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AFTER ICEBERGS
WITH A
PAINTER
ICEBERG AT SUNSET
D. APPLETON & C^o. 443 & 445 BROADWAY
Lith. of Sarony Major & Knapp 449 Broadway NY.
AFTER ICEBERGS
WITH A PAINTER:
A
SUMMER VOYAGE TO LABRADOR AND AROUND
NEWFOUNDLAND.
BY
REV. LOUIS L. NOBLE,
AUTHOR OF THE “LIFE OF COLE,” “POEMS,” ETC.
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
443 & 445 BROADWAY.
LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.
M.DCCC.LXI.
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861,
BY D. APPLETON & CO.,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern
District of New York.
TO
E. D. PALMER,
THE SCULPTOR,
THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY
Dedicated.
PREFACE.
THE title-page alone would serve for a preface to the present volume. It
is the record of a voyage, during the summer of 1859, in company with a
distinguished landscape painter, along the north-eastern coast of
British America, for the purpose of studying and sketching icebergs.
It was thought, at first, that the shores in the neighborhood of St.
Johns, Newfoundland, upon which many bergs are often floated in, would
afford all facilities. It was found, however, upon experiment, that they
did not. Icebergs were too few for the requisite variety; too scattered
to be reached conveniently; and too distant to be minutely examined from
land. One needed to be in the midst of them, where he could command
views, near or remote, of all sides of them, at all hours of the day and
evening.
For that purpose a small vessel was hired to take us to Labrador.
Favoring circumstances directed us to Battle Harbor, near Cape St.
Louis, in the waters of which icebergs, and all facilities for sketching
them, abounded.
To diversify the journey, we returned through the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
coasting the west of Newfoundland, and the shores of Cape Breton, and
concluding with a ride across the island, and through Nova Scotia to the
Bay of Fundy.
If the writer has succeeded in picturing to his reader, with some
freshness, what he saw and felt, then will the purpose of the book, made
from notes pencilled rapidly, have been accomplished.
L. L. N.
HUDSON, NEW JERSEY,
_March, 1861_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Cool and Novel, 1
CHAPTER II.
On the Edge of the Gulf-Stream, 5
CHAPTER III.
The Painter’s Story, 8
CHAPTER IV.
Halifax, 15
CHAPTER V.
The Merlin, 19
CHAPTER VI.
Sydney.—Cape Breton.—The Ocean, 23
CHAPTER VII.
The first Icebergs, 27
CHAPTER VIII.
Newfoundland.—St. Johns, 30
CHAPTER IX.
An English Inn.—The Governor and
Bishop.—Signal Hill, 33
CHAPTER X.
The Ride to Torbay.—The lost Sailor.—The
Newfoundland Dog, 38
CHAPTER XI.
Torbay.—Flakes and Fish-houses.—The
Fishing-barge.—The Cliffs.—The Retreat
to Flat Rock Harbor.—William Waterman,
the fisherman, 41
CHAPTER XII.
The Whales.—The Iceberg.—The Return, and
the Ride to St. Johns by Starlight, 52
CHAPTER XIII.
St. Mary’s Church.—The Ride to Petty
Harbor, 60
CHAPTER XIV.
Petty Harbor.—The Mountain
River.—Cod-liver Oil.—The Evening Ride
back to St. Johns, 65
CHAPTER XV.
The Church Ship.—The Hero of Kars.—The
Missionary of Labrador, 71
CHAPTER XVI.
Sunday Evening at the Bishop’s.—The Rev.
Mr. Wood’s Talk about Icebergs, 74
CHAPTER XVII.
Our Vessel for Labrador.—Wreck of the
Argo.—The Fisherman’s Funeral, 76
CHAPTER XVIII.
Our First Evening at Sea, 80
CHAPTER XIX.
Icebergs of the Open Sea.—The Ocean
Chase.—The Retreat to Cat Harbor, 82
CHAPTER XX.
Cat Harbor.—Evening Service in
Church.—The Fisherman’s Fire.—The
Return at Midnight, 89
CHAPTER XXI.
After Icebergs again.—Among the
Sea-Fowl, 93
CHAPTER XXII.
Notre Dame Bay.—Fogo Island and the
Three Hundred Isles.—The Freedom of
the Seas.—The Iceberg of the Sunset,
and the Flight into Twillingate, 96
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Sunday in Twillingate.—The Morning
of the Fourth, 103
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Iceberg of Twillingate, 106
CHAPTER XXV.
The Freedom of the Seas once more.—A
Bumper to the Queen and President, 112
CHAPTER XXVI.
Gull Island.—The Icebergs of Cape St.
John, 115
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Splendid Icebergs of Cape St. John, 121
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Seal Fields.—Seals and
Sealing.—Captain Knight’s Shipwreck, 129
CHAPTER XXIX.
Belle Isle and the Coast.—After-dinner
Discussion.—First View of
Labrador.—Icebergs.—The Ocean and the
Sunset, 135
CHAPTER XXX.
The Midnight Look-out Forward.—A Stormy
Night.—The Comedy in the Cabin, 143
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Cape and Bay of St. Louis.—The
Iceberg.—Cariboo Island.—Battle Harbor
and Island.—The Anchorage.—The
Missionaries, 149
CHAPTER XXXII.
