w -^ : ^By S.T.DavjsMD. 11 OkD£5T •4 Ts-o^kiess of the faofi' fO 18j>5 * ;■■>■ My Venerable Father, HENRY DAVIS, WHO IN HIS EIGHTY-SECOND YEAR IS STILL THE ARDENT SPORTSMAN FROM WHOM I EARLY LEARNED TO LOVE THE ROD AND GUN, THIS NARRATIVE IS DEDICATED AS A SLIGHT EXPRESSION OF THE FILIAL AFFECTION OF THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. INDFUL of the time and patience required in find- ing out a very little about this picturesque island before setting out for its distant shores, and of the uncertainty which surrounded every move- ment after the start was made, as well as the unnecessary ex- pense incurred for want of a reliable itinerary, we conceived the idea of furnishing in compact form just the information our party was most anxious to secure, and only obtained at an exorbitant price, and after repeated disappointments. Our historical notes were largely gathered from an excellent little work entitled "Newfoundland as it is in 1894," by the acknowledged historian of the Island, Eev. M. Harvey, of St. John's, whose appended letter explains itself : St. John's, N. F., December 10th, 1894. Dear Doctor Davis : — I am very much pleased to learn that yon intend publishing an account of yonr experiences in Newfoundland. That is what we want — to make the country known. You are heartily welcome to use my book in any way you please, and to any extent. Sincerely yours, M. HARVEY. Most of the illustrations of the trip were made from photo- graphs taken in the field by the author; those showing the speci- mens are by Mr. B. Frank Saylor, of Lancaster. The heads were mounted by Messrs. A. C. Wood, of Painted Post, New York, and George Flick, of Lancaster. A glance at the illus- trations themselves is sufficient to testify to the faithful work of all parties engaged upon subjects and pictures. Careful daily notes were taken, and are the basis of the stoiy of the hunt, which is rather understated than overdrawn. If any brother hunter has a doubt of this he has only to profit by our experience and try it for himself. If this little work shall encourage other brain workers to find rest and healthful recreation in this interesting region, our effort will not have been in vain, and their pleasure will be the best reward of The Author. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.— Introduction 9 Outings a Necessity to Brain Workers — "Can't Afford It " — How to Eaise the Wind — Transmute Smoke into Gold — Consolidate the ' ' Days Off ' ' and have Something to Show for Them — Longer Life and More in It. CHAPTER II. — Physical Features op Newfoundland 17 Its Geographical Position — Comparative Size — Form — Coast As- pect — The Interior — Mountain Chains — Rivers — Lakes — Ponds. CHAPTER III. — Fauna and Flora op the Island 26 Fauna: Caribou or Reindeer — Its Migrations — Bear, Wolves and Smaller Animals — The Newfoundland Dog — His Degeneracy. Birds — Ptarmigan — Flora: Forests of the Gander, Exploits and Humber River Districts — Timber and Lumber Operations — Berry- bearing Plants. CHAPTER IV.— The Fisheries 33 Abundance of Trout and Salmon — "No Fish " Except the Cod in Native Parlance — Codfish the Staple Export — Volume of the Business — A Permanent Industry — Arctic Current Slime Feeds Small Fishes, They Feed the Cod, the Cod Feeds Man— Seal Fisheries — Slaughter of the ' ' Harps ' ' — The Sealing Gun — Dis- Distance Measured by "Gunshot " — Salmon — Herring — Lobster. CHAPTER V. — Agriculture in Newfoundland 44 The Soil Neglected — False Representations as to its Value — Delay in Development of Interior — The Geological Survey Sets Things Right — Fertile River Valleys — Farm Products in 1891 — Domestic Animals. CHAPTER VI.— Mineral Resources 47 The First Mines — Geological Distribution of the Copper Ores. Lead Ore — Gypsum and Marbles — Iron Pyrites Mine on Pilley's Island — Asbestos — Coal Areas — Petroleum. CHAPTER VII. — Government and Finances 55 Mode of Government — Constitution — Powers of the Governor. The Legislature — The Supreme Court — -Central District Court. Quarter Sessions — Magistrates — Failure in Administration — Com- mercial and Financial Slavery — A Gloomy View — From Boom, to Crash — The Outlook — Their Hope and Prayer. CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII.— Education 64 Academies — Colleges — Pupil Teachers — London University Centre — Jubilee Scholarship — Council of Higher Education. CHAPTER IX.— Transportation 68 Eoads unknown to Early Settlers — Selfish Policy of the Mother Country — Fences and Chimneys Prohibited — Reform begins in 1813— First Eoad in 1825— Eoacl Grant in 1832— Eoad Build- ing leads to Discovery of Minerals — Visions of Railways Loom- ing up — Sir William Whiteway's Scheme — First Eailway Con- tract in 1881 — First Sod Cut — In the Hands of a Receiver. Change of Government and Eailway Extension — Sir William Again at the Helm — A New Survey — -Northern and Western Eailway — Eailway Extension means more Common Eoads — Mail by Eailway — Eoute of Eailway — Newfoundland no Longer an Island. CHAPTER X.— The Aborigines 84 The Beothiks, or "Red Indians" — Their Condition when Dis- covered — A Powerful and Warlike People — A Change comes over Their Dreams — Their Decadence — The Race Extinct — A Melan- choly Find — The First White Man to Sight Newfoundland. White Men Land on the Island — From Eighteen to Two Hundred Thousand. CHAPTER XI . — Preparations for the Trip 91 Too Many Caribou in Mr. Holbertson's Article — Our Friend Goes to New York and Returns with Pupils Dilated — "Richard Le Buffe, Hall's Bay, Notre Dame Bay, N. P."— The Cree Stove as Amended — Cooking Utensils, etc., packed in Stove — Bag- gage Restrictions — What We Carried — The Medicine Chest — Guns and Ammunition — The Protean Tent. CHAPTER XII.— From New York to St. John's 105 How to get to Newfoundland — Red Cross Line — The Silvia and Portia — Time Table and Rates of Fare — No Duty and Twenty Feet for Baggage — Marching Orders — Mistake No. 1 — On Board the Portia — Off to the North — Halifax — Fog off Cape Eace — Away to St. John's. CHAPTER XIII.— The Capital and Its Sights 114 At St. John's — The Stars and Strips Raised on Our Hotel — A Hospitable City — Mistake No. 2 — Game Laws of Newfoundland. The Stipendiary Magistrate — The License — Purchasing Supplies. Eight Men for Twenty Days — Two Dollars a Day — "Dry." Packing for Cache — Mistake No. 3 — Rubber "the only Wear." Seeing the City — The Narrows — A Land-locked Harbor — The City. Relative Distances — The Museum — The Cathedral — Parliament House — Quidi Vidi. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. CHAPTER XIV.— Off for the Hunt 137 Northward 240 Miles More — Arrival at Pilley's Island — Down Hall's Bay in the Nipkin — Mistake No. 4 — Hotel Le Buffe. The Guide and His Family — Forward to West Pond — Big Marsh. ' ' Grub, ' ' or Tea and Tobacco — Our Cabin. CHAPTER XV.— Record of the Hunt 147 The Cabin — Furniture — Thirty-seven Caribou Seen Though Rain- ing the First Day — The "Lookouts" — The Doctor's Blind — Fresh Meat Plentiful — "Indian Jim" — We Begin to Select Repre- sentative Heads — The Kid's Red Letter Day — "Kep" Kills the Wrong Deer — William Paul, the Micmac, and Family — Cur- ing the Specimens — Killing at Twenty Feet — Kep's Red Letter Day— Battle of the Stags— The "King"— The Doctor Makes a Long Shot, But Gets Broken Antlers — The "Emperor" — Our Quota Nearly Filled — Preparing Trophies for Transportation. "Exhibition " Stag— Bear Tracks— Back to Salt Water— No Mail from Home — How to Pack Specimens — At Pilley's Island Again. We want to Go Home — " Able Seamen " — Mr. Kepler Collars the Traps at St. John's While we Go on to Boston and Home — Habits of the Caribou — The Micmac Indians — Conclusoin. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. 1. St. John's the Capital 18 2. Entrance to Salvage Harbor 20 3. Grand Fall of the Exploits 22 4. Scene on Grand Lake 23 5. S. S. Avalon Taking Pyrities Ore at Pilley's Island 25 6. White ground Caribou moss upon which they feed in the absence of snow 27 7. Black Caribou moss as it occurs on tree trunks and branches winter food when snow is deep 28 8. Ptarmigan or Willow Grouse in mottled coat fall of year 30 9. Harvest time on the banks 35 10. Curing Cod at Harbor Briton 37 11. Harp Seal less than fourteen days old with sealing gun 40 12. Leading tickels, a sample coast town 45 13. Section of settlement at Pilley's Island Pyrities mine 50 14. The Cree Stove, which as improved, makes the best camp stove known 95 15. Carry-all with carrying strap attached 98 16. Author's convenient tool case 100 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 17. The Hall combination rifle and shotgun 102 18. The Comstock one-pole Protean tent 104 19. S. S. Portia, at her dock, Halifax, Nova Scotia Ill 20. License $100.00 and 100 cents 121 21. An old view of St. John's 126 22. Fort Amherst 128 23. St. John's burnt district after fire of 1892 .' 129 24. The Catholic Cathedral 132 25. Church of England Cathedral 132 26. Parliament House 134 27. Government House 134 28. Quidi Vidi 135 29. Two old native salts 138 30. Hotel Le Buffe, Hall's Bay 141 31. Our native carriers and guide 144 32. Our Cabin on the Big Marsh 146 33. " The Doctor's Blind " 150 34. "Indian Jim" .' 153 35. The "Kid's" Trophies of the Hunt 158 36. Win. Paul— Micmac Indian 162 37. Win. Paul'sSister 163 38. Battered Bullets 169 39. Kepler and the King 175 40. The King 177 41. Le Buffe and the Emperor 186 42. The Feet of the Emperor 187 43. The Author and His First Prize 188 44. Leaving Grandfather's Lookout 190 45. The Exhibition Stag 193 46. Kepler 's Specimens 195 47. Arriving at the Foot of West Pond 196 48. Hugging the South Shore of West Pond in a Storm 198 49. Stuck on the Eocks at " Devil's Elbow " 198 50. Curing Hides and Heads at Le Buffe' s Storehouse 201 51. The Silvia Waiting in Pilley's Island Harbor 204 52. Coast of Labrador as seen from Ship in Straits of Belle Isle 206 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION. Outings a Necessity to Brain Workers — " Can't Afford It " — How to Eaise the Wind — Transmute Smoke into Gold — Consolidate your " Days off," and Have Something to Show for Them — Longer Life and More in It. HILE the forests and fauna of the North American continent steadily decrease from year to year, the army of "outers" and so- called sportsmen increases still more rapidly — from Presidents occupying the highest office in the gift of the people, to farmers' sons — through all the learned professions and tradespeople — rounding up with the u pot" or market hunter who kills both in and out of season, whenever and wherever an opportunity offers. For the past twenty years it has been the author's custom to take an outing of from four to six weeks every year; and for various reasons he has pitched his tent or built his cabin or lean-to in many sections of our great country. In all of these delightful trips 2 (9) 10 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. he lias been accompanied by from one to three boon companions, and the localities visited have ranged from the interior of Newfoundland in the north to the sand-dunes and palmetto swamps washed by the warm waters of the Gulf in the south, and westward to the shores of the placid Pacific. As these pilgrimages have extended into seventeen States and Territories and the Dominion of Canada, he has learned much from practical experience with regard to the haunts and habits of our native game and fishes — from the ungainly moose, noble elk and caribou, to the diminutive chipmunk, and from the Silver King to the sprightly sunfish. The note-book and camera have always been close companions, and as Time's wheels roll on they afford much pleasure, in recalling to mind many incidents of our sports afield. Born and reared as he was among the mountains of central Pennsylvania, where half a century ago game was plentiful, and where, under the tutelage of his now venerable father — who is yet an ardent sports- man, though in his eighty-second year — he learned the use of the rod and gun at a very tender age. Is it any wonder, then, that when the sap begins to fall and the leaves to change color in the autumn, he be- comes restless under the yoke of arduous professional HINTS TO BRAIN-WORKERS. 11 duties, and anxious to seek "the habitat of fin, fur and feather" — there to break that fatal strain on the nervous system from the daily routine of work and worry which has hurried so many good men to pre- mature graves. HINTS TO BRAIN-WORKERS. If brain-workers as a class would take less "ner- vines," clubs and banquets, and stick to three square meals a day of well-cooked, healthful food, with an outing of from four to six weeks out of the fifty-two, the country at large would be benefited, and we would have better lawyers, doctors and divines, brighter students and more successful merchants. It would be improper in the introduction to this narrative to dwell at length upon the importance of out-door sports to brain-workers, and indeed to all whose pursuits require them to draw upon nerve force, especially in-cloors, day in and out, like automata. The unanimous verdict is stereotyped and familiar to all that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." "Yes," said a friend since my return, "I would en- joy an outing to Newfoundland to the fullest extent, and would be benefited in many ways. I, too, love the rippling brook, the majestic river, real land- 12 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. scapes, towering mountains, the pure bracing atmos- phere, and to float on the ocean waves ; but alas ! I cannot afford such an outing. It is not ' too rich for my blood,' but for my purse — there's the rub. I get just that far, and the barrier is so great that, crest- fallen, I give up in despair, and take a day off here and there. Three or four times during the summer I go to the river for a day's fishing for bass, and as often I run down to the beach, spending one or two days at a time there. This, with an occasional shoot with the club at inanimate targets, makes up about all the re- creation I can afford, unless you can put me on a plan by which I can take a better outing — conscious as I am of the fact that the ' day at a time ' outing is of very little benefit, inasmuch as I must work all the harder to make up for the day or two of temporary absence." Knowing my friend's income, habits, home life and inclinations, as well as his oft-expressed desire to accompany me on one of my annual outings, I was not long in obtaining his permission to be inter- viewed, and assured of correct replies to such ques- tions as I might ask, with a view of his "raising the wind," and enabling him to take an outing from which he could derive some permanent benefit. "Ready? Here goes! How many extra or unne- cessary meals do you take and pay for at the club or TEANSMUTE SMOKE INTO GOLD. 13 restaurant during the course of a year, and what do they cost?" "At a low estimate fifty, and at a cost of not less than seventy-five cents each." " Fifty meals at seventy-five cents each equal $37.50. Do you smoke, and if so what?" "Yes, I smoke four ten-cent cigars a day." "Well, as a rule, the difference between a ten-cent cigar and one for five cents, as they are found in the market, is simply the difference in the price. If you must smoke four cigars a day, cast about and save twenty cents a day, or seventy-three dollars a year, by smoking a good five-cent cigar. Or, better still, one dozen Creme Gambier French clay pipes will cost fifty cents; six cents will purchase sufficient rubber tubing to tip the stems ; one pound of Vindex or Seal of North Carolina smoking tobacco will fill your pipe four times a day for forty days, and ten pounds will last you a year, at an expense of about five dollars and fifty-five cents, saving on the cigar-smoking at forty cents a day $140.45, or if you buy them at wholesale, say $100.00 on this one 'extra.' And by using either of these brands of smoking tobacco you will have a milder, sweeter smoke than you can pos- sibly obtain from the general run of cigars, and with vastly less enervating effect on the general health; 14 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. besides, you escape the dangers lurking in the small end of the cigar (unless you use a smoker). "Now, you say you take a day off about four times a summer to go bass-fishing. On an average, what does it cost you on one of those trips? " "Well, railroad fare or horse hire, boatman, bait, etc., about $5.00 a day, or $20.00 a year.' 7 "And four times in the season you run down to the seashore, which takes two days each trip, or eight days in all. What do those trips cost?" "Well, about $15.00 each, or $60.00 for the year." "Now, my friend, I know you take a glass of whiskey occasionally, and that you take your beer in the evening. Give me some idea of what you expend for