-I , ■ :• Ml 



EPISODES 



401 



LABRADOR 



When I look back upon the many pleasant hours that I 

 spent with the young gentlemen who composed my pany, 

 (luring our excursions along the coast of sterile and 

 stormy Labrador, I think that a brief account of our 

 employments may prove not altogether uninteresting to 

 my readers. 



We had purchased our stores at Boston, with the aid of 

 my generous friend. Dr. Parkman of that city; but un- 

 fortunately many things necessary on an expedition like 

 ours were omitted. At Eastport in Maine we therefore 

 laid in these requisites. No traveller, let me say, ought 

 to neglect anything that is calculated to insure the suc- 

 cess of his undertaking, or to contribute to his personal 

 comfort, when about to set out on a long and perhaps 

 hazardous voyage. Very few opportunities of replenish- 

 ing stores of provisions, clothing, or ammunition, occur 

 in such a country as Labrador; and yet, we all placed 

 too much confidence in the zeal and foresight of our pur- 

 veyors at Eastport. We had abundance of ammunition, 

 excellent bread, meat, and potatoes; but the butter was 

 quite rancid, the oil only fit to grease our guns, the vine- 

 gar too liberally diluted with cider, the mustard and pep- 

 per deficient in due pungency. All this, however, was 

 not discovered until it was too late to be remedied. Sev- 

 eral of the young men were not clothed as hunters should 

 be, and some of the guns were not so good as we could 

 have wished. We were, however, fortunate with respect 

 to our vessel, which was a notable sailer, did not leak, 

 had a good crew, and was directed by a capital seaman. 



The hold of the schooner was floored, and an entrance 

 made to it from the cabin, so that in it we had a very 

 good parlor, dining-room, drawing-room, library, etc., all 

 those apartments, however, being comprised in one. An 



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