26 



early in the season, sometimes in September, and stays until 

 July, or, in extreme seasons, until August. The result of this 

 superabundance of cold is to blight any appearance of life on 

 the barren coast-line, and its stretch of grey rocks covered with 

 moss and lichens is impressive but extremely depressing. In 

 the sheltered inlets, as at Davis inlet, Hamilton inlet, and 

 Sandwich bay, there is a growth of small timber; game and 

 berries abound, and life is more endurable. The "liveyers." 

 or permanent white settlers on the Labrador coast, who fish 

 on the coast in summer, make their winter homes here. Pota- 

 toes and garden truck are raised in sheltered spots with some 

 difficulty. 



The bays in the northern portion, Saglek, Nachvak, etc., 

 freeze over in the middle or end of December. Navigation 

 closes here the first of November, and the extensive transient 

 population of Newfoundland fishermen, estimated at 15,000, 

 is off the northern coast by this time. In this section flurries 

 of snow are not unusual at any time of the year. In the vicinity 

 of Hudson strait and Ungava bay, the higher hills retain snow 

 until the last of August, and are covered again by the middle 

 of September. This condition is probably due to the immense 

 amount of moisture in the atmosphere and the presence of ice- 

 bergs at all times of the year, causing variations in temperature. 



Ice forms in the various bays to a depth of from 20 to 40 

 feet. The lowest recorded temperature is 55 degrees below 

 zero, although the actual range is probably greater. The tem- 

 perature rarely rises above 80 degrees, even during the brief 

 three months summer. In the northern section, this season is 

 shortened to two months, counting by the disappearance of the 

 snow and ice, and winter is hardly over before it begins again. 



ICE. 



The dependence of hunting on ice conditions is well known 

 in the north, particularly in the Eskimo world. The ice brings 

 the winter store of seal and bear, and the break-up in the spring 

 is followed by the walrus and whale. The absence of ice on their 

 coastal settlements, or fixed ice remaining without a break, 

 would mean starvation to the Eskimo. Consequently they 



