150 NEWFOUNDLAND 



and in no way lessened by the dirty practice of expectora- 

 tion, so that if one member of a family acquires the dread 

 disease it rapidly spreads, as the germs are fostered by hot 

 rooms and damp weather. The purity of the air of New- 

 foundland is without doubt due to the fact that the people 

 of the outports never open their windows. 



Taking all things into consideration, the lot of the New- 

 foundlander who cares to work a little is an exceedingly 

 happy one. He makes little or no money, but Nature offers 

 him her gifts with no ungenerous hand. It is quite easy to 

 go into the country in November and December and kill 

 three deer. This can be done in a few days, the carcases 

 being hauled out by dog or ox sledge. A supply of fresh 

 meat is thus assured for the winter months. 



When spring comes on and the ice breaks up,^ large 

 numbers of the more able-bodied take to the woods for the 

 purpose of cutting logs. In many cases they work on their 

 own account in the virgin forest, cutting in such sections as 

 have not already been claimed by lumber companies, and 

 hauling or floating their logs to the saw-mills, where they 

 sell them, wages averaging from one to two dollars a day. 

 The majority, however, take employment with some of the 

 larger or smaller timber owners, and they prefer this method, 

 as they are housed and fed at the expense of the owners. 

 A good " riverside " boss — that is, the man who keeps the 

 others at work and superintends the movement of the logs 

 on the rivers — will earn as much as three dollars a day. 

 During the summer the men fish, mostly in " bankers," off 

 the coast or away north along the Labrador, whilst the 



' Few of these south coast men go to the seal-fishing in spring. They are too 

 independent, and are not forced to board the seal vessels as the men of the east 

 coast are. 



