense ; and it is estimated at 7,000
square miles. The Arctic current which washes these shores exerts
a most beneficial influence on the fish life of these regions. The
icy current flowing from the Arctic seas is in many places a living
mass, a vast ocean of slime ; and the slime, which accompanies the
icebergs and floes, accumulates on the banks of Northern Labrador

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 6i

and renders possible the existence of all these forms of marine life —
from the crustacean to the diatom, together with the molluscous
animals and starfish, which contribute to the sustenance of the great
schools of cod which also find their home there. (Hind: Explora-
tions.)

The approximate value of the Labrador fisheries is $3,000,000 an-
nually. From the "Customs' Returns" for 1905. we find that the
total catch of fish (codfish) was seven hundred and thirtv thousand
quintals, which, if sold at an average price of four dollars ]icr
quintal, represents a value of $2,938, 44(S.

62 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XI.

THE FISHERS.

"The sea was rough and stormy

The tempest howled and wailec.

And the sea fog, Hke a ghost.

Haunted that dreary coast,

But onward still I sailed.
******

So far I live to the northward,
No man lives north of me."
"The Discoverer of the North Cape," Longfellow.

The fishery on the Labra-

FLOATERS AXD STATIONERS, dor coast is prosecuted

chiefly by men from the
northern and eastern bays of Newfoundland, and they are divided
into two classes: "Floaters" (or "Green Fish Catchers'') and "Sta-
tioners'' (sometimes called "Squatters," or "Roomers").

The former fish wherever the cod is found, and the latter are
located in some harbor, creek or "bight" where they own a ''Room."

This "Room" — defined by Simmonds "A fishing station in North
America" — is difificult to describe, as it may consist of a substantial
dwelling house, commodious stores, substantial wharves and land-
ings; or, as is the case in the recently settled places in the far North.
it may consist of an 8xio shanty, a "bunkhouse" and a "stage"
oftentimes roofless, and a "stagehead." or landing place, built of
"longers" (poles about three or four inches in diameter), twenty to
twenty-five feet long.

Looking through an old diary of one of my mission trips to the
coast, I find an entry which will describe accurately, if not grace-
fuUv, the "Room" of a Northern "Squatter." I omit the locality
for reasons which my fellow countrymen will understand, for the
owner of the wretched establishment is a well-known dealer in a
certain bay not one hundred miles from St. John's.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"Monday, August 12, — ■ — :

"This is a decidedly dreary day. To appreciate
A "ROOM." this to its fullest extent, imagine a small island

with precipitous, syenitic cliffs, inaccessible from
any point except where the 'stage' is located. Perched on the south-
east corner of this Crusoe's land there is a rude structure of the
meanest proportions, roughly boarded on studs which have never
been rinded, with "joints through which a southeaster is whistling
furiously ; the roof is covered with birch rind and sods, full of holes,
through which a drizzle is pouring ungraciously in silver beads upon
one's head.

A ROOM.

"The 'fixings' (furniture) are in keeping wuth the other features
of the establishment ; the floor is full of gaping apertures, perfectly
bare, and apparently unwashed for weeks. The partition enclosing
the sleeping apartment is built of rough lumber, whose edges have
never been touched by plane or saw. There is nothing to sit on ex-
cept a piece of three-inch deal, with four trenails for legs. A table
of similar material occupies the end opposite the stove. The 'bunk'
is covered with a quilt which no Chinaman would wash for a
dollar; toilet appliances, nil ; a much-battered tin pan and a large
chunk of yellow soap being the only ablutionary appurtenances in
sight.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"The ])lace is decidedly airy; the ventilation is even excessive, as
both floor and sides have apertures through which any article of
one's apparel might disappear without detection. Without every-
thing is fully as cheerless as within. Close by, the multitudi-
nous rejectamenta of countless repasts are scattered promiscuously
for yards. Beyond the radius of this filthy area there is nothing but
desolation. A dense fog wraps the island in gloom, and 'solemn
stillness reigns supreme,' save when the surf, swishing against the
beetling clififs. dashes its spray upon the southern gable of the hut.

.^r*^^^

.^■^■'■^

I^^^SIS

W^^^* ^m^,mM^

A LABR.\lH(K .MA.\>l(i.\,

"The day is too 'coarse' (unfit) for fishing; and the fishermen are
gathered in the 'lean-to' which serves as a 'bunkhouse.' Some of
them are writing 'home,' their escritoire being the canvassed top of
a sea chest. Others are playing a game of 'five and forty' with
'gumbeens' for stakes; all are smoking 'Fisherman's friend' tobacco,
which would be dear at twenty-five cents per pound."

\Miat a happy, jovial character is "the toiler of the deep!" There
are other entries on this date ; but, satis.

It must not be concluded that all the Northern fishing "Rooms'"
are of this class; you fin 1 many of them clean, tidy and com-
fortable. This is especially the case "up the shore," though occa-
sionally one meets with even more unattractive places than the
one described. There is one establishment, located on an island
south of Cape Harrison, which even an American lady journalist
considered "the limit" in the line of squalidity.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 65

The "Stationers" ordinarily are not owners of schooners ; they are
"freighted down" to the coast every season in a schooner belonging
to the "firm" with which they deal, or in a sealing steamer which
has been specially chartered by some large "planter." "Freighted
down" seems an extraordinary word to apply to human beings ; but
to understand the precise meaning of this

FREIGHTERS, word one must see a freighter discharge its
human cargo at some Labrador harbor. The
overcrowding on the schooners which formerly carried "freighters"
to Labrador may be estimated from the fact that on board a vessel
of fifty tons more than one hundred people were "herded" below
decks, with hardly space enough to move in. The holds of these
vessels were stacked to within four or five feet of the deck with
barrels, boxes, fishing gear and the various etcetera which families
in transit require for their daily needs.

"Twine" (nets, seines and traps) was, according to established
custom, piled upon the layers of things unbreakable, and the several
families of "freighters" spread their bunks upon this, each family
being allotted a section where the sanitation was not by any means
conducive to health. The women folk were screened from mascu-
line gaze by a partition of sails, and were subject to such discom-
forts- as none but the oldtime fisher folk could endure.

Above deck the conditions were similar to those below, as the
decks of the schooners were littered with boats, oars, moorings,
domestic animals and sundry other paraphernalia. Cooking was
sometimes an impossibility, and at best was of the most primitive
kind, as the "galley" was usually inadequate to meet the require-
ments of the heterogeneous crowd on board.

The larger schooners went by the "outside" run, and usually
made quick passages ; but the "hookers" kept close to the shore and
harbored every evening, if possible. These were often a fortnight,
sometimes longer, making the trip. The appearance of one of these
on arrival at the Labrador port was by no means attractive. An
American author who spent several years on the coast thus describes
an arrival : "Among the late arrivals was a Newfoundland fishing
smack which had two crews aboard, and with them six women, all
unmarried, two of them mere girls, who lived in the same cabin
with the men, but stowed away in a corner of the apartment. They

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

are paid about one dollar a week, and their work was 'to gut'
and head, and split and salt the fish. Everything about the in-
terior was forlorn, dirty and greasy, and not a soul aboard had
apparently washed for weeks." This was, unfortunately, the nor-
mal condition of fishing schooners in former years ; but legislation
has remedied it to a certain extent. But even yet this "freighting" is
a disgraceful proceeding, and drastic legislation is imperatively
needed to remove this plague spot from the social fabric of the
Ancient Colony.

AN "old timer."

The "Stationers" usually leave the home ports
STATIONERS, about the first week of June, or later, and

return towards the end of October. A suc-
cessful voyage means comfort and good times; but an unfavorable
season means debt and hardship. The "Floaters" have no fixed
location, but "heave up" in their schooners or boats wherever fish
is plentiful. Schooners vary in size from twenty to sixty tons, and
boats are rated according to their carrying capacity in quintals.
The word quintal in local parlance means 112 pounds.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 67

The "Floaters" leave the New-
GREENFISH CATCHERS, foundland ports about the ist of

June, and fish in the Straits of
Belle Isle, from Mecatina Islands to Greenly; and, if successful,
return to the home port with their fares and put out their catch to
"dry" (or make, as it is termed by the fishermen).

This making costs from 20 to 25 cents per quintal. If unsuccess-
ful in the Straits, they go "down the shore," often as far as Cape
Chidley. On their return from the north, many "Floaters" dry
their catch at some point on the upper part of the coast and "ship"
it to the supplier, who has a "foreigner" awaiting a cargo at head-
quarters ; others take the fish to the home port, and when it is
"made," either ship it at some large centre, such as Twillingate,
Fogo, or Bonavista, or take it to St. John's, where usually better
prices are obtained than at home.

Formerly the outfit necessary for the fishing trip consisted of
"Hook and Line," or "Jiggers" ; but in later years traps and cod
seines have supplanted those primitive appliances, though one still
finds the "hook and line" amongst the class of fishermen who are
known as "punt fishermen." These are the class who are unable to
purchase a trap or cod seine.

These fishermen now use "bultows" or trawls,

BULTOWS. but recent legislation forbids their use on certain

sections of the coast. An old timer remarked to

me some years ago : "There's no fishermen goin' these times — the

traps is a lazy way of gettin' a voyage, and you can hardly find a

man goin' to the fishery now who is able to 'genge a hook.' "

American fishermen introduced seines on the coast of Labrador,
and it is said that Captain Norman, of Brigus, introduced the cod
trap. Tiiis distinction, however, is claimed by others.

Traps are expensive items in the fishermen's account,
TRAPS, as they cost six or seven hundred dollars, according to

size. They are simply huge "pounds" into which the
cod is inveigled by a wall of twine called a "leader." The size of
the mesh is regulated by law ; it is supposed to be a three-inch mesh.

68 WIII'.RE THE FISHERS GO.

but notwithstanding every effort to enforce the law, two-and-a-half-
inch mesh is common.

The "haul" of a trap is sometimes one hundred quintals, but this
is of rare occurrence.

The race for "trap berths" amongst the fishermen is very keen ;
and the early starters for Labrador sometimes incur great risk in
getting down to the northern harbors. Once the "moorings" are
fixed, the "berth" is secure.

Traps are "hauled" sometimes twice

HANDLING THE FISH, every day, and the catch is brought

to the "stage" in carteel boats or a
trap skifif. It is "pewed" to the "stage head," and then passed on
to the "cutthroat," who, with a double-bladed knife, slits the fish;
it then passes to the "header," who removes the head and, like an
augur of old, tears out the entrails, but without inspecting them.
The liver is thrown into a receptacle known as "the liver puncheon."
The disembowelled fish is then passed on to the "splitter," known
usually by a mittened hand, who removes in a very dexterous man-
ner the backbone and shies it aside. The fish is then slapped into a
dredge barrow- and borne to the end of the stage to the salt bulk ;
or, if economy in salt is a desideratum, it is stowed into puncheons,
where it remains in pickle several days.

It is then taken out and washed ; in this condition it is known as
"water horse."

Then comes the "making," or "drying." If the fisherman pos-
sesses a "room," the fish is spread on "flakes" — scaffolds made of
poles covered with "spruce" or "var" boughs — in the Straits of
Belle Isle hand flakes are used. These are made of slats and can
be removed when not needed.

Fishermen who do not owai a "room" spread the fish on the
"bawn" — presumably a Celtic term for beach. The curing of the
fish takes several days of good clear weather, and great care must
be exercised to prevent it from becoming either "slimy" or sun-
burnt. Labrador fish is not cured "hard," such as the catch on the
Newfoundland coast : hence the great difference in the price received
in foreign markets. When the fish is "made" it is shipped on board
a "foreigner," or to the collector of the "firm" with which the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

fisherman "deals." Cash is rarely paid for fish shipments on the
coast by local firms, but the shipper is given a "receipt."" which is
negotiable only at the merchant's office.

The price is rarely stipulated, but it is understood that the shipper
will receive "the current figure"" — what that means is not known
until later.

Within recent years foreign buyers have invaded the mercantile
preserves of the coast, and they pay cash for the catch, to the great
chagrin of the local mag^nate.

"ROOMS." Copyrii^^Iit. Outing Pub. C(

70 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER Xn.

THE GENUS MERCATOR.

"O fortunati Mercatores." (Horace.)

A XEWFOUNL>L.\:s.> uL TPuRT.

The merchant, in the fisherman's vocabu-
THE MERCHANT, lary, is the outfitter who provides the sup-

pHes for the fishing industry. The busi-
ness house of this worthy is known as "the firm," or "the concern'' ;
and the principal of the "finn" is known as "The Boss," or "The
Skipper." He is of varied type and quaUty. It is difficult to define
this personage ; we only attempt to describe him.

The merchants of early days came from
OLD MERCHANTS, the British Isles, many of them "out of

Poole and the Isles of Jersey." The sole
possessions of many on arrival in the Northern lands were unlimited
confidence in themselves, a suit of homespun, and such personal
belongings as might fit comfortably within the folds of a red ban-
danna. There were others who had seen service in the merchant

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 71

ships of Britain ; those brought with them their quarter-deck tyranny
and profanity. The precepts of the Decalogue were left behind,
and they anticipated Kipling, for they rejoiced that they had found
a retreat where "There ain't no ten commandments, and a man
can raise a thirst."

Opposed to all progress and development other than their own,
often engaged in serious feuds amongst themselves, their sole am-
bition was centred in the accumulation of wealth — honestly, if con-
venient, but, if needs be, otherwise. Out of this class arose what
was known in Newfoundland in former times, the class known as
the "Codfish aristocracy." They became leaders of Colonial soci-
ety, and after a more or less eventful career they retired to the
banks of the Mersey and the Clyde to spend the declining years of
a strenuous life "far from the madding crowd."

It is said that on the departure of one of the ancient merchants
from the colony, he stood on the bridge of the vessel which bore
him away, waved his hand in adieu, and said : "Good-by, poor New-
foundland fools !" He had accumulated a fortune from "cods' tails."

The older merchants were bitterly opposed to every movement
inaugurated for the betterment of the condition of colonial fisher-
men. In the early days they opposed the settlement of fishermen
in Newfoundland ; they opposed the establishment of courts of
justice, and the agitation for local government in 1832 was de-
nounced by these exacting taskmasters as "outrageous." One of
these fossils — Peter Ougier — is said to have made this statement
as an argument ( ?) against Colonial government : "They are ac-
tually making roads in Newfoundland. Next thing they will have
horses and carriages and driving about."

Ougier embodied his ideas in a pamphlet which was published in
Poole, in order "to give an enlarged view of the fisheries and trade
of Newfoundland."

The mercantile clique opposed the establishment of a custom
house many years before; and their policy towards Colonial trade
development was always one of bitter antagonism.

In 1855 the coterie opposed the movement for Responsible Gov-
ernment, and the records of mercantile despotism are writ large upon
the pages of Colonial history.

With the retirement of the older class of merchants there arose

72 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

another class, differing little from their progenitors, excepting pos-
sibly in their undisguised contempt for the fishermen whose labors
they coined into bonds and consols. These worthies did business —
when not otherwise engaged — between the hours of lo a. m. and
3 p. m., but they rarely if ever came in contact with the fishing
class, except during election time, when they deigned to proffer a
gloved hand to an outport planter. They had a staff of clerks
sufficiently large to conduct a chartered bank, with salaries ranging
from two hundred to six hundred dollars per annum. Clerks with
large families sometimes received the munificent salary of three
hundred dollars per annum, working from daylight till dark. Doubt-
less this class existed when the following incident occurred :

"They spent their Sunday afternoons firing at champagne bottles
on a gumphead at the end of the wharf; the man who knocked the
head off a bottle won a case, the one who missed had to pay for
one." (Prowse's History of Nczvfoiindland.)

Another class came into being in the '6o"s ; and many of these
are still in the flesh. To realize to the fullest extent the serfdom
and misery of the fishermen under the regime of the "merchant" of
the ancient type, one must live amongst the fishermen as I did for
many years. The brand of servitude is even visible in the physique
and the character of fishermen of certain localities in the "Old Col-
ony," and it is a fact that a special type has been developed in certain
fishing districts that were worthy the attention of the ethnologist.

Caste is not seemingly a peculiarity of Brahminism ; it is found
amongst fishing people.

The fisherman in olden times didn't know the entrance
CASTE, to the merchant's house by the front door ; he in-
variably took the rear ; he never got beyond the pre-
cincts of the porch or kitchen. Occasionally a "well-to-do" planter
was invited to dine with His Mightiness. The fisherman dared not
aspire to a front pew in his village church if the merchant hap-
pened to be of the same denomination ; it was the old story of
Naboth's vineyard.

The merchant, though his "justice and holiness of life" was not
a recognizable quantity in the community, often presumed to advise
youthful "shepherds" how to deal "with those rascally fishermen."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 73

His justice and observance of the commandment which says, "Thou
shalt not bear false witness," might often be represented by an alge-
braic X, yet he thanked the Lord, very audibly at times, that he was
not "like unto this" fisherman, for possibly the latter had not paid
the balance on that barrel of Hour for which he had been charged
eight dollars (the market price was $4.50).

Occasionally, in a fit of religious generosity, the magnate loosened
his purse strings and adorned the parish records with a subscrip-
tion to some parochial undertaking ; this was usually paid in kind.
He invariably manifested the deepest concern in the collection of
the clergyman's fees from "the dealers," when it happened that
the said clergyman had a lengthy account "at the office." but not
otherwise.

Formerly in Newfoundland the clergyman's fees
OLD TIMES, were collected entirely through the merchant's

office ; but this custom is no longer in vogue, and
the "hoop and steelyard" are relegated to the limbo of crinolines and
Mother Hubbard bonnets.

It was not unusual in former years
STRANGE BL'SIXESS. for a "planter" who had a substantial

balance at the end of the fishing season
to leave it "on the books" of the merchant. Whenever he needed
money he drew it from "the office." In many, perhaps the majority
of cases, no interest was ever allowed to the planter. Some years
ago, within my own recollection, a planter needed the sum of fifteen
hundred dollars to pay for a residence which he had purchased.
He applied to the custodian of his moneys for the amount, but the
latter denounced the enterprising planter for his extravagance in
making such a purchase, but after demurring for some time he con-
descended to hand out a check for the amount. Towards the end
of the season there were sinister rumors concerning the stability
of the firm with which the planter had placed his funds, and an old
clergyman advised the latter, who was one of his parishioners, to
deposit "the balance" in the government savings bank. He with-
drew it from the firm, but the planter discovered that he had not
been allowed any interest on the amount, nearly four thousand

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

dollars. He was informed by the merchant that the trouble of keep
ing it was more than an equivalent of the interest. Six months later
came the disastrous bank crash; the "firm" assigned, with liabili-
ties of hundreds of thousands ; assets, the firm's name and its
reputation. ( ?)

In former years, at the time of the adjustment
SETTLING UP. of fishermen's accounts, usually in Xovem-

ber, dozens of stalwart fishermen might be
seen lounging around the mercantile establishments, waiting to
"settle up." Meanwhile, the goods on sale in the merchants' stores

c*^ ■.■Qik0a£fi- 4St:

TORBAY, AN OUTPORT.

were being sold at cash price. Clerks wearing for the nonce the
blandest smile talked up the wares, and unloaded the contents of
the shelves on the fishermen and their sharemen. After days of
patient waiting the final adjustment came; and the toiler received
a statement which read : "Balance payable half in cash and half in
goods."

What became of the fishermen who had no balances ? Ah ! that's
another question. Ask the Commissioner of Charities !

Happily, within recent years a new type of

A NEW TYPE, merchant has arisen — a man who knows the

meaning of the hardship and labor of "the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 75

toiler." He pays hard cash for his wares, and he is the friend and
confidant of the fishermen ; he has Hkely been one himself. He
knows every detail of the fishing business ; he doesn't need "to call
the head clerk" to know how many bundles of linnet are required to
mesh a trap ; he knows the difference between a merchantable fish
and a "rounder," and he is content with a reasonable profit on his
goods; he does not "cull" the fisherman's "voyage" as "Madeira"
and "damp," and recull it when it enters his fish store. He is a
man who does business and does not eliminate any of the command-
ments from Decalogue.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER Xni.

THE TRADER.

"Get money ; still get money, boy ;
No matter by wbat means."

(P.EX JOHXSnx.)

A NEWFOUNDLAND OUTPORT.

"Trading" has been an important feature of Lab-
TRADING. rador business from early times, and it began when
the French adventurer bargained with the Alon-
tagnais and the Esquimaux for the products of the chase, and it
still continues. The harvests of the trader were extensive, and in
former times they were as large as the returns from the fisheries.
Pelterie was in the beginning the object of the trader's quest; and
the Indians of the coast supplied foxes, martens, beavers, minks
and other fur-bearing animals to the trader in abundance.

The Indians received small returns for their wares, whilst indi-
viduals and chartered companies reaped rich harvests from the
spoils. Labrador supplied sables to the court and the grandes dames
of His Most Christian Majesty's realm during the ancien regime,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. T]

and its foxskins even reached the realms of the Czar. Sables then
formed the most important part of the pelterie trade, as the little
animal {Miistela Americana) was found in abundance. Its im-
portance as an article of commerce may be gleaned from the fact
that 15,000 skins were exported from Labrador in one year by
a chartered company as long ago as 1743, and the more recent
imports into Great Britain from all quarters have exceeded 100,000
skins annually.

Chartered companies monopolized the pelterie
COMPANIES, trade on the coast of Labrador until the arrival

of Cartwright in 1776, and his rivals, Noble and
Pinson, of Temple Bay, in 1778. These traders were constantly at
variance, and no language was too expressive for Cartwright to use
against his hated rivals. In vituperation he could even seemingly
have given points to a Newfoundland editor! Cartwright was a
trader with a love for sport and natural history far keener than for
business. He met with serious losses, the greatest being the plunder-
ing of all his possessions by "that lying rascal, John Grimes, com-
mander of the privateer Minerva," of Boston. One of his own
servants, "that villain Dominick Kinnen," joined the crew of the
privateer and piloted the vessel. Cartwright took the loss very
philosophically, and consoled himself with the expression : "May
the devil go with him !"

Jersey traders followed Cartwright, their operations being con-
fined to the Straits of Belle Isle.

The first traders who visited the
AMERICAN TRADERS, upper section of the Labrador coast

were Americans, hailing chiefly from
New England ports.

They carried on trading in connection with their whaling ven-
tures, and invariably forgot to meet the requirements of the imperial
customs. As early as 1706 New England traders were evidently a
source of trouble to the home authorities, as we read in ''Lord Dart-
mouth's Report," 1706: "New England traders supply our (fishing)
trade with provisions . . . and great quantities of tobacco
. . . and they seldom depart till men-of-war are sailed .

78 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

they carry on an illegal trade." Later, during Lord Shuldam's
regime as governor of Newfoundland (1772 to 1774), "the New
Englanders gave trouble on the coast of Labrador." The name
"trader" was in early years synonymous with "smuggler," and it
retained this meaning up to within recent years.

The lure of the Labrador trade attracted
NOVA SCOTIANS. the attention of Nova Scotians more than
a hundred years ago, and for many years
an enormous trade was carried on between the Province and the
Straits of Belle Isle and the upper Labrador ports. It is a well-
known fact that some of the large business firms in Nova Scotia
owe their "beginnings" to the trade carried on in the Straits of Belle
Isle. These traders occasionally carried large quantities of Dem-
arara rum with their cargoes, and many are still living around West
St. Modestc who remember the business (?) methods of many of
these enterprising peddlers. Some of them always carried a punch-
eon of red liquid on deck, and visitors to the vessel could regale
themselves with copious libations from the tin pannikin which was
attached to the faucet of the rum barrel.

Some of these enterprising gentry were not hampered by customs'
restrictions ; but if they happened to come in contact with a revenue
officer on the coast in early days, they treated him so courteously
that occasionally the R. O. forgot his allegiance to the Newfound-
land government, and failed to collect the duties. But this was
in the long ago ; to-day the revenue officers are ever on the alert ;
and it is said that the trader's business is not so lucrative as formerly.
Running the gauntlet was not an unusual thing in those days ; it
occurred during one of my visits to the straits, and contraband
goods were not unfrequently brought into Newfoundland-Labrador
territory under cover of darkness, and even at daytime. The con-
signment was then concealed beneath two or three tiers of large,
plump codfish, and the custom's official never suspected the game.
This modus operandi was in vogue less than twenty years ago.
Settlers along the coast between Bradore and West St. Modeste
have told me strange stories of the "doings" of some of these
traders in past years. I remember once remarking to an old
Canadian, who is still living at the "Tickle," that I had seen an

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

extraordinary number of green cases marked "J. D. K." amongst
the settlers further west. He replied : "O dat's not'ing, dese only
small lot; de res' she's bur'd." Later I discovered the burial place
of dozens of cases of cheap Holland gin (smuggled originally from

St. Pierre) in the sand dunes at ; they were not to be

disturbed till the Newfoundland custom's officer had left for home !

Some enterprising traders are said to have done business even in
the matrimonial line in the absence of the minister ; but the fees
were paid in kind, usually a good foxskin or a beaver !

Nova Scotia traders did not seemingly confine themselves to fish
and furs ; they dealt in eggs, as the following extract from the
"Tournal" of Audubon, the famous naturalist, testifier:

THE TOILERS.

"June 21, 1833 . . . We ascertained to-day that a party of
men from Halifax took nearly forty thousand eggs, which they sold
at Halifax and other towns at twenty-five cents per dozen."

On June 28 Audubon found two "eggers" gathering the eggs of
murres. "They had collected eight hundred dozen and expected to
get two thousand dozen. The number of broken eggs created a
fetid smell on this island scarcely to be borne."

Among the "Episodes" published in his "Ornithological Biog-
raphies," Audubon has a highly dramatic one, entitled "The Eggers
of Labrador."

He describes a shallop with eight men : "There rides the filthy
thing ! The afternoon is half over ; her crew have thrown their

8o WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

boat overboard, tlien enter and seat themselves, each armed with
a rusty gun. One of them sculls the skiff towards an island —
for a century past the breeding place of myriads of guillemots,
which are now to be laid under contribution.

"At the approach of the vile thieves, clouds of birds arise from
the rock and fill the air around, wheeling and screaming over their
enemies. Yet thousands remain in an erect posture, each covering
its single egg, the hope of both parents. The reports of several
muskets are heard, while several dead and wounded birds fall heavily
on the rock or into the water. Instantly all the settling birds rise
and fly oflf affrighted to their companions above, and hover in
dismay over the assassins, who stalk forward exultingly, and with
their shouts mingled with oaths and execrations. Look at them.
See how they crush the chick within the shell, how they trample on
every egg in their way with their great clumsy boots. Onward they
go, and when they leave the isle not an egg that they can find is
left entire. The dead birds they collect and carry to their boat
The rum is produced when the birds are fit for eating, and
after stuffing themselves with this oily fare, over they tumble on
the deck of the craft, where they pass the night in turgid slumbers
. . . The 'Eggers" of Labrador not only rob the birds in a cruel
manner, but also the fishermen whenever they can find an oppor-
tunity; and the quarrels they excite are numerous . . . This
war of extermination cannot last many more years.'" (Townsend:
''Along the Labrador Coast.")

Newfoundlanders entered
NEWFOUNDLAND TRADERS, into the trading business

more than a century ago,
and the methods of the local trader were very similar to the gentle-
men from abroad. Southern traders did a lucrative business in the
Straits of Belle Isle ; and they were not overscrupulous in their
methods of dealing with the "liveyere." Large consignments of
liquids from Saint Pierre were sometimes found amongst the car-
goes, which found a ready demand in the Straits of Belle Isle and
Southern Labrador. Later the Eastern and Northern traders be-
gan to visit the "French Shore" and Upper Labrador, with the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

result that the unfortunate settlers remained for generations in a
state of debt and misery.

The quality of goods and the prices which traders obtained for
their wares were not always in accordance with strict business
methods, and some shady transactions are recorded. Two, amongst
many other practices, came under my observation many years ago.
Presumably other visitors to the coast have witnessed similar repre-
hensible acts.

One firm did an extensive trade in "Black Jack" (St. Kitts' mo-
lasses) and moist sugar. The quality of the former was improved
by the addition of sundry lumps of unslaked liiiic; the quantity of
the latter was increased by ju.dicioiis iiiixiii!^ with Cadiz sand.

TRixiTV. Photo, Hollozcay.

Traders from Quebec and the lower
CANxA^DIAN TRADERS, sections of the St. Lawrence have
(See page 50.) also frequented the coast of Labra-

dor for many years ; and they carried on business on the same lines
as the Nova Scotian visitors. During my early years on the coast
I met them frequently, and many of them had accumulated large
fortunes in dealing with the settlers. Some of these traders were
also regular visitors to St. Pierre both on the outward and return
voyage.

82 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The gentry from Beyrouth have recently dis-
THE SYRIAN, covered the great blace for bisness, down to

the Labrador, and shoddy wares and jewelry
are not infrequently exchanged for valuable skins and salmon.
These gentlemen no buy fish — too big; no good, can't sell 'em.
Within recent years, however, the Newfoundland trader does legiti-
mate business, and some of the traders are now a blessing to the
settlers along the coast. They pay hard cash, if necessary, for the
products of the fishermen, and thus enable them to keep beyond
the clutches of merchants who play well, if not artistically, a well-
known character in the "Merchant of \"enice."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 83

CHAPTER XIV.

THE GREAT COMPANY.

"Friend, once 'twas Fame that led thee forth

To brave the tropic heat, the frozen North,
Late it was Gold, then Beauty was the spur ;
But now our Gallants venture but for Fur."
Lines attributed to Dryden, 1672. (Beckles Wilson.)

The trading ventures mentioned in the preceding chapter were
isolated and individual attempts to gather the spoils of the Northern
regions ; but they were insignificant when compared with the opera-
tions of the "Great Company," founded by Prince Rupert in 1670.
Rupert occupies a romantic niche in the temple of fame; but he is
probably best known by his connection with the great organization
known as "The Hudson Bay Company," of which he was the
founder. Associated with him was the Sieur des GroseiUers —
Mederic Chouart, whose wife was the daughter of the pilot, Abra-
ham Martin, the "Eponymous hero" of that plateau adjoining Que-
bec, where a century later was to take place the mortal struggle
between Montcalm and Wolfe.

To GroseiUers, though he did not become a member of the cor-
poration, must really be attributed the clearing of the ground for
the erection of the "one enduring pillar in the new world mansion."
("The Great Company.")

The charter of incorporation of the "great company" was granted
to "Prince Rupert and seventeen nobles and gentlemen," amongst
whom were the famous Ashley (Dryden's "Achitopel") :

"A man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome,"

and Arlington, who was also a member of the famous cabinet
whence originated the word "Cabal" ; the other members of this
infamous combination were Clifford, Buckingham, and Lauderdale.
The charter was granted to them under the title of "The Governor

84 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and Company of Merchant-Adventurers trading into Hudson's Bay."
This charter was confirmed by act of Parliament in 1690, but has
never since been renewed.

Hudson Bay (or Hudson Sea, as it really is) is said to have
been reached by Sebastian Cabot in 15 17, but the discovery is ac-
credited to Henry Hudson (whose name it bears), who entered it in
1610, and met an untimely end, owing to the mutiny of his crew,
who set him adrift, with his son and five others, in a longboat, which
was captured by the natives, who put the unfortunate occupants to
death.

The bay which bears Hudson's name is an immense area of water
one thousand three hundred miles in length, by six hundred miles
in breadth, extending over twelve degrees of latitude and covering
an area of half a million square miles.

It is now on the eve of becoming an important commercial centre,
as recent explorations made by the Canadian Government have
demonstrated the practicability of utilizing it as an outlet for the
grain products of the "Great West." The Newfoundland sealing
steamer "Neptune," under command of the famous navigator. Cap-
tain Bartlett, opened it as a practicable sea route in 1904-05.

After Hudson, the bay was visited by Button, another English
navigator, in 1612; and two islands north of Cape Chidley bear his
name. Bylot and Baffin (the discoverer of Baffin's Bay) visited it
in 1615; and Fox and James (the discoverer of James' Bay) ex-
plored it in 1631.

French and English conflicts in the northland arose out of con-
cessions to the "Great Company," as the French claimed that the
territory adjoining Hudson's Bay belonged by right of discovery to
Nezv France: and in 1672 Albanel and St. Simon, with the con-
sent of the Indian tribe — the KiUstiiwus — planted the Hciir-.dc-Us
and the cross at several places, in token of the sovereignty of
France over the territory. During the last decades of the seven-
teenth century the friction between the French companies and the
Hudson Bay company continued, and we find amongst the defend-
ers of the cause of France names of men whose prowess and tri-
umphs shed lustre on her arms — D'Ibei"c'ille, dc Troycs, and Jolictte.
Such was their triumph that, at the date of the Treaty of Ryszvick
(1697), ^"^ ^^^" ^'P ^^ 1/13' t^"*^ ^^te of the Peace of Utrecht, only

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Fort Albany remained in the hands of the English. By this treaty,
however, France rehnquished all her rights to the Hudson Bay
Company, and the latter thus gained secure possession of the ter-
ritory which it occupied until it relinquished its territorial claims to
the Dominion of Canada, during the administration of Sir John
Macdonald. in 1869, for the sum of one million five hundred thou-
sand dollars, "the Company to be at liberty to carry on. its trade
without hindrance, in its corporate capacity."

The history of the Hudson Bay Company is a romance of empire,
and though shorn of much of its greatness, its "ships still ply in the
waters of the North. Its canoe brigades still bring in fur to the
fur posts. Its midwinter dog trains still set the bells tinkling
over the lonely wastes of Northern snows, and it still sells as much

CAKiW klGllT.

fur at its great annual fairs as in its palmiest days. But the Hud-
son's Bay Company is no longer a gay adventurer setting sail over
the seas of the unknown. It is no longer a soldier of fortune, with
a bugh for life or death, carving a path through the wilderness.
It is now but a commercial organization with methods similar to
other money-getting companies Free traders overrun its hunting
grounds. Rivals as powerfrl as itself are now on the field fighting
the battle of competition according to modern methods of business
rivalry. Three-quarters of the old hunting fields are already carved

86 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

up into checkerboard squares of new provinces and fenced farm
patches." {Conquest of the Great Northivest — Laut.)

Its "Posts" on the coast of Labrador are found between Fort
Chimo and Sandwich Bay; the latter location (at Cartwright) was
purchased from Hunt and Henly, who had acquired it from the
original founder, George Cartwright, in 1815.

It was at this "Post" that the incident which story tellers have
worn threadbare, in connection with the letters H. B. C., actually
occurred. When Newfoundland fishermen began to frequent the
northern part of the coast, a boat's crew landed at Cartwright, en
route to what is now known as "Pack's Harbor." All five were
sons of the Emerald Isle, who had come out to Newfoundland some
time previously; none of them, excepting the "Skipper," had seen
the Labrador coast till this year. One of the crew was a waggish,
fairly educated "youngster," and he was regarded as an "Encyclo-
pedia" by his comrades. They were searching for water to "bile
the piper" ; and they noticed everywhere around the "room" — on
boats, canoes and fishing gear — the letters "H. B. C." They were
anxious to know what this symbol meant; and one of the crew
addressed the "Encyclopedia," and said : "Larry, what's the meanin'
of thim big letters?" Larry was equal to the situation, and replied:
"Well, these fellows must be here a long time ; and the letters
mean : 'Here Before Christ: " This is the true genesis of the story
which has, of course, been usually attributed to an American trav-
eller. The chief post of the company is located at Rigolette, in
Hamilton Inlet, famous amongst other things as being the place
where the present Lord Stratchona, the world-known philanthropist
and man of affairs, began his commercial career.

He represented the "Company" there for many years ; and it was
there, doubtless, he laid the foundations of the immense wealth
which he now distributes so lavishly in the promotion of Canadian
institutions and imperial interests.

Other peaks are located at Davis Inlet, Nachvak Bay, and at
North-West River, at the head of Melville Lake. The last men-
tioned has recently acquired pathetic notoriety through the unfortu-
nate expedition which cost Alonzo Hubbard his life, and gave to us
Dillon Wallace's two interesting books — "The Lure of the Wild"
and "The Long Labrador Trail."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 87

The exportations of the H. B. C. consist of furs, in the North, and
in the Southern sections, sahiion and trout. The natives and the
Indians {Naskopis, Montagnais and Esquinianx) never seem to rise
beyond the stage of debt and abject misery, though apparently the
Company reaps a rich harvest from the products received from the
hunter and fisherman. "Money" (at these "Posts") is unknown.
Values are reckoned in "skins" — that is a "skin" is the unit of
value. There is no token of exchange to represent this unit, how-
ever, and if a hunter brings in more pelts than are sufficient to pay

ltjJJ|l^ltkJ.ttli^ll»*iJ.lt^.lJ^lU^^il^^^ '. ^*JW.^''y.ff.'Wfc--'-M-t>V 1.^ -.■>H«J^ ..-.S^ljtjll^^

RiGOLET. Copyright. Daiia-Estcs Co.

for his purchases, the trader simply gives him credit on his books
for the balance due, to be drawn upon at some future time. As a
matter of fact, the hunter is almost invariably in debt to the store.
A "skin" will buy a pint of molasses, a quarter pound of tea or a
quarter pound of black plug tobacco. A white Arctic fox pelt is
valued at seven skins, a blue fox pelt at twelve, and a black or silver
fox at eighty or ninety skins.

South of Hamilton Inlet, where competition is keen with the fur
traders, the company pays in cash, six dollars for white, eight dol-
lars for blue, and, not infrequently, as high as three hundred and
fifty dollars, or even more, for black and silver fox pelts.

88 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

A formidable rival to the Great Company has recently entered
into the Labrador fur trade ; and prices of furs have, in consequence,
advanced materially. This rival is the firm of Revillion Bros., of
Paris, who now have several agencies along the coast ; and their
business has reached large proportions. During the past season
(1907) they had under contract, visiting their stations, the largest
sealing steamer in Newfoundland, the Adventure. Evidently the
trade of the coast is a lucrative venture, as the following statistics
prove : —

Exports of Furs for 1905 $32,976

(Extract Newfoundland Customs, 1906.)

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

90 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XV.

THE MORAVIAN SETTLEMENTS.

The Moravian mission has an interesting history, and as it has
products of their labors, giving them necessaries and comforts in
exchange." (Harvey, "History of Newfoundland.")

The Moravian mission lias an interesting history, and as it has
a bearing upon the Labrador stations, v^e give a brief outhne of
the foundation and development of the Unitas Fratrum.

The Moravian Brethren are a link in a chain of

ORIGIN, sects beginning with Wyclif (1325-84), and coming
down to the present day. Wyclif's teachings found
congenial soil in Bohemia; and they became the creed of the
Hussites, whose founder, John Huss, was condemned by the Council
of Constance, in 141 5. The dissensions and feuds amongst the fol-
lowers of this reformer are matters of history.

The two chief factions, known as "Taborites" and "Utraquists"
(Calixtines), decided their difficulties in a "decisive battle on May
30, 1434." The "Taborites" gradually disappeared, or were merged,
a generation or two later, into the "Bohemian Brethren." This
organization owed its origin to Gregory Rokyzana, a nephew, of a
former "Utraquist" leader. Gregory's aids were Michael, a parish
priest of Kunwald, and a farmer named David. The distinguishing
tenets of the organization at this early period were rather vague,
one faction denying, the other proclaiming, the truth of the Real
Presence in the Eucharist. The factions were again united under
Bishop Matthias of Kunwald, at the synod of Lhotka, near Reich-
neau, in 1467; and the Brethren began to order the community on
the model of the primitive Church. The governing power was
centred in a council presided over by a judge. Four seniors, or
elders, held episcopal office; the priests had no property and were
encouraged to celibacy ; and the strictest morality and modesty were
exacted on the part of the faithful. All acts subservient to luxury
were forbidden ; oaths and military service were permitted only in
very exceptional cases. A committee watched with relentless sever-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 91

ity over the behavior of their sisters. They led a precarious exist-
ence, and were finally suppressed by Ladislaus H, who ordered
their books to be burnt and recalcitrants to be imprisoned. At this
time the Brethren were treated by their contemporaries to several
opprobrious designations, such as Jamnici (cave-dwellers), Pivni-
cini (beer-house men), Bnnslau Brethren, and Pickarts (Pickards).

After this persecution the Brethren
FOREIGN SYMPATHY, began to look for foreign sympathy.

The philosopher Erasmus ' compli-
mented them upon their knowledge of truth ; but refused to commit
himself further. . . . Luther objected to their doctrine on the
Eucharist, to the celibacy of the clergy, and to the belief in the
Seven Sacraments.

One of the Brethren, Lucas, denounced Luther on account of the
low Standard of Church discipline amongst the Lutherans ; but
later, under the regime of John Augusta, the Brethren reopened
negotiations with Luther; but no union between the two sects was
effected. Then followed a period of troublous times ; and dis-
sensions within, with persecutions from without, well nigh brought
about the extinction of the "Brethren." In 1731 they again revived
under the leadership of Zinzendorf (d. 1760), who established a
community at Hermhut. Zinzendorf was banished from his native
land "for ever" by the King of Saxony, in 1737; and during his
exile he established congregations in Holland, England, Ireland, and
America.

The English Mission, with headquarters in London, was estab-
lished in 1742; and it is claimed that John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, here received "the grace of conversion." The Mission
henceforward is known as the Society of the "Unitas Fratrum."

In 1734, the Unitas Fratrum
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS, obtained a foothold in Geor-
gia, U. S., where Governor
Ogelthorpe granted them 500 acres of land ( Spangenberg, the
negotiator, receiving a present of 50 acres for himself near the site
of the present city of Savannah). They soon relinquished that
field, and came to Pennsylvania, where they built Bethlehem. Sub-

92 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

sequently, they established, on the same plan, Hope, in New Jersey
(which enterprise proved a failure), and Salem, in North Carolina.
(Herzog, Ency. Real. ed. Schatif, \'ol. \l.)

The status of the Unitas Fratrum may be gleaned from the fol-
lowing statistics (last available) : —

Wesley later became estranged from the
JOHN WESLEY. Brethren, and his former friendship turned
to open hostility (Wesley's Journal, Nov.
12, 1741). London is still the headquarters of the Mission.

On January i, 1907, in the five northern dis-

IN AMERICA, tricts. there were 96 congregations, with a
total membership of 20,369 ; receipts from all
sources, $145,517.67. Expenses exactly balanced receipts.

In the Southern Province there was a membership of 4,206.
Total membership in both Provinces, 26,211 — an increase of 334
over the previous year.

In Great Britain and Ireland, at the same date, there were j\ i
congregations, with a total membership of 6,343.

The Gennan Province, 31 December, 1905, had 25 congregations,
with total membership of 7,958: 50 missionary Provinces ("the
Diaspora"), in which about 70,000 persons are ministered to. "The
Diaspora" ( from diaspora, captivity, in i Pet. I, i ) is a work car-
ried on by the German Province, and having for its object th_'
evangelization of the State Churches on the Continent of Europe
without deprii'ing them of their members. (Herzog: Ency.
Ed. Schaff., vol. III.)

In Labrador, begun 1777; Alaska, 1885:
MISSION FIELDS. California, 1890; Mosquito Coast, 1894:

Surinam, 1735; Demerara, 1878; Jamaica,
1754; St. Thomas, 1732; St. Jan, 1754; St. Croix, 1740; Antigua,
1756; St. Kitts, 1777; Barbadoes, 1765; Tobago, 1790; Trinidad,
1890; Cape Colony, 1736; German East xA.frica, 1891 ; West Hima-
laya, 1853; Jerusalem, Leper House, 1867; Victoria, 1849; ^^orth
Queensland, 1891.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 93

The most important field from a commercial

LAND GRANTS, standpoint is evidently Labrador, for here
the Mission is a landed proprietor to the ex-
tent of several hundred thousand acres ; and its trade receipts are
nearly fifty thousand dollars annually. The Mission holds, by Royal
and Colonial grants : —

100,000 acres of land in Esquimaux Bay (or at any place the
Society might elect).

100,000 acres at Okkak.

100,000 acres at Hopedale.

1,000 acres at Maccovick.

An application has been made for a grant at Ramah.

Trading is an important feature of the Missionary enterprise of
the Society of the Unitas Fratnim.

Previous to the year 1870 the office of Trader and Missionary
was vested in the one individual ; but in that year "the Mission found
it advisable to modify their system of combining trading and
evangelization, so as to separate the office of missionary from that
of trader, at Nain, Hopedale, and other settlements. This was
done, not because any doubt existed in the minds of those who have
the direction of the mission or the trade as to the lawfulness of their
connection from the highest point of view, but merely because a
change of feeling on the part of the natives, in some cases arising
out of. the gross misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the
objects of the trade, which made the position of the trading mis-
sionary often very trying and difficult, seemed to indicate the ex-
pediency of adopting the plan of appointing agents who should go
forth in true missionary spirit to carry on trade in support of the
mission, and for the benefit of the natives, as a service for Christ,
no less than the direct missionary calling.

Exports of the Moravian Church and Missionary Agency from
Labrador for the year 1905 : —

Codfish, 4,035 qtls., value $21,149

Trout, 798 bbls., value 4,788

Skin Boots, 3.224 pairs 5,849

Seal Oil, 353 puns, value 7,200

Cod Oil, 41 puns, value 910

Cod Liver Oil, 3 puns, value 96

94 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Furs, 1 1 pkgs., value 7,000

Dry Seal Skins, 5 pkgs., value lOO

Salted Seal Skins, 7 pkgs., value 200

Reindeer Skins, 5 pkgs., value 800

Curios, 15 pkgs., value 150

Feathers, 12 pkgs., value 150

Salmon, 6 tcs., value 50

Total $48,442

Moreover "the generous and paternal practice of the Mission is to
keep back from export a certain amount of dry codfish, which they
return to the natives, in winter, at the price the Mission paid for it
in the summer. The retention of exports and selling them back
to the natives, is of course a departure from strict business princi-
ples, but it serves to illustrate the way in which the Moravian Mis-
sionaries combine their trading with the patriarchal care they extend
to the natives."

"In 1902 the Mission cancelled very generously and considerately
the indebtedness of the natives to the several stores of the mission.
They thus started each man with a clean sheet, and on a new system
of business, under which comparatively more moderate advances
are made to natives." (McGregor: Report, p. 31.)

The first attempt
FIRST ATTEMPT AT SETTLEMENT, made by the Mo-
ravian Brethren to
found a settlement on the coast of Labrador was made under the
auspices of "The Society for the furtherance of the Gospel amongst
the Heathen" — an organization formed by members of the Moravian
Church, in London.

A schooner — the "Hope" — sailed with a band of Missionaries
from this port in the spring of 1752. At Hope dale, they erected a
dwelling; but "treachery developed amongst the Esquimaux and
some of the ship's crew were murdered." Later, an attempt was
made by Christian Erhardt and his companions to found a colony at
Nisbet's Harbor (Ford's Bight), but Brother Erhardt and five of
his crew were murdered by the savages ; and the four Brethren, who
had accompanied him to Hopedale, returned home.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 95

In 1764 Jans Haven made a landing at Chateau, where he met
some Esquimaux, but no settlement was effected.

In 1765 Governor Palliser of Newfoundland undertook the civili-
zation of the savages; and four missionaries — Brothers Haven,
Hill, Schlotser and Drachart, again made an effort to establish a
mission; but it seems that here, too, they were unsuccessful. In a
Proclamation issued by the Governor of Newfoundland, April 8th,
1765, he says: "I have invited Interpreters and Missionaries to go
amongst them (the Esquimaux), to instruct them in the principles
of religion, and to improve their minds and remove their prejudices
against us. I hereby enjoin and require all His IMajesty's subjects
who meet with any of the said (Esquimaux) to treat them in a most
civil and friendly manner . . . not to impose on their necessi-
ties, not to foment quarrels, discord or animosities amongst them."
The Proclamation is an interesting document.

To protect the Esquimaux and the Missionaries, and "for the
general protection of British trade and fishery" a Block-house was
established in Chateau Bay, which received the name of Fort Pitt.
The Mission of the Society in this region was not successful ; but,
in 1 77 1, a settlement was made at Nain (Lat. 56° 25').

A second station was founded at Okkak, one hundred miles south
of Nain, in 1776. This station has a small Hospital, in receipt of a
subsidy from the Newfoundland Government, conducted by Dr.
Hutton, a capable English physician. Another station was estab-
lished at Ho pedal e, in 1782. Hebron and Zoar (recently aban-
doned) were founded in 1834. Ramah was located in 1871 ; and
recently two other stations have been established, Maccovick in 1898,
and one in the far North (Killinek), in 1907.

These Stations are well built, substantial erections. They con-
sist of a residence for the Missionaries and their wives, a chapel,
which is at some stations under the same roof as the Mission build-
ing, commodious stores, some outbuildings, and an Esquimaux set-
tlement, consisting of an array of squalid huts of various shapes
and sizes. These houses are small, one room affairs, made of logs
or rough boards and poles, the roofs generally covered with green
sods. Each house has a low, dark vestibule, suggestive of the
architecture of the snow dwellings. Cleanliness in and about the
houses is not of the highest order. There are dogs galore, for each

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

family has from seven to nine of these animals. Komatiks, or dog-
sleds, are lying about promiscuously, while kayaks hang against the
sides of the buildings.

At each mission station arc the missionaries and their wives, who
are called the brothers and sisters ; also the immarried brethren, all
laboring together to Christianize and civilize the natives. Only the
younger children of the missionaries are allowed to remain on the
coast, as at seven years of age they are sent to Europe to be edu-
cated at the expense of the society. Some of these return later as
missionaries. The link with Europe is supplied by the Society's
ship — the "Harmony." In the early days of the [Moravian Society
the missionary entered the matrimonial state by lot ; but this feature
of the old polity no longer exists.

INDIAN HUT AT HOPEDALE.

At each mission station one sees several neat, trim, well-cultivated
gardens, similar to those one sees in the J'atcrland (the missionaries
are practically all Teutons).

In early days there was a great deal of friction between the vari-
ous missions and the Hudson Bay Company ; but within recent
years the Company has become well disposed towards the Mission-
aries. The friction arose out of the rivalry for trade in which both
were engaged. Many of the Hudson Bay posts on the southern
section of the coast have been abandoned, so there is now no casus
belli.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Some years ago a rival organization attempted a settlement within
the jurisdiction of the Mission, but the attempt was abandoned. The
total number of Esquimaux on the coast, under the jurisdiction of
the Moravians is less than thirteen hundred, of whom some are still
pagans. These are found in the far North, in the region of Killi-
nek (Port Burwell), and a few years ago a zealous missionary of
the x-Vnglican Church, the Rev. "Sir. Stewart, attempted their conver-
sion. When the Moravians assumed charge of Killinek section Mr.
Stewart retired to Fort Chimo ; but here the territory was already
occupied by the Rev. Mr. Peck, who has been many years laboring

ESQUIMAUX TYPES AT HOPEDALE.

amongst the Ungava natives. "He has devoted his life to the
instruction of the Esquimaux ; and he is ably assisted by two
younger men, both of whom have had medical training. The total
number of Esquimaux reached is about five hundred, and they are
all connected with, and depend upon the whaling stations of Black-
head, Kekerten, and Cape Haven."

98 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"After all I have seen of the work of this Mission
RESULTS, on Labrador, I am bound to say that I know of no

body of men or women that more deserve respect
and sympathy in their lonely, completely unselfish, and devoted
work, for which they receive no reward in this world, seldom even
approbation or recognition." (McGregor: Report.) Another
writer says (after a trip along the coast in the mail-boat) : "Alas!
that this primitive people (the Esquimaux) with their wonderful
adaptations to life in the far north, with their houses, their clothing,
their weapons and their boats, evolved out of long centuries of con-
flict with the elements to a state of utmost perfection, should not
have been allowed to lead their own lives. It could not be. Con-
tact with the rude explorers and traders, who treated them as slaves,
to do with them as they chose, necessarily developed the worst side
of their character, and their fate would long ago have been sealed,
as a race, had it not been for these Moravians, who by kindness and
long-suffering, and by privations unnumbered, made them the happy,
leaceful, God-fearing people we have just seen."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 99

CHAPTER XVI.

THE MISSIONARY.

"I venerate the man whose heart is warm,

Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life,

Coincident, exhibit lucid proof

That he is honest in his sacred cause."

- — "The Task," Cowper.

ICEBERG.

We have already dealt with
AMONGST THE ESQUIMAUX, the supposed earliest mis-
sionary to Labrador — the
Trading-Evangelists, otherwise known as "The Moravians ;" but
the Icelandic Sagas (which are regarded by scholars as historic
documents of undoubted value) represent the Northland as having
been visited by two Icelandic missionaries, Odalbrand and Thor-
wald Helgason, in 1285. If they followed the route of previous
Icelandic explorers they came by way of Labrador, as did ThorUnn
Karlsfen, who from 1007 to loio was engaged in exploration in the

loo WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

northland. The earliest .Missionaries of Labrador were conse-
quently Catliolic priests, as at this date the Icelandic Church was in
communion witli the See of Rome. We have it on undoubted
authority that Irish missionaries were established in Iceland in the
Vth century, when St. Aiblem, Bishop of Emly, sent twenty-two of
his disciples to evangelize that country. Eight Irish missionaries
were buried there, and a church was dedicated to St. Columba.
These facts are found related in the Skalhort Saga, now preserved
in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. From the "BnUarhim
Pontificiini" (a Collection of the Decrees of the Popes), we find
that, in the year 840, the Holy See delegated Ebbon, Archbishop of
Rheims, and St. Anscarius, Apostle of Northern Europe, to preach
the faith in Iceland and North America. (Howley: "Ecclesiastical
History of Newfoundland," p. 32.)

Further we learn that : —

"In mediaeval Iceland the Bishoprics of Skalhort (south) and
Holan (north) were sufifragans of the See of Bremen (the "Rome of
the North"). There were several religious foundations in Iceland
the Benedictines possessed, amongst others, Thingorc, founded in
1 133; Hitardall, founded in 1166; and Stad, founded in 1296: The
Augustinians had several houses, chief of which was Maddcrfield
Priory, established in 1296; and Skird, founded in the middle of the
XlVth century. Two Icelandic Bishops, Thorlak. of Skalhort, and
John of Holan, were men of singular distinction.

"The Reformation which obliterated the Catholic Church amongst
the Teutonic peoples extended to Iceland ; but here, as elsewhere,
it had a one-sided effect ... it left their circumstances little
changed, or, if at all, for the worse." (Ency. Britannica, Vol. XII,
p. 620 and seqq.)

We have no further information regarding missions in Labrador
until the coming of the Moravians, in 1764, though it is claimed,
but without any evidence which seems tenable, that the French Mis-
sionaries to the Montagnais Indians also attempted the conversion
of the Esquimaux many years previous.

We have already discussed the advent of missionaries amongst
the French colons who had located at Brest. These were presum-
ably "Recollets" or, as we now know them, Franciscans.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. loi

The foundation of mis-

AMOx\GST THE :\IOXTAGXAIS sionary work amongst

AND XASKOPIS. these aboriginal tribes

was laid by Franciscans ;
and the work was continued by the Jesuits, whose missionaries are
still laboring amongst the Indian tribes in the West ; and the zeal
which characterized the martyrs Lallemant, Breboeuf, Jogues and
Aulneau, is still characteristic of the Sons of St. Ignatius. Park-
man has written the history of their labors ; and no page of human
annals is so emblazoned with heroic deeds. It was my privilege to
live in close contact with some of the Jesuit missionaries who are
now laboring amongst the Indian tribes in the West ; and no words
can adequately describe their worth. "Si moniuncntum qnaeritis,
circnuispice." Xo other missionary enterprise has such a history,
and in Xew Ontario and the further west, you find, in such places as
Wickwemakong and Xome, perhaps the noblest monuments of mis-
sionar}' zeal on this continent. These Jesuits are men of intelli-
gence and tireless energy. They live amongst the children of the
forest ; they have no regular abode ; they receive no salary, but de-
pend exclusively on the charity of the well-disposed. Their lodging
is often the wigwam, or a comfortless vestry attached to their mis-
sion chapels, where they do their own cooking, when they have the
wherewithal for a meal. They are hewers of wood and drawers of
water when occasion demands it ; they have no earthly ties ; and
they look for re\\ard not on earth, but beyond the skies.

A tribute to the Catholic missionary just comes from an authorita-
tive source ; and, as it has reference to the same noble band of
missionaries as we are now discussing, the utterance is very timely.
In an address delivered at the Wesleyan Missionary Exhibition at
Leeds, a few days ago, Sir Robert Hart, late Inspector of Customs
for China, said : — "Although many of you may not agree with me, I
cannot omit, on an occasion like this, to refer to the admirable work
done by Roman Catholic Missionaries, among whom are to be found
the most devoted and self-sacrificing of Christ's followers. The
Roman Catholic missions have done great work both in spreading
the knowledge of our God and our Saviour, and more especially
in their efforts in the cause of deserted children and afflicted
adults. Their organization as a society is far ahead of any other.