drinks for self and friends." "Well, I will frankly say that I kept a memoran- dum once for several months, and was astonished to find that I was paying out on an average fifty cents a day, or about $180.00 a year, for my drink habit." " Unless you are very sure that you are much bene- fited by this outlay, you would do well to consider the propriety of investing the same amount in some other enterprise, and I would suggest that it be added to the outing fund. "This is not all; you inform me that you are a member of a gun club. How often do you shoot CONSOLIDATE YOUR "DAYS OFF." 15 with it, and on an average how much does each shoot cost you?" "I shoot, I presume, on an average, about ten times a year, and after I pay for shells and incidentals, in- cluding losses in races in which the other fellow hits oftener than I do, say five dollars, or $50.00 a year." "Let's see what this all amounts to: $37.50 for extra meals during the year; $100.00 for smoking; $20.00 for fishing; $60.00 for trips to the shore; $180.00 for drinks, and $50.00 for the shooting club — making a total of $447.50, or nearly $1.25 for each day in the year. This is the way money goes for that for which we have nothing to show. I have been there, and as you see, know just how it is. I also know that from $250.00 to $300.00, if properly ex- pended, will defray all the expenses of a grand outing of from six weeks to two months to any point in the United States, Canada or Newfoundland, and with all the advantages and comforts of first-class travel, leav- ing a balance for extras and some trophies of the chase which money could not purchase, and which are ever a source of pleasure and instruction as speci- mens of Natural History, and positive evidence of one's prowess and skill with the gun. "Now, my friend, you see where the money comes from which pays the expenses of my outings. You 16 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. drop on an average $1.25 a day in having what is generally considered to be a good time, and in what the boys call 'sowing their wild oats.' Try dropping 80 cents into your outing fund, and at the end of the year you will have the comfortable sum of $292.00, out of which you can get more solid fun and grand sport in the Island of Newfoundland than ever you dreamed of, and you will still have forty-five cents a day for creature comforts — which is found to be ample for a goodly number of the outing fraternity, and is as much and even more than thousands of good, in- dustrious citizens earn." It is to be hoped that the reader will not be led to think that the author is posing as a reformer, from this prelude to the description of an outing which for variety and satisfactory results eclipsed any among the many in years gone by. At the same time, it does none of us any harm to have our little shortcomings alluded to, and especially where experience has proven the correctness of the criticism ; for there is scarcely any doubt that many of those who peruse these pages will recognize the picture in this introduction, and if but few do as the author has long since done — change front — the battle may last longer, but the outcome will be more satisfactory, and certainly the outings will be more numerous and beneficial. CHAPTER II. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF XEWFOUNDLA^D. Its Geographical Position — Comparative Size — Form — Coast Aspect — The Interior — Mountain Chains — Kivers — Lakes and Ponds — Bays. . ■ : : •■ *1± ■ • . ■ T.-,Tr,~f>>v ■'Vi/ii AVING endeavored to convince the reader of the \ T alue, even necessity, of an occasional outing to the prolongation and enjoyment of life, he is now to be made acquainted with the scene of our last, and in many respects most successful ex- periment in that line — the Island of Newfoundland. The world in general outside of this, the tenth in size of the islands of the world, knows but little of it ; and if graduates of high schools and academies w r ere to be required to tell all they know r about it the an- swer would be limited to its geographical position, number of square miles, something about the banks, codfish, seals, snow, ice and fog ; and perhaps inform you that the capital is, or was, St. John's. Newfoundland is England's oldest colony, and lies off the east coast of North America, and directly across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its southwestern (17) 18 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. extremity approaches within 50 miles of Cape Bre- ton, while its most easterly projection is but 1640 miles from Valentia, on the coast of Ireland. It is situated between 46° 36' 50" and 51° 39' north lati- tude, and between 52° 37' and 59° 24' 50" west longi- tude. Its greatest length, from Cape Ray to Cape ■ ■ ♦ , " Sfc "'3& it ;^. ji^^-^ fj£!wi[ i ^Lir*-#> i Jt / 1 ■ A ~ <>■■ v Mr r ' Hi ^Pw - ' ■■:-U' S £g M '' l fw t <«&* *-' ; ^E IT ir' ;^.-,, ' ^«£^^*J&HSBi , •yvFrJOTJii 'y 1 "-: iElk * s " ■n«»i , ^_ 1 -A. »* 1 "*1 > •■ - '-*" J L HOr-- dl' ! ST. JOHN'S, THE CAPITAL. Norman, is 317 miles ; its greatest breadth, from Cape Spear to Cape Anguille, 316 miles ; and its total area about 42,000 square miles. The best idea of its extent is obtainable by comparison with other coun- tries with which we are familiar. For example, it is almost as large as the State of New York, twice the size of Nova Scotia, one-third larger than New Bruns- THE COAST. 19 wick, one-sixth larger than Ireland, three times as large as Holland, and twice as large as Denmark. Its figure roughly approaches an equilateral triangle. (See map.) Two large peninsulas project from the main body of the island : one of these (Petit Nord) points northwards, and is long and narrow ; the other is the peninsula of Avalon, pointing southeast, and almost severed from the mainland — the connection being a narrow isthmus, in one place but three miles wide. On the eastern side of the peninsula of AA^alon is situated St. John's, the capital. THE COAST. As seen from the ocean, the shores of Newfound- land furnish a picture of rock-bound cliffs rising from 200 to 500 feet in height, broken by numerous mag- nificent bays, running in some instances 80 to 90 miles inland and throwing out smaller arms in all directions, so that though the circumference of the island from headland to headland is about 1000 miles, the actual length of coast line is more than twice as much. These bays frequently present varied scenes of beauty, being studded with small islands, having their shores clad in many instances with dark green forests to the water's edge, while in others the rocks are barren or moss-covered. 20 CAKIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. THE INTERIOR. The part of the island nearest the sea consists of a hilly country, with eminences of no very great eleva- tion. The interior proper consists as a whole of an ENTRANCE TO SALVAGE HARBOR. elevated undulating plateau, traversed here and there by ranges of low hills ; the surface being diversified with valleys, woods, fresh- water lakes and ponds, and thousands of acres of marshes. All the great hill ranges take a northeasterly and southwesterly direc- tion, the highest land occurring along the western and THE ELVERS. 21 southern shores. The principal mountain chain is the Long Range, which extends along the western side of the island for nearly its entire length, and has peaks more than 2,000 feet high. Parallel to this, but nearer the coast, is the Cape Anguille range. The peninsula of Avalon is very hilly, but the highest summits do not extend 1,500 feet. RIVERS. The largest river is the Exploits, which is 200 miles in length, with a drainage area of between 3,000 and 4,000 square miles. It has its source in the extreme southwestern angle of the island, and flows in a north- easterly direction through Red Indian Lake, discharg- ing its waters into the Bay of Exploits Notre Dame. The Grand Fall of the Exploits is nineteen miles up the river. The first plunge is fifty feet, the stream being separated on the verge of the precipice by a small island, and at the bottom pent up in a narrow tortuous gorge, hemmed in by craggy cliffs. The valley through which the river flows contains large areas of fertile land, much of Avhich is covered with pine forests containing timber of large size. The next river in size is the Humber, which has its source twenty miles inland from Bonne Bay and after a very circuitous route discharges its waters into Deer 22 CAE1B0U SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Lake, thence flowing into the Bay of Islands. It drains an area of 2,000 square miles. The Gander river is the next in size, and rises near the southern coast, flowing through Gander Lake, dis- charging into Gander Bay on the east coast, and has a drainage area of 2,500 square miles. GRAND FALL OF THE EXPLOITS. FRESH WATER LAKES AND PONDS. These form one of the most remarkable physical features of this unique region, and occupy nearly one- third of the whole surface. The largest is Grand Lake, 56 miles in length and covering an area of 196 square miles. It contains an island 22 miles in length THE BAYS. 23 and 5 miles in width. Red Indian Lake is 37 miles long and 64 square miles in area. Gander Lake and Deer Lake occupy 33 and 24 square miles respectively. Sandy Lake, Victoria, Hinds, Terra Nova and George IV. Lakes rank next in size. The shores of many of these lakes, as well as the fertile valleys through SCENE ON GRAND LAKE. which the rivers flow, are as yet absolute solitudes,- the very existence of which was until recently almost unknown. THE BAYS. Of the many bays already alluded to, the following deserve special mention : 24 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. St. Mary's Bay is 25 miles wide at its mouth and 35 miles long, with two great arms, Salmonier and Col- inet, both of which stretch still farther into the inte- rior. Placentia Bay is 55 miles wide and 90 miles long. Fortune Bay is 25 miles wide and 70 in length, with numerous arms, the most important of which are Bay D'Espoir, Hermitage Bay and Connaigre Bay. At the entrance of Fortune Bay are the two islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, ceded by treaty to France for the shelter of her fishermen, and now all that re- mains to France of the vast possessions she once held in North America, and this she holds to the great detriment of the Newfoundlanders. Around Bay St. George, which is 40 miles wide at its mouth, with a good harbor at its head, are some of the most fertile valleys on the island, with fine forests of timber and coal-fields of large area. Bay of Islands has three fine arms running 20 miles inland, and here is located an extensive herring fishery. Notre Dame Bay is 50 miles wide at its mouth, and runs inland 80 miles. On its shores are famous cop- per mines which have been worked with marked suc- cess, as well as the Pilley's Island Pyrites mine, which is now being worked at a great profit to the syndicate owning the plant. Pilley's Island is in the mouth of Notre Dame Bay and the point from which an arm THE BAYS 25 known as Hall Bay extends 25 niiles into the interior in a southwesterly direction. Our expedition left the ship at this point, and reached the AVliite Hills from, the head of Hall's Bav. -. S. AYALOX TAKIXG PYEITE5 OEE AT PILLEY S ISLAXD. CHAPTER III. Fauna of the Islands — Caribou or Reindeer — Its Migrations — Bear, Wolves and Smaller Animals — The Newfoundland Dog — His Degeneracy — Birds — The Ptarmigan — Flora — Forests of the Gander — Exploits and Humber River Dis- tricts — Timber and Lumber Operations — Berry-bearing Plants. HE FAUNA of Newfoundland will be next briefly touched upon. Among the indigen- ous animals, the Woodland (Rangifer Cari- bou) Caribou or Reindeer holds a conspicuous place, as the island contains more of these noble animals than any other country in the world. They migrate regularly to the southeastern and northwestern por- tions of the island, passing the winter months in the south, where "browse" is plentiful and the siioav not too deep to prevent them from obtaining the moss and lichens on the lower grounds and upon which they principally feed the year round. In March they begin their spring migration to the mountains and barrens of the northwest where, in May and June, they bring forth their young. As soon as the forests of October begin to nip the vegetation, they begin to (26) ITS MIGEA.TION. 27 graze toward the south; hence from the middle of September until the same time in November is the best time for stalking, when at times they can be seen WHITE GROUND CARIBOU MOSS UPON WHICH THEY PEED IN THE ABSENCE OP SNOW. on the marshes in great herds, containing frequently more than a hundred. The time of migration de- pends somewhat on the frosts and snows in the north, as an early snow will cause the deer to start ; but if 28 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. the weather becomes warm they call a halt and re- main in the neighborhood where the warm weather sets in, and at times they graze northward, resuming BLACK CARIBOU MOSS AS IT OCCURS ON TREE TRUNKS AND BRANCHES. WINTER FOOD WHEN SNOW IS DEEP. THE BIRDS. 29 their southward journey when the weather becomes colder. There are bears, wolves and other animals, in addi- tion to the caribou, which is the only member of the deer family on the island. The black bear and wolf are abundant in the interior, especially the former, and in addition the black, grey, silver and red fox ; also beaver, otter, Arctic hare, North American hare, weasel, bat, rat, mouse and muskrat. The famous Newfoundland dog is still to be met with, though good specimens are few and far between, and those expecting to make a purchase had better consult one of the many kennels in the United States, where there is an opportunity of making a selection. The Newfoundland dog of to-day is a degenerate mongrel, good for nothing except to drag a heavy clog during the summer, and the sledge during the winter months. There are no frogs, toads, snakes, lizards or any other reptiles on the island. BIRDS. It is estimated that there are 300 species of birds in the island, most of which are migratory. Among them are the eagle, hawk, owl, woodpecker, swallow, kingfisher, six species of flycatchers and a like num- ber of thrushes, warblers, finches, ravens and jays. ;o CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. The ptarmigan, or willow grouse, is very abundant and is the finest game bird on the island. They are about the size of the pheasant or ruffled grouse of the FEMALE. MALE. PTARMIGAN OK WILLOW GROUSE IN MOTTLED COAT FALL OF YEAR. States, though not such rapid flyers, and furnish fine sport, and their flesh is all that could be wished for — juicy, sweet and tender. In summer they are of a reddish brown, but in winter almost white, with THE FLOEA. 