NEWFOUNDLAND IN THE 'SEVENTIES 195 



the prosperity of the capital of the oldest colony 

 of Great Britain is appreciated by the traveller long 

 before he sets foot upon her classic shores ; for one 

 side of the harbour smells abominably of dried 

 cod-fish, and the other of seal oil. Judging by the 

 accent, there must be a large mixture of Irish blood 

 in the population, a conjecture which is not con- 

 futed by the fact that the inhabitants of St. John's 

 and of the outports — as all the other towns and 

 settlements are called — and of the island in general, 

 are a splendid set of tall, strong, active, healthy- 

 looking men. Accustomed from childhood to 

 brave the hardships of a most rigorous climate, 

 drawing their sustenance from the teeming but 

 treacherous bosom of a storm-vexed ocean, that 

 rages in vain for ever round a rugged reef-bound 

 coast ; navigating their frail and ill-found schooners 

 amid tempest, ice, and fog, the Newfoundlanders 

 have developed into one of the finest seafaring 

 populations on the face of the globe. Nowhere can 

 better mariners be found than among the hardy, 

 adventurous, self-reHant men who ply their pre- 

 carious calling along the dangerous shores of their 

 native island, or on the wintry coast of the neigh- 

 bouring mainland of Labrador. 



The principal industry of Newfoundland is the 



