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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

FROM THE COLLECTION MADE BY
CHARLES SHELDON B.A. 1890
OF BOOKS ON NATURAL HISTORY
EXPLORATION -HUNTING & FISHING

GIFT OF FRANCIS P. GARVAN
B.A. 1897

WITH DR. GRENFELL
IN LABRADOR

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WITH DR. GRENFELL
IN LABRADOR

BY
CUTHBERT LEE
WITH A CHAPTER BT WILFRED T. GRENFELL

NEVi^ YORK
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914

CoPTBIQHT, 1914, BY
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY

TO
MY MOTHER
WHOSE WONDERFUL PERSONALITY
HAS INSPIRED
MUCH SERVICE TO OTHERS

INTRODUCTION
Having lived in Labrador for over a year as vol
unteer aide to Dr. Grenfell, the author tells of the
"liveyeres" or white natives, the Eskimo and In
dians, to whom Dr. Grenfell ministers as physician,
surgeon, sole magistrate for 2,000 miles of coast,
preacher and philanthropist.
That the commercial system of Labrador has been
changed from the ancient barter of furs and fish
for supplies to an increasingly sound cash basis in
the last ten years is shown to be due to the estab
lishment by Dr. Grenfell of a series of cooperative
stores run by natives.
This complete change in the simple economic or
ganization of Labrador backs up the work of Dr.
GrenfeU's four hospitals in fighting the scurvy,
anemia and consumption due chiefly to poverty and
semi-starvation. The first full account of the Medical Mission as it
is given here, the various stations and their buildings
and personnel, and Dr. GrenfeU's fleet of schooners
and launches, headed by the staunch little hospital
ship which has been on the rocks thirty-eight times.
The experiences of the author as sailor, when he
twice narrowly escaped drowning in severe storms
and shipwreck, as clerk of Labrador's one court, in
traveling through blizzards with Eskimo dogs, hunt
ing and shooting in this sportmen's paradise, reveal
5

6 Sntroouctiott
a life full of excitement in a country regarded as
dull and bleak.
Mr. Lee's work included breaking in and help
ing to establish the herd of reindeer which will
eventually provide the natives with food, clothing
and transportation, and do away with the man-eat
ing Eskimo dogs.
And through all this account runs an intimate
series of views of the author's friend, Dr. Gren
fell, "the most picturesque figure on the North
American continent," whose wonderful personality,
though revealed in his work, is here for the first
time presented as he lives his daily life. The com
pelling but diffident speaker and writer, known to
Americans and honored here and abroad, is shown
here as "The Doctor" of Labrador, the wise judge,
unhesitating fighter and watchful guardian, whose
generosity in giving his life to help others, and
whose courage in navigating his little vessel and
facing death on the ice, have earned the love of the
strong men of Labrador.
Dr. Grenfell has contributed an excellent chap
ter on the future of Labrador, telling why he be
lieves in and loves the country and its people. Un
known to him, the author has planned to share
equally with Dr. Grenfell, for use in his work, the
profits of this book. DOUGLAS PALMER,
Volunteer member of the medical staff, Inter
national Medical Mission in Labrador, for
four years.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAFTEB PAQE
I. The Future op Labrador, by Wilfred
T. Grenfell  11
II. The Labrador People .... 29
III. Hunting and Fishing .... 41
IV. Commercial Labrador .... 61
V. Exploration  72
VI. The Labrador Medical Mission . . 85
VII. How TO Reach Labrador . . . 105
VIII. An American in Labrador . . 112
IX. The Labrador Eskimo . . . 138
Appendix : Addresses . .... 155

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Wilfred T. Grenfell .... Frontispiece
OPPOSITE PAGE
An Eskimo family at home . . opposite page 114
Building shelters on spring journey .

Children from Dr. GrenfeU's orphanage .
Dog transportation in Labrador
Dr. Grenfell visiting the Eskimo
in sealskins 
in his Eskimo kyak ....
surveying 
Fishing schooners in Battle Harbor, Labrador
Lapland herders harnessing reindeer .
Map, specially drawn for this book .
Noonday siesta on a frozen marsh
Quarter-mile of Greenland glacier
Reindeer on Doctor's Hills
caravan hauling logs .
team .......
The author in Eskimo sealskin clothes
The reindeer afford rich milk

3216 13
85
150
152 2925
105 20812032
136128 65

WITH DR. GRENFELL
IN LABRADOR

CHAPTER I
THE future of LABRADOR^ BY WILFRED T.
grenfell
The section of North America known as "Lab
rador" may be said, roughly, to consist of a terri
tory as large as England, Scotland, Ireland, France,
and Austria combined. The real question of inter
est is, What can this vast area contribute to the
world's wealth? Can it contribute anything?
It is an acknowledged fact that so far it is only
inhabited by a comparative handful of settlers, who
live scattered all along the seaboard, and by trap
pers who hunt along its waterways, or on the high
lands in winter. The gradually diminishing bands
of Micmac and Nascopee Indians who eke out a
precarious livelihood by the chase as they wander
over the whole length and breadth of the country
are known at times to meet with hunger or even
actual starvation. The Eskimos, who once Hved in

12 mith Dt. (Srenfell in JLafiraDor
abundance around the entire shore line, are now
confined to the northern two hundred miles of coast ;
and they, too, are steadily diminishing, owing to the
destruction of their means of livelihood by their
more clever and better outfitted white competitors.
Forest fires and excessive hunting have told
heavily upon the numbers of fur-bearing animals.
The almost unrestricted netting of estuaries and of
rivers has decreased enormously the salmon re
sources of a hundred years ago. In 1795 one firm
was able to export as much as all our salmon now
ptit together can total. The seals are seriously
diminishing, and so are the whales. Fifty years ago
it was possible to become positively wealthy if you
owned a good sealing berth. It was not then a
matter of wonder that one man, on the strength of
his sealing stand, kept a carriage and horses and
built the only road in Labrador that he might drive
them along it. Moreover, at the approach of winter
he was able to hire a fiddler from Quebec, keep open
house, and provide merriment for his neighbors
until the return of open water. Yet so much have
the seals decreased that I was called upon to help
with food this very man's grandson, who had fallen
into poverty and semi-starvation. He had been
obliged to abandon the sealing post altogether.
Once it was a regular supplement to the cod-fish
ing to use seal nets in the fall and spring. Now it
hardly pays to put them out if you own them; and

DR. GRENFELL VISITING THE ESKIMO

Facing page 13

C|)e JFuture of LafiraDor 13
no merchant would dream of supplying them in
return for half the catch, as was the custom here
tofore. In our own minds we attribute this to the
enormous number of baby seals killed just after
they are born by the many large steamer crews,
which are each year increasing in size and numbers.
Not only is this loss of seals a serious factor to the
cash returns of the Labrador family, but also the
disappearance of the fresh meat for food and the
invaluable skin for boots and clothing constitutes an
irreparable misfortune.
For some reason or other, the codfish along the
coast have also become more liable to fail of late
years, to such an extent that most of the northern
summer stations have been entirely abandoned. The
herring, too, for which Labrador was especially fa
mous, have left their former haunts, and this fishery
also has been practically abandoned.
For my part, I am often asked, "Why don't you
try to move every living being out of such a God
forsaken country?" As a matter of fact, the only
just deduction from all these conditions is that what
has befallen Labrador is only exactly what has hap
pened everywhere else where exploitation has been
practiced without, or instead of, conservation, and
where no capital and no science have come to the
rescue. Where would even California have been
without irrigation, to say nothing of Arizona and
New Mexico?

