THE TRUCK SYSTEM 91 



as they pulled, one of the old shanty songs to assist 

 them to pull together. The names of the harbours 

 we entered were, if old Eskimo names, long and un- 

 pronounceable, such as Nukasasuktok ; if French, 

 often almost unrecognisable, thus Cape d'Espoir has 

 become Cape Despair ; if English, often descriptive 

 of some incident, such as Run-by-Guess, Seldom- 

 Come-By, Ice Tickle, Cutthroat Island, Split-Knife 

 Harbour, Bakeapple Bight, Tumbledown Dick Island, 

 and so on. 



When visiting up the bays our chief enemies 

 were always the mosquitos. These are a very 

 real scourge, for, like the black fly and sand fly, 

 which also exist in myriads, they bite very severely, 

 and we found them at times so thick that it was 

 difficult to breathe without inhaling them. Even 

 the " Livyeres " seldom, if ever, get accustomed to 

 them, while it is at times impossible to send New- 

 foundland crews up inlets for firewood. 



Our medical cases had included many and various 

 ailments, especially of the eye, the lungs, and the 

 skin. Many teeth, of course, had called for atten- 

 tion; and the forceps had on more occasions than 

 one been the way to a man's heart. If you do not 

 believe this, try a week's toothache at sea without 

 remedies. 



Among many interesting cases was that of one 

 poor fellow, who fourteen days previously had acci- 

 dentally shot off both his arms below the elbows. 

 Since that time he had lain on his back, with nothing 