102 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and they are second to none in zeal and self-sacrifice personally.
One strong point in their arrangement is in the fact that there is
never a break in continuity, while there is perfect union in teaching
and practice and practical sympathy with their people in both the
life of this world and the preparation for eternity. The Roman
CathoHcs were the first in the field, they are most widely spread,
and they have the largest number of followers."

In the "hinterland" of the land of Labrador there is a noble band
of men laboring unselfishly, and unostentatiously in the Master's
vineyard — the Oblate Fathers. The organization to which these
heroic types belong was founded, a century ago, by Charles de
Mazenod, a missionary, and subsequently Bishop of Marseilles.
The Fathers of this missionary society have been laboring in the
wilds of the north for three generations ; and the names of Arnauld,
Durocher, Babel, Lacasse and Lemoine are familiar to everybody
acquainted with the history of the coast of Labrador. To Father
Arnauld's enterprise we are indebted for the first map of the coast ;
and this is so authentic that recent explorers have found "its
accuracy wonderful."

The influence which Pere Arnauld exercised over these Indians
was extraordinary; and it appears to have
PfiRE ARNAULD. been well deserved by numerous acts of
charity, deeds of daring, and much self-
denial. The heroic deeds and numerous hardships of Fathers La-
casse and Lemoine are matters of recent history. The former
is, with the exception of the Agents of the Hudson Bay Company,
the only white man who has ever crossed the Labrador peninsula.
He made two journeys between 1875 ^"^ 1880; and the "Diary" of
these missionary expeditions is the only accurate account of the
great "hinterland" we possess. In later years he made his journeys
via Newfoundland ; and his name is familiar
P£RE LACASSE. to every fisherman along the coast of Labra-
dor. Father Lacasse is still engaged in
active missionary work in Manitoba ; and he regards his former ex-
ploits on the coast of Labrador as simple and "unimportant events."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 103

I am in possession of many records of this noble missionary, but his
modesty forbids their publicity. Father
PfiRE LEMOINE. Lemoine is still laboring amongst the
Montagnais ; and few men are better ac-
quainted with this band of Indians than he. To him I am indebted
for much of the knowledge I possess regarding Indian life ; and to
those who wish further acquaintance with the literature of the
North, I recommend his works on the subject. These Oblates are
doing noble and valuable work for civilization and Christianity
amongst the denizens of the frozen north, doing it patiently,
heroically and silently.

The settlers on the coast of
AMONGST THE SETTLERS. Labrador are generally known

as "liveyeres" (doubtless a cor-
ruption of live heres, as the people in this region usually "drop the
h's").

The total population of "liveyeres" is, approxi-
POPULATION. mately, 2,700, at present writing. According
to the records of 1891 the following was the
denominational census of the coast : —

Church of England i>749

Church of Rome 354

Methodist Church 604

Presbyterian Church 2

Moravian Church (practically all Esquimaux) i>397

Total 4,106

To meet the religious requirements of this population, and to ren-
der such services as the transient population of fishermen demands,
the Churches in Newfoundland have extensive missions along the
coast, which are entrusted usually to young, active laborers in the
vineyard. Some of these are resident on the coast, whilst others go
down there during the fishing season. These have no means of
locomotion in the summer time other than that afforded by fishing
boats or, when crossing large inlets, a schooner or the fortnightly
mail boat.

I04 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Catholic Church was the pioneer
CATHOLIC CHURCH, of mission work on the coast of Lab-
rador; and, whilst the Labrador mis-
sions belonged to the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archdiocese
of Quebec, they were regularly visited by Canadian Missionaries.
In 1820, during the Episcopate of Bishop Plessis, Labrador and
Anticosti were united to the Vicariate of Newfoundland ; but owing
to scarcity of priests in the colony, missionaries from Quebec visited
the coast until the erection of the parish of Fortune Harbor, in 1834.
The Labrador missions then became part of this extensive parish.
From that date Newfoundland priests have visited the coast regu-
larly, though Canadian priests still have jurisdiction on Newfound-
land-Labrador. Only one Newfoundland priest has ever resided on
the Coast — the Rev. F. D. McCarthy, now Pastor of Carbonear, who
built a neat Mission House at Pinware during his residence in the
Straits. In former years, two priests from the Diocese of Harbor
Grace visited the coast every summer ; but since the exodus of
Catholics from Battle Harbor, and the migrations of "up-the-shore"
planters to the far north, only one missionary now visits the shore.

The Catholic Bishops of Newfound -
CATHOLIC BISHOPS, land have made regular visitations to

the coast ; the first prelate to under-
take this arduous work being Bishop Mullock, in 1852. Bishops
Dalton and Carfagnini made visitations from 1857 to 1880 (the lat-
ter built the Church at Battle Harbor). Archbishop IMacDonald
made visits between 1882 and 1895, and Bishop March, the present
zealous incumbent of the See of Harbor Grace, than whom few are
so intimately acquainted with Labrador, has, since his consecration
in 1906, already twice visited this distant section of his large dio-
cese.

From reliable data I have been
EARLY MISSIONARIES, enabled to locate the missionaries

who visited the coast, as far east
as Pinware, from 1799 to 1863: —

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 105

Gabriel LeCourtois 1799 to 1814

Pierre Bourget 1815 to 1816

Thomas McGuire 1817 to 1818

C. J. Primeau 1819 to 1827

Pierre Beland 1828 to 1832

Ferdinand Belleau 1832 to 1833

Francois Bougher 1833 to 1834

The Oblates at Escoumains from 1845

M. R. Bo'ily (who built the Church at Pinware) 1862

M. A. Bernier 1863

These priests had headquarters at Tad ansae: and made regular
visits to the Straits of Belle Isle and the southern section of the
Labrador coast.

The Church of England has been

CHURCH OF ENGLAND, sending missionaries to Labrador

REV. JOHN LEIGH. since the early part of the last

century, and the Reverend John
Leigh is said to have made a visit to the Straits in 1823.

The next missionary of this Church to
ARCHDEACON DIX. visit Labrador was Archdeacon Dix,

who from 1826 to 1830 was Incumbent
ot Bonavista.

Bishop Field visited the coast in 1848, and in 1849 the first

Clergyman of the Church of England

REV. A. GIFFORD. was placed in residence at Forteau. This

was the Reverend Algernon Gififord, who

remained there for ten years, removing thence to New Zealand.

In 1850 a second clergyman, the Rev-
REV. H. P. DISNEY, erend H. P. Disney, who gave up his

living in Ireland to engage in mission-
ary work, went to reside at St. Francis Harbor, and in 185 1 he built

io6 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the first Church on this part of the coast. Since then, missionaries
have been in constant residence on Upper

BISHOP FIELD. Labrador. Bishop Field visited these settle-
ments regularly, in the Mission ship "Hawk."
In his "Journal" for 1853 he writes : — "I am looking forward to a
third visit to the Labrador Coast, and to all the settlements on the
north and west side of Newfoundland. In this I expect to cele-
brate the first consecration of a Church, and the first confirmation
on the Labrador, and I trust to mark many other signs and proofs
of the Church's progress on that desolate and wild shore." Later
we find the following entry : — "We gladly accepted an invitation to
drink tea in the Mission-House at Forteau, and, saving the wooden
walls of the room, and the side of a Canadian stove flush with the
wall (the body of the stove being in the kitchen, and serving for
culinary purposes as well as warmth), we might have fancied our-
selves in one of the neat parlors of an English parsonage, with all
its hospitalities and comforts. ..."

During one of his mission tours to the Coast, Bishop Field became
acquainted with a very promising young man named Gibbons, pre-
sumably a half-breed Esquimau, and brought him to Newfoundland,
where he was educated at one of the Church institutions. He after-
wards made a course at King's College, Windsor, and entered the
ministry of the Anglican Church. A resident of Windsor, who was
a fellow student at King's informs me that Gibbons was a very
brilliant student, and "the only thing suggestive of the Indian in him
was his glossy black hair."

In 1879, th^ superintendence of the northern missions of the

Church of England was entrusted to
REV. J. J. CURLING, the Rev. J. J. Curling, "whose liberal

benefactions have been distributed all
over the Island" (of Newfoimdland). This zealous missionary had
been an engineer-officer in H. M. Navy, and resigned his position
to devote his life to the missions of the West and North of New-
foundland. He labored zealously, gave abundantly of his means
to the Diocesan wants, and presented his yacht "Lavrock" to
the Diocese for mission work. "No more devoted servant of the
Church has ever labored more abundantly to win souls than did this

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

107

young engineer officer."
Appendix, p. 15.)

(Prowse, "History of Newfoundland,"

A permanent misson at Hamilton In-
REV. MR. QUINTON. let (Groswater Bay) was established

in 1885 by Rev. Mr. Quinton, a man
of zeal and indomitable energy. He spent the best years of his
life on the coast ; and his name is held in veneration by the "live-
yeres" of rugged Labrador. The Rev. F. W. Colley, the present

incumbent of Carbonear, spent several
REV. F. W. COLLEY. years on the coast, succeeding the Rev.

Mr. Quinton, whose health became im-
paired on account of the arduous work which his duties exacted. In

ICEBERG.

later years his mission has been attended by a ''lay-reader." Amongst

the resident clergymen at Battle Harbor

REV. J. H. BULL, in recent years, must be mentioned the

Rev. J. H. Bull, the present incumbent of

Brigus, N. F., who was a physician of soul and body to the settlers

io8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

friend of the poor and needy; and he is still remembered in the
lonely land as a man of sacrifice and worth.

Reliable data regarding the early
METHODIST CHURCH, missions of the Methodist Church

on the coast are few. It is recorded
that Rev. Mr. Remington visited the southern section of the coast
in 1815; and, subsequently, "attempts were made to establish mis-
sions between Hopedalc and Belle Isle;" but they do not seem to
have been successful. In the "Report of Missions for 1829," it is
said "The Labrador Mission is for the present abandoned, princi-
pally on account of the removal of the Esquimaux tribe from the
coast to the interior of the country and their general dispersion."
(Prowse, op. cit.)

Mission work was resumed in i860, and it has been vigorously
carried on ever since. There are now two permanent missions, one
at Red Bay and another at Hamilton Inlet ; and at other sections
there are mission churches and schools.

Amongst the Indian tribes on the Labrador
EDUCATION, coast the education of the children is part of
the ministerial duty.

At all the IMoravian stations the education of the children is
attended to with care ; and practically all the Esquimaux are able to
read and write. The children begin to attend school at the age of
seven and continue until they are able to take part in the hunt or
attend to domestic duties. Besides the ordinary rudiments the
Esquimaux are taught trades , and in some cases singing and instru-
mental music. It is not an uncommon thing to find Esquimaux who
are fairly accomplished musicians. To promote a taste for reading
amongst them the Mission at Nain has a printing-press, which pub-
lishes a small newspaper, printed in their native tongue ; it goes by
the name of "Aglait Illunainortiit," and is largely circulated. We
have never seen any returns of the Moravian educational establish-
ments ; but presume that illiteracy is rare amongst the Esquimaux.

This unfortunately is not the case amongst the "liveyeres,'' and it
is incumbent on the Government of Newfoundland to help these

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 109

scattered remnants of civilization to obtain the benefits so largely
possessed by the Indian tribes.

In the last available Returns of Labrador Schools we find there
were fifteen schools in operation, with an attendance of 427 schol-
ars, at a cost of $2,100 or, approximately, five dollars per capita.

Of course many of these schools are very primitive establish-
ments and the teaching is not necessarily of a high standard, though
it is a matter of surprise to realize the proficiency of some of the
pupils attending these rudimentary schools. In connection with
educational matters I had a rather unique experience when attempt-
ing to establish a school at Barachois some years ago. The popula-
tion there is mixed (French and English), and the teacher must be
necessarily a bi-linguist. I had several applications for the position
of teacher ; but of the many I received not one was indicative of the
necessary qualifications which even a Labrador school demands. I
submit the following, which is, I fancy, one of the most ex-
traordinary applications ever received by a school commissioner.
The caligraphy was in keeping with the orthography :

Le Barrachois.
le vingt troi Aoute.

MONSIRE, LE PRETRE,

je vous demmandes si vous me donnerai I'ECol poure ansignere
set Hiver. je sui ben instrui, est je pouras faere le catchisme et le
Lecture aus anfeng. Mon salare est 5 louis et le manger.

votre amis.

no WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XVn.

SOME PAGES OF ODDS AND ENDS.

"There are magic lures in the open air,
There are wondrous things for the eyes."

— "Call of the Northland."

Nature has been lavish in her bounties to the
NATURE. "Nolfing of the West." Its coast-line is studded with
islets; and within its noble fiords, the majestic cat-
aract, the dimpling stream, the age-worn crag, the ice-shaved pla-
teau, are a never-failing source of interest. What a history it un-
folds ! A history of continental glacial ice, wearing down rocks and
grinding out lake-basins — a history of deep seas, bearing boulder-
laden floes of ice, dropping their burdens as they floated over — a
history of stranded icebergs and irresistible currents — a history of
gradually emerging land, of changing coast-lines, and of continual
change in the position of travelled rocks — a history of frosts, snows.
swollen lakes and rivers — of long dreary winters, and short scorch-
ing summers.

But most bewildering of all reflections is the age — the infinite
age — of the rocks of the Labrador Peninsula. W^hat exposure to
elemental warfare ! — what a lonely experience of the changes which
this world has undergone ! The earliest known continent, the longest
above the sea, dry land during the countless ages which formed the
great Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous periods. First, ice-
covered for ages, during which frozen epoch it underwent that
change in surface to which Greenland is now being subjected; then,
possibly, dry land, when all the south and west were deeply covered
with the ocean, and the immense secondary deposits were being
elaborated all the way from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mex-
ico,— slowly sinking and submerging during part of the Tertiary and
post-Tertiary periods to the depth of many thousand feet, — slowly
rising subsequently fully three thousand feet above the ocean level.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Ill

yet preserving still the safe bold front, though far more worn, but
much less troubled than in those dim and distant ages at the close of
the Laurentian period, when it emerged fresh and new from a
Laurentian sea. (Hind, Explorations.)

The Fisher's land does not present subjects to the scientific mind
only ; it offers attractions to the sportsman and lover of nature. Its
streams and purling brooks teem with speckled beauties, which have
never yet been tempted by the artificial fly. They are free to every
disciple of the gentle Izaak who dares to seek these haunts of happi-
ness unalloved.

■1

L,.9

.■^.\. '

'fl

• -^m?'

•• JzT m

^B^^^^

THE STRATH CON A.

Caribou roam unmolested over the barren wastes ; and the willow-
grouse and partridge are in abundance. Sport knows no restric-
tions; and there are no professional guides to relieve you of your
comfort or your coin.

Countless icebergs in shapes and forms fantastic, bluff, beetling
crags and sombre-hued headlands mirrored in the sea are tempting
subjects for the artist's brush and pencil.

112 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The days are long and balmy ; and when daylight dies
"The sunbeams melt along the silent sea."
Nothing more impressively beautiful can be conceived than a Labra-
dor sunset when every mountain-top is bathed in a splendor of shift-
ing light.

The granite-browed summits seem to melt in a rosy mist.

"The rock is softer than the cloud; no leaf is twirled; and the
silence of eternity seems falling on the world."

Even the atmosphere of the Northland has its own secret of
beauty and charms the eye with aspects which one may be par-
doned for believing incomparable. The blue of distant hills and
mountains is subtle and luminous to a degree that surpasses admira-
tion.

We had anchored in a little harbor which was bordered imme-
diately by a gentle ridge some three hundred feet high ; beyond this
ridge, to the west, rose mountainous hills, while to the south, where
was the head of the harbor, it was overlooked by a broad, noble
mountain. It had been one of those white-skied days when the
heavens are covered by a uniform, filmy fleece, and the light comes
as if it had been filtered through milk.

But just before sunset this fleece was rent, and a river of sun-
shine streamed across the ridge at the head of the harbor, leaving
the mountain beyond, and the harbor itself, with its wooded sides,
in the shadow ; and where that shine fell, the foliage changed from
green to a luminous red-brown. Beyond it, the moiintain was still
garbed in gray ; nearer, the woods stood out in clear green, and
separated from these by the sharpest outline, rose this ridge of
enchanted forest. Never were colors in the artist's paint pot more
definite and determined.

This was but the beginning. I had turned away, and was debating
with myself whether some such color, seen on the Scotch and Eng-
lish hills, had not given the hint for those uniform browns which
Turner in his youth copied from his earliest masters. When I looked
back the sunshine had flooded the mountain, and was bathing it in
the purest rose red. Bathing it? No. the mountain was solidly con-
verted, transformed to that hue! The power, the simplicity, the
translucent, shining depth of color were all that you can imagine, if
you make no abatements and task your imagination to the utmost.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 113

This roseate hue no rose in the garden of Orient or Occident ever
surpassed. Small spaces were seen where the color became a pure
ruby, which could not have been more lustrous and intense had it
proceeded from a polished ruby gem ten rods in dimension. Color
could go no farther. Yet if the eye lost these for a moment, it was
compelled somewhat to search for them, — so powerful, so brilliant
was the rose setting in which they were embosomed.

One must remember how near at hand all this was — not more
than a mile or two away. Rock, cavern, cliff, all the details of
rounded swell, rising peak, and long-descending slope could be seen
with entire distinctness. The mountains rose close upon us, broad,
massive, real — but all in this glorious, this truly ineffable transfor-
mation. It was not distance that lent enchantment here ; it was not
lc]it; it was as real as rock, as Nature; for enchantment so imme-
diate and on such a scale of grandeur and gorgeousness — who could
stand up before it? .

This evening the spectacle of the preceding one was repeated,
though more distinctly and on a larger scale. Far away the moun-
tain height towered, a marvel of aerial blue, while broad spurs
reaching out on either side were clothed, the one in shiny rose-red,
the other in ethereal roseate tints superimposed upon the azure; and
farther away, in the northeast, a mountain range lay in solid car-
mine along the horizon, as if the earth blushed at the touch of
heaven. All the wildness and waste, all the sternest desolation of
the whole earth, brought together to enhance each other, and then
relieved by splendor without equal, perhaps in the whole world — that
is Labrador." (Packard; "The Labrador Coast.")

But Nature does not exhaust her fascinations with the going down
of the sun ; for when the shadows fall there comes the bewildering
charm of the Aurora Borealis.

I recall one glorious summer night at Shop Cove, near Cape
li'cbcc. I stood looking out upon the Atlantic, whose surface shone
like the face of a mammoth mirror; it was nearing the hour when

"Amber midnight smiles in dreams of dawn."

Suddenly there came a sound which seemed the rolling of distant
thunder. Looking skywards. I saw the heavens aglow ; and then, in
the twinkling of an eye, there was a flash of irridescent gleams, now

114

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

green, now blue, now tinged with lambent flame ; it was the Aurora
Borealis, whose motions in these latitudes seem like "fierce, fiery
warriors which fight upon the clouds, in ranks and squadrons, and
right forms of war."

An immense curtain of light had spread across the sky, waving
its folds like the canopy of a tent, and then radiations of purple,
pink, and green and orange sported about the heavens like waves
upon a mysterious shore. Huge pencils of light of various colors
ranged themselves round a blank space near the zenith, formed a
corona, and then suddenly vanished.

We have learned what nature teaches on this rugged coast; now,
what of art? There is none, save "some frail memorial, with un-
couth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked ;" so we must imitate
Shakespeare's hero ; '"let's talk of graves," and read the epitaphs
"spelt by the unlettered muse."

DR. GRExXFELL, ATTENDING FISHERMAN.

Nearly every section of the coast has some quaint inscription?
upon the frail memorials of departed friends. They are emblematic
of the faith and hopes of a primitive, God-fearing people. Rude,
'tis true, but withal sublime in the lessons which they teach the
passer-by. Death is always sad, but if we may judge of the feel-
ings of Labradorians by the uncouth inscriptions upon their tombs,
the loss of friends in those wave-washed wilds is most keenly felt.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 115

There is something very pathetic in the stern necessity which com-
pels the people on some parts of the desolate coasts to bury their
dead in clefts and holes of rocks. They dare not lay them on the
bare gneiss, and cover them with stones; they hide them in caves
and holes of the earth and sometimes inscribe their grief on the
hard rock, or on pieces of wood beyond the reach of beasts of prey.
The Roman Catholic priests, on their annual visits (to the western
sections of the Straits of Belle Isle), often visit these primitive rest-
ing places of the dead, and sanctify the spot, reciting a Libera over
the natural tombs of those who have died during the year. Some
of the epitaphs are very sad. The following touching lines, rudely
carved on a block of wood over the grave of a young girl, reveal a
blessed hope in a future meeting, and a love not often excelled on
earth, if these words of the epitaph express the true feelings of the
heart : —

"We loved her !

Yes ! no language can tell how we loved her.

God in His love

Called her to the home of His peace and repose."

And this on the rocky and desert coast of the most sterile part of
Labrador. The grave, a cleft in the rock, the rude tablet which
recorded the love and faith of those she had left behind inscribed
with words beautifully expressed and as full of hope, as if they had
been written on the tomb of a fair English girl who had drooped
beneath the shade of "the tall ancestral trees of an English home."
(Hind.) The following epitaph is found in the little graveyard at
Battle Harbor:—

Memory of John

Hill who Died

December 30 1889

Weep not dear Parents

For your loss tis

My Etarnal gain May

Christ you all take up

The Cross that we

Should meat again."
The diction is certainly not elegant ; but the motive is thoroughly
Christian. A writer of "Labrador tales" speaks of these rude in-

ii6 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

scriptions as "being evidence of the ignorance and rudeness of the

natives ;" but, in this connection, "where ignorance is bHss 'tis folly

to be wise."

The following is said to have been found at Indian Tickle some

years ago : —

"Yere lies the body of Maryann

Who wus killd by a fall from a catamaran."

A "catamaran" is a sled used in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In a French settlement, the following was seen not many years
ago:—

"Ci git Jeanne Lavalle, mere de toutes les vertus, R. I. P."
This recalls a supposed classic, written by Voltaire as a fitting
epitaph for the Mother of a modern Heliogabalus : —

"Ci git I'oisivetete-mere de tous les vices."
Fishermen are not by any means an untutored race, as certain
scribes would have us believe. On the gravestone of a well-known
planter-blacksmith, in one of the Northern outports in Newfound-
land, the following inscription may be seen. It is not original, how-
ever, as some members of the family of the deceased contend ; tlic
original is found in a churchyard at Eardsley, Herefordshire, Eng-
land.

"My sledge and Hammer lie declin'd.
My bellows have quite lost their Wind;
My fire's extinct my Forge decay'd ;
My vice's in the dust all lay'd ;
My coal is spent, my Iron gone ;
My nails are drove, my Work is done ;
My fire-dry'd corpse lies here at Rest,
My soul, smoak like, is soaring to be blest."
The most elaborate inscription found on the coast of Labrador is
that on the Cartwright memorial at Cartwright, in Sandwich Bay : —

In memory of

George Cartwright

Captain in His Majesty's 37th Regiment of Foot

Second son of William Cartwright, Esq., of

Marnham Hall in Nottinghamshire,

Who in March, 1770 made a settlement on the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

117

Coast of Labrador,

Where he remamed for sixteen years.

He died at Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire

19th February, 1819,

also of

John Cartwright

Lieutenant of the "Guernsey," five years Surrogate

of Newfoundland,
And afterwards Major of the Nottingham militia
He died on the 23rd of September, 1824.
To these distinguished brothers, who in zealously protecting and
befriending, paved the way for the introduction of Christianity to
the natives of these benighted regions, this monument is affection-
ately inscribed by their niece,

Frances Dorothy Cartwright."
Finally the rudest inscription I have seen is the following found
at Battle Harbor : —

SARAH
COMBE
DID THE FORTH
HAGE 31 HOF
VARS HOGES
1881
Translated into modern English this means: — "Sarah Combes, died 4th of
August. 1881. aged 31 years."

CO-OPERATIVE STORE.

ii8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XVni.

THE DOCTOR.

"You behold in me a travelling physician ;
One of the few who have a mission
To cure uncurable diseases,
Or those that are called so."

— "The Golden Legend," Longfellow.

The coast of Labrador

THE GOVERNMENT MEDICAL offers a large clientele to

OFFICER. the disciple of Esculapius ;

and there is perhaps no
other field on earth which demands such skill and patience. The
Doctor who journeys along the coast on the mail steamer, is an offi-
cial of the Newfoundland Government. He holds clinics in his
caBih and visits those who are too ill to come on board the steamer.
The Doctor is usually a very busy man, and his is a decidedly trying
work. It is not unusual for the doctor to attend one hundred
patients between dawn and midnight. At every harbor boats flock
to the steamer with patients for treatment. Many of these are
hardy and rugged, but have some fancied ailment. Others, with
bandaged hands or arms "in a sling" are suffering from sores, deep
ugly ulcers ("water-pups") that need skilled attention. After treat-
ment they go back radiantly happy. . . . Others are hardly able
to clamber up the ship's steps and their faces betray suffering and
wretchedness. Some of these the doctor sends back relieved, others
cannot be left behind, and are taken care of by the doctor and his
nurse, until they reach one of the hospitals of the M. D. S. F.
(Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen) or are sent home to their friends
or the hospital at St. John's. . . . The doctor gives the best
services he can under the circumstances, but he is handicapped for
want of proper accommodation.

There is another portrait of the Labrador Doctor, written by a
gentleman who writes "wondrous tales." He says: — "The Doctor

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 119

on the mail-boat is a rude, heartless man, who will not inconvenience
himself by getting out of his berth at night to attend to the sick and
suffering; and when he fell over the stairs one evening and broke his
neck, no one felt sorry."

There are other very strong expressions ; but let this suffice. To
the writer of such as this I would recommend these lines from
Gray's "Elegy" : —

"No longer seek his merits to disclose.
Or draw his frailties from their dread repose,
There they alike in trembling hopes repose —
The bosom of his Father and his God."
These verses would be a fitting epitaph for the old physician,
whom wiseacres have traduced. I knew him perhaps as few men
did ; he was neither rude nor unlettered ; and many a time and oft.
I was witness of such charities exercised by him as have not yet been
recorded of any literary "bird of passage" to the coast of Labrador.

There is another Doctor on the Labrador

DR. GRENFELL. coast — "Grenfell of Labrador," a graduate
of Oxford, and of the London Hospital, and
a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, who, after working in
the London slums, joined the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea
Fishermen, and established the Medical Mission to the fishermen
of the North Sea fleet. Largely through his work, the moral and
physical condition of these fishermen was greatly changed for the
better.

Another portrait of the enthusiastic Doctor: "A robust, hearty
Saxon, strong, indefatigable, devoted, jolly; a doctor, a parson by
times, something of a sportsman when occasion permitted ; a master
mariner, a magistrate, the director of certain commercial enter-
prises designed to "help people to help themselves" — the prophet
and champion indeed, of a people ; and a man very much in love
with life."

Still another portrait :

"The writer has known Wilfrid Thomason Grenfell ever since he
began his work on the Labrador waters, in 1892, and honestly be-
lieves that no man, single-handed, has achieved in any part of the
world such a variety of philanthropic successes as stand to the credit

I20 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

of "Grenfell of Labrador." Preacher, teacher, physician, surgeon,
magistrate, policeman, navigator, pilot, charity commissioner, or-
phans' guardian, grand almoner for the whole seaboard, wreck in-
vestigator, cartographer, rescuer of imperilled fishermen, and
salvager of stranded crafts, — he is a perambulating providence to
every man whose livelihood is secured on the lonely desolate sea-
board."

Dr. Grenfell is widely known ; and, as in all cases in which an
individual sets himself against "the observances of ages," and under-
takes to break down the barriers of conservatism, he has been un-
duly criticised.

His occasional references in the foreign press to the bibulous
habits of the city of St. John's have angered some of the citizens
in these parts, and brought forth very acrid denunciations from
certain sections of the Newfoundland newspaperdom; but there is
seemingly no abatement in the Doctor's ardor for an improved St.
John's. He is a strenuous advocate of the cause of Temperance.

Doctor Grenfell has been sixteen years on the coast of Labrador;
and an idea of the work in which he is engaged may be gleaned
from the fact that the actual cost of the work is now $40,000 a year.
Evidently there are many who are not in sympathy with the business
propaganda of Dr. Grenfell's mission, but, viewed from an economic
standpoint, this feature of Dr. Grenfell's work is an approved system
of business. Co-operative stores are now recognized as being one
of the greatest factors in the improvement of the condition of the
toiler. The idea of "co-operation" is not new. as "its principles had
been expounded to the masses (in England) by Robert Owen as
long ago as the beginning of the eighteenth century, but it was not
till 1844 that the real foundation of the movement was laid in Eng-
land, when owing to the operation of the corn laws and dearth of
employment, the price of bread was exceptionally high. During "the
bad times" it occurred to some weavers at Rochdale that now was
the time to put into practice Owen's plan of abolishing "profit upon
cost." Then was laid the foundation of that imposing structure
which Lord Roseberry has so aptly named "a state within a state."
The history of the co-operative store is the story of the emancipa-
tion of the worker from the thraldom of business greed. Those who
wish to learn something of the success which has attended co-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 121

operative establishments in England, will find a very interesting
article on this subject in Syste))i for October of the current year.
The business end of Dr. Grenfell's work is not a mission enterprise ;
it is a purely personal undertaking, as we learn that "every enter-
prise with which his name is identified, apart from the actual hos-
pital work, has been started with his private funds. The losses,
where such have been met. as in the case of one co-operative store
which failed, and in which he sank $1,200, the Doctor has made
good out of his own pocket : but the profits, where such occur, he
turns over to the M. D. S. F.. without the slightest deduction for

REINDEER HERD.

himself. He receives a salary of only $1,500 a year. . . . All
of his salary, apart from his actual living expenses, he puts into
these ventures, also receipts from his books and writings, and the
proceeds of his lecturing tours.

All the enterprises, co-operative stores, saw-mills, fox-farms,
reindeer, etc., are deeded over to the mission, and become its prop-
erty as they prove profitable." (P. T. AIcGrath, in Reznew of Re-
views.) The "Royal Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen," of which
Dr. Grenfell is Superintendent, was established many years ago with
a view to protect North Sea fishermen from the evil influences of
contraband traders. These fishermen are practically always "afloat ;"
and are (or were) being demoralized by "Coppers" or smugglers

122

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

who ply a lucrative trade with the Trawlers of Grimsby and Yar-
mouth. To offset this demoralizing influence of "the Continental
highwaymen of the Sea," the M. D. S. F. began its mission amongst
the North Sea fleet in the 8o's; and Dr. Grenfell inaugurated the
medical-missionary feature of the crusade against the demoralizing
influences of the "coppers."

In 1891 Mr. F. S. Hopwood, a member of the English Board of
Trade and a Director of the ]M. D. S. F., whilst visiting Newfound-
land, en route to Canada, "became convinced that the exigencies and
privations of the Labrador fisher-folk constituted a clear call on the

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mri-rr^'-rf^*'^^^

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^■mihmi

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society to extend their medical and mission work to the poor toilers
of the sea on dreary Labrador." (Prowse: "History of New-
foundland.")

Accordingly, the Mission ship Albert was
THE ALBERT, despatched to the coast of Labrador in the fol-
lowing Spring, having on board Dr. Grenfell,
the Superintendent. In the autumn of that year, on the return of
the Superintendent to St. John's "a careful report was drawn up
and read to a meeting of merchants and planters called by His Ex-
cellency Sir Terence O'Brien, at Government House; it was ex-
plained that the Mission was neither sectarian nor political, but sim-
ply a philanthropic work, aiming at relieving the condition of the
poor fishermen and their families, and preaching the gospel." As

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

123

an outcome of that meeting it was decided to establish two hospitals
on the coast. W. Baine Grieve, Esq., representative of the firm of
Baine, Johnston & Co., presented a house already built at Battle

THE STRATIICOXA UF THE .M. b. S. F.

Harbor, to serve as a first hospital; and in the following year a
second was built at Indian Harbor, near Hamilton Inlet. A third
hospital was erected, on Canadian Labrador, at Harrington, in 1905.

124

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Mission has received generous aid

BENEFACTIONS, from such philanthropists as Lord Strath-

cona, Carnegie and other friends in

England, America and Canada, whose benefactions amount to $37,-

000 annually. In addition, it receives $3,000 a year from New-
foundland, one-half of which comes from the Colonial Government
as a subsidy towards the hospitals. These hospitals are admirable
institutions, each having a competent medical and nursing staff, and
a splendid equipment of surgical appliances.

From personal relations with these establishments in past years.

1 have no hesitancy in saying they are a boon and a blessing to
Labrador fishermen.

A PERAiSIBULATING PROVIDENCE.

In addition to Dr. Grenfell's multitudinous
EXPLORATION, missionary labors on the coast of Labrador,

he has explored and charted a great part
of the peninsula; and fishermen should feel grateful to him for his
hydrographic services. He has likewise interested himself in pro-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

125

moting a "tourist-traffic"' to the far north ; and it is hoped his efforts
in this direction will prove successful.

From his "Log" we glean the following items relative to last
season's operations : — "We have this year fitted out a 50-ton
Gloucester Banker as a Yacht, with motor boats, etc., and a party of
tourists are cruising directly from Boston to Cape Chidley in her.
We heard of them last from Saeglik Bay, north of Hebron."

Some very valuable exploration work was done in conjunction
with His Excellency, the Governor of Newfoundland. "His Ex-
cellency joined us at Nain ; he has been helping to survey the
Northern coast, as far as a hurried and rapid cruise would allow.

. . We started work at Port Manvers. . . . Excellent
observations were possible at Inner-Cut-Throat ; and we managed to

A MAGISTRATE SEITLIXG LITTLE MATTERS.

catch his Solar Majesty on the meridian. ... At Cape Mug-
ford we lay for Sunday, the Esquimaux as well as the fishermen
joining us at prayers. . . . We have now chartered the won-
derful "Ikkerask" leading into Ungava Bay, and sounded it from
end to end. There is reason to hope that a very useful chart may
be in use for the fishermen next season. . . . We had to hold
court two or three times to settle small matters.

Besides his Labrador Mission the Doctor has a "settlement" on

126

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the North-east coast of Newfoundland, where he conducts a Hos-
pital, an Orphanage, saw-mills, fox-farms and other enterprises.

In 1907 Dr. Grenfell raised $15,000 — $5,000 from

REINDEER, the Canadian Government and $10,000 from sup-
porters in America, Canada, and England, chiefly
the first, and imported a herd of 300 Lapland Reindeer.

These are intended to supplant the dog, which hitherto has been
the only "beast of burden" in these parts.

This is an admirable undertaking; and will no doubt be as suc-
cessful in Newfoundland as it has been in Alaska.

Reindeer were introduced into Alaska through the enterprise of
Dr. Sheldon Jackson in 1891, Congress having refused Dr. Jack-
son's undertaking, he raised $2,146 by private subscription, and pur-
chased 187 reindeer in Siberia, and secured regular herdsmen, to

R E I X D p: 1-: R

whom was entrusted the transportation and subsequent manage-
ment of the herd. Later several Lapp families were imported to
take charge of the enterprise ; and Alaskan Esquimaux were secured
as apprentices. "There is scarcely another incident in international
economics that has wrought such a change for the better in the
lives of the people as the introduction of reindeer into the frozen
northern section of America."

The modes of life, as affected by climatic, geographic and eco-
nomic limitations, in Labrador and Alaska, agree in nearly every
detail. The rigorous climate ; the precariousness of the food supply,
the total absence of agricultural land and of horses, cattle, sheep and
poultry; the want and sickness and misery that are the concomi-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

127

tants of such harsh factors, exist in all their hideousness on barren
Labrador.

In Alaska similar conditions existed, but they have been wonder-
fully modified and changed for the better, by the wisdom and fore-
sight of Dr. Jackson, to whom must be ascribed all the credit for
working such a miracle. Let us hope that in the very near future,
the miracle will be repeated in Labrador.

DR. grenfkll's herd. Photo, Dr. Grenfell.

Dr. Jackson has proved that the reindeer is to the far North,
what the camel is to the burning desert regions — "the animal which
God has provided and adapted for the peculiar, special conditions
which exist."

128 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

As draught animal? they are far superior to dogs. On a long
journey through barren, snow-covered country, a deer can haul 200
pounds, while a dog team can scarely carry sufficient food to feed
themselves. In summer a reindeer can pack 150 pounds, and give
no trouble whatever for its provender supply. When the earth is
deep in snow-drifts, it digs for its food, and in summer it feeds on
the mosses, lichens and short rich grasses which abound in sub-
Arctic regions.

By actual test it has been proved, that a journey over a well known
Northern mail route, with heavy loads of passengers and freight,
could be accomplished by reindeer in eight days, where it took dog
teams from fifteen to twenty days to cover the same distance. In
deep trackless snow they are infinitely superior to dogs ; a team
hitched double can draw over 700 pounds weight and travel at a
good gait, both day and night, with ease.

They increase and multiply with amazing rapidity ; a herd doubles
itself in about three years.

]Mr. Grosvenor cites the case of the United States Government
granting a loan to some missioners of 100 deer, who after a few
years returned the borrowed animals and now possess in their own
right, the offspring of those same deer, a herd numbering over one
thousand head. They can be purchased cheaply in Lapland, — full
grown deer costing from $4.00 to $7.00 each. A fawn costs its
owner less than $1.00 per year, and after that is worth in Alaska
from $60.00 to $100.00 per year, and sometimes fetches as high as
$150.00. They supply meat, — their hams and tongues are considered
a rare delicacy, — milk, cheese, butter, clothing and shelter to their
owners.

It is estimated that within twenty-five years, there will be at least
one million domesticated reindeer in Alaska, and that within thirty-
five the number may reach the enormous total of ten millions. Long
before that period elapses, economists figure that Alaska will be
supplying annually to the United States markets from five hundred
thousand to one million carcasses of venison, besides thousands of
tons of delicious hams and tongues.

If these figures were dreams of theorists, the reader would be
pardoned, if he had his doubts ; but the project has long gone out of

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 129

the experimental stage and has arrived to where the results may be
surely computed, by simple arithmetical calculation.

The people of the United States have proved that they can do
large things well. The gigantic scale on which they are preserving
their large forest areas ; securing immense tracts in all parts of the
Union for National Parks ; their complete system of game preserva-
tion ; their vast meteorological and geographical systems, and the
success attending all these huge undertakings are sufficient guaran-
tees that the Alaska reindeer project will be one of the best invest-
ments of the century.

What applies to the successful experiment in Alaska, applies
equally to Labrador,

In Alaska there are about 40,000 square miles of country which
appear to have been laid out expressly for the sustenance of deer.

In Newfoundland and Labrador we have a greater area supplied
with waterways, and millions of tons of lichens, mosses and sweet
juicy grasses, suited to the requirements of a vast herd of deer, and
further we have the deer right at hand.

Our own caribou and the Lapland reindeer, if they are not identi-
cal, are very nearly so. They are superior to the Lapland variety
inasmuch as they are on their native heath, and consequently are bet-
ter adapted to the clime and food supply available; they are some-
what larger and heavier than the others ; ought to be very much
cheaper and easier to secure, and when in captivity are as kind and
docile and as capable of being trained, as their congeners.

They roam the waste places in the interior in vast herds, and after
three centuries of settlement we have made no more progress in
utilizing this untold wealth than did our predecessors, the aboriginal
Beothics.

Mr. Moulton, M. H. A., from his own experience and from infor-
mation gleaned from Micmac and other hunters and trappers, esti-
mates the number of caribou in the Island at two hundred and fifty
thousand. Mr. Jas. P. Howley, F. R. G. S., is more conservative
and is quoted by Mr. Millais, F. Z. S., as placing them at about one
hundred thousand ; while Mr. Millais, who spent several seasons in
the interior and who claims to have penetrated where no white man
ever before trod, thinks that two hundred thousand is a very fair
estimate.

I30 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Millais in his book on Newfoundland quotes the game warden at
Long Harbour who in 1906 saw a grand trek, caused by a fall of
glitter in that country : — "As far as the eye could reach there were
millions and millions of caribou, and he stood in astonishment the
whole day as the pageant rolled by," and further : — "Several Indians
saw the trails made by the mass of deer and described them to me
as at least ten miles wide, with few intervals between."

Surely here is a problem worthy the serious attention of our local
political economists.

If from the small beginning of the reindeer in Alaska, it will be
possible in a few years, to supply millions of carcasses of meat an-
nually to the markets of America, — leaving out of the question the
benefits derivable by the Alaskans in the meanwhile, — what are the
value and possibilities of the hundreds of thousands of caribou,
roaming to-day unused, unthought of, and neglected, at our very
doors. Put them to their lowest use, as an inducement for sports-
men to visit us, and at the present time they are worth millions of
dollars. Utilize them intelligently as a substitute for horses, cattle
and sheep, and in years to come as a toothsome delicious fresh meat.
for the clamouring multitudes who are willing to pay high for it as
a commercial commodity, — and say what is their approximate value?

The man who solves this problem will demonstrate how our
40,000 square miles of marsh and barren land can be changed into
smiling homesteads for a large and prosperous population. If we
ever hope to get people to settle in the interior of the Island, it is
not upon our timber, mineral or agricultural resources we must de-
pend, but upon our caribou ranches, which are capable of being
developed as fully as the cattle ranches of United States and Canada,
or as the reindeer ranches in Lapland, Siberia and Alaska.

With the five or six months of inclement weather preventing cattle
from grazing in the open, and with hay ranging from $20 to $30
per ton ; and further the enormous expense of housing and hand-
feeding a large stock in this country during the winter months,
cattle and sheep raising to any considerable extent, will prove to be
a proposition neither attractive nor profitable enough now. or in the
near future, to compel the serious attention of either capital or labor.

That the caribou can raise and support themselves without the aid
of human agency, is proved by the fact, that they are increasing in

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 131

numbers (allowing for deaths caused by hunters, trappers, wolves
and accidents), by, at the very lowest figure, ten thousand each year.
Snow, sleet and glitter, and the hardships resulting from exposure
in the woods or on the barrens, through the long, dark, stormy
nights of Newfoundland winter, do not appear to decrease their
numbers to any appreciable extent. They live and thrive, despite
hardships that would kill the hardiest cattle and ruin the wealthiest
stock raiser. They have been caught and tamed in isolated cases,
and have proved to be easily handled and cared for. Ten thousand
fawns are born every spring. If systematic efforts were made a very
large percentage of these could be easily captured and domesticated.

Mr. R. B. Stroud, one of our oldest, most experienced and most
reliable guides, stated lately in a letter to a local paper, that he has
successfully caught and domesticated caribou. He believes that it
is easy of accomplishment, and offers, with the aid of another man,
to round up the whole herd now roaming the interior of the Island.

Centuries ago the Boethics proved this to be practicable. Their
fences by which they controlled large deer drives are still visible in
some parts.

The wild zebra of Central Africa which for centuries defied
isolated attempts to domesticate them, have within the last few years
been trained to rival the best horses in usefulness and docility.

Captain Nys, of the Belgian Grenadiers, who was commissioned to
secure some for draught purposes for the Congo, to replace the
numbers of horses and mules killed by the deadly tzeste fly. built
a large stockade, and drove thousands of zebras into it. x^fter a
fortnight they were so tame, that they allowed themselves to be har-
nessed. They are now doing duty as beasts of burden throughout
the vast territory of the Congo.

If a similar effort were made to capture a large number of caribou
and domesticate them, in one year it would repay thousand-fold the
money and labor involved in the scheme.

The United States Government for some years past have devoted
$25,000 annually for the preservation and increase of the deer herds
in their northern territory. They have proved the investment a good
one.

It is a proposition worth considering whether it would not pay
us to import a few Lapp families to settle in the interior and cap-

132 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

ture and train some of our native caribou. Our guides, hunters and
trappers would take very little time to learn the secret, once their
attention was turned thereto, and then the fisherman and farmer
could easily and cheaply acquire his own herd that would mean meat
and money for him even if his crops and the season's fishery proved
a blank failure.

The rate of living is so high in this country at present, and the
taxes and cost of administering the Government have so increased.
that we will need in the near future to quadruple our present popu-
lation, and augment our earning power at the same time, in order
that the ordinary workman will be able to exist on his average earn-
ings. The time has arrived when the economic utilization of these
great natural riches must be considered seriously. Their conversion
into a prolific and never-failing source of wealth and revenue seems
insistent and imperative.

If we lack initiative, it is to be hoped that we have the imitative
faculty sufficiently developed to emulate the Lapps and Alaskans
when Dr. Grenfell points the way. (W. J. Carroll: Nctvfoundland
Quarterly.)

Dr. Grenfell's venture in reindeer in Northern Newfoundland has
been eminently successful. He says : — The reindeer have done mag-
nificently. Of the original herd introduced, fifty were sold to the
Newfoundland Development Company to defray the . expense of
bringing them over, leaving two hundred and fifty. These, after
only nine months, have become 403, splendid animals, deducting all
losses. The fawns are already as large as their mothers, and the
condition of the animals is simply not to be compared with the mis-
erable state of the herd when they landed. The Lapps, who brought
them over, are still in charge ; and recently other Lapp families have
been introduced. There is now a movement on foot to bring over
a number of Lapps and settle them on the coast of Labrador.

"The milk these animals give has proved to be very rich, and the
cheese wdll be very useful for winter. The problem as to their
future is practically solved. . . . Next year the experiment will
be made of trapping the wild caribou and uniting them with the
imported herd."

The question of introducing reindeer into Newfoundland was
mooted many years ago in the House of Assembly by the late John

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 133

Boone; but local parliamentarians did not seriously entertain the
question. Mr. Boone debated the question very ardently; but, pre-
sumably, the members of the Assembly regarded the measure as one
of this gentleman's "Utopian schemes." This was the expression
used at the time by one of the venerable representatives of a certain
constituency. Had the measure been then adopted, northern Xew-
foundland would have long since become a sheep-raising country
(the canine tribe has rendered the keeping of sheep an impossi-
bility).

134

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XIX.

WRECKS AND WRECKERS.

"The breakers were right beneath her bows,

She drifted a dreary wreck
And a whooping billow swept the crew,

Like icicles from her deck ;
She struck where the white and fleecy waves

Looked soft as carded wool ;
But the cruel rocks they gored her side,

Like the horns of an angry bull."

— "The Wreck of the Hesperus," Loxgfellow

ST. PAULS INLET.

Aeolus slumbers nigh to the rock fastnesses of the fishers' land ;
and when awakened, proclaims his awful majesty by wreaking de-
struction within his realms ; and Boreas ofttimes deals mercilessly
with the fishers. The death-roll of the Labrador fishers is a lengthy
one; and it has no parallel, excepting perhaps the "casualty list" of
the North Sea. From earliest days, when Basques and Breton

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 135

sailors visited the coast, Labrador has had an unsavory reputation :
the nomenclature of the capes and harbors is unmistakable evidence
that the old mariners dreaded its rugged shores. Belle Isle was
known as "Isola di Demoni" (the "Isle of Demons"). In the near
vicinity we find Cap M audit and Isle Sacree — suggestive of danger-
ous reefs and a "cussing crowd." Some miles to the west we have
Point aux Morts (now Armour Point), L'Anse an Diable (vulgo,
"Nansey Jawble"). It is a pretty rough place; but why it should be
dedicated to his Satanic Majesty, "is another question."

Labrador is visited periodically by terrific gales ; and almost every
fishing hamlet along its lengthy coast-line has paid its toll to the
death-dealing fury of the storm. The coast, in the southern sec-
tion, is honey-combed with reefs and shoals, many of which are
uncharted, and their presence is never suspected until the storm

BATTLE HARBOR. PllOtO, HoUozcay.

lashes them into fury. Storms are the fishermen's terror; and the
oncoming of a North-easter is ever a source of uneasiness, as it
spells wreckage and disaster. The "ground-swell" of the coast is a
phenomenon rarely witnessed elsewhere ; and Admiral Bayfield, who
surveyed a great part of the coast says : — 'T have never seen heavier
sea than that which rolls in from the eastward, in Lewis Sound, near
the entrance to the Straits of Belle Isle ; I never saw anything more
grand and wildly beautiful than the tremendous swell which rolls in
from the sea, often without wind, rolling slowly, but irresistibly, as
if moved by some unseen power, rearing itself up like a wall of
water, as it approaches the craggy sides of the islands, moving
faster and faster as it nears the shore, until at last it bursts with
fury over the islets thirty feet high, or sends up sheets of foam and
spray, sparkling in the sunbeams, fifty feet up the sides of the preci-

136 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

pices. I can compare the roar of the surf in a cahii night to nothing
less than the Falls of Niagara."

Many dreadful, doleful tragedies are recorded in fishing annals,
even in recent times. The storms of later years, however, do not
seem to have wrought such havoc as those of former years, but the
list of casualties is still a lengthy one. In the "gale" of '67 one
hundred lives were lost between Cape Harrison and Domino ; and
some years ago the remains of a schooner might be seen far "up in
the woods," at Curlew Harbor, near Cape North. The schooner
was driven from her moorings by the North-east gale, and twenty-
nine lives were lost. At Grady, which lies at some distance from
the Cape, fearful havoc was wrought by this same storm ; and thirty
persons found a watery grave, at Black Island, in the vicinity.
From an eye-witness of this awful visitation, I have learned these
harrowing details.

"The storm came up suddenly from the North-east during the
early hours of the morning; and by daylight it had reached its
height. A terrific tidal-wave came in just at sunrise and swept away
stores, wharves, and stages ; the sea broke right across the island to
Blubber Cove. Twine, lumber, provisions, faggots of fish, and her-
ring barrels were strewn in all directions ; some empty herring-bar-
rels were blown clean across the island, and pieces of staves were
driven into the clefts of the rocks, as if forced in by a sledge-ham-
mer. Several houses were washed away ; and those that withstood
the gale became death-traps to the domestic animals which were
unable to escape. Several children barely escaped drowning; they
had to be fished out of the "smoke-holes" (wooden chimneys). The
scene which followed the passing of the gale is almost indescribable.
Men were bemoaning the loss of everything they possessed ; and
frenzied women, scantily clad, were huddled in groups in the only
remaining shelters on the island.

Half-naked children were clinging piteously to their mothers ; and
it required almost superhuman efforts to pacify them. But, after
the sea had gone down, the saddest story was told : at Black Island,
across the "reach," seven vessels had been driven ashore, and the
crews drowned in the attempt to land. A wail went up from a
dozen women whose friends were amongst the lost : its echoes are
still ringing in my ears. I shall never forget the sad scenes of these

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

137

few eventful hours. Next day, and the day following, numbers
flocked to Grady from the outlying sections, seeking food and shel-
ter ; and here they remained for days awaiting an opportunity to get
home. We had no Marconi conveniences in these days ; and we
depended on passing schooners for means of transportation. These
were awful days ; and, as we saw several schooners go by without
seeing our signals, we were alarmed, as our stock of provisions was
small. Fortunately, we managed to "keep going" till relief came. I
hope I shall never have another such experience."

WRECKS. (Photo, Dr. L,)\'iifcll.)

At White Bear Islands, during this gale, scenes similar to those
witnessed at Grady occurred ; and thirty-nine fishermen were
drowned, one entire family being wiped out of existence. Several
happenings are recorded of other sections ; and there is scarcely a
hamlet on Labrador which has not had its day of visitation.

The year 1885 was a disastrous one along the coast ; the financial
loss was enormous; and the year now ending (1908) will also be
remembered as a season of destruction : forty schooners were

138 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

wrecked at King's Bay during a gale in August; but fortunately
no losses of life occurred.

The avocation of the Labrador fisherman is truly a dangerous
one; in springtime there are dangers from the great '"White Peril"
— ice and icebergs ; in the fall, there is danger from the storm. As I
write these lines I see a leaded headline in a daily paper : — "Great
loss of life ; fifteen fishermen lost in last night's storm, on the New-
foundland coast."

The story of marine tragedies on the Newfoundland and Labra-
dor coasts would fill a volume. The story of the "Trinity Bay Dis-
aster;" the "Greenland" tragedy; the loss of the "Wolf;" "The
Passing of the Lion" — these will one day be discovered by some
literary artist (?) of the great Republic, and be woven into a
"yam" for the delectation of readers of the gruesome. In 1847
the little town of Carbonear suffered a dreadful loss in the disappear-
ance of a fishing schooner, and the drowning of 50 persons. The
event is still remembered as "The John Penny Disaster."

A marine tragedy of Labrador is recorded of 1871, which is per-
haps one of the saddest in the long list of fishing disasters. It
occurred near Cape Charles ; and the only survivor, Solomon French,
is still living at Bay Roberts, Conception Bay. The "Huntsman" —
a sealing vessel, owned by Captain Dawe of Porte de Grave — left
the home port with the rest of the fleet, in March ; and soon after
was "jammed" in the ice somewhere near the "Funk Islands." Fast
in the floe, she w'as driven north towards the end of April ; and
during a terrific south-east gale she drifted over the shoals off Cape
Charles, and was wrecked on "The Fish Rock," a barren islet half
a mile from the cape.

The crew held to the wreck for several hours, until a huge comber
washed them into the boiling surf. Some of them clambered upon
the rock ; but, one by one, they succumbed to the constant buft'etting
of the angry sea. At the end of the third day only one man sur-
vived ; he was seen from the shore by some fishermen, who gal-
lantly went to his rescue. He was at the last extremity ; but the
careful nursing of the kindly rescuers revived him. He has often
recounted the agonies of these dreadful hours upon the rock ; and it
is said that wdien he now hears the moaning of the sea, it reawakens

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

139

the awful sensations of these hours of a Hving death, which he spent
on the rock off Cape Charles, nearly forty years ago.

Another marine tragedy occurred in the year 1877; ^^^<-l I shall
ever remember an incident in connection with it. In my boyhood
davs it was an act of consummate bravery in the eyes of the juvenile
communitv of mv native town to "board" the fishing schooners as

FOREIGNERS.

they returned from the coast. I happened to be the proud owner

of a yacht at the time, and with my old school chum, D. W. .

boarded the schooner "Vulcan." which was commanded by Capt.

F. , whose wife accompanit-d him that year on his fishing trip.

After we had been welcomed by the Captain, Mrs. asked

us : — "How long has the 'Rose' been in ?" We said, "The 'Rose'

I40 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

hadn't arrived yet." There was no comment, but a scream, such as
I have never since heard, followed by an exclamation — "My God,
the 'Rose' is lost !" The "Rose" had left the coast several days be-
fore the "Vulcan," with seventy souls on board ; and must have
capsized in a storm the second day after leaving Cape Charles. Her
disappearance is another mystery of the sea.

A singular occurrence was the loss of the crew and passengers
of the English schooner "Rosevear," which left Harbor Grace, salt-
laden, for Labrador in the summer of, I think, 1880. About ten
days after sailing, the schooner was seen off Twillingate, under
full sail, apparently unmanageable. She was boarded by some fish-
ermen, who were dreadfully alarmed, as no sign of life w^as visible.
They had read of "phantom ships ;" but this could not be a phan-
tom. The remains of the last meal were still lying on the cabin
table ; and everything seemed to indicate that an accident had oc-
curred whilst the captain and passengers w^ere having a meal. What
had occurred ? It was another mystery of the sea. It was surmised
that the ship had come in contact with an iceberg, and fearing that
she would founder, the captain and crew abandoned her ; the long-
boat was missing, and, on examination, it was found that the head-
gear (jib-boom and martingale) had been injured by contact with
something ; it could not, so fishermen declared, have been a rock, as
there was nothing in this neighborhood with which the ship could
have come in contact ; hence the surmise that it was an iceberg —
"The Great White Peril" — which had caused the accident. The
boat must have been swamped by the "wash" from the berg, as it
was never heard of.

It is not an unusual occurrence for fishing crews to make a "trip
to Europe," not specified in their itinerary ; and this has happened
several times within recent years. Ships are frequently "driven to
sea" in the fall, and a passing steamer sometimes finds the derelict
in mid-ocean.

Many deeds of heroism are recorded in connection with the res-
cuing of derelict crews by ocean steamers.

