334 Life of Audubon. 



marsh land, the first we have seen in this country ; the 

 soil was wet, our feet sank in it, and walking was tire- 

 some. We also crossed a large savannah of many miles 

 in extent Its mosses were so wet and spongy, that I 

 never in my life before experienced so much difficulty in 

 travelling. In many places the soil appeared to wave 

 and bend under us like old ice in the spring of the year 

 and we expected at each step to break through the sur- 

 face, and sink into the mire below. In the middle of this 

 quagmire we met with a fine small grove of good-sized 

 white birch trees, and a few pines full forty feet high 

 quite a novelty in this locality. 



" From the top of a high rock I obtained a good view 

 of the most extensive and dreary wilderness I ever be- 

 held. It chilled the heart to gaze on these barrens of 

 Labrador. Indeed I now dread every change of harbor, 

 so horridly rugged and dangerous is the whole coast and 

 country to the eye, and to the experienced man either of 

 the sea or the land. Mosquitoes, many species of horse- 

 flies, small bees, and black gnats fill the air. The frogs 

 croaked, and yet the thermometer was not above 55. 

 This is one of the real wonders of this extraordinary 

 country. The parties in the boats, hunting all day, 

 brought back but nineteen birds, and we all concluded 

 that no one man could provide food for himself here from 

 the land alone. 



" July 19. Cold, wet, blowing, and too much motion 

 of the vessel for drawing. In the evening it cleared up 

 a little, and I went ashore, and visited the hut of a seal- 

 fisher. We climbed over one rocky precipice and fissure 

 after another, holding on to the moss with both hands 

 and feet, for about a mile, when we came to the deserted 

 hut of a Labrador seal-catcher. It looked snug outside, 

 and we walked in ; it was floored with short slabs, all 

 very well greased with seal oil. A fire-oven without a 



