CONSERVATION AND EXPLORATION 445 



starve. So true is this that Professor W. A. Stearns, orni- 

 thologist, who wintered on our coast, described Labrador as 

 "a long barren coast, the miserable home of half-starved 

 humanity." 



Any one who was to judge of the future of Labrador by 

 such a category as follows might have some excuse for 

 pessimism : - 



All natives, both Eskimo on the seacoast and Indians in 

 the interior, are decreasing in numbers, and even the white 

 settlers are scarcely holding their own. About one hundred 

 Indians who came out only last winter had to live on the 

 charity of the Hudson's Bay Post at Davis Inlet till May 

 or starve. 



Walrus, practically gone. 



Whales, seriously diminished. 



Codfish, shoals scarcer and far more uncertain than 

 formerly. 



Capelin, not nearly so abundant. 



Seals, so seriously diminished that the lack of food and 

 clothing which they formerly provided is one chief cause 

 of the depopulation of the country. 



Herring, once world famous, now no longer fished at all. 



Salmon, spasmodic, but greatly diminished. 



Trout, never a serious industry, but not at all what it 

 was. 



White bear, only very occasionally seen now. 



Black bear, and all other fur-bearing animals, so much 

 scarcer that in spite of trappers covering the country from 

 as far in as Lake Petitsikapau and thence to the coast of 

 St. Augustine, the total catch is getting annually smaller. 



Great auk, Labrador duck, oyster catcher, extinct. 



