AN ACADIAN VILLAGE 
boats they were, especially when the sails were 
dyed a light pink or terra cotta red to preserve 
them from the weather. About the middle of 
June they all depart for the cod fishing banks 
off Natashquan, and they return with their 
cargoes of dried and salted fish about the 
middle of July, to begin the deep-sea fishing 
eight or ten miles off the home port, a season 
that lasts two or three months more. Hand 
lines only are used, which leave their impress 
in deep grooves on the sides of the boats. Net 
traps, so universal on the eastern coast of 
Labrador, are not allowed here. 
The scene in the village and on the beach 
at this time was always interesting and pic- 
turesque. One man in the hurry of his work 
had pressed a small cow into service; she was 
dragging a tiny cart loaded with ropes and nets 
down to his boat on the beach, while he dra- 
matically strode on ahead. 
Religion takes a prominent place in the lives 
of these people. The church bells ring out 
many times a day to summon them to prayer, 
and to prayer they go, not the women and 
children merely as in some communities and 
some faiths, but men too unless they are absent 
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