THE POPULATION OF LABRADOR. 235 



Acadian origin, who subsist chiefly by fishing and hunt- 

 ing. Of the whole number 3.800 are Roman Catholics 

 and 570 are Protestants. 



In the scattered settlements north of the Strait of 

 Belle Isle one meets with English, Scotch, and Jersey 

 sailors or their descendants, who make a very precarious 

 livelihood by fishing in the summer and fur-hunting in 

 the winter. The map at the end of this chapter will 

 ^erve as a directory of the coast from Sandwich Bay 

 northward. The summer or floating population of Lab- 

 rador is estimated at about 30,000, mostly Newfound- 

 landers. 



" The last census taken by the government of New- 

 foundland, in 1874, gives the resident population from 

 Blanc Sablon to Cape Harrison as 2,416. Of these 

 1,489 belong to the Church of England ; 476 to the 

 Church of Rome ; 285 are Wesleyans ; 30 are Presb)^- 

 terians, and 126 belong to other denominations. There 

 are nine places of worship : four of the Church of Eng- 

 land, three of the Church of Rome, and two of the VVes- 

 leyan Church.* According to Hatton and Harvey the 

 total population of Labrador was in 1874 about 12,527, 

 distributed as follows : — 



■On the St, Lawrence coast, from Port Neuf to Blanc Sablon 4,41 1 



On the Atlantic coast, white population 2,416 



Eskimos 1,700 



Indians of the Interior 4,000 



12,527 



By a more recent estimate the number of Eskimos is 

 placed at 1,500 or less. It is also probable, judging from 



* Hatton and Harvey's Newfoundland ; Boston, 1883, p. 297. 