31 feathers to their toe nails. The rock ptarmigan is found in the highest and most barren portions of the island, though not in such great numbers as the wil- low grouse or ptarmigan, which is found in all parts. FLORA. The pine, spruce, birch, juniper and larch of the forests in the interior furnish ample material for a large lumber trade, as well as for shipbuilding pur- poses. The white pine grows from a height of from seventy to eighty feet in some sections, and attains a diameter of from three to four feet. The mountain ash, balsam poplar and aspen thrive well, and ever- greens are in endless variety. The Geological Report of the Gander River district estimates the available pine limits here at 850 square miles, including the valley of the Gambo and Triton River and the country along the south side of the lake and across to Freshwater Bay. Most, if not all, the pine here referred to is of the white variety — Pinus strobus — probably the most valuable species for the manufacture of lumber. The same authority says that between the Grand Falls and Badger Brook on both sides of the Exploits River pine nourishes lux- uriantly ; these reaches also display a fine growth of other varieties of timber, and at some points, and es- 32 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. pecially above the forks of Sandy Brook, white birch attains a very large size. The southern side of the Exploits presents an un- broken dense forest in a series of gentle undulations for many miles, and from the Victoria River to the head of Red Indian Lake the country is well timbered throughout. The valley of the Humber is richly wooded, and here lumbering operations have been carried on for many years on an extensive scale. Here Tamarack or juni- per, yellow birch, white pine and spruce grow in pro- fusion, and to a size very little inferior if not equal to the best that is now brought to market at Gaspe and other parts of the Lower Province of Canada. Berry-bearing plants are found distributed over the whole of the island and in great variety, among which may be mentioned strawberries, raspberries, capillaire, partridge berries, bakeapple and "hurtz" or blueber- ries, which can be gathered in the immediate vicinity of every settlement. CHAPTER IV. THE FISHERIES. Abundance of Trout and Salmon — " No Fish" except the Cod, in Native Parlance — Codfish the Staple Export — Volume of the Business — A Permanent Industry — Arctic Current slime feeds the small fishes, they feed the Cod, the Cod feeds Man — Seal Fisheries — Slaughter of the " Harps " — The Sealing Gun — Distance measured by " Gunshots " — Salmon — Herring — Lobster. ERHAPS there is no place on this earth where fishes are as plentiful as in and around Newfoundland. In every rivulet, river, lake* pond or puddle of water, no matter where found, trout and salmon abound, and in season the angler cannot fail to get a strike and is ofttimes rewarded with six to seven pound "speckled beauties," and salmon weighing as much as fifteen pounds. These fish, coming out of the pure cold spring water with rock bottom, are of superior flavor ; but fine as they are, the natives do not regard them as fish, as the following incident will illustrate. On our way into the interior, part of our route was over a lovely pond five miles long by about three-fourths of a mile wide. We had (33) 34 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. made an early start and left the foot of the pond just as day was breaking. We had not proceeded far when the writer thought he could occasionally see the water break with a splash in close proximity to the canoe. Seated as he was in the bow, he turned to the native who was handling the paddle in the stern, and in- quired whether there were any fish in the pond. " Fish? No sir, — no fish, sir." Presently, when about half way up the pond, and just as the sun was peeping over the eastern horizon, he saw not six feet from the boAV of the canoe a magnificent salmon rise to the surface, and with a swish of his tail, disappear to the depths. Again he turned to his friend with the re- mark, "Daddy, did I understand you to say that there were no fish in this pond?" "No Fish, sir; no fish." "Yes, but — I beg your pardon — I a moment ago saw what I took to be a twelve or fifteen pound sal- mon break the water not six feet from the bow of the canoe." " Oh, that was a salmon. There are plenty of trout and salmon in all these waters, but no fish, sir. You know we don't count anything as fish in these parts but codfish, sir." CODFISH. The fisheries of Newfoundland are the grand staple industry of the country, and about four-fifths of the VOLUME OF THE BUSINESS. 35 entire exports. The cod fisheries alone greatly exceed those of any other country in the world. The annual average export of this valuable fish is about 1,350,000 quintals of 112 pounds weight. The Dominion of Canada exports an average of 450,000 quintals and HARVEST TIME ON THE BANKS. Norway 751,000 quintals. The whole Norwegian catch averages 50,000,000 codfish, while the aggregate annual catch of cod in North American waters, includ- ing the fisheries on the banks by French, American, Canadian and Newfoundland fishermen is estimated at 3,700,000 quintals. The number of codfish captured 36 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. to make up this weight of dried fish, allowing fifty to a quintal, would be 185,000,000; and yet this enor- mous annual draft on these extensive fishing grounds has been going on for centuries without exhausting the supply. A PERMANENT INDUSTRY. The Arctic Current, which washes the shores of Labrador and Newfoundland, is laden with food on which the cod lives and thrives, and brings with it a never-failing supply for its sustenance. So far from being unfavorable to the production of life, the Arctic seas and the great rivers which they send forth are swarming with minute forms of life, constituting in many places "a living mass, a vast ocean of living slime." Swarms of minute crustaceans, annelids, and mollusca feed on this slime and in their turn become food for the larger marine animals even up to the giant whale ; and curiously enough, this ocean slime is most abundant in the coldest waters, and especially in the neighborhood of ice-fields and icebergs. Thus the great current in the ocean, which rushes out of Baffin Bay, carrying on its bosom myriads of icebergs and washing the shores of Labrador and Newfound- land, is swarming with these minute forms of marine life from the minute crustacean and the crab and prawn together, with the molluscous animals and star- A PERMANENT INDUSTRY. 37 fish in profusion, which contribute to the support of the great schools of cod which find their home there. Astounding are these great processes of nature ! The vast battalions of icebergs, the terror of mariners, sailing past these shores and often anchoring on Lab- rador and in the bays of Newfoundland, bring with CURING COD AT HARBOR BRITON. them the slime food on which the almost microscopic crustaceans live. These in turn furnish food for the caplin, the squid and the herring, which with multi- tudes of other species are food for the voracious cod. When the cod is assimilated by man this great circle is complete : the big fishes devour the little fishes, and we have another evidence of the "survival of the fittest." 38 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. So long as the Arctic Current continues to flow, the banks and the waters about the island of Newfound- land will teem with cod. For nearly 40(7 years, cod fishing has been prosecuted regularly, and has sup- plied the chief export of the country. The fish begin to appear on the coast about the first of June, at which time they leave the deep water for the warmer and shallower waters near shore to deposit their spawn. Their approach is heralded by the beautiful trim little caplin, a fish about seven inches long and which comes in schools sufficient to give the water the appearance of a squirming mass, filling every nook and corner in the bays, fiords, arms and inter- stices of the rock-bound coast. The cod follow in their wake and gorge themselves with the little fish, of which they are very fond, so they furnish the choicest bait. In about six weeks the caplin disap- pear and their place is taken by the squid about the first of August. They are followed by the herring, which remain until about the middle or end of Oc- tober, when the cod fishing season ends. THE SEAL FISHING. Next to the cod fishing in value comes that of the seal, which has been prosecuted for about ninety years only — the natives being so industriously en- THE SEAL FISHING. 39 gaged iii cod fishing that they neglected the oleagi- nous treasures to be obtained from the seal, which the ice-fields yearly brought within their reach; so the great herds were left to bring forth their young amid the icy solitudes, undisturbed by the murderous gun, club and knife of the seal hunters. To-day, however, things are different, and the nurseries of countless mother seals are transformed into slaughter-fields, red with the blood of their murdered darlings, slain in their icy cradles. The young seals are born on the ice which the Arctic Current carries past the shores from the fifteenth to the twentieth of February, and until they are two weeks old they are as white as snow and called "harps." When ten days old they begin to change color and become in a short time of a dark brown ; and as they grow very rapidly and yield a much finer quality of oil than the old ones, the ob- ject of the hunter is to reach them in their babyhood, while yet fed by their mother's milk, and when they are powerless to escape. So rapid is their growth that by the sixteenth of March they are in the best. condition to be taken. By the first of April they be- gin to leave the ice and take to the water, and can be no longer so easily captured. When a vessel reaches an ice-field, where the seals are visible, the men eagerly bound upon the ice, and the work of destruc- 40 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. tiori begins. These innocent animals are usually found around a water-hole or along the shore of an ice-field — hundreds of them, like soldiers in a row, with their pretty heads extending over the ice anx- iously looking for their mothers. The hunter man- ages to get into a position at a point about sixty yards HARP SEAL LESS THAN FOURTEEN DAYS OLD WITH SEALING GUN. from one end of the line of heads and opens fire with his great sealing gun ; and as these guns are used in killing reindeer for his winter's meat, a description of them will be given in another chapter. As the distance at which this remarkable gun will do effective work in seal hunting has been forever set- THE SEAL FISHING. 41 tied, it is used as a standard among the natives, and should you meet one on land or ice and make in- quiry concerning the distance to a certain point the answer would be one, two, three or four "gunshots, sir" — meaning 60, 120, 180 or 240 yards, as the case might be. These guns, loaded with from four to six inches of powder and a handful of about No. 3 buck- shot, make a formidable weapon, and as a rule kick backward almost as much as forward; and as they frequently jump overboard into the water when fired from the small boats, it is necessary to have them se- curely fastened to one end of a stout rope, the other end being attached to the boat, so that the gun can be retrieved after the shot is fired, if it has attempted an escape to the briny deep. Of later years the killing is mostly done with a club, one end of which is armed with a gaff or hook — a light blow on the nose being sufficient to stun the animal. Instantly the scalping knife, which is ever ready in the belt, is brought into use, and in a few moments the carcass is quivering on the ice, stripped of its skin, to which the fat adheres. The pelts are then dragged to the ship over the ice and taken to port, where the skins and fat are sepa- rated, the former being salted for exportation, and the latter manufactured into oil at either St. John's or Harbour Grace, where all the seal oil is manufactured. 4 42 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. SALMON INDUSTKY. Nowhere are there any finer salmon streams than those of Newfoundland; but as no proper measures have been taken for their preservation, the average export for the past ten years has scarcely exceeded $100,000.00. Barring the rivers and brooks with nets at the times when the fish are ascending to spawn, constructing weirs, traps and dams, sweeping the pools in the rivers with seine-nets, and night-spearing, have been carried on for generations by ignorant and reck- less persons, goaded on by the greed of immediate gain; so that in the streams the salmon are almost exterminated, though in the lakes they are abundant, take the hook well, and in flavor compare favorably with those of any country. There is, however, a prospect that through the efforts of a Fish Commis- sion, which has lately been established, the streams will be opened up and the salmon will return to their old haunts. HERRING. Herring are plentiful and of the finest quality ; but as the cod is or has been the staple stock in trade, they too have been sadly neglected. Had the herring fishery been prosecuted with as much vigor as the cod, proper care bestowed on the curing and packing, and LOBSTER. 43 the whole placed under proper regulations, it might to-day approach the cod fishery in value. The chief seats of herring fishing are Fortune, Placehti&j St. George's, and Bay of Islands, and the average annual value is about as follows: Export, $358,359.00; sold to French and Americans for bait, $150,000.00; and allowing 73,000 barrels for home consumption at $3.00 per barrel, gives us a grand total of $727,359.00. LOBSTER. According to the last census (1891) there were then 340 lobster factories, employing 4,807 persons. The report of the Department of Fisheries for 1893 states that the total number of lobster traps amounted to 87,720, and that there were caught 5,054,462 lobsters, from which number 26,214 cases of lobsters (each case containing forty-eight one-pound cans) were packed. These returns apply only to licensed facto- ries ; besides there were a large number of unlicensed factories on the French shore. The total value from 1888 to 1892, inclusive, was $2,067,408.00. CHAPTER V. AGRICULTURE IN NEWFOUNDLAND. The Soil Neglected — False Eepresentations as to its Value — Delay in Development of Interior — The Geological Survey sets Things Eight — Fertile Eiver Valleys — Farm Products in 1891 — Domestic Animals. JVEN up to a comparatively recent period, the inhabitants were so busily engaged in | the fishing industry that no attention what- ever was paid to the cultivation of the soil, and those who most profited by the arduous labors of the fisher- men, in order to keep them huddled along the rugged coast, assiduously taught them to regard the interior of the island as a hopelessly barren waste, unfit for the occupancy of man. That this is not the case has been clearly demonstrated by the geological survey. According to its reports, there are in the valleys on the weastern coast 1,320 square miles "perfectly capable of being reclaimed and converted into fairly produc- tive grazing and arable land," and these valleys are as a (44) AGRICULTURE IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 45 LEADING TICKELS, A SAMPLE COAST TOWN. rule well wooded. In the great valleys of the Gander, Gambo, Terra Nova and Exploits there are 3,320 square miles of land suitable for farming, the soil be^ ing of a rich loam, composed of alluvial deposit and de- cayed vegetable matter. There are also many smaller fertile tracts around the heads of bays and lakes, and along the smaller streams, making in all not less than 5,000 square miles of land suitable for cultivation. The census of 1891 showed that only 179,215 acres were actually occupied, as follows : 64,494 acres of im- proved land, 20,524 acres in pasture, 21,813 acres in gardens, and 6,244 acres of improved land unoccupied. 46 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. FARM PRODUCTS FOR 1891. The farm products for 1891 are shown by the statis- tical reports to amount to : 491 bushels wheat, @ $1 .00 $491 12,900 bushels oats, @ .50 6,450 36,032 tous hay, @ $20.00 720,640 481,024 barrels potatoes, @ $1.00 481,024 60,235 barrels turnips, @ $1 .00 60,235 86,411 barrels other roots, @ $1.00 86,411 401,716 pounds butter, @ .20 83,343 154,021 pounds wool, @ .20 30,804 Milk and vegetables 96,000 Total...... $1,562,398 3 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. If to this aggregate be added the value of the calves, sheep, swine, horses, goats and fowls raised during the same year, in round numbers $732,000.00, we have a grand total of $2,295,398.00 for the agricul- tural products of the island for the year 1891. The fact must be taken into consideration that this pro- duction has not been from the interior, but from a comparatively narrow belt in close proximity to the coast. It is thus conclusively shown what the agri- cultural possibilities of this land of "cod-fish and fog" would be, if the fertile valleys of the interior were placed under proper cultivation. CHAPTER VI. MINERAL RESOURCES. The First Mines — Geological Distribution of the Copper Ores — Lead Ore — Gj^psum and Marbles — Iron Pyrites Mine on Pilley's Island — Asbestos — Coal Areas — Petroleum. HILE the fisheries, lumber and agricultural products are large and remunerative, the mining resources of the island are destined to eclipse all others in the near future. THE FIRST MINES. It was not until 1857, when Mr. Smith McKay first discovered copper near a small fishing hamlet called Tilt Cove, in Notre Dame Bay, that any attention was paid to prospecting for minerals. Here a mine was opened in 1864 under the management of Messrs. C. F. Bennett and McKay. During the next fifteen years Tilt Cove mine yielded over 50,000 tons of cop- per ore, having a market value of $1,572,154, and nickel ore worth $32,740. This mine to-day employs an average of about 500 miners. In 1875 another copper mine was opened at Bett's Cove, a distance of ten or twelve miles south of Tilt Cove. In four years . (47) 48 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. the quantity of ore exported from it amounted to 122,556 tons, with a value of $2,982,836.00. In 1878 a still richer deposit was opened up at Little Bay, near Bett's Cove. Up to 1879 the total quantity of ores exported from all these mines reached a value of $4,629,889.00, or nearly a million pounds sterling. This placed Newfoundland, though still in its kilts as a mining country, sixth among the copper producing countries of the world. GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE COPPER ORES. The existence of the serpentine rocks in the island is a matter of the utmost importance, as they belong to what in Canadian geology is known as the Quebec Group of the Lower Silurian series, and the middle or Lauzon division of that series. That division, accord- ing to Sir William Logan, "is the metalliferous zone of the Lower Silurian in North America, and rich in copper ores, chiefly as interstratified cupriferous slates, and is accompanied by silver, gold, nickel and chromium ores." This Lauzon division is the one which is developed in Newfoundland, and in which all the copper mines are located. The Government Geological Survey's report gives the following truthful estimate of these serpentine mineral-bearing rocks of the island, which is sufficient proof of the existence of GEOGRAPHICAL DISTEIBITTION OF OEES. 49 inexhaustible bodies of valuable minerals, extending over an area of 5,097 square miles : Between Hare and Pistolet Bays 230 sq. mi. North from Bonne Bay 350 South from Hare Bay 175 South from Bonne Bay 150 South from Bay of Islands 182 Surrounding Notre Dame Bay 1 ,400 Gander Lake and River Country 2,310 Bay d'Est Biver 300 Total 5,097 sq. mi. While these remarks are with special reference to the copper ores it must not be forgotten that in the metalliferous zone just referred to others, such as as- bestos, nickel, iron pyrites, lead, and iron ore are found, and give promise of profitable development, to which special reference will be made further on. LEAD ORE. Lead ore was first discovered at La Manche, at the northeastern extremity of Placentia Bay, where for several years workings have been carried on. This ore is rich, assaying 82 per cent, of metallic lead, as well as a small percentage of silver. GYPSUM AND MARBLES. The Geological Survey's report states that "gypsum is distributed more profusely and in greater volume 50 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. in the carboniferous districts than in any part of the continent of North America of the same extent." In St. George's Bay and Codroy the bodies of gypsum are immense. Marbles also of every shade of color are found in large quantities on both the eastern and western shores ; granite of the first quality, building stones, whetstones, stones suitable for grindstones, limestone, and the finest roofing slate it has been the writer's pleasure to look upon. IRON PYRITES MINE ON PILLEY's ISLAND. Our notes of the mineral resources of Newfoundland would be very deficient were not special reference SECTION OF THE SETTLEMENT AT PILLEY's ISLAND PYRITES MINE. ASBESTOS. 