348 CAPTAIN CAETWRIGHT'S 



mon to most of those which border upon the arc- 

 tic circle, they are the white-tailed eagle, falcons, 

 hawks, and owls of various kinds; raven, white- 

 grouse, ptarmigan, sprucegame, whistling-curlew, 

 grey-plover, various kinds of sandpipers, and 

 other waders; geese, ducks of various sorts, 

 shags, gulls, divers of various sorts, swallows, 

 martins, some few species of small birds, snipes, 

 and doves; but the two last are very scarce, for 

 I do not recollect ever seeing more than five snipes 

 and two doves. It is rather singular, that nothing 

 of the heron ^ kind ever visit that country, since 

 the fresh-waters are so abundantly stocked with 

 trout, and I have seen bitterns in Newfoundland. 



Tlie beasts are bears both white and black (of 

 the latter I am told, there are two kinds, one of 

 which have a white ring round their necks, and 

 the Esquimaux say, '' They are very ferocious,'^ 

 but I never saw one of them, or even a skin) rein- 

 deer, wolves, wolverines, foxes of various kinds, 

 viz., black, silver, cross, yellow, white, and blue; 

 martens, lynxes, otters, mink,^ beavers, mus- 

 quash, racoons,^ hares, rabbits, and moles.^ There 

 may be other kinds, but they did not come within 

 my observation. 



The native inhabitants are two distinct nations 

 of Indians; Mountaineers and Esquimaux. The 

 Mountaineers are tall, thin, and excellent walk- 



* Several different species of herons including the bittern, Botaurus 

 lentiginosus, have occasionally been found on the southern coast. 



2 Putorius vison. 



' The racoon, Procyon lotor, is unknown in Labrador. 



* Star-nosed mole, Condylar a crislata. 