H Wifb Dr. (Srenfell in JLafitaDot
Hitherto I have been registering facts. As to
the why and wherefore of these facts it has for
merly been no one's business to inquire. There is
no marine biological department in the country to
make scientific inquiries and to seek for remedies.
Our industries, like sick folk in Labrador twenty
years ago, simply died or lived, as chance directed.
Of late years the Newfoundland Government, under
whose jurisdiction the eastern side of Labrador
falls, has done something to prevent the destruction
of the reproduction grounds of our salmon and
trout by adding to the laws prohibiting the netting
and barring of rivers some small executive force
to put the laws into efifect. But it still seems prob
able that little recuperation will occur until the
catching of cod by the great submerged trap-nets
spread all along the coast in the months of June,
July, and August is abandoned. These are exactly
the months when the salmon are running into the
bays and rivers, and a very large number of peal
(or salmon under two pounds weight) are taken in
the leaders, or large nets, which reach from the
surface to the bottom and run out one hundred
fathoms from the shore to the trap. In one river I
have seen fifty salmon caught on a fly, every one of
which showed a net mark on its shoulders, proving
that it had forced its way through or broken loose
from twine lower down the river. We are delighted
that there is a growing feeling among the cod-fisher-

Cfie jTuture of JLaftraDor 15
men themselves against these nets, for, though in
this way they catch countless numbers of fish in a
brief time, the take is entirely dependent upon the
cod coming right into the shore exactly where the
net is set, and, if the fish strike a hundred yards
either way or keep on the outside, a whole summer
may be lost, and that often spells ruin.
Again, the trap method of fishing, which makes
it necessary for the fisherman to sit down until the
fish catches itself, tells against the men, qua men,
destroying that magnificent enterprise and daring
which carries the deep-sea fisherman wherever the
fish may move to.
It might be easy to go on and show that Labra
dor, so far as can be seen at present, offers as its
main contribution to the world's economies animals
rather than vegetable or mineral products. The an
cient formation of the Labrador rocks, the continu
ation of the Appalachian range, their similarity to
those of the rich ore-producing strata of the rest
of the northern section of North America, and the
small amount of prospecting which has been possi
ble, together with the revelation of the economic
possibilities for every form of matter now that
radio-activity has been discovered, foreshadow ul
timately unlimited development for Labrador. This
opinion is confirmed when one considers her enor
mous water powers as yet unharnessed, especially
the Grand Falls of the Hamilton River, which are

i6 mitii Dr. <S5renfeII in LafiraDor
undoubtedly among the finest in the world. But we
are utilitarian enough to feel more interested in
immediate than in remote posterity, from which we,
during our stay on earth, can at best expect little.
Moreover, at present we in Labrador are without
the means to promote mineral development.
We are in much the same position in regard to
the possible returns from the vegetable assets of the
country. The natural products of the valleys are
spruce, firs, and larches, with a few scattered birch,
balsams, and alders. The uplands of the interior
and the barrens afford mostly mosses and lichens.
Grasses are characteristically absent, with the ex
ception of the sand grass, which grows abundantly
on the few beaches, and which not only affords a
fine tough stalk for basket-making, but also a good
seed which for ages in Iceland, and at one time in
Norway, served the people instead of corn.
During the visits of the Vikings to Labrador this
seed, in the absence of corn, gave them their only
available bread, and was known as veiti, or wheat.
The making of linen from flax is also most profit
able in damp climates, and, now that straw can be
used for making it, there seems no reason why such
an industry might not grow up.
There can be no doubt, also, that the country
could afford abundant pulp material, our northern
spruces being especially admirable for that purpose,
owing to their tough fibers. But no feasible plan

TRANSPORTATION IN THE INTERIOR OF LABRADOR
Facing page i6

Cfte JFuture of ILaliraDor 17
has as yet been offered to induce capital to come in
and work it. It is true that there is an alpine flora,
mostly of small, bright-colored flowering plants, and
an abundant variety and generous quantity of in
digenous native berries. We now export our small
red cranberry for purposes of dyeing, and also use
it and the blueberry quite extensively for jams.
There can be no doubt that these berries could be
vastly improved by cultivation, and it is even pos
sible that the ripening period of some cereals may
be sufficiently reduced to allow a limited amount of
grain to be produced locally, possibly enough for
any population which the country will ever be called
upon to carry. At any rate, experiment has shown
that in the valleys of the big rivers which have not
been overrobbed of the natural protection of trees,
and at distances sufficiently far from the polar cur
rent which sweeps the coast, barley and oats will
ripen. On the other hand, we are liable to summer
frosts. In most places our earth is scant, and where
it is plentiful is very acid, a fact which accounts for
the luxuriance of our crop of blueberries, which
flourish only in a humic, acid soil.
There is no question that a potato with crawling
leaves which easily escape frost, such as was par
tially developed by Lord Strathcona, could be per
petuated, and, with the hardy cabbage, lettuce, and
turnip, would add sufficiently to the quota of food
contribution from the vegetable kingdom to supply

1 8 mitb Dr. (S^renfell in JLaftraDor
the moderate population with all that they would
actually need of carbohydrates to maintain life,
without the necessity for much importing.
We are now experimenting with northern alfalfa,
which offers good promise of success. Possibly also
the new variety of Ais ike clover, which is a peren
nial and unhurt by frosts, may simplify our dairy
problem. But, look at it how you will (and for twenty
years we have been considering how to improve
matters), neither from the vegetable nor mineral
kingdom do we see at present any hope of even
tually doing more than supply the bare necessities
of existence. If, however, to some of those objec
tions to a population in a country which people have
been pleased to call "the Land of Cain" we argue
that in the animal kingdom we see a prospect of
hope, we are met by the objection on the part of
some that to convert our country into a meat-rais
ing land, and so contribute to the influences which
already mark down the human race as beasts of
prey, is not only unwise, but unworthy.
But to the man who wears boots and shoes and
the woman who wears furs and slippers Labrador
makes an even more insistent plea for recognition,
even if sentiment drives such persons to throw away
the carcasses after they have been deprived of their
natural coverings. Unfortunately, with us, our
foxes and beavers and other animals have not emu-

C|)e iFuture of LafiraDor 19
lated either lobsters or crabs or snakes in their
estimable ability to shed their skins and grow new
ones. Only in the Utopian dreams of fox-farmers
and seal-hunters has the possibility of this ultima
thule of animal culture yet been developed. As
matters exist, one of the most sorrowful features
of seal-hunting, to me, is that the bodies of the
countless slain babies are left to waste in the cold
storage of the ice floe until sharks and other crea
tures of prey, above and below water, obliterate this
offense to modern sensibilities. Even those, how
ever, who, to be consistent, object to the use of any
animal product whatever which involves the death
of the producer, must still note the momentous ar
gument that, if all of the human inhabitants of the
world were really vegetarian, nearly one-half of the
world would have to starve in order to let the others
practice their faith — which is a paradox, seeing that
we, too, are animals. Only a short time ago a
friend wrote me from England a long discourse on
the value of nuts as food. He expatiated on their
cheapness, their economy as a concentrated food,
and on many of their other inestimable virtues. But
he only sent along one small sample bottle to sup
port his argument. The real trouble with nuts in
Labrador is not intellectual, but practical, because
none at all are available — and we have not yet
learned to live by swallowing the lump that rises in
our throat whenever we chance to think of them.

20 mitb Dr. (Srenfell in HaliraDor
For the present, it seems to me that the best im
mediate prospect of developing Labrador lies in the
possibilities of her animals. These are steadily in
creasing in value to mankind, and every character
istic of Labrador points to this as the line of least
resistance for evolution. When Alaska was first
purchased, her mineral wealth was undeveloped,
and Secretary Seward was blamed for buying a
valueless country. The idea that a polar land like
Alaska would ever contribute to the meat supply of
the outside world has even yet scarcely dawned
upon most men. But such is the case. A first con
signment of one hundred and twenty-five reindeer
carcasses, shipped to Seattle from the domestic
herds, arrived at the end of the year, and sold at
twenty cents a pound. That this export will be
vastly increased in the future, and that the experi
ment can be repeated in Labrador with success, is
now beyond doubt.
We purchased a herd of three hundred deer in
Lapland in 1908, selling fifty stags on their arrival
to assist in meeting the expenses. To manage the
remaining two hundred and fifty we had brought
over three families of Lapps, whom we retained for
three winters. The does bear one fawn each April
from their second to their twelfth year. Very
rarely thej' have twins, and occasionally the young
does will fawn at one year old. At breeding-time
we keep the herd on the hills to save the fawns

NOONDAY SIESTA ON A FROZEN MARSH

REINDEER ON DOCTOR'S HILLS

Facing page 20

Cfte jfuture of JLafiraDor 21
from falling into the brooks through holes in the
disappearing ice, while all summer they frequent
the high sea cliffs to keep out of the way of flies
as much as possible. Being splay-footed and cow
like, they occasionally fall over and perish. Now
and again some of our dogs will pull down a doe or
some stray one will escape the herders. There will
always be a percentage of loss. But, inclusive of
all losses, the herd will double in three years, and
ought to do better than that if the stags only are
either killed for meat or altered for transport pur
poses. This year we sold fifty more and sent three
of our own trained herders to the Athabasca dis
trict near Fort Smith. We have now eight hundred
and fifty left, mostly does, and in a few months
should have over twelve hundred. Even if reindeer
cannot supplant dogs for rapid transport, Labrador
can certainly become one vast reindeer ranch.
This experiment has clearly shown, as we have
now for the first time moved the herd a few miles
from the original feeding-ground, that the land can
support almost a countless number, that they can
easily endure our climate, and that they will pay
well to raise when there is a sufficient number of
them. At the present rate of increase, it is calculated
that in twenty-five years there will be three million
deer in Alaska, and it is reckoned that Alaska will
carry ten million, so that there would appear to be

