SPRING IN THE NORTH ^3 



A calamity occurred while we were both in the spare tent drying our 

 clothes, some of the dogs breaking into the snow house and eating up all 

 our smoked trout. In addition they removed my small camera which was in 

 a sealskin case and chewed up half the case, but luckily did not damage the 

 camera. I could forgive them this everlasting breaking into places to find 

 something to eat if they were badly fed, but they are better fed than any dogs 

 on the coast and, if I catch one of them at it, and I know the two ringleaders 

 in all these peccadilloes, they will rue it for some tiine to come. 



Good Friday fell on 30th March and, while members of the 

 party were attending the Church service, the weather turned 

 suddenly mild with heavy rain and soon there was much slush 

 underfoot ; by Sunday, when the band climbed to the church roof 

 to give a concert, all the snow had gone from it. Spring was 

 coming to Labrador. The snow storms still came in the following 

 weeks, but the snow was soft and wet, making poor going for 

 sledging; the komatiks proceeded slowly and the men waded 

 knee deep beside them. 



During the long winter months those who did little travelling 

 spoke of the spring with delight as one would speak of the coming 

 of spring during the dark months of an English winter, but to men 

 like Willie and Joe Ford, who spent their lives hunting and 

 trapping, the spring held no delusions and they said so. Willie 

 Ford said he loathed the spring, the going was nearly always bad 

 and one suffered from a blistered face and cracked lips due to 

 the heat from the sun being reflected by the snow. Even when 

 snow was absent there was water about a foot deep covering the 

 ice, through which the dogs had to wade. Baker describes in his 

 diary travelling in the spring snow : 'The speed of travel was the 

 speed of the dogs ... as the poor beasties were belly deep the 

 whole time and they had to lift their feet out of each step as the 

 snow was too cloggy for them to push through. Walking along- 

 side was no joy, plod, plod, the whole time and nearly always 

 knee-deep ... I found it was £ p.m. and we had taken 7 hours 

 to do 10 miles.' 



Doc stayed in Nain for the time being as the whole settlement 

 were down with sore throats and a mild type of influenza, and 

 he had a busy time going from house to house, visiting his 

 patients. Falling rain and melting snow now prevented the 

 building of snow houses and the tents again became the only 

 shelter for the camp parties. Everything got wet, the sleeping 