Wrecks have sometimes a ludicrous side ; and one such instance
occurred not many years ago, in the case of the little schooner.
This craft left St. John's late in the autumn, laden with supplies for
a northern mercantile establishment. Some hours after leaving, a

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 141

storm came on, and the schooner was dismasted, presumably off Cape
Bonavista. When the storm had abated, the crew decided to aban-
don the craft and "make the land." The captain determined to
"hang on to the wreck ;" and the crew abandoned him to his fate.
It is said that the captain had been "sampling the liquids," of which
there was a plentiful supply in the hold. The crew reached the land
after two days of hard rowing; and it was a foregone conclusion
that the captain and ship would never again be heard of. Less than
a week after the landing of the crew, some fishermen at Bird Island
Cove descried a strange-looking craft in the ofifing; and they imme-
dately went to investigate. This was the schooner Pet, making in
for Catalina under a "jury-mast" outfit (two oars, and some blankets
which had been discovered amongst the cargo). The captain was
not alone, however; a faithful Newfoundland dog was steering,
while the captain looked after the "sheets." Whether the dog knew
his compass is not told. The craft was refitted at Catalina, and ha?
since made many successful voyages. This is not fiction.

Wrecks have sometimes occurred on the coast of Labrador, which
were not due to "stress of weather ;" they were made to order. This
phase of nautical economics is known in local phraseology as "Bar-
ratry" ; in the homely dialect of Labrador fishermen, it is known as
"scuttling," or "selling" a vessel to the Insurance Company ! Bar-
ratry was a frequent disorder in former times ; but there are no firms
of "Dombey and Son," and few "Captain Cuttles" amongst the fish-
ing population of Newfoundland to-day. The opprobrium of this
iniquitous business termed "scuttling" invariably rested upon the
unfortunate fishermen, if they happened to be caught in the toils.
The Dombeys rejoiced that "these rascals were caught at last!"
But if the little matter eventuated satisfactorily, Dombey felt happy ;
"that old schooner was no good, anyway, and would be somebody's
coffin, maybe !"

The disease was epidemic at times ; but the stringent measures
of the Judges of the Supreme Court have arrested all future danger
of contagion. Prison diet, with a strong tincture of penitentiary
discipline, has been found to be an unfailing specific against this dis-
order ; and the smart Alecs of the Labrador coast are now almost
as rare as the curlew. The Records of the Newfoundland courts are
decorated with "Barratry" proceedings. A cause celehre was un-

142 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

earthed by Dr. Grenfell some years ago; and it has been immor-
talized by Norman Duncan in one of his "Labrador Tales." The
principals in this case were put behind the bars of the penitentiary ;
and "sales" to Insurance Companies are now of rare occurrence.

There is a large fund of interesting stories in connection with
these "sales" ; but as many of the parties interested are still
iyitcr vivos, it were unwise to give them publicity. There is one,
however, which is common property ; and it is no breach of privacy
to relate it. I am indebted to an insurance agent in Newfoundland
for the incident.

Some years ago, a planter of the humbler type effected an insur-
ance of $2,000 on his craft and cargo (declared to be four hundred

quintals of fish), with the agent of "The Marine Insurance

Company." The insurance had been secured by letter from a South-
ern Labrador port. The planter sold his "catch" at ;

the catch was not four hundred quintals! He had "arranged" the
division of the spoils with his crew. The schooner started home-
wards; and when commg through Stag Harbor Run two for-
midable-looking holes were bored in the bottom of the craft ; but
the auger, by mischance, was left in one of the holes. The captain
and crew abandoned the sinking craft; and they put ashore at

, a rendezvous for vessels returning from the coast. There

the necessary "protest" was made, with due form and solemnity ;
and the shipwrecked fishermen received the customary attention

from the local magistrate, and were sent to their homes in — ■

Bay. But the vessel did not sink : a strong nor'wester blew her
ashore; and the implement of supposed destruction (the auger) was
found, where the captain had left it. This fact, however, was not
generally known. The captain proceeded to St. John's in due course,
and went to the office of the underwriter, where he recited his tale of
woe. After the recital, the underwriter opened a drawer whence
he produced the auger, and asked his interviewer if he had ever seen
this particular implement ? There was no answer to the question ;
the captain left the city in rather indecent haste ; the insurance was
not paid, of course; and for aught I know to the contrary, that cap-
tain is still "wanted" by the authorities.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 143

CHAPTER XX.

"Hills peep o'er hills, and steeps on steeps arise !"

'Tn its general features the peninsula of Labrador is an oblong
mass of Laurentian rocks lying between the 50th and 60th parallels
of latitude." (Packard: "The Labrador Coast.")

The oldest geological formations are nowhere so exemplified as
on the coast of Labrador ; and the "Laurentian rocks occupy more
than nine-tenths of the area of the peninsula, the remainder being
underlain by scattered areas of Huronian and Cambrian." (Geol.
Sur. Canada, A. P. Low.)

Under the term Laurentian, we find granites, gneisses, and syen-
ites. For the benefit of the unitiated the following notes are given
on the differentiation of these allied rocks. Granite is metamorphic
or eruptive, composed of Feldspar, Mica and Quartz, and there is
no appearance of foliation in the arrangement of the ingredients ;
the quartz' is usually grayish, or smoky, and glassy, without any
appearance of cleavage ; the feldspar is usually of a whitish or flesh-
color, and cleavable in two directions ; the mica is found in cleavable
scales.

Gneiss is metamorphic ; it may be also altered eruptive ; it is simi-
lar to granite in its constituents, but with the mica and other in-
gredients more or less distinctly in layers. It is sometimes difficult
for the amateur to differentiate the two. Syenite (so called from
Syenc, in Egypt, where it occurs in abundance) is metamorphic
and eruptive, of gray and reddish color, and has as constituents,
feldspar (orthoclase), with often microcUne and hornblende, and
little or no quartz.

Under the name Huronian are included several widely separated
areas of clastic and volcanic rocks, together with certain eruptives,
represented by schists (slate formations), conglomerates and dior-
ites.

Under Cambrian, we find sandstones, shales, and limestones,
along with bedded traps and other basic intrusives.

144 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

In the Straits of Belle Isle, there is a great uniformity in the
rock-formations of the coast, which are either wholly gneiss or
more commonly a syenitic-gneiss. At Bradore there are two lofty
hills of gneiss, estimated to be 1,200 feet in height. . . . Be-
tween Belles Armours and Blanc Sablon we find the Lower Silurian
or "Taconic Rocks." This latter terminology is derived from an
American source — the Taconic Hills in the western slope of the
Green Mountains in the United States, east of the Hudson River.
Along this section of the shore, somewhat to the eastward, we find
the "Old Red-Sandstone" resting on precipitous Laurentian rocks ;
whilst near the mouth of Bradore Bay Paroqueet Island is a mass
of sandstone whose texture is such that pufifins, which are found
there in myriads, scoop their nests out of the rocky clififs. The
sandstone is predominant on the east side of L'anse a Loup; and
attains a height of five or six hundred feet in the formation locally
known as "The Battery." This bears a striking resemblance to the
"Palisades" on the Hudson.

As we move further eastward there is a marked change in the
features of the coast-line ; the hills are more regular in outline, and
slope gradually to the water. The syenite, which is such a pre-
dominant feature, is composed of a flesh-red orthoclase and a smoky
quartz, with minute particles of hornblende sparsely disseminated
through the mass." (Packard: The Labrador Coast.)

At Henley Harbor there is an extraordinary formation known as
"The Devil's Dining Table." It is thus described by Lieutenant
Baddely (Trans. Lit and Hist. Society of Quebec, 1829) :— "Upon
entering the harbor it has something the appearance of a fortifica-
tion. The upper portion consists of a mass of amorphous basalt,
fifty feet thick, 990 feet long, and 210 feet wide in its broadest part,
which is the centre. The mass is supported by an aggregation of
basaltic columns, the greatest height of which is twenty-five feet.
The position of the columns is nearly vertical ; and they are jointed
at every foot, or one foot six inches. They vary in the number of
sides. The base of these pillars is 180 feet above the water; total
height to the summit of the amorphous basalt, 225 feet above the
sea. This formation extends to another island to the westward,
called Saddle Island, 120 yards from Castle Reef Rock. On Saddle
Island there are three caves on the side towards the sea ; the deepest

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

145

o
1^

146 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

cavern penetrates sixty feet, and is forty-five feet broad in tlie mid-
dle. The floors are strewn with fragments of columns, and the sides
ornamented by those which their removal exposed to view."

The ceiling is smooth and black. The strike of this formation is
from east to west; it probably extends a very considerable distance
inland.

The formation here is not unlike that found in the Island of
Staff a, and the Giant's Causeway. Packard ("'The Labrador
Coast") has the following supplementary notice of this interesting
formation : — "It is a high ovate mass with vertical sides and a flat
top, which slightly inclines towards the south, and consists of two
layers, showing that the rock is the remains of two separate erup-
tions, the lower consisting of regular prismatic five-sided columns,
each about two feet in diameter, fluted on the sides and curiously
worn by transverse impressed lines. The basaltic mass rests upon
the upturned edges of Laurentian gneiss which have been pene-
trated by dikes of syenite. North of the basaltic cap, the underlying
rocks are least disturbed, being reddish gneiss-like or foliated syen-
ite, crumbling and quite fissile. . . . Upon submitting a speci-
men of the basalt to Mr. J. S. Diller of the U. S. Geological Survey,
he tells me that it is doleritic basalt.

At the south-east end of the island, along the shore looking out
towards Belle Isle, the flesh-colored syenite rocks present a rough
and broken front to the ceaseless swell of the Atlantic, rising from
seventy-five to a hundred feet above the weaves, the beetling crags
broken and pierced by deep ocean caves; with jutting headlands and
Ifttle pebbly beaches nestling between them — all the characteristic
scenic features of this syenite, whether at Nahant, or ]\It. Desert, or
on the coast of Labrador."

Off Cape Charles the coast again becomes broken and rugged —
"hummocky," as it is termed by Labradorians. This is due to the
fact that immense fiords here pierce the coast-line.

At Battle Harbor there is a pale syenitic formation ; and here and
there it is streaked wdth quartzite bands which give it a very singu-
lar appearance in the glowing sunlight.

Cape St. Lezms is a syenite headland, fissured and broken, of for-
bidding appearance ; and these features are characteristic of nearly
every headland along the coast as we proceed northwards.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 147

At Square Island there are great, conical hills, composed of
anorthosite, and they contain masses of Labradorite, a beautifully
lustrous rock, termed by the Indians "The Fire-Rock." But it has
not in this section the same l)rilliancy and lustre as the Labradorite
found at St. Paul's Inlet.

At Domino, a formation which has received the name of "Domino
Gneiss," is very striking. It covers a large area of coast between
Domino and Indian Harbor; and consists of a light-colored gneiss,
the base of which is a white granular, vitreous quartz, with speckles
of black hornblende with a few particles of a lilac-colored mica.
There are also minute rude crystals of yellow garnet, or cinnamon
stone, disseminated through the mass." (Packard.)

At Cape Wehec (Harrison) there is a lofty headland of gneiss
faced with steep precipices of Syenite. From off this Cape are seen
the lofty mountains of the interior — the central peak of which is
called "i\It. Misery" ; it is said that in the clear climate of this
region this mountain-range can be seen at a distance of seventy-five
miles seaward. At Hopcdalc, the rocks are gneissic; and north of
this the "Aulezavick" gneiss of Lieber forms the major part of the
coast-line, excepting in the vicinity of Nachvak, where we meet
"Huronian Schists."

Granites are not found abundantly, but large deposits are known
to exist in Hamilton Inlet.

The general elevation of the Labrador Coast
MOUNTAINS, in the Straits of Belle Isle is approximately six
hundred feet, and the highest mountains are
the three Bradore Hills, which are respectively 1,335, 1.220 and
1,264 feet in height. From Chateau. Bay and Cape Charles the coast
rises in height northwards, until at Square Island the elevations
form mountains about 1,000 feet high. Further north, between
Sandwich Bay and Hamilton Inlet (Groswater Bay) the ]\Iealy
Mountains rise to an elevation of 1,482 feet; and Mt. Allegegai
(Mt. Misery) which forms the summit of a plateau between Cape
Webec and Hopedale attains an elevation of 2,170 feet.

North of Port Manvers is Kiglapeit, 2,000 feet high ; and west
of Cape Mugford is the peculiarly shaped range known as Bishop's
Mitre/' which has an elevation of 3,000 feet. "The Domes," on the

148 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

south, and "Blozc-me-doicii," on the north of Saeglek Bay are both
3,000 feet in height ; and the highest mountain-range on the coast —
"Four Peaks" — south of Chidley. is said to be 6,000 feet high. In
his report for 1885 Professor Bell observes: — "The mountains in the
north give evidence of long-continued atmospheric decay. . . .
Patches of snow remain throughout the summer in shaded parts of
the slopes."

"The Labrador plateau has been, at least near
GLACIATION. the Atlantic, moulded by ice to a height at least
of twenty-five hundred feet above the level of
the sea. In Southern Labrador Dr. Bell states that the valleys and
hills, up to the height of sixteen hundred feet, at any rate, have
been planed by glacial action. The gneiss mountains are moulded
into large flat cones, often with a nipple-shaped summit ; the syen-
ites are either moulded into domes or into high conical sugar-loaves ;
the anorthosite syenite at Square Island occurs in huge cones ; and
the trap overflows accompanying the Domino gneiss form rough,
irregular bosses. Only at one point, near Cape Chidley, have the
mountains by their altitude escaped the rounding and remodelling
of glaciers. These scraggy peaks, covered with loose, square stones
detached by frosts from their slopes, remind us of Mount Washing-
ton in New Hampshire and ]\Iount Katahdin in Maine."

The effects of frosts are manifested in a singularly forcible man-
ner. The entire surface, where it is not too steep to enable debris to
collect, is covered wMth broken masses of rock, cubes of ten feet and
less being scattered in wildest profusion. Sometimes a patch of
moss, the grass and heather of this country, fills up the crevices, but
generally we may look dowm into them far and deep without ever
detecting the base upon which the rocks rest, hurled aloft as they
appear, by the hands of Titans.

Glacial striae are found rarely near the sea-level of the coast,
owing doubtless to the constant erosion of the rocks ; but, at an ele-
vation of a few hundred feet the roches moutonecs are seen abun-
dantly. . . . We have good reason to believe that an enormous
glacier once filled the great fiord, Hamilton Inlet, which at its mouth
is forty miles broad. Peculiar lunoid fitrroics were observed on the
northern and southern shores about forty miles apart, which would

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

149

seem to justify the conclusion that the glacier was of that breadth
where it descended into the sea. The best examples of these lunoid
furrows occurred at Indian Harbor on the north shore of Hamilton
Inlet, near the site of (the Hospital). . . . The marks occur
about twenty-five feet above the water's edge, and below the line of
lichens which are kept at a distance by the sea spray. These cres-
cent-shaped depressions, which run transversely to the course of the
Bay, were from five to fourteen inches broad by three to nine inches
long, and about an inch deep vertically in the rock. . . . Also
at Tub Harbor, on the southern side of this Bay, similar markings,
but less distinct, occurred about the same distance above the sea."
(Packard: "The Labrador Coast:")

INDIAN iiAknoK. [Flioto. Hollowax.)

The whole surface of the Labrador peninsula is
BOULDERS, thickly strewn with boulders. Thev are not often

visible along the shore ; but some immense speci-
mens are to be seen at Sloop Cove and Ragged Islands, near the
"landwash."

After ascending to an elevation of five or six hundred feet from
the sea-level, and penetrating the interior, their presence is espe-
cially markefl. . . . They are found about the edges of ponds
and along the banks of rivers, and especially in raised beaches. "I
am inclined to think," says Packard, "that their abundance near the
seashore is greatly lessened by their having been carried ofif bv

150 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

shore-ice into the sea, and there rearranged into moraines." Hind
says : — "An infinite number of colossal erratics lie scattered over the
valleys, hillsides and mountain-tops. At some points they almost
seem to make up the very mountain themselves ; there being this
difference, that whereas the rock itself in situ is granitic, the boul-
ders in every case are of gneiss. ... In the interior, the In-
dians say that there are greater numbers than near the mouth of the
river (Moisie) ; and they speak of great quantities of "fire-rock"
(Labradorite). ... Its sheen is visible only when sunlight and
moonlight pla> upon it, but it is not seen when the Alanitou, who
dwells in the mountains, is displeased with the "children of the
forest." ... At one point {Caribou Lake), the long line of
erratics skirting the river looked like "Druids" monumental stones" ;
for, in many instances, they were disposed in such a manner as
would lead one to think they were placed there by artificial means.
At another point, huge blocks of gneiss twenty feet in diam-
eter lay in the channel or on the rocks which here and there pierced
the sandy tract through which the river flowed ; while on the sum-
mits of the mountains and along the crests of hill-ranges they
seemed as if they had been dropped by hail.

It was not diflicult to see that many of these rock fragments had
been carried far, but others were of local origin. From an emi-
nence I could discover that they were piled to a great height be-
tween hills three and four hundred feet high, and from the com-
paratively sharp edges of many, the parent rock could not have been
far distant."

Owing to the forest growths which cover
BOULDER-CLAY, a great part of the area of Southern Labra-
dor it is impossible to study minutely the
boulder-clay or "till" of the coast ; and only general information is
obtainable.

Unstratified drift is found throughout the whole interior, in vary-
ing thicknesses. To a great extent it appears to have been formed
from the disintegration due to atmospheric decay of the upper por-
tions of the surrounding rock-masses. Everywhere more than sev-
enty-five per cent of the included boulders are from the immediate
neighborhood. The amount of erosion and the change wrought

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 151

upon the general surface have not been so great as is often sup-
posed ; and the amount of rotten debris removed from the hills, does
not represent a great depth of decayed rock.

The Archean rocks which constitute more than three-fourths of
the entire peninsula are not easily disintegrated ; but in some sections
an immense quantity of detritus is in evidence. This is particularly
the case at Ragged Islands (the only place which I have remarked it
especially), where the "landwash" is gradually rising.

At places it is now almost impossible to walk through the gritty
substance which has washed down from the gneissic hills in the
vicinity.

Moraines are found at various points along the

MORAINES, coast ; these constitute the shoals and banks which

lie off the mouths of the deep fiords (Hind). In

their present state they may reasonably be assumed to be formed in

greater part of remodelled debris brought down by the same glaciers

which excavated the deep fiords.

The absence of deposits of sand in the form of modern beaches
is very marked. Large quantities of sand are found in Bradore Bay,
and it is rolled into dunes which are remarkable for their shape and
extent. There are also extensive deposits of sand at Blanc Sablon
and at Pinzvare.

"There is also an exceptionally large sand area between Sandwich
Bay and Hamilton Inlet, covering many square miles of territory.
The reason why sandy beaches are not in general found on this
coast, notwithstanding that enormous quantities of rock are an-
nually ground up by coast-ice and ice-pans driven on the shore,
arises from the undertow carrying the sand seawards and depositing
it on the shoals and banks outside of the islands.

It is a popular error which assumes that the depth of water in
which an iceberg grounds is indicated by the height of the berg
above the level of the sea. It is stated that while there is one-ninth
above, there will be eight-ninths of the berg below sea-level. This is
approximately true only with regard to volume or mass of the berg,
not with regard to height or depth. A berg may show an elevation
of one hundred feet, and yet its depth may not exceed double that
amount, but its volume or mass will be about eight times the mass

152 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

it shows above the surface. Hence while icebergs ground in thirty
and forty fathoms of water, they may expose a front of one hundred
and fifty feet in ahitude, the broad, massive base supporting a mass
about one-ninth of its vohime above sea-level.

There are several ancient "sea-margins"

RAISED BEACHES, or terraces along the Labrador coast ;

and some of the finest examples are seen,
about four hundred feet above the present coast-line, in the Straits
of Belle Isle.

"Five such margins are seen near Blanc Sablon, and they are very
distinctly marked. At L'anse a Loup, on the west side of the Bay,
there are three very regular terraces, the lower of which is covered
with debris. On the east side the land is much more irregular, de-
scending in buttressed steeps like the "Palisades" on the Hudson,
though far exceeding them in height. On the east point are fivc
terraces with heavy buttresses on the north-west side, and beyond
four terraces come in sight. The strata here are nearly horizontal,
dipping under the Strait at a very slight angle." In Chateau Bay
and Henley Harbor are some very fine examples of ancient sea-
margins.

They occur in recesses in the shore which have been sheltered
from the denuding agency of the waves and strong arctic currents.
The most plainly marked example forms the eastern shore of Henley
Island. . . . On these terraces can be seen distinctly the wind-
rows of pebbles and gravel thrown up by the retreating waves.

In Chateau harbor there is another remarkably steep beach, which
ascends halfway up the side of the hill, which is about five hundred
feet high. It is composed of boulders very closely packed in layers,
without any gravel to fill up the interstices. It consists of two ter-
races, the lower oeing almost precipitous in its descent. This beach,
when below the level of the sea, was evidently exposed to the action
of the powerful Labrador current which piled these huge water-
worn rocks into a compact mass which served to resist the w'aves,
while the coarse gravel and sand were borne rapidly farther away
out to sea on to lower levels. Off Chateau Bay lie several shoals
where icebergs ground in the springtime, and remain far into the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 153

summer. The locality is known to fishermen as "The Home of the
Iceberg."

We find other examples further down the coast : at Domino there
are beaches more than a hundred feet high ; at Sloop Cove is another
sea-margin which is fully two hundred feet above the present sea-
level. There is a remarkable example of sea-margin at Holton Big
Island and some years ago the skeleton of a whale was found there
by Captain Drake.

It is reported by an old whaling captain that an ancient sea-margin
in the vicinity of Nain is fully three hundred feet above high-water
mark. In the interior of the peninsula there are some extraordinary
examples of "Lake Terraces;" but they do not lie within our prov-
ince.

Labrador, as yet has not attracted
ECONOMIC MINERALS, much attention as "a mineral coun-
try;" but it is not beyond the

bounds of possible things that ere many years it will become a field

for the miner, as it has some deposits of value.

Gold has been found in quartz at "Three Island Har-
GOLD. bor," yielding seven dollars a ton ; and as there are nu-
merous quartz-veins which cut the Huronian rocks, it is
likely to be found elsewhere. There are many promising localities
for the prospector, and in the near future we may hear of develop-
ment in these sections.

Silver was found a few years ago in the same region
SILVER, in which gold was discovered. Some years ago the

Hudson Bay Company did some mining in this line ;
but the w^orking proved unprofitable ; an assay made of bunches of
galena gave from six to ten ounces per ton.

Galena has been found at several localities in a band
GALENA, of magnesian limestone, in quantities sufficient to be
of economic value. It has been found in Lezcis' Bay,
at some distance from the mouth of the river.

154

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Copper has been located at Spear Harbor, near Cape
COPPER. Miigfnrd. and at Black Island, in Grosicafcr Bay.
Captain Fitzgerald of Harbor Grace, Newfoundland,
did some prospecting in the neighborhood many years ago.

MAXf.AXESF.

Manganese has been found in Lewis' Bay, at
some distance from the mouth of the river.

Iron has been found abundantly at several points along
IRON, the coast, and a prospective industry rests in the develop-
ment of the iron areas.

ROWSELL S HARBOR.

"The immense deposits of hematite, magnetite, and siderite in the
Cambrian formation, and their widespread distribution, may at some
future date be of economic importance, especially those containing
a large percentage of manganese which fits them for use in the man-
ufacture of steel by the Bessemer process. The mode of occur-
rence of these ores appears to be closely analogous to that of the
iron ores of Michigan and Wisconsin.

The ores are always associated with a cherty limestone, and this
chertv carbonate of lime is very widespread. The associated iron
carbonates are more limited in their distribution, being confined to
portions of the country adjacent to Koks-oak and Hamilton rivers,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 155

and to the northern part of the Hudson Bay area. (Geol. Siirzry of
Canada. )

This mineral is found abundantly in the Huronian
PYRITES, and Cambrian rocks ; and is widely distributed, but

only in one locality, so far, has any large deposit
been found. This exists at Roz\.'scll's Harbor, in Nachvak Bay.
This deposit was prospected by Captain John Bartlett in 1904. He
put in several drifts, and made tests at several points. The ore, so
Captain Bartlett informs me, "was very mixed with flint, a large
band of which overlaid the deposit of Pyrites. The major part of
the deposit carried a quantity of Pyritite. The ore bed is located 160
feet above the water level, running along a precipitous cliff. During
the operations carried on there a great deal of difficulty was ex-
perienced from talus and snow."

Graphite has been located at KacJivak Bay ; but it
GRAPHITE, is said to be too fine for concentration, and con-
sequently of little commercial value.

This mineral is found abundantly in the region of
STEATITE. Hopcdale, and I have seen some excellent samples
at Windsor Harbor.

This mineral occurs at several points along the coast, in
MICA, the massive pegmatite dykes met with everywhere

throughout the Archean rocks ; but only in few places
is it of commercial value, owing to the bent and broken nature of the
crystals.

Agates, Garnets, and Jasper are
ORNAMENTAL STONES, found at various points, the most

lustrous being found in the vicin-
itv of Domino and at the mouth of the Hainilton River.

This beautiful rock occurs at several places
LABRADORITE. along the northern section of the coast ; but
it is found in profusion at St. Paul's Inlet.

i=i6

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

CHAPTER XXI.

FOREST AND STREAM.

"This is the forest primeval."

— "Evancreliuc," Longfellow

HINDERLAND NEAR LAKE MICHIKAMAU.

The forest growth of the Labrador peninsula is neither varied nor
extensive ; and the whole arborescent flora may be said to consist of
nine species of trees. These species are: — White Birch {Betnla
papyrifera, Alichx), Aspen (Populus trcmuloidcs, j\Iichx), Balsam
Popular (Popiihis balsamifo'a, Linn), Cedar {Thuya occidentalis,
Linn), Jack Pine, Cypress (Pinus Banksiana, Lam.), W'hite Spruce
(Picea Alba, Link), Black Spruce (Picea AUgra, Link), Balsam Fir,
or Spruce (Abies balsainca, Miller), Tamarack Juniper (Larix
Americana, Michx).

"The tree-line skirts the southern shore of Ungava Bay and comes
close to the mouth of the George River, from which it turns to the
south-east, skirting the western foot-hills of the Atlantic coast-range,
which is quite treeless, southward to the neighborhood of Hebron,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 157

where trees are again found in protected valleys at the heads of the
bays. At Davis Inlet trees grow on the coast and high up on the
hills, the barren grounds being confined to the headlands, which re-
main treeless to the southward of the mouth of Hamilton Inlet.
These barren islands and bare headlands of the outer coast, along
with the small size of the trees on the lowlands, have caused the
impression to be held regarding much of the Atlantic coast, which
from Hamilton Inlet southward is well timbered about the heads of
the larger bays and on the lowlands of the small river valleys."
{Geological Survey.)

These sections have already attracted the notice of lumbermen ;
and the following statistics are proof of the commercial possibilities
of the Labrador woodlands.

In the "Customs Returns of Newfoundland" for the year 1907
we find an entry : — "Grand River Pulp and Lumber Co.
Exports (Lumber) . . . $26,301.00.''

This represents a "cut" of nearly two million feet. ]\Ir. Gillis,
who established this Company on the coast, has kindly furnished me
with the following interesting items : —

The Grand River Pulp and Lumber Company, Ltd., acquired
about 650 square miles of timber-lands on Grand River and tribu-
taries from the Newfoundland Government in 1892, by application;
the cost of the areas is $220.00 rental annually. At "headquarters"
the Company has an extensive plant, consisting of a saw-mill (which
cost $25,000.00), wharves, piers, tug-boats and scows, large stores
and warehouse, in fact everything necessary to prosecute an opera-
tion of ten million feet a year. To date, about twelve million feet
have been shipped. There are splendid shipping facilities, as ships
of 2,000 tons can moor within a quarter of a mile of the mill. . . .
which is located at GiUisport, in Carter Basin. Lumbering opera-
tions are conducted at "Grand Village," on Grand River, which
flows into Goose Bay. There are not a dozen native families in the
vicinity ; and laborers are brought from Nova Scotia and New-
foundland."

On looking up further statistics I find that other concerns have
obtained timber-grants from the Newfoundland Government : —

Wm. Wuir, Son & Co., at Kenamou River, 187 square miles.

Wm. Muir, Son & Co., at Dove Bank, 47 square miles.

158 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Copeland, Kirk & Soy, at Sandwich Bay, 130 square miles.

R. D. Kirk, at North River, 182 square miles.

Copeland, Kirk & Soy (2), at Sandwich Bay, 211 square miles.

J. P. Benjamin, at Kenamou River, 224 square miles.

In addition to these concessions, there are several unapproved
applications for grants at other points.

The areas are all favorably located ; and there will doubtless be a
large lumbering industry on the Labrador coast in the near future.
"The most abundant timber on the coast is Black Spruce, and it
probably constitutes ninety per cent, of the forest growth. It grows
freely on the sandy soil which covers the great Archean areas, and
thrives as well on the dry hills as in the wet swampy country be-
tween ridges. On the southern watershed the growth is very thick
everywhere ; so much so, that trees rarely reach a large size. To
the northward, about the edge of the semi-barrens, the growth on
the uplands is less rank, the trees being in open glades, where they
spread out with large branches resembling the white spruce. The
northern limit of the black spruce is that of the forest belt ; it and
larch being the last trees met with before entering the barrens."
{Geol. Survey, Canada, '95.)

Extensive growths of trees of commercial value are found at the
bottoms of all the southern bays, from the Straits of Belle Isle to
Kachvak; and tliere is a promising field for pulp plants in these
sections. The bays are all navigable for vessels of large size ; and
the only, though not an insurmountable difficulty, is the securing of
woodsmen.

Labrador has, in common with Newfound-
FOREST FIRES, land, suffered much from forest fires; and it

is said that at least one-half of the interior
has been totally destroyed by fire within the past twenty-five years.
These fires are of frequent occurrence and often burn for an entire
season, destroying thousands of square miles of valuable timber.
The regions thus devastated remain barren for many years, and the
second growth is never so good as the original forest. These fires
are, in the majority of cases, traceable to the Indians, who start
them either intentionally or through carelessness.

The most disastrous fire of recent times occurred in 1870 and

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 159

swept away millions of valuable timber. These fires occur fre-
quently in the neighborhood of Hamilton Inlet ; and stringent meas-
ures should be taken by the Newfoundland Government to prevent
this wanton destruction of a valuable colonial asset.

Labrador is the land of dimpling
RIVERS AND STREAMS, streams and of majestic rivers

which "flow in silent majesty to
the deep blue sea."

The largest river on the South coast, the Esqitiiiiaii.v Rkcr, de-
bouches into the lower part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at some
distance from the western entrance to the Straits of Belle Isle. It
is about 250 miles long, but navigable only for ten or twelve miles.
Near its mouth is situated Esqiiiinait.v Island, on which the ruins of
an old Indian fort were discovered some years ago.

This river is known to the Indians as Mcshikauian River, and is
said to take its rise, in the table-land of the interior, from the same
source as the Hamilton River, which flows into Hamilton Inlet.
There are no other rivers of importance on the south coast ; but
there are several streams, teeming with trout, between Belles
Amours and Battle Harbor, which will be described in a subsequent
chapter.

Between Battle Harbor and Sandicie!! Bay there are several small
rivers, but few of them are navigable. Three rivers empty into
Sandwich Bay. The Paradise, or East Riirr, flows from the east-
ward, for nearly five miles ; and, in a small lake at its head, salmon
are found abundantly.

Eagle River flows into the Bay from the westward; it is tidal,
and navigable for small boats for nearly four miles above Separa-
tion Point, its northern entrance. There are several rapids at a
short distance from its mouth, and some splendid salmon pools; be-
yond the pools there is one of the most beautiful cascades found on
the coast. The "Falls" are nearly fifty feet high, and are very pic-
turesque. A very excellent drawing of the falls may be seen in
Prowse's "History of Newfoundland."

A third river — "White Bear" or West River flows into the Bay
above Dove Point. This is also tidal and navigable for some dis-

i6o

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

tance. There is about a quarter of a mile of non-tidal water, with
"Falls" eighty feet high at its head. These "Falls," while lacking
the picturesqueness of the cascade on the Eagle, are more majestic,
and not unlike the Montmorency "Falls," near Quebec. In spring-
time, so the settlers declare, the roar of the "Falls" is heard for
twenty miles in calm weather.

These rivers are all richly wooded ; and several applications for
timber licenses have been made to the Newfoundland Legislature.

Three large rivers empty into Hamilton or Ivucktokc Inlet — the
Grand or Hamilton, the Noskopi, and the Kcnamou.

Grand River (the Ashzvanipi of the Indians) is the largest and
most important river on the coast. It is nearly half a league in

NORTH-WEST RIVER. [Photo, HoUozvay.)

breadth at the entrance, gradually decreasing in width for about
twenty-five miles from its mouth ; it then becomes from one-eighth
to a quarter of a mile wide ; from this size it never varies much as
far up as it has been followed. Two hundred miles from its mouth
it forces itself through a range of mountains, that seem to border
the table lands of the interior, in a succession of tremendous "Falls"
and rapids for nearly twenty miles. These "Falls" were accidentally
discovered by an agent of the Hudson Bay Company — McLean — in
1839. Above these the river flows with a very smooth and swift
current ; it has been follow^ed for one hundred miles farther. A
"Post" was establi.shed many years ago.

Between the "Post" and the "Falls" it passes through a succession

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. i6i

of large lakes, communicating with one another by very short straits.
These lakes appear to cover a very considerable part of the table-
land. They have not yet been explored, and their dimensions are
consequently not known. Above the "Post" called Fort Xaskopi the
river has not yet been explored, but the Indians report that "it comes
from a long distance from the westward, and runs with a deep,
gentle current, unobstructed by falls or rapids." The "Falls" on the
Grand River were visited by Pcrc Babel, an Oblate missionary, in
1870; and a description of them is found in "Lcs Annates des
Ohlats," which may be seen at the Oblate Church, Saint Sauveur,
Quebec. Bryant, who visited the "Falls" in 1891, thus describes
them : —

"A single glance showed that we had before us one of the great-
est waterfalls in the world. Standing at the rocky brink of the
chasm, a wild and tumultuous scene lay before us, a scene possessing
elements of sublimity, and with details not to be apprehended in the
first moments of wondering contemplation. Far up the stream
one beheld the surging, fleecy waters and tempestuous billows, dash-
ing high their crests of foam, all forced onward with resistless
power towards the steep rock, whence they took their wild leap
into the deep pool below. Turning to the very brink and looking
over, we gazed into a world of mists and mighty reverberations.

Here the exquisite colors of the rainbow fascinated the eye, and

below and beyond the seething caldron the river appeared, pursuing

its turbulent career, past frowning cliffs, and over miles of rapids.

A mile above the main leap the river is a noble stream four

hundred yards wide, already flowing at an accelerated speed.

Four rapids, marking successive depressions in the river bed,
intervene between this point and the "Falls." At the first rapid, the
width of the stream is not more than seventy-five yards wide, and
from thence rapidly contracts until reaching a point above the es-
carpment proper, where the entire column of fleecy water is com-
pressed within rock banks, not more than fifty yards apart. The
effect of its resistless power is sublime ; the maddened waters, sweep-
ing downwards with terrific force, rise in surging billows high above
the encompassing banks, ere they finally hurl themselves into the
gulf below. A great pillar of mist rises from the spot, and numer-
ous rainbows span the watery abyss, constantly forming and dis-

1 62

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

appearing amid clouds of spray. An immense volume of water pre-
cipitates itself over the rocky ledge, and, under favorable conditions,
the roar of the cataract can be heard for twenty miles."

The Indian name for "The (irand Falls" — Patcschewan —
means, "The narrow place where the waters fall ;" and like the
native word "Niagara" ("Thunder of Waters"), this Indian desig-
nation contains a poetic and descriptive quality which it would be
hard to improve. (Prowse: "History of Nc-ccfoiuidlaiid.")

The first map of the Hamilton River country was constructed by
a Jesuit Missionar}-. Father Lanrc, dated "Checoutimi, August 23.

1731-"

INDIAN BURIAL GROUND.

NORTH-WEST RIVER (Copyright. Oiifiii!^ Pub. Co.)

"The valley of the HajuHton Rii'cr, for about 120 miles from its
entrance, presents a pleasing contrast to the barrenness of every
other part of the country around the bay. It is well timbered, and
some of the trees are of large size ; intermixed with the spruce is a
considerable quantity of white birch, and a few poplars are also to
be seen ; a light loamy soil is also frequently to be found on the
points of the River. There is a difference of twenty days in favor of
this valley in spring and fall of the year; this difference is to be

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

163

attributed, in a great degree, to its favorable aspect to the south
and west, and also in some measure to the warmth of the water
coming from the westward." (Davies, A'Otcs on Esquimaux Bay.)
The Koiauiou River, which enters Hamilton Inlet from the south,
cuts through the "jMealy Mountains," thirty miles from the coast.
It is a succession of rapids, and scarcely admits of navigation, even
bv canoes.

A BIT OF THE INTERIOR {Copyright, Outiug Pub. Co.)

The Naskopi or North-zccst Riz'cr falls into the Inlet on the north
side nearly opposite the mouth of the Kcnauwu. The inlet is here
twelve miles across. It takes its rise in Lake Michikamau ("Big
Water") and the river itself, according to Indian custom, is called
MichikaJiiaii Shipu. ... At the mouth of this river there is
an important Hudson Bay Post, and within recent years the Revillion
Bros, have established a station there.

Within short distance from the Hudson Bay post there is an In-
dian burial-place ; and many years ago a Church was erected in the
locality by Pere Babel. It has now fallen into disuse, as the Indians
no longer frequent this section ; they make their annual trips to the
coast further west, within the borders of the Province of Quebec.

164

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 165

CHAPTER XXH.

hunter's paradise.

"And there we hunted the walrus,
The narwhale and the seal."

"Discoverer of the North Cape," Longfellow.

The fauna of Labrador, which has ever been regarded as one of
its available assets, is declared to be "the mingled circumpolar and
boreal variety which prevailed in New England and the extreme
northern States, as well as in Canada, during the glacial period, and
which as well as the ice waned, migrating northward, was gradually
driven towards the North Pole, though still lingering on the Alpine
summits, and on the treeless barrens of Labrador." (Packard.)

It is rich and varied, and embraces "the leviathan of the deep"
and other commercially valuable specimens of the finny tribe, rich
fur-bearing animals, and "great nature's happy commoners" — the
abundant feathered tribe, marine and terrestrial.

Aquatic mammals are numerous, and chief amongst them is the
whale, of which several varieties are found. The quest of the
"monarch of the sea" was probably the lure which first attracted
European adventurers to the fishing grounds of Labrador.

The earliest whalers who frequented the coast of

WHALERS. Labrador were the Basques and Biscayans, but the

precise date of their first ventures is conjectural.

We find records of their adventures in the nomenclature of certain

localities ; and on the Newfoundland coast we have "Port aux

Basques," the terminus of the trans-insular railway.

Following the Basques came the Bretons, who had reaped rich
harvests from the deep long years before the Genoese navigator
planted the standard of Spain in the western world. Later, came
the hardy West-Countrymen from Devon, who laid the foundations
of Britain's empire beyond the sea; and, more recently, Americans,
Newfoundlanders and Scotchmen.

i66

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

American fishermen evidently have been continuously engaged in
whaling for nearly two centuries ; and the ardor of the New Bed-
ford skippers does not abate one jot. They have covered the globe
in their quest for the valuable cetacean, and have reaped rich har-
vests from their ventures.

Whaling in early times was conducted in brigs and schooners;
to-day it is prosecuted with fast steamers which are equipped with
every appliance which human ingenuity can contrive. Quite re-
cently, however, there seems to be a revival of ancient methods, and
New Bedford is again returning to the old regime. This will bring
comfort to the literary genius of the whaling industry — the well-

A WHALE FACTORY.

known Frank Bullen, who has given us such a delightful history of
whaling in his "Cruise of the Cachalot." Just a few months ago, in
a contribution to a monthly magazine, he deplored the inhumanity
and commercialism of modern methods, and sighed for a return to
the "whale" boat and the brig. To us this seems a sorry exhibition
of sentimentality, as we were under the impression that the electric
harpoon is a less torturous process than the hand-stabbing of olden
times.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

167

The following- interesting description of modern whaling is con-
tributed by a specialist, Mr. Bowers, the learned editor of the New-
foundland Tribune:

The Arctic whale fishery was formerly prosecuted successfully by
Newfoundland merchants who fitted out ships for Greenland, Baf-
fin's Bay, Cumberland Bay and other Arctic Seas. The cargoes of
oil secured on the voyages were readily sold in Scotland. The
whale fishery was carried on by Americans from Bedford, Mass., in
Hermitage Bay and Fortune Bay from 1796 to 1798. During the
first year twelve vessels w'cre employed, manned by fifteen men each,
all of which vessels returned loaded. Owing to disputes between
Great Britain and the United States the American whale fishery on
the west coast of Newfoundland ended in about 1807.

P(JRT AlW r.ASOUES.

The firm of Peter LeMessurier & Co. commenced a whale fishery
in Hermitage Bay, in 1798, and continued it for four years, when the
house of Newman & Co. purchased the premises. The industry was
carried on by this firm at Gaultois from 1850 to 1890. Eight boats
with seven men each and shore crew of thirty-five were employed.
As many as fifty black fish were known to be killed in a day. The
season's catch averaged 143 black fish and forty whales, yielding
580 tons of oil. Nearly the whole of the population of Hermitage

i68 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and Fortune Bays are the descendants of those "hardy toilers of the
sea." The head of the firm of Xewman & Co. is now a haronet, and
one of tlie directors of tlie Bank of England. They are represented
in Newfoundland by the firm of Baine, Johnston & Co.

In 1840 the local government passed an act offering a bounty of
£200 to each of the first three vessels landing not less than ten tuns
of whale oil, or fifteen tuns of whale fat or blubber between the first
day of ]May and the tenth day of November. Encouraged by this
bounty two vessels 120 tons each were sent from St. John's to the
western shore each manned by nineteen men. One belonged to
Messrs. C. F. Bennett & Co., the other to Messrs. Job Brothers &
Co. The business in these days was carried on by means of row-
boats and harpoons. As many as one hundred whales were cap-
tured in a season by these simple appliances. The blubber was ren-
dered into oil in big pots heated by wood fires.

Not till 1900 were the new, improved methods used in Norway
adopted in Newfoundland. Adolph Neilsen, encouraged by Hon.
A. W. Harvey, started whaling stations at Snook's Arm, Notre
Dame Bay and Balena. Hermitage Bay. Suitable steamers were
purchased in Christiania, and Norwegians were employed to man
them. After a few months' operation it was found that large num-
bers of sulphur bottom, finback and humpback whales frequented the
bays and shores of Newfoundland. In 1904 over twelve hundred
were captured, which yielded 1.783.300 gallons of oil, worth $80.00
per tun. Experience showed that the best months to secure whales
on the southern coast are Alay, June and July, and in Conception
Bay, Trinity and Bonavista Bays, on the eastern coast, August and
September are best. The government thought it advisable to pass
laws : ( I ) requiring the carcasses fiensed of blubber to be towed
fifty miles from shore to prevent pollution of the fishing grounds ;
(2) restricting the distance between the factories to not less than
fifty miles; (3) permitting only one steamer to each factory, and (4)"
imposing on each a license fee of $1,500, subsequently reduced to
$750.

Hon. John Harvey, who has his lamented father's spirit of enter-
prise in promoting home industries, happened to meet Dr. L. Ris-
muller, and induced him to visit some of our whale factories. At
Snook's Arm, on seeing the carcasses of whales towed to sea, Dr.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

169

Rismuller thought out a process whereby not only the expense of
removing them so far could be saved, but an industry promoted,
whereby the tiesh and bones could be manufactured into guano. The
Rismuller process proved successful, and is now used by the different
whaling' companies. It had the effect of inducing a number of
capitalists to invest in the industry, and in addition to those at
Snook's Arm and Balena. several new companies were organized
and factories were established at Bay Chaleur. Rose au Rue, Beaver-
ton. St. Lawrence, Cape Broyle. Cape Charles, Dublin Cove, Lance
au Lou]i. St. ?\Iary's, Aquaforte, Trinity, Safe Harbour, Harbour

READY FOR THE CARVING.

Grace, Hawke's Bay, Port Saunders, Hawke's Harbour and Lark
Harbour. From 1901 to 1904 the business increased from year to
year and flourished like the proverbial "green bay tree." In the
following year there was a drop of $20.00 a tun in the price of oil.
It was found moreover that several of the factories were erected in
unsuitable localities, and that the number of whales captured had
considerably fallen off. For instance, in 1904, 1,375 whales were
captured; in 1905, 892, and in 1906 only 429. As a result the fac-
tories at Snook's Arm, Lance au Loup, Trinity and Lark Harbour

I70 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

were closed, while the catch at Aquaforte was only i8; Cape Broyle,
3, and St. Mary's, 4.

Three of the whaling steamers have been sold to parties prosecut-
ing the industry in Japan and Corea, and several of the whaling
companies have been "wound up." The profits made by the fac-
tories in operation in 1901-2-3 are reported to be from forty to
sixty per cent. The loss during the subsequent three years, by some
of the whaling companies, is reported to be from one and a half
to two millions of dollars. From careful enquiries of several inter-
ested, when interviewed, I learn that it is nearer the vicinity of
$950,000. The following figures show the number of factories in
operation in 1906, the number of whales captured, and the quantity
of oil, guano and bone exported :

Gallons Tons

Factory. W'hales. of Oil. Guano. Bone.

Balena 44 71,000 212 103

Bay Chaleur 58 74,178 188 115

Rose au Rue 67 61,173 182 106

Beaverton 24 31,006 95 50

St. Lawrence 21 20,528 78 35

Cape Broyle 3 4,018 9 7

Cape Charles 25 16,640 . . 62

Dublin Cove 27 30,080 62 50

St. Mary's 4 4,500 13

Aquaforte 18 13,824 .. 15

Safe Harbour 21 28,300 73 32

Harbour Grace 17 22,680 65 16

Hawke's Harbour 60 75,6oo 130 58

Hawke's Bay 40 83,160 146 69

429 536,687 1,253 718

The value of the whale oil, guano and bone exported in 1906 was
$249,901 as against $418,898 the previous year.

The number of whale factories in operation and the number of
whales captured last year (1907) were as follows: — At Balena, 32:
Bay Chaleur, 37; Rose au Rue, 84; St. Lawrence, 30; Cape Broyle.
2; Cape Charles, 31 ; Dublin Cove, 27; Aquaforte, 3; Hawke's Bay,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

171

Port Saunders, 31; Hawke's Harbour, 63; Trinity, 24; Snook's
Arm, 75; Beaverton, 42; total, 481. Two of the above factories
paid 15 per cent, dividends.

The vahie of the whale oil and guano exported in 1907 was
$192,321.

Though the losses of the past three or four years' operations are,
no doubt, depressing, yet several seem inclined to take an optimistic
view of the future. The removal of the license fee, and particularly
the restrictions of the number of steamers employed, are of obvious
advantage. Although the vigorous whale-hunting about the bays has
driven the mightv mammal further off the coast line, vet it is the

A NORWEGIAN WHALER.

opinion of some of the whaling captains, and others, that they are
as numerous as ever, but at a greater distance from the whaling-
stations. If this should prove to be the case then a tow steamer
should be employed, as is done in Iceland to bring coal to the
whaling steamers, and tow the whales captured from time to time
to the factories. The large bays on the east, south and west of
Newfoundland, are like inland seas, and could not be more suitably

172 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

adapted to the breeding of whales, though on this point one has to
be cautious in advancing an opinion, for it is difficult, if not impos-
sible, to get reliable data on the natural history of this "mighty
mammal," in so far as the time of breeding, the period of gestation
or its age are concerned. Especially in respect to the age of the
greatest of mammals, or animals, much exaggeration and difference
of opinion exist from the time of Pliny to the present. He held that
the balana, or whilpool frequenting the Indian Sea was as broad and
as long as two acres of land, while Lesson says he saw species of
whales called delphinus minimus, about two feet in length. A sul-
phur bottom taken recently measured 79 feet. Its circumference at
shoulder was 35 feet; fluke notch to shoulder 51 ft. 2 in. ; tip of nose
to eye, 16 ft. 2 in.; length of skull, 19 ft. 6 in.; breadth of skull,
9 ft. 3 in. ; weight of skull, 3 tons; length of jawbone, 21 ft.; weight
of jawbone, i ton; length of flipper, 10 ft. 6 in. ; weight of flipper,
750 pounds; across flukes, 16 ft. 5 in.; weight of flukes, 1,600 lbs.;
weight of flesh, 40 tons ; weight of bone, 8 tons ; weight of blubber,
8 tons; weight of viscers estimated, 3 tons; weight of blood, 2 tons;
weight of whalebone, ^ ton. The total weight was over sixty tons.

Up to the present writing only seven sperm whales, including one
this vear at Hawke's Harbour, Labrador, have been taken in New-
foundland. One was stranded in Safe Harbour last July, from the
head of which was pumped 400 gallons of spermaceti, and from its
blubber 2,000 gallons of sperm oil. It is not improbable that the
sperm whale will find its way more frequently to our coast in quest
of their favorite morsel, the squid or devil fish, a monster specimen
of which was caught a few days ago by fishermen at Portugal Cove.

The latest enterprise in Newfoundland in the whaling industry is
the purchase of the S. S. "Sabraon" for the Newfoundland Steam
Whaling Company, Ltd., by their managing director, Mr. Alexan-
der McDougall. Her gross tonnage is 2,385; net, 1,541; horse
power, 230. She has all the latest machinery and appliances of a
floating whale factory. The "Sabraon," Captain Davidson, accom-
panied by two tenders, the "Lynx," Captain Emmsen, and "Puma,"
Captain Hansen, all Norwegians, left here November 20th last year,
for the South Shetlands. They were too late in the season getting
down. The weather was excessively cold, and icebergs abounded.
They secured 94 whales. Captain Davidson happened to be stand-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

173

ing near when a whale was shot, a swirling harpoon hawser was
caught by the rope, and he met his tragic death by being swept over-
board. Captain Emmsen, of the "Puma," took charge of the
"Sabraon," and Second Officer Hansen took charge of the "Puma."
After remaining in the Shetland Islands for about two months they
started homewards ; called at North Sydney, Cape Breton, for sup-
plies and bunker, and steamed for Labrador as far as Spotted Island,
and Table Bay, where they captured 47 whales, making a total of
141 for the cruise. The S. S. "Sabraon" and tenders reached St.
John's the latter part of July, the former clearing for Greenock with
4,000 barrels of oil and the latter docking for repairs. With the
experience of the first voyage there is reasonable expectation of this
being highly successful financially, and is looked forward to with no
little interest, not only by the shareholders, but the public generally.

A LEVIATHAN.

The steamers which prosecute the whale fishery on the coast of
Labrador are similar to those which operate in connection with the
"Sabraon." They are speedy little craft, and are armed with a
small cannon, in the bow, from which the harpoon is discharged.
A stout line is attached to the harpoon, which is "paved out" to give
the whale "sea-room" until it becomes exhausted. It is then bound
up to the side of the steamer by huge chain "slings" and conveyed
to the Factory. A Whale Factory is neither picturesque nor savor\- ;
and its presence in the neighborhood is unmistakable. The odor of
the whale is diffused for miles, and within the near radius is de-
cidedly objectionable. Whale factories are practicallv all of the
same class of architecture, and consist of several hup:e bale-box

174 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

shaped buildings capped by a cylindrical chimney, and fronted by a
large "slip," on which the bodies of the leviathans are drawn up
preparatory to the "carving." Every portion of the whale is util-
ized : the fat is "rendered out" in immense tanks; the bones are
ground into fertilizer ; and the refuse is converted into guano. Only
the smell is lavishly wasted around the neighborhood.

Besides the Sperm-whale three other varieties are taken along the
coast: The Fin-back (Balcnoptera), the Hump-back (Bcdena
ntysticetus) , and the Sulphur-bottom {Sibhaldius borealis).

The Narwhal {Monodon monoccms),
THE NARWHAL, w^hich has habits similar to the "White
Whale," is found in the extreme north ; it
generally travels in bands or "schools," and seems to prefer the
proximity of ice, so that its summer range is more northern than
the white whale. It is distinguished in the water from the white
whale by its darker color, its white spots, and its horns. The color
becomes lighter with age, so that very old individuals become dirty
white.

According to the Esquimaux, the horn is confined to the males,
and its chief use is for domestic battle. Only one horn is usually
developed, growing out of the upper jaw, and projecting directly
forward. The horns vary in length up to eight feet, and are com-
posed of a very fine cjuality of ivory. This ivory is more valuable
than that obtained from walrus tusks, being worth about four dol-
lars a pound. It is sold for the China trade, where the Mongolians
use it for medicine as well as ornamental purposes, and for the man-
ufacture of cups supposed to absorb all poisons placed in them. (A.
P. Low : "The Cruise of the Neptune.")

The Walrus (Trichechus rosuiarus, Linn;
THE \\^'\LRL'S. Aivik, Esquimaux) is found in all the north-
ern waters, where, like the Narwhal, it seems
to prefer the presence of floating ice, and rarely comes out on the
shore-ice. They are very rarely found during later years south of
Cape Chidley.

In early days the Walrus was found as far south as the Magdalen
Islands; and Challevoix {Historie de la Nouvelle France) says that

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

175

176 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the bones of the walrus were found promiscuously on the islands in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence as late as the beginning' of the eighteenth
century.

Hakluyt ("Voyages") has similar records of the southern migra-
tions of these aquatic mammals. In former days the walrus was
known as "Morse"' or "sea-ox" ; and it was doubtless from the pres-
ence of the walrus in the neighborhood that a headland, near the
outlet of the Saguenay River, was named "Point aux \'aches" by
early navigators. There is another point further east named, for a
similar reason, presumably, "Millc Vaches."

"The walrus is necessary for the subsistence of the northern
Esquimaux and their dogs. The flesh is strong and sustaining, the
blubber is abundant and good, while the tusks are of great use for
shoeing sleds {Koiiiatiks) and the manufacture of spears and har-
poons, and other hunting and domestic gear. The present value of
the walrus to civilization is small. Oil is made from the blubber,
and the skins are used chiefly for "buffing" metal goods. The ivory
of the tusks is inferior, and only worth flfty cents a pound. The
present price for hides is from eight to ten cunts a pound, and con-
sequently the entire products of a large walrus are under fifty dollars
in value." ("Gruise of the Neptune.")

The Grampus (Orca gladiator), otherwise known
GRAMPL'S. as "The Killer," is found in the north; it is very

voracious and lives largely upon fish, seals and
porpoises. An idea of its voracious habits may be formed from the
fact that in the stomach of one were found fourteen porpoises and
fourteen large seals; it choked to death swallowing the fifteenth.
("Cruise of the Neptune.")

Several varieties of seals are found on Labrador.
THE SEAL. The "Harbor-seal" (Phoca ritiilina) is seen at all
points of the coast on the south and east. It as-
cends the rivers in springtime, and it has been captured far up in
the lakes of the interior. It is sometimes called "Fresh-water" seal,
and is practically valueless.

The "Harp" seal (Pagopliiliis grociihiudicits) is the most widely
distributed mammal on the coast of Labrador and around the north

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

177

coast of Newfoundland ; and sealing is one of the most lucrative
industries of the Colony. Its importance may be estimated from
the fact that it employs nearly five thousand fishermen, and the
capital invested is approximately two million dollars. The seal-
hunt, or, as it is termed in the fishermen's vernacular "Swilin','' is
one of the most exciting events in the fisherman's life. Formerly
prosecuted by sailing vessels, it is now conducted in powerful steam-
ers, some of them being the latest achievements in marine archi-
tecture. The "hunt" begins on ^larch loth. and ends, legallv, oti
May 1st. Sealing has been prosecuted along the Newfoundland
coast since the early days of the seventeenth century ; and as earh
as 1742 Fogo and Twillingate are said to have "made" nearly three
thousand pounds from trade in <cal oil. ( Records. N. F. Board of
Trade.)

THE THREE SISTERS, FIRST SEALING P.RIG.

"When George the Third was King" the sealing industry was
vigorously conducted, but only as an inshore fishery; and every
mercantile establishment had its "vats" for the rendering of oil.
The seal fishery in vessels began somewhere about the year 1800;
and we learn that in 1804 more than 70,000 seals were taken by
schooners and boats. In 1814 the seal-fishery was enormous, reach-
ing the hundred thousand mark.

In 1817 the worst seal-fishery on record is noted, only thirty-seven
thousand being taken ; but in the year following the fishery was un-
usually large, and several vessels returned from the "ice fields" in
less than a fortnight "loaded to the scuppers."

178

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

During the next quarter of a century the seaHng industry as-
sumed immense proportions ; and ship-building became an institu-
tion throughout Newfoundland. Enormous "bills" were made by
sealers in these days ; and 1 have often heard old fishermen tell of
the years they "made a hundred pound" ($400.00).

