148 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR. 



and became anchored within fifty yards of his "stage." 

 Just after he and his family had gone to bed, the berg 

 broke to pieces — " foundered " — and nearly swamped his 

 boat, but did not carry away his stage, which was built 

 upon a rock, though the waves washed a row of punch- 

 eons off from a neighbor's stage and entered the house, 

 driving out the occupants. 



Of the personal appearance and habits of the majority 

 of the summer residents there is not much to be said. 

 Living in dirty, forlorn tilts, smoked and begrimed with 

 dirt, the occupants in some cases thoroughly harmonize 

 with their surroundings : their features and hands are 

 smoked as dark as the herring they eat, and their rough 

 life is more or less demoralizing ; but certainly law and 

 order are well maintained on the coast, and no cases of 

 immorality came to our ears. 



The Fourth of July saw us still ice-bound. We could 

 easily walk ashore over the floe-ice ; some of the floes 

 were higher than our vessel's rail, it being next to impos- 

 sible to force our boat through the too narrow "leads' 

 between the cakes. Our surroundings were thoroughly 

 arctic ; the harbor choked with ice-cakes, while the high, 

 dreary cliffs, rising on every side, made the outlook so 

 polar and frigid that only a live white bear in the fore- 

 ground was needed to enhance the resemblance. 



This glorious day was celebrated by the imprisoned 

 party as best they could. At nine o'clock in the morn- 

 ing a salute was fired from twenty-four gun-barrels, the 

 largest number we could muster. The exercises of the 

 forenoon consisted of a prayer by Rev. Mr. Wasson, and 

 an oration by a member of the legal profession, Mr. Ham, 

 followed by the John Brown song. For our dinner we 