22 mitl) Dr. (Srcnfell in JLaftraDor
promise of an almost unlimited supply of meat and
skins for export. If the herds double in three years
a million carcasses a year would not be too heavy
an annual tax. On a treeless island near Nome Dr.
Campbell's herd has in ten years grown from
seventy to eight hundred and fifty. Think of the
industry created and the collateral industries sup
ported by this scheme !
The value of the annual catch of fish around the
British islands is estimated, at the actual auction
price in the fish market, at over fifty million dollars ;
and that, when translated into the amount it costs
the consumer, might certainly be trebled. But if it
were only doubled, what a vast amount of cereals
and vegetables it would take to correspond to one
hundred million dollars ! This is saying nothing of
the collateral values realized both by the distribu
tion of labor and the character development of the
race engaged in the catching of the fish. The more
one looks at the facts the more one is impressed
with the fear that the world could not exist without
the killing of animals, or, even if it were able to do
so, a very imperfect race would be developed.
The wisdom of looking ahead, therefore, that the
meat supply of the world may be safeguarded, need
not be seriously considered as tainted with crime.
Add to this the expense and almost the impossibility
of providing palatable and sufficient hydrocarbons
from the vegetable world, and the rich milk and fat

C|)e jFuture of LafiraDor 23
sources of hydrocarbon that these deer afford.
Then we must recognize that the buffalo have gone,
because their land was taken from them, and that
the Rocky Mountain elk have to be fed artificially,
and that, even in spite of that, they are dying in
numbers from starvation. All our rich game birds
are diminishing rapidly. How many families would
have turkey to eat at Christmas if the supply were
still derived only from the wild stock? The excel
lent northern curlew (Numenius Borealis) black
ened the sky twenty- five years ago in Labrador;
now specimen collectors are offering fifty dollars
for a single skin. To have to trust to the former
wild pigeon supply for the succulent squab would
bring tears to the eyes of many epicureans. The
skin alone of this bird is fast rivaling for rarity that
of the great auk and the dodo.
Exactly the same thing exists in the vegetable
world as in the animal, and on sea as on land.
There would not be a lobster, an oyster, or a fur
seal to-day available for the wayfaring man were
it not for the principle of conservation long ago
recognized and applied. The supply of cod, salmon,
trout, etc., responds in exactly the same way to care
and reasonable outlay. Large sums are now being
spent on irrigation, pisciculture, and the adaptation
of plants to new surroundings.
I should like to register an earnest plea that

24 ^iti) Dr. (Grenfell in LaftraDor
philanthropic scientists and legislatures look into
the matter seriously, and subsidize the attempt to
utilize the now waste places of the earth, and at the
same time protect, or use more efficiently, the herds
of deer which still remain in the great north barren
lands. The suggestion to remove our population after
years of residence to some other place where things
are easier will appear but short-sighted policy to the
generations to come, compared with that which,
recognizing the difficulties of the wilderness, goes
in and then proceeds to make it blossom like a rose.
It was suggested some time ago by Mr. Thomp
son Seton, the well-known naturalist, that the yak
of Tibet might be adapted to Canada. So a little
herd of six yak, donated from the Duke of Bed
ford's park at Wobun, were expatriated from Eng
land to a place on the prairie near Brandon. Ap
parently little more is known of the experiment, but
as yet it has not revolutionized either the meat trade
or the sleigh-robe supply.
Some years ago a herd of a dozen moose were
turned wild into Newfoundland. It is said that one
has been seen once or twice since then, but nothing
material has resulted so far. Mr. Seton is still as
convinced as ever that his experiments can succeed.
He is by no means yet convinced that the experi
ment has been tried. Personally, I am convinced
that neither one of them has been tried. When one

LAPLAND HERDERS HARNESSING REINDEER

Facing page 25

Cfje JFuture of JLaliraDor 25
learns from Admiral Peary of the white caribou
which can multiply in North Grantland and in the
Arctic night, when one sees Professor Tyrrell's pic
tures of the endless procession of the herds of deer
that find a living in the almost absolutely barren
lands north of Chesterfield outlet, little doubt is left
in one's mind that the magnificently demonstrated
theorem of North Alaska can be redemonstrated in
Labrador. While the modern methods of manufacturing and
the conversion of waste into useful products are
already phenomenal, there still remains a demand
for the raw material and natural products. The
industrial chemist can synthesize almost anything
for us nowadays. The obscure secretion of the
ductless gland known as adrenalin, the very use of
which in the economy of the body we have only just
discovered, can now be made out of ordinary coal-
tar. Just so, camphor can be made artificially ; and
it might be possible to suppose that, by trying hard
enough, if the doctrine of selection is true, we might
get back by unnatural elimination to the mammoth
and the dinosaur. But where products are required
in bulk, and especially where they relate to the food
of man, there is every reason to consider it is good
economy to incur expenditure in order to fall in line
with natural processes rather than attempt to begin
all over again on our own account. Incidentally,
the naturally produced venison has a flavor some-

26 mUh Dr. arenfell in JLafiraDor
what between that of beef and lamb, and is most
delectable. I must not conclude this article without reference,
however, to another equally important possibility of
Labrador in the line of animal propagation; and
that concerns its export of valuable furs. Twenty
years ago, when I went to Labrador, the following
were approximately the prices for fur paid to the
trappers :
Silver fox  $so-$ioo Muskrat  lo cents
Patch fox  $6-$iS White fox  $i
Mink  $1 Lynx  $3.50
Red fox  $3 Black bear  $10
Ermine  10 cents Otter  $10
Marten cats (our sable)  $3-50
Now the prices stand at about twice or three
times the above :
Silver fox  $500 or over Muskrat  25 cents
Patch fox  $10-30 White fox  $5-12
Mink  $4-10 Lynx  $10-30
Red fox  $7-10 Black bear  $10-20
Ermine  25 cents Otter  $15-3°
Marten  $iS-2S
This can mean only one of two things — either the
demand has increased or the supply has diminished.
I believe both to be true; and it is quite obvious
that conservation, or rather propagation, is desir
able. Is it possible to propagate these animals?
Most certainly it is. It has been shown beyond
all question that foxes, marten, mink, and skunk
live and breed in captivity, and there is no reason

Cfie iFuture of JLafiraDor 27
to suppose that, if they are given room and food,
beaver, otter, and ermine would not do the same.
Some years ago, partly at the suggestion of the nat
uralist. Professor Brewster, of Massachusetts, we
started a small fox farm with three runs. We did
not, however, understand our business. We had
very little time to spend in looking after them, and,
being in a public place, they were much observed by
many visitors. The increased value of foxes caught
young and kept to maturity paid all expenses, but
we were unfortunate enough not to get any litters
of our own. So we abandoned the enterprise, sell
ing the last of our silver foxes to a friend in Prince
Edward Island. He succeeded immediately in get
ting a litter of cubs. Other enterprises have sprung
up all around; many new facts have become ap
parent, and I myself have had at least fifty applica
tions for live specimens for breeding purposes dur
ing the last twelve months.
It is perfectly safe to say that these ventures in
animal farming are, like the new deer experiment,
now beyond the problematical stage, and it is an
established fact that considerable dividends are al
ready being paid on the outlay. Moreover, as Mr.
Seton has pointed out, the tendency of Labrador is
to produce the darker, blacker, and more valuable
colored furs, while the tendency of Alaska is
toward light colors and reds, which are less val
uable. For my part, I believe that both these orig-

28 mith Dr. (Srenfell in JLaliraDor
inal propositions can be made to pay in Labrador.
I believe that in the not distant future a railway
will be run along its south shore ; and that the Hud
son Bay route will be made feasible, though the ice
from the west of Baffin's Bay, breaking off with
the September equinoxes, does fill the channel near
Cape Wolstenholme earlier than the new ice of No
vember, which was originally thought to be the
chief difficulty. As a place for summer visitors its
fyns and falls will one day bring a large traffic.
Without posing as attorney for the Creator in
the endeavor to defend his economy in having pro
duced so large a quantity of material of problem
atical value, I want to go on record as one who
personally has faith in the future of Labrador and
in its mineral resources, and the adaptability of its
valleys by drainage and culture for summer crops
of the necessaries of life. I have no doubt whatever
that, with proper conservation of its animal re
sources, it offers yet a valuable addition to the pos
sessions of Canada and the British Empire, an addi
tion of which only a few to-day see the meaning.
Alaska, British Columbia, the great Northwest,
Klondike, Cobalt, and generally the whole of "Our
Lady of the Snows," had to win their laurels
against severe criticism, an unmerited combat, and
much neglect. But the Great Dominion is finding
herself all safely, and one day Labrador also will
come to her own.