Battle Island and its Scenery, 155
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Mosses, Odors, and Flowers.—A Dinner
Party, 161
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Our Boat for the Icebergs.—After the
Alpine Berg.—Study of its Western
Face, 165
CHAPTER XXXV.
The Alpine Berg.—Studies of its Southern
Front.—Frightful Explosion and Fall of
Ice.—Studies of the Western Side.—Our
Play with the Moose Horns.—Splendor of
the Berg at Sunset, 169
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Ramble among the Flowers of Battle
Island.—A Visit to the Fishermen.—Walk
among the Hills of Cariboo, 179
CHAPTER XXXVII.
After the Bay St. Louis Iceberg.—Windsor
Castle Iceberg.—Founders Suddenly.—A
Brilliant Spectacle, 184
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Sunday in Labrador.—Evening Walk to the
Graveyard.—The Rocky Ocean Shore, 188
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Sail to Fox Harbor.—A Day with the
Esquimaux, and our Return, 192
CHAPTER XL.
A Morning Ramble over Cariboo.—Excursion
on the Bay, and the Tea-drinking at
the Solitary Fisherman’s, 196
CHAPTER XLI.
Painting the Cavern of Great Island, and
our Sail Homeward in a Gale, 200
CHAPTER XLII.
After the Iceberg of Belle Isle.—The
Retreat to Cartwright’s
Tickle.—Bridget Kennedy’s Cottage, and
the Lonely Stroll over Cariboo, 204
CHAPTER XLIII.
The Iceberg of the Figure-head.—The
Glory and the Music of the Sea at
Evening, 210
CHAPTER XLIV.
Cape St. Charles.—The Rip Van Winkle
Berg.—The Great Castle Berg.—Studies
of its Different Fronts, 214
CHAPTER XLV.
The Sail for St. Charles Mountain.—The
Salmon Fishers.—The Cavern of St.
Charles Mountain.—Burton’s
Cottage.—Magnificent Scene from St.
Charles Mountain.—The Painting of the
Rip Van Winkle Berg.—The Ice-vase, and
the Return by Moonlight, 219
CHAPTER XLVI.
After our Last Iceberg.—The
Isles.—Twilight Beauties of
Icebergs.—Midnight Illumination, 228
CHAPTER XLVII.
Farewell to Battle Harbor.—The Straits
of Belle Isle.—Labrador
Landscapes.—The Wreck of the
Fishermen, 236
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Sketching the Passing Bergs.—The Story
of an Iceberg, 241
CHAPTER XLIX.
Drifting in the Straits.—Retreat to
Temple Bay.—Picturesque
Scenery.—Voyager’s Saturday Night, 264
CHAPTER L.
Sunday in Temple Bay.—Religious
Services.—The Fisherman’s Dinner and
Conversation.—Chateau.—The
Wreck.—Winters in Labrador.—Icebergs
in the Winter.—The French Officers’
Frolic with an Iceberg.—Theory of
Icebergs.—Currents of the Strait.—The
Red Indians.—The Return to the Vessel, 267
CHAPTER LI.
Evening Walk to Temple Bay Mountain.—The
Little Iceberg.—Troubles of the Night,
and Pleasures of the Morning.—Up the
Straits.—The Pinnacle of the Last
Iceberg.—Gulf of St. Lawrence, 274
CHAPTER LII.
Coast Scenery.—Farewell to Labrador, 279
CHAPTER LIII.
Western Newfoundland.—The Bay, the
Islands, and the Highlands of St.
Johns.—Ingornachoix Bay, 284
CHAPTER LIV.
Slow Sailing by the Bay of Islands.—The
River Humber.—St. George’s River,
Cape, and Bay.—A Brilliant Sunset, 287
CHAPTER LV.
Foul Weather.—Cape Anguille.—The
Clearing Off.—The Frolic of the
Porpoises.—The New Cooks.—The Ship’s
Cat, 290
CHAPTER LVI.
St. Paul’s Island.—Cape North.—Coast of
Cape Breton.—Sydney Light and
Harbor.—The End of our Voyage to
Labrador, and around Newfoundland, 298
CHAPTER LVII.
Farewell to Captain Knight.—On our way
across Cape Breton.—A Merry Ride, and
the Rustic Lover, 301
CHAPTER LVIII.
Evening Ride to Mrs. Kelly’s Tavern.—The
Supper and the Lodging, 306
CHAPTER LIX.
Sunday at David Murdoch’s.—Scenery of
Bras d’Or, 314
CHAPTER LX.
Off for the Strait of Canso.—St. Peters,
and the Country.—David Murdoch’s
Horses, and his Driving.—Plaster Cove, 318
CHAPTER LXI.
Adieu to David and Cape Breton.—The
Strait of Canso.—Our Nova Scotia
Coach.—St. George’s Bay.—The Ride into
Antigonish, 322
CHAPTER LXII.
New Glasgow.—The Ride to Truro.—Railway
Ride to Halifax.—Parting with the
Painter, 326
CHAPTER LXIII.