The introduction of steamers (the first two were the Bloodhound
and the IVolf), in 1862, completely changed the money-making as-
pect of the seal fishery ; and nowadays a "bill" of eighty dollars is
regarded as something phenomenal.

A SEALER.

In my early years "getting a berth" or
GETTING A BERTH, "signing" for the seal-fishery was one

of the great annual events ; and the day
set apart by custom for this important function was St. Stephen's
Day (the fishermen termed it "Stephcnscs Day"). Hundreds of
stalwarts might be seen decked in Sunday attire lounging around
the planters' houses waiting to see the "Skipper." Some of the
latter, known as the "Big Seal Killers," had ten times as many appli-
cations for "berths" as the younger and inexperienced captains ; and
their crews were always "picked men." Towards evening, after
the "signing" had been finished, the festive toilers regaled them-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 179

selves at the village "pubs," and "We won't go home until morning"
might be heard at intervals during the night as the roisterers wended
their way homewards. There was rarely any serious breach of the
peace, however, and the lieges were never called upon to make
arrests.

At the signing-time the "men of the frozen pans" received what
was known as the "crop." This was an advance made to each man
of goods to the value of ten or twelve dollars, consisting of a pair of
skin boots, tobacco, "small stores," and occasionally a bottle of brandy
or rum. The last-mentioned was carefully put away and kept for
emergencies during the voyage.

Towards the end of February the sealers poured into the shipping
ports; and it was a picturesque and interesting sight to see hun-
dreds of "silers" coming into town from outlying sections, each
armed with a "gaff" or a "long-torn" sealing gun. Their belongings
were trailed behind them on small sleds, made usually with two
flour-barrel staves for runners, and four pins which supported the
frame which held the "nunny-bag" or "turkey." Then there was a
busy scene as the vessels, "Topsail-schooners," generally, made
ready for the start. On March ist the fleet began to move, then
quiet reigned in town until the homecoming.

The fare of these sealers was not of a particularly attractive kind.
It was solid and substantial, consisting of biscuit, pork, butter and
"lassey-tea." On three days of the week the dinner consisted of
pork and "duff," the latter being a mixture of flour and water with
a little grease "to lighten it." This, when cooked, is not a desirable
article of diet for dyspeptics. On the other days of the week the
"grub" (the fishermen's term for food) is lighter, consisting of
bread and butter, and seal-meat when they "strike the fat." This
bill of fare is still the sealers' menu; and it is a remarkable fact that
little sickness occurs during the sealing voyage.

"The experiences of a sealing voyage are various,
THE HUNT, being influenced by the ever-shifting condition of
the ice and direction of the winds. The grand
aim of the sealers is to reach that portion of the "whelping grounds"
of the seals, while the young are yet in their plump oleaginous baby-
hood. The position of this icy-cradle' is utterly uncertain, being

i8o

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

dependent on the movements of the ice and the force of the waves.
It has to be sought among vast ice-fields. At times, in endeavoring
to push her way through, the vessel is caught in heavy ice ; and then
dynamite is resorted to to make a clearing. Occasionally vessels are
"nipped" ; sometimes they are crushed to atoms ; and the crew are
then obliged to find a refuge on board some other ship or make

CAPTAIX KEAX. A SUCCESSFUL SEALER.

their way to land, if possible. If the sealing-ships are lucky they
"strike" the seals within a few days after leaving port ; and a "load"
is secured in five or six days. But if they fail to find "the patch"
they may roam the ocean for weeks, and return to port "clean."
When the ship enters a "patch" of seals, excitement becomes

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

i8i

intense : then the work of destruction begins. The seal is killed by a
blow on the head from a "gafif" or "bat"; then it is "sculped."' This
means detaching the pelt from the carcass, which is left on the ice.
When the sealer has secured a "tow" (five or six pelts) he hauls
them to the ship, if she is near; but "pans" them if the ship is dis-

' THE BOS N S WATCH.

tant. \\'hen the "panning" is completed the ship picks up these
"pans," and if the number panned is sufficient for a "load" she
"bears up" for home as soon as the pelts are stowed in the hold.

On arrival at St. John's or Harbor Grace (these are now the only
manufacturing centres), the pelts are discharged and the "skinners"
have their innings ; the skin is removed from the fat by means of
large knives, and immediately placed in grinders, whence it passes
into tanks and is there converted into oil. The skins are salted and
kept in bulk till sold. Formerly sealers received one-half the catch
as their share of the voyage ; but under the new regime they receive
one-third only; and the "bill" is never large.

The seal brings forth one cub at a birth ; and

WHITE COATS, the young seal when whelped is known as

the "White Coat," as it is then covered with

a rich white fur. At the end of six weeks it sheds the white woolly

robe, and a smooth, spotted skin appears, having a rough dark fur.

When the seal has shed its coat it is known to fishermen as "Ragged

1 82

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 183

Jacket." It then weighs about fifty to fifty-five pounds. In this
condition it is known as a "Prime Harp," and is worth about two
dollars-. Seals are usually sold in quintals, the quintal being 112
pounds.

In early days, in the northern bays of Newfoundland, sealing was
a very profitable business ; and it is within the recollection of some
of the "old-timers" that even the gentler sex did not disdain to go
"swilin'." The following is culled from a chapter of "Reminis-
cences" :

The seals, if I remember rightly, first struck the land on the tenth
day of March. Some few men secured, that day, as high as seven
or eight each, but, owing to a change of wind, had to slip their tows
and run for life when within a mile from the land, as the ice was
drifting from the shore.

Sad to say, one or two men died from exhaustion when within
a mile from land ; and one, not having strength to climb the "balli-
caders," died clinging to the rocks after having reached the shore.
Two were driven off and never heard of again. One man, a near
neighbor of the writer, slipped his seals, with the initials of his
name cut on the top pelt, about two miles from land, and after no
little difficulty managed to reach terra Urma.

On the eleventh day of March the wind blew from the southwest,
and seals and ice were driven to sea. r\Ien's spirits began to droop,
and after two or three days both seals and ice were out of sight.
Then it was that the hopes of all dropped far below zero.

On the fourteenth day of March the wind blew fiercely from the
northeast, and joy and gladness once more were the order of the day.
The star of hope was again in the ascendant.

The fifteenth day of March opened with the wind still northeast,
and blowing very heavily. This continued all day ; and the sixteenth
day, not to be outdone by its predecessor, piped out lustily his north-
easter with an equally good humor.

On the morning of the seventeenth day of March, long before
dawn made her appearance in the eastern sky, hundreds of men were
standing on the "ballicaders" with their ropes and gafifs all in readi-
ness, waiting for the dawn to break. On the appearance of the first
faint streak of light, the men leaped, and ran, but, good to say, not
very far, as a little over one mile from shore the young harps were

i84 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

again met with in their grand thousands. Then the harvest really
commenced, and for four consecutive weeks there was little else,
but seals ! seals ! ! seals ! ! !

The man before mentioned as having his initials cut on his tow of
seals, and who had to abandon them seven days previously, actually
walked over the same pan of ice two miles from land and there
found the tow of seals with his initials cut on the top pelt which he
had to cast adrift seven days before. He took them the second time,
hauled them to the land, and safely deposited them on the rocks. We
might mention en passant that the same poor fellow was lost with all
hands belonging to his schooner a few years afterwards.

The golden and greasy harvest continued over one month, and
many men, a shade more fortunate than their neighbors, made, that
spring, more than 0}ic Hundred Pounds each. Young harps, that
spring, were forty-two shillings and six-pence per hundred weight —
hence the large wages made by the men of Notre Dame Bay.

Day after day the sailing vessels could be sighted in the mouth
of the bay; but. owing to a heavy field of ice between the ships and
the seals, which proved an embargo, the landsmen had the fun all
to themselves.

I feel that I ought not to close this short account without men-
tioning the noble eitorts of two of the fair sex (notwithstanding
the fact one of them was nearing the fiftieth mile post on life's
journey). This woman, whose husband had, at that time, been ill
for several years, and whose children were all young, actually took
her rope and gafif, and, like a true heroine, earned many pounds
towards feeding her little ones, and added not a few comforts to the
happiness and welfare of her husband. The other, a damsel of
twenty summers, followed suit, and before the California came to
an end, had landed with her own rope and pluck no less a sum than
One Hundred Pounds, in good English money !

The writer can vouch for the accuracy of both items, and was on
the spot during the great reaping without scythe or sickle. (Tou-
lingater in "Christmas Bells.")

The seal-fishery of Labrador is possi-
INSHORE FISHERY, bly of more ancient date than the fish-
ery along the Newfoundland coast,
though the latter has been prosecuted for centuries. A report of

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

i8;

this industry was furnished, in 1802, to Governor Gambier, by Mr.
Bland, of Bonavista. The writer of the report says :

"This adventurous and perilous pursuit is prosecuted in two dif-
ferent ways — by nets during the winter months, and from March
to June in ice-skiffs and decked boats, or schooners. The fishery
by nets extends from Conception Bay to Labrador. About fifty
pounds of strong twine are required to make a net, and each net is
about forty fathoms in length, and nearly three in depth. Four
or five men constitute a crew to attend to about twenty nets, but
in brisk sealing this number of nets will require a double crew in
separate boats. The seals bolt into the nets while ranging at the
bottom in quest of food, which makes it necessary to keep the nets
to the ground, where they are made to stand on their legs, as the

THE BEACON.

phrase is, by means of cork fastened at equal distances along the
head-ropes. The net is extended at the bottom by a mooring and
killock fixed to each end, and it is frequently placed in forty fathoms
of water, for we observe that the largest seals are caught in the
deepest water. To each end of the head-rope is fixed a pole standing
erect in the water to guide the sealers to the net, and when these
poles are torn away by ice they are directed by land-marks, and find
their nets with creepers. On the Labrador coast the seal-fishery
begins about the beginning of November and lasts till Christmas.
The seals upon this coast are of many species. They are classed

i86 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and distinguished by names known only to Newfoundlanders. Tars,
Doaters, and Gunszvails, and many others, breed upon the rocks in
the summer season, and may be called natives, but these make but
little part of our fishery; our dependence rests upon Harps and
Bedlamers, which are driven by ice from the north-east seas. The
harp in its prime will yield from ten to sixteen gallons of oil, and
the bedlamer, a seal of the same species, only younger, from three
to seven.

"The entire catch at Bonavista may be estimated at ten thou-
sand, two-thirds of which are Harps. The Harps yield thirteen
shillings each, and the Bedlamers, seven shillings-and-sixpence."

The early French settlers and the ]\lontagnais Indians carried on
seal-fishing very extensively ; and the names of many of the capes
on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are derived from
the habits of the seal, e. g., Natashqiian ("Where the seals land"),
opposite the north point of Anticosti, ■and L'anse a loiip (marins),
"seal creek."

The "Square-Flipper" {Phoca harbatus)
SQUARE FLIPPER. — the largest seal known, is occasionally

taken on eastern Labrador. The young

of this variety weighs 150 pounds; the adult sometimes turns the

scale at 600 pounds.

The "Hood Seal" (Cystophora cristaia) is found late in spring

far out to sea by sealing-steamers. It weighs about 80 pounds when

"prime" ; and the old seals weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. The

"Hood Seal" is so called because it has a sack or hood on its nose;

when attacked, this hood is inflated, and it is almost impervious to

shot. This peculiarity is found only in the male.

Bears are mentioned as early as 1498; for we read
THE BEAR, in Hakluyt (Voyages III, p. 27), in connection

with Cabot's report of Labrador : "The soil is
barren and yieldeth little fruit, but it is full of beares, and stagges
far greater than ours." They are mentioned in the report of Cor-
tereal's voyages ; and Cartier records their presence on the coast.
To the old navigators it was known as a "water-animal." Three
varieties of Bear are found on the coast : the Barren-ground Bear

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

187

(Ursus arctos, Richardson) ; the Black Bear (Ursus Americanus),
and the Polar Bear (Tlialasarctos iiiaritiDius). The Barren-ground
Bear is found in the northern barrens of Labrador, and skins of this
large animal are frequently brought for sale to the Northern Hud-
son Bay posts. The Naskopi Indians have numerous tales about its
size and ferocity. The Black Bear is found in the burnt districts
of the interior, and several specimens have been found in the neigh-
borhood of Hamilton Inlet. This species as a rule is confined to
the coast, and rarely travels inland, except to produce its young.
The young, from one to three in number, are born in holes under
the rocks, lined with brush, grass, and moss, towards the end of
October. At time of birth they are the size of a large rat, white
in color, helpless, and with closed eyes. They are suckled for five
months, the male assisting in the rearing. On the Atlantic coast

■s^

A POLAR BEAR.

the Polar Bear is occasionally found as far south as the Straits of
Belle Isle, whither it is carried from the north on the ice-floes.
North of Hamilton Inlet, it is frequently met with along the coast
and on the islands, being common about Cape Chidley and along
Hudson Strait. During the winter of 1894 the tracks of three white
bears were seen close to North-zi'cst River, at the head of Hamilton
Inlet, and a few specimens have been killed in that locality. (Geol.
Survey, Can, 1895.)

i88

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Caribou is one of the most useful, as well as
CARIIU )U. one of the most plentiful animals on the coast; and

it fr)rms an important item in the domestic economy
of the Indians and the Esquimaux. Two species of Caribou are
found on the coast, though the settlers do not seem to recognize
the distinction between the two varieties. The Woodland Caribou

A STAG.

{RcDigifcr Caribou, Linn) within the past twenty-five years was
plentiful throughout the southern wooded region of the Labrador
coast, but is now practically exterminated. On the upper Hamilton
River this species is still met with in small bands, but, according
to the testimony of the Indians, the numbers at present killed are
only a small percentage of the numbers annually slaughtered a few

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

i8q

years ago. The scarcity of Caribou means starvation to the inland
Indians ; and some cases are recorded as having recently occurred.

The Barren-ground Caribou (Raiigifcr Grociilaiidicus, Linn)
ranges in immense herds over the barren grounds of the peninsula.
According to the information obtained from the Xaskopis. this spe-
cies is believed to spend the summer near the coast, where the cool
sea-breezes keep down the pest of flies. In the autumn they migrate
to the uplands, and return again to the true barrens in May. There
are apparently three distinct herds of the Barren-ground Cariliou,

C.XKLUOU CROSSING A L.\KE.

one on the Atlantic C(ja>t. which i)as>es the summer on the high-
lands between Xachvak an 1 Xain ; a second, which crosses the
lower part of the Koksoak Iviver and summers on the west side of
Ungava Bay ; and a third, which summers along the north-east side
of Hudson Bay.

The principal hunt is made during the fall migration, when the
stags are fat and have not yet mated with the females; and during
this hunt the slaughter is dreadful. The Indians usually kill when
the Caribou are crossing a stream. A feast follows the annual hunt,

190 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and the haunches and bony parts are then consumed ; the softer por-
tions are cut into long strips, smoked and preserved for future use.

Many years ago, during a visit to an Indian encampment on the
Esquimaux River, I was offered some of this commodity for dinner.
It resembled a strip of very dirty sole leather. I declined the hos-
pitality of mine host on this occasion ; but later I discovered that the
sole-leather grub was not by any means as ill-flavored as it appeared.

The Caribou furnishes the Montagnais and Naskopis with cloth-
ing as well as food ; but they now seem to prefer the white man's
cheap homespun and tweed, to deer-skin. The Caribou are erratic
in their movements, and can never be depended upon to return to
their former haunts ; and when the hunt fails, the Indians are face
to face with starvation. Such a visitation has occurred frequently
within past years; and in 1893, 150 Indians died of starvation in the
northern section of Labrador. In evidence given before the Com-
mittee of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1851, a letter was read
which says: "Starvation has committed great havoc among our
old friends the Xaskopis, numbers of whom met their death from
want last winter; whole camps of them were found dead, without
one survivor to tell the tale of their sufferings." {Geol. Survey of
Canada, 1895.)

The Moravian missionaries on the coast also report that Caribou
are fast diminishing in numbers. Here is an excellent opportunity
for the philanthropy of some magnate to demonstrate his charity on
behalf of sutTering humanity. The wherewithal for the sustenance
of the Labrador Indians may be provided by the introduction of
Reindeer to oftset the diminution of Caribou.

The IMontagnais have a rather singular
INDIAN CUSTO]\IS. custom in connection with the Caribou.

They always preserve the antlers of the
first doe which is killed on their march inland in the fall. Before
they return to the coast in Spring they place the antlers on a lake,
where they sink to the bottom when the ice breaks up, and they are
thus not gnawed by any carnivorous animal.

The Naskopis are said to hang the haunches of the stag first killed
on the branch of a tree to propitiate the Mauitoii and secure good
luck during the season.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

191

Vulpes vulgaris, Fleming (Red, Cross, Silver, and
THE FOX. Black Fox). These animals are only color varie-
ties of the same species. On the Moose River, in
1887, the writer found a litter containing seven kits; of these two
were red, three were cross, and the remaining two black or silver,
thus showing that the color of foxes no more constitutes varieties
than does the difference of color in a litter of kittens of the common
cat. There appears to b^ a greater proportion of dark-colored foxes
in the northern region of Labrador than in the southern. The fox
is found throughout the peninsula from the St. Lawrence to Hudson
Strait, where it is taken in the barrens and along the coast bv
Esquimaux. Most of the skins are taken before Christmas, as the
fur becomes poor early in the Spring.

CARIBOU HEADS.

VULPES LAGOPUS
(ARCTIC FOX, WHITE FOX),

This variety is found most

abundantly in the barren

grounds. It is rarely taken

south of Lake ]\Iichichika-

mau. Along the seaboard the white fox ranges farther south, and

is plentiful about Hamilton Inlet. INIost of the foxes along the

southern Atlantic coasts are said to be migrants from the northern

192 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

coasts, and they are rarely caught south of Hamilton Inlet before
that body of water is frozen over. The Blue Fox (Var. fitliginosiis)
is much less abundant than the white, with which it is found. It is
very rare along the southern half of the Atlantic coast. (Gcol. Sur-
rey of Canada, 1895.)

The ^^'olf { Canis Jitpns. Linn) is rarely seen on the coast.

The Wolverine {Gulo luscus, Linn) is
THE WOL\'ERIXE. abundant throughout Labrador. This

destructive animal is the personification
of the deiil among the Indians, owing to its cunning and voracious
habits. It is known to French-Canadians as "Carcajou." The In-
dians tell some very extraordinary stories about the ferocity and
intelligence of the wolverine ; and it seems nothing is safe from its
predations. It is seldom captured, as its cunning seems to protect
it from falling into traps. If caught the wolverine usually gnaws
off its imprisoned member, or takes the trap with him. "Like tame
ravens, it does not seem to care what it steals, so that it can exercise
its propensity to commit mischief." Mr. Ross, an agent in the
service of the Hudson Bay Company, says that he "'knew a hunter
who left his lodge unguarded during his absence, and on returning
he found it completely gutted ; the walls were there, but nothing
else. Blankets, guns, kettles, knives, and all the other paraphernalia
of a trapper's lodge had vanished, and the tracks left behind showed
who had been the thief. He set to work, and by carefully following
rp all the paths, recovered, with some trifling exception, the whole
of his property." (Hind, "Explorations in Labrador:')

The Fisher, or Pekan, which belongs to the

THE FISHER, same family, is found rarely on southern
Labrador. It is said to derive its name
"Fisher" from its predatory habits, as it is a notorious thief, and
plunders the bait from fox traps without detection.

The ^.Unk (Putorius vison, Brisson) is found only on the south-
ern part of Labrador ; and it is now reported scarce.

The ermine and weasel are found abundantly in the wooded
regions.

The Otter {Lntra Canadensis, Turton) is found throughout the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 193

wooded sections of the coast, and is reported abundant on the upper
Hamilton River, especially in the vicinity of "Grand Falls," where
a number of Indian families congregate in spring to hunt it. Within
recent years it is not found abundantly in the southern sections ; and
old trappers have told me that they believe it will soon be extinct
unless some restriction is placed on the destruction of young broods.

The Sable (Marten, Mustcla Americana) is
THE SABLE, one of the most abundant and valuable fur-
bearing animals on the coast. It is of brown
color, yellowish on the throat, and its fur is extremely lustrous. The
largest and darkest skins are found in the far north. The im-
portance of the marten in fur countries may be gathered from the
returns of the Fur Companies of London, which handle eighty to
one hundred thousand skins annually. The marten is peculiar in its
habits, and disappears periodically and it is unknown what becomes
of it. The marten hunt is made after the smaller lakes are frozen,
until December, and again during the months of March and April,
after which the skins are of little value.

The Beaver (Castor fiber, Linn) is common
THE BEA\'ER. on certain sections of the coast; but the same
story is told by trappers regarding the Beaver
as that of the Otter. A\'ithin the last twenty-five years the number
of dams on the southern sections of the coast is being gradually
diminished ; and some measures are imperatively necessary to pre-
vent the total extinction of this useful animal. Some years ago
trappers in the Straits of Belle Isle reaped a rich harvest from
beaver skins; but the number now procurable is comparatively small.
This is perhaps the most interesting of all fur-bearing animals in its
habits, as the beaver seems endowed with almost human intelligence.
A beaver-dam is one of the most ingeniously constructed domiciles.
"The beavers always make their winter house on the shore above
the water-level, with a road leading to it from the water; perhaps
the road under the ice and in the earth is eighteen to thirty feet long.
They keep their food in the water above the dam, and live in a
warm house on shore. Hunters "sound" the ice close to the shore,
and near the dam, to find the road to the house where the beaver

194 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

always runs when alarmed. When the roads have been found — for
there are sometimes several — the ice is cut through, and the first
road stopped. Then other soundings are made to discover which
way the roads run, until the house is reached, when the beaver is
pulled out." (Hind, "Explorations.")

I have never seen this process, but to me the ruined dams are a
very melancholy sight. It seems a pity to disturb these wonderful
workers.

The Lynx, or Mountain-cat (Lynx Canadensis,
THE LYNX. Demarest) is found abundantly on the coast. It
is named the "dandy" of the denizens of the
woods, owing to its fondness for perfumes. Its weakness in this
direction often means capture. The Indians say that the num-
ber of Lynx varies with that of the rabbits, which are the natural
food of this predatory animal. The Lynx is a fierce and dangerous
animal ; and some years ago I had an adventure with one of these
treacherous brutes w^hich I would not care to duplicate unless well
armed.

The Lynx formerly played an important part in Indian mythology.
The Indians supposed that the world was created by Atahcoam, and
that a deity named Messou repaired it wdien it was old. One day
Mcssou was hunting with lynxes instead of dogs ; his savage com-
panions swam into a lake and were drowned. Messoii searched for
them everywhere without success, w^hen a bird told him that he
would find them in the middle of the lake. He entered the lake
to bring them back, but the lake began to overflow its banks, and
finally deluged the world. Messou, astonished, sent a crow to bring
him a piece of earth from w^hich he intended to reconstruct the land,
but the crow could not find any. He made an otter dive into the
waters, but the otter was as unsuccessful as the crow. At last he
sent the muskrat, who brought him a little bit, from which Messou
reconstructed the earth as it is now. He presented an Indian with a
gift of immortality, enclosed in a little box, subject to the condition
that he should not open it. As long as he kept the box closed, he
was to be immortal ; but his curious wife, of course, was anxious to
see what the box contained ; she opened it, and ever since the Indians

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 195

have been subject to death. ("Relation de la Noiivelle France, en
I'annee 1634.") The same tradition is also found amongst other
tribes of Indians. (Hind, "Explorations.")

The iMuskrat, which also plays an important

THE MUSKRAT. part in Indian legends, is found abundantly
on the south coast of Labrador. To the
ordinary sportsman the little Muskrat is hardly worthy of attention,
but it emulates the beaver in its ingenuity. The muskrat builds a
most comfortable house. In an article entitled "The Keeper of the
Water-Gate," published in "Leslie's Popular Monthly," Mr. G. D.
Roberts describes this strictly utilitarian structure :

"The entrance is dug with great and persistent toil from the very
bottom of the bank, for the better discouragement of the muskrat's
deadliest enemy, the mink, runs inward for nearly two feet, and then
upward on a long slant some five or six feet through the natural
soil, to a point where the shore is dry land at the average level of
the water. Over this exit, which is dry at the time of the building,
the muskrat raises his house.

"The house is a seemingly careless, roughly rounded heap of grass
roots, long water-weeds, lily roots and stems and mud, with a few
sticks woven into the foundation. The site is cunningly chosen, so
that the roots and stems of alders or other trees give it secure
anchorage ; and the whole structure, for all its apparent looseness, is
so well compacted as to be secure against the sweep of the spring
freshets. About six feet in diameter at the base, it rises about the
same distance from the foundation, a rude, sedge-thatched dam, of
which something more than three feet may show itself above the
ice.

"To the unobservant eye the muskrat house in the alders might
look like a mass of drift in which the rank water-grass had taken
root. But within the clumsy pit is a shapely, small, warm chamber
lined with the softest grasses. From one side of this chamber the
burrow slants down to another and much larger chamber, the floor
of which, at high water, may be partly flooded. From this chamber
lead down two burrows, one, the main passage, opening frankly in
the channel of the creek, and the other, longer and more devious,
terminating in a narrow and cunningly concealed exit, behind a sub-

196

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

merged root. This passage is little used, and is intended chiefly as
a way of escape in case of an extreme emergency, such as, for
example, the invasion of a particularly enterprising mink by way
of the main water-gate.

"The muskrat is no match for the snake-swift, bloodthirsty mink,
except in the one accomplishment of holding his breath under water;
and a mink must be very ravenous, or quite mad with the blood-lust,
to dare the deep water-gate and the long subaqueous passage to the
muskrat's citadel at seasons of average high water. In times of
drought, however, when the entrance is nearly uncovered and the
water goes but a little way up the dark tunnels, the mink will often
glide in. slaughter the garrison and occupy the well-built citadel."
(C. (;. D. Roberts.)

SHAPES FANTASTIC.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 197

CHAPTER XXni.

FRESH FIELDS AND PASTURES NEW.

"Flowers spring up
Unsown, and die' unfathered."

Bryant.

The Botanical Literature of the coast of Labrador is not ex-
tensive. A ^Moravian missionary, the Rev. Samuel Weiz, was the
pioneer of Botanical explorers ; and in recent years the Rev. Arthur
Waghorne did important work in categorizing the interesting speci-
mens of field and forest growth of the coast. It was my good
fortune to make several journeys with this enthusiastic lover of
nature during the years he spent on the coast of Labrador ; and
later, he was my clerical neighbor during his incumbency of the
New Harbor Mission in Newfoundland.

Mr. Waghorne's collection was the most extensive ever gathered
on the coast ; and to him is due much of the knowledge at my dis-
posal regarding the Flora of the Northland. His labors extended
over several years. His untimely death left a great void in scientific
circles in the old home-land ; and I am not aware that any other
botanist has resumed the work he had so successfully inaugurated.
Mr. Waghorne was the greatest enthusiast I have ever met ; and
during his mission tours it was not unusual to find him laden with
a miniature herbarium. His advent to certain little hamlets in tlie
old home-land was an ever-ending matter of curiosity to the house-
wife of the little fishers" cot where he usually put up. I have seen the
good dame stand in wonderment watching the botanist select and
categorize his specimens. vShe "couldn't see for the life of her what
the parson wanted all that old rubbish for !" That "rubbish" was
often a valuable acquisition to the store of the scientific explorer.
^Ir. Waghorne left an exceedingly valuable monograph on the
"Lichens and Mosses of Newfoundland and Labrador." In the
enumeration we find twenty-two species and thirty-one varieties of
a lichen, or "tree-moss," which is seemingly destined to play an

198 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

important part in the domestic economy of Newfoundland and
Labrador, viz., the Cladonia rangiferina, the favorite food of the

Reindeer.

Lichens perform an important part in

VALUE OF LICHENS, the general economy of nature, and

they are distributed over every part
of the world. Their distribution is regulated, not only by the pres-
ence of suitable soil, but also by atmospherical and climatical condi-
tions. It is claimed that their geographical range is more extended
than any other class of plants, occurring as they do in the warmest
as well as in the coldest regions. On Labrador several valuable
species have been located ; and the gneissoid rocks are made even
picturesque by the presence of this humble growth.

"The first in order of importance is the Reindeer Moss variety
known as 'Reindeer' moss (Cladonia rangiferina), which at every
step inspires the traveller in the Laurentian country with admira-
tion for its beauty, its luxuriance, its wonderful adaptation to the
climate, and its value as a source of food to the mainstay of the
Indian — the Caribou. The Laplanders not only depend upon it for
their herds of domesticated reindeer, but they gather it during the
rainy season and give it to their cattle. It is not unpalatable as an
article of human food." (Hind, "Explorations:")

Next in importance to the "Reindeer"
THE "ROCK-TRIPE." moss is the variety known as "Tripe-

de-roche" {Sticla pidmonaria), which
is found on the trees as well as on rocks. Newfoundland fishermen
term it "Molldow" (Mildew). This contains many nutritive proper-
ties; and it is used medicinally by the Indians; it is not unfrequently
used by hunters when food is scarce. When boiled, it yields, like
Iceland moss, a jelly which is not unpalatable. This tripe-de-roche
grows abundantly on the Labrador peninsula, and may yet become
economically valuable as the source of a brow^n dye which is largely
used.

"Springing on the edges of tufts of caribou moss, the red-cup
lichen {Cladonia gracilis) is extremely common; sometimes it gives
to the surface of the rock a vermilion hue for a considerable space
round the tufts, under whose shelter it flourishes.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 199

"The vast distribution of lichens on Labrador, from the mournful
'beard-moss' which hangs from the branches of dying spruce, to the
ever-beautiful caribou moss, will possibly give some importance to
those rugged wastes, more especially as the applications of lichens to
the arts are becoming daily more numerous.

"One of the characteristics of this beautiful class of plants is their
duration ; they grow with exceeding slowness, but retain their gen-
eral form and vitality for many years. They are only 'time-stains,'
and well do they deserve their name. They survive the most intense
cold, and live during long droughts in tropical climates. From the
polar zones to the equator, under all conditions of heat and cold, on
the most unyielding and barren rocks, on the living and on the dead,
wherever there is light, lichens grow." (Hind.)

This useful moss is found in the deep
SPHAGXU2\I MOSS, glen and on the hillsides of the coast,

and is always as "full of water as a
sponge." In places it may be seen advancing like a floating garden
over a dark pool, and woe betide the unwary traveller who steps
too heavily on this deceptive mass. This moss might be used for
many purposes : it makes excellent bedding-material, and it is much
preferable to the "excelsior," or sea-weed, wdiich is now so exten-
sivelv used in the manufacture of mattresses.

Among these mosses the Labrador-tea
LABRADOR-TEA. (Ledum) is found abundantly; and its

bunches of white flow^ers are conspicuous
and attractive. A dwarf pea is common, as well as dwarf purple
iris, alpine chickweed, marsh trefoil, mountain-heath, and alpine
azalea, with great bunches of fleshy-leaved sedums (Stone-crop) or
live-longs, while their purple and yellow flowers reach a height
inversely in proportion to the exposure of their positions. This lat-
ter plant seems particularly fond of growing on the roofs of fisher-
men's "tilts" and other sod-covered houses along the coast. A
pretty flower looking like a violet is common, with a rosette of yel-
lowish leaves at the base {Pinguicula vulgaris), and a moss-like
plant, beset with tiny pink flowers, the moss campion {"Cushion-
pink.") (Townsend.)

200

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Owing to the short season of growth, Labrador
BAKEAPPLE. has a liora numerically rich in individuals, but
poor in species, and the flora of the northland is
similar in many respects to that of Norway.

For a detailed account of the flora of the peninsula. Packard's
interesting volume may be consulted with advantage ; here we refer
only to the berries which are of such interest from an economic
standpoint. The berry which is so characteristic of Labrador is the
succulent Cloudberry, here called "Bakeapple" (Rubus Chaniae-
iiiorits), which attains a size rarely seen elsewhere. This is found in
abundance all over the coast ; and it is gathered in large quantities

A LABRADOR HUT.

by Newfoundlanders and natives. It is supposed to be a sovereign
remedy for scorbutic diseases ; and is in great use amongst the
Esquimaux, who call it Akhik. The French call it Chicote. Several
localities on the northern part of the coast are named after it ; and
it is not improbable that the Newfoundland name is derived from
the Indian "Bik" (apple). We find several places named Akhik,
Akhiktok, i. e., places where the Bakeapple grows. We have also
the Newfoundland fisherman's nomenclature in "Bakeapple Bight,"
and ''Bakeapple Marsh." The flavor of the "Bakeapple," when

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 201

ripe, is not unlike a ricii Gravenstein. It is then of amber color ;
and in the unripe stage, in which it is usually gathered, it is not
unlike a famcusc apple in color. \\'ithin recent years there is a
regular industry both in Newfoundland and on the coast of Labra-
dor canning this delicious fruit. Its leaves are particularly attract-
ive, in autumn ; and they are often gathered for decorative purposes,
and are of every hue and color and keep indefinitely.

(J'\icci)iiuiii Myrtillus), called by Newfound-

BILBERRIES. landers and the natives of Labrador "Herts,"
(or JJlwrta), are found in great abundance on
the coast, particularly in the southern sections, where it attains an
enormous growth. I have seen specimens of this luscious fruit as
large as a Catawba grape. The natives of the coast make delicious
wine from the Bilberry, and I have tasted some in the Straits of Belle
Isle which was more palatable than the ordinary port wine of com-
merce. If it is kept for a couple of years it obtains a bouquet almost
as rich as Nezvmans Port.

The Curlew-berry {Empetrnm Nigrum) is also found in great
abundance in certain localities on the Southern part of the Labrador
coast. It was doubtless so named because it afforded food to the
numerous flocks of curlew which frequented the coast in former
years. It is rather surprising to find Sportsmen ( ?) who con-
tend that the curlew feeds on fish ; and they allege as proof of their
contention the Labrador adage, "No curlew, no herring." Herring
have abandoned the northern waters within recent years, and by a
singular coincidence curlews also have almost entirely disappeared.
There is absolutely no connection between the two. I have shot
numbers of curlew in the vicinity of "Cut-throat," at Assizes Har-
bor and elsewhere, and the entrails contained nothing but a large
feed of the EnipetniDi nigrum. Possibly the said Sportsmen ( ?)
were unable to differentiate the curlew from a bird which has a
decided piscatorial flavor — the beach-bird^ a species of plover.

I have seen it somewhere asserted that the wild strawberry
{Fragraria Vesca) is "found abundantly on the coast of Labrador" ;
and the writer offers in evidence the name of "little port near Ailik,
named Strawberry."

This is ben trovato; but I am sorry to destroy this little fiction.

202 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

If I am well informed, the "little port" owes its name to a fisherman
on board the old brig "Rusina," more than sixty years ago. The
"Rusina" was one of our vessels. The size of the harbor doubtless
suggested its name, as an old expression in vogue even in my early
days, to express things diminutive, was : "As big as a bit of bread
and a strawberry."

Recently an attempt has been made by
PARTRIDGE BERRY, a famous botanist to propagate the

Cloudberry in the Western United
States, but we have not learned what success Luther Burbank has
achieved. Another berry which has become commercially valuable
both on the coast of Labrador and in Newfoundland is the "Part-
ridge Berry." This is improperly called the cranberry. It differs
greatly from the cranberry of commerce (Vaccininm Oxycoccos),
which is much larger, and by no means so highly flavored as the
Partridge Berry {Vaccininm Caespitosum, Micchel).

This berry is largely distributed over the coast, and is found
practically in every settlement from the Straits of Belle Isle to Nain.
It is gathered when partially ripe, and packed in barrels, for export.
Formerly it might be purchased for five cents a gallon ; to-day it is
quoted at forty cents. The Partridge Berry is used chiefly in the
manufacture of dyes. The juice is of rich crimson color, and it is
very lasting. The manufacture of packages for the exportation of
this ubiquitous fruit now affords employment to numbers of coopers,
who in past times did a lucrative trade in the manufacture of her-
ring-barrels. This seems rather strange, but it is a fact.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 203

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE FE.A.THERED TRIBE.

"The birds, great nature's happy commoners."

ROWE.

The list of birds found on the coast of Labrador is large in indi-
viduals, if not in species ; and the ornithological literature is exten-
sive.

The first ornithologist who visited the coast of

AUDUBON. Labrador was the celebrated Audubon, who with
a party of scientists landed at Natashquan River,
in 1833. He wrote an extensive account of the feathered tribe ; and
he has given a graphic description of the destruction of bird life
on the western part of the coast. Among the "Episodes" published
in his "Ornithological Biographies," Audubon wrote a highly dra-
matic one on the "Eggers of Labrador," in which he deprecates the
"rascally way in which 'Eggers' destroyed the eggs and breeding
birds." '

"Before the arrival of the white man — nature's worst enemy — the
Indian, the Esquimaux, the fox and the polar bear helped them-
selves from the abundant feast of eggs and young prepared by the
water-birds along the Labrador coast. Little or no harm was done.
The multitude of birds could well spare these moderate contribu-
tions. There were a few less mouths to be filled, but this natural
pruning had little effect on the birds as a whole. During the nine-
teenth century, however, the drain on these wonderful nurseries of
bird-life was fearful, and now but a pittance of the mighty host
remains." (Townsend.)

Stringent legislation should be enacted to prevent the wanton de-
struction of bird-life on the coast ; and such is being put into effect
on Canadian Labrador with good effect. On Newfoundland-Labra-
dor, however, there seems to be no let or hindrance to the destruc-
tive tendencies of mankind. As Kipling says :

"There's never a law of God or man runs
North of fifty-three."

204 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

It is perfectly natural that the fishermen should consider the eggs
and young, and even the breeding parents, as a godsend to eke out
their scanty larder. Knowing every rock, as they do, along the
entire coast, they can easily keep in touch with the birds and rob
them of their treasures. At Windsor Harbor I saw six young great
black guillemots cooped in an ancient wreck, for the purpose of fat-
tening for the pan. Unless some penalty be imposed one cannot
expect a fisherman to pass by a nest of eider-duck's eggs, or even
leave the fat mother unmolested if he can shoot her. Young or
moulting ducks are easily caught and make very good eating, and
are no doubt a delightful change from the usual course of fish. One
of the Moravian brethren spoke to me with great gusto of the de-
lights of an omelet made of eider's eggs. ( So fishermen are not the
only sinners.) "The Esquimaux procure," he said, "from two to
three hundred eggs of all kinds for them every spring." When I
asked if he had noticed any diminution in the number of birds, he
replied that he had not. My companion remarked to me sotto voce :
"He'll never miss the water, "til the well runs dry." (Townsend:
op. cit.)

The Eider (Soiiiateria drcsseri) is still found
EIDER DUCK, plentifully on the eastern and northern sections

of the Labrador coast ; but on the southern sec-
tion it is not found abundantly, as the fishermen have been indis-
criminate in their slaughter of what is a valuable asset. "They are
actually killing the goose that lays the golden egg.'' In Norway
and Iceland, the eider, instead of being slain, is ofifered every pro-
tection and encouragement, for the sake of its eggs and for the
down which the female plucks from its breast as a covering for the
eggs. The people are not allowed even to fire ofT guns near its
haunts, and in some localities meeting-places are contrived for its
accommodation. As a consequence, the bird becomes very tame, and
the eggs and down, which are taken under intelligent oversight, are
the source of considerable profit, without causing any diminution in
the stock of birds. If the people of Labrador could be made to
understand this, a new industry would arise, and the American
eider, instead of being a vanishing race, would again populate the
numerous islands along the southern coasts of the peninsula."
(Townsend.)

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

205

The Pied, or Labrador Duck {Coniptolaimns labradorius), no
longer exists on the coast ; and it is said that it became extinct some
twenty-five vears as^o.

BLACK DUCK.
Run.

This variety (Anas obscitra, Gmel) is not
common on the coast ; but it is sometimes
found in Hamilton Inlet and near Domino

KING EIDER

abundantlv in

The King Eider (Soniateria spectabilis) is also

rare; but is reported by Townsend, 1907. The

Greenland Eider ( Somateria liorealis) is found

the northern sections. Dr. Townsend reports

LIVEYERES.

("Along- the Labrador Coast") the following long list for one after-
noon, in the neighborhood of Alulta : "This afternoon we count
some forty razor-bill auks, or tinkers, their little black wings moving
with great rapidity, and besides these, twelve of the large loons, three
red-throated loons, one hundred and sixty-five black guillemots,
four glaucous gulls, one great black-headed gull, six herring gulls,
one hundred and two kittiwakes, two Pomarine jaegers, thirty-two
Greenland eider-duck, one king eider, and sixty white-winged
scoters."

The Diver (Urinator Iiinime) is found plentifully; and occasion-
ally north of Domino I have seen thousands. It is known locally
as the "Wabby."

2o6 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Puffins, or, as they are called in the Strait of
THE PUFFIN. Belle Isle, "Paroqueets," (Fratercula arctica),
abound in the vicinity of Paroqueet Island, on
the east side of Bradore Bay. They are found here in myriads ; and
they were seemingly as plentiful at the time of Cartier's first voy-
age, as he named the island "Isle aux Oiseaux." They are found
abundantly along the east coast; but "Paroqueet Island" seems to be
their favorite haunt. Puffins are remarkable specimens of the feath-
ered tribe, both in shape and other characteristics. They burrow
in the soft red sand-stone of "Paroqueet Island," like rabbits. Car-
tier mentions this characteristic. They have large red bills, and
grey eye-rings, and the dark band around the neck gives them a
singular appearance. I have seen thousands along the shore of the
island ; and so tame, that fishermen make dreadful havoc among
them. Puffins are not very desirable birds to take on board the
fishermen's boats, as they are usually swarming with vermin.

The Murr (Uria lunnna) belongs to the same group as the puf-
fin, and is found plentifully everywhere along the south and east
coasts. It is somewhat smaller than the puffin, and not so repulsive
in its habits.

This is the local name for the Guillemot (Cephus
THE TURR. g^ylls), and it occurs plentifully in all the eastern
bays and "bights" along the coast. It is some-
times called "salt-water pigeon," and this name was doubtlessly
suggested by its peculiar habit of bobbing its head in dabbling at the
water, as the pigeon bobs its head in walking. (Townsend.)

"Murrs and Turrs" are always associated with the fall "gun-
ning-time."

The Sheldrake is apparently what is lo-
THE SHELDRAKE, cally known by fishermen as the "shell-
bird," and it is found very abundantly
both on the east and the northern coasts of the peninsula.

The Sea-dove or Dovekie {AUe alle, Linn)
THE DOVEKIE. is seen at all points of the coast. It is known
to fishermen as "bull-bird."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 207

The Plover (Aegitialitis semipalmata, Caban)
THE PLOVER, is found along the strands on the south and
east coasts. It is locally known as "beach*
bird."

The name of this family is legion both on the coast of

GULLS. Newfoundland and on Labrador. Nearly every head-
land has its "Gull Island," and every settlement a "Gull
Pond."

The Ivory Gull (Pagophila alba), locally known as "Ice-Par-
tridge," is found in the northern sections, and is always suggestive of
the ice-floe. During the sealing voyage it frequents the "pans," and
sealers capture it by laying a "gly" or bait on the ice. It is very
voracious when seeking food, and it is said that many birds are
killed by contact with the ice in their eagerness to secure the "gly."

The Burgomaster, or Arctic Gull (laurus glaucus), is found
abundantly in the eastern bays of the coast ; and in Blackguard and
Kaipolok Bays. I have seen thousands during the month of Sep-
tember. The Herring Gull (Laurus argcntatus smithsonius) is also
abundant, especially during the latter part of July and the early part
of August. Its presence is, so fishermen tell me, an indication that
bait is in the neighborhood, usually herring or caplin.

The Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is known to fishermen as
"Tickelelse" ("Ticklers"). The name is said to be derived from
the fact that these birds are found around the shore and in the
mouths of harbors and "tickles." I am not sure that this is the cor-
rect origin ; but it is given as such.

"Tinker" is the name by which the Rasor-biH

THE TINKER, auk is known to fishermen. It resembles the

puffin, but is somewhat larger. It sits bolt

upright on the rocks, and in the water has a habit of cocking its tail.

It is found in the Straits of Belle Isle and on southern Labrador,

especially Lewis' Bay.

"Hagdons," the name by which the Sheanvater
HAGDONS. (Puffiuus Gravis) is known, are found plentifully
along the southern coast of Labrador; and fisher-
men consider them harbingers of "bad" weather.

2o8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Townsend says in connection with his trip to the coast : "The
flock of hagdons (in Lewis' Bay) extends for several miles, and we
venture to estimate the numbers at five thousand. It is but an esti-
mate, and I am inclined to think an underestimate. In this vast
throng, continually rising and skimming out to sea, only three
'sooty' shearwaters can be seen. All the rest are 'greater' shear-
waters. The three look as black as crows in comparison with their
white and grey relatives."

These shearwaters are interesting birds, and it is only of com-
paratively recent years that they have been understood. Although
July is our midsummer, it is with them midwinter, but not of "their
discontent," if one may judge by their graceful, happy flight. They
breed in the southern hemisphere, near the antarctic regions, and
come north across the equator to spend their winter-summer with
us. Somewhat smaller than the herring-gull, their tapering, cigar-
shaped boclies, long and narrow, clipper-built wings give them grace
and speed that cannot be attained by gulls. With outstretched and
almost motionless wings, slightly decurved, they glide over waves,
following them so closely that one momentarily expects to see the
birds disappear in the foam. All their motions on the wing are
graceful in the extreme. In former times when bait was scarce,
fishermen used to catch them with a hook as they crowded about
their boats, strip off their skins, and chop them into small pieces.
They are good eating when skinned, and free from fat. ' The land
birds of Labrador are not numerous ; but the hunter may find suffi-
cient variety to tempt him to the wilds.

Two varieties of Grouse are reported from the coast,
GROUSE, the "Canada" Grouse (Dendragapns Canadensis,
Linn) and the "Ruffed" Grouse (Bonasa umbellus
t Ogata, Linn).

The former, which is also known as "Spruce Partridge," is very
abundant ; and it is found throughout the wooded district and in the
semi-barrens. Hind ("Explorations") reports grouse as very abun-
dant in the western sections of the peninsula, and wonderfully tame.
He says : "When we came upon a covey we gave it a sudden start,
w^hich made the birds fly up into the surrounding trees. A rod was
then cut, to the end of which was fastened a noose. This was held

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 209

up close in front of the nearest bird, which generally darted its head
into the noose ; but if it did not do so, then the noose was passed
over the head, and by a sudden jerk the bird was brought to the
ground. In this way we went from one bird to another, and usually
secured all we saw that were in reach. Sometimes they are killed
with stones, and it is wonderful to see how tenaciously a bird will
sit, however near the stone will whiz past it, until it receives such a
blow as will knock it over."

The "Rufifed" variety occurs plentifully from the Straits of Belle
Isle to Hamilton Inlet, especially where there is a large birch growth.
It is known to settlers as "French Hen," or "Birch Partridge."

Two varieties of the Ptarmigan (Tennagiiit)
PTARAIIGAX. are found — the "Willow" (Lagopits lagopus,

Linn) and the "Rock" (Lagopus rupestris
Gm.) The former is exceedingly abundant in the North — the latter
is found plentifully on the treeless areas ; and Packard reports that
1,100 were killed by one family during the winter of 1863 in the
Straits of Belle Isle.

The bird which has always been regarded as the
CURLE\\\ special game bird of the coast of Labrador — the deli-
cious Curlczv {Niimcnius borcalis) is now rarely
seen. Some years ago curlews were found in myriads, espe-
cially on the southern and middle sections of Labrador; but
within recent years they are "few and far between." I was
told by a fisherman at Independent, in 1893, that some years
previously "curlews were like chicken in the neighborhood ; they
used to come and feed around the house. A man named Adams on
one occasion shot sixty in two 'draws.' " The author quoted above
(Packard) says: "On the loth of August, i860, we saw a flock of
curlew which may have been a mile long and nearly as broad; there
must have been in that flock four or five thousand. The sum total
of their notes sounded at times like the wind whistling through the
ropes of a thousand-ton vessel ; at others, the sound seemed like the
jingling of sleigh bells."

In 1893 I shot forty one afternoon near "Splitting-knife," north
of Indian Harbor.

2IO WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Fishermen tell me that now "you can't get a taste of curlew
anywhere." A recent visitor to the coast says : "The stories of
their former abundance I learned from fishermen along the coast.
. . . They told me that they always kept their guns loaded at
the fishing-stages, and shot into the great flocks as they wheeled
by, bringing down many a fat bird. About fifteen years ago they
diminished in numbers, and now perhaps a dozen or two, perhaps
none at all, are seen in a season. The tale is soon told; the places
that knew them once in countless multitudes shall know them no
more."

"Curiously enough, the fishermen do not attribute the decrease
of this splendid bird to the wholesale slaughter along the coast.
They are all imbued with the idea that the curlew troubled the far-
mers' cornfields in the States, and hence were poisoned. . . .
It has been suggested that the sudden falling off of these curlews
may have been because they were overwhelmed by a storm in their
long ocean trip south — some three thousand miles from Labrador
to the Antilles. It is certain, however, that incessant persecution
has had something to do with their diminution." (Townsend.)

It seems that the "Great Auk" (Aica
THE GREAT AUK. iiiipennis), or Gare-fozd, once frequented

the coast of Labrador. It certainly in-
habited the "Funk Islands," and other islets along the north coast of
Newfoundland centuries ago. In Cartwright's "Journal" we find
this record : "We were about four leagues from Groais Islands,
when we saw a snoza (vessel) sailing in for Croque. During a
calm, in the afternoon, Shuglawina went off in his kyak, in pursuit
of a penguin (the "Great Auk" was formerly known by this name).
He presently came within a proper distance of the bird, and stuck
his dart into it; but as the weapon did not enter a mortal part, the
penguin swam and dived so well that he would have lost both the
bird and the dart, had he not driven it near enough the vessel for
us to shoot it."

The last specimens of the Great Auk caught near the "Funks"
came into the possession of the late Bishop Field (of Newfound-
land), who forwarded one to Agassiz, the American Naturalist,
another to Professor Newton, of Cambridge, and the third ulti-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

211

mately reached the British Museum, where there is but one other
specimen, brought from the Orkneys, in 1812.

"Numerous bones of the great auk have been found on the Funk
Islands, and a careful search might discover many perfect skeletons."'

"The Great Auk was larger than a goose. Its wings were very
small, and not constituted for flight, but were admirable paddles in
the water, enabling the bird to move about more swiftly even than
the loon. The legs were extremely short, but powerful, and placed
so much posteriorly that, in resting on the rocks, the birds assumed
an upright attitude, the whole of the legs and toes being applied
to the surface. It was a native of the northern hemisphere, the
penguin being its relation in the southern. The causes of its ex-
terminatifin are not difficult to discover. Its short wings and pe-
culiar conformation rendered it helpless on land, while its flesh and
feathers were so valuable as to invite man's rapacity. There were
few suitable breeding places, and when these were invaded it coul 1
not flv elsewhere, and had no choice but to die." (Townsend.)

THE GREAT AUK.

"It must have been a curious sight, two hundred years ago, to
see these wild desolate islands of the north, their coasts literally
swarming with these strange birds, as they waddled slowly about in
an erect position, with their broad webbed feet and short wings,
resembling the flippers of a seal. They w^ere the connecting link
between the fish and the bird, partaking of the nature of both.
. . . Not only were the crews of fishing-vessels of those days in
the habit of consuming vast quantities of these birds afresh, but they
were accustomed to salt down tons of them for future use. The
merchants of Bonavista and other places were in the habit of salting

212 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

and selling them, in the winter season, instead of pork, to the fisher-
men. . . . It is not wonderful that, under such circumstances,-
the Great Auk has been completely exterminated and must now be
reckoned, like the Dodo, among the things 'that have been.' " (Har-
vey, "Newfoundland.")

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 213

CHAPTER XXV

IN THE STRAITS OF BELLE ISLE.

"Where like snow the gannet's feathers

On Bradore's rocks are shed
And the noisy murr are flying,

Like black scuds overhead."

Whittier, "The Fishermen."

Newfoundland fishermen occasionally make incursions into Ca-
nadian territory, and sometimes "runs the gantlet" by escaping the
payment of licenses. Some venturesome early birds go to Harring-
ton and the Mecatina Islands {vidgo: "The Mecadines") before the
Canadian cruisers reach the coast, and secure good fares ; but those
who fish in Canadian waters at a later date invariably conform to
regulations of the Dominion.

Several Newfoundland Planters have "rooms" on Canadian terri-
tory ; and these, of course, are obliged to pay duties on all supplies
brought from home. To obviate this handicap, however, nearly all
requisites for the fishing industry are nowadays purchased in
Canada.

The westernmost location of New-
BONNE ESPERANCE. foundlanders is Bonne Esperance, sit-
uated at the mouth of the Esquimaux
River. Here the !\Iessrs. Whitely, of St. John's, conducts a large fish-
ing business. Whitely's "room" is located on historically interesting
territory, as here, in early days, occurred many bloody encounters
between the Escjuimaux and the Montagnais Indians, who finally
became masters of the situation.

The last Esquimau seen in these parts was an old lady familiarly
known as "Mother Goddard," who died at Esquimaux Point, in
1879. This good dame was a full-blooded specimen; and it is said
that she could handle a gun and kill seals as readily as any "white"
of the sterner sex.

214

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Bonne Esperancc is still visited by small bands of the nomadic
Montagnais ; and 1 once visited their encampment. It was from
the chief of this band that I acquired so many interesting data con-
cerning the habits and mode of life of these "children of the wild."

Another large fishing establishment is located
SALMON BAY. about three miles to the eastward of Bonne

Esperance ; it is called Salmon Bay locally ;
but it is really a portion of Bay St. Paul. This entire section origi-
nally formed part of the seignenrie of Sieur Amador Godefroy de

WHITELY S RO<:)M AT BONNE ESPERANCE.

Saint Paul, which consisted of five leagues of territory on each side
of the Esgniuianx Rk'cr. This concession was granted by the King
of France to the seigneur de Saint Paul for the purpose "of fishing
for cod, whales, seals, porpoises, and others." We still find a re-
minder of this ancient grant in the settlement of "Five Leagues,"
which lies about four miles to the eastward of Caribou Island.

The "room" at Salmon Bay is owned by the firm of Job Brothers,
of St. John's, and is one of best equipped establishments on the
coast. Some years ago a large Fertilizer Plant was erected within
the precincts of the "room" ; but financial disaster, due, it is said, to
incompetent management, caused its suspension after two or three
years' operation.

From Salmon Bay eastward my first missionary tour was made

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 215

in a yacht which the genial Captain Blandford had helped to outfit.
As I was unacquainted with the shoals and reefs of the Straits, I
secured the services of an old Frenchman, as pilot, whose knowledge
of English was limited to sundry "cuss words," but whose knowl-
edge of the navigation of the Straits was declared to be la meilleure
possible. This, unfortunately, as I subsequently learned to my cost,
was also very imperfect. Pierre's dominant accomplishments were
his relentless persecution of our little cook, Barney, and his weak-
ness for "whisky blanc," of which he surreptitiously obtained a
plentiful supply at our various stopping-places along the coast.
Pierre was extremely devout when he had imbibed freely, and when
it was stormy.

SALMON i^AV, STRAITS UF UliLLE ISLE.

Our objective point, after leaving Salmon
BELLES AMOURS. Bay, was Belles Amours (the local fish-
ermen term it Belsey More), about eight
miles to the eastward. After spending the greater part of a very
pleasant morning in the exploration of "Old Fort Island," we reached
our destination just as the sun went down; but we had barely
moored our little craft when a dense fog came in from the south-
east, and wath it an immense "jam" of floe-ice.

This sudden oncoming of floe-ice is a singular phenomenon ; and
it disappears as rapidly as it comes. Fishermen hereabouts declare

2i6 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

that the ice "sinks." Be this as it may, I have seen the Straits
almost entirely covered with ice at sundown ; and on the morning
following not a pan was visible. Large quantities of silt (fishermen
call it grout) and small boulders are sometimes seen on these floes in
early spring; and this possibly suggests the sinking theory. The
movement of the floe is very rapid ; and I once had an experience in
this line such as I would not wish to have duplicated. I was return-
ing one Sunday from Bradore in a seine-boat, and after rounding
Long Point we were "nipped" between the floe and a "growler."
We had a very narrow escape ; and the skiff was out of commis-
sion for several days.

In the vicinity of Belles Amours the coast is rough and precipi-
tous. Some miles inland, to the northeast, the Laurentian Chain,
capped by the Buttes of Bradore, rises to a height of nearly fifteen
hundred feet. At the head of the harbor there is a small glacis, in
which is located a substantial fishing-room, owned by the Buckle
family, who have been here for generations.

