CHAP. XXX. LIFE IN LABEADOR. 161 



people an ample supply of tea and coffee, instead of 

 infernal whisky, and they will become the happiest 

 colonists on the face of the earth. It is remarkable that 

 Canadians who have hved for years on the coast some- 

 times gratify a longing to see their village homes again, 

 but it is only for a few months. The insatiable desire 

 for the wild free air of Labrador comes over them as soon 

 as spring returns ; they miss the glorious sea, the coming 

 ships, the excitement of the seal-hunt, the millions of 

 wild birds which make the coast their home in the sum- 

 mer ; they pine to return, which in five cases out of six, 

 if not an impossibility, they succeed in doing. ' It is 

 impossible to describe any spot more wild, barren, and 

 desolate than the port of Labrador (Long Point, near 

 Bradore Bay),' says the Bishop of Newfoundland, 'and 

 yet here families from the beautiful downs and combs of 

 Dorsetshire have settled themselves, and live happily ; 

 though hard labour, not without danger, is added to their 

 many other privations. I presume the attractions of such 

 a situation to consist in their entire liberty and inde- 

 pendence, with a fuU supply of all things absolutely 

 necessary for their present life.' 



Mr. McLean describes the European inhabitants of 

 Labrador on the Atlantic coast as consisting for the most 

 part of British sailors who prefer the freedom of a semi- 

 barbarous hfe to the restraints of civilisation. They 

 pass the summer in situations favourable for catching 

 salmon, which they barter on the spot with the traders 

 for such commodities as they are in want of. Wlien the 

 salmon-fishing is at an end, they proceed to the coast 

 for the purpose of fishing for cod for their own con- 



VOL. II. M 