Coach Ride from Halifax to Windsor.—The
Prince Edward’s Man, and the Gentleman
from Newfoundland, 329
CHAPTER LXIV.
Windsor.—The Avon, and the Tide.—Steamer
for St. Johns, New Brunswick.—Mines
Basin.—Coast Scenery.—The Scene of
Evangeline.—Parsboro.—The Bay of
Fundy.—Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
Shores.—St. Johns.—The Maine
Coast.—Island of Grand Manan, 332
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
No. 1.—VIGNETTE—ICEBERGS AT SUNSET, 1
No. 2.—A LARGE ICEBERG IN THE FORENOON
LIGHT NEAR THE INTEGRITY, 119
No. 3.—AN ARCHED ICEBERG IN THE
AFTERNOON LIGHT, 136
No. 4.—ICE FALLING FROM A LOFTY BERG, 173
No. 5.—ICEBERG IN THE MORNING
MIST—WHALE-BOAT, 214
No. 6.—ICEBERG IN THE STRAIT OF BELLE
ISLE, 241
AFTER ICEBERGS WITH A PAINTER.
CHAPTER I.
COOL AND NOVEL.
“AFTER icebergs!” exclaims a prudent, but imaginary person, as I pencil
the title on the front leaf of my note-book.
“Why, after deer and trout among the Adirondack Mountains with John
Cheeney, the Leather-stocking of those wilds, who kills his moose and
panther with a pistol; or after salmon on the Jaques Cartier and
Saguenay, is thought to be quite enough for your summer tourist.
“After buffalo is almost too much for any not at home in the great
unfenced, Uncle Sam’s continental parks, where he pastures his herds,
and waters them in the Platte and Colorado, and walls out the Pacific
with the Rocky Mountains. He is rather a fast hunter who indulges in the
chase in those fair fields. It is no boy’s play to commit yourself to
mule and horse, the yawls of the prairie, riding yourself sore and
thirsty over the gracefully rolling, never-breaking swells, the green
seas sparkling with dewy flowers, but never coming ashore. The ocean
done up in solid land is weary voyaging to one whose youthful footsteps
were over the fields, to the sound of sabbath bells.
“After ostriches, with the ship of the desert, although rather a hot
chase for John and Jonathan over broad sands, yellow with the sunshine
of centuries, and the bird speeding on legs swift as the spokes of the
rapid wheels, is, nevertheless, a pleasure enjoyed now and then.
“But after icebergs is certainly a cool, if not a novel and perilous
adventure. A few climb to the ices of the Andes; but after the ices of
Greenland, except by leave of government or your merchant prince, is
entirely another thing.
“You will do well to recollect, that nature works in other ways in the
high north than in the high Cordilleras and Alps, and especially in the
latter, where she carefully slides her mer-de-glace into the warm
valley, and gently melts it off, letting it run merrily and freely to
the sea, every crystal fetter broken into silvery foam. But in Greenland
she heaves her mile-wide glacier, in all its flinty hardness, into the
great deep bodily, and sends it, both a glory and a terror, to flourish
or perish as the currents of the solemn main move it to wintry or to
summer climes. After icebergs! Weigh well the perils and the pleasures
of this new summer hunting.”
“We have weighed them, I confess, not very carefully; only ‘hefting’
them a little, just enough to help us to a guess that both are somewhat
heavier than the ordinary delights and dangers of sporting nearer home.
But, Prudens, my good friend, consider the ancient saw, ‘Nothing venture
nothing have.’ Not in the least weary of the old, we would yet have
something new, altogether new. You shall seek the beauties of scales and
of plumage, and the graces of motion and the wild music of voices, among
the creatures of the brooks and woodlands. Our game, for once, is the
wandering alp of the waves; our wilderness, the ocean; our steed, the
winged vessel; our arms, the pencil and the pen; our game-bags, the
portfolio, painting-box, and note-book, all harmless instruments, you
perceive, with mild report. It is seldom that they are heard at any
distance, although, at intervals, the sound has gone out as far as the
guns of the battle-field.
“Should we have the sport we anticipate, you may see the rarest specimen
of our luck preserved in oil and colors, a method peculiar to those few,
who intend their articles less for the market than for immortality, as
men call the dim glimmering of things in the dusky reaches of the past.
“But you shall hear from us, from time to time, if possible, how we
speed in our grand hunt, and how the pleasures and the risks make the
scale of our experience vibrate. Within a few minutes, we shall be on
our way to Boston, darting across grassy New England, regardless as the
riders of the steeple-chase of cliff and gulf, fence, wall and river,
with a velocity of wheels that would set the coach on fire, did not
ingenuity stand over the axles putting out the flame with oil.
“This evening, we meet a choice few in one of those bowery spots of
Brookline, where intelligence dwells with taste and virtue, and talk of
our excursion.
“To-morrow, amid leave-takings, smiles and tears, and the waving of
handkerchiefs, of which we shall be only quiet spectators, with the odor
of our first sea-dinner seasoning the brief excitement of the scene, and
all handsomely rounded off with the quick thunder of the parting gun, we
sail, at noon, in the America.”