The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1885-10-29

vi LUG VOuCullS CiIC SAoIO "a iaScN
it, the men put off to it in their
skiff, haul the boat upon the ice and
then go about clubbingthe seals. They
soon return to the shore with blubber
and hides, which they bury under;
snow for keeping until q trading
schooner calls. Sometimes the wind
or the current suddenly loosens the
ice and carries it out to sea and
the sport is then quite perilous. The
netting of seals is not unlike the TAX
ing of fish in nets. A strong net may
be moored off a favorable point or in
a channel, or several nets are com
blned and moored to form a kind Of
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 were taken there In a sea-
son. In a favorable o a net may
be sunk on the bottom until the seals
enter; then it is raised with a windlass
to close the entrance, and the men in
the boats row about the bay and
drive the seals into the meshes. :
The ocean sealing is the most cost
ly and productive method. Powerful
steamers, built expressly for this
work, and manned by 200 to 300
men, are sent out every year from st.
Johns, Newfoundland, and Dundee,l
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
I saw building at Esquimaux Point
had timbers II inches square laid in
solid, and bolted mt to the other,
and the bow was a mass ofbeams and
braces. The oil is tried out in fur
naces along the beach; the hides are
sent to London for tanning. :
The social season of Labradoris 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 go visiting; they
carry no provisions, for everybody
keeps open house, and helittle cabins
are often packed withpeople 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
to leave food, and sometimes even
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.
1t is not surprising to find all sea
men superstitious; the irresistible and
whimsical forces of the ocean must APP
pear to them supernatural, and their
changing fortunes must often seem the
result of some unfathomable mystery.
Could events sc supernatural asthose
told by the Ancient Mariner be 50 ap-
propriate to a landsman. These fish
ermen are not behind other sea-faring
men in either thenumber oftheir 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 andhorrors? Here
is q region without a mile of road in
5000 miles ofcoast; l never elsewhere
appreciated a wheel and a horseshoe.
Some of these people have no idea OF
the shape and size of q COW OF a 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 of heart-rending
hardship and want. Labrador, how
ever, was formerly q sea of plenty;
fishing, sealing, trapping, gave eventhe
indolent a sure, though a miserable
living. In a. few weeks the average
man could catch fish enough to ex-
change with traders for the neces-
saries of life This enabled him to
idle away three-fourths Of the year,
and relieved him of any 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 in
dustrious, the provisions are shared,
and if navigation is tardy, the first
sail is watched for in the spring With
eagerness.-C. II. Farnham, in Har-
per's Magazine for October.
Don n CfYnnO Drawer