51 made to this great mine, in whose beautiful little har- bor our expedition landed on Sunday, October 14, 1894, on our journey to the White Hills. This mine has been worked for the last ten years, and has been and is at present one of the most valuable in the island. The quality of the pyrites is said to be the finest in the world, containing 52 per cent, of sulphur and 42 per cent, of iron, from which is manufactured the finest steel. The ore is mostly shipped to the United States, where it is used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, copperas and fertilizers, and the de- mand is steadily increasing ; and as there is another deposit adjoining the present mine, should the latter pinch out, the additional lode would furnish an abundance for years to come. The value of iron pyrites exported to the United States from 1886 to the end of 1893, according to the Customs Report, reaches a total value of $759,451.00. The same report shows an aggregate value of $10,799,086.00 of all minerals exported from the island, from 1864 to the end of 1893. ASBESTOS. This valuable mineral has been found amongst the serpentine deposits in many places. It occurs in strings or threads of a fine, silky texture, traversing 52 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. the ' masses of serpentine in all directions. On the eastern coast of Port-au-Port, rising out of the sea to a nearly vertical height of 1,800 feet, is a mountain known as Bluff Head. This mountain determines the southern boundary of the serpentine. It was here that asbestos first attracted attention. Bluff Head was long known to the fishermen of the neighborhood as "Cotton Rock," and the Hon. Philip Cleary, of St. John's, was the first to equip a small expedition, four years ago, to engage in the work of prospecting, which resulted in the finding of this valuable sub- stance. COAL AREAS. The principal carboniferous region of the country is St. George's Bay, where coal was discovered about fifty years ago by Mr. J. B. Jukes, who was for many years Director of the Irish Geological Survey, and who spent twelve months on the island and found a coal seam three feet in thickness, containing cannel coal of excellent quality, cropping out of the right bank of the Middle Barachois Brook, on the south side of St. George's Bay. His estimate of this small portion of the coal basin of Newfoundland was twenty-five miles wide by ten miles in length. In 1873 another seam was discovered by Mr. J. P. How- COAL AEEAS. 53 ley, F. G. S., at present Director of the Geological Survey, on Robinson's Brook, four feet in thickness, very bituminous coking coal, emitting much gas under combustion, and burning freely. He also found an- other seam in the same section, seventeen inches thick. In 1889 a still more thorough examination of this coal district was made under the direction of Mr. Howley. Referring to the report of that year, it shows that altogether fourteen seams of coal, of a varying thickness, from a few inches up to six feet, were uncovered on one small brook ; three on another two miles distant, and four on a third brook, still farther eastward some two and one-half miles. These with some smaller ones aggregate a thickness of twenty-seven feet of coal in the section, which is re- peated by being brought to the surface again on the other side of the synclinal trough. From the above condensed statement from official facts it will be readily seen that there is not the possibility of a doubt that coal is abundant on the island ; and fur- ther, the reader will be surprised to learn that not- withstanding the presence of these rich and extensive coal fields, none of them have yet been worked, and they import from Cape Breton and Prince Edward's Island all the coal they use at an annual expense of about $250,000.00. 54 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. PETROLEUM. As was to be expected in presence of all this coal, indications of petroleum in paying quantity have been observed, and will be investigated and utilized as soon as the people recover from the present financial troubles. The writer, being somewhat familiar with surface indications of petroleum in the great oil fields of Pennsylvania, noticed in the White Hills region strong surface signs, including the presence of the well known pebble rocks, and has not the least doubt but it is only a question of time when Newfoundland will be a coal oil producing county. CHAPTER VII. GOVERNMENT AND FINANCES. Mode of Government — Constitution — Powers of the Governor —The Legislature — The Supreme Court — Central District Court — Quarter Sessions — Failure in Administration — Commercial and Financial Slavery— A Gloomy View — From Boom to Crash — The Outlook — Their Hope and Prayer. REPRESENTATIVE Government was granted to Newfoundland in 1832. In 1855, after oft-repeated applications by the people, what is known as "Responsible Government" was ceded to the colony, which is simply the applica- tion of the principles of the British constitution to the island, and provides that the country should be gov- erned according to the well understood wishes of the people." The party in power, i. e., having the major- ity in the Legislature, disposes of the principal offices under the government, and also elects the Executive Council. The House of Assembly is elected by the people, and the Legislative Council is nominated by "the Governor in Council." (55) 56 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. CONSTITUTION. The form of government consists of a Governor who is appointed by the Crown of England, and is paid a salary of $12,000 a year by the Colony; an Executive Council consisting of seven members chosen by the majority in the Legislature, at a salary of $120.00 per session; a Legislative Council of fifteen members, nominated by the Governor in Council and holding office for life at a salary of $120.00 per ses- sion ; and a House of Assembly at present consisting of thirty-six members, elected by the votes of the peo-. pie every four years. If they reside in St. John's they receive a salary of $194.00 per session ; if resident elsewhere, $291.00. The President receives $240.00 and the Speaker of the House of Assembly receives $1,000.00 per session. POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR. The Governor is Commander-in-Chief over the col- ony, and has the power in the Queen's name to com- mute sentences of courts of justice ; to summon, open, prorogue, and on occasions dissolve the local Parlia- ment ; to give or withhold assent to, or reserve for the Royal consideration, all bills which have passed both Chambers. CENTRAL DISTRICT COURT. 57 THE LEGISLATURE. The Legislature must meet once a year, and is usually summoned "for the dispatch of business" in the month of February. SUPREME COURT. A Supreme Court was instituted in 1826 by the promulgation of a Royal Charter. To it and to the magistrates belong the correct interpretation and proper enforcement of the laws. It is composed of a Chief Justice and two Assistant Judges ; it holds two terms or sessions each year, on May 20th and Novem- ber 20th. There are also circuits of the Supreme Court held in the northern, southern and western dis- tricts of the island at such times and places as may be fixed by proclamation of the Governor. These are presided over by the Chief Justice or one of the As- sistant Judges, in rotation. The yearly salary of the Chief Justice is $5,000.00, and of each Assistant Judge $4,000.00; they hold their appointments for life. CENTRAL DISTRICT COURT. The Central District Court is a Court of Records, held in the capital, St. John's, for the adjudication of civil causes, and sits whenever business requires. There are two Judges appointed by the Governor in 5 58 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Council, and a Sheriff for each judicial district, who is also appointed by the Governor. QUARTER SESSIONS. . Courts of general and quarter sessions are held in such places as may be determined by the proclama- tion of the Governor, and are presided over by stipen- diary magistrates or justices of the peace. This completes and rounds out the system, which is well enough in form, but as everything depends upon administration, the best forms fail when worked in the interest of others than the governed. COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL SLAVERY. From the foregoing sketch of the governmental forms, it is easy to see that the enjoyment of even the measure of liberty ostensibly allowed to the people is at the mercy of the administration, and at last of the Crown. The real power is wielded from the other side of the water. How it was used in the past we have already shown ; the Newfoundlanders were sheep in the hands of the British shearers. The native or resident population (when at length permitted to reside) caught fish, and their masters took and sold the catch, allowing the fishermen enough to keep them alive. Of course in the world of to-day that A GLOOMY VIEW. 59 could not last among people of Saxon blood; hence reform, relaxation of repressive law, "responsible gov- ernment." But the situation is changed more in appearance than in reality. Modern methods have changed what was robbery into various forms of swindling. Where a people are thus held in commer- cial slavery, morality in business and politics will not touch high-water mark ; where government is admin- istered with the ulterior object of enriching the few at the expense of the many, it surprises no thoughtful mind that the lesson of example is learned, and those who are preyed upon too often turn to prey upon one another. The recent financial history of Newfound- land is a case in point. Since we came home, in December, 1894, the island experienced a financial cyclone whose wreckage will leave marks for years. A GLOOMY VIEW. One of their writers puts it strongly under date of January 30th, 1895: "Newfoundland to-day is a country without banks, without currency, without credit. Its commerce and trade are shattered, its population reduced to hopeless misery." Making due allowance for over-statement natural to too close a view-point, there remains only too much underlying fact. The difficulty about the French fishery rights 60 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. we have mentioned. France protected her fishermen by a bounty, which drove the Newfoundlanders out of European ports; efforts to secure protection from the home government failed, because it seemed to the British capitalist that his interest lay in putting and keeping the fishermen at the mercy of a few merchants — and there they are, under the "truck system," a relic of ancient barbarism, just a hundred per cent, worse than the "grub stake" of the miners in the United States. The merchants, having skinned the fishermen, are subjected to the same process at the hands of their masters ; it seems they have been losing money for ten years past, in the vain struggle with French bounty-fed competition. Meanwhile the pro- fessional politician comes to the front, fomenting strife between factions while he gnaws all the marrow from the bone of contention. Scarcity of currency added to the difficulty. FROM BOOM TO CRASH. The fire that almost destroyed St. John's in 1892 put some five million dollars of insurance and relief funds in circulation, and thus started a "boom" of fictitious prosperity; but this was only superficial, and the crisis, inevitable in such conditions, came in the winter of '94-' 95. When the two prominent THE OUTLOOK. 61 banks, the Union and Commercial, went to the wall, the exposure was simply amazing. The former had overdrafts aggregating more than two millions, half of it standing against accounts of directors ; the latter had overdrawn accounts of the same amount, half to directors, one of whom had $657,000. The combined capital of the two banks was but $800,000. What wonder that the ensuing crash left conditions such as described in our quotation above? Verily, the honest native Newfoundlander, who creates the wealth of the country, has "fallen among thieves!" THE OUTLOOK. What will be the outcome? No man knows. The animus of those who have the ear of the English capitalists, and through them of the home govern- ment, is well shown in the following from the St. John's correspondence of tne New York World: "The widespread ruin and mystery that resulted need not be dwelt upon. Suffice it to say that it crippled the country and beggared its people. The people are now getting themselves together again, the merchants are, to all intents and purposes, swept away, and knowing that they must depend upon themselves in future, the fishermen are preparing to prosecute their industry with the best resources 62 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. they have got, and we have faith in the ultimate result. "It became a matter of great difficulty to obtain money to meet the interest on the public debt, due December 31, without meeting which we should have become insolvent. It was finally secured, at a great sacrifice, and then, having breathing space, the Government sought the aid of England to guarantee interest on a loan to complete our railway, which had to be stopped when the crash came. " She refused to help us, unless we accepted an un- conditional Royal Commission. This our Govern- ment would not do, fearing we should be made a Crown colony. "Then we turned to Canada, which has for twenty- five years been tempting us to join the Confederation, and sought terms of admission from her. Unaided she could not assume the whole burden of our public debt, $15,000,000. She would take two-thirds of it, and requested England to assume the remainder. But again England refused and blocked a second avenue of escape for us. "This compelled us to adopt the last resort and appeal to the liberty-loving and large-hearted people of the United States. Colonial Secretary Bond is now endeavoring to secure a loan there to enable us to tide THEIR HOPE AND PEAYER. 63 over our difficulties. England's enmity is manifest. She is throwing every obstacle in the way to prevent our succeeding.. Her object is to prevent us from securing help abroad and so compel us to bankrupt on June 30, when our next half-yearly interest becomes due. Then she will revoke our charter of 'self-govern* ment and reduce us to a Crown colony." 