Terms, Fire Dollars a Year. 
Ten Cents a Copy. 
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1876. \ 11 Clialllam St!(CUyllallSiir.) 
For Forest and Stream. 
HUNTING THE OSTRICH. 
BY ISAAC MOUStiLAK. 
T HE mounted tribesmen gather far. 
From wattled but and herdsman's kraal, 
To follow over grassy plain 
The noble ostrich on his trail. 
Some mount the wild, imuntient steed. 
And somea-foot essay the chase 
With slender spear and poison'd shaft, 
All ambush’d in some lonely place. 
Fast by some fount, like diamond glen 
Dropp’d in the desert’s fenceless bound, 
Amid the water-reeds they lie. 
Outstretch'd upon the marshy ground, 
Knowing the ostrich there will come, 
Hard press'd by hunter and by steed, 
To seek the water-courseB lone 
For drink and shelter in their need. 
Far, far the spurring horsemen ride. 
With savage whoop and ringing shout, 
Far, far the panic-stricken flock 
Flies onward in tumultuous rout; 
Their black bill and their slender neck 
Before them point the unerring way. 
Their nervous legs and flapping wings 
Ply ceaseless o’er the grassy vley, 
And long and weary must the chase 
Be lengthen'd o'er the desert space. 
The savage far and wide will ride 
To win the precious, fleeing prize, 
Gazing before him at those plumes 
That captivate his greedy eyes; 
For Sheik is shorn of half his pomp, 
If grac'd not with his feather’d crown. 
The waving ostrich plumes that twine 
His brow, with their imperial down. 
Aud oh! what sweet young maiden brows 
With golden curl or raven tress, 
In other lands beyond the seas 
Those ostrich wonders shall caress; 
In royal conrtB, in palaces, 
Where queens and nobles grace the ball, 
Aud lucent pearls aud diamonds shine 
Bespiendent in the sumptuous hall; 
How will the blazing lights illume 
That floating, foam-like Afrlc plume, 
So purely white, so peerless fair. 
Drifting, like snow flake, in the air. 
For Forest and Stream. 
mut thq gt, i[nwnnc§. 
Votes of a Trip to the Fishing Posts on the Labrador Coast 
and Visits to the Light Rouses , dbc., in the Gulf of SI. 
Lawrence and, Straits of Belleisle, 
BY 3. IJ. GREGORY, OF QUEBEC. 
(Continued from, Last Week.) 
[ VISITED over thirty fishing localities, some of the in¬ 
habitants of which were in very distressed condition. 
5ne case, that of the Joneses, will convey to you some 
dea of the others. Wednesday after breakfast I went on 
ihore, where I found a few fishermen connected with a 
arge trading establishment there to collect fish and load 
vessels for the firm at Jersey (one of the British Channel 
slands). My first inquiry was for the Joneses. I learned 
hat they lived at Bradore Bay, eight or nine miles off, and 
hat I could not reach it in a boat, owing to the heavy sea 
vhich would prevent our rounding a long and dangerous 
mint, but that I could do so by land, with the aid of a 
;uide, by traveling over the mountains. Mr. Duhamel, 
he late East Point lighthouse keeper, volunteered to ac- 
lompany me. Dressing warm, but as light as possible, 
md with a pair of Esquimaux seal skin boots on, aud our 
pockets filled with crackers, we started at early morning 
with our guide, a fisherman from 6t. Malo, Prance. Owing 
;o the soft spongy moss, and the day pleasantly cold, we 
.raveled fast, Our talkative French guide pointed out to 
us the small creek which is supposed to divide Labrador 
here between Canada and the Newfoundland district, and 
giving us much other information. When we were about 
five miles on our way we saw coming towards us a tall, 
dark-complexioned man about forty years of age, dressed 
in cauvas, a tarpaulin hat, and raw seal skin slippers. Our 
guide called him by name, and I found it was poor Jones 
himself, who was on his way to the bay to try to get some¬ 
thing to prevent his family from starving. His haggard, 
shivering appearance denoted suffering and want. I went 
up and extended my hand to him, which he politely took,, 
and answered my common-place questions with intelli 
gencc and courtesy. I requested him to turn back as I 
wished to visit his establishment, not letting him nor the 
guide know why I did so. ne answered that it was a poor 
place to visit, his fishing had failed for so many years that 
he was now very poor, and he supposed I knew enough of 
Labrador to understand that fishing was his only source of 
living. At one time the family were in a condition to en¬ 
tertain gentlemen, and the son of the Chief Justice, the 
late Col. A.. H. Bowers, had spent some time on a visit to 
them. I gradually led him on to speak of his prospects, 
which appeared very discouraging indeed. I asked him 
whether he would not like to leave the coast with his 
family, and go to some place where the earning of a living 
was more a certainty, He answered that he was born on 
the spot; had never left it, and never'would; that he was 
unfit for any other life; besides he had the best seal fishing 
station in the neighborhood; in former times his father 
was considered a weallhy man, often making $6,000 to 
$8,000 per season, but had saved nothing. From a preva¬ 
lence of westwardly winds his bay became so blocked up 
with ice at the seal fishing season, which only lasts a few 
days, that he could not set his nets, every season for some 
years bringing no better luck. His father and mother 
went away leaving the fishing to himself and brothers, but 
they soon got discouraged and also left. His parents died 
somewhere near Quebec; he being the last would never 
forsake the old spot. I told him that 1 could manage it in 
such a way that it would cost him nothing to do so if he 
would consent to leave, but he would not, he loves the old 
place, and has great hopes of soon meeting better success. 
