STABLE AND HOUSE. 123 



tik or dog sledge ; just above hang the dog harnesses ; and next to 

 them the rackets, or snow shoes, by means of which the men, and 

 sometimes the women and children, with a little practice, walk 

 easily and quickly over the light and often very deep new fallen 

 snow. In the only remaining corner stands a heap of rubbish 

 which extends underneath the bench nearly to the other side of 

 the room. It is composed of every namable thing that you can 

 imagine : scraps of leather, old shoes and boots ; pieces of wood, 

 long and short, thick and thin, picked out for special purposes ; 

 old iron bolts, hinges, spikes, and rings ; old pans and paint dishes ; 

 pieces of rope of various sizes and thicknesses, cork bobs for fish 

 nets and wooden blocks for the same purpose, with an occasional 

 "snatch-block," as the sailors call it, — being an oval piece of wood 

 hollowed out with a wheel inside such as is used for hoisting articles 

 by rope, — and in fact a large assortment of general rubbish beside. 



At a short distance from the shop stands the stable, if the 

 family keep a cow, a goat, or any other animal requiring a building 

 of this kind. This is the simplest sort of a shed or barn, — with a 

 top hay loft, and a few plain partitions which ser\'e the animals as 

 stalls, — while even a manger is wanting, and the food is given to 

 them upon the floor of the upper end of the stall. Many families 

 do not keep such animals, not being able to afford them ; then the 

 stable is of course useless and unnecessary. 



Passing now direcdy to the house — only noticing several boats 

 lying upon the sand or on the bank above the beach, at the right of 

 the stage, and the ever present pile of wood, partly cut and partly 

 in long rugged pieces, with the fish flakes, which will be spoken of 

 in connection with the fishing business — we will try to describe it. 



The house is, of course, a primitive affair, and perhaps Httle 

 better than the abodes which our forefathers were accustomed, 

 after a while, to erect upon "the rude and rugged shores" of some 

 seacoast town of our own New England or Atlantic states. It gener- 

 ally faces the south, — that is, the door and longest side do, and is 

 about one-third longer than wide. It is built with one full story down- 

 stairs, and an attic beneath the sloping roof; a partition running 