5' THEIR HOPE AND PRAYER. -.' And this in the end of the nineteenth century, under the electric light, at the hands of the Govern- ment of Her Majesty, Victoria the Good! Can it be wondered at that the islanders are unwilling to trust the CroAvn, or even federation into the Dominion, but look with laying hope for the great Republic to reach northward and take North America from the- St. Lawrence to Baffin's Bay under the protection of the Stars and Stripes? This feeling was manifest to us in the "open sesame" effect of the name of American wherever it was heard. To be sure Ave have our financial crashes and crises, but we have not }^et been reduced to the commercial slavery that has nearly crushed our island neighbors. CHAPTER VIII. EDUCATION. Academies: — Colleges — Pupil Teachers — London University- Centre — Jubilee Scholarship — Council of Higher Edu- cation. REVIOUS to the year 1823 no organized attention was paid to education in the col- ony. The people were poor, and it required a hard struggle for daily bread. The settlements were small, widely separated, and physical wants were too pressing to permit scarcely any attempt at the education of the rising generation, and, as a matter of fact, they grew up without the first rudiments of knowledge outside of their vocation of capturing cod and seal. The beginning of common school educa- tion dates from 1823, when "The Newfoundland School Society" was founded in London by Samuel Codner, a Newfoundland merchant. Afterwards its name was changed to "The Colonial and Continental Church Society." The schools it planted were main- tained by the liberality of its members unaided until 1843, when the Legislature- granted an annual sum of $5,100 for the promotion of common school educa- (64) LONDON UNIVERSITY CENTRE. 65 tion. In the same year the same body made pro- vision for higher education by establishing an acad- emy in St. John's. This did not succeed, and was abandoned in 1850. In its place three academies were founded, on the denominational principle, and at a later date a fourth was established. COLLEGES. These four schools, which are connected respectively with the four different religious denominations, have expanded, and done much toward the education of the people. They are conducted by teachers of abil- ity and character, and give excellent training. At the present time they are known as the Roman Catholic College, Church of England College, Metho- dist and Presbyterian Colleges respectively. The two last named lost their buildings in the great fire of 1892, but the Methodist buildings have been restored, and are more spacious and better equipped than those destroyed. The Presbyterian College has also been rebuilt, and now occupies its new building. PUPIL TEACHERS LONDON UNIVERSITY CENTRE. The training of teachers is one of the important features of these colleges. They must pass rigid ex- aminations and are graded according to merit before 66 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. they are permitted to take charge of schools. Students are also prepared for the Universities, and St. John's has been made a centre of the London University, so that pupils can here prepare for and pass the matri- culation examinations which admit them to that old and honored institution. JUBILEE SCHOLARSHIP. As a father incentive to those who aspire to higher education, "The Newfoundland Jubilee Scholarship" has been founded. The Governor in Council appro- priates an annual sum of $480.00 for the institution of a scholarship in the London' University, to be given to the student who shall take the highest percentage among competitors in and from the colony at the matriculation examinations held in June and January of each year. COUNCIL OF HIGHER EDUCATION, In 1893 an act was passed "to provide for Higher Education." This act provides for the appoint- ment of a Council to consist of twenty-three mem- bers, and makes the Superintendents of Educa- tion and Headmasters of Colleges members ex officio. The sum of $4,000.00 is appropriated annually to carry out the provisions of the act, and the Jubilee COUNCIL OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 67 Scholarship is subject to the regulations of this Council. The governmental appropriation in 1893 for col- leges, grammar and elementary schools, was $151,- 891.22. Of this amount the common or elementary schools received $97,753.15; pupil teachers, $5,610.84; encouragement of teachers, $25,297.87; inspectors, 16,060.00. The number of common schools in 1893 was as fol- lows: Church of England, 194, with an attendance of 11,808; Church of Rome, 200, with an attendance of 10,265; Methodist, 144, with an attendance of 8,465; Presbyterian, Congregational and others 10, with an attendance of 296- — making a total of 33,834 pupils attending the common or elementary schools, which, when added to the number of pupils attending the different colleges, makes a grand total of 34,557 pupils attending schools. CHAPTER IX. TRANSPORTATION. Roads Unknown to Early Settlers — Selfish Policy of Mother Country — Fences and Chimneys Prohibited — Reform Be- gins in 1813— First Road in 1825— Road Grant in 1832— Road Building Leads to Discovery of Minerals — Geological Survey — Visions of Railways Looming up — Sir William Whiteway's Scheme — First Railway Contract in 1881— First Sod Cut — In the Hands of a Receiver — Change of Government and Railway Extension — Sir William Again at the Helm — A New Survey — Northern and Western Railway — Railway Extension Means More Common Roads — Mails by Railway — Route of Railway — Newfoundland no Longer an Island. fctv.r., f , -L-gwr-,- j. ■ ktA 1 ; ||N no other country whose discovery dates back as far as Newfoundland has the mate- rial and social advancement of the people been so seriously retarded by the want of roads. The original settlement of the island took place entirely in connection with the fisheries. The gathering of the abundant and valuable harvest from the tempestuous sea was the only industry attempted or contemplated. Around the rock-bound coast, in little secluded coves and harbors, the fishermen (chiefly from England, (68) TEANSPOETATION. 69 Ireland and Scotland) collected in small hamlets and villages, in such localities as were best adapted for catching, drying and shipping fish. Thus distributed along the coast, they were generally widely separated, and intercourse was maintained mostly by sea, or by rude paths through the woods and rocks between neighboring settlements. Had the clearing and culti- vation of the soil been combined with fishing, the construction of roads would have become an absolute necessity; but the selfish policy established by the mother country, at the bidding of the English capital- ists who carried on the fisheries, effectively prevented colonization. That policy was to keep the island solely as a fishing station, in order to train seamen for the British navy. All grants of land were prohibited, the cultivation of the soil was made a penal offense, and for a long time a most vigorous attempt was made to make the fishermen migratory by carrying them home at the close of each season to return the follow- ing summer. In 1790 one of the Governors publicly announced that he "was directed not to allow any possession as private property to be acknowledged in any land Avhatever which is not actually employed in fishery." In 1799 Governor Waldegrave ordered fences which had been erected, enclosing a piece of ground, to be torn down, and prohibited chimneys 70 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. even in the temporary sheds used for sheltering the fishermen. Though the progress of the colony was thus prevented and discouraged in every conceivable manner, the sturdy pioneers held their ground, or rather rocks, on the coast, and increased in numbers until in 1813. THE DAWN APPEAEED. The foolish, cruel and selfish laws were relaxed, and grants of land to settlers Avere for the first time per- mitted. Agriculture, on a small scale, immediately began in close proximity to each settlement. The settlers found in a short time that the argument used by those who were interested in keeping the country unsettled, that the climate and soil were wholly un- suited to agriculture, was a malicious falsehood manu- factured out of the whole cloth. EOAD MAKING BEGINS. It was soon found that little progress could be made in the cultivation of the soil until roads were constructed. The year 1825 was made memorable by the building of the first road, nine miles in length, from St. John's to Portugal Cove, on the southern shore of Conception Bay. On the opposite shore of this bay were the thriving towns of Harbour Grace, EOAD MAKING BEGINS. 71 Carbonear and Brigus, the centres of a considerable population. By establishing a regular system of boats to cross this bay, carrying mails and passengers, a route was established by which nearly half the population in the country were provided with an im- perfect means of communication. To Sir Thomas Cochrane, then Governor, belongs the distinguished honor of introducing this important step in the furtherance of civilization. He also con- structed a road to Torbay, a village north of St. John's ; and a third along a beautiful valley through which flows a small stream falling into St. John's harbor at a point now known as Waterford Bridge. This beginning of road making took place only seventy years ago, but the progress made has been most remarkable. Year after year roads radiating from St. John's in various directions Avere built, along which farms and neat farmhouses soon became visi- ble. One of these roads extends first to Topsail on Conception Bay, thence to Holyrood, at the head of the bay, and further on to Salmonier, St. Mary's and Placentia. When representative government was established in 1832, an annual grant was voted for making and- repairing roads and bridges, and of late years over $150,000 per annum have been expended for this 72 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. purpose. The Great Northern Mail road for estab- lishing communication with the people of the north- ern bays was begun and pushed to completion, and at the present writing there are about 1,000 miles of pos- tal roads and 2,000 miles of district roads. ROAD BUILDING LEADS TO THE DISCOVERY OF MIN- ERALS A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. As road building necessitated surveys into and through the interior, as well as the disturbance of the rock and earth in numerous places, it led to the discovery of minerals, and finally (in 18G4) to the establishment of a most efficient Geological Sur- vey. Sir William Logan, the eminent geologist of Canada, was applied to, who nominated Mr. Alexan- der Murray, who had been his efficient assistant for twenty years, to take charge of the work. He prose- cuted it for over twenty years, and it has been con- tinued with commendable zeal by his able assistant, Mr. James Howley, up to the present time. VISIONS OF RAILWAYS LOOMING UP. Thus, after being a mere fishing station for 250 years, without farms or roads, the fringe along the coast was intersected with public highways, the cul- tivation of the soil was making some progress, and VISIONS OF RAILWAYS LOOMING UP. 73 many of sturdy "old salts" were making themselves comfortable homes, and while they were braving the billows on the banks and their fish were drying on the flakes, the fertile ground was growing crops. In- stead of reaping the harvest from the sea alone, the land also contributed to the support of themselves and little ones, and the one avocation interfered but little with the other. About this time a proposition was made by Mr. Sanford Fleming, Engineer-in-Chief of Canadian rail- ways, which helped to start the public mind to think- ing of the possibility of constructing a railway across the island. He published a paper in which he advo- cated that the shortest route between America and England was across Newfoundland. He suggested a fast line of steamers from Valentia, Ireland, to St. John's, Newfoundland, carrying only passengers, mails and light express goods. Thence he proposed to build a railway across the island to St. George's Bay, where another swift line of steamers would ply to Shippegan, in the Bay of Chaleur, where connec- tion with American railways would be obtained. He calculated that the ocean passage would not exceed four days, and that passengers from London would reach New York in seven days. So convincing were his arguments that the Newfoundland Legislature ap- 6 74 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. propriated a sum of money for a preliminary survey which was made in 1875 under the direction of Mr. Fleming. Two years then elapsed before any other steps were taken. At length, Sir William White- way, Premier of the colony, to whom belongs the honor, of not only introducing the railway system in the face of the most bitter opposition, but of perse- veringly carrying it out for more than fourteen years as a prominent feature of his policy — undertook to grapple with the matter in earnest. His first experi- ment was (following the lines drawn by Mr. Fleming) to offer an annual subsidy of $120,000.00 and liberal land grants along the line to any company that would construct and operate a line across the island, to be connected by steamers with England on the one side, and on the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other with Canadian railways. The imperial government, however, refused to sanction this policy on the ground that it might be regarded by the French as an in- fringement of their fishing rights, which were secured by treaty, on the west coast where the terminus would be. This project, therefore, had to be abandoned. Two more years elapsed, when Sir William con- ceived the idea of building a narrow-gauge road suited to local requirements, and to be known as the Hall's Bay line. The resolutions which he submitted to the FIEST EAILWAY CONTRACT. 75 House of Assembly proposed the construction of a road from St. John's, the capital, to Hall's Bay, the centre of the mining region, with branches to Har- bour Grace and Brigus, the total length of which would' be about 340 miles. Such a line would open up for settlement the large areas of good lands and valuable timber districts already referred to in the valleys of the Gambo, Terra Nova, Gander and Ex- ploits, and connect the mining region with the capi- tal. A joint committee of both houses of the Legis- lature was appointed to consider the proposition. Their report concluded by recommending the passage of an act authorizing a loan of the amount required to construct the line, within the limits of one million pounds sterling, and in sums not exceeding half a million of dollars in any one year. This report was adopted by the Legislature by an overwhelming ma- jority. Railway commissioners were appointed and engineers were employed, and during the summer and autumn of 1880 a preliminary survey of the southern portion of the proposed line was made, and this led to the FIRST RAILWAY CONTRACT IN THE COLONY. When the Legislature met in 1881 the tender of an American syndicate for building the road was ac- 76 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. cepted. The leading features of the contract were as follows: A line of narrow-gauge road (3 feet, 6 inches) from St. John's to Hall's Bay, with branches to Brigus and Harbour Grace, a distance estimated at 340 miles; steel rails; a money subsidy of $180,000.00 to be paid half-yearly by the Government for thirty-five years, conditional on the efficient maintenance and operation of the line ; and as each five miles are com- pleted and approved, land grants of five thousand acres per mile of good land to be secured to the com- pany in alternate blocks along the line in quantities of one mile in length and eight miles in depth, and if good land could not be obtained along the line it was to be selected elsewhere. FIRST SOD CUT. The first sod was turned on August 9th, 1881, and by September, 1882, thirty-five miles were completed and in running order, one hundred miles were lo- cated, and the remainder under survey. By Novem- ber, 1884, the line was completed and open for traffic between St. John's and Harbour Grace, a distance of eighty-three and one-half miles. IN THE HANDS OF A RECEIVER. Soon after the Newfoundland Railway Company failed and all work was stopped. The company CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT. 77 failed to complete their contract and the line passed into the hands of a receiver on behalf of certain stock- holders in England, and under this arrangement it has been satisfactorily operated up to the present time. CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT AND EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY. In 1885 a change of government took place, and Sir Robert Thoburn became Premier. Not discour- aged by the failure of his predecessors, he and his col- leagues in 1886 began the construction of a branch twenty-seven miles in length, from Whitbourne Junc- tion to Placentia, the old French capital, which they completed and opened in 1886. This brought the in- habitants in and around Placentia Bay not only in touch Avith each other but with St. John's, the capi- tal, and proved to be a great benefit to the whole southern and western shores of the bay. The loco- motive, the great civilizer in all countries, had now gotten such a foothold that it mattered not which of the political factions got the reins of the government, the work of railroad building was sure to proceed. The up-country people were still clamoring for their section and the northern extension to Hall's Bay, the great mining centre, and seven miles of the Placentia extension were available for this purpose. 