T4 LABRADOR 
In a country like Labrador the seasons are so marked, 
and bring with them such great changes, that one must 
know exactly at what time to come in order to enjoy any 
favourite pastime to the best advantage, or pursue any 
particular object. One visitor landed on the coast, and we 
drove him over a frozen harbour in the end of May. He 
had been enjoying fresh strawberries at home before he 
left, and expected to find summer here, and not our last 
month of winter. I may therefore give a brief description 
of the seasons so that one can tell at a glance what is likely 
to be going on at any particular portion of the year. 
January. The second coldest of the winter months; 
only occasional temperatures above freezing, and then only 
for a short spell. The whole country everywhere is under 
ice and snow. The first winter mail arrives from Quebec 
by dog train. Natural bridges make it possible to cross 
all the rivers, bays, and arms of the sea. Thus, travelling 
is usually begun in this month, though in the green woods 
snow is not yet hard packed, and consequently one has to go 
round the ‘‘drogues,”’ as we call them. The dogs are able 
to go fifty to sixty miles in a day. The shortness of the 
days is the chief drawback. The settlers are all in their 
homes in the woods at the heads of the bays. They are 
trapping fur, hunting deer, and lumbering. The great 
herds of deer are in the low marshes and woods near the 
land-wash, and are often obtainable in great plenty. Willow 
grouse and rabbits are plentiful at times in the woods. 
Harp seals are being netted as they pass south along the 
Labrador coast. The sea is impossible to navigation, ex- 
cept now and again in the Strait of Belle Isle. 
February. The coldest month with seldom any “let up”’ 
