Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-01-09
TIE LABRADOR COAST.
A Earrrn Waste Given Up TO the VIA
Animal,---1h- I-guInaux.

&c. I. H." il New ORR r,e,,
one feature of tao La brador coast
strikes every observer tho abs nee Of
human beings; an.i not only are they not
mere. tU; the l:,,N country j. % barren
waste. given II? Ia the Wild animals and
probably never destined. from the rig
orouS nature % liz winters. to
become the permanent home If
a white population. The occasional vis
ltOr /, hunter "r s,.aler. in some of the
bays EsquimauX liy" permanently. There
arr >lpI O>cd to BE- about 4. 0UJ IN all Lab
rador but they are fast dying on AT
RaTtle harhor there is a town. aud the
place Is "A iaIno IS >h,lt for the fisher
men who Venture into this hort h.rn
country. The houses are all small an, |
rude, and everything is given up 10 the
fishing interest, every available bit Of
ground being devoted to racks aud
stages for drying fish In the southeast
portion of the place an Episcopal church
WAS consecratcd about thirty years ago,
and had for IFS first pastor nephew of
Wordsworth, the poet, There is another
church at Fox harbor, and here tho
visitor from the south rnds gen Iine
ES;juimau hamlet with its KAYAKS.
iglneS, and all.
The nearest mail station from here Is
Eatteau harbor, and from here the fish
er'nen can start in any direction and
find all the sport desirable On Sand
wich bay there is mountain about
l,50o feet high. from which fine view
of the surrounding country can he had.
Two rivers, West and Eagle, empty near
here, provide salmon that would
make the Restigouche country fisher.
man open their eyes. The trout attain
large size, and sea trout are extremely
plentiful. Speaking of the sea trout, a
wcllknown salmon and trout fisherman
whom met few weeks ago on the II.
Lawrence told me that in fishing for
sta trout near the mouth of the river he
found that they would rise TO live mouse
tail. and that out Of twenty five fish
over half had mice IN their stomachs,
and some had TWO or three. When
left him he was trying to get his guide
to catch some mice to try on
bass. The presence Of mice in the
water was explained by the fact that
they are known TO dive after spawn.
At tho head of what the natives call
Natsbuctcke bav are the Narrows
body of water surrounded by high hilly
walls. forming perfect gateway. dark.
gloomy. and impressive. ON the Mar
rows is the Hudsnns Rav comrany's
post of Rgolittc. and about l.O niles
from here 's tho famous port known AS
Northwest. where it is said m. rec
nation. that have been such terrible
enemies to the Fs1uimaux. first herap
to trade with the whites. The Mora.
vians deserve credit for most Of the
missionary work done here. They have
established number of missions con-
yertcd nearly all the natives. made
them give up polygamy and marry in a
Christian way. As in many other eases.
however, this refining process is dearly
bought. since it seems that from the
time of the Noravians the natives have
been gradually growing less. and are in
fair way of disappearing altogether.
Ii is probably not lust to Law IN. do
terioration of races to religious advisers.
but between the missionaries. the
traders, students of ethnology. and what
not. native races have hard time.
In Labrador the natives gather about
the missions in winter, and are educated