VISIT TO THE SOUTH COAST OUTPORTS 149 



" Why don't you fish in the harbour?" I suggested; "it's 

 full of flat fish." 



This idea seemed new to them, and to present certain 

 possibilities as yet undreamed of, and, after further conversa- 

 tion in which I found that their poverty was genuine, I was 

 glad to give them some help. 



It may seem extraordinary, but here was a bay simply 

 crawling with beautiful flounders, but not a soul dreamt of 

 catching and cooking them for their own use. Those who 

 know best the outport Newfoundlander are aware of his con- 

 servatism and pig-headed objection to all innovations. Their 

 fathers never ate flat fish, so why should they ? They would 

 rather starve than do such a thing. I asked a fisherman 

 one day what his objection to them was, and he said, 

 " People say they're poisonous." 



I assured him to the contrary, and asked him if he 

 had ever tried one, and he answered, "Yes, once, out of 

 curiosity." 



There are many other excellent fish, which they neither 

 eat fresh nor cured, such as herring, wrasse (conors), skate, 

 ling, hake, and halibut. 



Like all seafaring people, the Newfoundlanders are 

 exceedingly childlike and superstitious. Their fathers fished 

 cod before them, and they do the same for four months in 

 the year, often doing absolutely nothing for the other eight 

 months, except to set a few traps for lobsters. If the 

 Government offers them wages for making a road through 

 the country they work splendidly — for one day — and then 

 sit down contentedly and expect to declare a permanent 

 dividend. 



On the whole the men look strong, but the women are 

 generally pinched and narrow-chested. Consumption is rife. 