FISHING SCHOONERS IN BATTLE HARBOR, LABRADOR

Facing page 29

CHAPTER II

THE LABRADOR PEOPLE

There are about five thousand permanent inhab
itants of the Labrador coast, comprising three sep
arate sorts of people. The Eskimo were the orig
inal possessors of the country, as far as we know,
and were once quite numerous. They now, how
ever, are chiefly found north of Hamilton Inlet.
Their numbers are decreasing, though not very rap
idly. Eventually, undoubtedly, the Eskimo will die
out, but they are doing so rather more slowly than
men of science of fifty years ago prophesied. They
are perpetuating their strain through families of
half breeds, which are becoming more numerous.
The second element of the population and
the one which promises to be the chief in the
future is the English. Several generations ago
the last Englishmen came over as servants of
the Hudson Bay Co., or as adventurous seekers
after fortune. For two or three hundred years be
fore that, however. Englishmen had been coming to
the Coast from Devonshire and the Channel Islands
and many of them had settled and married Eskimo
29

30 mitfi Dr. (S5renfell in JLafiraDor
women. Some of them deserted from fishing ships,
others were runaway convicts and apprentices.
Originally they lived with the Eskimo and learned
their language and methods of hunting, and in some
cases actually forget not only their own past but
the English language. Nowadays, however, most
of them speak English, although with a very queer
dialect, which combines sea terms, Devonshire, Es
kimo and Indian speech and sheer ignorance. These
whites are found all along the coast, and are, in
many cases, seemingly equal to the Eskimo in fish
ing and hunting and in enduring the hardships of
a northern climate. They have further the advan
tage in cod fishing that they possess a considerable
amount of foresight, in which the Eskimo are woe
fully lacking. It is true that they are extremely
ignorant and in a very large per cent, illiterate. The
reasons for this are many. One of them was men
tioned above, namely, their isolation. During the
summer they fish from the outlying islands of the
coast and during the winter they move back up the
bays in order to be more sheltered and to reach, if
possible, wooded country and to have a chance to
hunt fur-bearing animals. Here they live often
twenty miles from any other family, and the estab
lishment of schools under these circumstances is
practically impossible. Further, the government of
the country is so nominal that it is doubtful if

Cfte LafiraDor People 31
schools would be established even were there more
demand. In spite, however, of these very serious draw
backs the Labrador liveyeres * are splendid people.
They are bred up to a knowledge of the country in
which they live, which is astounding to a city
dweller. They have a sense of direction which al
most equals that of the caribou. In a blizzard
which makes it impossible to see for more than ten
yards in a country without landmarks they will find
their way home, although they have strayed twenty
miles inland. They are also sailors of the very
highest grade of skill and agility. By what power
they manage to sail into harbor without a compass
in a dense fog, when this means the one chance
which would take them in any other direction than
out over the broad expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, I
am utterly at a loss to know.
The Labrador people are religious, honest and
law-abiding to a marked degree. Their simple
piety is that of the old pioneers. Through inher
itance and the efforts of itinerant preachers visiting
the coast in summer they have nearly all come to
regard themselves as members of some denomina
tion. Chief among these are the Church of Eng
land (Episcopalian), Methodist, and Catholic. The
Baptists and Salvation Army are also represented.
Nowhere is the futility of this division into denom-
* Those who "live here."

32 a^iti) Dr. ©renfell in Laftratior
inations more evident than here. In a little settle
ment like Rigolette, for example, the factor of the
Hudson Bay Company, a splendid man, extends the
hospitality of his dining-room table to three differ
ent denominational groups each Sunday. Services
are held by lay readers or a chance visiting pastor.
Dr. Grenfell always uses his influence to break down
the antipathy between the adherents to creeds; and
the services which he occasionally conducts are un
denominational. In reality the religion of these different groups
is the same. It is strongly orthodox and evangel
ical. "Testimony meetings" are held and eloquent
harangues result in men and women declaring them
selves "saved" by an inner "change of heart."
While it is difficult for a more sophisticated person
to comprehend this sort of religion, it is neverthe
less a much more real religion than the so-called
"liberal" ones, because it possesses the emotional
appeal which is absolutely necessary to real religion,
and which is dying out in the "intellectual" and
"higher" theologies.
Because their religion moves them — and, of
course, the feelings and not the intellect are the real
cause of most human action — the Labrador people
live up to their religion. They consider it wrong to
work on Sunday, and I have seen a poor man watch
a cod-trap, his only means of livelihood, carried
away by an iceberg on Sunday, refusing to make an

6<y -vt t*» "%.«. i'toooL

Children from Dr. GrenfeU's orphanage on one of
his schooners frozen in the harbor

Reindeer caravan hauling logs; approaching frozen harbor;
author leading
Facing page 32

Ci)e Laftratior People 33
effort to rescue it. At midnight he went out and
did what he could to save the remains ; and he didn't
whimper over his terrible loss. Without a trace of
cant he said quietly, "D'Lord knows bes' what t' do
wid me, sure. If he'd wished me t'have d'trap he'd
a left un."
One respects this deep faith, even though it seems
at times foolishly to sacrifice material welfare. In
deference to it Dr. Grenfell, hurried as he is in the
short season of navigation, does no traveling on
Sunday. In emergencies, however, he draws the line.
When he was lying in port one Sabbath day a man
arrived begging him to visit his wife who had been
taken seriously ill and seemed to be dying. Dr.
Grenfell told his skipper to have steam up in ten
minutes, but he flatly refused, protesting that he
couldn't and wouldn't sail on Sunday. Dr. Grenfell
carefully explained that he was starting solely be
cause of an emergency, which probably meant life
or death. Again the skipper refused to start. Dr.
Grenfell at once became the stern fighter who has
won so many battles against hard odds on the coast.
"Either get ready to weigh anchor in ten minutes
or go ashore. I don't need you to navigate my
vessel." The skipper was a man of considerable
determination, but he thought the matter over, and
in a few minutes reported the vessel ready, and set
sail on Sunday for the first tirne in his life. An
operation was necessary, but the woman recovered.

34 OJiti) Dr. ©renfell in JLaliraDor
A long siege and several daring raids by Dr.
Grenfell have pretty effectually driven out the sale of
liquor. This is an advantage hard to overestimate.
Formerly Labrador was always famed as a coast
of hard drinking and wild living. Cartwright, an
eighteenth century trader, often enters in his jour
nal, "All hands drunk and fighting." Tradition re
counts wild orgies at weddings and wakes. One
does not have to be a temperance enthusiast to de
plore the drawback that liquor was, especially in
winter, to people whose lives already were hard
enough and often enough in danger. It was suffi
ciently bad in summer, as the following account by
the worthy Ephraim Tucker shows :
"The vice of intemperance prevails everywhere
among the European settlers of Labrador. Scarcely
a family can be found among them who do not
habitually use intoxicating liquors. It is a prolific
source of diseases to the inhabitants, and more or
less are cut off every season in the prime of life
frora its fatal influences. The following fact was
related to me by a native, in speaking of the gross
intemperance of the shore inhabitants of Labrador.
As he was coasting one day up the Gulf, during a
rough sea and high wind, he discovered at a con
siderable distance ahead an object that appeared to
be floating without helm or guidance upon the
waves. He hove to, in order to ascertain its nature,
and soon perceived that it was a large boat, having

^bt JLafiratJor people 35
a man, woman and three children on board. The
man, who was afterwards found to be the father of
the children, was dead drunk, and the mother so far
gone under the influence of liquor that she had no
more apparent regard for her children than for the
fish in the depths of the ocean. The eldest of the
children was twelve years of age, and the evil prac
tices of the parents had been followed by their
unhappy offspring, who were evidently unconscious
of any danger. The captain of the Newfoundlarid
fisherman kindly took them on board and, when
they had roused from their stupor, informed them
of the peril to which their intemperance had ex
posed them, and admonished them to beware for the
future. But for his timely succor, they would in
evitably have perished. It appeared on inquiry that
the party had that morning been out in their boat to
purchase a few articles in a neighboring harbor, and
that there the trader had plied them well with rum,
and fitted them out with their articles in the midst
of a gale, heedless whether they perished or not."
In strong contrast to the conditions formerly pre
vailing, Labrador now presents a clean slate.
Tramp steamers in remote ports sometimes dole out
rum to the men who work at loading her, but no
liquor is sold openly and there are no "shabeens"
for its secret sale.
The Labrador people are religious in spite of
their few ministers rather than by their help, be-

36 mitb Dr. ©renfell in LafiraDor
cause with one or two exceptions the dispensers of
religion are not of an inspiring type. The coast
is the dumping and training ground for probation
ers who often regard themselves as much-abused
representatives of official righteousness and fail to
enter into the life in the right spirit. A church
history unconsciously records this feeling in a cer
tain Bishop of Newfoundland, who also had juris
diction over Labrador. He was a fine type of man
himself, and cruised the coast in his own small ves
sel. But, "though glorying in privations and hard
ships himself, he said of a young preacher whom he
left on the Labrador, 'Here he must stay alone,
among utter strangers, common fishermen, without
house or home, with no probability of retreat or
escape, no prospect of seeing a friend or even get
ting a letter for nearly a year. He must eat fish,
and little else, in a small kitchen. What a contrast
to an English curacy !' "
An ancient story of the Bishop's visit to Labra
dor tells how he found a liveyere woman absolutely
ignorant of the gospel. "Don't you know," he said,
"that Jesus died for you?"
"No sir," she replied meekly, "is he dead sir?
We-uns don't often git no news down here."
The good bishop's reference to food was not
without point. The diet of the liveyere is miser
able. It was a great surprise to me to find how
little the people, of southern Labrador especially,

