10 FOUR YEARS IN THE W^HITE NORTH [July 



fishing-villages, with the result that during the day 

 some twenty or thirty trap-boats came from north 

 and south. But mingled with my feelings of relief and 

 appreciation of this timely help were grave apprehen- 

 sions for the safety of our ship and cargo. I knew all 

 too well the fate of the last wreck, a beautiful iron ship 

 fitted and provisioned for two years. Her crew were 

 driven from her deck, ropes and sails cut from her spars, 

 fittings torn from her cabin, and the provisions loaded 

 into boats. After this raid she was sold at public auc- 

 tion on the dock at Battle Harbor for the princely sum 

 of five dollars! 



Fortunately, through my work in Labrador I knew 

 many of these boatmen. A continuous stream of boxes 

 over the rail, an increasing pile upon the shore, were 

 testimonials of their confidence and friendship. Their 

 pay was my word. 



On the morning of the 17th, the Stella Maris, the 

 Newfoundland government steamer, was sighted round- 

 ing the point. To my astonishment, I learned that 

 during the night there had been such a severe gale only 

 twenty miles away that she was compelled to give up 

 the trip and remain at anchor at Cape Charles. In 

 the mean time we had had hardly a particle of wind 

 and scarcely a ripple on the water. Providence.'^ A 

 miracle? Or the fickleness of nature .^^ At Cape Charles 

 it was unanimously and laconically agreed, *'She*s 

 gone !" At Battle Harbor, with the wind tearing through 

 the tickle and the rain beating against the window, 

 grizzled fishermen peered into the darkness, muttering, 

 "Not a trace of her will be left!" A slight swell, how- 

 ever, as a result of this gale, arose during the day, roll- 

 ing the Diana considerably from starboard to port, and 



