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Peeps at Many Lands
NEWFOUNDLAND
[Illustration: ST. JOHN’S FROM THE OLD GOLF LINKS.]
Peeps at Many Lands
NEWFOUNDLAND
by
FORD FAIRFORD
Containing Twelve Full-Page
Illustrations in Colour
by C. G. Lowther
London
Adam and Charles Black
1912
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE OLDEST BRITISH COLONY 1
II. THE INHABITANTS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 5
III. PERILS OF THE SEA 13
IV. HOME-LIFE IN NEWFOUNDLAND 19
V. THE FISHERIES OF NEWFOUNDLAND 24
VI. A LAND OF TIMBER AND MINERALS 30
VII. ACROSS NEWFOUNDLAND BY RAIL 36
VIII. THE NORWAY OF THE NEW WORLD 41
IX. HAUNTS OF THE PIRATES 46
X. MOUNTAINS OF ICE 51
XI. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE 56
XII. THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG 60
XIII. HUNTING THE WHALE 65
XIV. SHOOTING AND FISHING 69
XV. SEAL-HUNTING ON THE ICE 75
XVI. LABRADOR 80
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ST. JOHN’S FROM THE OLD GOLF LINKS _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
AN ESQUIMAUX FAMILY 9
THE WATER “FLUME” AT PETTY HARBOUR, WHERE ELECTRIC
POWER FOR ST. JOHN’S IS GENERATED 16
DRYING FISH ON THE “FISH FLAKES” 25
LORD NORTHCLIFFE’S PAPER MILLS AT GRAND FALLS 32
MARBLE MOUNTAIN, HUMBER RIVER 41
STEADYBROOK FALLS 48
SEALS ON “PACK-ICE” 57
THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG AS A BEAST OF BURDEN 64
A HUNTER’S CAMP 73
UNLOADING THE HIDE AND FAT OF SEALS AT ST. JOHN’S 80
INDIAN BURYING-PLACE NEAR EXPLOITS _On the cover_
_Sketch-Map of Newfoundland on p. viii._
[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP OF NEWFOUNDLAND.]
NEWFOUNDLAND
CHAPTER I
THE OLDEST BRITISH COLONY
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Newfoundland, although
it is the most ancient of the British Colonies, is less known and
understood in Great Britain than any of her oversea possessions. It
is generally believed that Newfoundland is somewhere in the Arctic
Circle; that the inhabitants are clothed in furs, live in snow huts,
feed on codfish; and that for six months of the year the island is
unapproachable on account of barriers of ice and impenetrable fogs.
This is altogether untrue.
If you consult a map of British North America, you will see that
Newfoundland is an island a little to the north-east of Nova Scotia, in
Canada. It stretches right across to the entrance of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, its south-western projection being only sixty miles from Cape
Breton, from which point Canadians may reach the island in about six
hours by crossing the Cabot Straits. The eastern coast of Newfoundland
is 1,640 miles from Ireland, and the fastest “liner” crossing the
Atlantic would cover the journey in from three to four days, although
the steamships at present plying between Great Britain and the Colony
are usually seven days accomplishing the voyage.
Upon first looking at the map of the Colony, you are at once impressed
by the similarity of its physical features to England or Scotland. If
you were to cut off the two peninsulas at the south-east corner, from
Trinity Bay to Fortune Bay, the remaining land would not be at all
unlike England.
The coast of Newfoundland is extremely rugged, and you will get an
idea of the number and size of the bays if you bear in mind that the
coast-line at present, measured from headland to headland, is about
1,000 miles; whereas, if the bays were straightened out, there would be
a coast-line of probably 2,000 miles. Some of the bays are very deep,
and the huge, high rocks towering above them present a picturesque and
majestic appearance. There is, perhaps, no country in the world that
has such secure natural harbours. These land-locked harbours are a
great boon to the fishermen, for when the long, rolling waves of the
Atlantic are eager to devour any vessels that may be in their way, the
slender craft of the fishermen are securely nestled between a couple of
immovable jutting headlands.
On a map of North America Newfoundland usually looks very small. Of
course, in comparison with the United States and Canada, it is small.
An idea of its size is best obtained by comparing it with Ireland, than
which country it is said to be about one-fifth larger. Its breadth
is about fifty miles greater than England, and its length 140 miles
less. About one-fourth of the island’s surface is covered by water,
so that one naturally expects to see many rivers, lakes, and ponds.
Three large rivers are the Gander, the Exploits, and the Humber, all of
which are teeming with what are considered to be the finest salmon in
the world. Every summer British and American tourists flock to these
rivers, for not only can excellent fishing be obtained, but absolute
quiet and magnificent scenery are always to be enjoyed by those who
seek sport, health, and rest from the dust and din of ordinary workaday
life. Lakes, too, are very numerous, and to view sixty to seventy of
them from the summit of a mountain is a scene never to be forgotten
by the beholder. As these lakes are invariably surrounded by spruce
and fir trees, their existence may never be known to the traveller
unless he happen to be on some eminence far above the common track of
the ordinary pedestrian. One striking feature in connection with many
of the lakes is the secluded hollows in which they are to be found on
the tops of the high hills, as though they had determined that their
beauty should not be enjoyed without the effort of climbing on the part
of the seeker of placid waters. When the climber reaches the crest
of a high hill, it is quite a common experience to be unexpectedly
confronted by a circle of water, from which scores of seagulls rise,
startled by the intrusion of a stranger upon their solitary retreat.
Although there are no very lofty mountains in the island, there are
numerous ranges of high hills, the Long Range extending for quite 200
miles in a north-easterly direction from Cape Ray. In the winter the
hills present a beautiful appearance, with their innumerable white
heads peering above the clumps of spruce and fir trees, the charm of
the bright blue being greatly enhanced by the contrast. But they are
most beautiful in autumn, when the undergrowth begins to change its
colour, and the leaves of the wild berries put on their glamorous robes
of scarlet.
However, as a chapter will be devoted to the scenery of this ancient
island, we will pass on to an account of the early races, together with
the present inhabitants, their mode, of living and the means by which
they obtain a livelihood.