NEWFOUNDLAND IN THE 'SEVENTIES 201 



harbour of St. John's in the august society of the 

 judge and all the functionaries of his court. The 

 whole court was there assembled, including judge, 

 barristers, lawyers, clerks, and all — everybody, in 

 fact, except the criminals and the jurymen ; and 

 it really was a pity they could not have been pro- 

 vided also ; it would have saved such a lot of 

 time and trouble. As far as I could see, there 

 was very little work for the court to do. We 

 would stop occasionally, apparently at any nice 

 likely-looking spot for a malefactor, and send 

 on shore to see if there was any demand for our 

 commodity, namely, justice. Generally we were 

 informed that the inhabitants did not require any 

 just at present, but that perhaps if we would call 

 again another time a little later, we might be more 

 fortunate ; and then we would give three hideous 

 steam whistles by way of a parting benediction, 

 and plough our way through the yielding billows 

 to some other settlement, where, if we were 

 lucky, the court would divest itself of oilskin 

 coats and sou'-westers, and go ashore to dispose 

 of the case or cases to be tried. 



We were a very jolly party, and amused ourselves 

 by lounging about the little deck enjoying the 

 fresh air and grand wild coast scenery, reading 



