The original address on _Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador_ was published
in the spring of 1911. The _Supplement_ was published in the summer of
1912. The present _Plan_, or _Second Supplement_, is now being submitted
for consideration to the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Commission of
Conservation at the beginning of 1913.
These papers are published for free distribution among those who are
interested in the preservation of wild life. They are to be obtained on
application to _The Secretary, Commission of Conservation, Ottawa,
Canada_. But both the _Address_ and _Supplement_ are almost out of
print.
Communications on the subject itself should be addressed direct to
me:--_Colonel Wood, Quebec, Canada._
* * * * *
I gladly take this opportunity of thanking the many experts whose kind
help has given my papers whatever real value they possess. Some of these
experts have never been called so in their lives, and will be greatly
astonished to find that they are called so now. But when I know they are
the thing, why should I hesitate about the name? In any proper meaning
of the word there are several first-class "experts" among my friends who
go fishing, sealing, whaling, hunting, trapping, "furring" or guiding
for their livelihood. And I hereby most gratefully acknowledge all I
have learnt during many a pleasant day with them, afloat and ashore. The
other kind of experts, those who are called so by the world at large,
have been quite as generous with their information and advice. In fact,
they have been so very generous that perhaps I should call myself the
editor, rather than the author, of the _Supplement_, as more than half
of it is occupied by extracts from their letters concerning the
_Address_.
It might be as well to restate the argument of this _Address_ in the
fewest possible words.
An eagerly exploiting people in an easily exploited country, we are only
too apt to live on the capital of all our natural resources. We are also
in the habit of developing one thing at the expense of everything else
connected with it. The value of these other things often remains
unrecognised till too late. For instance, reckless railways burn forests
which ensure a constant flow of water for irrigation, navigation, power
plant, and fish, besides providing wood for timber and shelter for bird
and beast. The presence of a construction gang generally means the
needless extermination of every animal in the neighbourhood. The
presence of mills means the needless absence of fish. And the presence
of ill-governed cities means the needless and deadly pollution of water
that never was meant for a sewer. The idea is the same in each
disgraceful case. It is, simply, to snatch whatever is most coveted for
the moment, with least trouble to one's self, and at no matter what
expense to Nature and the future of man. The cant phrase is only too
well known--"Lots more where that came from". Exploitation is destroying
now what civilisation will long to restore hereafter. This is lamentably
true about material things. It is truer still about the higher than
material things. And it is truest of all about both the material and
higher values of wild life, which we administer as if we were the final
spendthrift heirs and not trustees.
Animal sanctuaries are places where man is passive and the rest of
Nature active. A sanctuary is the same thing to wild life as a spring is
to a river. In itself a sanctuary is a natural "zoo". But it is much
more than a "zoo". It can only contain a certain number of animals. Its
surplus must overflow to stock surrounding areas. And it constitutes a
refuge for all species whose lines of migration pass through it. So its
value in the preservation of desirable wild life is not to be denied. Of
course, sanctuaries occasionally develope troubles of their own; for if
man interferes with the balance of nature in one way he must be prepared
to interfere in others. But all experience shows that an easily worked
system will ensure a _maximum_ of gain and a _minimum_ of loss.
Up till quite recently Nature had her own animal sanctuaries in vast and
sparsely settled lands like Labrador. But now she has none. There is no
place left where wild life is safe from men who use all the modern means
of destruction without being bound by any of the modern means of
conservation. And this is nowhere truer than in Labrador, though the
area of the whole peninsula is equal to eleven Englands, while, even at
the busiest season along the coast, there is not one person to more than
every ten square miles. Since the white man went there at least
three-quarters of the forests have been burnt, and sometimes the soil
burnt too. Wild life of all kinds has been growing rapidly less. The
walrus is receding further and further north. Seals are diminishing.
Whales are beginning to disappear. Fur-bearing animals can hardly hold
their own much longer in face of the ever increasing demand for their
pelts and the more systematic invasion of their range. The opening up of
the country in the north will mean the extinction of the great migrating
herd of barren-ground caribou, unless protection is enforced. The coast
birds are going fast. Some very old men can still remember the great
auk, which is now as extinct as the dodo. Elderly men have eaten the
Labrador duck, which has not been seen alive for thirty years. And young
men will certainly see the end of the Hudsonian and Eskimo curlews very
soon, under present conditions. The days of commercial "egging" on a
large scale are over, because eggs of the final lay were taken like the
rest, and the whole bird life was depleted below paying quantities. But
"egging" still goes on in other ways, especially at the hands of
Newfoundlanders, who are wantonly wasteful in their methods, unlike the
coast people, who only take what the birds will replace. The
Newfoundlanders and other strangers gather all the eggs they see, put
them into water, and throw away every one that floats. Thus many more
bird lives are destroyed than eggs are eaten or sold, because schooners
appear towards the end of the regular laying season, when most of the
eggs are about to hatch out--and these are the ones that float. But even
greater destruction is done when a schooner stays several days in the
same place. For then the crew go round, first smashing every egg they
see, and afterwards gathering every egg they see, because they know the
few they find the second time must have been newly laid.