78 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. The ' government decided that the line should be built, and, in 1889, the Legislature passed a Railway Extension Act of a liberal character with scarcely a dissenting voice, which pledged the Government to make a survey of the line to Hall's Bay that same year, and to at once begin the construction of the road at a rate of not less than twenty-five miles a year. Before winter set in some fifteen miles of this railroad from Placentia Junction northward were built. SIR WILLIAM AGAIN AT THE HELM. At the November election in 1889, the White way- ites again became victorious. Sir William again be- came Premier, and soon showed that he had lost none of his former confidence in railway extension as a means of developing the varied resources of the col- ony. In 1890 the Legislature passed an act provid- ing for the extension of the line towards Hall's Bay, with a branch to Brigus at Clarke's Beach, authoriz- ing a loan of $4,500,000.00 and giving the govern- ment authority to accept bids and enter into a con- tract for the construction of the road. Mr. R. C. Reid, of Montreal, Canada, was awarded the contract, and in October, 1890, work was begun, which was to be completed in five years. • NORTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY. 79 A NEW DISCOVERY. In the meantime a survey was made from the val- ley of the Exploits to the west coast of the island, or what is known as the "French Shore." This line passed through the valleys of Deer Lake and Harry's Brook. The result was that inasmuch as it passed through large areas of rich loamy soil, and tapped a portion of the fine Humber valley, famous for its good land and fine pine timber, and terminated on the French Shore in the Bay of Islands, with its magnifi- cent scenery, the government was led to abandon the route north to Hall's Bay, and build the road west from the Exploits. NORTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY. A new contract was made with Mr. Reid, by which he was to "build, construct and equip a line of rail- way commencing at the terminus of the road to be constructed under the Northern Railway contract, be- ing a point two hundred miles distant from Placentia Junction and running by the most desirable and most direct route to the northeast end of Gander Lake, thence to the northeast end of Deer Lake, and west- erly along the north side (afterwards changed to the south side) of Deer Lake, and down the Humber River, thence by the way of north side of Harry's 80 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. River,, and thence to Port-aux-Basques." This con- tract was signed by both parties on the 16th day of May, 1893. On the same day another contract was entered into with Mr. Reid to operate for ten years the Placentia branch railway and also the " Newfoundland North- ern and Western," as the new line from Placentia Junction to Port-aux-Basques was to be called. This contract was quite full and strict; among the many provisions included were a sum of $15,600.00 per mile ; fee simple land grants as follows : 250,000 acres upon completion of the northern line to Exploits, 250,- 000 acres upon completion of the line to Port-aux- Basques, and the balance at the completion ; land to be located on each side of the road, and in alternate sections of one or two miles in length and eight miles deep; and one commendable section of the contract stipulates that the daily wages of laborers shall not be less than one dollar a day, and payable monthly. In October, 1890, as per contract, the work was be- gun with vigor; at the close of 1891 sixty-five miles were completed and operated, and by the fall of 1893 two hundred miles were completed and trains were running between Exploits, Whitbourne and St. John's. MAILS BY KAILWAY. 81 EXTENSION OF RAILWAY NECESSITATES ADDITIONAL COMMON ROADS. In order to connect the settlements on the seacoast with the railroad, the public highways became a ne- cessity, and these have been mostly surveyed and built by the contractor, Mr. Reid, acting under gov- ernmental supervision. A good wagon road forty miles in length has been built from Trinity to Shoal Harbor via Goose Bay, opening Up a large area of good land suitable for grazing and agricultural pur- poses, and furnishes access to railway facilities for a considerable population. Another road ten miles in length connects with Indian Arm Bay; while a third five miles in length runs from Alexander Bay to the railroad near Gambo, and one about forty-four miles long from Hall's Bay, connecting four miles west of Badger Brook. Roads from Arnold's Cove and Come- by-Chance have also been completed. MAILS BY RAILWAY. The railway now carries nearly all the northern mails, which in winter used to be conveyed by cour- iers on foot, or with the aid of dogs over the ice and snow. Small steamers ply from Shoal Harbor, Ex- ploits and Clode Sound around the bays, carrying mail and passengers to and from the various settle- 82 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. ments; and thus both social and material progress has been initiated by the iron horse and his satellites, the common roads. ROUTE OF RAILWAY. From Placentia Junction, seven miles from Whit- bourne, the new line runs northerly, crossing the isth- mus which connects the Peninsula of Avalon with the main body of the island, at its narrowest point be- ing only three miles wide. On either side of the isthmus are the heads of the two great bays of Placentia and Trinity. Still following a northerly course, the road passes through Terra Nova, Gambo and Gander Valleys, and enters the valley of the Ex- ploits at Norris' Arm. From this point it turns westerly, following up the Exploits valley and cross- ing the river at Bishop's Falls, ten miles from its mouth, on a magnificent steel bridge, 630 feet in length, with granite piers and abutments. From Bishop's Falls it crosses over into the valley of the Peter's Arm Brook (the Grand Falls being about one and one-half miles from the road at the two hundred and twenty- second mile from Whitbourne), but returns to the Exploits valley again near Rusby Pond at the two hundred and twenty-seventh mile from Whit- bourne. From thence it follows up the Exploits val- ROUTE OF RAILWAY. 83 ley to Badger Brook, where it leaves the river. From Badger Brook it takes a northwesterly route, crossing the White Hill Plains, thence down the valley of Kitty's Brook to the northeastern end of Grand Lake. The course is then along the southern side of Deer Lake to Ba}^ of Islands, thence through the valley of Harry's Brook to Bay St. George. From this point the line passes back of the Anguille range of hills, down the valley of the Codroy River to Cape Ray, about nine miles distant from Port-aux-Basques, which is the terminus of the line. When this road is completed it will be five hundred and fifty miles in length, from St. John's on the east coast to Port-aux- Basque on the west, and from the latter point a short sail across the Gulf of St. Lawrence will land passen- gers on the continental railway system, and New- foundland will almost cease to be an island. CHAPTER X. THE ABORIGINES. Beothiks or "Red Indians" — Their Condition when Dis- covered — A Powerful and Warlike People — A Change Comes Over their Dreams — Their Decadence — The Eace Extinct — A Melancholy Find — The First White Men to Sight Newfoundland — White Men Land on the Island — From Eighteen to over Two Hundred Thousand. HEN the question is asked, Avho were the first inhabitants of the island of Newfound- land, — to what race of men did they be- long, what Avere their appearance and habits, their color and modes of living? — the sages of the world are not prepared to answer. Recorded history en- ables us to go back only to the first appearance of European explorers some four hundred years ago, but it is barely possible that other races may have pre- ceded the "red Indians" or beothiks, Who were the occupants of the soil when the dar- ing voyagers braved the tempestuous Atlantic in their frail crafts, and after untold hardships reached the seagirt isle, and found it inhabited by a race in all re- (84) CONDITION OF THE BEOTHIKS. 85 spects resembling the savage tribes of the North American continent, and likely belonging to the same stock. The early explorers, thinking they had dis- covered the eastern shores of Asia or India, called all the inhabitants, both in North and South America, "Indians," and from their complexion the northern tribes were afterwards called " Red Indians." The race found in Newfoundland called themselves "Beothiks," which was their tribal name. Their features were those of the continental Indians. They had straight, jet-black hair, high cheek bones, small black eyes, and their skin was copper colored. Their habits of life were also similar in many respects ; they subsisted by hunting and fishing ; their weapons, wig- wams and domestic utensils resembled those of neigh- boring tribes. Among learned men who have care- fully studied the few relics which have been preserved, and the meagre and uncertain vocabularies which contain all that remains of their language, there is a difference of opinion as to whether they were a branch of the widespread and warlike Algonquins, who sus- tained themselves and increased in numbers. CONDITION OF THE BEOTHIKS WHEN DISCOVERED. When Cabot landed on the island, in 1497, the Beothiks were a numerous and powerful people, well 86 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. developed physically, ingenious, of quick intelligence, gentle in manners, and inclined to be friendly to the pale-faces. The great island, with its abundance of wild creatures of many species, and its shores, lakes and rivers swarming with fish, was to them a perfect paradise. Countless herds of reindeer wandered over the marshes in the interior in their migrations, at which times their capture was easily accomplished, even with the simple devices in the possession of these children of the forest. The flesh furnished them with their most nutritious food, while from their pelts they made the best waterproof leather, ' with which they clothed their feet as well as covered their wigwams, insuring them against the severity of the long winters. These hides, being better adapted for making " buckskin," than those of any other of the deer family, together with the skins of the beaver, wolf and bear, gave them abundant and comfortable clothing. They practiced no agriculture, but the wild berries in their luxuriant growth supplied them with an abundance of vegetable food. A CHANGE COMES OVER THE DREAMS OF THE BEOTHIKS That very ancient principle in nature's laws of the survival of the fittest came in force with the appear- THE EACE EXTINCT. 87 ance of the white man and sealed their doom. For three hundred years they struggled on, but gradually becoming weaker and weaker. For a comparatively short time the same old story repeated itself, and friendly relations existed between them and the in- vaders ; but soon quarrels arose, and deeds of violence resulted in savage vengeance. The first rude trap- pers, hunters and fishermen as they spread into the northern parts of the island were beyond the control of law and justice, and little disposed to exercise con- ciliation and kindness towards the untutored savages, whose presence interfered with their pursuits. The poor Beothiks were treated with cruel brutality, and for long years were regarded as vermin to be hunted down and destroyed without limit, except as to oppor- tunity. This led the Indians to fierce, savage retalia- tion which ensured their ultimate destruction. THE RACE EXTINCT. At length the spirit of humanity roused from its deep slumber, and from 1760 to 1823 attempts were made to conciliate the Indians and save their wretched remnant from annihilation; but these ef- forts proved to have begun too late. Sad experience led them to distrust and hate the white man, and they could not respond to approaches of kindness.; 88 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Forlorn and in despair, the few remaining Beothiks retreated to their last refuge at Red Indian Lake, and there they died one by one, until not a single living representative of this once powerful race remained. There is no darker page in the history of North America than that which records the fate of the un- happy Beothiks. A MELANCHOLY FIND. In 1828 a final effort was made to open communi- cation with the remnant of the tribe Avhich was sup- posed to still survive. An expedition was organized which penetrated to their last retreat at Red Indian Lake. Only their graves and the mouldering re- mains of their wigwams were fouud — but no living Beothik. The silence of death reigned supreme. Fragments of canoes, skin dresses, storehouses, and the repositories of their dead were there, but no human sound was heard, no smoke from wigwam seen. Their campfires were extinguished, and the sad record of an extinct race was closed forever. THE FIRST WHITE MEN TO SIGHT NEWFOUNDLAND. Before closing these brief notes of the early history of this country, it might be well to note the fact that it is highly probable that the first white men who WHITE MEN LAND ON THE ISLAND. 89 saw the shores of Newfoundland were the Northmen. Five hundred years before the time of Cabot these bold adventurers, led by Lief, son of Eric the Red, sailed from Greenland in search of western lands. Newfoundland lay directly in their course, and ac- cording to their sagas or books on reaching it they gave it the name of "Helluland," or the land of naked rocks. The daring sailors passed on, however, and made no attempt at forming a settlement. Their adventurous voyage, in which they are said to have reached Rhode Island, took place in 1001. WHITE MEN LAND ON THE ISLAND. On the second day of May, 1497, a small caravel named the "Matthew," manned by eighteen English sailors and commanded by John Cabot, left the port of Bristol. Cabot was a Venetian by birth and in the service of Henry VII. of England. On the twenty-fourth day of June following, hearty English cheers greeted the first sight of the Island of Newfoundland. Thus by right of discovery it be- longed to England ; but it was not until 1583 that the formal possession was taken by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in the name of Queen Elizabeth. This gallant Eng- lish knight had formed the purpose of colonizing the; island ; but misfortunes overtook him, and when re- 90 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. turning to England his vessel the "Golden Hind" and all on board sunk beneath the waves of the Atlantic. With these few observations, noting but here and there a few of the most important events in the his- tory of this remarkable island, for many of which Ave acknowledge indebtedness to that interesting little work by Rev. M. Harvey, of St. John's, entitled "Newfoundland as it is in 1894," the author has hoped to furnish the reader with an outline of the discovery, surface conditions and struggles of the white population of the Hind's crew to a population at present of over two hundred thousand. CHAPTER XI. PREPARATIONS FOE THE TRIP. Too Many Caribou in Mr. Holbertson's Article — Our Friend Goes to New York and Eeturns with Pupils Dilated — " Kichard Le Buffe, Hall's Bay, Notre Dame Bay, N. F." — The Cree Stove as Amended — Cooking Untensils, etc., Packed in Stove — Baggage Bestrictions — What We Car- ried — The Medicine Chest — Guns and Ammunition — The Protean Tent. ITH so much knowledge of the history and physical features of the island as we have tried to give in the preceding pages, the reader who has followed ns thus far is prepared to ac- company us "in the spirit and understanding" as we now pass to the detailed account of our own personal experience in hunting the reindeer among the White Hills of Newfoundland. To the hunter who may fol- low in our footsteps — and Ave hope he will be num- erous — the space devoted to PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRIP May be both interesting and useful ; while the tour- ist will find something of value, and even the stay-at- (91) 92 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. home reader should not consider the time altogether wasted which is given to informing him how the "outers" make themselves fairly comfortable under circumstances too commonly described by the oppro- brious name of hardship. If some be tempted by our description to "try it on," our work will not have been done in vain. None of our fellow-sportsmen know better than those who have made frequent excursions to distant fields, how much of a task it is to complete the itiner- ary; and especially so when the objective point is thousands of miles away, and in a country about whose history the world at large knows but little, and the United States even less. Many letters of inquiry had to be written, and the difficulty was to find the names and addresses of the proper persons with whom to communicate. Fortunately the author noticed a communication from the pen of Wakeman Holbert- son Avhich appeared in the April number of Harper's Weekly, 1892, which read like a fairy tale, describing a trip to the White Hills in Newfoundland. The Weekly was passed round, read aloud at a smoke, and commented on to the fullest extent; and while the reputation of Mr. Holbertson for "truth and veracity" was not called into question as a special order of busi- ness, the grimaces made by some of the hearers as OUR FRIEND'S PUPILS DILATED. 