C!)e LafiraDor People 37
live on the animal food of the country, and how
much they depend on imported goods. This is less
surprising when one considers that most of them
are less hunters than fishermen, and that they are
not nomadic, as a hunting race has to be. Further
the game is too uncertain and varying from season
to season to make it safe for them to depend on it;
and, of course, it is becoming gradually less plenti
ful. Along the Straits and the northern coast the peo
ple hunt caribou, and whenever these are numerous
they supply themselves with meat for the winter.
Occasional bears are eaten, but seal meat, which is
excellent, is chiefly used to eke out their provisions.
Seal is fine-grained flesh with a gamey flavor like
that of salt-water duck. Whales are almost never
killed by the natives now, but the flesh is appetizing,
and I found it almost impossible to tell it from beef,
except by its somewhat coarser grain. The large
carcasses, which are now utilized only as fertilizer
by the commercial whale-killers in their factories,
could easily be canned and sold at low cost, but
through prejudice the people would probably refuse
to eat the meat until a long campaign of education
taught them its value.
The many varieties of ducks are shot whenever
possible during open water and on the ice, and help
to keep many homes from illness due to poor nutri
tion. In winter rabbits are snared and the willow-

38 miti) Dr. (©renfell in JLatiraDor
grouse or "partridges" are eaten in large numbers.
Berries are abundant on the coast and the dwarf
cranberry, currants and a Labrador native called the
"bake-apple" are barreled in water and allowed to
freeze. When needed a piece of berry-laden ice is
chopped out and thawed.
The mainstay of the Labrador diet, however, is
flour. It is used as bread, and is mixed with water
and fried or boiled. Next comes hardtack, which
is even better liked but more expensive. Salt pork
is largely used where seal- fat should be. Little or
no sugar can be afforded, black molasses taking its
place. About the nearest Labrador approach to
cake is the famous " 'lassy pork-bun," of which I
was very fond, especially for dog-travel, for it does
not freeze readily. It is flour and molasses with
squares of salt pork baked in. 'Lassy seal-bun, in
which squares of seal-blubber are substituted, is
even better.
No use has yet been made by the liveyeres of the
reindeer-moss on which the caribou feed. The In
dians use it mixed with deer's blood, and eat noth
ing else while hunting. I ate some plain and found
it edible but tasteless, reminding one too much of
hay. If one had had oil and vinegar, an agreeable
salad might have resulted.
The great national drink is tea, brewed strong
and drunk often. It is responsible for the extraor
dinary prevalence among the Labrador people of

Cfie ILafiraDor people 39
digestive troubles. No other beverage is widely
used, not even water. Molasses and water are
sometimes mixed and consumed; and guests are
offered "red-berries" in water with molasses added
— a sort of cranberry lemonade. In the spring
many people brew a harmless beer from the tops of
spruce trees.
The monotony of this diet is not only uninviting,
but its absolute lack of greens and foods containing
certain salts is dangerous. The reason for this lack
is that no vegetables are raised. Practically the only
crop on the coast is turnips and cabbages, and even
these are often killed by frost in midsummer. Well
inland, up the sheltered bays, it is possible to raise
some things adapted to a short season, but, as the
very time when they must be cultivated is the busi
est part of the fishing, nothing can be done. Hence
a large amount of scurvy exists, directly due to lack
of fresh food.
In the Newfoundland census of Labrador appear
on one page ten inhabited harbors, with blanks for
the year's output of the following land and animal
products and stock : wheat, barley, oats, hay, pota
toes, turnips, other root crops, cabbages, horses,
cows, other cattle, sheep, swine, goats, fowl, butter,
wool, furs. Of these ten harbors the crowning
glory was a total live stock of one pig; and the
total crop raised (all in one harbor) was a barrel
of turnips and 150 heads of cabbage. All the other

40 mutt Dr. (Srenfell in LatiraDor
spaces were blank, except furs, of which 6i had
been taken, valued at $409.
Those who consider these hard conditions intol
erable must remember the other side of northern
life presented in Dr. GrenfeU's chapter and else
where, and the fact that these hardships are largely
responsible for that strong, modest, efficient race,
the Labrador liveyeres.

CHAPTER III

HUNTING AND FISHING

In Labrador one cannot hunt to order, on sched
ule. It is not the place for the business man who
wants to sit down and figure out exactly how to get
a tan, six stories and two heads in three weeks at
$500. Far be it from me to quarrel with the ready-
made sportsman, who has many amiable traits. I
merely point out that he will be disappointed. The
place for him is southern Newfoundland in the fall.
There he may travel a bit slowly, but in comfort, on
the little railroad, sending his servants ahead, of
course, to prepare the camp. He may have a com
fortable resting-place prepared not far from the toot
of the locomotive, and between the meals served by
his chef may shoot his caribou as they cross the
track, migrating south. If it is a bit damp that day
he can have his chief guide shoot the deer for him.
The ladies may make this trip in perfect comfort.
They should, of course, bring with them a complete
stock for the larder, including evaporated cream
and desiccated eggs. The best heads are not to be
obtained in this way, but can easily be procured of
41

42 mith Dr. ©renfell in !La6raDor
the taxidermist at home, and the actual killing is
jolly fine sport.
Seriously, it is possible to get deer with the min
imum trouble in southern Newfoundland, and there
are plenty of trained guides, cooks and packers, so
that a modest one-man party or the outing of a club
can be thoroughly planned in advance and carried
out on schedule, with practically guaranteed results,
and no need of carrying more than your gun, am
munition and perhaps tent into the country. Sim
ilar arrangements are possible for a trouting or
salmon-fishing trip. The Reid Newfoundland Rail
road runs through good fishing territory, and in
some places there are actually roads, and wagons
can be hired to take the "sporters," as they are
called, to or near the streams. Hence, for those
who want their sport assured, southern Newfound
land will prove very satisfactory.
In Labrador it is another matter. The worst
feature is the extreme uncertainty of everything.
There is no railroad for the deer to cross, and their
migration seems to be irregular. Very little hunt
ing or fishing has been done except by the natives,
and they seldom have time for it in summer. For
this reason it is hard to get guides until pretty late
in the autumn. As mentioned in the chapter on Ex
ploration, few of the liveyeres have had any ex
perience as regular guides, so that the best way is
to bring along one's own Maine or Canadian guides

i^untinff anD iFisfting 43
and rely on one or two liveyeres for knowledge of
the country only.
Labrador's biggest game is the whale. Formerly
it was hunted in small boats by the Eskimo, but this
sport has vanished. It is now hunted commercially,
but even that method is becoming rare, as the "big
fish" are killed off.
The whaling steamer, which is manned largely
by Norwegians, scours the sea for a long distance
out until a school of whales or a single one or two
of good size are sighted. Then she swoops down
upon them, singles out the best and chases him
until near enough to shoot. The old captain stands
at the gun in the bow and, when the psychological
moment arrives, aims and fires. Out shoots the
harpoon, to which is attached a strong cable.
When first hit the whale dives and the line whips
out, coil after coil. To the first length is attached
another and another; and sometimes half a mile of
rope hitches the wounded whale to the steamer.
The harpoon is constructed like an umbrella, and
the pull of the line opens its steel barbs, which hold
as securely as an anchor. It is also equipped with
an automatic bomb which explodes inside the whale.
Even with this humane precaution, the whale lives
for a considerable time, and makes a terrible fight
for life.
After staying down as long as possible he turns
and rushes to the surface, shooting out of the water