Snow still lingered in the ravines ; but there were signs of vegeta-
tion. Notwithstanding the rigors of the climate, vegetables are suc-
cessfully cultivated, and the marshes produce quantities of proven-
der which might, I fancy, be profitably utilized.

The one and only cow on the coast was seen here.

In the rear of the settlement is a magnificent "waterfall," and be-
yond there are innumerable pools abounding in speckled beauties.

We had not time to ply the rod, and, after a two-days' sojourn,
we were released from the ice-prison and started for Greenly Island,
which lies a few miles to the south-east.

Greenly Island (Isle Verte) is made up
GREENLY ISLAND, of two hillocks joined by a plateau, on

either side of which is a cove. Both
coves are frequented by fishermen from Newfoundland.

In the roadstead, on the east side, we found nearly a hundred
schooners of every conceivable type and class. There were nu-
merous old "hookers" (man-traps), western-boats, ancient fore-and-
afters, and some trim two-topmast schooners from Bonavista Bay.
We anchored close aboard of one of these schooners ; and next morn-
ing I began the visitation of the fleet. I first visited the schooner

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 217

— , belonging to Newton, Bonavista Bay, and inquired for

the "Skipper." "He's aft, sir," was the answer to my inquiry. I
went aft, and was accosted most respectfully by a hale specimen of
manhood, in shirt-sleeves, apparently not more than twenty years
old. "I am the Skipper, sir; won't you come down below and have

some dinner?" This was the well-known Captain , whose

success as a fisherman and sailor has been phenomenal. The Cap-
tain informed me he had secured a "load," and would leave for
home in the morning; and would likely "go to Chidley for a second
trip."

Presumably, the cheap scribblers who write such rubbish about
Labrador and the fishers, never come in contact with such types as
these.

Greenly has the reputation of being an uncanny place; and it has
often been visited by dreadful storms. A storm, in 1847, wrecked
thirty-five vessels; and within recent years there have been serious
losses. There is no harbor within reach, and the oncoming of a
breeze is always a source of anxiety.

Directly north of Greenly is Paroqueet Island {Isle aiix Oiseaux
of the early navigators), where Cartier found "crows with red
beaks, and red feet, which make their nests in holes under the
ground like conies." These were Puffins, and they are seemingly
as plentiful to-day as when the Breton mariner hoisted over the
island the drapeau of the King of France. A few cables' length
from Paroqueet Island is the site of the ancient town of Brest, de-
scribed in a former chapter.

One mile and a half east of Paroqueet lies
LONG POINT. Long Point, which forms the northwestern

entrance to the Straits of Belle Isle. The set-
tlement is located on the outer rim of a sandy beach, which is
fringed by a stunted growth of alders and willows. In early days
the ridge northeast of the settlement was covered with large timber ;
but this has long since disappeared.

Long Point was at one time a large fishing-post; and a planter
named Hamilton, of New Carlisle, carried on an extensive trade
with the settlers. To-day it is a tumble-down creek whose only
occupants are a few French families, presumably descendants of the

2i8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

old colons. At a short distance from the settlement there is a small
Mission Church, which is now attended by the Eudist Fathers from
Tahaticre. Formerly a missionary resided at Uanse des dunes
(anglicized, Linscy Din), and a school was maintained by some
benevolent French-Canadian. I am not aware that the settlers have
now any such educational advantages as their near neighbors at
Barrachois, on the other side of the boundary-line, enjoy.

A short distance east of Long Point there
STONE'S GULCH, is a singular creek, known as "Stone's
Gulch." The "Gulch," which gets its name
from a Catalina fishemian (Joseph Stone), is one of the many
geological curiosities found on the Labrador Coast. It is presumably
a huge furrow hollowed out of the gneiss rock by a glacier; and
the evidences of the Titanic forces which gouged it out are indelibly
fi.xed on its polished sides. The creek is barely large enough to
accommodate one fishing schooner.

Close by the "Gulch" is a little headland known as "Lazy Point."
This appellation is evidently a euphuism, as the French nomen-
clature suggests an insect of a very democratic nature, which i=
familiar to many who, like myself, have occupied a "bunk" in one
of the houses or have done missionary work in the Straits of Belle
Isle. The French name is "Point a Pou."

After a two weeks' tour in the west we
BLANC SABLON. reached Blanc Sahlon towards dusk, and

everybody was busy. "Carteel-boats" (fish-
barges) were arriving hourly, laden to the gunwales with fish from
Greenly Island. Fish had "struck in" that morning; and seines
were reaping an abundant harvest. Next morning I visited my little
flock at Barrachois — the little French settlement "across the river."
This "river," by the way, was a little dribbling brook about two
yards wide. Everything in the form of a stream is termed a river
by these northern folk. During my absence la grippe had wrought
havoc amongst the population ; and many of the older members
were loud in their denunciation of the et rangers (the Newfoundland
fishermen) who had brought this affliction upon them. I had great
difficulty with one old lady, who almost became insane through her

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

2ig

antipathy towards the proprietor of the "room," whom she termed
"un enfant dii diable" — not a very flattering epithet, surely.

The Barrachois folk have always regarded the Newfoundland
fishermen as intruders upon their territory ; and perhaps they are, as
some of these Barrachois families are descendants of the settlers of
the old regime. Previous to the invasion by the Newfoundlanders,
the people of Barrachois were not hampered by customs and other
restrictions ; and the trader furnished them w^ith all manner of

A TRAP.

things from Quebec. Since the establishment of a revenue ot^cer at
Blanc Sahlon the Canadian supplies are dutiable. This, of course, is
a serious matter for the habitant; and hence his undisguised an-
tagonism to Messieurs les Terreneiwicns.

Some venturesome Barrachovians do business at Bradore, and
make nocturnal trips across the dunes to the Canadian stores.

After the epidemic of grippe had subsided I began the visitation
of the eastern section of the Straits ; and my first stopping-place
was Isle au Bois (Woody Island). This island is of peculiar shape,
and has an elevation of 170 feet. For what reason this island re-
ceived its name I have not been able to ascertain. There is hardly a
shrub to be seen there ; the vegetation is of the rankest kind. A
fisherman once told me that the island was so barren that one

220 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

'couldn't cut a thole pin for a rodney." This is a fisherman's ex-
pression for things diminutive. The island has a large fishing estab-
lishment, formerly owned by a Jersey merchant, but now in the
occupancy of the Messrs. Penney, of Carbonear. The "room" is in
reality a settlement, and is one of the largest and best-equipped con-
cerns on the coast.

My parishioners on the island were not "at home" at the time of
my visit ; they had gone on "a cruise" to Quebec — the Mecca of all
good Canadians.

During my visit I saw some very curious specimens of fishermen's
letters. Evidently the writers believed in phonetic spelling. Some
of them were very extraordinary ; but as my portfolio of curious
things met a fate similar to Carlyle's "French Revolution" some
years ago. the "gems" have disappeared.

One letter was addressed :

Jonese

Eily By
strets
care

Another was somewhat better ; it ran :

Josier

Oily Boy
Strets

There were others still more curiously addressed ; and the Isle
an Bois seems to present to Newfoundlanders orthographic difficul-
ties similar to those which Aix la Chapdlc ofiters to the average
Englishman.

Notwithstanding this primitive orthography, the mail-clerk on the
Labrador steamer seems able to locate the owner of the letter. Some
years ago a letter was received at one of Newfoundland post-ofiices
addressed :

]\Ir. James — ■

|000

Saint John's.

This letter was duly delivered to a policeman — the rightful ad-
dressee— at the police barracks, Fort Tozvnscnd.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 221

En route to L'anse a loup there are several settlements, some of
them of considerable importance.

X^earest to Isle on Bois is L'anse Eclair (St.
L'ANSE ECLAIR. Clair Bay), situated about four miles west
of Forteau Point. This creek is surrounded
by one of the most singular formations which I have ever seen. The
sea-wall- — for such it is — consists of Cyclopean slabs of rock set with
almost geometric regularity on a granitic foundation. Nomenclatur-
ists are not agreed as to the origin of the name of the settlement ;
but I am under the impression that the name is derived from the
clear water found there. Hence the correct name would be L'anse
a I'can eckiire. Near this creek is Square Cove, so called from its
shape. This, too, has a Cyclopean aspect. It was here that the
Elder-Dempster liner Mariposa stranded some years ago. whilst en
route to Liverpool from [Montreal.

DR. GRENFELL AT FORTEAU.

Forteau Bay lies four miles to the eastward of
FORTEAL\ L'anse eclair, and is regarded as the best roadstead

in the Straits of Belle Isle. The name Forteau
originated with the old French navigators, and it was doubtless sug-
gested by the strong tides found in this neighborhood. These tides
are very irregular, occasionally running in one direction at the rate

222 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

of five knots close to the shore, and in an opposite direction a short
distance ofif. Sometimes three distinct streams are met within a
distance of two miles; and the tide "rips" are of considerable
strength.

The bay is four miles wide; and on both sides the land rises in
terraces to hills nearly six hundred feet high. At the head of the
bay there is a splendid sandy beach, behind which the settlement is
located. This settlement was established by French fishermen at a
very early date ; but its commercial importance dates only from the
foundation of the Jersey firm of De Quettville, in 1795. In the
northeast corner of the bay, close by English Point, is a neat Angli-
can Church — the oldest on the Labrador coast. It was built in 1850,
by the Reverend Algernon Gifford. Adjoining the Church is a little
graveyard, which has many quaint and interesting inscriptions upon
the rude memorials which mark the last resting-place of many
hardy toilers of the deep.

At the southeast point of the .bay there is a "bight" known as
L'anse anx morts, so called, possibly, on account of the many wrecks
which have occurred in the neighborhood. This ''bight" is directly
northward of Pointe aii.v morts (improperly named by English
cartographers, Armour Point). In close proximity to the cape is a
singularly shaped promontory, known as the "Shallop" (a corrup-
tion of the French word chalonpe), owing to its resemblance to a
boat under sail. "Getting round the Shallop" is a very well-known
expression amongst fishermen who frequent the Straits ; and it is
sometimes a very hazardous job, as the tides are very rapid and
erratic in their ebb and flow. In foggy weather navigation is very
difiicult; and not many years ago an English warship, "The Lily,"
was lost at Armour Point.

Forteau is very picturesque, and it has some splendid attractions
for the \\^altonian. Forteau Brook has been for many years the
favorite fishing resort for the officers of H. M. warships. There
are several salmon pools within easy reach of the head of the har-
bor. It has been asserted by certain historians that "the last battle
between the warlike Esquimaux and the Montagnais Indians was
fought in the neighborhood of Forteau." The only evidence adduced
in proof of this assertion is the "finding here some years ago of a
huge mound of human bones." Here, possibly, was fought one of

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

223

many battles which occurred between these tribes; but it is prac-
tically certain that the last battle between them was fought at Battle
Harbor.

We had some difficulty negotiating the "Shallop" en route to
L'ausc a huf. and we arrived at our destination in the face of a
terrific storm. We received a kindly welcome from Air. Watson,
the agent of the "room," and soon forgot the terrors of the gale.

The "room" is located at Schooner Cove. This is a very old estab-
lishment, and was originally operated by Jerseymen. It is now-
owned and operated by Job brothers, of St. John's.

^^1

wK^^^-*^'-'

^r 1^ 1 if* "' '*■' ""^ *~-*'*'^'-'.1

flflHi^fli

' '^'^^^^■i^Him^i^i

A TRAP SKIFF.

The bay in which L'ansc a hup is situated
L'ANSE A LOUP, is about one and a quarter miles wide, and
one and a half miles deep. On either side
are high table-lands of sandstone, covered with moss and rank vege-
tation. The settlement is located at the bottom, fronted by a fine
sandy beach. A large river, which is navigable for some distance,
lies a little to the northeast of the little cluster of houses which
constitute the settlement.

Here I found quite a number of parishioners ; and here, too, I
made my first acquaintance with the malodorous insect of the genus
Cimex, whose unattractive form and habits need no description. I
also had some members of my parish at the Light-house at Armour
Point, whom I visited on several occasions.

224 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

After a Sunday at L'anse a hup we
L'ANSE AU DIABLE. started for L'anse ati Diable (vulgo

"Nancey Jawble") : it is well named.
Whether his Satanic Majesty had anything to do with giving it the
name, history sayeth not; but it is an uncanny place. Some mis-
sionary has termed it "a colony of bugs, dirt, and desolation." The
settlement lies in a little glacis, under the shadow of the "Battery" —
the singular red-sandstone formation which is not unlike the Pali-
sades of the Hudson. There were only two parishioners in this sec-
tion; but circumstances necessitated a sojourn of two days, amid
surroundings which were in nowise attractive.

An hour's run from L'anse au Diable brought us
PINWARE. to JVcst St. Modest e ("The Tickle"), which lies
at the western entrance to Pinware Bay. "The
Tickle" is a small channel which lies between a small bare island and
the mainland. It is frequented by fishermen from Carbonear; and
is a rendezvous for Canadian traders. This is a unique little settle-
ment; and its people are very enterprising. Some years ago I saw
here some splendid specimens of hand-made carpet, the best I have
ever seen. The designs were most artistic ; and one could hardly
believe that such splendid articles were made from "pound-cotton,"
and colored with "Diamond dyes."

Pinzvare is two miles north of the "Tickle," near Ship Head, and
is one of the most populous settlements in the Straits. It possesses
a neat Catholic Church, a Mission Residence, and a school. It has
no resident priest, but is visited, during the summer months, by a
priest from Harbor Grace, and during the winter it is attended by
a Eudist Father from Tabatiere or Long Point. Here is found the
finest "Strand" on the coast of Labrador. It is nearly two miles in
length, and consists of a beautiful sea-margin of gray sand, fringed
with a luxuriant growth of wild pea (Lathynis paluster) and vetch
(Astrahgus alpinns). At the eastern extremity of the "Strand" is
a large salmon-post, which has been in the occupancy of the same
family for half a century. Game is abundant in the rear of the set-
tlement ; and Pimvare River is teeming with salmon. This river is
navigable for some distance; the pinnace of H. J\I. S. Charybdis
entered it, in 1904, and found eight feet of water for the first mile,
after which the water shoaled and became rapid.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 225

Several explanations of the name Pinn'arc are offered by nomen-
claturists ; one writer derives it from Pied Noir. The word is, I
think, simply a corruption of Baie Noire (Black Bay). Everybody
who is conversant with habitant French knows that the termina-
tion oir is pronounced ere. Soir, e. g., is invariably rendered as if
written Szi'are, in English. Hence the transition from Baic Noire
to Pinware. to me. at least, is easy.

Some of the most delightful days I have ever spent were passed
at this little settlement ; and I can never forget the kindness of its
people.

Two islands lying at the southeastern point of Pin-
SE]\IEDIT. ware Bay are known locally as Seuicdit, presumably

another (iallic rendering of Saint Modestc. Thev
are named Siiiii iiirdit on the maps of the old French navigators.
The islands are now set down as Nelly Island and Lily fslan.d.
named after the (laughters of a pioneer English settler. These
islands arc low and bare, and offer no shelter to vessels coasting in
the Straits. The}- were formerly important fishing places. ])ut are
now rarely visited except liy "jack" fishermen.

Carrol Cove, which lies about five miles to
CARROL CO\"E. the eastward of Semedit, was also presum-
ably a French settlement in former days. It
is said that the name is an anglicized form of the French Ouerelle,
and it derived its appellation from an incident which occurred there
during the old regime. This seems somewhat far-fetched ; but si
non c ver e hen troz'ato.

Carrol Cove has a population of about fifty people, who eke out
an existence by salmon-fishing.

We had several duties to perform here ; and were detained two
davs.

We then left, under rather unfavorable weather
RED BAY. conditions for Red Bay. We had hardly cleared

the southeast point of the cove when a dense fog
enveloped us. It was impossible to put back, and we made ready for
a "bad time."

226 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

After battling with the elements for nearly three hours my pilot,
whose acquaintance with the navigation of the Straits was la meil-
Icure possible, informed me that he had lost his "bearings" (not only
his nautical '"bearings," but his physical "bearings" as w^ell ; he was
hors de combat with grog). Here was a most awkward predica-
ment, as a very heavy sea was running, night was fast approaching ;
and the wind "she blow lak hurrican' ; bimeby she blow some more."
Aided by our little cook, I managed to "stitch a reef in the main-
sail" and we headed for the land. Suddenly an immense comber
boarded us amidships, drenching us to the skin, and filling the cabin.
This aroused 2^1. Pierre from his lethargic condition (he had had a
bad dousing with salt water), and his first utterance was a scream,
followed by a vociferous ejaculation: Mon Dieu, Mon Dicii; nous
soinDics pcrdiis! Just then the fog lifted, and we sighted the lan-
tern light on Saddle Island; we were soon at anchor near Penney's
"room" at Red Bay.

This is a safe, commodious harbor, consisting of two inlets, one of
which is known as the "Basin."

Red Bay derives its name from the red syenitic hills which sur-
round it, one of w-hich, known as "Tracy Hill," which overlooks the
entrance, being 600 feet high. On the eastern side there is a conical
formation on whose summit there are several conspicuous boulders.

The settlement is located at the eastern side of the harbor, and
consists of twenty-five or thirty houses. A neat ]\Iethodist Church
is situated on the crest of the hill ; and nearby are the parsonage and
a school. Here also is a "Co-operative store" conducted under the
auspices of the M. D. S. F.

Within the "Basin" there is another village — the winter quarters
of the resident population. It is situated at the foot of a wooded
mountain, which protects it from the chill northern blasts, and is very
picturesque.

Our sojourn at Red Bay was brief, as there were no members of
my parish amongst the fisher folk ; and in the early morning, as soon
as we had effected repairs to our little craft (we had sustained con-
siderable damage in the storm of the previous evening) we started
on the "long run" to Chateau, some twenty miles to the eastward.
The coast-line in this section is indented by several bays — Black
Bay, Fry's Cove, Barge Bay and Wreck Bay ; but there are no set-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 227

tlements. A few fishing tilts are found in the bays, which are mere
"shehers" for trap-crews during the fishing season. The land in
this vicinity is of grim, forbidding aspect, of reddish hue ; and the
formation is chiefly syenitic.

We had a splendid run to York Point, the western entrance to
Chateau Bay; and here "every prospect pleases." Away to the south-
east lav BcUc Isle, its base wreathed in the morning mist ; eastward
was the "Devil's Dining Table," and beyond was the open sea
"fresh as the trickling rainbow of July."

Noon found us in Chateau Bay — the noblest

CHATEAU BAY. fiord on southern Labrador. It was here
that Cartier first set foot on the shores of
La Nonvelle France, in 1534: and here were enacted some of the
most stirring scenes in the history of the fisher's land. Chateau
Bay has within its borders the settlements of Chateau, Henley,
Pitt's Arm and Antelope Tickle, all of which are reminiscent of the
(Icuighty deeds of "makers of empire."

The settlement of Chateau, which was founded by Cartier, in
1534, and later became the home of hundreds of French colons, is
to-day a tumble-down fishing hamlet with a summer population of
ten or twelve families. Only four families reside here during the
winter; and these will soon cross over to the Newfoundland shore,
and locate at Bay of Ishvids.

Chateau was formerly an important business centre ; and the firm
of Noble and Pinson did an extensive business in the latter part of
the eighteenth century. Hardly a vestige now remains of its former
prosperity.

The harbor is situated in a little cove, and is decidedly picturesque.
Immense hills, whose summits are hoary with arctic growths, look
down upon it from every side. "Beacon Hill," at whose base it
nestles in peaceful loveliness, has an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet.
The outlook from this vantage point is "a panorama of shifting
grandeur."

Near the hillside is a ruined graveyard, v/here numerous inscrip-
tions "carved by the unlettered muse" record the life story of its
early settlers.

228 WHERE THE EISHERS GO.

Antelope Tickle, which lies on the east
ANTELOPE TICKLE, side of the bay, derives its name from

the British sloop-of-war which pa-
trolled this section of the "King's Dominions" when the American
colonies were in revolt against the motherland.

In 1780, the Antelope, whilst patrolling the Labrador and New-
foundland coasts, overhauled the American packet Mercury, having
on board Lawrence, the i\merican envoy to Europe. As the vessels
came to close quarters Lawrence threw overboard from the Mercury
a packet. A sailor from the Antelope dived from the deck of his
ship and rescued the packet, which contained the secret negotiations
then being conducted between America and the Netherlands.

The name Henley is applied to a harbor and the
HENLEY, island under whose shadow the harbor rests. At the
time of our visit it was crowded with small
schooners, and it appeared to me under almost the same conditions
as those so graphically described by a former visitor. (Dr. Pack-
ard.)

As we entered the harbor the scene was unique; the harb(jr had
been packed with ice some days previously, and remnants were still
stranded along the shore. The outlines of some of these clumps
were beautiful ; many of them were painted with green tints while
the sun was high ; but later in the afternoon the greens were suc-
ceeded by bright azure blues, contrasting with the almost cobalt
blues of the distant Laurentian hills. The entrance to the harbor is
very interesting, the sea-cliffs being over two hundred feet high,
while behind were the peculiar outlines of the Laurentian hills, rising
in long swells like whales' backs to the height perhaps of five or six
hundred feet.

Pitfs Arm is by far the best harbor in Chateau

PITT'S ARM. Bay. It is about a mile deep and from half to

three-quarters of a mile wide, is roomy and well

sheltered. The harbor was named by Governor Palliser, in 1767,

after William Pitt — che first Earl of Chatham.

Palliser built here the fort — "Fort Pitt' — whose ruins are still
visible, though they are being fast obliterated by an overgrowth of
alders and willows.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 229

The fort was erected in order to protect the Esquimaux and
other British subjects in this portion of the "King's Dominions"
against the predatory incursions of the French and the Montagnais
Indians who frequently harassed the settlers on this part of the coast.
Fort Pitt was at one time the temporary residence of Governor
Palliser, and he issued several remarkable Proclamations from his
Labrador headquarters.

The following was issued in 1767:

"By His Excellency Hugh Palliser,

"Whereas the woods are frequently set on fire upon this coast by
the crews of whaling vessels from the plantation, and the same is
an offence against the Statutes loth. and nth. of William III, and
is equally prejudicial to the public, whether done wilfully or negli-
gently, notice is hereby given that, if any persons by any means
whatsoever shall set fire to any of the woods within my Govern-
ment, they will be apprehended and brought to Saint John's to be
tried for such offence against the said Statutes.

"Given at Pitt's Arm, Labrador, 23d. July, 1737.

"Hugh Palliser.

"By His Excellency's command.

"James Horsnail."

Fort Pitt was besieged by the American privateer Minerva, in
1778; and bombarded by the French, in 1796. The garrison fired
the fort, and retreated into the country. It was never rebuilt.

Towering in lonely majesty above
DEVIL'S DINING TABLE, the harbor is the precipitous, ba-
saltic cliff' of the "Devil's Dining
Table," which caps Henley Island. The island is a mass of colum-
nar basalt rising to an elevation of 225 feet.

As we had no ministerial work to occupy us we made the ascent
to the "Dining Table." The task was arduous ; but on reaching the
summit one is amply repaid, as the panorama outstretched to your
gaze is sublime. Southward lies Belle Isle, and in the near fore-
ground is an iceberg whose form recalls a castellated keep of mediae-
val times. Beyond is the broad Atlantic — "old ocean's vast and

230 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

melancholy waste" — dotted with the snowy sails of craft bound
north to the haunts of the festive cod. At your feet nestles the har-
bor, literally alive with fishermen.

As the afternoon waned the atmosphere became hazy, and then
suddenly it cleared. "Whether his Satanic Majesty was concerned
in the transformation we do not say ; but as the sun went down in
a blaze of glory, the mountains and rocks seemed to dwarf; an in-
describable tint o'erspread the landscape, and a brownish mist came
in from the sea and settled over the hills, giving them a sinister
appearance."

Sed rcvocari gradus; hie labor, hoc opus est. Really Virgil must
have had such a place as this in mind when he set his stylus to in-
scribe this phrase ; for the descent from the "Devil's Dining Table"
was more difficult than the ascent. We succeeded in reaching the
base of the cliff without any mishap ; but the low mutterings of
the pilot would not bear transcription.

Just a little to the north of Henley Island
GREVILLE'S FORT, may be seen the ruins of an old fort,

about which very little of a definite na-
ture can be ascertained. It is called "Fort Greville," and some
writers assert "that it was built to protect the Acadian colony of
Labrador from the attacks of the Esquimaux." This cannot be
verified, for the simple reason that "no Acadian colony settled on
the coast of Labrador previous to 1843." ^^^ that date some families
located at Natashquan, farther up the gulf. The fort near Henley
was possibly erected by an old planter named Greville. about 1725,
as at that date there was a large colony of Bretons in the vicinity of
Chateau.

The only instance of religious fanaticism of
FANATICISM, which there is any record occurred at Flenley

Harbor, in 1884. The Church yacht, "Star of
the Sea," having on board the Rev. T. E. Lynch — the missionary
doing duty on the coast for the season — anchored there one evening
in July, and during the night some miscreants came on board and
besmeared the deck, sails and cabin with a slimy mixture whilst the
crew were asleep. True, sectarian feeling ran high amongst the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 231

fishing colony in Newfoundland at the time ; but this act was un-
worthy of fishermen.

The residents of Henley were not party to this unseemly trans-
action, and tendered to the good father and his crew an apology
early next morning.

During our visit to Henley we were the recipients of the most
lavish kindness on the part of both "liveyeres" and transients ; and
when we were leaving the harbor they gave us quite a "send ofif."
Our next port of call was Chifitney Tickle, some ten miles to the
eastward.

The shape of this harbor presumably sug-
CHIIMNEY TICKLE, gested its name; but, though it seems

paradoxical, the place is sometimes called
"Hole in the ^^'all.'" Here we found three parishioners, salmon
catchers from Conception Bay, who were keeping "bachelors' hall."
Needless to say, the entourage of their "tilt" was not remarkable for
cleanliness. Here, after attending to the spiritual needs of these
"stray sheep," I had an opportunity to "whip the waters," and suc-
ceeded in landing several dozen splendid trout. The w^eight?
"That's another story." They were large; and my expedition seemed
to cause a great deal of amusement to some old fishermen, as I had
no bait — this was the first time they had seen an artificial fly. For
the benefit of Waltonians, I may say that the "Brown Hackle" is a
very excellent fly on certain parts of the coast.

We left Chimney Tickle with a flowing tide and
THE CAMPS, a "close-reef" breeze for the next "station" on
our itinerary — the Camp Islands, otherwise
know^n as the "Camps" ; and we arrived there during a busy "spurt."
Everybody was "as busy as can be" — so the patriarch of the settle-
ment informed us. Everybody "knocked off" early in the evening
to pay his respects to our humble self; and after the social ceremony
was over we had evening prayers and a little sermon at the house
of the patriarch. Next morning at four o'clock we held a "station,"
at which everybody assisted. The congregation was not large, num-
bering fourteen persons, all told, most of whom were members of
the household, in which I had my quarters. From the "Camps" to

232

WHERE TTTE FISHERS GO.

our next port — "Cape Charles" — was but a short trip, so we spent
a very pleasant time with mine host, who had taken a "day off" in
honor of the visit of the priest. The respect and veneration those
old people have for "the cloth" are truly very touching. During
the day I heard many quaint and racy stories of the "doin's of the
ole 'habitants" ; aud my diary received some very valuable additions
to its already crowded pages. The niodns dicendi of my old parish-
ioner was unique. The settlement at the "Camps" has a very inter-
esting history. It was once the rendezvous of the Frenchmen from
Croquc and St. Julieii; and several battcaux came across every sum-
mer to fish around Niger Sound and the Camp Island shoals.

This French fishery began presumably after 1763 (the date of the
Treaty of Paris) and continued till the early part of the last cen-
tury. At that time Newfoundlanders, who had been chased oft'
the so-called French shore, began to establish rooms on the upper
part of the coast, gradually moving to the northward.

ixDiAx co\"i-:, CAP1-: Charles.

The run to Cape Charles was a record for

CAPE CHARLES, our little craft ; but we experienced some

difficulty in rounding the "Fish Rock" (a

place with an evil reputation), as we were carrying too much sail.

Our old friend at the "Camps" had warned us about the "squalls

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 233

off the high land," but we did not realize the truth of the old fisher-
man's warning until we "tacked" to make Indian Cove.

Our arrival was the source of much speculation on the part of
the Covers ; but when they discovered " 'twas the clargy's boat,"
their curiosity was intensified. We had no difficulty in "makin'
fast" to a substantial stagehead. Several stalwarts came on board
to inspect the new arrival, much to the disgust of Pierre, who made
sundry very uncomplimentary remarks, in French, of course, about
"Ics salots:'' I was forced to administer a strong rebuke to my
Gallic factotum ; and he subsequently assumed a very penitential
m.ood.

The settlement of Cape Charles has a very interesting history.
It was founded by Nicholas Darby, in 1768, who held unrestricted
sway until the arrival of Cartwright, in 1778. Cartwright had
previously settled at Cliateau Bay, but his trading post was plundered
by the American privateer Minerva, whose pilot was one Dominick
Killen — one of Cartwright's servants. Cartwright's losses are said
to have reached the sum of fourteen thousand pounds. He then
moved to Cape Charles, and located at White Bear Bay, where the
ruins of Cartwright's establishment are still visible.

This establishment must have been very extensive, judged by
Labrador standards, as we learn from Cartwright's "Journal" that
his house "measured seventy-five feet by twenty-four, and contained
a kitchen twenty-four feet square, a dining room twenty-four by six-
teen, six bedrooms on the ground floor, for fear of fire."

There is now no large place of business at Cape Charles, but in
the neighborhood there is a whale factory, at "Antics' Cove," oper-
ated by Bowring Brothers, of St. John's.

The people of Cape Charles are a thrifty lot, and they supplement
their summer's earnings by "furring" during the winter months.
They move "up the bay," where wood is easily procurable, and the
caribou and other denizens of the forest roam wild and free.

There was little to be done in the way of clerical work at Cape
Charles, so we proceeded to Battle Harbor, through " 'Sizes' Harbor
Run" (this is the local designation for St. Charles' Channel). On
the west side of the "Run" is a famous waterway leading into Lewis'
Sound; this is known as "The Lodge." Whence the name is derived,
I have not learned.

234 ^ WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Assizes Harbor, or, as it is called by

ASSIZES HARBOR, fishermen, " 'Sizes' Arbor," which is en-
tered from the southward between Copper
and Hare Islands, is the greatest rendezvous on the coast. Nearly
every schooner going to the coast and returning "heaves up" or
anchors at "Sizes." A kind Providence seems to have so arranged
the coast of Labrador that vessels may find a "shelter" at the end
of every day's run. It is not unusual to find a hundred or more
craft here at one time. I have counted one hundred and twenty.

Assizes Harbor naturally suggests the judiciary; and there is no
history so brimful of episode and curiosities as the administration of
justice amongst the fishers in Newfoundland and its one and only
dependency — Labrador. If some literary disciple of Themis were to
give us in detail the records of the Newfoundland judiciary it would
be a more fascinating story than Montague Willianis' "Leaves from
a Life."

The Newfoundland judiciary was established in 1792, under the
title of: "The Court of Civil Jurisdiction of Our Lord, the King, at
Saint John's, Newfoundland."

Previous to the establishment of this court, justice seems to have
found no place in the colonial dictionary.

In early times "the power of preserving order and the repression
of crime" was vested by star chamber enactments in the merchants
and ship owners of the West of England ; thence it passed into the
hands of that unspeakable tyrant — the Fishing Admiral. As an
illustration of the iniquities of the ancient code, the following is
submitted :

"If a man stole to the value of forty shillings he was to be brought
to England, and the matter was to be tried by the Earl Marshal; and
if the fact was proved by two witnesses, the offender zvas to be put
to death.

The Fishing Admirals were "consummate knaves," and had little
respect for the dignity of justice. They held court on the quarter
deck of a fishing schooner or in a fish store, where an inverted
butter firkin served the purpose of a judicial seat. Their decisions
were regulated by the size of the bribe which the suitor could tender ;
and they inaugurated the process usually with a bowl of ealabogus
(a decoction of spruce beer and rum).

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

235

They invariably tried their own cases first, and, of course, usually
decided against the fisherman.

They fined, triangled and whipped at pleasure every unfortunate
who happened to fall within their clutches.

The Surrogates were not a whit more humane than the Fishing
Admirals, as the following records prove.

In 1777 the following sentence was pronounced upon Lawrence
Hallahan, who had been found guilty of forging a bill of £8 :

"That you be carried back to the place from whence you came, and
thence be led to the place of execution and there to be hanged
by the neck until you are Dead, Dead, Dead, and the Lord have
mercy on your soul."

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, ST. JOHN S.

Lawrence Dalton, for forging two orders of 20s. and 17s., received
a similar sentence ; and one Patrick Knowlan, for stealing" a counter-
pane valued at lod. (20 cents), received the following:

"That you be whipped by the common whipper with a halter
around your neck, that is to say, you are to receive on your bare
back twenty lashes at the common whipping post, then to be led

236 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

to the Publick Path and receive twenty lashes more, and then be
led by the halter as before to the X'ice-Admiral's Beach and receive
twenty lashes more ; to forfeit all your goods and chattels ; to pay
the charges of the Court, and to depart the island by the first
vessel bound for Ireland, never to return on pain of having the
same punishment repeated every Monday morning; to be kept in
prison until you go on board."

One of the magistrates who presided at this humane performance
was a minister of the gospel — Edward Langman.

In 1786 Prince William Henry, who later ascended the throne
as William IV^ exercised the function of Surrogate at Placentia;
and he ordered the whipping of an unfortunate fisherman whose
crime was a slight breach of the peace. The sentence was one hun-
dred lashes; but the victim succumbed after receiving eighty. Next
day his highness "inquired into the facts of the case, and discovered
he had condemned the zvrong man."

In 1 79 1 one William Pitcairn, at Placentia, was arraigned for
stealing a piece of pork, value one shilling, and two pieces of ham,
value tzvo pence. Pitcairn was condemned to receive thirty-six
stripes on the hare back and he and his family to be sent out of the
country. Some waggish writer remarks : "What would have hap-
pened to Pitcairn if he stole a barrel of pork or a whole ham !"

But it is not necessary "to search the records of the ancients" for
anomalous judicial happenings amongst the fisher folk; for within
our own recollection the "Supreme Court on Circuit" was known
as The Circus Court (so named, I believe, by a facetious member
of the legal fraternity, who might have added, quorum pars magna
fui).

In my early missionary days an itinerant justice adjudicated upon
a case from the window of a railway carriage. The hearing of the
case lasted three minutes — the time allotted for a train crossing;
and as the train pulled out of the station His Honor poked his head
through the window, and in very audible voice said to the con-
stable who w'as standing by : Officer, fine that beggar — ten dol-
lars, and tell him not to do it again" (the it was a breach of the
License Law).

Another case was decided by the same justice in quite a Sol-
omonic ( ?) manner.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

237

A friend of his had shot some partridges out of season; the judge
confiscated the game by inviting his friend to dinner, at which the
partridges were ptit in ezndencc, and washed down by copious
draughts of Amontillado and Newman's Port.

The Court of Labrador, whose first sittings were held at Assizes
Harbor, was established in 1826, and the first presiding judge was
William Patterson, Esq., R. X. There was really no serious business
for the attention of the court, and the only transactions of the first
sitting were the granting of some licenses to sell "Booze" and the
adjustment of some fishing accounts.

PARLIAMENT BUILDING, ST. JOHN

The Labrador Court was discontinued in 1833, as there was no
business to occupy its attention, and remained in abeyance until
1863, when the Local Legislature established "The Court of Limited
and Civil Jurisdiction." The last "Circuit" of the Labrador Court
was held in 1873. At the present time justice is administered on
the coast by J. P.'s; and these are as numerous as "Kentucky colo-
nels" in a neighboring country.

Grave ofifences are rare in the fisher's land, and only one case of
a serious nature has occurred within recent years.

238

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The frequenters of the coast are a phenomenally law-abiding
people, and there is perhaps no other country on earth where there
are fewer matters for adjustment by legal tribunals.

But rcvcnons a nos moutons: we did not remain long at Assizes
Harbor. We moved on to the metropolis of the coast — Battle Har-
bor, about four miles distant.

On arrival at Battle I met two clerical confreres — one of whom
had "done" the northern section, the other was going to winter in
the Straits.

I paid oft' my "crew," and awaited the arrival of the S. S. Con-
script, to proceed to pastures new in Newfoundland. Whilst await-
ing the arrival of the steamer I had ample time to further explore
Battle Harbor. (I had visited it before, but then my time was ex-
clusively occupied wuth mission work.)

OFF BATTLE HARBOR.

Battle Harbor is formed by the expan-
BATTLE HARBOR, sion of a "Tickle" between Battle and

Great Caribou Islands; the eastern en-
trance is not navigable for vessels, but the southernmost of the two
western approaches has sufficient depth of water for large steamers.
This entrance is narrow and sinuous, and the mail steamer on
berthing actually scrubs the cliff on the starboard side. The geo-
logical formation of this cliff is a scientific puzzle, as gneiss, syenite
and doleritic basalt are mingled promiscuously.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 239

The harbor is said to derive its name from a great battle fought
between the Esquimaux and Montagnais Indians. Here presumably
the Esquimaux made their last "stand" against their formidable
rivals on Southern Labrador. The "last battle" has been located
at several points in the Straits of Belle Isle ; but, from reliable data,
I think Battle Harbor is rightfully the claimant to this distinction.

It is certain that, even as late as 1857, there were several Esqui-
maux families in this neighborhood : from Bishop Field's "Journal"
we learn that in 1857 "the first Esquimaux were confirmed and ad-
mitted to communion at Battle Harbor."

An Esquimaux settlement existed at Fox Harbor, across Lezvis'
Sound in i860; but no Esquimaux (at least, none of the full-blooded
type) are now found south of Long Tickle.

Indian Cove, near Battle Harbor, had several half-breed families
amongst its population about 1865.

It was presumably from this neighborhood that Bishop Field
brought the young man Gibbons, who, after a very successful career
at King's College, Windsor, N. S., entered the ministry of the
Anglican Church. If I am well informed, he died at Parrsboro, in
1893.

BATTLE HARBOR ROOM.

The settlement of Battle Harbor is situated on a small rocky slope
on the west side of Battle Island, and it has a resident population of
about one hundred and fifty souls. It possesses a neat Anglican
church, a parsonage, a school, a hospital, and the "room" of Baine
Johnston & Co.. of St. John's. This "room" is one of the oldest
on the coast, and does a very extensive business. It was estab-
lished by Slade, of Twillingate, in 1795, and it still retains many
features of the old English foundation.

240

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The houses connected with the ''room" are substantial erections,
and the arrangements for handHng fish are quite up to date.

At the time of my early visits to the coast this "room" had a
resident agent who was "the guide, philosopher and friend" of the
entire community.

A little story is told which emphasizes the supreme position occu-
pied by this old Englishman. During the tour of the census enu-
merator some years ago this worthy gentleman asked (as is custom-
ary for Newfoundland, census takers) the religion of each family.
One good housewife (whose husband was "in the bay a-rindin' ")
told the enumerator that "slie baint sure what it be, but s'posed
'twas Mr. 's religion."

THE LARGEST EISfl-DRYING FLAKE IN LABRADOR.

During my explorations around the harbor I had an opportunity
to examine some old account books of the Slade regime ; and they
were certainly unique in the matter of penmanship and — charges.
I regret that I am not able to submit any of these old accounts just
now, but from "truck" prices obtaining elsewhere it is obvious that
they were somewhat exorbitant.

The following are taken from published accounts of one of the
old supplying houses :

Bread (hardtack), 40s.— $8; flour (No. 2), 77s. — $16; molasses,
7s.; pork, 130S.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 241

Other goods are priced in the same ratio, i. e., one hundred per
cent, beyond t"he regular cash price.

The old Labradorians must have been rather stylish folk, as I
noticed in the list of "remains" for the year 1840 several dozen
heaver hats and silk handkerchiefs.

Money was unknown even in Newfoundland outports in the early
days, and many fishermen never "saw the color of a dollar" and
remained in debt to the merchant from the cradle to the grave.

The "room" does a very large export trade (its exports for the
year 1907 amounted to $112,584).

The "transients" at Battle Harbor (chiefly small crews from
Carbonear) are located on the opposite side of the harbor, on Great
Caribou Island, whose rocky cliiTs rise almost perpendicularly to a
height of nearly two hundred feet. The houses (which suggest the
"cliff dwellings" of ancient days) are built on piles {posten shores,
in the vernacular of the coast), set in crevices of the cliff, and are
reached by a series of platforms made of longers (small poles)
covered with sods. The houses from without do not look inviting,
but within many of them are marvels of cleanliness.

The view from the top of the ice-shaved hill which rises to a height
of nearly three hundred feet in the rear of the settlement is de-
lightful.

Looking westward you see the gray, time-worn summits that
look down upon the St. Lewis River ; to the northward lies the
dark-hued syenitic bluff, which forms the westward entrance to the
"Sound" ; to the eastward lie the "Ribbs" and Double Island, on
which now stands the beacon which guides the tempest-tossed fisher
to a haven of refuge. The prospect is ever changing, and there is
always something novel to arrest one's gaze — the colors of the
rocks, with their stunted patches of vegetation, the surf beating
furiously against the beetling crag, the ever-varying color of the
sea and sky, the azure tints of the iceberg, the glorious sunsets
can only be described by the artist's brush and pencil.

The rocks of Battle Harbor are archaic granites and gneiss, gray
and pink, with numerous outcroppings of dolerite. Veins of white
quartz run in every direction, forming bands like ribbons woven
in the gneissic cliff. Everywhere there is evidence of Titanic force
in the shaping of the hills and valleys ; and, in strange contrast to

242

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

all this, one sees at various points the marks of the ice cap in the
striations which run in a northwest and southeast direction on the
southern section of Great Caribou Island.

The cliffs which mark the approach to the landing place at "Mur-
phy's Cove" are buttressed as symmetrically as if human hands had
been engaged in the work, and there are other geological curiosities
which arrest the attention of the observant.

The Conscript arrived rather unexpectedly, so further exploration
was impossible. Within six hours from her arrival we were home-
ward bound ; and a week later I became the first incumbent of the
onlv inland town in the ancient colonv.

HUTS AT BATTLE HARBOR.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 243

CHAPTER XXVL

"up the shore."

Battle Harbor to Domino Run.
"The sea is a jovial comrade,
He laughs wherever he goes;
His merriment shines in the dimpling lines
That wrinkle his hale repose ;
He lays himself down at the feet of the sun,
And shakes all over with glee,

And the broad-backed billows fall faint on the shore,
In the mirth of the mighty sea."

("Wind and Sea," Bayard Taylor.)

Two years passed ere I made another trip to the coast of Labra-
dor ; and this was made under agreeable conditions. A splendid
steamer, the Grand Lake, had just been placed on the Northern
Coastal service — and her captain was my old friend, the genial Cap-
tain Delaney, now commander of the Bruce.

A voyage with Captain Delaney is one of the most enjoyable things
imaginable, and those who have had such an experience will ever
remember it. We had a delightful trip to Battle Harbor, and re-
gretted to part company there with the captain and officers of the
Grand Lake: but the fact that we were to have such a skilful mari-
ner as Captain Drake to take us north in the ]\'indsor Lake was
welcome news.

The history of the Newfound-
THE COASTAL COMPANY, land coastal service, to which

both steamers belonged, is per-
haps one of the most interesting in marine annals. The service has
been in operation for nearly sixty years, and no loss of life has been
recorded in its history.

The inauguration of a steam coastal service in Newfoundland
was effected mainly through the efiforts of the Roman Catholic

244

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Bishop of St. John's, Rt. Rev. T. J. ]\Iullock. who. in a famous
pastoral letter in i860, denounced certain procrastinating local poli-
ticians as being- unmindful of the crying needs of the people in the
Newfoundland outports.

Amongst other things it says :

CAPTAIX DELANEY.

"I solemnly declare that without steam communication the people
must remain poor, degraded and ignorant . . . How does it
happen that an enormous revenue, wasted in providing useless places
for State Paupers, cannot afford the sum of £3,000 a year for out-
port accommodation . . . We pay heavy taxes, but get com-
paratively no return ; almost all goes in salaries and pretended com-
pensations, and I have no hesitation in saying that the collection
of revenue under the present system is nothing but legalized rob-
bery ... I repudiate any connection with a party who take
care of themselves, but do nothing for the people.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 245

"This is not a political or a religious question, it is one of civiliza-
tion, in which Catholics and Protestants, priests and ministers are
equally interested."

Newfoundland owes a heavy debt of gratitude to Dr. Mullock,
who was not only the active promoter of steam communication, both
local and transatlantic, for the colony, but was the first to advo-
cate a railway to Harbor Grace, and telegraphic communication. To
him is due also the conception of the idea of the transatlantic cable;
but tulit alter honores. It is a singular fact that even in more recent
times great opposition was offered to steam communication with the
outports; and I have on more than one occasion heard local mer-
chants denounce all and sundry connected with it, because this
service demoralized the people: it made them too independent!
These merchants are sticklers for the fish-flake regime, when mole-
skin and canvas jackets were the fishermen's Sunday garb; and the
normal condition of the toiler debt and degradation. The first
steamer engaged in the coastal service was the Victoria, Captain
Cud worth, which made monthly trips to the north in i860. In 1863
the Ariel went into commission; later the Tigress and Leopard were
engaged, and fortnightly trips were made north and south. In 1877
these were supplanted by the Plover and the Curlew (the name of
the latter being subsequently changed to Windsor Lake).

These ships being found inadequate for the ever-increasing traf-
fic, were replaced on the Newfoundland coast by the Volunteer and
the Conscript. The former was lost at Englee, in 1891 ; and the
latest achievement in local marine architecture — the Grand Lake —
took her place. Within recent years there has been a further im-
provement in the coastal service ; and two palatial vessels — the Pros-
per o (Captain Fitzpatrick) and the Portia (Captain Kean) — are
now engaged in the coastal trade. These ships are 1,000 tons regis-
ter and are admirably equipped.

Battle Harbor had undergone a great
BATTLE HARBOR, change since my former visits ; the busi-
ness of the "room" had been curtailed
owing to the financial catastrophe of "Black Monday" (it has since
regained its former activity) ; but a new institution had arisen — the
Hospital of the Deep Sea Mission. The hospital now consists of

246

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

two connecting frame houses surrounded by a piazza. The build-
ings are two stories in height, neatly painted, with a text from the
Bible in large w^hite letters on a green background running across
the fronts : "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

There are comfortable accommodations for the nurses and for
about twenty-five patients. There is also a neat dispensary, where
out-patients coming from the fishing vessels or brought from the

BATTLE HARBOR HOSPITAL.

nearby harbors are attended to. There is an excellent operating
room, where some delicate operations are performed. The resident
physician has neat quarters in an adjoining cottage. The Windsor
had been detained north by storms, so we had a prolonged stay at
Battle ; meanwhile we were not idle, and made daily visits to Mat-
thew's Cove for religious exercises and instruction.

Returning from the cove one morning, I descried the smoke of
the steamer rounding Lewis' Cape, and two hours later she arrived.
There was considerable cargo to handle, so it was far into the next
dav before we started northward.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 247

Hardly had we left our moorings when we ran into a dense fog,
and a Labrador fog is by no means enjoyable. We were groping
our way through ice and breakers, when the lookout reported :
"Land ahead, sir !" Straight ahead was a grim, menacing promon-
tory wreathed in fog; it was Cape St. Lewis. "Port a little!" and
then a shrill blast from the whistle. Were we making a harbor?
No, the captain was locating the land by the echo ! Wonderful
men these Newfoundland master mariners ! Somebody says "they
can even smell the land." We were moving "dead slow." At in-
tervals there came the command to the helmsman, "Starboard easy !"
"Steady as she goes," and within half an hour we had anchored.
Where are we? asked some anxious American tourists. We had
anchored in a little nook whose name suggests its size — Pettv
Harbor (another of those old fishing haunts of the Frenchmen).

Here we landed Her Majesty's mails, not a particularly large
bundle, a dozen letters, possibly, and sundry small parcels — "mitts,"
the genial mail officer informed me.

The mail service on the Labrador coast
THE AL\IL SERVICE, is a busy, if not always a very important

service. The mail officer lands a mail
bag at every stopping place, and I have sometimes seen the contents
consist of a letter or two and a postcard. This officer seems to
have the patience of Job and the memory of a Alezzofanti. There
are about two hundred places along the coast, and possibly one
thousand schooners between Nain and Battle Harbor, to which
letters are addressed, and fishermen's caligraphy is not always very
legible.

The postmaster is supposed to know the whereabouts of every
Mary Jane or Shinijig Star which sails the coast, and he generally
manages to locate them. It is not unusual to see the steamer's deck
crowded with fishermen whilst she remains in port, every one of
whom expects a letter. He is a marvelous man, this genial post-
master, and when distinguished-service medals are being conferred
on Newfoundland officials, the mail officer of the Labrador service
is the rightful claimant to the first.

The ship's boat had returned from the shore, and the passengers
who had ventured ashore "to explore" the settlement hafl barely

248 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

reached the deck, when a blast from the whistle announced that
we were off, bound for Spear Harbor, some distance to the north.
The peculiar feature of these Labrador harbors, or ports of call, is
that they are almost invisible until one is actually in them.

The steamer suddenly rounds a bluff head or passes through
a series of "tickles"' into a snug little nook surrounded by precipitous
cliffs, where you find perhaps a dozen or more "tilts," a similar
number of "stages," and five or six schooners — this is the harbor.
We had anchored in one of these nooks-^Spear Harbor (another
Frenchmen's retreat — Havre d'Espoir — in former days). Here I
bade good-by to my friends of a day, the genial officers of the
Windsor Lake, and to the comforts of the "gastronomic south" :
One's tastes on the coast of Labrador must not be epicurean where
fresh beef is almost unknown, and milk — even the "tin cow" (the
condensed variety) — is a luxury.

Spear Harbor is a small, insignificant fish-

SPEAR HARBOR, ing settlement consisting of five or six
families of "transients."

It was formerly an important fishing post, and there, so I was
informed by an old fisherman, "you could hardly get room to drop
a grapnel."

It was the favorite resort for American fishermen from the Massa-
chusetts coast, and in 1830, thirty vessels from the United States
"moored" here. Now, not a schooner is found fishing at Spear
Harbor.

Close by the harbor there is a large tarn-like body of water known
as "Salt Pond," connected with Spear Harbor by a marshy isthmus ;
and at high tide the water overflows the isthmus and boats row over
it. Ere many years it will likely be an independent body of water,
as the land in this section of Labrador is said to be rising at the
rate of six inches a year.

The smallest post office, perhaps, in
A SMALL POST OFFICE, existence is found at Spear Harbor.

It does a business of about two
dollars a year.

There were no members of my "parish" here, so I secured the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 249

services of two stalwart fishermen to convey my baggage, consist-
ing of a little "chapel" and my personal belongings, to the next
settlement— Murray's Harbor — which lay about three miles distant.
The sun was sinking in a blaze of golden splendor as we reached
the brow of the hill which overlooks the little harbor ; and soon the

"Sun is set; and in his latest beams
Yon little cloud of ashen gray and gold,
Slowly upon the amber air unrolled,

The falling mantle of the prophet seems."

And before we had reached the little glacis in which the harbor lay
the day had passed into the land of dreams.

Murray's Harbor is known to fisher-

MURRAY'S HARBOR, men as "the home of the two-eyed

beefsteak" (the herring) ; and in olden
times it was the greatest herring post on the shore. Within recent
years the herring fishery has almost reached the vanishing point.

The harbor is a safe retreat for fishing vessels, as an island pro-
tects it from the northeast winds. There are two entrances — Lamb's
and Main Tickles.

It was originally settled by Devonshire fishermen, who returned
every fall to the "old country" ; but in the early thirties it was fre-
quented by fishermen from St. John's who established permanent
rooms. The earliest planter was one Clotty, who carried on an
extensive trade in herring and salmon.

I had very comfortable quarters at 3ilurray's Harbor with tne
patriarch of the settlement — Skipper Solomon Clarke, from whom
I learned a great many traditions about the people and the early
fisheries.

Skipper Solomon was one of the types whom tourists caricature
so unblushingly. True, the tourist sees the fisherman under very
unfavorable surroundings ; his domicile is perhaps a "tilt" ; but withal
there is something noble even in the lowliest amongst these old
fisher folk. .Such hospitality ! Such unselfishness ! Such innate
manliness! These "old-timers" are not cultured (according to the
standard of the writers of "wondrous tales"), but they possess that
which is more ennobling than the coronet.

250

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

What a fund of information these old men possess ! I have met
some of them whose reminiscences, if procured, were a veritable
treasure trove.

I obtained some interesting data from my old friend, who had
spent nearly fifty years on the coast. Amongst other things, I
learned that in former years fish sold at Murray's Harbor for
seven-and-six-pence a quintal ; but on one or two occasions it
"fetched forty shillings" ; that seal oil "brought" forty-five pounds
a ton, and flour sold at $20 a barrel. This must have been in the
days of "Arcadian simplicity, when Newfoundland had no public
debt and port wine was a shilling a bottle !"

HOUSE ox SHORES.

After holding "stations" for two days at Murray's Harbor, I
bade good-by to the genial old skipper, and started, in a skiff manned
by seven young fishermen, for St. Francis Harbor. More types !
These young toilers were the perfection of rugged manhood, and
their services on the coast are always given gratuitously.

To offer them any monetary recompense were an unpardonable
insult. There is no discrimination in the fishermen's generosity ;

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 251

they help the priest or the parson indiscriminately. These noble
characters seem to have no word for "fear" in their vocabulary; dis-
tance or privation is never reckoned. I have known a "crew" to
make a journey of seventy miles in the depth of winter to bring a
clerg}-man on a sick call. Little they recked the toil, for it was a
service of charity. There are no people on earth more self-sacri-
ficing when there is question of rendering service to their brethren
or their clergyman, than Newfoundland fishermen. Not many years
ago a brave crew and a noble apostle — the beloved Father O'Regan
— were lost on the south shore of Newfoundland, somewhere be-
tween Rose Blanche and Channel ; and this is not the only instance
of the drowning of heroic men and missionaries recorded in the
annals of the old homeland, whilst engaged in missions of mercy.

The trip from Murray's Harbor was delightful, and we had a
splendid view of two harbors which were doubtless named by an
enthusiastic Englishman — Port Charlotte and ^Mecklenburg. As we
crossed the mouth of the Alexis River the sun sank slowly behind
the distant hills : and then,

"Into the darkness and the hush of night
Slowly the landscape sinks and fades away.
And with it fade the phantoms of the day
And ghosts of men and things that haunt the light.""

It was very dark when we entered Francis Harbor, but every
stage was aglow, as it had been "a big fish day." My "crew"' re-
turned to their home at ^Murray's as soon as we had finished a sub-
stantial meal of good solid fisherman's fare. I wondered why they
had left so abruptly ; but my host informed me : "They didn't like
the way the sun went down." To me it had seemed a glorious
sunset, but to them there were signs in the heavens which I could
not discern.

They did wisely, as at midnight a storm came up from the north-
east and it "rained cats and dogs." At intervals during the early
hours I could hear the roar of the storm and the plashing of the
water beneath my windowpane. It was a dreadful night, and the
moaning of the sea was melancholy. I was up betimes, and peer-
ing through the eight-by-ten wmdow, I saw that the storm had
left reminders of its fury ; wreckage was strewn everywhere, and

252

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

at Pigeon Island, which lies at the mouth of the harbor, a vessel
was "high and dry," but uninjured. No Hves were lost, but the
crew of the schooner had had a very narrow escape.

I had a large congregation at the "stations," notwithstanding the
havoc of the gale ; and during the day, which was a "fishermen's
holiday," I had an opportunity to obtain many interesting data con-
cerning the settlement.

The "room" was founded by the firm of Slade, of Twillingate,
in 1790, but later it passed into the hands of Ridley & Co., of Harbor
Grace, from whom it was purchased by the present owners, the
Messrs. Rorke, of Carbonear.

CULLING FISH.

