VISIT TO THE SOUTH COAST OUTPORTS 145 



but when the sun comes out everything changes to life and 

 movement. Dogs bark, children call at their play, and those 

 at work on the "flakes" chat cheerfully together. In the 

 still waters of the harbour the common terns {SUrna /itrundo), 

 like little sea-fairies, hover and descend upon their prey the 

 sand-eels ; American herring gulls (Larus argentatus Smith- 

 sonianus) sail aloft, whilst the common sandpipers and two 

 species of tringa flit and call upon the beaches. The dogs, 

 which seem to be well nigh amphibious, rush barking through 

 the pools, and at low water search the shores for discarded 

 cod-heads. 



The best dogs are of the "Labrador" type. In winter 

 they are used for hauling logs — one dog will haul 2 or 

 3 cwt. Seldom more than two are used together. The 

 pure Newfoundland dogs are curly, and are a little higher on 

 the leg than are the Labradors. 



Everything eats cod in Newfoundland, even the cows. 

 These cattle have the appearance of coming badly through 

 the winter, and making up for it in summer with indifferent 

 success. Their existence is one long struggle with the forces 

 of nature, and in the battle of life they get the worst of it. 

 Their lives are one long disappointment in the commissariat 

 line. Just as the grass is getting sweet, it is denied them 

 by means of wooden fences, so they do the best they can by 

 nibbling various shrubs and by repairing to the beach at 

 low water, where they eat seaweed, dulse, and the remains 

 of cod. They are also very partial to whale flesh. The 

 sheep are poor and thin, though why this should be so is 

 difficult to understand, as there is abundant food for them in 

 summer. I bought a good-sized lamb one day, and thought 

 I had got a bargain at a dollar (4s. 6d.), but when two 

 members of the whaling crew and I had finished the entire 



K 



