THE FREEZING OF THE SEA 



more boldly, and came back to say " Piovok " (it is 

 good). He had done his duty, which was to test 

 the new ice, for the people have great faith in their 

 old men as judges of ice and weather. As soon as 

 the children heard " Piovok " they gave a scream 

 of delight, and went racing over the bay perhaps 

 freed from the shadow of a thrashing that had 

 hovered over them as long as the ice was dangerous 

 and spent the rest of the day romping and playing 

 "tig" and "sledges" without a fear in the world, 

 and as if there were no such thing as nine or ten 

 I fathoms of icy water under them. I took a very 

 short and cautious walk on the ice that first day, 

 but I cannot say that I enjoyed it it was too nerve- 

 racking by half. The surface had a queer elastic 

 feel and gave way under my feet, like walking on 

 cushions (such was the sensation), and swayed so 

 horribly that I was glad to get off it. On the next 

 day I tried a little skating on it, and thought to 

 myself that nowhere in the world could there be 

 such a place for skating as Labrador, with its 

 hundreds of miles of tough grey ice and its sheltered 

 channels and Norway-like scenery. But I was mis- 

 taken about the skating. No enterprising syndicate 

 I will ever exploit the North Atlantic Ocean as a 

 I skating rink, for on the third day the surface was 

 | slushy the salt was working out ; and on the day 

 after that there was a snowstorm which covered the 

 I ice a couple of feet deep with hard waves and ridges 

 of snow, and not all the sweeping in the world could 

 have brought the skating back again. 



t Three days was the most of skating that ever 

 rot in one season all the time I was in Labrador. 

 With the freezing of the sea the Labrador winter 

 " 



