EPISODES 



411 



doned their ancient breeding places, and removed much 

 farther north in search of peaceful security. Scarcely, in 

 fact, could I procure a young Guillemot before the eggers 

 left the coast, nor was it until late in July that I suc- 

 ceeded, after the birds had laid three or four eggs each, 

 instead of one, and when, nature having been exhausted, 

 and the season nearly spent, thousands of these birds left 

 the country without having accomplished the purpose for 

 which they had visited it. This war of extermination 

 cannot last many years more. The eggers themselves 

 will be the first to repent the entire disappearance of the 

 myriads of birds that made the coast of Labrador their 

 summer residence, and unless they follow the persecuted 

 tribes to the northward, they must renounce their trade. 



THE SQUATTERS OF LABRADOR 



Go where you will, if a shilling can there be procured, 

 you may expect to meet with individuals in search of it. 



In the course of last summer, I met with several per- 

 sons, as well as families, whom I could not compare to 

 anything else than what in America we understand by the 

 appellation of " squatters. " The methods they employed 

 to accumulate property form the subject of the observa- 

 tions which I now lay before you. 



Our schooner lay at anchor in a beautiful basin on the 

 coast of Labrador, surrounded by uncouth granitic rocks, 

 partially covered with stunted vegetation. While search- 

 ing for birds and other objects I chanced one morning to 

 direct my eye towards the pinnacle of a small island, 

 separated from the mainland by a very narrow channel, 

 and presently commenced inspecting it with my telescope. 

 There I saw a man on his knees with clasped hands, and 

 face inclined heavenwards. Before him was a small mon- 