The island on which it is located — Granby Island — is a huge mass
of syenite, barring the outlets of two large rivers, the Alexis and the
Gilbert, both of which, at some distance from the estuaries, are good
fishing streams. But we had no time for whipping the waters ;
we were away next morning for "The Bight," which lies just around
the cape, where we had a large number of parishioners. Two days
were spent here, and then a fishing schooner ofi^ered a chance to get
north to Dead Ishnid. There was a stifif breeze from the south-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 253

west, and we hugged the shore under small canvas. The coast
line in this section is rugged and precipitous, and there are some
very singular land formations. Near Occasional Harbor (vulgo
"Occasionable" Harbor) there is a series of immense caves hewn
out by the sea; and just north of the promontory called Ship Har-
bor Head there is a great arch of rock through which you see the
green of the forest beyond. Crossing St. Michael's Bay ("Scrammy
Bay," as it is known to fishermen), we were caught in a squall and
lost some "headgear," which necessitated our putting in at Square
Island Harbor. This interesting creek has three "tickles" — leading
to a little harbor not larger than a mill pond. The island in which
the harbor is situated is absolutely bare on the summit and rises to a
double truncated hill, one section of which is about six hundred feet
high. The view from this vantage point is magnificent, especially
just before sunset.

Away to the westward the sun sank in a blaze of glory, and
as it went down it looked like a huge ball of crimson.

Its rays were at intervals transformed into red and bronze, and
the "skiers" and little islets in the offing were bathed in a glow of
indescribable tint ; the scene was bewildering in its grandeur.

The eastern point of the island is 220 feet high, and it is called
The Sugar-loaf. As the "repairs" detained us till the following after-
noon I had an opportunity to examine some of the many interesting
features of this peculiar little haven. The hilltops are strewn with
bowlders, some of them of immense size, but seemingly of more
recent origin than those seen farther south. Many of them are
angular and are gradually disintegrating.

The hilltops have evidently been moulded by ice, and the rochcs
moittonees are very distinctly marked.

Around the harbor the formation is varied by the presence of
dark syenite, due to the presence of Lahradorite, which here re-
places the flesh-colored feldspar of the syenite farther south ; there
are also large masses of actinolite, with a little quartz and some
iron pyrites. Barren and desolate though the settlement appears,
there are some small patches of vegetation, and the "landwash" ter-
minates in a little green fringe. In the ravines beyond there were
several patches of bronze-green foliage.

The settlement was crowded with "tilts" and "stages," and the

254 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

people seemed happy and care-free. It boasts of a little school which
is conducted by the Methodist church, and it is evidently a great
boon to the dwellers in this lonely spot.

Our craft was ready for sea on the following day, and at an
early hour in the afternoon we made sail for Dead Islands, a few
miles to the north. But we were doomed to disappointment as the
wind came up from the northeast in a "flurry," and we were forced
to put in at Noivlan's Harbor, where I bade adieu to the skipper
who had so generously accommodated me.

This little harbor is settled by people
NOWLAN'S HARBOR, from Conception Bay, all of whom are

descendants of the energetic Irish
emigrants of 1820, and practically every cove in the neighborhood
has a Celtic name. Here I met Captain Fitzgerald, the learned and
entertaining planter, who has given us such a fund of information
about "spooks" and sundry other things concerning the Labrador
settlements. The captain has also several acts of heroism to his
credit, but he invariably eliminates the personal ego from his recitals.
Numbers of mariners have received imperial decorations for less
heroic services than his. One of these acts of bravery was the
rescue of the Keefe crew in 1867. The vessel which Captain Keefe
commanded had been driven to sea from Corbett's Harbor in a
gale which swept the coast on the 9th of October. Captain Fitz-
gerald rescued the crew from the sinking vessel some miles south-
east of Belle Isle several days later, when only the forward part
of the vessel was above water. The crew and freighters were
huddled together, awaiting their doom, when they were rescued
from a watery grave by the heroic action of the valiant captain.

We remained at Noivlan's Harbor until the
DEAD ISLANDS, storm abated, and then proceeded through

the "Tickle" to Dead Islands.
This settlement is an archipelago consisting of two large and
several small islands, the group covering an area of nearly two
square miles. West Island is the largest, being about two miles
long and 250 feet high. North Island is smaller, and is separated
from West Island by Stove Tickle. The settlement, one of whose

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 255

first planters was my grandfather, gets its name from the finding
of a dead body on the North Island shore, by one of the early
fishermen. This locality was very familiar to me in name, as in
my younger days, as soon as I was capable of doing office work,
I made out a great many "shipping papers" for sharemen and
crews who had accounts with our Labrador business.

The next "port of call" was Sttug Harbor, which we reached in
a "jack" manned by a crew from our own establishment.

The weather was delightful and en route we had an opportunity
to explore Cape Bhiff, a very prominent headland, rising steeply to
a double-peaked hill 719 and 695 feet high, ending in bluff cliffs.
At the southern end of the cape is a small rocky peninsula no feet
high, which shelters a small cove. Here we landed to "boil the
piper" (a tin kettle used by fishing boats). Immediately north of
Cape Bhiif is a singular island known as "The Gull" ; it is almost
snow-white, and shows a marked contrast to the mainland, which
is of a leaden hue, being composed of syenite. We entered Snug
Harbor to the northward of Murrav Point.

Snug Harbor is well named, as it is located
SNUG HARBOR, in a placid basin surrounded by great rocky

walls. At its mouth lies "Cooper Island," a
steep, precipitous hill nearly five hundred feet high, at whose base
is a little glacis in which lies "Green Cove." Snug Harbor has a
large fishing "room," established by a planter of Harbor Grace —
Captain Ryan, in the '50's, but now owned by the firm of Munn &
Co. There are several interesting places in the near vicinity of
Snug Harbor, and many of them are suggestive of settlement by
sons of the Emerald Isle, as the names are decidedly Celtic — e. g.,
"Durneen's Cove," "Corragh-na-buss," "Corragh-na-graw." Close
by Snug Harbor is a little creek known as "Tub Harbor," whose
name was evidently suggested by its resemblance to the democratic
utensil of that name. In connection with this settlement a very
interesting story is told in Dr. Grenfell's "Vikings of To-day." The
incident occurred in connection with a lawsuit regarding the strand-
ing of the English schooner High Flyer in the 8o's. The case was
being adjudicated in the Admiralty Court of Great Britain, and
the learned judge asked the counsel for the plaintiff: "Where is

256

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

this Tub Harbor?" The counsel answered: "In Labrador."' And
then His Lordship asked: "Where is Labrador?" The counsel
gravely replied : "In Tub Harbor."

Some racy stories are told of the Snug Harbor "concern,"
amongst them the following: After the failure of a well-known
business firm some years ago, an expert accountant was sent from
England to "examine the books." He spent several days at Snug
Harbor, but he was unable to unravel the tangled web.

He is said to have remarked that he formerly believed the "Gor-
dian Knot" incident related in ancient history to be a myth, but he
no longer thought so, for here was a modern instance ; and as "he
was not gifted with the prowess of Alexander the Great, he could
not disentangle it." He knew something, presumably, of classic
literature, but evidentlv little about fishing accounts.

■

_ '^•'' ^•^-S^^^^tHES

^^N

■^ 'TPiPiPBVk

VENISON TICKLE.

After a pleasant stay with the genial
\'ENISOX TICKLE, agent at Snug Harbor, we were again
en route, and went northward to J'^oiison
Tickle — an important fishing centre, situated on the southeast cor-
ner of Stony Island.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 257

On the summit of the island is a "lookout," surmounted by a flag-
staff which serves as a landmark to fishermen. Venison Island has
a large "room," established in 1795 by the same firm which did
business at Battle and St. Francis Harbor — Slade, of Twillingate.
Within the precincts of the "room" is a neat school, which is in
operation during the summer months. The school also serves as
a church on Sundays.

After leaving Venison Island we passed
HAWKES HARBOR, cldse by the "Skerries" and "Eddystone"

islands, and reached Hawkes Harbor, a
busy little port situated at the south end of Hawkes Island.

The island has several craggy hills on whose summits and slopes
are bowlders of enormotts. size, and some of the peaks rise to a
height of six hundred feet.

From Hawkes Harbor our journey was made in a small skifif, and
the visitation included Styles' Penguin, Boulter's Rock and Seal
Islands; but further progress was arrested by a northeaster which
detained us at Puncii Bowl. The scenic features of the coast in this
section are not particularly interesting; the land s^ low and the
formation is practically the same as in the neighborhood of Square
Island.

Whether the shape of the harbor gave this
PUNCH BOWL, settlement its name or whether its early oc-
cupants indulged in the "flowing bowl," I
have been unable to ascertain. It is an uninviting place, though
its people are extremely hospitable. The following paragraph is a
very accurate description of the coast within the neighborhood :
"While the deep fiords extending into the land, and the numerous
islands along the coast, all point to a former subsidence of the land
and constitute 'drowned' valleys and coast, there is also a palpable
evidence of recent elevation of land. At frequent intervals all along
the shore there are splendid examples of 'raised beaches.' At one
locality above the present beach of rounded pebbles and cobblestones
there is a green patch, above which is another distinct cobblestone
beach. Here there is a stretch of turf, and again another distinct

258 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

beach, elevated sixty feet or more above the present level. Every-
where the rocks belong to the archaic group of granites and syenites,
and are crossed in many places by trap dykes.

These dykes stand out black and forbidding, but are usually
worn back into chasms where they cross the hillsides; they appear
at times like straight green roads, in a country where roads do not
exist. (There is not a mile of road properly so-called along the
whole coast line.) In the shelter of the depression caused by the
erosion of the dykes, fir and spruce and Labrador tea and laurel
manage to exist while all around is wind-swept rock, naked except
for the lichen growth which stains its rugged sides." (Townsend.)

Near Punch Bowl is a little settlement which was on our visiting
list, and we succeded in reaching it after the storm had subsided.
We arrived at a time when the sea was breaking furiously over the
sunken rocks and shoals, but we gave these angry splutterings a
wide berth. At our stopping place — Corbett's Harbor — we had one
of the most comfortable quarters ever occupied by a traveller in
Labrador. The exterior of this fishers' cot was not pretentious, but
within everything was tidy. Corhetfs Harbor is a very old fishing
settlement, and it was established in 1835, by a fisherman named

Michael Corbett, of Bay, who had been driven off the

Newfoundland north coast by French warships. He was fishing in
the neighborhood of La Scie, on the French shore, in 1834, and
he was chased away by the French man-of-war in a very unceremo-
nious manner. The attitude of French commandants towards New-
foundland fishermen, on the so-called French shore, was the first
step towards "settling" the upper part of the Labrador coast.

It seems rather anomalous that French warships should chase
fishermen off their native coast; but by virtue of the provisions of
the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) the French obtained rights of fishing
on certain sections of the coast of Newfoundland; and by an un-
warranted interpretation of the treaty they later claimed exclusive
right. This was for many years a qiiestio vexata between the French
and British authorities; but the question was adjusted in 1904.
England paid an indemnity to French "roomholders" on the French
shore and ceded to France some territory elsewhere in lieu of the
latter's supposititious rights. A little cove in the vicinity of Cor-
hetfs Harbor called Orleans is still suggestive of the Gaul.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 259

The storm which had detained us at Punch Bay wrought havoc
in the neighborhood. It is a difficult and dangerous avocation truly,
this life of the Labrador fisherman, for in a few hours the entire
"summer's voyage" may be swept away. Every gale means serious
losses to those who have "twine" (this is the term used by fisher-
men for traps, nets and seines), as it is usually badly damaged by
these dreadful northeasters which are so prevalent on the coast. We
were loath to leave this comfortable nook, but must needs, and
evening found us at Webber's Cove.

Webber's Cove is an uninviting section,

WEBBER'S COVE, and only a few fishermen are located there.

It is a very convenient point for collections

(not church collections, but collections of fish !). Webber's Cove has

a large "Barter Shop."

These institutions, which are known all over the coast of New-
foundland and Labrador, are not usually very pretentious establish-
ments, but they do considerable trade, as they are furnished with
all sorts of commodities for fishing and household purposes; and
you may procure anything from a puncheon of molasses to a skein
of thread. They even have a "candy department," to attract the
younger members of the fishing community who deal in "scrawds."
Some years ago I journeyed along the coast with some American
tourists, and a lady in the party asked the manager of one of these
"Barter Shops" for a package of Huyler's chocolates. The man-
ager, who was a consummate wag, said he would "run over to the
factory and fill her order." The lady waited patiently and nearly
"lost her passage." There ivas a factory in the vicinity, but it was
an oil factory. These barter shops do little cash business, but they
exchange their wares for fish, salmon, furs and even "rounders" and
"laggies." Needless to say, the prices charged for the wares are
not cit\ prices. Webbefs Cove didn't offer any inducement for a
prolonged visit, so we were en route to Battean in the early morning.
Our trip was an unpleasant one ; it rained and stormed dreadfully.
After a severe drubbing we reached Battean in a very dilapidated
condition. I was garbed in a suit of yellow oilskins when I landed
at the "room," and presented presumably a very bedraggled appear-
ance. A large store was being erected for Ryan & Co. by some

26o WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

carpenters from a little town in Bonavista, and the foreman was

John . I went into the store, of which the upper floor was

being laid, and I told John that the priest had just arrived from
Webber's Cove. He had not seen me before, and, clad as I was in
oilskins, I did not present a very clerical appearance. He replied :
"Waal, dem clergy is like Muddcr Carey's chickens — you ken al-
ways expec' a blow w'en dey comes." He added some further
adjectival expressions regarding the sanity of the clergy. Mean-
time I had removed my sou'wester and oil jumper. John .suddenly
disappeared, and he was not visible for the remainder of my visit
to Battcaii. Next morning, when I received the collection which
the proprietor of the "room" had kindly taken up, the first name
on the long list of contributions was that of my friend the foreman — •
John, $5.00. (John doesn't like to have this incident related.)

Batteau. as the name suggests, was settled by French fishermen
in early days, but no traces of their occupation now remain. It
is a decidedly busy place, and is usually crowded with schooners.
It is regarded as an excellent fishing post, and there is a Labrador
expression which ranks almost as a proverb : "Batteau never fails."
I have seen one hundred boats and schooners anchored there,
amongst them three "foreigners," awaiting fish cargoes for Euro-
pean ports. Batteau in former years had an unsavory reputation
for "Sheebeens" (places where liquor was sold surreptitiously), but
within recent years, thanks to the vigilant measures of the pro-
prietor of the "room," a man can't "raise a thirst."

We had two other settlements on our itinerary, immediately north
of Batteau — Black Tickle and Salmon Bight. The former is an im-
portant shipping centre, and vessels load here for foreign markets.
The latter in olden times was headquarters for a traffic which hap-
pily is fast disappearing from the coast — illicit retailing of grog.

A short walk across the hills brings us to Domino, at the entrance
to Domino Run. This is a section of the coast which has special
attractions for the geologist, as it gave a name to a formation known
as "Domino Gneiss."

This formation, which is first seen at the eastern extremitv of the
Island of Ponds, on which Domino is located, is presumably the
formation which some geologists have named Lahradorian.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 261

CHAPTER XXVH.

"going north."

Do)niiio Run to Indian Harbor.
"I hear the howl of the wind that hrings
The long, drear storm on its heavy wings."

('The West Wind," William Cullen Bryant.)

Douiino Run (Latitude 53 degrees 29 minutes
DOAIINO RUX. north, longitude 55 degrees 46 minutes west)
was seemingly the '"landfall" of the Icelandic
discoverers of the tenth century. It tallies admirably with the de-
scription of "Helluland." Domino Harbor, at the entrance to the
"Run," is a broad, deep fissure which nearly divides the Island of
Ponds in two. The plain which stretches away to the westward is
worn smoothly ; scattered over it are patches of cobblestones, which
indicate that it was once a raised ocean bottom, now at least 125 feet
high, which reached to the base of the angular masses of trap rock
capping the gneiss elevation.

When you strip otT the scattered masses of matted growth of
curlew berry and cranberry (Partridge berry), the smooth, wave-
worn, pebbly surface seems as if it was but yesterday won from
the dominion of the sea. There is not a tree or a bush to be seen
in any direction.

Lying to the north of Doniino Run and
SPOTTED ISLAND, forming its northern boundary is Spotted
Island (the breadth of the "Run" here
being five cables — approximately, half a sea mile). The island is
about four miles long, with an average breadth of one mile and a
half, and its summit has an elevation of three hundred feet. It
derives its name presumably from the peculiar formation visible on
its eastern side, an alternation of black and white cliffs. The sea-
ward side of the island is composed of trap rock, and on the west
the gneiss rock is low and very slopy towards the channel which

262

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

separates it from the IslcDid of Ponds. Going asliore and ascending
one of the trap hills, evidently the remnants of an old volcanic
crater rising out of the surrounding gneiss, you get a splendid view
of the whole island, which is dotted with trap hills rising out of the
gneiss plain. At intervals you see numerous shallow pools and lakes
sunk in the peat formation wdiich overlays the gneiss. It is low
and flat compared with the coast farther south, while northward
this lowland or basin stretches away for several miles.

Spotted Island must have originally been settled by Irishmen, as
Griffin's Harbor, Farmer's Cove and Doolcy's Ledge were named
by fishermen who prosecuted the fishery here in bygone days. The
little island which forms its eastern boundary is known as Castle
Dermot, and Grog Island is in the immediate precincts.

A KAYAK. Copyriglit, Outijig Pub. Co.

Grog was a regular institution on the Labrador "Rooms" i)i diebus
illis; and the old planters usually kept a barrel of rum on the prem-
ises for the use of the crews, who received their daily " 'lowance"
as regularly as the jackies of H. j\I. \varships received their noggin.

A signal act of heroism is recorded of Spotted Island during the
terrible gale of October 9, 1867. Captain William Jackman, the
veteran seal killer and master mariner of St. John's, saved by his
almost superhuman bravery twenty-seven lives. No greater act of

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 263

heroism than this has ever been recorded of the coast of Labrador.
In recognition of his bravery Captain Jackman was presented with
a medal and parchment by the Royal Humane Society in 1868.

GrifUns Harbor, which is situated on the northeast corner of
Spotted Island, was originally settled by Irishmen from St. John's —
"The Riverhead men," as they were usually called. They were
a sturdy lot, and some of their descendants are still prosecuting the
fishery on the coast.

A little cove on the southeast corner of the island is remarkable
for its splendid "skin boots" ; they are superior to any other make
and are much sought after by sealers. The few families of settlers
there seem to possess the secret of this trade, and their products are
in constant demand. This little cove has a "barter shop" which
does an extensive business.

Our next landfall was Indian Tickle, ten miles to the westward of
Griifins Harbor, and our journey was not an agreeable one.

Everything in the vicinity of Spotted Island seems Irish, even the
weather; for soon after we left Griffin's Harbor, with a splendid
crew of "Riverhead men," we ran into an Irishman's hurricane —
"plenty of rain, but no wind." It rained for the entire trip, and
when we reached Indian Tickle we were literally soaking with water.

Indian Tickle lies between Musgrave Land,
INDIAN TICKLE, on the west, and Indian Island, on the east,
and was formerly a very important settle-
ment. In early days it had a large "room," owned and operated
by Warren, of London, England. When Warren retired from
business on the coast, the "room" passed into the hands of Captain
Hennebury, of Port-de-Grave, who "made piles of money there."

Across the "run," at White Point, the northern end of the
"Tickle," a lighthouse has recently been erected by the Newfound-
land government, and it is doubtless a boon and a blessing to the
thousands of fishermen who frequent these shores. It is a white,
square tower, exhibiting a white occulting light, which is visible in
clear weather for a distance of twelve miles. We were "stalled" at
the "Tickle" for a while, as the only available means of reaching
our next port of call (Grady) was the mail steamer — Windsor Lake
— due from the south "at any time."

264 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

She arrived within a couple of days, and we were glad to meet
again our old friend Captain Drake and the genial mail ofificer who
had a large bundle of mail to our address.

Needless to say that no time was lost in devouring the contents
of the bundle. Ere the contents had been examined we had crossed
Table Bay, passed Mullin's Cove, and had reached Black Island, the
outpost of Grady. Within an hour the ship had anchored, and we
were soon under the hospitable roof of the kindly manager of the
Grady "room" — Mr. McRae. Grady has an extensive fishing plant,
and it is "headquarters" for fishing vessels on middle Labrador.
Grady Island, on w^hich the plant is located, is a forbidding place. It
rises to a height of nearly four hundred feet, and on its summit is a
large caim of stones. These cairns, of which there are several along
the coast, are called by fishermen. " 'Merican men." These cairns
serve as landmarks for the fishing schooners, many of which are
captained by men who have little knowledge of navigation, but who
possess a nautical instinct which compensates for the lack of "book
I'arnin'."

Numbers of these schooners have no charts, and they are navi-
gated by the "rule of thumb." They rarely run at night, and a
kind Providence has so fashioned the coast of Labrador that harbors
are found at the end of every day's run. It is not unusual to see
a hundred and fifty of these little schooners at Assizes' Harbor, at
Domino, Dumplin or some other rendezvous at one time. When
these schooners are running in the daytime you see a man in the
forerigging who directs the movements of the vessel ; and if you
are within hailing distance you will hear him shout at times, "Keep
'er away a bit," or "luff up." How these schooners escape disaster
on the coast is a mystery to me.

Grady has an interesting but doleful history. It seems to be the
storm centre of the coast; it has been visited by dreadful gales,
and no other harbor on the coast has such a record of disasters.
The last great storm visited it in 1885 and the death toll was ap-
palling.

Two English firms did business here in the early days of the last
century — Hunt & Henley and King & Larmour, of Plymouth. Grady
is said to have derived its name from the "gready proclivities" of
these fishing Shylocks.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 265

They certainly were a most exacting lot, these old merchants ;
hence, doubtless, the name given to the place by Newfoundland
fishermen who first visited it about 1830.

Through the courtesy of the agent I was able to make an ex-
cursion to Cape North and Cnrlezi' — two localities not usually seen
by the tourist or visitor to the coast.

Cape North is a peculiarly-shaped headland
CAPE NORTH, about four hundred feet high ; it is really an

isolated hill connected with the mainland by
a flat marsh which lies between two shallow coves. It is faced with
rude, jagged, trap rocks and within, it is composed of gneiss. On
the south side is a low, raised beach of. very remarkable structure.
An island stands like a sentinel to the northeastward of the cape,
and it is not discernible as such until you are quite near it.

Ciirlczv Harbor, so called from the pres-
CURLEW HARBOR, ence there in large number of the bird

which bears this name, is a splendid
roadstead, and it was at one time a favorite resort for Conception
Bay fishermen. It has a tragic history, and was the scene of a ter-
rible marine disaster in 1867, when a vessel owned by Captain
Delaney, with twenty-nine souls on board, was lost there ; in the
gale of 1885 there was also great loss of life. A remarkable inci-
dent occurred during the gale : a vessel was blown "into the woods,"
fully two hundred feet from the beach, and next day she was hauled
back to the harbor, uninjured. In the bottom of the harbor are still
visible the skeletons of some of the vessels lost in the earlier part
of 1867. Not wishing to spend the night among such lugubrious
surroundings, we "made" Long Island just as the sun was setting.
And such a sight! Labrador sunsets are superlatively lovely, but
I do not remember ever having witnessed anything more beautiful
than on this occasion. It was perfectly calm ; away in the dis-
tance was the dim outline of the mountains across Sandzvich Bay,
and in the near foreground lay Huntingdon Island, bathed in sun-
shine. It was truly a marvelous spectacle, as

"The dying light,
Ere it departed, swathed each mountain height

266 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

In robes of purple ; and adown the west,

Where sea and sky seemed mingling — breast to breast —

Drew the dense barks of ponderous clouds, and spread

A mantle o'er them of royal red,

Belted with purple — lined with amber — tinged

With fiery gold — and blushing-purple fringed."

At Long Island we received a hearty welcome from the proprietor
of the "room," and we felt ches nous under Captain Dalton's hos-
pitable roof.

The following day was stormy, and after the "stations" there was
time to glean something of the history of this exceptionally fine
establishment.

Long Island was established by the firm of Hunt and Henley
about 1830, after their removal from Henley Harbor. It was a
valuable salmon post, and they did a large and lucrative trade. Hunt
and Henley had a special "packet" plying between Nain and Long
Island which collected their produce and conveyed the crews to
the salmon posts and fishing rooms. They conducted a system of
fishery which is no longer known on the coast of Labrador, and their
fishermen were known as "gentlemen sharemen." These "gentle-
men sharemen" received no wages ; they paid for their "keep" and
supplies and retained all the fish caught. It was not unusual in these
days for a boat to secure four hundred quintals, or two hundred
quintals per man. This catch was sold to Hunt and Henley at one
shilling less than the "current price." Needless to say, the firm
"coined money" ; they took no chances, but reaped a certain harvest.

The island itself is a very interesting study for the geologist, but
we had little time for work of this kind, so we started at the earliest
possible moment for a trip across Blackguard Bay to Cartwright.

Cart-wright to-day is a Hudson Bay "post,"
CARTWRIGHT. and the magic symbol, H. B. C, is everywhere
in evidence. "What a wealth of history is
hidden beneath these magic letters !" says a recent writer.

Yes, and what a record of exactions they unfold ! "Lo, the poor
Indian" and the hapless liveyere !

The settlement which lies in Sandwich Bay was established by
the gallant Major Cartwright, whose name is already familiar. He

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

267

had grown tired of competition with hated rivals in the Httle settle-
ment of Cape Charles, so he bade farewell to the southern settle-
ment "to protect and befriend the natives of these benighted re-
gions."

So runneth the inscription on the monument found within the
precincts of his former place of business. But George Cartwright's
object was none other than trade. This he pursued successfully;
and after the transfer of his interests on "dreary" Labrador to Hunt
and Henley (who later sold out to the Hudson Bay Company), Cart-
wrieht returned to England with a handsome fortune.

DOGS AND KG MOT IK.

The H. B. C.'s plant at Cartivright consists of several well-kept
houses and stores, and everything around the premises suggests neat-
ness and order. In the store of the company you may purchase
everything (except furs). The Pelterie is sent across the water,
.and often sold at prices which would astonish the unsophisticated
natives who gathered these trophies from the wilds. At Cartwright
there is a neat Anglican church. At present there is no resident min-
ister, but a school is in operation (the schoolmaster performing the
duties of a lay reader when necessary).

268 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

From Cartwright we proceeded to Independent, passing the
northeast point of Huntington Island en route. This island is an
immense mass of trap about five hundred feet high ; and in the cove
may be seen an ever-green growth of small glaucous willows and
larches. The famous rendezvous called Dnniplin is located on the
east side of Huntington Island, and it is said to have been christened
by an old fisherman who found several specimens of "stoggers" float-
ing in the harbor. "Stoggers"' and "Alexanders" are huge balls of
dough. I was really unaware that fisherman's dumplings would
float. Any of them which I saw during my Labrador visits were
more like cannon balls than articles of food. Dumplings and "dufif"
(dough) are pretty hard propositions, but as an old father remarked
to me many years ago when relating some of his Labrador experi-
ences : '*Faix, they are not bad when you're hungry." One real-
izes the truth of the little phrase which puzzles the youthful climber
of Parnassus: fames optimum condimcntum, when trying to dine off
"stoggers." The "sauce" served with the paste-ball is known as
"Codey." I have not been able to ascertain the origin of this com-
modity. At Dnniplin there is splendid salmon-trout fishing; in the
larger pools which abound on the island, there is said to be an abun-
dance of mud-trout. We arrived at our destination — Independent —
just in time for the "mug-up." This is the eleven o'clock collation
which precedes the fishermen's dinner. We were glad to be in the
land of plenty, as a five hours' journey in a trap-skiff' develops an
abnormal appetite.

Independent is located on an island of the

INDEPENDENT, same name, and is a fairly safe harbor.

Here there is a phenomenon rarely seen on

the coast — an islet actually covered with a growth of grass-green

vegetation. At Independent we had very comfortable quarters

amongst some parishioners of former years.

From Independent to Pack's Harbor is only a short journey, and
we were there betimes next morning.

Pack's Harbor is situated in a "tickle,"

PACK'S HARBOR, between Henrietta and Pack's Island, and

it owes its name to the fact that the first

settlers here were dealers of the firm of Pack, Gosse & Fryer,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 269

merchants of Carbonear and Porte-de-Grave. Henrietta Island
is also named after a member of the family of Pack. Here I
had an opportunity to see some old fishing accounts ; they were
certainly very interesting, and were further evidence, if such were
needed, that some of the old mercantile firms of Newfoundland had
no conscientious scruples when there was question of "fishing-ac-
count prices."

For example: i gross hooks (cash 45 cents), charged $1.50;
I barrel flour (cash $5.00), charged $11.00; i barrel pork (cash
$17.00), charged $40.00.

The original account is £ s. d., but we have given the amount in
the present standard. Other things were, as an old fisherman re-
marked, "fifty times worse." Little wonder then that the ancient
merchant grew rich, whilst the hardy toiler remained the "hewer of
wood and drawer of water."

It seemed as if our visit to Pack's
MEALY MOUNTAINS. Harbor were to be indefinitely pro-
I longed, as our next mission — Indian

Harbor — was nearly fifty miles distant ; but on the day following the
"Stations," a trim two-topmast schooner hove in sight. It was
the Government Revenue Cutter Rose, bound for Hamilton Inlet.
The captain very kindly offered me a "passage" across the bay, and
as I had seen Rigolette under very unfavorable circumstances during
former visits I was glad to have an opportunity to see more of this
famous Hudson Bay post. We had a delightful trip, and as we
passed some distance from shore, we had a splendid view of the
Mealy Mountains. This chain extends from Sandzvich Bay to
Haniilton Inlet, and some of its hills are said to be more than two
thousand feet in height. The range runs in a northwest direction.
To the highest peak of this range, the name Mt. Cabot was given
by Dr. Packard many years ago. We passed within close range of
MoH)it Poreupine, whose double-peaked summit rises to a height
of nearly four hundred feet. This is sometimes called by fishermen
"Sandy Beach Hill," as the beaches on both sides of it are composed
of fine gray sand. Ten miles north of this promontory we passed
an island which bears the name Tunihle-doivn-Dick . Whence the
name? History sayeth not. It is a conspicuous formation, and it

270 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

has a perfectly round hillock at its summit. One of the most
peculiar headlands seen on the coast was seen en route; a lofty basal-
tic cliff with human profile, the nose distinctly Roman and the fore-
head retreating. It forms the outer point of "Horsechops."

Near the northern point of the "Horsechops" is a small, low, flat
island, named after one of the most enterprising of Newfoundland
planters — Captain William Munden, of Brigus. Captain Munden
was "one of the most remarkable personalities" of his time. He
carried on an extensive fishery at Partridge Harbor ; and his
"catches" were phenomenal. Captain Munden was the first to em-
ploy a large vessel in the prosecution of the seal-fishery.

He built the "Four Brothers," 104 tons, at Brigus, in 1819,
naming her after his four sons, one of whom, Captain Azariah Mun-
den, brought in the largest trip of seals, according to the tonnage
of the steamer, which has ever been recorded. This vessel — "The
Four Brothers" — was the wonder of her time ; and it was believed by
old skippers that she would never be able to titrn round in the ice
on account of her size. These prophecies came to naught, as she
was most fortunate. The old schooner "Four Brothers" lasted for
many years, and after Captain William Munden's death his son
rebuilt her and renamed her after his own three daughters. As
the "Three Sisters" the vessel also had a very successful career.
A photograph of this remarkable vessel is reproduced in a former
chapter through the courtesy of a grandson of Captain Munden,
W. A. Munn, Esq., of St. John's, Newfoundland.

The wind had increased to a "strong blow," and the tide was set-
ting out of Hamilton Inlet, so we anchored at George's Island, which
stands at the entrance to Hamilton Inlet, about five miles north of

Tub Island.

This island, named doubtless when

GEORGE'S ISLAND. "George HI was King," is what fisher-
men term a "double-bar'ld" one, and is
made up of two hills, one of which trends northward ; the other
trending east-by-south. The land rises in this vicinity to a great
height, possibly eight hundred feet, and the coasts of the island are
steep and precipitous. We anchored in the South-east Cove. Away
to the southeast of our harbor is situated "The Reef of Norman's
Woe."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

2/1

This section of the coast was much frequented in early years by
American fishermen, and an American tourist suggests that it is
just possible that some sailor whose home was on the Massachu-
setts coast named it after the reef which America's favorite poet
has immortalized in "The Wreck of the Hesperus." But a more
prosaic origin is claimed by Newfoundland fishermen. The ledges

AN ESQUIMAUX MISSION. Copyright, A. P. Lou;.

here were the favorite fishing grounds of Captain Nathan Norman
of Brigus, a celebrated sealer, who was one of the first southerners
to locate north of Hamilton Inlet, having settled at Indian Harbor
about 1835. He conducted the largest fishing business on the coast,
employing 250 fishermen, and shore crews besides.

Captain Norman was one of the most successful planters who ever
did business on the coast, and he was universally esteemed. He
was, so I have been informed, an intimate friend, though a trade
rival, of the present Lord Strathcona — then plain Donald Smith —
factor of the Hudson Bay Company, at Rigolette.

The captain is said to have been the first to use a trap on the
coast of Labrador. It is also claimed that he first used cod seines ;
but from evidence in my possession, this is not the case, as seines

272 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

were first used by Massachusetts fishermen who frequented northern
Labrador nearly a hundred years ago.

Hamilton Inlet (Ivucktoke of the Esqui-

HAMILTON INLET, maux) was discovered by Davis, after

whom Davis Inlet and Davis Strait are
named, in 1586. To Davis we owe the most exact knowledge of the
Labrador coast, until modern times.

Davis, in the Moonshine, left Greenland, August ist, 1586. She
crossed the strait from Lat. 66° 33' in nearly a due westerly direc-
tion. The 14th August she was near Cape Walsingham in latitude
66° 19' on the American side. It was then too late for anything
more than a summary survey of the coast. The rest of the month,
and the first days of September, were spetit in exploration. Be-
sides the already known openings, namely, Cumberland Strait, Fro-
bisher's Strait, and Hudson Strait, two more openings were found,
Davis Inlet in 56 and hucktoke Inlet in 54° 30'. Davis crossed the
Atlantic in a wretched little craft, and he performed the voyage in
the face of the equinoctial gales, in three weeks. He reached Eng-
land again in the beginning of October, 1586.

At daybreak of the morning following our arrival at George's
Island we started up Hamilton Inlet, the largest and the most im-
portant fiord on the Atlantic coast of Labrador.

Newfoundland fishermen call this inlet Groswater Bay; this evi-
dently indicates earlier visitations, by Frenchmen. From reliable
sources I have discovered that even previous to an establishment of
a Hudson Bay post in this section, French fishermen and traders reg-
ularly visited Ivucktoke inlet. The names are sufficient evidence to
w^arrant this conclusion in the absence of other proofs ; for we find
"Carticr Basin," "Double Mer" (the appellation of a peculiar bay
on the north side) and other names which indicate French settle-
ments. Presumably, the inlet w^as at one time frequented by trap-
pers and fishermen in the employ of the "Quebec Trading Com-
pany.'' It is rather significant that within recent years French
traders are again frequenting the ancient haunts of their fellow-
countrymen ; and the Revillion Brothers of Paris have now a large
establishment (a formidable rival to the Hudson Bay Company) at
North-west River,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 273

Hamilton Inlet extends westward from George's Island about
thirty-five miles to the "Narrows" ; and within the "Narrows," it
extends westward ninety miles, opening to a width of eighteen miles
in Lake Melville; and narrowing again at Sandy Point it opens into
an inlet named "Goose Cove." Three large rivers empty into the
fiord, the Kenamou, the Naskopi, and the Grand or Hamilton.
The inlet is navigable for steamers of large tonnage.

At Rigolette, where we anchored, is situated the largest Hudson
Bay post on the Atlantic seaboard. The "Post" consists of half
dozen or more buildings, all connected by a board walk with a white
painted railing. Besides the company's plant there are few smaller
houses and some shacks in the near neighborhood. A particular
interest attaches to Rigolette, as it was here the present Lord Strath-
cona laid the foundations of the immense fortune which he now so
wisely and judiciously spends in philanthropic enterprises.

The staff at Rigolette consist of a factor, some clerks, and packers
who receive the products of the natives and "liveyeres," and issue
"supplies."

Loitering around the premises were several half-breeds, and
others with a larger quantum of Esquimaux characteristics; they
were a poor, impoverished-looking lot of humanity, types presumably
of the race developed by such enterprises as the "Company of Trad-
ing Adventurers."

The dogs, of which there were several, seemed better fed, and a
happier looking class than the human specimens which bear the
hall-mark of servitude.

Dogs ? Oh, yes ; they are a necessity in these parts ; they simply
need to be fed, and kicked when occasion requires. Dogs are
an important feature in the economics of Labrador ; they are the
only means of locomotion in winter ; and every family must pos-
sess a team, if possible. The Esquimaux dog (canis familiaris,
Say) which plays an important part along the coast, has savage
instincts and wolfish mien. Robbie Burns seems to have had some
acquaintance with this canine specimen, as he says in — "Twa Dogs" :

"His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,
Showed he was nane o' Scotland's dogs,
But whalpit some place far abroad
Where fishers gang to fish for cod."

274 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

The Esquimaux dog is usually of a mottled black and white color ;
but sometimes of a tawny yellowish hue (duckedy-mud color, it is
termed by Newfoundland fishermen), as large as a mastiff, with a
fine bushy tail, and a sharp-pointed muzzle. He is decidedly vicious ;
and when hungry, will feast oft' anything in sight. A writer whose
sentimentality is much in evidence, says : "The Esquimaux dog is
surly and obstinate, because the treatment of him is of such a kind
as not to develop the nobler parts of his inoral nature." Presumably
this writer's knowledge of the Esquimaux breed was acquired from
very limited acquaintance with these brutes. His experience was
certainly not such as ours has been. Esquimaux dogs are dangerous
animals to be handled by any other than their masters ; and even
then the greatest care must be exercised.

As long ago as 1818, Chappell ("Cruise of the Rosamund")
wrote : "They have been frequently known to devour the unpro-
tected children of their masters"; and recently, at Cartwright, an
incident proves that this ferocious animal has not become more mild
in disposition than his progenitors.

A son of ]\Ir. Swaffield. manager for the Hudson Bay Company
at Cartwright, about six years old, was last year being torn to
pieces by one of these brutes, when he was rescued from their fangs,
by ]\Irs. Swaffield. The little fellow was dreadfully lacerated ; but
under the care of Dr. Grenfell, he made an excellent recovery.

At Hebron, not long since, a young girl was almost devoured
by dogs in the absence of her parents ; and a woman was so seri-
ously mangled by them that she died of her wounds.

The taste for human flesh once acquired is never totally destroyed
in these brutes. "Cave canon" is good Latin, and excellent advice
when in the neighborhood of the Labrador dogs.

At Rigolette we were constantly under the guidance of one of the
staff ; and we took no chances with the canines. I had an experience
some years ago, at Chateau, with Labrador dogs, which resulted in
a large tailor's bill and simdry pieces of sticking plaster, so I gave
the Rigolette team a "wide berth." An old settler once told me that
if these dogs "look ugly." a sure means of scaring them off is to
assume some abnormal attitude, such as staiidi'jig on your head, or
zvalking on all-fours. I have never tried the experiment; but I
understand it is very eft'ective.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

275

Everything around Rigolette is "as neat as wax." The office or
"counting house." as it was known in ancient days, is of the con-
servative Enghsh type : and the store is large and well equipped ;
and the "fur-room" is a place where one is disposed to become
envious, as the array of foxes, otters and martens is large. The
home of the factor is a commodious and well appointed one, fur-
nished with better taste than many of our city mansions. The
personnel of the establishment is urbanity itself ; and the only evi-
dent dark spot in the landscape is the extreme servility of the
"livevercs" and others who constitute the population of the locality.

ESQUIMAUX TYPES. Copyrii^lit , Outiui^ Pub. Co.

Our visit was all too brief ; but there was work for the representa-
tive of H. M. Customs at a port near the mouth of the inlet ; so next
morning "ere Phoebus 'gins arise," we were drifting down the
stream with the ebb tide. It was very romantic, this matutinal
departure. There was just light enough to see the dim outline of
the wooded banks of the north shore ; and then suddenly.

"Night's candles are burnt out. and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the mist}- mountain tops,"

and then "large and luminous up from the sea" rose the sun. It
was a spectacle never-to-be-forgotten.
At noon we dropped anchor at Ice Tickle, one of a cluster of

276

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

islands forminc: the northern entrance to Hamilton Inlet. The
island on which the settlement is located is very striking; it rises to
a height of nearlv three hundred feet on the southern side ; and on
its northern extremity are two peaked hills with precipitous fronts
fully three hundred and fifty feet to their summits.

Ice Tickle is so called because ice remains here longer in spring-
time than at any other point in this section. We reached Indian
Harbor before sundown, and anchored within hailing distance of the

INDIAN HARBOR.

headquarters of the M. D. S. F. Indian Harbor is an interesting
locality. The island in which it is situated is one of the large
Archipelago, known as the "White Bear" group ; and the names of
some of the islands in this group are very singular. Amongst
others we find such names as Rodney Munday Island, The Cubs,
Baccalao Island; and one that bears a rather sanguinary appellation
"Cut-throat" — all suggestive of the hunt or fishery. At the head of
Indian Harbor, and especially well marked on the southwest, is a
shingly beach fully two hundred feet high, located between two
hills; its surface is absolutely free from vegetation, and it looks as
if the water had only receded from it the night before; it is divided
into two steep terraces, the lower one being fully fifty feet above the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

277

harbor ! The summits of the hills surrounding it are formed of a
pale foliated syenite, with scattered specks of hornblende, while
lower down on the sides of the rock is a very dark gneiss, slightly
porphyritic.

Indian Harbor "Room" was established by Captain Norman, of
whom mention has already been made, in the days when "Cod-oil
was £54 a ton and Port Wine was a shilling a bottle. Quantum ab
illis miitantiir temporal"

Here is located a hospital which is conducted by the Royal Mission
to Deep Sea Fishermen, whose superintendent is Dr. Grenfell.

It is a neat, substantial building similar to that at Battle Harbor.
Whilst here I had the sad duty to perform of assisting at the death-
bed of two of my parishioners ; and later, of aiding the genial Dr.
Wilway to prepare the remains for transportation to Newfound-
land. Both of these patients had received the most kindly treatment
at the hands of the hospital staff ; and it is only on such occasions
as this that one can appreciate the usefulness of these institutions.

This hospital receives a small annual subsidy from the Newfound-
land Government; but its usefulness would be materially increased
if the subsidy were larger. Its chief support is provided by Dr.
Grenfell's enterprise.

Here we parted company with the captain of the "Rose" and the
revenue officer ; and we were en route early next morning
to Smoky, the medical officer of the hospital having placed at our
disposal the "Princess ]\[ay" — the little steam launch of the Alission.

THE PRINCESS MAY.

278

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 279

CHAPTER XXVHI.

INDIAN HARBOR TO HOPEDALE.

" 'Tis pleasant purchasing our fellow-creatures,
And all are to be sold, if you consider
Their passions, and are dextrous."

"The Task," Cowper.

Smoky Tickle is a locality which has gained

SMOKY TICKLE, rather unenviable notoriety within recent
times ; and it was here that one of the stir-
ring incidents related in Norman Duncan's volume, "Dr. Luke of
the Labrador," occurred. The court records of Newfoundland con-
tain the history of this famous episode ; and it were not charitable
now to resurrect the case. It is rather a coincidence, that within
near distance of Smoky there is a bay which is said to have been
the rendezvous of Captain Kidd, the notorious buccaneer; and the
hulk of a vessel which might be seen in the beach there some years
ago is said to have been one of the ships of that notorious pirate.
It is also said that some of the pirate's gold was found in the bay
some years ago ; and an old planter, who died recentl}-, told mc that
he had seen, or possessed some of the doubloons which had been
picked up in Pottles Bay. It is a fact that the old gentleman in
question had acquired considerable wealth in a mysterious way ;
whence it came has ever been a matter of conjecture.

In the rear of the harbor is an elevation rejoicing in the name of
"Mount Shakespeare" ; but there is no tradition that the Bard of
Avon ever made a voyage to these regions.

Near Sfuoky are two settlements — Cut-throat and SpUttiiig-knife
— suggestive, not of bloodthirsty settlers, but of the fishing industry.

The former suggests a double-bladed weapon, not unlike a stiletto ;
and the latter a curved knife used so dexterously by the "splitter"
(the best paid man amongst a fishing crew).

Cut-throat is by no means an evil looking
(TUT-THROAT. place ; it is even an attractive locality. It is sit-
uated on an island which has a flat summit,
and is one of the most interesting geologic formations on the coast.

28o WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

It was in former years a favorite resort for Curlew ; and here I often
secured splendid bags of this delicious bird in diebus ilHs. I am not
sure that any will be found there at this date, as the breed seems to
have reached the last stage of extinction on Labrador.

We had another place on our
WHITE BEAR ISLANDS, missionary itinerary— JF/n7^ Bear

Islands — by no means an attract-
ive spot ; but needs must that we visit it ; and a crew from Cut-throat
landed me there late one afternoon in August. The islands are
said to have been favorite haunts of the White Bear in former years ;
and an island near by, The Cubs, owes its name to the discovery
there of the breeding place of Master Bruin. Here there reigned in
former years a "king," whose history were an interesting mono-
graph. No monarch ever wielded such autocratic power ; but withal
his "looks were full of peaceful majesty." This man "who knew no
letters, and never wrote a line," was one of the most extraordinary
characters with whom I ever came in contact. He never kept
accounts for his servants; but he never made a mistake in his deal-
ings with them. He conducted a business such as would gladden
the heart of an ordinary city merchant; and never used scales or
measures. It were indelicate to discuss his personality; he was one
of the "ole fellers" and didn't believe in bath-tubs or unnecessary
ablutions.

Some extraordinary stories are told of the old "King of the
Bears" ; and most of them are founded on fact. He possessed a
marvellous memory ; and if he had had such educational opportuni-
ties as the younger generation, he would perhaps have become a
local Gladstone. His "dealings" with "the merchant" amounted
to several thousand pounds annually; and the annual account was
sometimes yards long (this is not exaggeration; there was no "loose
leaf" ledger system in those days). At "winding-up time," "the
king" was always invited into the sanctuui of the "firm" and the
itemized account was submitted for his approval. His memory was
such that any item which he did not order personally was always
questioned ; and the manager of the firm had such regard for the
"king's" integrity and mnemonic powers that the disputed article
was invariably written off the account.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 281

He never kept books, of course ; but he "alwus carr'd the 'counts
in his head." He never weighed a pound of goods, never measured
a yard of stuff; but his quantities were invariably correct. It is
said that his standards of weight and measurement were a "beach-
rock" and a "flour-barrel stave." His charities were as large as his
memory was extraordinary ; and he never refused an appeal for aid.
He earned thousands of pounds during his career ; but he spent it
lavishly on others.

He had rather singular ideas of seamanship ; and, it is said, that
on one occasion the man at the wheel asked him the "course" after
running out clear of Baccalieu Island en route to Labrador; the
response was : "Kep er same as she went las' yer." This was a
rather unique way of directing a ship; but the seamen understood
him, and acted accordingly.

The entourage of the "room" at the "Bears" was never remark-
able for its prodigality in the use of soap and water ; nor was the
culinary department run on such lines as a modern hotel.

A terrible marine tragedy occurred at White Bear Islands in 1884,
one of the saddest recorded in the history of the coast of Labrador.
Two vessels, the Release and the Hope, were driven from their
moorings in the gale of 9th October, and 39 persons were drowned.
An eye-witness of this disaster has furnished me with a description
of this dreadful tragedy ; but it is too gruesome to insert here.

Our sojourn at the Bears was of short duration; and next day
we were at Brig Harbor, having made the trip in a "jack" which
was en route to Emily Harbor for salt.

Brig Harbor received its name from fisher-
BRIG HARBOR, men who frequented the place about sixty
years ago. It seems that an old brig be-
longing to Captain Strapp of Harbor Main was moored there every
summer, "close to the rocks," and before a "room" was built the old
vessel served the purpose of residence, store and stage, whilst the
"bawns" near by served the purpose of "flakes." Hence the name
"Brig Harbor." The harbor is located in a small "bight"' between
two islands, one of which is a truncated cone, 350 feet high.

At the time of our visit "the fish was eating the rocks" (this is a
fisherman's term for plentifulness). The creeks and coves were

282

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

filled with Caplin ; and fishermen were reaping an abundant harvest.

I had never seen Caplin in such quantities ; and old fishermen
assured me that "the likes had never been seen afore." Caplin are
the most abundant fish around the shores of Newfoundland and
Labrador; and during the "caplin scull" (school) trap fishing is
at its best.

They are taken by the thousand barrels during the latter part of
June on the Newfoundland coast ; and used as fertilizer by the fisher-
men-farmers. When fresh, caplin are splendid "eatin' " ; and, if
smoked slightly, are very toothsome. They are sometimes sold for
five cents a barrel ; but a recent writer says he paid thirty cents for
three fried caplin on boarfl a Newfoundland coastal steamer, not
longf since.

.V GOOD HAUL.

Smoked caplin are highly prized by saloon keepers in the neigh-
boring republic ; and I am informed that around Hanover Street
and lower Atlantic Avenue, in Boston, they are very much in evi-
dence on the counters of the beer-bars ; they are used "to raise a
thirst."

Some years ago. in Newfoundland, an enterprising fish-merchant
began what promised to be a splendid venture ; he packed caplin
in oil, after the manner of sardines : but whether the demand did not
warrant the outlay, or whether the industry was managed too ex-
travagantly the packing-business was not a commercial success.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 283

In connection with this little bait-fish, a problem for naturalists
presents itself ; its solution means a great deal to the fishing industry
of Labrador.

Seventy years ago no aiplin were found on Xo)'tlier)i Labrador;
but to-day they are found plentifully. Fish is less plentiful on the
upper part of the shore than in former times. Is this due to the
migration of caplin to the north ; and if so, what is the cause of this
migration ? Has there been a change in the morainal deposits of the
southern part of the coast ; and to what cause must this be attributed?
The solution of these questions would be a valuable acquisition to
piscatorial literature.

But we have nearly forgotten Brig Harbor. Owing to the im-
mense catch of fish there was a salt famine. Fortunately for the
fishermen, a vessel laden with this necessary article had just arrived
from Cadia; and there was an abundance of salt at Emily. Boats
were going in this direction every day ; and I availed of the first
opportunity to reach the next port on my itinerary.

En route to Ejnily there is a rather singular syenitic island known
as the Uliife Cockade, so called from its shape. Two other islands
known as The Coffee Island and The Teapot are situated between
the White Cockade and the shore ; they are rather interesting both
in shape and formation. Some fishermen in former times must
have been lunching in the locality, and named them after the
"mug-up."

Emily Harbor is a large fishing centre, and
EMILY HARBOR, owes its appellation to a planter named
Warren who named it in memory of his
wife, wdiose remains are interred in Reynolds' Cove, near by.

Emily, too, was "busy"" ; and, in order to reach the crews located
here it was necessary to remain over Sunday ; and such an inspiring
day it was ! The place was gay with bunting ; and when the hour
came for A lass, over three hundred fishermen were in waiting. Such
a reverential body of people ! How eagerly they listen to the ser-
mon ! And then, the hearty shake hands, from these noble sons of
toil ! This is one of the features which lend such a charm to mis-
sionary visits to Labrador. At the evening service the same congre-
gation was present, with the addition of many who were not

284 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

members of our communion. It was a pretty picture to see the large
flotilla of fishing-smacks move down the harbor when my congre-
gation left for their homes ; for many of them had come miles to
assist at the Sunday services.

Monday found us at Ho! ton; and the same cordial welcome
awaited us.

This settlement is peopled with settlers from Con-
HOLTON. ception Bay; and from this section the largest ex-

portations of fish from the coast of Labrador an-
nually are made by the firm of Dawe Brothers of Bay Roberts.
Their annual average exportation is very large (amounting, in
1907, to seventy-six thousand quintals, valued at a quarter of a
million dollars). Holton possesses a unique institution — an unde-
nominational Church, built by the late Hon. Charles Dawe, of Bay
Roberts, Newfoundland. This Church, strange to say, is rarely, if
ever, used. Undenominational Christianity does not thrive among
the fishermen of the Old Colony, "who go down to the sea in ships."

Horse Harbor, another large fishing cen-
HORSE HARBOR, tre, is situated near Holton; and it is set-
tled chiefly by "dealers" of the concern
which operates so largely in Holton. It is known to fishermen as
"a rough shop" (not the firm, but the Harbor) ; and it has an evil
reputation for w-recks and storms.

A fishing schooner bound north in quest of the festive cod hap-
pened into Holton very opportunely, and the skipper very graciously
offered to "land" me at Sloop Cove (my next stopping place). It
was thirty miles distant. The weather looked unpropitious, even
gloomy; but the genial skipper had had "bad luck," and he was
anxious to reach Cape Harrison, where fish had been reported plenti-
ful. The wind was southwest, and we ran out clear of the shoals;
for this is a dangerous coast, and honeycombed with breakers.
Only last season forty vessels were wrecked in the vicinity; but
many of them were floated again by Dr. Grenfell's assistance.

We passed Holton Big Island close aboard ; this is a remarkable
truncated cone, 317 feet high; and on one of its slopes are two
raised beaches — one of them seventy-five feet above high-water

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 285

mark. Some years ago the entire skeleton of a whale was found
on this old sea-heach by Captain Drake, the present captain of the
steamer "Glencoe," of the Reid-Newfoundland service. The skele-
ton was practically intact; and the jaw-bone of the "leviathan of the
deep" was taken by one of the crew of the captain's schooner, and
served as a "chopping block" for the rest of the summer.

We saw the Quaker's Hat and The Tinker away to the southeast;
and as evening approached it became "stark calm"'; and to add to
the gloom, "the fog rose up in many a spectral shape." The follow-
ing day found us still enveloped in fog "as black as your hat." The
barometer was "lookin' sick," so the captain informed us ; and a
heavy swell was heaving in from the northeast ; and then —

"North, South, East and West, there are reefs and breakers.
You would never dream of in smooth weather."

Two days in the fog! feasting off "pork and duff"! But let us
be patient. There is something approaching us, for we hear the
swish of the waves ; and suddenly out of the gloom appears the
Windsor Lake, bound south. We hailed her and the captain in-
formed us we were "about a mile south of False Cape." A little
"puff'" comes from the southeast; and within an hour the man on the
jib-boom end hollers with a voice like a fog-horn, "Hard down,
sir, breakers ahead !" We were almost on the rocks, but the cap-
tain was as cool as a cucumber; and we "haul" to the eastward.
Immediately the fog lifted and we were about live hundred vards
north of False Cape — a saddle-shaped hill, fully one thousand feet
high. We were soon at anchor in Shop Cove.

Sloop Cove is a large inlet situated at the foot
SLOOP CO\'E. of a glacis, which is apparently a mile wide. It

is a rather picturesque spot, as, close by the
green slope, one may see in the ravines snow which never melts.
On the south side of the harbor is a large beach of shingle, facing
north, about 150 feet high. I spent a day at this harbor some years
before ; and I then witnessed one of the most glorious sunsets which
mortal eye has ever beheld. In an old diary I find this little entry :
"A little flurry of snow swept over the hills this afternoon; but it

286 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

lasted only a few moments. I was reading Longfellow, and by a
singular coincidence I came upon these lines, so peculiarly ap-
plicable to the situation :

"And over me unrolls on high

The splendid scenery of the sky.

Where through a sapphire sea, the Sun

Sails like a golden galleon,

Towards yonder cloud-land in the west

Towards yonder islands of the blest

Whose steep sierra far uplifts

Its craggy summits white with drifts."

But to-dav we had no snow, but rain in torrents — a regular
"Irishman's hurricane." It was a "fishermen's holiday" (a day
wlien fishing is impossible) ; so our congregation was a compara-
tively large one ; everybody turned out at an early hour for "the
stations" ; and. again at evening, we had a large gathering for
Rosary. At night there was a magnificent display of the Aurora ;
and

"A wonderful glory of color,

A splendor of shifting light —

Orange and purple and scarlet —

Flamed in the sky to-night."

The Aurora is a glad sight to the fishermen, as it betokens a fine
to-morrow ; and such it was ; and we were away to Cape Harrison
by daybreak.

Cape Harrison, or JTcbcc (Uz'iahik of the Esqui-
WEBEC. maux), is a bluff headland, rising to the height of

1.065 ^^st, fringed with steep, reddish cliffs; it is com-
posed of gneiss ; and on its northern side is seamed with vertical
trap dykes. From off this cape the "Allcgcgaii Moiiiitains'" whose
highest peak is ''Mount Misery," can be seen at a distance of sev-
enty-five miles in clear weather. A rather unique description of
the Cape was given by the skipper of our schooner : "When they
wus done a-makin' o' the world, they gethered the scraps together,
and threw "em here and made Cape 'Arrison."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

287

It is certainl}- a forbidding place ; and a strange feature is, that no
matter how cahn it is in the neighborhood, it is ahvays blowing a
fierce gale in the "tickle" which separates U'cbcc Island from the
mainland. I have never had a satisfactory explanation of this phe-
nomenon. The view from the top of Cape U'cbcc is one of the most
charming sights I have ever witnessed. I once crossed over it
en route from Sloop Coi'e to a little creek opposite the Rags.