44 Mitii Dr. arenfell in LafiraDor
sometimes his whole length. He then either dives
again or strikes off at great speed, his tremendous
strength whipping the steamer through the water,
though her engines may be reversed and exerting all
their power to pull her backward. Although the
danger is much less than in the days of open-boat
whaling, it is by no means absent. The whale, after
diving, may come up under the steamer and cause
considerable damage. The whalers tell a story,
which has to be taken with a grain of salt, of one
whale which rose at great speed beneath the steamer
and, crashing through her bottom, lodged himself
so tightly in the galley amidships as to stop the
awful hole he had made and enable the ship to
reach port in safety with the whale practically a
passenger. To be so close to this sea-hunting gives one a
sense of familiarity with the long-gone whalers of
the old New England ports, hardy, rough-living
heroes, of whom the Labrador affords a few last
representatives. Next to the whales come the caribou. Labrador
is a great country for caribou; and it is unfor
tunate that, as the natives are busy fishing in sum
mer and never have time to hunt, few sportsmen
have tried it in that season. It will be pioneer work,
but ought to bring results. There seem to be two
distinct herds, a northern and a southern, although
it is possible that at times they travel far enough

i^unting anD Msbim 45
to come together. The vast area which they cover
makes it impossible for even the Indians of the in
terior to keep accurate track of their moving.
In the fall and winter occurs the big killing. The
natives of the southern shore make fairly frequent
and long trips into the interior with their Eskimo
dogs and sleds, and bring out heavy loads of car
casses. Some years the deer do not come near
enough to the coast to be reached without too long
trips; other years find the deer almost out to the
houses, so that the dogs make hunting forays alone
as their wolf ancestors did, and successfully bring
down the game.
The Indians of the interior gather for a huge
round-up at which many animals are killed. So
much do they depend on the deer that a scarcity
one year invariably cuts down their already fast
diminishing numbers.
The Eskimo of the north coast do not go far
inland, but near Davis Inlet they conduct a grand
hunt in a not too sportsmanlike, but unusual, man
ner. A yearly migration takes place here, and if
the leader of the deer follows the usual custom the
whole herd is led over a height of land made by
nature into a narrow pass from which there is no
escape sideways. The Eskimo build a stone wall to
narrow it and lie down behind. Then, as thousands
of deer pour through they spear enough for a year's
supply of venison. Some have long, steel-shod.

46 mith Dr. (GrenfeU in ILafiraDor
spear-like attachments on their feet, with which they
deal a death-blow.
There are many animals in Labrador that one
would not expect to find there, for instance, er
mines, martins, skunks, beavers, porcupines, hares,
squirrels, and mice of various kinds. Of birds there
are eagles, hawks, owls, ravens, crows, woodpeck
ers, grouse, partridge, pheasants, pigeons, thrushes,
larks, swallows, cranes, bitterns, snipe, plovers,
geese, ducks, teal, and widgeon in many varieties.
Frogs, grubs, spiders, etc., are found in a frozen
state as far north as latitude 6i°, and can be re
animated by exposure to gentle heat. White whales
are found in considerable numbers at the mouths of
the principal rivers; and along the coast a small
and very delicious fish, called kipling or capelin, re
sorts at times in vast numbers, but this as well as
salmon, and indeed every species of animal, whether
fish, flesh, or fowl, is so variable in its arrival that
the liveyeres must provide a plentiful supply at sea
sons when they can get it. Geese are particularly
useful on this account, and it is not uncommon to
kill two or three hundred at a time.
Grasses of different sorts are not uncommon, but
the ground is principally covered with Caledonia or
reindeer moss, upon which the deer feed. The herb
called Wee-suc-a-pucka grows in the interior, and
the Indians, as well as the settlers, make a kind of
tea from the leaves and flowers of this, called Lab-

l^unting anD JFisfting 47
rador tea, which is supposed to be extremely pal
atable and salutary, particularly in relieving rheu
matic pains, strengthening the stomach, etc.
As the result of importation many years ago Lab
rador is well stocked with American rabbits, which
make a very agreeable variety in the food of the
natives. The nature of the soil is so peculiarly
adapted to the habits of these animals that they have
multiplied astonishingly, and they are alone pre
vented from becoming too numerous by a similar
increase of rats, probably the progeny of those that
have escaped from wrecks. Great numbers of the
latter perish in the course of the winter and the
rainy weather of the spring and autumn. During
the early part of the summer, gulls, ducks, divers
and other wild fowl lay an immense quantity of
eggs on the islands, and parties from the shore fre
quently sail out and fill their boats with them. At
the approach of winter these birds migrate south.
Soon after the settlement of the New England col
onies, this place became a favorite resort of fisher
men for the purpose of killing morse and seal. The
former are nearly exterminated, but the latter still
afford, during the season, a favorite employment to
the people. There are several species of the
"Phoca" family. The male is sometimes eight feet
long, and weighs 800 pounds; but the female is
much smaller. The color of the former is nearly
black, and of the latter a dark, speckled gray. Their

48 mith Dr. ©renfell in JLaftraDor
hair is short and rough, and on the neck of the male
is a little longer than elsewhere. The forelegs are
about two feet long, and the hinder ones two inches
or so less, the feet being divided by five toes, sep
arated by a large web, and spreading to the extent
of twelve inches. The seals are prodigiously strong,
swimming at the rate of seven miles an hour, and
are very tenacious of life, often surviving the most
severe wounds.
When up the rivers they live in families, each
male being attended by several females, whom he
guards with great jealousy. The young ones, at
twenty days, are nearly white, and their flesh bears
a resemblance to that of sucking pigs. The males
when old are deserted by the females. They then
live apart from the rest, and become exceedingly
fierce and quarrelsome. Their contests are often
violent and sanguinary, and they inflict wounds on
each other not unlike the cuts of a saber. At the
termination of one of these battles they throw them
selves into the sea to wash away the blood. Al
though by no means so numerous as they were in
former years, seals still resort to the Labrador
waters in great numbers. They arrive on the north
east coast early, for the purpose of whelping, and
remain there for the space of a month; when the
pups are about twenty-five days old, preparations
are made by shore parties for attacking them. Each
person is armed with a club, five or six feet in

l^unting anD iFi0fting 49
length, made of oak or ashj the butt being trans
fixed with a piece of steel, one end of which is
shaped like a spike, and the other formed into a
hook or blade.
As the seals seldom move far at this period, the
party approach with great caution and silence, and
when within about 200 yards they rush in between
the seals and the water and commence the attack.
Each man selects the largest as the object of his par
ticular pursuit, and strikes him, on the back part of
the head, several blows with the steel pike. He then
applies the blade, in the same manner, to the wound
thus inflicted, and repeats the blows till the animal
is brought to the ground. The strength and fierce
ness of this species of seal are such that this attempt
is not unaccompanied with danger, and when he
turns on his pursuer he wards off the blow so dex
terously that he sometimes seizes the club in his
mouth and escapes. An ordinary handspike would
be altogether useless, and a gun is equally ineffec
tual. When driven off the ice the seals land again
and are pursued in the same manner; after which
they disappear altogether until the ensuing year.
The chief value of the seal consists in the oil.
When the animal is killed the fat is peeled off with
knives, and the blubber tried out. The skin of a
full-grown one is worth about two dollars. The
proceeds of the sales of both the skins and the oil

so mitfi Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
in very good years reach thousands of dollars for a
single harbor, but this is rare.
Sealing is exciting, whether carried on from land
or vessel. An old sealing skipper told me the fol
lowing story of a voyage on which Dr. Grenfell ac
companied him:
The ship was stuck — not "ashore" on a sand
bank nor "ketched up" on a hidden rock, but
jammed in the ice eighty miles off the Labrador
coast. She was the Hound, a small steamer, one of
a hundred steamers and schooners of various sizes
which each year compose the seal "fishery." Sixty
years before she had been a British man-of-war with
open decks, and her massive oak hull was a relic of
the times when an apprentice was hung for careless
work. She had been built with a view to perma
nency, not novelty ; and even now, although she had
been jammed in a vast floe for two days, ground on
all sides by the ice, she had thus far stood the strain,
with only an occasional creak and the scrapings of
her outer paint on the snow-covered ice-edge to
show the struggle.
The regular crew and the three hundred sealers
were below decks, seizing their opportunity to lay
in a stock of "grub." The cook and his boy were
laboring under the captain's order of "Six meals a
day, b'y, an' tea when dey waants it." On deck the
captain stepped back and forth, talking to Doctor
Grenfell, proud to have the genial skipper of the

punting anD jFi$l)ing 51
whole coast as his shipmate. The watch in the
crow's nest was cursing the ship's luck and wishing
that the mate would come up and strike eight bells
for a shift of watches; for, though the air was
clear, it was bitter cold, and as he stood in the small
barrel he had ceased to feel the wind blowing
through every seam of his many-layered clothes,
and no longer cared to stamp or fling his stiff arms.
He felt that most of him was solid as frozen beef,
and the cold had penetrated everywhere except his
stomach; every breath chilled his lungs; his face
felt like a mask and his legs like posts.
The glaring light bounding from sun to ice and
back hurt his eyes, even through his dark glasses;
and it was such a hopeless task, looking, searching
the white horizon for "swoil" (seal), until he could
see them by thousands, and only proved the vision
false by noticing that it appeared in whatever direc
tion he looked. Somewhere along the coast to the
north, south, east or west of them, from five to a
hundred miles away, was the colony of thousands,
or perhaps millions of seals, mostly females with
their new-born pups, scattered for miles on huge
pans of ice. As the young "white-coats" usually
arrive about March 20, they must now be about a
week old and still timid about taking to the water.
Upon the ability of the captain to divine where
to go for the prey depended the success of the voy
age; for it is only for a few weeks that the seals