Many details were given of other forms of destruction, and some details
of the revolting cruelties practised there, as in every other place
where wild life is grossly abused instead of being sanely used. All
classes of legitimate human interest were dealt with in turn; and it
was shown that the present system--or want of system--was bad for each
one: bad for such wild life as must still be used for necessary food,
bad for every kind of business in the products of wild life, bad for the
future of sport, bad for the pursuits of science, and bad for the
prospects of wild "zoos". The _Address_ ended with a plea for
conservation, and pointed out that the only class of people who could
possibly be benefitted under present conditions were those who were
ready to destroy both the capital and interest of any natural resources
for the sake of snatching a big and immediate, but really criminal,
profit.
The _Address_ was sent out for review to several hundreds of general and
specialist newspapers, and, thanks to the expert help so freely given
me, ran the gauntlet of the press without finding one dissentient voice
against it. Copies were also sent to every local expert known, as well
as to those experts in the world outside who were the most likely to be
interested. Three classes of invaluable expert opinion were thus
obtained for the _Supplement_. The first class may be called experts on
Labrador; the second, experts on wild life in general; and the third,
experts on the public aspects of the question. All three were entirely in
favour of general conservation for the whole of Labrador and the
immediate establishment of special sanctuaries, as recommended in the
_Address_.
Among the experts on Labrador were the following:--DR BELL, late head of
the Geological Survey of Canada, who has made seven expeditions into
Labrador and who has always paid particular attention to the mammals; DR
CLARKE, Director of Science Education in the State of New York, who has
spent twelve summers studying the natural history of the Gulf; MR.
COMEAU, a past master, of fifty years experience as a professional
hunter, guide, inspector and salmon river warden on the North Shore; DR
GRENFELL, whose intimate acquaintance with the Atlantic Labrador is
universally recognised; DR HARE, whose position on the Canadian Labrador
corresponds to that of Dr Grenfell on the Atlantic; DR TOWNSHEND, author
of the standard work on _The Birds of Labrador_; and COMMANDER WAKEHAM,
head of the Fisheries Protection Service, who knows the wild life of the
whole coast, from the River St. Lawrence round to Hudson Bay.
Among the experts on animal life in general were:--THE BOONE AND
CROCKETT CLUB, whose one hundred members include most of the greatest
sportsman-naturalists in the United States, and whose influence on
wild-life conservation is second to none; THE CAMP FIRE CLUB OF AMERICA,
whose larger membership includes many of the best conservationists in
Canada as well as the United States; MR. GRINNELL, one of the greatest
authorities in the world on the Indians and wild life of North America;
MR. MACOUN, Dominion Naturalist and international expert on seals and
whales, who lately examined the zoogeographical area of Hudson Bay; MR.
CLIVE-PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY, author of standard books on big game in the
_Badminton Library_ and elsewhere; MR. THOMPSON SETON, whose
_Life-history of Northern Mammals_ is the best work of its kind on the
area to which the Labrador peninsula belongs; MAJOR STEVENSON HAMILTON,
superintendent of the great Government Game Reserves in South Africa;
and MR. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, whose original and creative work on the
theory of evolution inseparably connects him with his friend Darwin for
all time to come, who is now the last of the giants of the Victorian
age, and who is the founder and greatest exponent of the science of
zoogeography, which has a special bearing on Labrador.
Among the experts on the public aspects of the question were:--MR.
BRYCE, who has been an ardent lover of the wilds throughout his
distinguished career on both sides of the Atlantic; LORD GREY, who paid
special attention to the subject during his journey to Hudson Bay in
1910; MR. KIPLING, whose _Jungle Books_ revealed the soul of wild life
to so many readers; and MR. ROOSEVELT, a sportsman-naturalist of
world-wide fame, during whose Presidential terms more wild-life
conservation was effected in the United States than during all other
Presidential terms put together, before or since.
To this I am graciously permitted to add that HIS MAJESTY THE KING was
pleased to manifest his interest in the subject by taking the _Address_
with him to read on his way to India; and that HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE
DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, Governor-General, who has shown his own keen interest
on several occasions, has marked his approval by writing the following
letter for publication here:--
Dear Colonel Wood,
I have been reading with the greatest interest your
address on Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador and also the
draft of the Supplement which you were good enough to
send me for perusal. You have certainly been so far
rewarded for your trouble by having collected a great
weight of testimony and of valuable opinions, all
endorsing the useful cause to which you are devoting
yourself.
I know from reports that many varieties of game, which
were threatened with extinction in South Africa ten years
ago, have, by the timely establishment of game reserves,
been saved, and are now relatively numerous. I may add
that this end has not been obtained simply by the
establishment of the reserves and by the passing of
game-laws, but by enforcing those laws in the most rigid
manner and by appointing the right men to enforce them.
From personal experience I know what the game reserves
have done for East Africa. In these reserves the wild
animals are left to breed and live in peace, undisturbed
by any one but the game-warden. From them the overflow
drifts out into the surrounding districts and provides a
plentiful supply for the hunter and settler. What has
been done in Africa could be done in Canada and
elsewhere. You have so much land which is favourable to
birds and beasts, though unfavourable to the settler,
that it would seem to be no hardship to give up a
suitable area or areas for the purpose of a reserve.
This, with the infliction of heavy penalties for the
ruthless destruction of animal life, should secure a
fresh lease of existence for the various species whose
extermination now appears to be imminent.
Please accept my best wishes for the success of your
work, in which you may always count upon my greatest
sympathy.
Believe me,
Yours truly,