93 Holbertson's story fell upon their ears would have led most observers to conclude that the narrative was a good one, but it had entirely too many caribou in it. It was decided, however, that Mr. A. C. Kepler, with whom the writer has shared elbow-room and blanket on many a hunt in the wilds during the last twenty years, should write Mr. Holbertson for special in- formation. This was promptly done, and in due course of time a reply came verifying all contained in the article and adding still more to it, with a pressing invitation to call and see his trophies of the hunt. It was not long before friend Kepler ostensibly had busi- ness in New York, but it is supposed that the business part of that trip was to see Holbertson's heads and horns. OUR FRIEND'S PUPILS DILATED. Kepler came back, his pupils as large as a cat's on a dark night, in the dark of the moon, and chatter- ing like a magpie. The whole story was confirmed, and the fall of 1894 was decided upon as the time when our pilgrimage was to be made. So the pre- liminaries were arranged, and the first step assigned the writer was to open communication with the guide so highly recommended by Mr. Holbertson, whose address Ave give in large type : 94 cakibou shooting in newfoundland. Richard LeBuffe, Hall's Bay, P. 0. Wolf Cove, Notre Dame Bay, N. F. No time was lost in addressing a letter containing many questions, and engaging his services for the opening of the season of 1894. After weary weeks of waiting, a letter came bearing the picture of a seal on the stamp, post-marked, "Hall's Bay, Newfound- land." It was short but sweet, and while it did not contain all the information asked, he accepted service on the following terms: Self and canoes, $3.00 per day; four carriers at $1.50 per day each and found; instructions to land at Pilley's Island ; charter steam launch to head of Hall's- Bay, where guide lives (25 miles) ; march three miles to foot of West Pond ; from foot of pond to head of same, five miles in canoes ; march thirteen miles more or less to log tilt on Big Marsh in the White Hills country — in all forty-six miles or more from Pilley's Island to main camp. Further correspondence elicited the fact that the tilt was constructed of logs chinked with moss, slop- ing roof of birch bark and a smoke hole, and no way of getting a stove nearer than the head of Hall's Bay, except by carrying it on the backs of men. THE CEEE STOVE. 95 All this information suggested the importance of economizing in both weight and bulk, in both per- sonal baggage and supplies. LeBufFe could furnish nothing but his service, that of native carriers, canoes, the log tilt, and all the caribou, ptarmigan and fish our hearts could wish for. We were also informed that for a party of three or four men four carriers would be required, one of whom would, in addition to packing a good load in and out, act as cook for the party while in camp. From past experience we had learned that if we were THE CKEE STOVE, WHICH, AS IMPROVED, MAKES THE BEST CAMP STOVE KNOWN. to be assured of any comfort in camp it would be ne- cessary to take a stove with us, as we had played the smoke-hole racket on many occasions and were not particularly partial to it. The writer was the possessor of a D. W. Cree camp stove, manufactured, in Griggsville, Ills. No better camp stove has been devised; but the one on hand had a cast-iron top, and was both too heavy and too 96 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. long to be packed on the back of a man. Permission was obtained from Mr. Cree, who is a gentleman sportsman, to have made by our local mechanics a stove after his pattern with modifications to suit our wants. The result was just what we wanted, and the stove proved to be a great comfort as a substitute for the smoke-hole in the log tilt on the Big Marsh. It was twenty-six inches long, thirteen inches high and thirteen inches wide, and made of Russian sheet-iron ; top of same material, with two holes covered with sheet-iron lids, in the centre of which was a loose ring. Fire door of the same kind and at the same place as in the Cree stove ; the oven, instead of being perma- nently fixed in position, slid into place on two strong angle-irons, and when not in use could be removed at will, when wood twenty-four inches long could be used. Nine twelve-inch-long joints of galvanized iron tele- scope pipe, with damper, completed the lightest and best stove of the kind ever used, as far as the writer has been able to ascertain. Weight, with the nine feet of pipe, bake-pan, lids, pipe-collar and baker packed inside, but sixteen pounds. In addition to the stove adjustments it contained when packed for the trip the following COOKING UTENSILS AND SUNDRIES: 1 coffee pot, i dozen tin plates, 1 wire broiler, 2 frying BAGGAGE RESTRICTIONS. 97 pans, 2 frying pan handles, 1 large spoon, 1 large meat fork, I dozen teaspoons, i dozen knives, I dozen forks, 1 salt box, 1 pepper box, i dozen nested tin cups, 5 oblong nested stew kettles, 1 wash basin, 1 rubber collapsible water bucket, 5 stew kettle lids, 1 butcher knife, 1 dishcloth, 1 cake home-made soap, 2 tea towels. And, in addition, the following : 1 coil copper wire, assorted wire nails, J pound arsenic, 1 pair moccasins, 2 pairs shoe packs, 1 pair heavy woolen stockings, 40 rounds rifle cartridges (40-65), 1 bag chewing tobacco, 2 bags smoking tobacco, 1 pound pulverized alum, and 1 hank heavy cord. The stove being full, it was padded over the open bottom with excelsior three inches thick for protec- tion to carrier's back, then entirely covered with thick bagging, which was well sewed on and the package completed by buckling on the carrying strap (see cut, page 98), the whole weighing seventy-six pounds — a convenient load for a native Newfoundlander. BAGGAGE RESTRICTIONS. Each member of the party was allowed to take as much baggage as he desired to the point of disembar- cation, Pilley's Island. When the outfit left Pilley's, each was restricted to the following, a list of which 98 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. CARRY-ALL WITH CARRYING STRAP ATTACHED. was sent him : 1 hunting hat, 1 hunting cap, 1 hunt- ing coat, 1 hunting vest, 1 Cardigan jacket, 2 under- shirts, 2 pairs drawers, 1 pair hunting pants, 1 extra pair pants, 4 pairs stockings, 2 overshirts, 1 pair hunt- ing shoes, 1 extra pair shoes, 1 pair rubber boots, 1 pair gloves, 1 pair woolen blankets (single), 1 rubber blanket, 1 carry-all, 1 match safe, J dozen handker- WHAT WE CARRIED. 99 chiefs, 1 towel, 1 washrag, 1 cake toilet soap, 1 gun (rifle or rifle and shot), 1 jointed cleaning rod and oil, 1 light reel, 1 short trunk rod, 1 small fly book, extra hooks, etc., 1 case needles, thread, buttons, 1 compass, 1 hunting knife, 1 rubber collapsible drinking cup, 1 pair slippers (heavy soles), 1 package paper, envelopes, postals, pipes and tobacco, cigars, etc., and one good field or opera grass. In addition to the above the writer took in a "Ditty Bag" made from an ordinary shot bag the fol- lowing medical supplies; sufficient for the whole party : 25 sugar coated imp'd. co. cath. pills, 50 sugar coated 2 gr. quin. pills, 50 i gr. morph. granules, i oz. Norwood's Tr. Verat. Viridi, 2 oz. chloroform, J oz. fld. ext. Ipecac, i oz. Tr. Dover's powder, 1 oz. oxide zinc ointment, 1 roll rubber adhesive plaster 1 in. wide, 2 drachms stearate of zinc, 3 roller bandages, 1 hypoder- mic syringe, i oz. chlor. anodyne (Parke, Davis & Co.). Any physician will furnish specific directions for the use of the above named remedies and appliances, in case there is none in the party. The list given embraces all that will be necessary, and the remedies, if handled with a moderate amount of care and intel- ligence, will meet most of the ills incident to camp life in a northern climate. To this extra personal baggage was added the author's case of 100 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 101 CAMP CONVENIENCES, which he has for years taken with him, and now deems almost indispensable on fishing, hunting and collecting tours. GUNS AND AMMUNITION. As there are still "many men of many minds," it would be impossible to restrict any sportsman as to what arm among the many he should use. Now-a-days there are no poor guns made, comparatively speaking. No man should take two guns into this country un- less he can take two in one. He will find that with one and his pack, a tramp of some sixteen miles will give him all he cares to carry. A shotgun is of no earthly use in caribou hunting — you might just as well shoot into a sand-bank. Their covering of short thick hair on a thick hide is almost proof against buckshot. On the other hand the beautiful ptar- migan or willow-grouse are plentiful, of superb flavor, and serve as an agreeable change in diet ; but it re- quires a shotgun to get them. The conditions thus stated suggest the proper gun — either a Daily three- barrel or a gun suggested by the writer, invented and patented by Prof. Wm. B. Hall, of Lancaster, Pa. This gun weighs but eight and one-fourth pounds, and meets all the requirements of any hunt, after any 102 CAKIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. THE HALL COMBINATION RIFLE AND SHOTGUN. GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 103 game. The rifle barrel, which is on top, may be made to any calibre to suit the fancy of the owner, from 50 clown. The action is strong and perfect. The shot-barrel is a 20-bore cylinder, shoots shot well, and does good execution with a patched round ball at seventy-five to one hundred yards. This would be the ideal gun with jacketed bullet for rifle and smokeless powder. A repeater is not necessary ex- cept in war. As each hunter is allowed to kill but five bull and three doe caribou, he should shoot for fine specimens. On small game there is no restric- tion. As lead is heavy, it is well to take only what ordnance stores are necessary. Forty rounds of rifle cartridges are plenty — and, if a shot-barrel is used, 50 assorted sizes of small shot is quite sufficient. Mr. Kepler carrecl his Daily 3-barrel gun — the one he has been using for the last fifteen years ; shot-barrel 12-bore; rifle, 45-70 Govt. Mr. J. W. Davis, "The Kid" owned no gun, and used the author's Hall gun, 20-bore shot, rifle 40-82. The Avriter used a 40-65 Winchester with a Malcolm telescope sight. A small, light tent is a necessity. Having exam- ined carefully the Protean tent, manufactured by A. S. Comstock, of Evanston, Ills., we Avere not long in selecting just what we wanted. Size, on ground, 7x7 feet; height of rear Avail, 2 feet; height at the only 104 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. pole used, 7 feet 3 inches ; 8-ounce army duck. This tent gives more room and stands more blow than any tent made, and the price is reasonable. Our preparations at this end of the line were now about completed, and in the next chapter we will reach Newfoundland. THE COMSTOCK ONE-POLE PROTEAN TENT. CHAPTER XII. FROM NEW YORK TO ST. JOHN'S. How to Get to Newfoundland — Red Cross Line — The Silvia and Portia — Time Table and Rates of Fare — No Duty and Twenty Cubic Feet for Baggage — Marching Orders — Mis- take No. 1 — On Board the Portia— Off to the North — Halifax— Fog off Cape Race — Away to St. John's. HILE the preparations detailed in the last chapter were being made, the route and dates were also being arranged. Communi- cation had been established with Messrs. Bowring & Archibald, Produce Exchange Annex, 9 Stone St., New York, who are agents for the Red Gross Line of steamers plying between New York, Halifax, N. S., St. John's and Pilley's Island. These two steamers, THE SILVIA AND PORTIA, were built especially for this trade, are of high speed, and have all the modern improvements. One of them leaves Robinson's, Congress St., Stores Dock, Brooklyn, fortnightly, sails through Long Island,, Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds, thereby insuring; smooth water, except during a storm, for nearly half 8 ( 105 ) 106 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. the distance to and from Halifax, which is the first call. The next landing is made at St. John's, New- foundland. From St. John's they proceed to the Pyrites mines at Pilley's Island, Bay of Notre Dame, 240 miles north of St. John's, and your proper place to stop if you are desirous of securing some fine heads of the North American Reindeer or Woodland Caribou. The AVERAGE TIME EN EOUTE northward is as follows: ISTew York to Halifax 50 hours. Stay at Halifax about 20 hours. Halifax to St. John's 50 hours. Stay at St. John's 2 days. St. John's to Pilley's Island 24 hours. And returning southward: Pilley's Island to St. John's 24 hours. Stay at St. John's.... 24 hours. St. John's to Halifax 50 hours. Stay at Halifax 24 hours. Halifax to New York 50 hours. RATES OF PASSAGE. The rates here given include meals and state-room berth as well as meals during stops : MARCHING ORDERS. 107 Cabin, First Class. New York to Halifax and return $28.00 New York to St. John's and return 34.00 New York to Pilley's Island and return 72.00 If there are four in the party the accommodating agents will allow an agent's commission of five per cent., which will add $14.40 towards the purchase of provisions for the outfit. NO DUTY AND TWENTY CUBIC FEET SPACE ALLOWED FOR BAGGAGE. There is no duty on guns or any other baggage, providing you bring the articles back to the United States; and each passenger is allowed twenty cubic feet of space for baggage, irrespective of weight. Hand baggage and guns are allowed in state rooms. All preliminaries having been attended to, all we required was a telegram from Bowring & Archibald announcing the arrival and sailing of the Portia, which, as we had been informed, would not sail through to Pilley's Island, but connect at St. John's with the coast steamers sailing north, and land us at Pilley's Island about the i2th to the 15th of October. MARCHING ORDERS. September 28th, in the early morning, the word came, "Portia sails from Robinson's, Congress Street, 108 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Stores,, Brooklyn, at 12 M., September 29th." At 4:45 P. M. we boarded the train at Lancaster, Pa., with only one incident to mar the pleasant anticipa- tions which we had been nursing for a year and more — the one unpleasant thing which occurs on very many occasions just at the critical moment — Mr. H. W. Bush, a good hunter and jovial compan- ion, was obliged to remain at home on account of business complications over which he had no control. This sudden break left but three in our party — the writer, Mr. A. C. Kepler, of Lancaster, and Mr. J. W. Davis, of Burlington, N. J. This not only deprived us of the company of Mr. Bush, but as well his share of the expenses, which amounted to considerable. The Burlington contingent met us at the Astor House on Saturday morning, the 29th, as per pre- vious arrangement, and by 10 A. M. we were at the office of Bowring & Archibald, and soon secured our passage and each a draft for $100.00 (at an expense of fifty cents per hundred), as we had already learned that in Newfoundland American money would be subject to a shave of three per cent. In this transac- tion we made a mistake, and others would do well to benefit by our experience. We should have con- verted all our money into drafts from $10.00 up, which would not only have saved us quite a snug OFF TO THE NORTH. 