THE LABRADOR JOURNAL 393 



which they could not approach ; they also caught a frog, 

 but lost it out of their game bag. 



July 10. Could I describe one of these dismal gales 

 which blow ever and anon over this desolate country, it 

 would in all probability be of interest to one unacquainted 

 with the inclemency of the climate. Nowhere else is the 

 power of the northeast gale, which blows every week on the 

 coast of Labrador, so keenly felt as here. I cannot describe 

 it ; all I can say is that whilst we are in as fine and safe a 

 harbor as could be wished for, and completely land-locked 

 all round, so strong does the wind blow, and so great its 

 influence on our vessel, that her motion will not allow me 

 to draw, and indeed once this day forced me to my berth, 

 as well as some others of our party. One would imagine 

 all the powers of Boreas had been put to work to give us a 

 true idea of what his energies can produce, even in so snug a 

 harbor. What is felt outside I cannot imagine, but greatly 

 fear that few vessels could ride safely before these horrid 

 blasts, that now and then seem strong enough to rend the 

 very rocks asunder. The rain is driven in sheets which 

 seem scarcely to fall on sea or land ; I can hardly call it 

 rain, it is rather a mass of water, so thick that all objects 

 at any distance from us are lost to sight every three or 

 four minutes, and the waters comb up and beat about us 

 in our rock-bound harbor as a newly caged bird does 

 against its imprisoning walls. The Great Black-backed 

 Gull alone is seen floating through the storm, screaming 

 loudly and mournfully as it seeks its prey; not another 

 bird is to be seen abroad ; the Cormorants are all settled 

 in the rocks close to us, the Guillemots are deep in the 

 fissures, every Eider Duck lays under the lee of some 

 point, her brood snugly beneath her opened wings, the 

 Loon and the Diver have crawled among the rankest 

 weeds, and are patiently waiting for a return of fair weather, 

 the Grouse is quite hid under the creeping willow, the 

 Great Gray Owl is perched on the southern declivity of 



