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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



stick on" — i. e., a plaster — would make 

 the calling of a medical man impossible 

 on this coast if seal and bear oil was not 

 as acceptable to them as olive, if oakum 

 and moss did not serve as well as pad- 

 ding for dressings, and if coniferous 

 resins were not adhesive. Plain board 

 beds seem to give rise to no bed-sores 

 through their thick acclimatized skins. 



An antipathy to anaesthetics would 

 have rendered more than one operation 

 impossible had it not been for their stoi- 

 cism and inordinate pride in being the 

 center of attraction, which, as a superior 

 mental emotion, led one young woman 

 to grin while I amputated her frost- 

 bitten toe, just because the tent was filled 

 with an admiring audience. It has al- 

 ways struck me that they would be good 

 material for Christian science. 



With dog stories and winter travels 

 the coast just abounds, and many a 

 night by a log fire I have listened to the 

 most exciting yarns of old hunters. But 

 here there is no room for these. Suffice 

 it to say, I have tried most sports that 

 young manhood in civilization affects, 

 and I have yet to find a match for our 

 winter traveling. 



There are lots of poor, yes very poor, 

 people in Labrador. I have seen naked- 

 ness and starvation every year that I 

 have been here. That is why we are 



here, not merely because these are mis- 

 erable people, but because those people 

 we believe need not be miserable or starv- 

 ing or naked. It is true a man's work 

 must in spite of him crystallize often 

 enough into temporizing methods. It is 

 the same in our professional and every 

 other work at times. 



But we believe in the country, and we 

 believe in the people. The former can, 

 we are convinced, evolve a worthy con- 

 tribution to the human race — a people 

 not enervated and enfeebled by the soft 

 things of life or by artificial conditions. 

 We hope to be factors in hastening the 

 process. 



It has been suggested to change the 

 whole climate of Quebec by damming 

 the Straits of Belle Isle and shouldering 

 off the arctic current. Nothing is im- 

 possible. The north side of the Straits 

 is an admirable spot at present for a 

 penal settlement, and material is not 

 lacking with which to fill up that shallow 

 strip of water. A railway can be run 

 with ease to the bottom of St. Lewis' 

 Bay, and bring in its train increasing 

 comforts and increasing facilities for 

 living. But without these we have been 

 privileged ahead to see the dawn of a 

 better day, and we only stand grateful 

 to Labrador for the opportunities it has 

 afTorded us. 



