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THE LABRADOR JOURNAL 



36s 



:, although 

 ir so. The 

 the captain 

 by true cal- 

 esh codfish, 

 oked on our 

 ter of great 

 t with airy 

 nowledge of 

 ;quire. The 

 d swiftly on 

 t that now as 

 nt, she fairly 

 le cry of land 

 joy ; so much 

 than an hour 

 'e approached, 

 [t delighted at 

 ely ; but, after 

 ks. We pro- 

 orable that we 

 vas now filled 

 ,s were flying 

 The Fool- 

 |e in immense 

 love the water, 

 ig within good 

 •ounding to us, 

 'e now saw a 

 ,d well at this 

 thermometer, 

 [e up to nearly 

 , drifts was for- 

 [argined with a 

 Lginations now 



saw Bears, Wolves, and Devils of all sorts scampering away 

 on the rugged shore. When we reached the schooner we 

 saw beyond some thirty fishing-boats, fishing for cod, and 

 to our great pleasure found Captain Billings of Eastport 

 standing in the bow of his vessel ; he bid us welcome, and 

 we saw the codfish thrown on his deck by thousands. We 

 were now opposite to the mouth of the Natasquan River, 

 where the Hudson's Bay Company have a fishing estab- 

 lishment, but where no American vessels are allowed to 

 come in. The shore was lined with bark-covered huts, 

 and some vessels were within the bight, or long point of 

 land which pushes out from the extreme eastern side of 

 the entrance of the river. We went on to an American 

 Harbor, four or five miles distant to the westward, and 

 after a while came to anchor in a small bay, perfectly se- 

 cure from any winds. And now we are positively on the 

 Labrador coast, latitude 50° and a little more, — farther 

 north than I ever was before. But what a country ! When 

 we landed and passed the beach, we sank nearly up to our 

 knees in mosses of various sorts, producing as we moved 

 through them a curious sensation. These mosses, which 

 at a distance look like hard rocks, are, under foot, like a 

 velvet cushion. We scrambled about, and with anxiety 

 stretched our necks and looked over the country far and 

 near, but not a square foot of earth could we see. A 

 poor, rugged, miserable country; the trees like so many 

 mops of wiry composition, and where the soil is not 

 rocky it is boggy up to a man's waist. We searched 

 and searched; but, after all, only shot an adult Pigeon- 

 Hawk, a summer-plumage Tell-tale Godwit, and an Alca 

 torda. We visited all the islands about the harbor; they 

 were all rocky, nothing but rocks. The Lams marinus 

 was sailing magnificently all about us. The Great Tern 

 was plunging after shrimps in every pool, and we found 

 four eggs of the Totanus macitlaritis ; ^ the nest was situ- 

 ^ Spotted Sandpiper, now Actitis maculaiia. — E. C. 