A LAHRADOR CREW.

Away to the north lay the Archipelago of Tikaloaik, and west-
ward an undulating plateau wdiose surface, dotted with numberless
tarns, seemed to fade away and dissolve in the azure of the sky.
The country in its general aspect here differs from any other sec-
tion of the Labrador coast which I have visited.

Away to the east lay the broad Atlantic, and as I stood gazing
upon the mighty, music-haunted sea. I recalled these lines from
"Childe Harold"':

''Thou glorious mirror, where th' Almighty's form

Glasses itself in tempests, in all time.

Calm or convulsed, in breeze, or gale, or storm,

Tcing the pole, or in the torrid clime,

288 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Dark-heaving, boundless, endless and sublime,

Th' image of Eternity — the throne

Of th' Invisible ; even out thy slime

The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone

Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone."

To all who delight in the weird charms of isolation, I would
say, — cross the heights of IVebec, and revel in them.

But now we are not on term iirnui; we are making Wehcc Harbor
under a close-reefed foresail, not by any means a poetic performance.

The harbor lies between JVebec Island
WEBEC HARBOR, on the north, and the mainland of Cape
Harrison, on the south ; it is sheltered by
Morrison Island from the eastward. It is a comparatively large
harbor, but unsafe in stormy w^eather. Here we anchored, whilst
our captain visited some of the schooners for "news 'bout the fish."
[Meanwhile, there was an opportunity for a little exploration. We
discovered that U'ebee Island is 250 feet high, with a few hills on
its northern part.

The formation of the island is chiefly gneiss, though several veins
of quartz are visible here and there, and boulders are scattered in
profusion all over its surface. There are also several evidences of
trap formations standing in columns not unlike the buttresses at
Battle Harbor. There are two channels leading into Cape Harrison
Harbor, one of them being known as Clinker Tickle; it is so called,
I believe, after H. ]\I. S. Clinker, which discovered a rock in the
centre after the manner of the old pilot, — she hit it.

Cape Harrison has a very special interest for me, as my grand-
father was the first Newfoundlander who went so far north in
quest of fish in earl}- days. He made his first trip to Cape Harri-
son, in the schooner Traveller, in 1842 ; later, he went farther, and
located at Ailik; and finally went down to Cape Harrigan and be-
yond. American fishermen were at Cape Harrison some years
previous to 1842. In these days fishing was prosecuted with "jig-
gers" ; and puncheons of these were carried to the coast every year.
Fish was plentiful ; and the usual trip was one hundred quintals per
man.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 289

A rather interesting' story in connection with "jigging" is told
of a venerable clergyman in Newfoundland. He had recently
arrived from the Green Isle, and was appointed to a large parish in
Bonavista Bay. Soon after his arrival in the parish, he began the
customary parochial visitation. To his amazement, the good Father
found on enquiry for the "master" of the house, that he was "out
jigging." He didn't make any further investigations as to the nature
of "jigging," but felt aggrieved to learn that such awful depravity
should exist amongst "Christian people."

The worthy pastor decided to preach a strong sermon on the
unseemly practices of the men of the parish, who, instead of being
engaged in a legitimate occupation (fishing), were "galavantin' "
around the place and "jigging."

On the Saturday evening previous to the forthcoming dies irae,
a prominent parishioner visited his Reverence, and in the course of
conversation, the latter alluded to the unseemly habits of his
parishioners, who spent the fine summer day ''jigging" when they
ought to be catching fish. The visitor explained to the good Father
that "jigging" meant catching squids for bait; the sermon on Sun-
day was on a dififerent theme from "jigging," which in the Emerald
Isle means dancing.

There is practically no "jigging" on Labrador in these days;
seines and traps have relegated the jigger to the realm of ancient
things. Our captain returned after visiting several schooners which
lay at Cape Harbor ; and he informed us : "Fish purty scarce, lots
o' it at the 'Rags.' " This was welcome news to me as well as to
the crew, as Ragged Island was my next stopping-place.

We are now in the Esquimaux domain ; and we find Es(|uimaux
names for nearly every cape and shoal and island.

Ragged Islands, the "Rags" (Kingnitsoak),
"THE RAGS." are a cluster of islands, lying about eight miles
from Cape Harrison, in a northwesterlv direc-
tion. There are four principal islands with numerous islets ; and
they are unique in their appearance and formation.

The large islands are composed of gneiss, and two of them are
fully six hundred feet high ; the small islets are basaltic ; and the
structural features of the entire Archipelago are peculiar. Huge

290

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

boulders, some of them forty feet ii: diameter, are strewn along
the shore near the fishing settlement ; and the foreshore is literally
filled with detritus worn from the rocks by atmospheric and other
causes. The huge masses which (jne sees strewn along the shore
can be picked to pieces by hand. Were it not for the unmistakable
evidences of gneissic and granitic formation one would naturally be
disposed to pronounce them conglomerates. This is the only place
alono- the coast, as far as I know, where such peculiarities exist.
"The landwash" is knee-deep for hundreds of yards with this
detritus: and the fishermen tell me that it is annually thickening to
the extent of several inches. ( )ur schooner "moored" here ; and so

ESQUIMAUX CHILDREN, HOPEDALE.

did I. Here I found very comfortable quarters with a former do-
mestic of our family. The house was only a shack ; but such clean-
liness ! One rarely sees anything like it in these latitudes. There
was at one time a large fishing plant at the *'Rags" ; but to-day
there is merely a cluster of dilapidated huts. Here I met a full-
blooded Esquimau — Joe Lusi. Joseph had adopted the ways of his
white brother and added a surname. He had just returned "from
Chicago." (He w^as one of the band taken to the Chicago Exhibi-
tion.) He had acquired quite a vocabulary of Anglo-Saxon in the
west ; but some of the fishermen informed me that Joseph's strongest
and most emphatic phraseology was "cuss words."

He had learned this, alas ! from men who deem themselves his

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 291

superior in every particular. Joseph had a "tilt" not far from my
quarters ; and during- the time I spent on the island I visited his
"Igloo." It was not a very substantial affair (it was built of sods
and poles), but the interior was cleaner than the interior of
some of the shacks of the settlers in the neighborhood. He had a
family of three ; and they, too, had seen the "Windy City." They
were seemingly very intelligent ; and the oldest, "a maiden of sev-
enteen summers," was an expert in drawing. She had a number of
splendid sketches ; and I purchased them, as specimens of Indian
handiwork. I asked Joe why he had returned to Labrador ; and I
was surprised at his answer: "Chicag\' shocky lunsom blace"' (Chi-
cago was a very lonesome place!). This was the only full-blooded
Esquimaux family then living south of Long Tickle. The trip to
our next stopping place meant a long journey. We did not await
any chance occasion to get there ; so we started in a skiff at day-
light, and our friend the "Husky" was one of the crew. Our stock
of provisions was scant ; and l)y the time Joseph's appetite had
been, I fear, only partially satisfied, there was little left for us ; and
"two cakes of hard tack" were my quantum. We landed at
Tikaoralik (The Wheel) a sharp peaked island, at noon, as we
needed water "to fill the piper" ; and we were agreeably surprised
to find some fishermen here who gave us a good feed of pork and
hard tack. Certain writers on Labrador (who know the coast from
hearsay) locate the Icelandic landfall in this neighborhood; but
produce no evidence to support their assertions.
We reached Roger's Harbor late in the afternoon.

Roger's Harbor is located on one of the
ROGER'S H ARMOR. Kikkertavak Islands. The island is

"composed of syenite, its feldspar flesh-
colored, and the shore is in its scenic features, like that of the rocks
at Xahant or Mt. Desert, with a few small beaches, the slopes lead-
ing down to them of intense green." Here Joseph found some Esqui-
maux friends, and they certainly gave him an enthusiastic recep-
tion. I noticed that he was very generous with the stock of tobacco
which some of our crew had furnished, and the friends cast wistful
eyes upon me, as if they, too, would like a donation. The skipper
of the establishment at Roger's kindly let me have a couple of

292 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

pounds, and there was an intense look of satisfaction on the visages
of the "Huskies" (who are particularly fond of the "weed"). The
crew returned to "The Rags" next morning, and I was left to my
own devices; but on the following day, just as I had concluded my
mission, a boat from Long Tickle arrived, and, as it was to return
at once, I certainly felt relieved, for Roger's Harbor is by no means
a desirable place in any sense.

The boat was a decked sloop, the collector of the
ICEBERGS. "Room" at Long Tickle; and I had as fellow-
passenger an intelligent English captain, whose
schooner was at Mercer's awaiting a fish-cargo. The passage to
Long Tickle was made through shoals and icebergs.

Some of these bergs were like alabaster columns, set upon a base
of azure ; others resembled a castellated keep of mediaeval times, in
all save color; and there were tents and cathedral towers, domes
and minarets, birds and beasts, sculptured out of "Greenland's Icy
Mountains." These bergs are lovely to gaze upon — from some dis-
tant point; close acquaintance is not desirable, for they not unfre-
quently resent one's approach by "calving" ! The annals of Labra-
dor contain some sad records of iceberg disasters. Hardly a season
passes in which some craft does not pay toll to the great white
peril. Not many years ago the schooner Rose of Spaniard's Bay
was lost by contact with a berg; and only one man of the entire
crew was saved ; he was found in an exhausted state some days
after the accident occurred. IMore recently a coasting vessel from
the north picked up the sole survivor of a fishing vessel whose crew
had been swamped by a huge white monster of the north.

A rather singular experience is recorded by Captain Ash, the
veteran master-mariner, who commanded the Grecly Expedition
in the steamer Thetis, some years ago. Captain Ash is one of the
most experienced master-mariners in Newfoundland, and he has
had some unique experiences with ice and icebergs. . I have heard
him relate some of these experiences ; and such hairbreadth escapes
they were ! He had one that is, I believe, without parallel in local
marine history. It occurred w'hilst the captain commanded the
steamer Portia of the Red Cross Line, plying between New York
and St. John's.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 293

The Portia went north occasionally to Pilley's Island, in Notre
Dame Bay, to load iron pyrites for New York. On one of those
trips the ship carried a number of enthusiastic American tourists.
They had seen several "baby"' icebergs ; but tHey "really wanted to
get close by a big one." A big one was found in Notre Dame Bay,
floating majestically southward. Its pinnacles and domes and caves
glinted with strange, fantastic colors ; and as it was borne along in
its unswerving course by the northern current, heedless of wind and
wave, its appearance was superb. The Portia had approached it ;
when suddenly a sound like the boom of a hundred cannons rent the
air; the huge mass was riven asunder, as if by the explosion of a
mine, and it separated into three immense blocks. That nearest the
Portia staggered for a moment, then careened and suddenly swung
the ship "high and dry" six feet above the level of the water; the
steamer had been caught on a spur of the berg. Terror was written
upon the blanched faces of passengers and crew ; but Ash un-
flinchingly stood at his post on the bridge, awaiting, as he imagined,
destruction and death. In the midst of a grim silence, a New
Yorker piped forth a question, "Say, Cap, I guess we're in a tight
place, ain't we? How are you going to launch this craft?" The
captain answered very gravely, "I guess you'd better say your pray-
ers ; the next port of call seems pretty near." For half a minute or
more the ship remained motionless ; and then a huge wave caused by
the overturning of the other fragments suddenly swept her, stern
foremost, with a dreadful plunge, into the sea. The captain thought
the end had come ; he feared his ship would never rise ; but the
Portia rose slowly out of the whirlpool ; and then all was well. The
stout little vessel had been only slightly damaged; and there were
rejoicings and thanksgivings for the escape from a watery grave.

Where do these bergs come from ? They are "made in Green-
land"— made by nature's hands, and are simply the broken ends of
monster glaciers formed in the deep fiords which lead into the
Arctic Sea ; they are borne along by the strong northern currents in
springtime, and sometimes pass far to the southward, and into the
Gulf Stream, where they melt and swell the volume of this "ocean
river."

At times they ground along the coast of Northern Newfound-
land, and Southern Labrador; and it is not unusual during early

294 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

summer, to see dozens of stranded bergs in the neighborliood of
Belle Isle and on the shoals off Chateau Bay.

There were several bergs in sight as we made our way to Long
Tickle. But we gave those Arctic visitants a wide berth, and made
good progress against a h'ead-wind. At noon we "hove up" and
secured some fresh fish ; and we dined a la fishcnnan off "fish and
vang." This is a delicacy known only to Labrador fishermen ; and,
if Delmonico's chef wishes to learn the art of cooking codfish I rec-
ommend him to make a trip to the coast and get the recipe.

Somewhat belated by dodging the ice, we ar-
LONG TICKLE, rived at Mercer's "room" in the evening;

and our approach to the Stage-head was an-
nounced by the "band" — not any ordinary, commonplace, Hungarian
afifair, but a genuine performance by Esquimaux dogs.

Wonderful animals these dogs ! Once you hear this band you
never forget it. I had heard it so often that it did not seem so
impressive to me as it did to the dapper little English captain. He
shivered from head to foot ; and quaked as if he were facing a regi-
ment of artillery; he hadn't heard it before. A recent visitor to the
coast describes the "Band" at Battle Harbor ; but this is really a
very tame performance compared with what one hears where the
genuine Esquimaux dog abides. He says: "I shall never forget it.
I never heard wolves howl, but I can easily believe that their howl
and that of the "Huskies" is alike. . . . The first night at Bat-
tle Harbor I lay awake for some time listening with great enjoyment
to the "Band." A few dogs outside my window began to howl low
and softly. The volume of sound swelled till it became like the
rushing of a mighty wind, — wild, fear-inspiring. Again it died
away, only to come again with the deep tones of an organ. Imme-
diately the refrain was taken up by a group of dogs at the next
house, and again by those further on, until the great chorus stretched
throughout the whole village. Then all was silent. Anon it began
again at some distant outpost and passed from group to group. The
nocturnal concerts of dogs further north are said to be imposing
(this it was in our case). Some day an Esquimau — and they are a
musical race — will compose an opera, and the howling of the dogs
will be the motif." (Townsend: "Along the Labrador Coast.")

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 295

We had little to do at Loii^^ Tickle; and at daylight we were again
en route, bound to Maccoz'ick Island.

We passed close by the Kidialuit group, and Ironbound, which
lay close aboard, to starboard ; and after struggling with the tide
and an incipient northeaster we reached Ford's Bight (Nisbet's
Harbor), late in the afternoon. As we rounded the point we ran
into a swarm of Kittiwakes ("Tickelelses"), and the fishermen who
accompanied me seemed to dislike the effrontery of these nomads ;
"nuthin' good, sir, when the're around," says one of my crew. So
it proved. A northeaster came up during the night, and it blew
fiercely for hours. By morning it had abated somewhat ; but a
heavy sea was running. We remained all day at Ford's Bight and
then had a nocturnal trip to Strawberry, where we found some fish-
ing schooners "from home." ?Iere we were in a land-locked har-
bor, and comfortable.

Nisbet's Harbor, whence we had come, has an uncanny reputa-
tion, as it was here that the first ^loravian Missionaries who vis-
ited this part of Labrador were murdered by the Esquimaux ; and
fishermen don't "like to meddle with places like that."

"Whether the little box of a harbor we
STRAWBERRY, swung into was called Strazcbcrry because it
was but little larger than that berry, history
does not record ; but it was the queerest of queer harbors." So
writes an American Scientist who visited Labrador many years ago ;
and Strawberry is still regarded as one of the curiosities of the
coast. My grandfather, if not the pioneer of fishing in this little
nook, was the first to make it headciuarters for "the down-the-shore
trip."

"Straivberry," says the writer just quoted, "is a small, deep hole
like a purgatory ; and an amphitheatre of rock rises around it in huge
steps, affording a striking illustration of the power of frost and
waves on this exposed coast. The rock is hard, tough, fleshy-col-
ored syenite, with deep vertical and horizontal fissures resulting
from the decomposition of the trap dykes, thus causing huge blocks
of syenite to be detached and fall down." Around Straivberry Head
to the north lies Maccovick Bay — a large inlet, well wooded, and
extremely picturesque. "Both sides of this bay are thickly wooded,

296 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

with mountain summits rising bare and gray through the covering
of dark-green coniferous trees, the birches or poplars not being
abundant enough to enliven the sombre hues of an evergreen Labra-
dor forest. The contours of the ridges were regular, the country
is rather low, the scenery on the whole monotonous; and such, I
conceive, are the features of the interior of the Labrador plateau,
though diversified with lakes and deep river valleys. Both sides of
the bay were terraced ; on the north side were three long and regu-
lar terraces; those on the south side were less regular and much
shorter; one formed a point of land perhaps one hundred feet high
and descending into the water by three terraces. Farther up, the
slope of the hill was paved with large sea-worn boulders, for the
most part covered over and hidden by vegetation. The scenery of
the bay is magnificent ; and from the following paragraph one may
realize how it appears to the artist.

"In the early afternoon a dense haze filled the sky. The sun, seen
through this, became a globe of glowing ruby, and its glade on the
sea looked as if the water had been strewn, almost enough to con-
ceal it, with a crystalline ruby dust, or with fine spcculae of ver-
milion bordering on crimson. The peculiarity of this ruby dust was
that it seemed to possess body, and, while it glowed, did not in the
smallest degree dazzle, — as if the brilliancy of each ruby particle
came from the heart of it rather than from the surface. . The effect
was in truth indescribable, and I try to suggest it with more sense
of hopelessness than I have felt hitherto in preparing these papers.
It was beautiful beyond expression, any expression at least which is
at my command.''

From the mouth of this bay we get a magnificent view of the
"Allegegaii'' range away to the south, whjle in the near distance,
the cone-shaped Monkey Hill looked spectral as it lay enshrouded

in the morning mist. But revenons a nos
iMACCOVICK. montons; we are ofif to Maccoinck Island. This

is one of the Uigoklialitit group, and lies about
five miles from Straivbcrry Head. A strong tide was setting to the
south ; and we received quite a drubbing, in a whale-boat, trying to
make the harbor. \\'e were nearly swamped by the wash from a
schooner which "hove" up near us to inquire about fish at Straw-
berry. The skipper apologized, and offered "to take us in tow";

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 297

we declined with thanks, as we didn't need a salt water bath just
then.

We reached the harbor safely ; but a giant iceberg was planted
at its approach, hardly allowing room to enter ; it had evidently
drifted in, and grounded during the night. Here we were chez-iwiis;
and the veteran Captain Dunn made us very comfortable. The
temperature was chilly ; and the captain had a rattling fire a-going in
the kitchen, which soon forced us to seek the cooler air outside.
And it was really worth while, for we then witnessed another
Labrador phenomenon — moonrisc, before the sidi zveiit douni. To
the west all was aglow with the rays of the setting sun, whilst in
the east

"Up from the dark the moon begins to creep ;

And now a pallid haggard face lifts she

Above the water-line."

Such glorious nights are these on the coast ! But we have had a
rude day's work ; and soon we "gathered round us the curtain of
repose."' "Four o'clock, sir !" This was our reveille ; and when the
hour came for the "stations" there was a congregation which in-
cluded everybody on the island. After the "stations" and a substan-
tial repast of fried cod and brezcis a volunteer crew took me across
to AUik, about six miles distant. Ailik lies in a bay of the same
name ; and it is a most interesting locality. The for-

AILIK. mation here is of different structure from any other I

have seen on Northern Labrador ; at places there is an

outcropping of red sandstone, similar to what one sees in the Straits

of Belle Isle. The rocks are fissured by several immense canyons ;

and the steeps are fringed with boulders.

On the southeast side of the harbor there is a lagoon which is dry
at low water ; and near Keefe's "Room" there is a splendid specimen
of "raised beach" about thirty feet high, trending to the north-
west. It looked as if the tide still washed it.

Ailik had long been a familiar name to me as we once owned a
large fishing brig, "The Rusina," whose name is almost synony-
mous with Ailik.

Ailik is a remarkable seal-fishing post ; and the Esquimaux in this
region prosecute it vigorously. From "The Coast Pilot of Labra-
dor," I have gleaned the following details : "Ice forms here about

298 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the middle of November, and the northern ice arrives about the loth
December; at the end of this month a straight edge, known as the
"fast ice" is formed from island or rocks several miles ofif shore,
outside which ice flows continuously from December to June or
July, and residents along the shore drive with Komatiks and dogs
to the eastern edge to hunt for seals in the pools of the floe as it
passes along. Towards the middle of January sheet ice appears,
flowing southward in the same manner, occasionally rafting from
5 to 20 feet above the sea; small bergs are sometimes seen about
this time. The prevailing wind in winter is N. W. From Ailik
to our next port — Turnavik — was a short but most delightful trip.
Turnavik is an immense Archipelago, located in Kaipokok Bay — one
of the largest bays on the coast. In close proximity to Ailik Head,
which forms the eastern entrance to the bay, there are two immense
canyons dividing the plateau, in a southerly direction, and several
raised beaches are located at the lower extremities of these canyons.
Writing of this bay, Professor Hind says : "There are numerous
shoals or fishing banks off Ailik Head and Kaipokok Bay, composed
of morainal matter brought down the fiord and pushed into the sea.
That the fiords and bays were, however, excavated by glaciers
themselves, we are much inclined to doubt, since these bays and
fiords were natural valleys, which perhaps date back to Laurentian
times, and which have been for many geological ages excavated by
streams, though during the glacial period remodelled by ice and
glacial streams. But the glaciers of Labrador have left even more
valuable records, in the form of moraines, of their early existence
here, than deep fiords or innumerable islands. These are the shoals
and banks which lie some fifteen miles outside of the islands, and on
which icebergs strand in long lines and group."

East Tiirnaink and West Turnavik are both large fishing sta-
tions. At the latter place we fell in with the "Princess May" flying
the missionary burgee at the fore-peak. Visible from the "Room"
at Turnavik is an immense hill, said to be one thousand feet high, to
the south of which is an inlet 30 miles deep, in which is located a
Hudson Bay post. We remained here some time and then started
for Winsor Harbor (Tikkerasuk), about ten miles to the N. W. ;
and our course lay through reefs and breakers so numerous that
we discovered some of them by contact. There is a little group on

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 299

our way, bearing the name of Ukallnktok (Hare Islands), one of
which is of a singular formation — an island about 300 feet high,
curiously striped horizontally in black and white, known as "Striped
Island." We reached Winsor about nine p. m. ; and it was still
broad daylight. As I looked out upon the bay there occurred to me
a thought borrowed from Longfellow :

"Mine are the longest days, the loveliest nights."

Southey must have been inspired by some such scene when he
wrote :

"How beautiful is night !

A dewy freshness fills the silent air;

No mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain,

Breaks the serene of heaven ;

In full-orbed glory, yonder moon divine

Rolls through the dark blue depths ;

Beneath her steady ray

The desert-circle spreads,

Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky.

How beautiful is night !

"Here, night and day hold each other's hands upon the hill-tops,
no sooner does the sun set West by Xorth, than like a giant re-
freshed, it rises again North by East" (Lambert de Beaulieu, "Rec-
ollections of Labrador").

Winsor was to be my abiding-place for a while; how long? It
mattered little ; it was my last "station" for the season ; the colony
at Muha, thirty miles north, had "wound up the voyage" (it had
been a lean year) ; and the fishermen at "Fanny's Harbor" had
gone ofif to the "Farmyards." Then off to Nain, for this was the
last trip of the steamer for the season.

Winsor is a comfortable landfall. The "Room'' is a large and
cleanly one ; and there was time for a little exploration. Amongst
other things, on the island, seemingly of commercial value, we dis-
covered a large bed of Steatite, and small quantities of Talc; and on
a neighboring island, located a serpentine formation which is cer-
tainly worth developing ; but ours is not a commercial enterprise.

The heat here was intense, tho' the season was far advanced ; and
the mosquitoes were particularly troublesome. It is said that there

300

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

is only one specimen of the genus cnlex found on the coast of Labra-
dor ; so much the better, as this animal is particularly vexatious. "It
is a remarkably sluggish animal compared to most of its con-
geners elsewhere, slower in its movements than the largest brown
ciiUcidae of the Tropics ; but it is provided with an unusually long
proboscis, the use of which it understands so admirably that an ordi-
nary kid glove is no sure defence against it. It gives little or no
warning of its presence, but proceeds at once to attack its host in
the most vigorous and direct manner. It is found in immense
shoals ; and at times is particularly troublesome." At night during
the early summer months I had frequently to use a mosquito net to
avoid disastrous consequences to my physiognomy.

CAPTAIN DRAKE.

But a more annoying pest on Labrador is the little black fly,
which the Indians designate "feel 'em, no see' em"; and these flies
are found in myriads a short distance from the "landwash" of sev-
eral settlements. On one occasion, I saw them so numerous that
they resembled a miniature cloud. Low, marshy ground is their
favorite haunt. At Winsor we found the only "greens" on the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 301

coast ; in the rear of our quarters there were several patches of
"turnip-tops" and a splendid bed of lettuce. We are certainly in
luck; and salad a la Tikkera^uk formed a large part of the sundry
daily meals. This and "sounds" and "cod-tongues" are a peculiar
prandial combination ; but nevertheless, delicious, when you have
been four months away from home.

The Windsor Lake arrived rather unexpectedly one morning, and
we were soon afloat, en route to Hopedale — the interesting Mo-
ravian Mission, across the bay. Another bundle of mail ; and with
it an appointment to a new sphere of labor. So this was to be
my last trip to the coast perhaps for many years. On board of the
steamer there were several passengers — chiefly American — amongst
them the ubiquitous newspaper correspondent, and another specimen
of the genus homo — a "writer." This gentleman was garbed in a
suit of immaculate flannel ; the costume seemed to tickle the risi-
bility of the Esquimaux at Winsor, when the steamer arrived. Old
Silas, the Esquimau caretaker of the "Room," examined the new-
comer very closely ; he had evidently never seen a white-flannelled —
well, Kipling says something in connection with "muddled oafs" —
this is the requisite term.

Silas was a keen observer. "Him man, monkey, no tail ; never
see 'em afore." The waggish mail-officer secretly confided the in-
telligence to the "Husky" that the caudal appendage was coiled up
out of sight." Perhaps it was. This gentleman was "collecting ma-
terial" for Labrador "Tales." But it did not take long for some
of us to discover that this personage was employed in some more

humble capacity than that of a contributor to . Unless I

am mistaken, this employee of the was perhaps engaged in

licking postage stamps, or possibly he " 'sorted the editor's mail."
The newspaper correspondent was of the feminine gender, a "globe-
trotter," she informed some of the party. But the "globe" trotting
was apparently limited to a trip across the Atlantic, when her be-
loved parents were emigrating from Paisley. She wrote some very
wonderful things about Labrador on her return to the United States.
Amongst the party were some very excellent, genial people who
really enjoyed the trip, and their fellow-passengers apparently held
them in high esteem. Whilst "sizing up" the company I found that
we had passed several interesting islands — Nanuaktok (White Bear

302

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Islands), and the remarkable Uyara.zuks\dik (Two Stones); the
latter gets its name from two remarkable blocks of stone which are
found on its southern side. Ho pedal e (HoiYenthal) lies northwest
from the western Kiiigitok IsUvid, in a small bay protected from the
eastward by the islands of Amiiowaktook (Big Snow Hill), 468 feet
high, and Anniowaktorusok (Little Snow Hill), which is apparently
about half the height of the former.

Some fishing schooners were anchored close inshore, evidently
bound south; and in the offing was a large ship — "The Harmony,"
the "mission-vessel." This ship makes annual trips to the Labrador
coast, bringing supplies from London in springtime for the various
missions, and in the autumn, taking back to the markets the mis-
sionaries' harvests of fish and furs.

MORAVIAN MISSION AT HOPEDALE.

Before our ship had anchored, several boats and one or two
kayaks were seen moving out from the shore, and soon several
dusky visitors climbed up the gangway. Then "Auchenai," "Kan-
noekit," "Annanak" and sundry other words were hurled at the
visitors by the officers and crew of the Windsor Lake. The

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 303

"Huskies" smiled and gibbered, as they took stock of our equip-
ment. A miniature riot occurred amongst the younger fry when a
benevolent lady started to distribute some candy "which she had
brought specially from St. John's for these poor, dear people !" In
the mclcc the good-natured dame was jostled very unceremoniously;
and as she was extricated from her sad plight, I think I heard, as I
passed over the gangway, an adjectival expression coupled with the
word "brutes" that sounded particularly feminine ; but of course
that dear old soul in curls never used such language as that ! Is it
not remarkable, tho', how soon tinsel kindness wears off?

The scramble almost suffocated one of the juvenile "Huskies" ;
and as we returned after visiting the mission quarters, the medical
officer was busily occupied in adjusting sundry pieces of sticking
plaster to the face of a dusky damsel who had been in contact with
the ship's winch.

The bay in which Hopcdalc is located is com-
HOPEDALE. posed of Laurentian gneiss, which, in the imme-
diate vicinity of the mission-house, is curiously
contorted ; it is fine-grained, distinctly banded, with veins of quartz
and granite (Packard). There are several trap dykes, in places like
winding stairs descending to the water's edge. The hillsides are
covered with lichens, with an occasional patch of glaucous-colored
growth. At intervals are little ravines in which last season's snow
still remains. Near the mission house is a raised beach, almost cov-
ered by rank vegetation, which slopes down to a little "bight" east
of the Esquimaux village. This beach abounds in well-preserved
shells. This seems to clearly demonstrate the theory of a well-
known author who says that "this part of Labrador is now slowly
rising."

Close to the water's edge are the Mission Buildings, consisting of
a large residence, in which all the missionaries have their quarters,
a church surmounted by a small campanile, and two or three out-
buildings, one of which is apparently the store, as, at the time of our
visit, some Esquimaux women were struggling with a puncheon of
molasses, trying to roll it against a steep incline. Fronting the resi-
dence are several trim garden plots in which there was a magnificent
display of pansies, stocks, nasturtiums, and other well-known flow-

304

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

ers. There were also some patches of vegetables, in a fairly ad-
vanced condition. Near by the mission premises are the huts of the
Esquimaux, which are built of timber and sods.

They are not particularly clean; and some of the exploring party
were not desirous to see the interiors ; but the more venturesome
managed to get inside ; and one of the gentler sex — our newspaper
correspondent — was overcome by heat (or the malodorous at-

GROUPS OF NAIN ESQUIMAUX.

mosphere) ; and we beat a hasty retreat. Dogs were lyiug around
at every corner ; and one needs to tread gently so as not to make
an undesired acquaintance with the canines' teeth. The Chapel is
a neat structure, and capable of containing perhaps 350 people. An
organ is placed at one end of the building, and an Esquimau was
commissioned to give us a recital ; he played well, and barring the
odor of seal-grease, everything was decidedly attractive. Our
friend in "white flannels" "would like just to try that organ"; he
tried ; but whether the air with which he struggled was "The
Old Hundred" or "Annie Rooney's Baby," my ears, fairly musical
though they are said to be, were unable to discover.

We were followed around the settlement by a group of curious
natives ; but they were kept at decent distance by the very observ-
ant gaze of the missionary who accompanied us.

The Mission at Hopedale was founded in 1782; and the Esqui-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

305

maux population now is somewhat less than at the time of its estab-
lishment.

It is a mission and trading post ; and the mission annually exports
about one thousand quintals of fish, for which the sum of $3.50 (in
kind) is paid to the Esquimaux. Besides fish, a large quantity of
blubber is purchased at $2.40 per cwt. The balance of the mission
trade is made up of furs of various animals — martens, foxes, wea-
sels, mink and other fur-bearing animals.

The prices paid for these commodities are the usual trader's
prices. The missionaries were extremely courteous and very hos-
pitable. They are comfortably housed and seemed perfectly happy.
Some of our party did considerable trade with the Esquimaux folk
in the purchase of skin mittens and boots ; but, as the Esquimaux
are keen sellers, our friends did not get any bargains, as the same
articles might have been purchased further south for less money.

Some of us were glad to return to the ship from this hamlet of
smells and dirt ; we had seen it several times ; and we had little to
learn. Before our boat had been hoisted into davits we were head-
ing for the "Farthest North."

ESQUIMAUX AT HOPEDALE.

3o6

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

WHERE THE FISHTRS GO. 307

CHAPTER XXIX.

FARTHEST NORTH.

*T saw the long line of the vacant shore
The sea-weed and the shells upon the sand

And the brown rocks bare on every hand,
As if the ebbing tide would flow no more."

"The Tides," Longfellow.

After leaving Hopcdalc we passed by a cliffy, basaltic island,
called Achzntoaksoak; kept the shore aboard for four or five miles,
and then we steamed by another island, a mass of basalt, named
Xapakastasaktalik, near which is a unique rock rising out of the
water, like a seal's head. A large "bight" lies away to the westward ;
and on its sides, in the ravines, were several patches of snow. The
shore line here has a forbidding aspect ; and as we came by in a
dreadful "tumble," it seemed an inhospitable place ; for huge break-
ers sent the spray flying skywards for several feet. Eleven miles to
the north of N apakasiasaktalik there is another grim, menacing
island whose summit, five hundred feet from sea-level, looked un-
canny as it emerged from the haze which enveloped its base. Near
by is Mnlta w^ithin whose borders I had spent, some years previous,
"one of the queerest old nights."

We were nearing, apparently, the deep
WINDY TICKLE, mouthed "caves of Aeolus," for it was

blowing a hurricane. On enquiring of the
captain where we were, he replied: "This is 'Windy Tickle,' the
place where they make the gales" ; and 'tis truly not misnamed, as
"the wind in the shrouds has a wintry tune, and the foam is flying
free." The land here is very high; and it is known as the place of
dangerous and sudden squalls. Lying outside of Windy Tickle is
Nunakahik (big piece of land), and the islands forming it are said
to be seven hundred feet high. At the southern extremity of this
"big piece of land" is Fanny's Harbor.

3o8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Fanny's Harbor is a large bight, and an

FANNY'S HARBOR, excellent fishing post ; it is the farthest

north settlement of Newfoundland fish-
ermen. The plucky planter located here is Captain Thomas Sprack-
lin of Brigus, the well-known master-mariner. The genial captain
has the stufif of the old Vikings in him ; and he deserves every suc-
cess in his dangerous avocation. "Fanny's Harbor," says a recent
writer, "owes its name to a romantic incident which occurred there
many years ago — a fight for a girl of that name." I am sorry to
correct "this old romantic legend." The fight occurred ; but the
harbor received its name from Captain Murphy of King's Cove —
one of the best informed fishermen of his day in the Old Colony.
He was master of a schooner named "Fanny," belonging to Mr.
John Devine, father of the well-known newspaper editors, M. A.
Devine of the "Trade Review" and P. K. Devine of the "Evening
Telegram."

Captain Murphy visited the north coast in the early 6o's and he
named the harbor (then known by some unpronounceable Esqui-
maux nomenclature) "Fanny's Harbor," after his schooner. It was
some time later that the fistic duel took place; and the dramatis
persona; were Mark Walker (the peripatetic philosopher of Bona-
vista Bay) and a man from Carbonear ; the damsel fair whose charms
precipitated the duel was a lady from my own home-town. Mark.
Walker has immortalized this bloodless afifray in his celebrated
song : "Fanny's Harbor Bawn," which is still found amongst the
"Come-all yees," which are sung with such zest and pathos during
the Christmas gatherings in Northern Newfoundland outports.

Fanny's Harbor looks as if it had been gouged out of the moun-
tain side by a huge glacier ; and the sky-line of the hills is beset
with boulders. The whole effect of these hills is sombre, due to the
lichen growth which covers them. Here and there one sees little
patches of yellowish-green moss and other signs of arctic vegetation.
Snow remains here all the year round ; and in some of the gulches at
the bottom of the bight it is several feet thick. The sides of the
water-laved hills which surround the harbor are syenite, of a pink-
ish-gray color ; and they are formidable in their grim, barren aspect.

At the northeast corner of Nunaksalnk is a sharp, black headland
— Cape Harrigan (Tagaulik), and around the point to the south is

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 309

Cape Harrigan Harbor. This has, like Ailik and Cape Harrison,
been a familiar name to me since boyhood days ; and some of my
juvenile letters were addressed to Cape Harrigan, as my father
usually called there for his mail, if not iishing there, in former years.
I have been told, but I am afraid the information is not correct, that
our vessel, "Rusina," was the first fishing- vessel to "moor" at Harri-
gan ; the honor belongs most likely to a Twillingate skipper named
Downer, to whom also is due the title of discoverer of the fishing
grounds of Nachvak and Chidley. This is claimed by others, but
unjustly. Cliiquc suuui.

"Cape Harrigan owes its name to an Irishman of this name," says
a scribe who has written about "Newfoundland cod-haulers!" This
wiseacre is misinformed — Harrigan is simply a corruption of the
word hurricane (Northern Newfoundland fishermen pronounce it
harricanc; they acquired the habit from their Devonian forebears).
It was so named on account of its stormy characteristics ; for here,
even when stark calm elsewhere, "the win' she blow lak' harricane,
bimeby she blow some more."

At the head of the harbor there is a fine sandy beach, one of the
few to be seen along the coast of Northern Labrador. Cape Harri-
gan is usually crowded with schooners ; but the fleet on this occa-
sion is out at the Farmyards, a cluster of islands lying away to the
southeast of the cape.

Why this archipelago is called Farmyards I
FARMYARDS, have not been able to ascertain; possibly be-
cause it has for many years been a rendezvous
for all sorts of fishermen, from the decked "bully" to the loo-ton
schooner.

The islands are called Nanuktok (the Bears) by the Esquimaux;
and presumably the white bear was hunted in this neighborhood in
former days. These islands are dubbed "rough-shop" by fishermen ;
and from reports they deserve this appellation, as terrific storms have
visited the islands, even within recent years. If one wishes to real-
ize the difficulties under which the festive cod is secured, a visit to
the Farmyards will give the least observant an object lesson. Here
you find at anchor dozens of schooners of all shapes and kinds, each
with one or two splitting tables amidships ; and if there is a "spurt"

3IO

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

you may see young women "heading" and occasionally "splitting"
fish, 'mid surroundings that are not such as womanhood demands.
Happily females are found in fewer numbers than formerly on board
fishing schooners ; and hasten the day, when no woman will be found
working like a pack horse on the deck of a filthy fishing craft.
There is no nobler womanhood than you find in the Old Colony ; and
those who heap aspersions upon Newfoundland lielp (as it is termed
abroad) know little of the women whom they unblushingly defame.
It is not long since I had occasion personally to demand a retrac-
tion of calumny against the womanhood of my native land ; and
when occasion demands it I shall do so again, perhaps more em-
phatically.

A FIORD.

The trip from Cape Harrigan to Nain is one of the most inter-
esting on the northern coast of Labrador ; two routes are available,
but the outer track is the safer, as it lies outside the shoals. The
coast here is practically uncharted, except in the southern section ;
and the mariner must be largely governed by the "rule of thumb."

The first "port of call" after leaving Cape
DAVIS INLET. Harrigan is Davis Inlet, which lies between

the mainland and Freestone Island (otherwise
called Newfoundland Island; it is known to the Esquimaux as
Ukasiksalik). It is about fifteen miles distant from Cape Harrigan,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 311

and en route Solomon's Island is passed, where numbers of schoon-
ers from Notre Dame and Conception Bays may be seen every sea-
son. Kuttalik ("Kettle" or "Massacre" Island) is in the vicinity;
and here you find men "from Green Bay," who are generally "high-
liners" of the fishing fleet.

There is a Hudson Bay post at the inlet ; but the Newfoundland
fishermen rarely visit it, as "it is too far in the bay for fish." The
Post consists of several white houses, similar to those seen at Cart-
zvright, off which is a wharf, where schooners may load. Furs, seal-
oil, and salted trout are the chief exports. It is visited annually by
the Hudson Bay Company's steamer (now the Pelican, purchased
since my last visit to the coast from the Admiralty), which brings
the year's supplies and takes away the exports.

The inlet was discovered and named by the explorer, John Davis,
in 1586.

On the western end of Freestone Island there is a prominent land-
mark, which bears the name of "Post Hill"; it is 855 feet high. "It
is not safe for sailing vessels to approach the inlet except at slack
water, and with a commanding breeze." (Coast Pilot.)

Lyng to the northeast of Davis Inlet is Spracklin Island, whose
eponymous first visitor from Newfoundland was Captain Spracklin ;
it has of course an Esquimaux name as well — Kikkertaksoak ("Big
Island off to sea"). It lies in the outer track to Nain, and is a
splendid fishing port. It is a remarkable landmark, having two
singularly shaped peaks, each about five hundred feet high.

Northward, about sixteen miles from Davis Inlet by the
ZOAR. inside run, is situated Zoar, a former Moravian mission ;

it was abandoned a few years ago, for Maccovick, a
settlement farther south. The Mission of Zoar was established in
1830. En route to Zoar there are two islands Tuktninak ("the is-
land between the two channels"), and Tunungayaksoak ("the
wedge," so called from its shape). To the west, some five or six
miles inland, may be seen the Merryficld Mountain, a square hill,
about 1,700 feet high. After leaving Zoar, by the inside route we
entered the large Archipelago, which leads to Nain —

"A drear and desolate shore !
Where no tree unfolds its leaves

312 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

And never the spring-wind weaves
Green grass for the hunter's tread :
A land forsaken and dead
Where the ghastly ice-bergs go
And come with the ebb and flow."

There are two large islands in the Archipelago — Kikkertavak,
whose summit gleams like molten lead in the sunshine, and Paul's
or Pozvnal Island (Tunnulasoak), which is divided by two large
inlets running from the eastern and northwestern ends. Ford's
Harbor is located at the eastern end of this island, and opens to the
eastward. On its northern side is a flat promontory, forming a
series of terraces ; and the harbor is visible from the westward, over
the marsh which joins this promontory to the mainland. The shore
is filled with boulders of large size ; and here is found abundantly
the lustrous Labradorite.

Lahradorite is a member of the feldspar
LABRADORITE. group, which occurs next in abundance to
quartz ; its constituents are lime, soda and
alumina. In color it is gray, blue or greenish ; it is very lustrous,
translucent and opalescent, with cleavage surfaces often two inches
in diameter (Packard). It derives its name from Labrador; and
is akin to leucite, which is found in lavas, such as the lava of
Vesuvius, and bears some relation to the Oriental verd antique,
found in Western Greece.

Labradorite has also been found in the stalactic caves of the
Sandwich Islands.

It is found in large masses at Paul's Island; and some years ago
a shipment was made to the United States; with what commercial
result I have not learned.

From this island the trip to Nain lies through a sinuous

NAIN. passage, bounded by high clififs of sombre hue, and steep

precipices of hoary mien. The entrance to the fiord in

which Nain lies is so contorted that you hardly realize that you are

sailing on an arm of the sea; it rather resembles a huge mountain

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

313

lake, from which retreat seems impossible. Astern are immense
cHffs which shut out the view of the sea ; whilst right ahead are
tumbled mountains bathed in sunshine, where

"The glorious sun,
Stays in his course, and plays the alchemist;
Turning, with splendor of his precious eye
The barren, hilly steeps to glittering gold."

The arrival of the mail-steamer at N'aiii is an important event,
duly solemnized by the boom of cannon, which reverberates amongst
the mountains like a "Cyclopean message of the mighty Thor."

The steamer makes only two trips a year to these northern
regions ; and this was the last for the season.

The "Huskies," garbed in holiday attire, were posted at every
coign of vantage, gesticulating wildly a welcome to the "big ship."
An ensign floated to the breeze from the top of the Mission : and

MOR-WIAN MISSION AT NAIN.

everybody appeared frenzied with enthusia-sm. Before the com-
mand came to "let go," we were surrounded by boats and kayaks
laden wth natives, bedecked in gorgeous array, all shouting, as
only Esquimaux can shout, "Auchenai" (Welcome). They clam-
bered on deck ; and soon took possession of the ship. They were
decidedly orderly, but necessarily curious ; and they immediately
found their way to the "galley," and helped themselves to every-

314 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

thing in sight. All our passengers, the ship's officers who were on
duty, and some of our crew, went ashore to visit the northern
metropoHs. We were most hospitably entertained by the mission-
aries, from one of whom I learned further details of the work of
the mission, the habits and history of the Esquimaux, and valuable
information about the natural history of the coast. I had previously
made a voyage with the Rev. Mr. Jannisch, to whom I stand in-
debted for such information as I could not procure from personal
observation. The mission buildings at Nain are almost a replica of
the establishment at Hopedale; the plant at Nain is, however, more
extensive, and had, in addition to the buildings found at Hopedale,
a well-appointed workshop, where the Esquimaux are taught the
useful arts, under the direction of a skilful foreman.

The Nain establishment is the oldest on the coast ; it was founded
in 1 771. As in the other Esquimaux settlements, the population of
Nain is decreasing.

From my missionary friend I learned that this decrease is due
largely to tuberculosis ; this disease, it is claimed, was introduced by
"the whites" — another strong argument for the anti-tuberculosis
league. The diseases such as measles, which are not regarded as
having an unfavorable prognosis amongst white folk, are usually
attended with fatal consequences amongst the Esquimaux. The
fatal results are due, so an excellent authority declares, to the filthy
habits of these Esquimaux, and the indiscriminate consumption of
food whose putridity would cause a well-bred representative of the
canine tribe to turn up his nose with disgust. An Esquimau will
eat a seal carcass when its malodorous stench suggests the fertilizer
heap.

Whilst at Nain we heard a great deal of music, chin and instru-
mental, from the Esquimaux ; and they are certainly a very musical
people. "Music," says a writer, who recently visited the coast, "is
one of the chief accomplishments of the Esquimaux; and at all the
Moravian stations there are brass bands; and violins are a feature
of the church service. A good story is told of their welcoming some
Naskopis with a musical serenade ; the latter were so terrified, that it
was some time before they could be induced to approach. . . .
For over an hour these natives sang to us — familar music, "Rock
of Ages," "Shall We Gather at the River?" interspersed with what

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 315

I take to be secular songs, from the laughter which follows. . . .
Their voices are most harmonious, and the singing is indeed of a
superior order, especially the part songs. "Nakomik," we cry, and
"Ananak" (it's fine), and return the compliment in the only way
we can with a gramaphone. It is a terrible come down to "The
Old Apple Tree," and "Everybody Works But Father"; but the
Esquimaux seem to enjoy it, and greet the songs and their explana-
tion by the interpreter with peals of laughter. A song in which a
man beats his wife seems especially to amuse them. The mission-
ary told us that wife-beating was still common amongst them.
(Townsend: "Along the Labrador Coast.")

When we returned to the ship the Esquimaux were still regaling
themselves with whatever the stewards felt disposed to give them ;
and we found a dozen of them dancing to the melodious strains of
Steward Tilley's fiddle. It was far into the night before they left
the ship ; and then silence reigned supreme. It was too dark to
venture through "the run," so whilst the officers "turned in," I stood
on the bridge "at midnight" ; but no clocks were striking the hour !
It was such a moment as Longfellow would have revelled in ; and
perhaps it was of such a night as this that he wrote : —

"From the cool cisterns of the midnight air

My spirit drank repose ;

The fountain of perpetual peace flows there, —

From those deep cisterns flows.

O holy Night ! from thee I learn to bear

What man has borne before !

Thou layest thy fingers on the lips of Care,

And they complain no more.

Peace ! Peace ! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer !

Descend with broad winged flight.

The welcome, the thrice prayed for, the most fair

The best-beloved Night!"
By the pale light of the stars the dim outlines of the majestic
hills were visible ; and ever and anon single rays of the Aurora
shot across the heavens, with a meteoric glow. At intervals the
low melancholy growl of a "husky" dog disturbed the solemn still-
ness; but it was only momentary; and then all was hushed in
silence.

3i6 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"Eight bells!" It was time to retire. At the first glimmer of
dawn, I was awakened by the clink of the ship's windlass ; and be-
fore I had reached the deck, we were heading ont the fiord, bound
to the "Queen's Lakes." We are now on a section of the coast
which is little known, except to fishermen, and the "coast pilot"
warns us : "The coast northward of Nain has only been roughly
examined ; and the charts are unreliable."

Dr. Grenfell has done some exploration work on the northern sec-
tion of the coast ; but we have not seen his maps ; the information
here produced has been received from fishermen who went north
before the genial doctor ever saw the coast of Labrador; and I be-
lieve it is authentic.

One of the most intelligent fishermen I ever met was the late
Captain Patrick St. John, of Conception Harbor, Newfoundland;
he had some "rough sketches" of his fishing trips "down to Chid-
ley," and many years ago I learned a great deal of the history of
Northern Labrador from him.

Skipper Michael Wade, Thomas Ryan, of King's Cove, the
Chaulkers, Clarkes, Spracklins and Bartletts of Brigus, the Downers
of Fogo, have been frequenting the north coast for many years ;
they have never published their discoveries ; but their names are
associated with such places as "Chronicle Island," "Inner Cut-
throat," "Ryan's Strand," and other localities, where they fished for
years.

The immense Archipelago, which lies di-
QUEEN'S LAKES, rectly to the north of Naiii, is known as
the "Queen's Lakes." The number of is-
lands constituting the archipelago is unknown ; and many of them
are unnamed. I have been told that the name — "Queen's Lakes,"
was given to the locality many years ago, by a northern skipper, "in
honor of Queen Victoria" ; but I have also been told that, like
"Fanny's Harbor," the name originated with a skipper whose ves-
sel, the "River Queen," was the first to anchor there, and prosecute
the fishery on an island outside Aiilatsirik (Newark Island).

Atdatsk'ik, the largest island of the group, lies south of Port
Manz'crs, and is a remarkable island; it has a singularly serrated
mountain peak known as "J\Iount Thoresby," said to be nearly three
thousand feet high.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

317

It was apparently in this neighborhood
JOHN KNIGHT, that the famous navigator, Master John

Knight, made a landfall, in 1606. He sailed
from Gravesend, April i8th, in the Hopeivcll; and "after a most
tedious voyage, the vessel arrived ofif some broken land, in latitude
56° 25' N. ; much ice drifting to the southward.

The wind was fresh and the commander made fast to a piece of
ice ; but falling calm, he endeavored to row in between the masses.
This was an unfortunate attempt. The weather became thick and
foggy, and a furious storm arose on June 14th; they were driwn

SHIPS OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. I'VOm ProZi'SC's HistOVy.

about in the ice. Lost sight of land till the 19th, when it is de-
scribed as being seen again, rising like eight islands in latitude
56" 48' N., the variation being 25' W. The vessel was then taken into
a cove (was this cove what is now known as Port Manversf), and
made fast by hawsers laid out on shore. On June 26th, Captain
Knight, his mate, and three hands set out to explore a large island.
They disappeared, having probably been killed by natives.

On the night of the 29th they were attacked by savages, who set
on them furiously with bows and arrows ; and at one time suc-
ceeded in obtaining possession of the shallop. However, the eight
mariners, with a fierce dog, showed a resolute front, and the assail-
ants, upward of fifty in number, were driven off. The savages are

3i8 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

represented to have been "very little people, tawnie colored, with
thin or no beards, and flat-nosed." They are also described as be-
ing "man-eaters" ; but for this imputation there appears to be no
warrant, except in the imagination of the parties on whom the attack
was made.

"On the 4th of July, the vessel was leaking badly ; and shaping
their course to Newfoundland, with a strong current in their favor,
they made Fogo, on the 23rd July. At that place they were most
hospitably entertained. Having refitted, they left on the 22nd of
August, full of grateful feelings towards their generous friends ;
and arrived at Dartmouth on the 24th December." (Hudson's Voy-
ages ap. Packard.)

It is rather a coincidence that the first Newfoundlander to visit
the "landfall" of Master Knight should be a "man from Fogo."
Did the old west-countryman leave his charts with the ancestors of
some of the Fogo "Vikings of to-day" ?

West of the northern end of Aulccavik,
PORT ]\1AN\'ERS. on the mainland, is a safe and commodious
harbor — Port Manvers, whose entrance is
nearly a mile wide between Medusa Bluff on the south, and Thalia
Point on the north. These two names suggest the naturalist; and
both the Botanist and Zoologist will find much to interest them
around Port Manvers. Fishermen say that all the "squid-squalls"
(this is the democratic name for the family of Mednsidae) which
drift to the south are horn around Port Manvers. Presumably some
Botanical explorer found there species of Thalia (Ranunculacae).
There are four species reported by Weiz, in this neighborhood.

Port Manz'crs is rarely visited by fishermen, for reasons similar to
those which exclude them from Davis Inlet. Overlooking the inlet
in which Port Manvers is located, is the Kiglapeit ("Saw-tooth")
Range, whose highest part is a broad, round summit, not less than
200 feet high. Tlie fishermen call this mountain-range Kittelopipes.

About twenty-six miles to the north of

SADDLE ISLAND. Port Manvers is Saddle Island ("The

Saddle") ; and the "Stirrups," the former

of which has an elevation of five hundred feet. The peculiar shapes

of the islands suggest their names.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 319

Westward from these islands, located in a large Bay,

OKKAK. is Okkak, the largest Esquimaux village in Labrador,
and an important station of the Moravian Mission-
aries. Besides the usual mission buildings, there is a small, well-
organized hospital, subsidized by tlie Newfoundland Government,
under the direction of Dr. Hutton, an enthusiastic and capable Eng-
lish physician.

At Okkak the temperature is more even than at Nain or Hope-
dale ; and the flora of this section is said to be most luxuriant,
owing to the fact that the settlement is warmer and more protected
than the southern missions. "In the hollows of the mountain on the
south side of the bay there is quite a growth of spruce and fir. A
large river flows into the head of the bay — "North River" — and
the natives fish it in spring and summer for trout. The mission ex-
ports about three hundred barrels of this valuable fish annually.
Seals are taken at Okkak in the spring and fall ; and last season's
catch amounted to a thousand." (Report of Governor McGregor.)

The general outlook of this mission is one of thrift, prosperity
and economic advancement.

Okkak is ice-bound often as late as the end of June; but, not-
withstanding its arctic appearance, warm weather comes with great
rapidity later ; and here you find neatly-kept gardens with a plentiful
supply of hardy vegetables.

The northern side of the fiord in which Okkak lies is over-
shadowed by a long mountain-range, which bears the name of Kaum-
ajct (Shining Mountain) ; and it is of very remarkable shape. Its
eastern summit is known as "The Bishop's Mitre." At the north-
east entrance to the fiord is a peculiarly shaped island, known as
Cod Island (Ogualik). "Table Hill," at its southern extremity, is
a prominent landmark. Several narrow bays indent the eastern side
of Ogualik, and they are said to afford good shelter for fishing ves-
sels.

Miigford Tickle lies between this island and the main ; it is four
miles in length ; and something over half a mile wide. The cliffs
on either side are almost perpendicular, and are composed of syen-
ite of greyish appearance. . . . Cape Mngford is the northeast
point of the mainland. Fishermen seem to be under the impression
that Cape Mugford is the eastern extremity of an island lying to

320 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

the north of Ogualik; this is doubtless attributable to the imperfect
knowledge of the locality.

Miigford Tickle is a favorite resort for New-
MUGFORD. foundland fishermen within recent years; and the
Bonavista Bay second-trip schooners are found
here in the early days of August.

Recently this locality has received considerable attention, owing
to the discovery of supposed vestiges of the ill-fated Andre expedi-
tion. The discovery was made by Captain Chalker, of Brigus, New-
foundland, who was fishing in the neighborhood of IMugford dur-
ing the past season (1908). The captain, during a cruise to the
inland section of the bay which lies at the northern extremity of
Mugford Tickle, found a grave, at the head of which was a cross,
with an inscription: "Andre Anstey, Aug. 1897." Enthusiasts im-
mediately decided that "this was Andre's grave, and possibly further
researches would bring to light the remains of his companions, and
perhaps, some traces of his balloon" ; but fishermen generally scout
the idea of this "find" being "Andre's grave"; it is very likely, either
the last resting place of some Norwegian sailor, or a fisherman from
Notre Dame Bav. Newfoundland.

North of Cape ]\Iugford is a fishing resort
RYAN'S STRAND, known as "Ryan's Strand" ; its eponymous
discoverer was Captain Thomas Ryan, the
veteran skipper of King's Cove, Bonavista Bay, who made trips to
the farthest north more tHan forty years ago. Tt seems rather
singular that the discoveries of these old fishermen seem to be for-
gotten by modern explorers. They were brave men, these old Bona-
vista and Conception Bay fishermen ; and surely some frail memorial
is due for their services to the fishing interests of the Old Colony.
But old Mrgil. the "seer of Mantua," was a prophet ; and he fore-
told the lot of the humble "who build nests for other birds."