52 mitb Dr. ©renfell in LafiraDor
lie most of the time upon the ice and can be killed
by hundreds ; and if during this time the ship fails
to find them she goes back, empty-handed to her
owners, the crew have earned nothing for their
labor except their food, and the skipper's career is
ended. If, however, they reach a patch of seals
before too many others arrive, they kill thousands
and load the vessel in three days, cramming pelts
in every conceivable corner, even tearing down the
bunks and sleeping on top of the seals, just below
the deck. If they reach the market at St. Johns
safely the owners receive a certain share of the
profits, the lucky skipper one-tenth of the whole;
and the men share the rest, which often amounts to
$ioo a man.
Capt. Eli Munter had been "goin' to d'ice" from
his fifteenth winter to his seventy-fifth, and had al
ways had at least two offers of "a berth" each
spring. In his youth he was in demand because he
was a "rig'lar handy young feller, loose as ar' man
on d'ice." "Still an' all," he told me modestly,
"dere was plenty b'ys was more active nor I." Now
his "call" to "go master" of the biggest craft on
the coast was his unerring ability to find the white-
coats. "Sure I 'How Skipper Eli's h'able to smell
swoil twice as fur agin's er can see un," maliciously
laughed a discomfited skipper the year before when
he had returned "clean," while Eli's decks were
piled to the rail, So when toward night the v^^ind

l^unting anD JFist)ing 53
shifted and the ice began to "go abroad" the crew
were hearty once more, and the mate eagerly re
sponded to the order, "Nort' by Fas', an' kape her
to it. Extry ban' a for'ard in d'head of her."
All night they pushed on full speed ahead, against
the stiff wind which swept the ice southward by
them in a steady volley. Many slight shocks woke
the trained crew and set half of them pulling on
their boots, only to learn that no damage had been
done. The captain slept the first half of the night,
and Dr. Grenfell turned in also, though, owing to
his years as skipper of his hospital steamer, the
Strathcona, he woke at each change of watch and
every slight collision, ready for any emergency;
then, as further evidence of his sailor's training,
he promptly fell asleep again. He had finished his
slumbers by four o'clock and turned out with the
captain. " 'Tis a civil marnin', sir," said the skipper. "Ye
see, when a man has d'v'yage o' dis one on his moin'
er can't res' easy; but I was 'llowin' you'd take a
spell, sir. You does a martal sight o' work enough
to merit a res'."
"Well, I can't lie still when there's anything to
be done. Besides six hours is all I need. I wanted
to see how far along we were. We ought to hit
the seals to-day." The running ice began to close
up because of the opposite wind and tide, and later
the dawn revealed another huge field of ice glimmer-

54 Mitb Dr. ©renfell in JLafiraDor
ing painfully. As the ship approached the men
made out immense pans of ice a mile or more long,
surrounded by countless smaller ones between which
the ship made her way. Some flocks of ducks
seemed to be "pitched" on the ice; but when the
captain saw them he seized his glass and eagerly
climbed the rigging. "Ah, den, b'ys," he chuckled,
as he climbed leisurely down, "we're as good as
loaded, whatever. Dem swoils is so t'ick as floys on
a caribou wid de itch." And the news ran down
into the forecastle.
"All ban's git to rights," sang out the mate, and
all was hustling preparation, the men strapping
fagots of firewood on their shoulders and filling
their sealskin nunny-bags with hard bread and 'lassy
pork buns, while others sharpened their "gaffs" or
boat-hooks, and iron-shod clubs. The ship now
found herself in a blind lead, so the ice-grapnels
were thrown out and all hands except the captain
and cook leapt over the side.
A few expert shots were armed with rifles and,
from a short distance, shot many of the old seals.
The majority hurried on over the hummocky sur
face until they reached the crying white-coats and
then began "swatching," killing the defenseless
creatures with their clubs, and with their sheath-
knives cutting out the flesh and leaving the skin and
the layer of fat next it. These "pelts" were quickly
"panned" or piled up, and the army went on.

punting anD JFiSfiing 55
Dr. Grenfell soon wearied of this hideous slaugh
ter and even found shooting the parent seals rather
tame, so he gave his gun to a grateful old sealer and
advanced with the first men to attack the old
"harps" with his iron-shod club. These fight stub
bornly for their young, and with their swift dodg
ing and powerful blows with bared tusks prove a
good match for an active man. After a battle of
twenty minutes, during which he perspired danger
ously in spite of the cold, Dr. Grenfell killed a large
harp, and had just bathed his boots in the hot car
cass to warm his feet when he perceived a big dog
hood-seal a few rods distant, attacked by a young
fellow who evidently had been ignorant of the dan
ger of this species. Although the boy was using his
club with all his strength, the inflated bladder, or
hood, protected the seal's most vulnerable parts —
the nose and skull ; and by clever dodging the beast
caught all blows on this hood, thus fending them
from his body. At every opportunity he shot out
his neck to gash the man's legs with his tusks, and
was steadily driving him toward the water.
Dr. Grenfell ran to the boy's aid, and dodged
back and forth in a futile attempt to deal a death
blow. At last when the seal struck at the boy the
doctor got in a quick blow just back of the neck,
and they added the largest pelt thus far panned —
eleven feet long — to the nearest pile.
Through the constant addition of small pans the

56 mitli Dr. arenfell in LaOraDor
floe was now about five miles broad, and Dr. Gren
fell with fifty others had pushed on nearly to its
edge. They were still working away, and Dr. Gren
fell had hacked forty-five notches in his gaff, when
darkness began to descend with northern rapidity,
and the party turned toward the ship, judging the
direction by sense only. The pan on which they
were was a mile broad ; and they hurried across it.
With horror they found that it no longer lay next
to the others, but that a slight shift of wind had
scattered the whole floe and their pan was at least a
quarter mile from any other. The ship was, of
course, out of sight. All sorts of suggestions were
made by those coming up. When they realized that
nothing could be done, their hopeless condition and
the fatigue of the day were almost too much, and
they sat about in spiritless agony.
Dr. Grenfell was not a bit weighed down. "Come
on, don't mooch (be idle)," he said gaily. "Skipper
Eli won't go off without us, you know. It's not the
first time we've spent a night in the open. Let's get
a fire here and boil the kettle." There was one in
the group. He soon had the whole crowd playing
leap-frog; and the night was spent in trials of
strength and games.
The steamer cruised about for half the night,
having picked up the rest of the men; then, fearing
to lose her position altogether, she lay to until morn
ing. About dawn the men were sighted and taken

punting anD JFisfiing 57
aboard, a thoroughly hungry and cold, but not dis
heartened lot, ready to load the steamer with their
kill of the day before, and thankful to the doctor
for "keepin' we to rights."
Hamilton Inlet is a good field for shooting. Dur
ing a brief trip there we separated into two parties,
one to camp out over night near a swamp and shoot
geese, while another was to shoot up a brook and
sleep at a small native house. The Inlet (otherwise
called Eskimo or Grosswater Bay) is a hundred and
fifty miles long, connecting Northwest River with
the sea. We chose a region near a cove called
Tikoralik, not very far from the settlement of Rigo-
let. (It would have been possible to get men from
the Hudson Bay post there to take us up the bay,
but fortunately we had our own boat. )
The party out for geese had a long wait but were
eventually rewarded by good shots at several flights
which, thanks to skilful work. Dr. Grenfell excel
ling, for he is a wonderful shot, resulted in a change
in our larder from canned and salted food and fish.
The brook party set out along the beach, keeping
back in patches of tall grass and young fir-trees;
this section inland and along the bay being well
wooded. We saw several yellow-legs, which we
stalked and shot, when we could sufficiently approx
imate them. Our attempts were made in a very
unostentatious manner, we wriggling along on the
ground. I lived half the time in mortal terror lest