He related an instance of another fisherman similarly situ¬ 
ated, who had caught no seals for some time, but by a 
sudden change of the wind his bay was cleared of ice, nets 
were hurriedly set, and in two hours and a half over 500 
seals were captured, each seal being worth $4. The wind 
again changing, the bay was soon blocked up with ice, and 
he caught no more that season. Poor Jones hopes for 
some such luck. We soon came in sight of his house, a 
large wooden building in a very dilapidated condition. All 
the materials used in its construction had been brought 
down in schooners from Quebec. He said that this was 
his summer house. He has another smaller one in the in¬ 
terior, nearer wood. Most of the fishermen have two 
houses. One on the island near where they carry on fish¬ 
ing, the other on the main land, better sheltered, and to 
wluch it is more convenient to haul fuel, which is only 
found far back in the ravine, from whence they bring it on 
sledges drawn by dogs. Wbeu we reached the house I 
perceived that many paucs of window glass were broken. 
After he had lied np a half-starved wolfish dog, which he 
said was vicious to strangers, we went in by the back door 
through the kitchen. The flooring had been pulled up in 
many places; seeing that I noticed this, he stopped to ex¬ 
plain the reason, and said that last spring, during cold 
weather, having moved there to be ready to begin fishing 
operations, he was so weak from want of food, that he had 
not strength enough to go for wood, and was obliged to 
burn the floor to prevent his family from perishing from 
cold. Looking around I found the partitions had been 
painted in imitation of oak. We walked on till wo came 
to the passage, on each side of which I could see the rooms 
through the open door, the floors were painted in squares, 
and on the walls of the principal rooms were the remains 
of costly paper, representing hunting scenes nearly half 
life size. There was no furniture in any, excepting one, 
In this was a stove, bench, table, and large bundle of nets; 
We were invited to enter it, and did so. I asked Jones to 
allow me to see his wife and children. He answered they 
were hardly snificiently clothed to be seen by any one, but 
ho would go up stairs and try and induce them to come 
down. After some time I heard some person coming down, 
the stairs, apparently laboring undei a distressing cough. 
It was his wife, followed by five of his daughters, at ages 
varying from three to twelve years. Mrs. Jones was 
dressed with a very thin faded cotton jacket, and a skirt 
made of an old boat sail, hut perfectly clean. She had 
neither shoes nor stockings. She made me a polite bow, 
and stood up near the stove until we insisted she should 
take the only seat, while wc took two nets for the same 
purpose. What a sad face! Want and suffering were 
plainly marked in it, aj well as her (emaciated body. She 
had evidently been very handsome, and fair and rosy in 
her younger and happier days. She was thirty-six to 
forty years of age, and told me she was Scotch and born in 
Glasgow. She came out to Halifax to visit a sister who 
was governess in a gentleman's family. Some time after 
Jones’ brother married that sister, and she came over to 
Labrador with them, where she met and married her hus¬ 
band. They were then considered rich, and lived in 
plenty for some years after. But what a change has taken 
place since! Starvation frequently stares them in the face, 
and she had become very sickly in consequence. They 
have nine children, the eldest a girl of sixteen, the next a 
boy of about fourteen, both of whom were then away with 
a gun, and their last charge of powder, trying to kill the 
largest bird they could find to furnish a meal for the family. 
They had been living for many days on nothing but small 
trout caught by the children in a fresh water stream not 
far off. They had neither pork,-grease, nor butter of any 
kind, or other article of nourishment; in fact, nothing had 
entered their stomachs but fish and water. The poor 
children were very thin and nearly naked, none had worn 
shoes for a long time, winter or summer. I asked Jones 
whether he could not make some sort of covering for their 
feet with seal skin. He answered yes, but they needed 
food first, and a seal skin could be traded for some sea 
biscuit, and prevent them starving. Mrs. Jones said it 
would soon be over, for they could not live through such a 
winter as the last. I told her that on the way to the house 
I had spoken to her husband about leaving that un fortunate 
place, and asked her to try and persuade him to do so at 
once. She turned her large, sad consumptive eyes kindly 
upon him, aud said, “whatever he thinks best to do I will 
consent to.” Looking around upon the poor hungry 
children, Mr. Duhamel and I sprang up off tho nets and 
distributed the crackers among them by hands full. I 
never will forget with what avidity they devoured them. 
Turning to Jones, I said, “Come now, Mr. Jones, get all 
your things together, I will give you time to do so, and 
provide you and your family wilh a free passage to some 
place where you will most likely find work for yourself 
and your son, and where you can bring up your family to 
a new life, and in your troubles find kind neighbors willing 
and able to help you. This is no place to settle with sucli 
a fine family, especially with so many girls. What pros- 
spects have your childrea in life? Do you wish to see 
your daughters married to men as poor as yourself, and 
again going over the life of suffering you are now passing 
throughy” "God forbid,” ho answered, “I would do any¬ 
thing to improve their condition, but I am unlit for any 
other life than t liat of a fisherman, and will not forsake 
the old spot yet.” I learned that last season, not being 
able to obtain wherewith to begin fishing, he agreed wilh 
some parties, if they would furnish him with an oulfiL and 
a small quantity of provisions for his family, lie would 
give them the privilege of fishing iu his hay, himself- and 
son to help, and take one-third of the catch for pay. His 
share was fifteen seals, valued at $60, and did not cover 
his indebtedness to his partners'!* The seal carcasses he 
salted down for food for his dogs for the winter, but they 
had beeu forced to eat most of them themselves. This 
meat, I am told, is oily and tough, and most difficult to di- 