Eight miles north of Mugford on the route to Hebron is a singu-
larly shaped mountain, near the seaboard, known as "Finger Hill,"
so called from its resemblance to the human index.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 321

Hebron lies at the northwest entrance of an inlet

HEBRON, immediately north of a fiord which has an almost
unpronounceable name — Kangcrtiilnksoak, at whose
mouth, some distance seawards, is the "Watchman," a very remark-
able landmark, which is almost black on its summit, while nearer
the water-level it is white.

Hebron Bay is about a mile wide and two and a half miles deep,
and the settlement — a Moravian Mission — lies on the northwestern
side of the bay.

This mission station was founded in 1834, and has a population of
183 persons. The population, so far as regards vital statistics, is
believed to be at present stationary.

Hebron is not a very desirable locality for a settlement, as neither
tree nor bush, nor anything to burn, is to be seen in the neighbor-
hood.

At this station there are three missionaries with their wives who
devote themselves to the religious and educational interests of the
natives.

The natives here live in rude houses composed of timber, stone,
and earth, which is heaped upon the walls and even on the roofs.
The inside was not clean according to European ideas, and offered a
very striking contrast to the housekeeping of the wives of the mis-
sionaries.

Out of the 183 natives here only some half score of those of read-
able age are unable to read. Some of them understand a little Eng-
lish. Some 35 children, from 6 to 12 years of age, attend school.
(McGregor: Report, p. 21.)

Hebron, like all the other northern settlements, is remarkable for
mosquitoes, which in this section seem more rapacious than in the
settlements further south.

From this point may be seen the curiously shaped hills, known as
"The Domes," about 2,000 feet high, distant about five miles inland
from Cape Uhiik, which forms the southern entrance point to
Saeglek (Low Island) Bay.

This bay, which is called by Newfoundland

SAEGLEK BAY. fishermen Siglik, has two entrances, one on

either side of Kikkertaksoak (Big) Island,

the northern being the broader. Kikkertaksoak is a prominent land-

322 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

fall, being nearly eight hundred feet high and, like all the land in
this vicinity, is composed of dark grey syenite.

Saeglik is a splendid fishing centre ; and immense catches are
sometimes secured here.

Three large streams flow into the bay, but only two of them are of
any commercial importance — the Pangetok, which flows from the
south, and the Ugjnktok, which enters the fiord from the west.
These rivers are reported to be good fishing streams.

The coast in this section is characterized by numerous trap dykes,
which extend vertically through the lighter colored rock ; it is de-
cidedly uninviting, as no vegetation is visible, excepting lichen
growths in the fissures of the rock.

At the northeast entrance to Saeglik Bay there is a cape, which is
particularly marked by broad bands of dark rock, and presents an
extraordinary appearance; it is known as Itigaiyavik (Cold-feet
Cape). North of this headland shales are met with for the first
time on the northern coast ; and the bay immediately north of
Saeglik is known as Slate Bay (Nullatertok) from the formation
which exists in the vicinity.

The iMoravian station of Ramah is located at the
RAMAH. bottom of this inlet. This mission was founded in
1871. Ramah is a desolate place; and the Esqui-
maux population is small. They live here in very unsubstantial
igloosaks, which, in winter, are heated with stone lamps and seal
oil. "The Esquimaux at this station are all supposed to be Chris-
tians, but naturally they still retain many of the traditional beliefs
and superstitions of their people. They will not live in a house
where a death has occurred, believing that the spirit of the departed
will haunt the place. Not long ago the wife of one of the Esqui-
maux was taken dangerously ill, and became delirious. Her hus-
band and neighbors, deciding that she was possessed of an evil
spirit, tied her down, and left her until finally she died, uncared for
and alone from cold and lack of food."

Dr. Grenfell once visited this station and exhibited to the aston-
ished natives some stereopticon views — photographs that he had
taken the previous year. It so happened that one of the pictures
was that of an old woman who had died since the photograph was

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 323

made, and when it appeared upon the screen terror struck the hearts
of the simple folk. They believed it was her spirit returned to
earth, and for a long- time afterward imagined that they saw it float-
ing about at night, visiting the woman's old haunts.

The missionary's life is a busy one. From morning until night he
is kept constantly at work, and in the night his rest is broken bv calls
to minister to the sick. He is the father of his flock, and his people
never hesitate to call for his help and advice. To him all their
troubles and disagreements are referred for a wise adjustment. I
am free to say that previous to meeting them upon their field of
labor I looked ujx^n them with indifiference, if not with disfavor, for
I had been led to believe that they were accomplishing nothing.

^^-.■}-

MORAVIAX MISSION AT RAMAH.

But now I have seen them, and I know of what incalculable value
the services are that they are rendering to the poor, benighted peo-
ple of the coast." (Wallace: "The Long Labrador Trail.")

Near the entrance to Slate Bay is
ROWSELL'S HARBOR. Rowsell's Harbor, which, a few

years ago, attracted considerable at-
tention as a possible mining settlement.

324

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

It contains a large deposit of iron pyrites. It was worked for a
season by Captain John Bartlett. but owing to difficulties experi-
enced, it was abandoned. From Captain Bartlett. I have received
an interesting report of the locality, part of which has been already
given in a previous chapter.

ROWSELL S H.ARBOR MIXE.

Xacliz-ak Bay lies two miles to the north of Roic-
XACH\'AK. sell's Harbor: it has an average width of one mile
as far as the Hudson Bay Company's post, situated
about fifteen miles from the mouth, but the bay extends about ten
miles farther up. The land on either side is very high, the cliffs,
in many places, rising almost perpendicularly to a height of one
thousand feet. There is a large deposit of graphite in this bay;
but, owing to its fineness, it is not of great commercial value.

Near the northern entrance to the bay there is a mountain-range
called "Mount Razor Back," whose highest peak is 3,000 feet high;
and in its neighborhood, to the east, is a singular formation known
as "The White Handkerchief." This island covers about two acres,
and extending from the sea to some five hundred feet above it, is a
very conspicuous square of light-colored rock situated at the north-
eastern corner of the deep circular bight northward of '"Razor-back
point."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

325

Writing of the northern section of the coast Packard says : "The
highest elevations in Labrador rise from the irregular coast-range
between latitude 57 degrees and 60 degrees; and judging from the
views published by Dr. Lieber in the U. S. Coast Survey report
for i860, and by Professor Bell in the Report of the Canadian
Geological Survey for 1884, the scenery of this part of the coast is
wonderfully grand and wild, rivalling that of the coast of Norway,
and of the coast of Greenland, the mountain being about as high as
in these regions. According to Professor Bell : "After passing the
Strait of Belle Isle, the Labrador coast continues high and rugged,
and although there are interruptions to the general rule, the eleva-
tion of the land near the coast may be said to increase gradually in
going northward, until within seventy statute miles of Cape Chidlev,

XACHVAK FIORD. Copyright, A. P. Loiv.

where it has attained a height of about 6.000 feet. Beyond this it
again diminishes to this cape, where it is 1,500 feet. From what I
have seen quoted of Labrador, and from what I have been able to
learn from the Hudson Bay officers and the natives, and also judg-
ing from the indications afforded by the courses of rivers and
streams, the highest land of the peninsula lies near the coast-line, all
along constituting in fact, a regular range of mountains parallel to
the Atlantic seaboard. In a general way, this range becomes pro-
gressively narrower from Hamilton Inlet to Cape Chidley.

The highest mountains in Labrador were previously said by
Kohlmeister and Knoch to rise from a chain of high mountains ter-
minating in the lofty peaks near Aulezavik Island and Cape Chidley.

One of the smallest of these mountains, "Mount Bache," was
measured by the Eclipse Expedition of the U. S. Coast Survey, and
found to be 2,150 feet above sea-level. This mountain is a gneiss

326 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

elevation, rounded by glacial action, while lofty wild volcanic-look-
ing mountains form a water shed in the interior, whose craggy peaks
have evidently never been ground down l)y land-ice into domes and
rounded tops.

While the highest elevations have never been measured, the height
of at least three of the lesser mountains along this part of the coast
appears to have been roughly ascertained. Professor Bell states that
the mountains on either side of the Nachvak Inlet, about 140 miles

IN THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION. Copyright, Oiitiiig Pub. Co.

south of Cape Chidley, rise to a height of 1,500 to 3,400 feet, but a
few miles inland, especially on the south side, they appear to attain
an altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet, which would correspond with the
height of the "Four Peaks," near the coast-line midway between
Nachvak and Chidley. The mountains around Nachvak, he adds,
are steep, rough-sided, peaked, and serrated, and have no appear-
ance of having been glaciated, excepting close to the sea-level.
These mountains are composed of Laurentian gneiss. Everywhere
in this vicinity they give evidence of long-continued atmospheric
decay. The annual precipitation at the present time is not great,
otherwise small glaciers would probably form among these moun-
tains. Patches of snow, however, remain throughout the summer in
shaded parts of the slopes.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

327

About ten miles to the north of the "White Handkerchief" is a
bay which has a very democratic name — Louse Bay (Komaktorvik) ;
and it is a resort for fishermen from Twilhngate and Fogo. It is
said that Captain Downer of Fog;o was the first Newfoundlander to
fish there. From off this point, so fishermen have told me, the scene
shorewards, especially during a moonlight night, is weird and won-
derful. The "Four Peaks" are seen in distinct outline and in the
early morning, when the first rays of the sun shine upon them tliev
glisten like silver. The ''Peaks" rise to a height of 6,000 feet and
are distinctlv serrated.

AN ESQUIMAU GROUP IN UXGAyA.

A small fiord (Pomialaguk) lies to the northwest of the headland
which forms the northern entrance to Koiiiaktervik; and immedi-
ately beyond it is an island which has given a name to a formation
on the coast — Anksav-ik. It forms the northern boundary of the
inlet which leads to Eclipse Harbor.

This harbor was named by the American
ECLIPSE HARBOR. Expedition which visited the locality in

July, 1880, for the purpose of observing
the total eclipse of the sun. On the extreme northern end of the
island is a gneiss mountain, to which the expedition gave the name
of "Mt. Bache."

328

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Three large fiords, running in a southwesterly direction penetrate
the coast-line north of Aulezavik, the largest of which is known as
Opengarvik, beyond which is the peninsula of Joksnt, whose north-
ern shore is washed by the "Wonderful Ikkerasak/' This strait
separates the Chidley Archipelago from the mainland of Labrador.
At the south end of this strait lies Port Bnnvcll, the limit of New-
foundland jurisdiction (presumably) on Labrador.

ESQUIMAUX IN THE FAR NOUTIT. A. P. LOZV.

Cape Chidley, former!}' known as Cape Pcrdrix (another evi-
dence of French exploration) is the extreme north of the Labrador
peninsula; it is supposed by many to be located on the mainland;
but it really is the eastern end of Kikkertosoak Island, in latitude
60° 33', longitude 64° 14' W. The cape was named after "the
Worshipful John Chidley, in the county of Devon Esquire, chief
promoter and general of an expedition to Chili, in 1539."

The "Wonderful Ikkerasak" is known also as ]\IcLellan Strait ;
and recently it has been named "Grenfell Tickle," owing to the ex-
plorations conducted there by the superintendent of the M. D. S. F.

Dr. Grenfell informs us that he "has now charted the 'Wonderful
Ikkerasak,' and sounded it from end to end." This passage can
not be availed of with safety by \ sailing vessels, as the "rate of the

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

329

tidal streams in it is estimated to be about seven knots, and the
eddies and whirlpools are bad except at slack water." (Coast
Pilot.)

Port Burwcll, which is also known as
PORT BURW'ELL. Killinek, is an excellent harbor, sheltered
from all but the southwest winds, and dis-
tant capes break the force of even these. It was discovered by Cap-
tain Gordon, who erected observation stations there in 1885. In
1898 Messrs. Job Brothers of St. John's, Newfoundland, erected an
extensive fishing plant at Port Burwell ; but owing presumablv to

PORT BURWELL.

the fact that it has been claimed as Canadian territory, the Messrs.
Job have disposed of their fishing premises to the Moravian Mis-
sion, which has recently established a station there. About fifty
Esquimaux families are found at Killinek. Previous to the incom-
ing of the Moravian missionary the Esquimaux were under the
spiritual care of Reverend Samuel Stewart, an Anglican minister,
under the jurisdiction of the Newfoundland Synod. They are still
pagans.

330 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"The habits of the Esquimaux in this region are even more
uncleanly than amongst their southern brethren; and they seem to
have an abhorrence of water except for drinking purposes ; in con-
sequence, the principal diseases from which they suffer arise from
their filthy habits and the close vitiated atmosphere in their tightly
closed houses, laden with the odors of decomposing animal food
and filth. Over one-half of the Esquimaux die of pulmonary
troubles due to these causes and exposure.

Many suffer and die from scurvy, caused by the devitalized blood
and their excessively fatty food, while remaining sedentary during
the winter.

"The Esquimaux of the farthest north differ in their habits of
living from those further south, along the Atlantic seaboard."

As a rule monogamy is practised, although many of the better
hunters have two or more wives. The women are married early,
generally about fourteen or fifteen years of age ; and these early mar-
riages result in few and weakly children. The marriage ceremony
is very simple ; the consent of the parents is obtained by presents or
favor ; and if the girl is favorable to the union she goes with her
husband. When the girl refuses, she is soon coerced by her rela-
tives.

The marriage tie is easily broken ; and it is seldom that a man
lives with a woman for a number of years. . . . Jealousy from
incompatibility of temper (how like their white brothers and sis-
ters!) or other causes dissolves the marriage without ceremony.
("Cruise of the Neptune.")

What of the future of this interesting people? The answer is
not a difficult one ; they are gradually diminishing in number, and
ere long must inevitably become extinct.

Nansen in "Esquimaux Life," says : "The missionaries, by break-
ing up their natural life, which the exigencies of the chase on land
and sea require, make them dependent on imported luxuries and
necessities, and less able to fight the severe fight in the arctic regions.
In this way they are degenerating in stamina, and slowly succumb-
ing to the inevitable — disappearing as a race."

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 331

CHAPTER XXX.

COXCLUSIOX.

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is a society where none intrudes
By the deep sea, and music in its roar."

"Ch'Ude Harold."

The wealth of Labrador lies in its inexhaustible fisheries ; agri-
culture, at least on the Atlantic seaboard, is impossible ; lumbering
and mining are precarious ventures : but there is still a valuable asset
in other attractions with which nature has so lavishly endowed the
fishers' land.

It has unrivalled scenery for the tourist, exhilarating air and
balmy breezes for the invalid, subjects unique for the artist's brush
and pencil, virgin forests for the hunter, and limpid streams to
tempt -the disciple of the "gentle Izaak." The trip to the "land of
myriad charms'" ofifers every attraction which entices the traveller to
the "Land of the Midnight Sun," and it has the additional feature
of being within reach of even a slender purse.

Time was (only a decade ago) when a trip to Labrador meant a
well-filled wallet, supreme discomfort, and ofttimes mishap ; to-day,
the voyage to the coast is the cheapest trip on earth, comfortable and
fascinating, and one does not necessarily need an "accident policy."

Labrador is now within easy reach of the tourist from the United
States ; and every facility is offered to make the trip at the minimum
of cost.

Steamers of the Red Cross Line leave New York every Saturday
at II A. M. and land you within five days at St. John's, Newfound-
land, where passengers for the coast may connect with the Labrador
steamer. The trip from New York by the Red Cross Line is de-
lightful. You have a charming daylight sail through Long Island,
Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, and then the broad expanse of the
Atlantic for nearly a day, when you are again within sight of land.
For twelve hours you skirt the historic coast of Nova Scotia, pass

332

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

under the shadow of picturesque Sambro and then on to beautiful
Halifax — the quaint and gay capital of Nova Scotia, with its massive
forts and superb surroundings. Here you remain twenty-four hours
and you can enjoy the splendid drives and delightful scenery of the
Acadian land.

The trip to the Newfoundland coast from Halifax is made in less
than two days ; and you are within sight of land for nearly twenty-
four hours. In the early morning of the second day you are within
hailing distance of Cape Race, where you get a full view of one of
the most important Marconi stations in existence. For five hours

S. S. ROSALIND, OF RED CROSS LINE.

you sail over historic seas, and as you move down the shore under
the shadow of bluff, beetling crags you may see historic Ferryland,
where the founder of Maryland established his first colony in Amer-
ica. Further north you see Cape Spear, and beyond is the entrance
to St. John's Harbor — the oldest town in British North America.
You enter the harbor through the "narrows" into a magnificent
basin crowded with shipping — this is St. John's.

The Red Cross Line offers the most interesting trip at the most
moderate cost ; and passengers have the singular privilege of lizing
on board whilst the steamer is in port, thus saving hotel expenses.
Two splendidly equipped steamers are engaged in this service — the
S. S. Rosalind and the S. S. Florizel (the latest achievement of
marine architecture).

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

333

334

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Particulars of this trip may be obtained from Bowring & Co., ly
State Street, New York.

Those who fear mal-de-mer, and other possible inconveniences of
the all-sea voyage may proceed to North Sydney by rail, thence by
the S. S. Bruce (only a six hours' sea-trip) to Port-aux Basques,
where the train is in waiting, which bears you to Bay of Islands.
Here begins the delightful sea-trip to the fishers' land.

i^ >^ fK . ^ ' ll

-|¥f • •■

R. C. CATHEDRAL, ST. JOIIX S.

The all-sea route offers a "panorama of shifting loveliness" which
is unrivalled. The immense fiords of the Ancient Colony have no
parallel, even in Norway. Trinity, Bonavista, and Notre Dame Bays
exhibit a variety of attractions, grander and more entrancing than
the trip to the North Cape ; these bays are studded with islets, and
fringed by coves and harbors hidden beneath hoary clififs and beet-
ling crags, more interesting than Trondheim or Hammersfest.

At every stopping place you meet fisher folk, quaint in manner,
primitive in habit, with characteristics, insular if you will, but withal
manly and gracious.

After leaving St. John's, the old town which claims the distinc-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

335

tion of being the oldest possession of "Britain beyond the seas," you
sail under the shadow of cliffs and headlands, whose every ravine is
bristling with historic interest ; and as you round Cape Saint Fran-
cis, Conception Bay offers a splendid vista. En route to Harbor
Grace (the first stopping place) one gets a close view of Belle
Island, where the Dominion and Nova Scotia Steel Companies pro-
cure the iron ore which has been instrumental in making the Syd-
neys important manufacturing centres ; you pass within hailing dis-
tance of Carbonear Island, where centuries ago, DeMontigny and
D'Iberville, fighting the cause of France, were held in check by the
bravery of Davis and Pynne. Harbor Grace was founded "in Good
King Charles' golden days" ( it was named Carolinopole by Robert

ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL, ST. JOHN S.

Hayman, in honor of His Majesty). It was destroyed by De Mon-
tigny's Canadian troops in 1705; but was soon rebuilt by the hardy
Devonian settlers, the Davises, the Garlands, and the Pynnes, and
became in time one of the most progressive towns in the Old Colony.
Some years ago it possessed one of the most beautiful Cathedrals in
British America; it was burnt in September, 1891. Since the early
eighties this once progressive town has been declining; the old
planters have passed away, and the younger generations have neither
the stamina nor the valor of their forebears.

336

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

From Harbor Grace to Catalina, the trip is most interesting; set-
tlements of fishers are stretched along the coast-line ; and at the
northeast point of the bay a unique fishing village comes into view —
Bay de Verde; beyond which lies Baccalieu "Tickle." Seaward,
three miles distant, is the island of Baccalieu (the Baccalao of the
old navigators), on whose northern summit is

"A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock.
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,

It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
But hails the mariner with words of love."

GOWER STREET METHODIST CHURCH.

Twenty miles to the north lies Catalina — the "St. Catherine's
Haven" of the Breton mariner, who found safety within its north-
east arm nigh four hundred years ago. It is still the seamen's
refuge ; and I have sometimes seen two hundred sail of fishermen
anchor there during the tempestuous gales which too frequently deal

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

337

death and destruction during the late autumn months in the Old
Colony. From Catalina to Cape Bonavista, you follow Cartier's
track; and as you pass down the shore the Spillars ("Les Epil-
iers") and Bird Island Cove ("Isle aux Oiseaux") remind you
that this territory once knew the Gaul. Cape Bonavista is the land
of controversy — and presumably the spot where Cabot, in 1497,
planted the "Standard of Britain's Empire" in the western world.
Within this bay there is a reminder of CortereaFs expedition —
Cottell's Island (now bearing the name of another ancient explorer
— St. Brendan).

HARBOR GRACE.

On the north side of Bonavista Bay lie the Penguin Islands,
reminiscent of the Great Auk, and the Wadhams, famous in local
history as the scene of a memorable disaster. Beyond lies Fogo
Island, where there is still visible the crater of an extinct volcano.
Fogo Harbor was a famous fishing centre when the southern col-
onies of the United States were in their babyhood.

Twillingate, the metropolis of the north, is the next port visited,
and here one finds many reminders of ancient days in the style and
equipment of the business-houses, which were founded more than a

338

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

century ago by Devonian merchants. The fisheries of Twillingate
in bygone days were "richer than the mines of Golconda," and the
old autocrats who kept the fishermen in a state of perpetual thral-
dom, retired to England when they had coined the fishermen's toil
into gold to live "far from the vulgar fisherman," and ruminate their
commercial sins. Twillingate, even in comparatively modern times,
felt the leash of fishing-admiral justice; and Prowse (History of
Nezi'foundland) says "that a Mr. Pierce informed him that in his
early years he had seen a man triangkd there," seemingly for a
trivial ofifence.

IN TRINITY BAY.

Notre Dame Bay is presumably (dogmatic assertions of certain
historians to the contrary notwithstanding) the "']\Iarkland" of the
old Norse navigators ; for here are still found the "wondrous trees"
which suggested the appellation of "Green Bay" — the name by
which it is still known to Newfoundland fishermen.

This bay rivals, outrivals perhaps, the "Thousand Islands" of the
St. Lawrence in scenery, as its islets are more numerous and de-
cidedly more picturesque than the little green knolls between Og-
densburg and Kingston.

"Tilt Cove," on the north side of Notre Dame Bay, is the "last
call" on the Newfoundland shore ; and it is a very interesting settle-

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

339

< ^

'■■■■*■■ ■- i>-r./ f»/. .■^#

340

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

ment. Here is found one of the richest copper mines in the world ; it
has been in operation for three generations ; and the supply of the
shining metal is seemingly inexhaustible. It is a thriving and pros-
perous little hamlet.

Two hours' sail from "Tilt Cove" and you are within sight of
Cape John, the land of tragedy and treaties. South of the cape lies
"Gull Island" — the scene of the gruesome disaster recorded in a
previous chapter. Cape John has figured in treaties of world-wide
import : and it is only within recent years that France has rclin-

CAPE HONOVUTA.

quishcd her "rights" on the shore, of which the cape is the southern
boundary. Xorthward from the cape you sail constantly in sight of
the "l-'rench Shore," where still are seen the "rooms" of the fisher-
men (if Dieppe, Paimpol, and St. ]\Ialo, who in former years reaped
rich harvests from the sea which laves its creeks and harbors.

Practically every settlement along this shore has a French appella-
tion and at various points you still hear the "mellifluous language of
the Gaul."

Beyond the mainland, separated by a "strait of turbulent tides," is
Belle Isle — the Isola di Ddnoni of early navigators, whose grim,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

341

forbidding- aspect is menacing, even in distant prospect. The sombre-
hued coast-line of the fishers' land now comes into view ; the outline
of the "Devil's Dining Table" becomes clear, and ere it melts into the
horizon, you are in sight of Battle Harbor — and this is Labrador.

The west coast route is perhaps even more attractive than the
all-sea trip. The scenery in this section is not unlike the much
vaunted scenery of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron ; but Parry
Sound, French River, Killarney, Algoma and ]\Ianitoulin are "tame"
in comparison with the rugged grandeur of Bonne Bay, Ingor-
nachoix. Point Ferolle and Bay of Islands. I have toured every
waterway in Canada, spent many haj^py months on the north shore
of Lake Huron; l)ut, without prejudice, nothing that I have seen in
the Dominion, from Bras d'or to Lake Superior, is comparable with
"the peerless beauty of the sea-girt Colony."

IN XGTRIi DAME BAY.

Bay of Islands, as its name indicates, is dotted with islets, which
are located within its three immense arms, one of which is the
estuary of the Humber River, the second largest waterway in the
Ancient Colony.

342

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

I will let another writer disclose its beauties : "As I gazed en-
tranced upon the lovely scene before me, I was able for the first
time to realize, by the aid of the golden haze veiling, the long slopes
and tumbling steeps, the grandeur of the sierras which enclosed
the bay.

The silence was intensified by the silvery waterfalls dropping from
crag to crag many hundred feet with an ethereal motion, and yet
giving forth no echo or sound of their dashing, so distant were thev
from the ship."

TILT COVE.

Another writer says: "Bay of Islands is a wonderfully beautiful
bay, extending in three great arms many miles inland. Its shores are
high and mountainous. Mount Blomidon rises sheer from the water
to a height of 2,135 feet, its black and scarred precipices towering
up in rugged beauty. Brooks foam down its sides and break into
waterfalls over the precipices, floating off in the wind in a cloud of
spray."

"Lark Harbor is a lovely offshoot from the bay between guardian
mountains. The shores abound in caves or ovens, with little pebbly

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

343

beaches in between them. One could linger all summer along this
beautiful Newfoundland coast." (Townsend: "Along tJie Labrador
Coast/')

THE FRENCH SHORE.

Twenty-five miles north of this lovely fiord is Bonne Bay, sur-
passing, if it be possible, "the stern rugged grandeur of Bonnie Bay
of Islands." Again we enlist the services of another, lest the love
for the old homeland may render us too sympathetic. '"A lovelier
scene cannot be imagined. Great hills in the foreground and be-
yond, mountains peeping over each other's shoulders, and away up in
the blue sky the snow still sparkled on the higher storm-lashed
peaks, which reared their heads far inland, all robed in a beautiful
transparent atmosphere utterly unknown elsewhere.

BAY OF ISLANDS.

344

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

To the north, the hills are bare, rugged, precipitous; but on that
particular morning the glorious sunshine made them lose half their
desolate bleakness. We climbed the nearest hill, but only for a short
distance. Cliffs towered above us on every hand, over which poured
cascades of melting snow (the time was early May), thundering in
the deep chasms below. The hoarse roar of the waterfalls came
from far and near. The heat was almost unbearable— and this in
a land known onlv for its fogs."

BAY OF I5L.ANDS.

North of Bonne Bay the shore is rugged ; in the background are
the "Long Range Mountains," which extend nearly the entire length
of the west coast, with serrated peaks rising to a height of nearly
two thousand feet. There are few settlements, but several streams
flow seawards which offer attractive lures to the Waltonian.

Hawke's Bay is another picturesque fiord, which has been a fav-
orite haunt for wealthy Americans for some years ; and during the
summer months palatial yachts are seen riding within this pic-
turesque haven.

One of the finest salmon streams in the "Oldest Colony" is found
at the head of the fiord.

Ingernachoix, Point Riche and Garganelle are reminiscent of the
Frenchman; and occasionally one sees along the coast "jack-o-tars"
(the name by which deserters from the French Navy are known in
Newfoundland), who still wear the sabot and sport the Breton
casque.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 345

Point Ferolle is a picturesque headland, and immediately to the
north are two large inlets, which were formerly important French
fishing posts — St. Margaret's Bay and Bale Sainte Genevieve.

Every locality along this shore is suggestive of the industry which
has given to Newfoundland the appellation of "Codlands"' ; and fish-
ermen of every type are found in the creeks and coves, where it is
possible to fix a human habitation. Theirs is an arduous and toilsome
existence ; but they seem happy and content with the harvest, oft-
times slim, which the sea affords them.

BONNE BAY.

"Flower's Cove" is the last stopping place ; but the name seems a
misfit, as the place is a barren, treeless promontory. Whence came
the name, it has been impossible to ascertain. Possibly some ven-
turesome fisherman was its eponymous first settler. Inland, some ten
miles from this settlement, there is an interesting "find" for amateur
geologists; as far up in the hillside there is the old sea-margin, now
fringed with wild vetch, and embedded in the sand are myriads of
sea-shells presumably the plentiful bivalves known as "mussels"
{Mytilis edulis). Less than two hours' sail from Flower's Cove
takes you to Blanc Sablon, across the Straits of Belle Isle, and you
anchor in the roadstead of the port where Cartier, nearly four cen-
turies ago, raised the standard of the Fleur-de-lis for His Most
Christian Majesty, the King of France.

346

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

Here you find vestiges of the ancicii regime in the httle hamlet of
Barrachois (a few hundred yards east of Blanc Sablon) where the
habitant still wears the Breton costume and addresses you in the
language of the Gaul.

Thence you journey eastward and sail over the historic courses of
the old navigators, who. centuries ago, discovered the wealth of the
harvest of the sea.

THE OLD REGIME.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 347

APPENDIX I.

Tourists and others who visit Newfoundland and Labrador will
be obliged to conform to certain Customs Regulations, and the sub-
joined Circular is official :

CUSTOMS CIRCULAR NO. 1 5.

When Tourists, Anglers and Sportsmen arriving in the Colony
bring with them Cameras, Bicycles. Anglers" Outfits. Trouting Gear,
Firt-arms and Ammunition, Tents. Canoes and Implements, they
shall be admitted under the following conditic^ns:

A deposit equal to the duty shall be taken on such articles as
Cameras. Bicycles. Trouting Poles, Fire-arms, Tents, Canoes and
tent equipage. A receipt (No. i), according to the form attached,
shall be given for the deposit, and the particulars of the articles shall
be noted in the receipt as well as in the marginal cheques. Receipt
(No. i), if taken at an outport office, shall be mailed at once to the
Assistant Collector, St. John's ; taken in St. John's, the receipt
(No. 2) shall be sent to the Landing Surveyor.

Upon the departure from the Colony of the Tourist, Angler or
Sportsman, he may obtain a refund of the deposit by presenting the
articles at the Port of Exit and having them compared with the
Receipt. The Examining Officer shall initial on the Receipt the
result of his examination, and upon its correctness being ascertained
the refund may be made.

No groceries, canned goods, wines, spirits, or provisions of any
kind will be admitted free, and no deposit for a refund may be taken
upon such articles.

(Signed) H. W. LeMessurier,

Assistant Collector.
Customs House, St. John's, Newfoundland.

348 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

APPENDIX II.

NEWFOUNDLAND POSTAL TELEGRAPH SERVICE.

Postal Telegraph Offices are operated throughout the Colony at all
the principal places. Messages of ten words, not including address
or signature, are forwarded for Twenty Cents, and two cents for
each additional word.

A Government Cable to Canso, Cape Breton, connects with the
Commercial Cable Company's System to All Parts of the World.
There is no more efficient service in existence.

A ten-word message to Canada, exclusive of signature and ad-
dress, costs from $0.85 to $1.00. A ten-word message to the United
States, exclusive of signature and address, costs from $1.00 to $1.50.
To Great Britain, France, or Germany, 25 cents per word.

Telegrams are transmitted by means of Jl'ircless Service during
the summer season from Labrador, and all the year round, to steam-
ers equipped with the wireless apparatus, which are due to pass
within ihe radius of Cape Race and Cape Ray.

Telegraph message forms may be obtained at all Post Offices in
Newfoundland and from the ]\Iail Clerks on Trains and Steamers,
and if the sender wishes, the message may be left with the P. M.
to be forwarded by first mail to the nearest Telegraph Office, free
of postage.

NEWFOUNDLAND CABLE CONNECTION.

A Submarine Cable has been completed between Port aux
Basques, Newfoundland, and Canso, Nova Scotia, there connecting
with the Commercial Cable Company's three Cables to the United
States, with the Canadian Pacific Railway Telegraph for all points
in Canada, and with Five Atlantic Cables to Europe ; connections are
also made with the West India Cable Co., and others, thereby en-
abling Cable messages to be exchanged by all Postal Telegraph
Offices in Neiijfoundland with all parts of the World.

(Signed) H. J. B. Woods,

Postmaster General.
St. John's, Newfoundland.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 34Q

APPENDIX III.— AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE M. D.
S. P. ON LABRADOR.

1892 — The hospital vessel Albert sailed from England with Dr.
Grenfell in charge as the only Mission doctor. He spent
three months on the coast, holding services and treating 900
sick folk.

1893 — Battle Harbor Hospital was presented by friends in St.
John's, Newfoundland, and opened during the summer under
a qualified nurse and doctor. The launch Priticcss j\Iay was
added to enable the ship to do more work.

1894 — Indian Harbor Hospital was opened for the summer, and for
the first time Battle Harbor Hospital was kept open in win-
ter. Friends in Canada began to help the Mission.

1895 — The sailing hospital was replaced by the steamer Sir Donald,
the gift of Sir Donald A. Smith, who has lived many years in
Labrador. Nineteen hundred sick folk received treatment.
Dr. Roddick, of Montreal, presented the mailing boat Urelia
McI\iiiiio)i to the [Mission.

1896 — A small cooperative store was started at Red Bay, in the
Straits of Belle Isle, to help the settlers to escape the "truck
system" of trade and the consequent loss of independence and
thrift. This has since spread to a series of eight with very
beneficial results to the very poorest. The Sir Donald was
carried out from her harbor l)v the winter ice and found bv
the seal hunters far at sea still frozen in. She had to be sold.

1897 — The steam launch Julia Sheridan, given by a Toronto lady,
replaced the Sir Donald. A large mission hall was attached
to Indian Harbor Hospital for the use of the fishermen. Two
thousand patients were treated.

1899 — Largely through the munificence of the High Commissioner,
the steel steam hospital Strathcona was built at Dartmouth,
England, and fitted with every available modern appliance.
At the request of the settlers, a doctor wintered in North
Newfoundland.

1900 — The Strathcona steamed out to Labrador. The settlers on
the Newfoundland shore of the Straits of Belle Isle com-
menced a hospital at St. Anthony, and the Mission decided to
adopt that place as a third station.

350 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

1901 — The Newfoundland Government granted $1,500 to stimulate
the erection of St. Anthony Hospital. A small cooperative
lumber mill was started to help the settlers of the poorest
district to get remunerative work in winter, when they often
faced semi-starvation. The schooner Cooperator was pur-
chased and rebuilt by the people to assist the cooperative
store efforts.

1902 — A new wing was added to Battle Harbor Hospital, with a
fine convalescent room and a new operating room. Indian
Harbor Hospital was also considerably enlarged. Two thou-
sand seven hundred and seventy-four patients received treat-
ment— 110 of these being in-patients in the little hospitals.
The launch Jidia Sheridan, with one of the medical officers in
charge, was chartered by the government to suppress an out-
break of smallpox.

1903 — Some new outbuildings were added to the Indian Harbor
Hospital, and a mortuary and store were built at Battle Har-
bor Hospital. The third and fourth cooperative stores were
started at West St. ]vIodiste and at Flowers Cove to encour-
age cash dealing and thrift. The Princess May went out of
commission and was sold.

1904 — A new house for the doctor was built at Battle Harbor. The
steam launch Julia Sheridan had to be sold. She was re-
placed by a 10 H. P. kerosene launch called by the same
name. An orphanage was built at St. Anthony to accommo-
date fifteen children. A building was also added for teach-
ing loom work and general carpentering and lathe work.

1905 — A doctor was appointed at the request of the people on the
Canadian Labrador, with headquarters at Harrington, near
Cape Whittle, on the north side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The first schooners were built at the lumber mill, which is
now flourishing and helping to maintain one hundred odd
families. Two consulting surgeons from Boston Universities
visited us during the summer to help in the work. Through
the generosity of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, between thirty and
forty small portable libraries were distributed along the coast,
containing from 50 to 100 books in each.

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 35i

1906 — -Through the help of friends in Montreal and Toronto a new
hospital and doctor's house were built at Harrington, and a
second kerosene launch, called the Northern Messenger, was
given for the work there. New dog sledges and teams were
also given by the Montreal Weekly Jl'it)iess. Some new
buildings were erected at St. Anthony, including some small
farm outbuildings, and some land was taken up from the
Newfoundland Government with a view to trying to intro-
duce cattle.

1906-07 — In connection with the cooperative store at Flowers Cove,
an industry of making sealskin boots has sprung up, and
1.500 pairs of boots were exported this summer. Around
these small industries it is possible to aggregate women and
children in the winter for the purpose of better education.
A new wharf, stores for clothing and coal, and a large mis-
sion room are being added to Battle Harbor. Seven volun-
teers have joined the staff : — the lady in charge of the orphan-
age, an electrical engineer in charge of the general mechanical
work, a teacher for night school and library work. The
fourth hospital was kept open all last summer by a volun-
teer doctor from Harvard University and volunteer nurses
from England. A teacher of arts and crafts will be in charge
of the industrial work at St. Anthony this year. The steam
launch Daryl was given by the Dutch Reform Union of New
York City.

1907-0? — The experiment of placing a trained nurse in fishing set-
tlements farthest from the little hospital has taken definite
form in the buildmg of a house at Forteau on the southern
coast of Labrador, in which a nurse is permanently situated.
The people of the place gave the labor freely, and the money
for the material was the gift of a veteran of the Civil War,
who, after being wounded at Gettysburg, journeyed on a
fishing schooner to Labrador in quest of health, and in grati-
tude for great kindness shown him wished to make some
return to the people of the coast. A second station is to be
opened at Flowers Cove, at which place the people have
guaranteed $200 a year, being a poll tax of $1 per annum on
every family over that long district.

352 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

No less than four more small cooperative stores have
sprung into existence, showing the belief of the people in the
advantages they confer in helping to give independence and a
sufficient living.

An electric light plant has been installed at St. Anthony
largely through the kindness of the Trustees of Pratt Insti-
tute of Brooklyn. Not only has the light been introduced
into all of the Mission buildings, but large lights have been
placed at the wharf. Pratt Institute also sent up one of their
graduates to install the plant. Already it has proved of
inestimable value.

Through the generosity of the same institution, two Labra-
dor students have commenced the study of engineering, that
they ma_\' on their return afiford their invaluable aid to com-
munal life on the coast.

His Excellency, the Governor of Newfoundland, Sir Wil-
liam MacGregor, a highly skilled geodetic surveyor, has spent
part of the summer with Dr. Grenfell on the StratJicona, im-
proving the new chart of all the northern Labrador coast.
This, it is hoped, will be issued shortly, because it is so badly
needed by the many fishing craft that visit those waters.

A friend from \\'ashington, Mrs. B. H. Buckingham, pre-
sented the Mission with a new launch, the Poinink, which
was safely brought down from Lynn to Labrador by a crew of
volunteer students from Yale.

The Orphanage is now over-full with twenty children,
some of whom are already learning trades. It will shortly
be doubled in size owing to the generosity of a volunteer
worker of W^illiams College, who was much impressed on his
visit by the need of more room.

The Industrial Work has made considerable progress, and
some $200 worth of the products have been sold and the
money returned to the work to further develop it. There
are several looms at work regularly, and the new furnace for
baking pottery is in working order. The expert from Provi-
dence who has started us at work has prolonged her visit
and already speaks of joining the force again next summer.

The reindeer, still under the charge of the same volunteei

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 353

worker who has had charge of them from the beginning,
have clone magnificently. 50 were sold to help defray the
expense of bringing them over, leaving 250 of the original
herd. These, after only nine months, have become 403
splendid animals, deducting all losses. The fawns are already
as large as their mothers, and the condition of the animals is
simply not to be compared with the miserable state of the
herd when they landed in January after their long voyage.
The Lapps, who brought them over, are still with us, and the
Newfoundland government has contributed two apprentices
from Labrador to learn the business.

The milk the animals give has proved to be very rich, and
the cheeses will be very useful for winter. The problem as
to their future is practically solved, but it will be some time
before the milk and butter distribution will be possible at dis-
tances, and before it will be wise to kill the animals for their
valuable meat and hides. Next year the experiment will be
made of trapping the wild caribou and uniting them with the
herd.

Volunteer teachers did excellent work this year at some of
the small schools, and a volunteer from the experimental
farm at St. Anne's did splendid work, showing us that we
can grow many vegetables we have sore need of. Next year
we shall warmly welcome a number of volunteers to help us
develop more land tracts, and to show the people the possibili-
ties of the soil.

The new nurses sent us by Baltimore, a Washington friend,
and others, have been doing invaluable work. We have, how-
ever, been very short of help along that line and could easily
have found work for many more. Volunteer students from
Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Williams, Yale, and Bowdoin, have
had labors imposed on them they little anticipated when they
set out for the summer. But all have done excellent, neces-
sary work, that without them would have been impossible.

The surgical and medical clinics at the hospitals have so
largely increased, with the growing confidence of the people
in modern science, that some money earned by Dr. Grenfell's
hiring out the Strathcona for a month to the Newfoundland

354 WHERE THE EISHERS GO.

government will be spent in enlarging St. Anthony hospital.
This hospital has been densely overcrowded all summer and
the facilities for up-to-date treatment have been quite inade-
quate to the wishes of those in charge. A small special addi-
tion for the treatment of the many unfortunate tubercular
patients that seek aid is absolutely essential. The success
attained in curing tubercular patients in the open air and
saving sufifering from that cause has been phenomenal. (W.
T. Grenfell.)

^y O

WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

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APPENDIX v.— LUXURIES OF LABRADOR.

In spite of latitude and Arctic current, Labrador is the home of
much that is dehcious in the berry world. Even the outlying islands
furnish the curlewberry and bakeapple in profusion; and upon the
mainland, in the proper month, September, a veritable feast awaits
one. Three varieties of blueberries, blackberries, red currants, with
a pungent aromatic flavor unequalled by the cultivated varieties;
marshberries, raspberries, tiny white capillaire teaberries, with a
flavor like some rare perfume and having just a faint suggestion
of wintergreen ; squashberries, pearberries, and curlewberries, the
latter not so grateful as the others, but a prime favorite with the
Esquimaux ; and lately, the typical Labrador fruit which, excepting
a few scattering plants in Canada and Newfoundland, is found, I
believe, nowhere outside of the peninsula — the gorgeous bakeapple.
These cover the entire coast from the St. Lawrence to Ungava.
Their beautiful geranium-like leaves struggle with the reindeer moss
upon the islands, carpet alike the low valleys and the highest hill-
tops, and even peep from everlasting snow. Only one berry grows
upon each plant, but this one makes a most delicious mouthful. It
is the size and form of a large dewberry, but the color is a bright
crimson when half ripe and a golden yellow at maturity. Its taste
is sweetly acid, it is exceedingly juicy, and so delicate that it might
be thought impossible to preserve it. Yet the natives do preserve it
with all its freshness, and original flavor throughout the entire win-
ter, merely by covering it with fresh water and heading it up in
casks or barrels.

APPENDIX VI.— MORAVIAN MISSION GRANTS.

AT THE COURT. AT ST. JAMES.

The 3rd day of May, 1769.

Whereas there was this day read at the Board a Report from the
Right Honorable the Lords of the Committee of Council for Planta-
tion atTairs ; dated the 20th of last month in the words following.
viz. :

364 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

"Your Majesty having been pleased by your Order in Council of
the 20th of February last to refer unto this Committee a Representa-
tion from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations set-
ting forth that they have had under their consideration a memorial
presented by the Earl of Hillsborough, one of Your Majesty's Prin-
cipal Secretarys of State on behalf of the Society of Unitas Fratrum,
stating that the said Society are desirous of prosecuting their in-
tention of establishing a Mission on the Western Coast of Labrador
for the purpose of civilizing and instructing the savages called Esqui-
maux, inhabiting that Coast; in which undertaking the memorial-
ists represent that they have already taken some steps in conse-
quence of encouragement received from the Board in 1765; but that
there is a necessity of having permission to occupy such a quantity
of land on that Continent as may induce the Esquimaux to settle
around the Missionaries; that for this purpose they have pitched
upon Esquimaux Bay, and praying for a grant on that spot of one
hundred thousand acres of land, or about twelve miles square, with
liberty in common of other British subjects of fishing and trading
on that Coast. Submitting at the same time the expediency of the
Government erecting a block-house near the said intended settle-
ment to protect the Esquimaux and their Missionaries from vio-
lences and encroachments of any disorderly people who might hap-
pen to come into the Bay.

Whereupon the said Lords Commissioners represent that in the
year 1765 the Society above mentioned, with the approbation of the
Government, deputed four of their brethren to explore the Coast of
Labrador, with a view to propagate the Gospel among the savage
inhabitants. Those persons, though unavoidably prevented from
completing their design in the full extent, did, however, by the
assistance and under the direction of Mr. Palliser, your Majesty's
Governor in Newfoundland, make some progress in the laudable
work of their Mission, by establishing an intercourse and concluding
a treaty with those savages. Whereupon in the year following, upon
the favorable report made to your Alajesty's said Governor, touch-
ing the conduct and behavior of their Missionaries, and in conse-
quence of a petition of the said Society, the Board of Trade did in
an humble representation to your Majesty, dated March 27th, 1766,

WHERE THE FISHERS GO. 365

submit whether it might not be advisable to allow this Society to
occupy such a district of land, not exceeding one hundred thousand
acres, upon the Coast of Labrador as they should think best situ-
ated for the purposes of their ^Mission, from the opinion of their
predecessors in office they see no reason to dissent, and as they do
in like manner with them think it advisable to encourage and pro-
mote a settlement of this sort, as well from the pious and laudable
object of its institution, as from the pubhc and commercial advan-
tage to be derived from it ; they beg leave to humbly recommend to
your Majesty that the Society, or any persons deputed by the So-
ciety for that purpose, may be allowed by an Order of your ^Majesty
in Council to occupy and possess, during your Majesty's pleasure,
one hundred thousand acres of land in Esquimaux Bay, on the
Coast of Labrador, as they shall find most suitable to their purpose ;
and that your Majesty's Governor of Newfoundland m.ay be directed
by the said Order to give them all reasonable assistance and support
in forming such establishment, and by a proclamation to be published
in your Majesty's name signifying that this establishment is formed
under your ^Majesty's express authority and direction, to warn all
persons from molesting and distributing the said settlers ; and in
case it shall appear to him to be necessary for their welfare and
security that one or more of the principal [Missionaries should be
vested with the authority of Justice of the Peace, that he should in
that case issue the proper commission for that purpose, conformable
to the powers delegated to him by your ^Majesty's commission under
the Great Seal. With respect to the matter of erecting a block-
house near the said intended settlement, for the defence of the Esqui-
maux and the Missionaries, and for the general protection of British
trade and fishery, they do not think themselves justified in advising
your [Majesty to comply with a request that may probably be at-
tended with considerable public expense, and for which there does
not appear to be any immediate necessity ; but as they think it highly
proper that reasonable and necessary measures should be taken for
the security of those who shall establish themselves on this savage
and uncivilized coast, they would humbly recommend your Majesty
to direct that the persons who shall engage in this settlement shall be
furnished, out of your Majesty's stores, with fifty muskets and a

366 WHERE THE FISHERS GO.

proportional quantity of ammunition, which they consider may be
sufficient for their personal security and defence.

The Lords of Committee, in obedience to your Majesty's said
Order, this day took into their consideration the said representation,
and do humbly report to your Majesty that they agree in opinion
with what is above proposed by the Lords Commissioners for Trade
and Plantations.

INDEX.

Acadians, 51.
Adventurers, 53.
Ailik, 297, 298.
American Settlements, 78.
Antelope Tickle, 228.
Appendix I, 347.
Appendix II, 348.
Appendix III, 349-354-
Appendix IV, 355-362.
Appendix V, 363.
Appendix VI, 364, 366.
Area, 2.

Arnaud, Pere, 102.
A "Room," 63. 68.
Ash, Capt., 292-293.
Assizes Harbor, 234.
Audubon, 203.

B.
Bache, Mount, 325.
Bakeapple, 200.
Banks, 58.

Barratry Proceedings, 141.
Battle Harbor, 238, 239, 245, 246.
Bay of Islands, 341-342.
Bear, 186.
Beaver, 193.

Belle Island, ix, 40, 51, 213, 335, 340.
Belles Amours, 215.
Berries, 200-202.
Bilberries, 201.

Blanc Sablon, x, 19, 218, 346.
Bluff Cape, 255.
Bonavista, Cape, vii.
Bonne Bay, 343.
Bonne Esperance, 213.
Boulders, 147.
Boundaries, 2-3.
Bowring & Co., 234.
Bradore, 49, 50.
Bradore Hills, 147.
Brest, 48.
Brig Harbor, 281.
Bultows, 67.
Burwell, Port, 329.

C.
Cable Connection, 348.
Cabot, John, 12.

Cabot, Sebastian, 12.

Caches, 50.

Cape Harrigan Harbor, 309.

Caplin, 282-283.

Carbonear Island, 335.

Caribou, 129, 134, 188-190.

Caribou Island, 23.

Carrol Cove, 225.

Cartier, Jacques, 16, 17, 38, 40.

Cartwright, 47-48, 266, 267.

Caste, 72.

Catalina, 336.

Catholic Church, 103.

Charles, Cape, 232.

Chateau, 19, 57.

Chateau Bay, 227.

Chidley, Cape, 328.

Chimney Tickle, 231.

Church of England. 105-108.

Climate, 6.

Coastal Company, The, 243.

Codfish Aristocracy, 71.

Cod Fishery, 29, 59.

Codlands, 55.

Colons, 40.

Companies, yj.

Conclusion, 331.

Cooperative Stores, 120.

Cortereal, 13.

Curlew, 209.

Customs Circular, 347.

Cut-Throat, 279.

D.
Davis, 272.
Davis Inlet, 310, 311.
Dead Islands, 254.
Delaney, Capt., 243.
Devil's Dining Table, 229.
Dictionary : Indian-French, 36.
Dieppois, The, 15.
Discoveries, Later, 12.
Dogs, 273, 274.
Domino Run, 261.
Dovekie. 206.
Duck, 204.

E.
Earliest Records, 9.
Early Traders, 46.

INDEX.

Eclipse Harbor, 327.

Eider, 204.

Emily Harbor, 283.

Emmanuel, King, 14.

Esquimaux, 20-22, 23, 2-/, 28, 29, 330.

Exploits, vii.

Explorers, The First, 7.

Export Statistics, 355, 361.

F.
Fanaticism, 229.
Fanny's Harbor, 308.
Farmyards, 309.
Farthest North, 307.
Fiords and Banks, 3.
Fisherman's Letters, 219.
Floaters and Stationers, 62, 63, 65,

66.
"Flower's Cove," 345.
Fogo Harbor, 357.
Forests, 156, 158.
Forest Fires, 158.
Fort Pitt, 44.
Forteau, 221.
I-'our Peaks, The, 327.
Francis Harbor, 251, 252.
Freighters, 65.

French Settlements, Early, 46, 59.
Funks, The, 17.

G.
Geology, 143, 147.
George's Island, 270.
Glaciation, 148.

Government Medical Officer, 119.
Grady, 264.
Grampus, 176.
Granby Island, 252.
Great Auk, 210.

Greenfell, Dr., 119- 120, 124, 125.
Greenfish Catchers, 6"].
Greenly Island, 216.
Greville's Fort, 229.
Griffin's Harbor, 263.
Grouse, 207.
Gulls, 207.

Gull Island, viii, 340.
H.
Hagdons, 207.
Halifax, 332.
Hamilton Inlet, 272. 273.
Harbor Grace, 335.
Harrison, Cape, 288, 289.
Handling the Fish, 68.
Hawke's Bay. 344.
Hawke's Harbor, 357.
Hebron, 321. j ■

Henley, 228.
Herring Fishery, 58.
Holton, 284.
Horse Harbor, 284.
Hudson Bay Co., 45, 85.
Huntington Island, 268.

Icebergs, 292, 294.
Icelandic "Sagas," 8.
Ice Tickle, 276.
Igloo, 276.
Igloosoaks, 26.
Igloowick, 26.
Independent, 268.
Indian-French Dictionary, 36.
Indian Harbor, 276, 277.
Indian Tickle, 263.
Interior, 4.

J.
Jersey Traders, 52.
Jesuits, 33, 46.
Judiciary, 234-237.
Junius, 41.
Jurisdiction, 341.

Kayak, 24, 29.
Kenamou River, 163.
"King of the Bears," 280.
Knight, John, 317, 318.
Komatik, 25.

L.
"Labrador," 13.
Labradorite, 312.
Lacase, Pere, 102.
Lacombe, Father, 34, 35, 36.
Lakes, 5.
Landscape, 5.
L'.^nse Au Diable. 224.
L'Anse A Loup, 223.
L'Anse Eclair, 221.
Latitude, i.
Leomine, Pere, 103.
Lichens, 197, 199.
Long Island, 266.
Long Point, 217.
Long Tickle, 294.
Louse Bay, 327.
Lusi, Joe, 290, 291.
Luxuries of Labrador, 363.
Lynx, 194.

M.
Maccovick, 296, 297.
Mackerel, 58.
Mail Service, 247.

INDEX.

Makushan-Indian Banquet, il-
Markland, 9, 338.
Mealy Mountains, 269.
Merchant, The, 70.
Methodist Church, 108.
Minerals, Economic, 153, 154.
M. D. S. 1'., 349-
Mission Fields, 92-102, 103.
Montagnais, 30-33.
Moraines, 151.
Moravian Missions, 364.
Mountains, 147, 326.
Moravian Settlements, 88.
Mugford, 320.

Mullock, Rt. Rev. T. J., 244.
Munden, Capt., 270.
Murray's Harbor, 249, 250.
Muskrat, 195.

N.
Nain, 312-315.
Nachvak, 324.
Narwhal, The, 58, 174.
Naskopis, 31, 34, 35, 3b, ^,7.
New Knglanders, 44.
New France, 47.
New Type, A, 74.
Nisbet's Harbor, 295.
Norman, Capt. Nathan, 271.
North. Cape, 265.
Northwest River, 162.
Notre Dame Bay, 338.
Nowlan's Harbor, 254.

Okkak, 319.

Old Times, ~2,.
Old Merchants, 71.
Ornamental Stones, 155.
Oomiak, 24.

P.
Packs Harbor, 268-269.
Palliser, Sir Hugh, 43, 59.
Paris, Treaty of, 3, 41.
Partridge Berry, 202.
Pelterie, 41.
Pinware, 224.
Pitts Arm, 228.
Plover, 207.
Port Manvers, 318.
Ptarmigan, 209.
Puffin, 206.
Punch Bowl, 257-258.

Q.
Queen's Lakes, 316.

R.
Race, Cape, 332.
Ragged Islands, 289, 290.

Raised Beaches, 152.
Ramah, 322-323.
Recollets, 32.
Red Bay, 225.
Red Cross Line, 331, t,t,2.
Reindeer, 126-128.
Rigolette, 273, 275.
Rivers and Streams, 159, 161.
Roberval. 40.
Roger's Harbor, 291.
Rowsell's Harbor, 323.
Royal Mission to Deep See Fisher-
men, 123.
Ryan's Strand, 320.

S.
Sable, 193.
Saddle Island, 318.
Saeglik, 322.

Saeglek Bay, 321.

Salmon Bay, 214.

Seal Fishery, 29, 56, 57, 59. 176-185.

Semedit, 225.

St. Brendan, 10, 11.

Sainte-Germaine-en Saye, Treaty of,

47-
St. John's, 355.
Salmon Fishing, 57.
Scandinavian Remains at Newport,

10.
Settling Up, 74.
Sheldrake, 206.
Ship Harbor Head, 253.
Sloop Cove, 285.
Small Post Office, A, 248.
Smoky Tickle, 279.
Smuggling, 44, 49.
Snug Harbor, 255, 256.
Spear Harbor, 248.
Spotted Island, 261.
Square Island Harbor, 253.
Stones Gulch. 218.
Strange Business, 73.
Strawberry, 295.
Sugar Loaf, 253.
Syrian, The, 82.

Telegraph Service, 348.
Tepik, 76.
"Tickle," i.
"Tilt Cove," 338.
Tinker, 207.
Traders, 51, 77, 78.
Trading, 76.
Traps, 67.
Trinity, vii.

INDEX.

Turnavik, 298.
Turr, 206.
Twillingate, 2)?>7-

Utrecht, Treaty of, 49.

V.
Venison Island, 257.
Versailles, Treatj' of, 44.
Vineland, 10.

Walrus, 58, 174.

Webec, 286, 287.

Webec Harbor, 288.

Webber's Cove, 259, 260.

Wesley, John, 92.

Whale Fishery, 55, 165, 173.

White Bear Islands, 280.

Winsor, 299.

Windy Tickle, 307.

Wolverine, 191.

Wrecks and Wreckers, 134.

Z.
Zoar, 311.

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