m AUDUBON'S LABRADOR 



familiar and commonplace berry, negative the 

 idea that by vinber they meant mountain cran- 

 berry. 



Old Fort Island— Vieux Fort au large—- 

 with its summer houses and fish-stages could 

 be seen in the distance from Grassy Island, 

 but we sailed seven miles inland to the winter 

 village of Old Fort. This is on the mainland 

 at the head of a bay behind a sheltering island. 

 Here were about fifteen dwelling-houses and 

 a schoolhouse, but only one family was there 

 looking after some captive foxes. The rest 

 of the people were fishing at the islands. A 

 deserted village it certainly was. Not even 

 dogs were to be seen, although there were ele- 

 vated platforms of logs for the safe storage 

 of dog-food near the houses. On one of these 

 were the ghastly remains of an Eskimo dog 

 kept to feed his kindred. Tall wigwam-shaped 

 wood-piles, frames for stretching sealskins, 

 little gardens containing a few lettuces and 

 turnips, rank with weeds and surrounded with 

 high fences, komatiks shod with bone cut from 

 the jaws of whales — all these were familiar 

 objects in this cold land. Some bits of broken 



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