34^ Life of Audubon, 



came with six men to pay us a visit. They wished to see 

 some of my drawings, and I gratified them ; and in re- 

 turn they promised to show me a whale before it was cut 

 up, sliould they catch one before we leave this place for 

 Bras d'Or. 



" July 2 3. We visited to-day the seal establishment of 

 a Scotchman, named Robertson, about six miles east of 

 our anchorage. He received us politely, addressed me 

 by name, and told me he had received information of my 

 visit to this country through the English and Canadian 

 newspapers. This man has resided here twenty years, 

 and married a Labrador lady, the daughter of a Monsieur 

 Chevalier of Bras d'Or ; has a family of six children, and 

 a good-looking wife. He has a comfortable house, and a 

 little garden, in which he raises a few turnips, potatoes, 

 and other vegetables. He appeared to be lord of all these 

 parts, and quite contented with his lot. He told me that 

 his profits last year amounted to three thousand dollars. 

 He does not trade with the Indians, of whom we saw 

 about twenty of the Mountaineer trtbe, and he has white 

 men-servants. His seal-oil tubs were full, and he was 

 then engaged in loading a schooner bound to Quebec. 

 He complained of the American fishermen, and said they 

 often acted as badly as pirates towards the Indians, the 

 white settlers, and the eggers, all of whom have more than 

 once retaliated, when bloody combats have followed. He 

 assured me that he had seen a fisherman's crew kill 

 thousands of guillemots in a day, pluck off their feathers, 

 and throw their bodies into the sea. 



" Mr. Robertson also told me that, during mild win- 

 ters, his little harbor is covered with thousands of white 

 gulls, and that they all leave on the appproach of spring. 

 The travelling here is altogether over the ice, which is 

 covered with snow, and in sledges drawn by Esquimaux 

 dcgs, of which this man keeps a famous pack. He often 



