Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-12-11

pound. AT La Tabatiere Cape Mecca
tina, q noted resort Of seals, the COM
.binatiOn OF net measures about seven
hundred fathoms. When seals are
abundant, several hundreds and even
thousands werS taken there in 4, sea.
son, In q favorable cove net NAV.
be sunk on the bottom until the seals
enter; then it is raised with windlass
to close the entrance, and the men in
the boats row about the bay and
drive the seals into the meshes. b
The ocean sealing is the most cost
ly and productive method Powerful
steamers, built expressly for this
work, and manned by 200 to 800
men, are sent out every year from St.
Johns, Newfoundland, andr Dundee,
Scotland. The sealing fleet of Esqui-
maux Point and Natashquan num-
bers about forty small schooners. In
1881 they took 10000 seals. but in
1882 only 5000. The strength of
these vessels is remarkable. The one
[ saw building at Esquimaux Point
had timbers l2 inches square laid in
solid, and bolted one to the other,
and the bow was mass OF beams and
braces. The oil is tried out in fur
naces along the beach; the hides are
sent to London for tanning.
The socia! season Of Labrador is the
winter. There is no fishing then to
keep people at home; cutting wood
and a little hunting are the on
ly occupations. Winter lasts about
eight months; when the channels
among the islands and the bays
are frozen over, dog teams can
run up and down the coast for 800
miles--from Mingan to Bonnie Esper-
ance. People then 60 visiting; they
carry no provisions, for everybody
keeps open house, and the little cabins
are often packed with people and dogs.
The winter homes, as a rule, are back
some miles from the coast, where
wood is handy Several families who
fish at Whale Head live on a swamp
in winter, where the tread of a man
along the street shakes every house.
The Able Ferland says that in his
time-about fifty years ago-the hos
pitality of the coast was such that the
people on going away from home used
w aCI'C 1OcNJ eItlt1 oOlIlSCllIlcS cFcll
money, on the table, and the doors
unlocked, that needy travellers might
enter and help themselves. But the
advent of more travellers in these days
has led to more caution and less gen.
erosity.
It is not surprising to find all sea-
men superstitious; the irresistible and
whimsical forces Of the ocean must ap-
pear to them supernatural, and their
changing fortunes must often seem the
result of some unfathomablem mystery
Could events so supernatural as those
told by the Ancient Mariner be so ap-
propriate to landsman. These fish
ermen are not'behind other sea-faring
men in either the number Of their super
stitions or the faith they repose in
them. But Labrador, in time, will
doubtless produce more astonishing
results in this regard; for what other
region on earth offers such elemental
powers, such weird scenes, such i'm
pressive hardships and horrors? Here
is n region without a mile of road in
5000 miles ofcoast; [ never elsewhere
appreciated wheel and a horseshoe.
Some of these people have no idea OF
the shape and size Of COW ora horse,
and they flee like hares at the coming
Of a stranger. Ihave stated elsewhere
that lawlessness often prevails, and
that those who are in need do not
hesitate to break open stores and help
themselves. But their most astonish-
ing traits are laziness and IMPROVE
| dence here in sight Qf heart-rendine
hardship and want. Labrador, how
ever, was formerly a sea OF plenty;
| fishing, sealing, trapping, gave even the
indolent a sure, though a miserable
living. In a Jew weeks the average
man could catch fish enough to ex-
change with traders for the neces-
sa1ies of life This enabled him to
idle away three-fourths of the year,
and relieved him of any sense OF re-
sponsibility. But now fish, oil and
fur are no longer so abundant. The
average family spends about Shopper
| year to get only the absolute neces
stiles of life; and yet the government
is obliged very often to distribute
flour and pork to prevent actual
starvation; and it offers free passage
and work to those who will leave the
coast: The lazy depend upon the m
dustrious, the provisions are shared
and if navigation is tardy, the first
sail Isl watched for in the spring with
eaoarness n Farnham in .Har