109 little sum, but would have spared us the mortification of seeing our good United States money discounted by a bankrupt country. ON BOAED THE POETIA. By 11 A. M. we were all on board, had good rooms assigned us, made the acquaintance of the officers and a tour of general inspection. The Portia is a fine English steamer of 732 tons, 250 feet long, with ac- commodations for ninety passengers and a large amount of freight. She is well furnished, kept clean and neat, and the state rooms are large and well arranged. We soon learned that we would not get off at 12 M. As a matter of fact we did not sail until 6 P. M. At 2 P. M. we had a sumptuous dinner, including the delicacies of the season — the sun- browned veteran, Captain Ash, presiding. He, it will be remembered, was ice-pilot on the Bear on the expedition which was sent to Lieut. Greely's res- cue. For a quarter of a century he has skirted the ragged ice-bound coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland. OFF TO THE NOETH. At 6 P. M. the anchor was raised and the Portia floated off like a swan. The weather was warm and sultry, and not a cloud in sight as large as a hand. 110 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. We all enjoyed the evening sail to the fullest extent and retired at eleven, sleeping soundly until about four on Sunday morning, when we were aroused from our peaceful slumbers by a terrible commotion on deck. The ship was rolling and pitching to such an extent that it was difficult to keep from being thrown from our berths, and the cuspidor was shooting from one side of the room to the other like a billiard ball. In short, we were in a gale. The deck space was mostly taken up by pork, coal oil, apples and other barreled goods, and they were performing the same gyrations as the cuspidors in the state rooms below. At 7 A. M., when opposite Johnstone's Island, the Captain wisely concluded to cast anchor and lash the deck load to the railing. At 7 P. M. the anchor was again hauled up and we steamed off, making about six miles, when old Neptune became so boisterous that at one time ten feet of water swept over the Por- tia's forward deck, compelling us to face about again and cast anchor near the spot we had recently left. Monday, October 1st Avas cold and clear, though windy. At 5 A. M. we were again under way, roll- ing along at a fair speed. Though we had but little wind during the afternoon the sea was still rough fol- lowing the storm, which as will be remembered was very disastrous along the whole Atlantic coast. ON BOAED THE FOETIA. Ill 112 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Tuesday, October 2d. Thermometer 56; no wind, clear. Wednesday, October 3d. Thermometer 50; clear, no wind. We entered the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, at 8 A. M. HALIFAX. The city is located in one of the finest harbors in the world, on the Atlantic coast. It forms a loop, the harbor and city being surrounded by high mountains and hills, all sides of which are lined with forts studded with bristling cannon. The first thing we did was to find the post and telegraph offices, after which we made a tour of the city, which is indeed very beautiful, con- taining massive buildings, fine stores, pretty streets, botanical gardens, museums, etc. We had ample time to walk through all the principal parts of the city, and among the objects of interest we visited the citadel, the most important fort, from which we were afforded a magnificent bird's-ej^e view of the city and harbor. One of the attractions in the latter was Her Majesty's steamship, the Blake. Our paper currency was all right and taken at par, but our silver they refused to take at all. We left Halifax at 3.45 P. M. Thursday, October 4th. Thermometer 60 ; cloudy. Began raining this evening, and continued most of the night. AWAY TO ST. JOHN'S. 113 IN A FOG OFF CAPE KACE. Friday, October 5th. Thermometer 56; fog. At 5.30 this morning we were awakened by the fog sig- nal, which was continued all day, as well as soundings every half hour until we passed Cape Race, when to- wards evening the fog lifted, and we were running at full speed for St. John's. CHAPTER XIII. THE CAPITAL AND ITS SIGHTS. At St. John's — The Stars and Stripes Eaised on our Hotel — A Hospitable City — Mistake No. 2 — Game Laws of New- foundland — The Stipendiary Magistrate — The License- Purchasing Supplies — Eight Men for Twenty Days — Two Dollars a Day "Dry" — Packing for Cache — Mistake No. 3 — Kubber the Only Wear — Seeing the City — The Nar- rows — A Land Locked Harbor — The City — Relative Dis- tances — The Museum — The Cathedral — Parliament House — Quidi Vidi. ATURDAY, October 6th. Thermometer 55 ; clear. At 4 A. M. we were awakened by the casting of the anchor in the harbor of St. John's. We rose at six, collected our hand bag- gage, passed the customs officers all right, and after a few minutes' walk up grade we were registered at the City Hotel, Mrs. G. Walch, proprietress; rate, $1.50 per day, good rooms, comfortable beds, electric light, bath and plenty of clean, well-cooked, wholesome food. HP GOES THE STARS AND STRIPES. Scarcely had the ink time to dry on the register, when up went the flag of our country in our honor. (114) MISTAKE NO. 2. 115 We soon learned that the knowledge that one is an American is a sufficient passport in Newfoundland, not only in the capital of the country, but in every hamlet throughout the entire island. Never in any country where it has been the writer's privilege to travel has he been the recipient of so much unsold cited hospitality as was accorded our party during our short stay in St. John's. To mention the names of all who were active in their zeal to make us comforta- ble and supply us with such information as we desired would be impossible, and to refer to a few would be injustice to all others with whom we came in contact. After breakfast we started out to attend the busi- ness of the hour, and as the sailing date of the first coast steamer north for Pilley's Island governed our stay in St. Sohn's, it was to ascertain of that fact first; so we proceeded to the office of the N. F. Coastal Steamship Company's office, Harvey & Co., where we were informed that the next vessel, the Virginia Lake, would sail for Pilley's Island between the 9th and 12th of October. This bit of information also reminded us of MISTAKE NO. 2, as we were now to spend at least five or six days in St. John's, at an actual expense of $1.50 a day each, 116 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. which could all have been saved had we but waited for the Silvia, which calls long enough at St. John's for the tourist to transact all necessary business, after which she sails direct to Pilley's. Our information cost us this cool cash in addition to the three per cent, discount, and we trust those who follow us will profit by the old adage " a penny saved is a penny earned," and avoid our mistake. After bewailing our misfortune we next started out to hunt up the august personage who was to relieve us each of $100.00 and one hundred cents for a license to permit each to shoot five male and three female caribou, this being the limit allowed by the GAME LAWS OF NEWFOUNDLAND, of which we here give a brief summary: Caribou — Deer Preservation Act of 1889. I. Here- after no person shall kill any caribou except from the 15th day of September until the 15th day of Feb- ruary, both inclusive. II. No person shall during any one year or season kill more than five stag and three doe caribou. Notwithstanding anything con- tained in this Act, any poor settler may kill caribou (or deer), for his immediate consumption or that of his family, or may kill for purposes of sale within the Colony during the season, between the 1st of October GAME LAWS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 117 and the 15th of February, in any year not more than ten caribou (or deer), but not by any snare or trap, or pit, or by the hunting or chasing of dogs. Non-Resident Licenses — III. No person not actually a resident in this Colony or its dependencies shall kill caribou without having first procured a license for the season, and shall pay for such license an annual sum of $100.00. V. The license required by this Act may be issued by a Stipendiary Magistrate, Collector or Sub-Collector of Customs, a Justice of the Peace, and such other officers or persons as may be empow- ered by the Governor in Council for that purpose, the person requiring the license paying therefor one dollar. Exportation — VIII. No person shall export or carry with him out of this Colony any venison or the heads, antlers, skins or other parts of the caribou with- out first clearing the same at some Custom House. Dogs — XI. Any person who shall hereafter kill any caribou with dogs shall be liable to a fine of $25.00. Ptarmigan, Willow Grouse, Partridges — I. No per- son shall kill any ptarmigan or willow grouse (com- monly called partridge) or any other kind of grouse or partridge within this Colony between the 12th of January and the 15th of September. 118 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Migratory Birds — An Act of June 11, 1890, § 2. No person shall kill any curlew, plover, snipe or other wild migratory birds (excepting wild geese) be- tween the 12th day of January and the 20th day of August. Moose, Elk. V. No person shall kill any moose or elk for a period of ten years from the 1st of January, 1886. Rabbit, Hare. VIII. No person shall kill any wild rabbit or hare from the 1st of March until the 1st of September. Salmon, Grilse, Par, Trout, Char. 102, § II. No sal- mon shall be taken before the 1st day of May or after the 10th day of September. Trout, char, whitefish, landlocked salmon. Chapter 7, Laws of 1888, § I. No person shall catch any kind of trout, char, white- fish, landlocked salmon or any fresh water or any migratory fish between the 15th day of September and the 1st day of February. Soon after starting on our search for the means of complying with this law, we met a policeman, and in- quired of him as to who was the proper person to is- sue our licenses. He very courteously volunteered to accompany us to the Court House, ushered us in, gave us comfortable seats, and as a cause was being tried we were well entertained as it progressed. Finally THE STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE. 119 the Judge postponed the case, when one of the uni- formed officers of the Court was noticed holding a short but private whispering conversation with His Honor, and he at once repaired to an adjoining room which proved to be his private office, and we were soon ushered into his august presence. THE STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE. After a greeting only such as a hospitable New- foundlander and the prospective recipient of $303.00. could accord, he passed the pipe and proceeded to tell us of the grand sport to be had Avith rod and gun in the Colony. In short, he had so much to say and was wound up so tight, that half an hour had passed and nothing was done toward filling up our certifi- cates or licenses. Soon an officer appeared, and after making a military salute, informed His Honor that the barristers and their clients were waiting his pres- ence. Somewhat annoyed at being disturbed in his reverie, he curtly replied, "Let them wait." Seeing that there was little prospect of getting our licenses without interfering with the rights of good people in the court room, the writer suggested that inasmuch as His Honor's time was valuable and we were obliged to be loafers until the Virginia Lake sailed in five or six days, we would call at a fixed hour in the after- 120 CAEIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. noon. In the mean time he could cause our papers to be prepared, when it would require but a short time to arrange our business. With some hesitancy he consented, and we bowed ourselves out promising to call at the appointed hour. We were on hand at the time named ; he was in his office, and had the floor covered with six of the finest gray wolf skins we had ever seen, and upon which he informed us he had just paid a bounty of $12.00 each. One of our party observed that they would make fine robes, when he remarked with a sly twinkle in his eye that the law required him to take possession of the pelts in order that dishonest persons might not collect the bounty a second time on the same animals ! We were soon re- lieved of our cash, and in return were each in posses- sion of the folloAving license : GAME LAWS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 121 Police Office, St. John's, Newfoundland, #&£.._,..£. JlZr ^ •*~ #L <&^£~&m«2-*-t~*, j^*** 1 " ^^^^ /&Ljg%„ <9p4-4dtjA~-+^tr J&U to get away. The calf whose head is shown on cover ran three hundred yards after receiving a 40-65 ball, through the body just back of the heart. Here we must leave the caribou to the further ac- quaintance of those whose fancy leads them in pur- suit of the nobler game of our continent. The heads of the principal specimens mentioned in our record 210 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. look down upon us from the walls of our home, re- newing daily the pleasure we found in the pursuit. Go and do likewise. THE MICMAC INDIANS. As reference has been made in the preceding chap- ters to the Micmacs of Newfoundland, a few words about them may not be out of place, as they are the only Indian inhabitants. They belong to the eastern branch of the Algonquin family, representatives of which are also found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Lower Canada, Some thirty families of them are located around Hall's Bay, and compose about all on the island. They live in houses like the white men, speak a little broken English, cultivate small patches of ground, and eke out a livelihood by fishing and hunting. They are all Roman Catholics, and in front of their cemetery on the north shore of Hall's Bay the cross and a totem-pole stand side b} 7 side, and are guarded with jealous care. Many of these people are afflicted with tuberculosis of the throat and lungs, from which cause there are a number of deaths every year. Notwithstanding his attempts at civilized life, this member of the aboriginal race is moving towards the extinction which seems to be the fate of the red man in every portion of the new world. NEWFOUNDLAND'S FUTURE. 211 CONCLUSION. And now, about to lay down the pen, as we glance backward by way of farewell to the little book, there crowd upon us pleasant reminiscences of the people among whom we spent those autumn days, so full of pleasure and of incident. We came among them strangers, we left them friends; should we not be tempted back again by the recollection of this visit, at least the friendships formed will not be suffered to lapse, if the islanders reciprocate our feeling toward them, as we have every reason to expect. In this feeling is an element of sympathy which we trust may awaken the same in the heart of the reader. These people of the north have for decades been making a heroic struggle not only against nature's forces, but against the colder and more cruel hand of oppression, moved by soulless greed; and last and worst, against the corruption among themselves in- duced by the example set them in their treatment by the mother country. But the corruptionists are a small minority ; the honest masses will slough them off, and we feel safe in predicting for them a brighter future. What are the grounds of our belief? First, the seemingly inexhaustible bounty of nature in the waters surrounding them, the undeveloped riches of 212 CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND. soil and mine, the elastic spirit shown wherever the smallest opportunity is given for improvement, un- daunted by repeated applications of the English '-wet blanket," and last and most promising, the almost universal desire for free institutions. Will the deliverance come in the form of annexa- tion to the great American Republic? Such is their hope, and also that of the writer. He may as well confess here that a confederation of American states from Greenland over to Behring Straits, and south- ward to Cape Horn, would be none too large for his ideal ; but he cannot hope te see that, since the years of Methuselah are no longer vouchsafed to man. But he is not so sure that he may not hold out long enough to hunt the caribou in the American State of Newfoundland. Whether we shall see it or no, let our last word in taking leave of the reader express once more the hope that instead of a European dependency, the twentieth century may early greet our friends of Newfoundland as in the fullest sense American citizens. >L< IWf *p%«^ k£&£ <&£' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 002 891 120 8 m The Emperor.