58 mifb Dr. erenfell in JLaliraDor
my partner should cock his gun too soon, and catch
the trigger in the grass as he slid through the marsh
behind me. His state of mind was probably much
the same, so we each managed to save the other's
life by not shooting him.
We got several yellow-legs and a bunch of tender
beach-birds. Further on some ducks sailed down
the little valley in which flowed the brook which we
were following. Half hidden by the underbrush
along the banks, we waited in panting excitement
until they were nearly opposite, and our volley
caught them before they were able to turn.
Seeing no more birds we turned our attention to
the brook itself, and soon found a pool in which
trout were jumping. We used mainly "Silver Doc
tor" flies, but even caught several wit"h the native
equipment : a hook with a bit of red flannel. By
five o'clock we had seventy-seven, and they were
still coming. Many of them weighed two pounds
each. Reaching a little liveyere's house at dark, we were
entertained with unstinted hospitality, and were
soon enjoying a glorious supper of pink brook
trout, bread and butter; the latter proving the fam
ily very prosperous. After a sleep in a wooden-box
bed, we stepped out on a deer-skin rug, bathed with
spring-water, breakfasted on another mess of trout,
and were off. It seemed that our occupation of the
"spare-room" had caused the adult members of the

punting anD jFisbing 59
family to sleep in the common living-room and
kitchen. That morning we shot more birds and caught
more trout in the same pool. Cooking them over a
log-fire gave a welcome heat, for it was a cold day ;
in fact, a little snow had fallen during the morning,
and all the little pools in the marsh were frozen
over. We got back on board late in the afternoon,
and admired the goodly stock of geese, ducks, shell-
birds and jack-snipe caught by the other party.
Another trip, from Battle Harbor, took us up
Lewis Inlet, which runs thirty miles inland at that
point. Trees began to show themselves, very low
ones, succeeded by taller and taller trunks as we
got farther from the coast. When we landed occa
sionally we noticed several fresh bear-tracks, and
much regretted that we could not stop to hunt the
owners. Birds flew around and over us as we went
along, including gulls, kitewakes, and "pigeons" ;
and we saw two or three bay-seals swimming in the
still water, but were not near enough to shoot them.
In general the farther north one hunts the better.
One party hunted for a day near Port Manvers, half
on the mainland and the others on Black Island.
They had two settlers as guides ; and secured a black
bear and a caribou before noon.
The officers of a German battleship which vis
ited these waters had similar luck. In addition they
shot, not far south of Cape Chidley, four polar

6o mitb Dr. (Srenfell in LalJraDor
bears. North Labrador is now the only practical
point for this game ; but only five years ago a polar
bear actually landed a few miles south of the north
ern tip of Newfoundland, crossed to the Straits
and swam off again.

CHAPTER IV

COMMERCIAL LABRADOR

Labrador is a country which is perhaps remark
able in the simplicity of its economic organization.
Fishing is, of course, the chief industry. This is
carried on by two classes of people — the perma
nent inhabitants, and the fishermen who visit the
coast in the summer. The latter come usually in
schooners, each year in increasing numbers, so that
now over a thousand vessels visit the coast each
season. Formerly a large number of Gloucester
fishermen were found on the coast, but now, al
though there are a number on the Banks, there are
few further north. The number of Nova Scotia
men is also lessening; and the majority of the vis
itors are Newfoundlanders. In many cases the
crew is composed of sons and cousins, with the
father as skipper. Their vessels are made of the
soft northern timber, spruce or larch, and often are
built by the members of the family themselves in
their own little cove, only the rigging and fittings
being imported.
The visiting fishermen who come in schooners
6l

62 coitf) Dr. (grenfell in laliraDor
almost always carry their fish south "green," that
is, treated with salt alone. On reaching St. Johns
or the outports of Newfoundland it is then properly
cured in the sun, which produces much better fish
than the lack of sun allows on the Labrador coast.
In addition to the sailing fishermen, there are
many hundreds of people who come in families to
the coast, either as passengers on the schooners,
on the early mail boats, or as freighters brought
in wholesale lots in the traders' steam vessels and
distributed along the coast. These people live in
the most temporary shacks and fish from the shore
in small boats with hand lines, or set trap-nets. In
most cases their welfare is looked out for to a
certain extent by, and their catch is turned over
to, one of the large traders.
Both among the sailing crews and on shore, a
very curious relation between master and employed
is found. This is known as the "share system."
The skipper usually taking most of the risk finan
cially, and providing both the gear and provisions
as well as the brains, is naturally entitled to the
larger part of the returns. Accordingly the net
proceeds are divided into two parts; the skipper
takes half, and the other half is divided equally
among the men of the crew, including the skipper.
For example, if the skipper has two men, and
catches 300 quintals, his share is 200 and that of
the men 50 each.

Commercial JLaliraDor 63
Farther north the system is slightly different, the
skipper taking only half the fish and dividing the
remainder between the share-men. There is often
a ship's boy who cooks and does sundry work, but
is not considered to be earning a man's share, and
so is given a small lump sum for the season, or as
"five-quintal boy" receives five quintals out of every
hundred caught. Sometimes crews have boys on
half -share or quarter-share; and men minus an arm
or otherwise deficient come under a similar head
ing, whereas a man owning a part of the net re
ceives two shares or more: so that the calculation
of shares becomes a problem which often has to be
referred to the doctor. I recommend examples
like the above to makers of arithmetics, as a change
from Johnny and the Apples.
On land there are many large and small fishing
establishments known as fishing "rooms." Each
of these is run exactly like a ship, the master being
called the skipper and his men the crew. They
are at his orders night and day, and are paid on
the share system. It can easily be seen that in a
bad year, when little or no fish is caught, the share-
men, like the independent fishermen, find themselves
with practically nothing as a result of their sea
son's work, with which to face the winter. Some
few avoid this risk, and at the same time forfeit
the gambling chance of a large catch, by shipping
with one of the big traders for wages. The share-

64 mittf Dr. (Srenfell in JLa&raDor
system is more frequent, however, and extends most
largely through the relation of the traders to their
so-called "planters," who are outfitted more or less
free, for a share of the catch.
Very naturally the leading families of the coast
are those which own the "rooms" and the vessels.
Members of the poorer families hire themselves
out. In each "room" there are one or two women
who assist the skipper's wife and daughters in the
culinary department of the establishment. They
also share in the work of curing the fish; and the
salting, which is a very exact operation, is fre-
c[uently done by a woman. Unfortunately, the cook
on many of the vessels is also often a woman, but
the number of these, except in cases where the
skipper's daughter travels with him, is gradually
being lessened. The difficulty is, of course, that,
with the extremely limited living accommodations
in the cabin, there is very little privacy; and the
lack of another woman associate is also unfortu
nate. The commercial part of the fishery is carried
on chiefly by seven or eight large firms with head
quarters in St. Johns. They have vessels which
visit the various harbors and gather the cured fish
both from the people themselves and from the local
agents. These tramp steamers then carry the fish
either to St. Johns to be resold, or direct across
the ocean to the Mediterranean, where it finds a

l-acing page 65

THE REINDEER OF LABRADOR AFFORD RICH MILK

Commercial JLaliraDor 65
sale in Greece and the Azores. Very little of the
fish is exported to America, because it is not suf
ficiently well cured to be able to compete with the
Norwegian and Gloucester product.
Much smaller in extent is the salmon fishery
which is carried on in the northern bays by fam
ilies. There are rather fewer crews engaged in this
branch of work, but the trading companies pursue
it at Cartwright, Rigolet and various other places.
The salmon are smoked or salted, enclosed in large
barrels called tierces and then shipped south.
The only other industry of any size is the fur
trade, in which the majority of permanent fisher
men engage to greater or less extent during the
winter. They are usually outfitted by the traders,
but work by families; living isolated at distances of
15 or 20 miles apart. The majority of the furs
are eventually bought by the Hudson Bay Com
pany or its recent rival, ReviUon Freres. This latter
company has established a post practically next
door to each of the Hudson Bay Company stations
and, in its zeal for competition, has in some cases
raised the price of furs bought from the catcher to
a point equal to their price in New York. In the
majority of cases, however, the conditions enable
both companies to buy the fur at considerably less
than its value further south.
Judging from the old records and from personal
recent experience, the amount of furring on the

66 mith Dr. Grenfell in JLaliraDor
Labrador is far less than formerly, and even than
fifty years ago. The reasons are deforestation by
fire and consequent dying out of fur-bearing and
edible animals, causing the dying out of large num
bers of Indians and the turning of more whites to
fishing, hence in turn less trapping. In fact, rather
curiously the dying off of the Indians has again
made game plentiful in parts of northern Labrador,
and revived hunting, only to lessen the game again.
This cycle has transpired repeatedly in the history
of the north.
The furs caught in Labrador have the world-wide
reputation of being the best in North America, ex
cept for muskrats; they are generally firmer and
of a richer, darker coloring. The principal species
are red, white, cross and silver foxes, marten, mink,
otter, black bear, lynx, beaver, wolverine and wolf.
The firm of ReviUon Freres has one main sta
tion in Labrador, in charge of the factor. Fifty to
a hundred miles distant are outposts, each in charge
of a white-man or half-breed, and regularly visited
once a year by the Post-Manager. The main sta
tion receives its goods and supplies once a year, in
August, by a sailing vessel.
How much business this company and the Hud
son Bay Company, together with occasional traders,
do on the coast each year is hard to say, and varies
greatly from year to year, but the average value

Commercial LaliraDor 67
of the furs taken out of Labrador each year is
over $200,000.
For people who live in poor furring sections
t(jward the south, or who strike an off year, or for
men who have failed in the fishing, there remains
hardly any other occupation, and for this reason the
winter was for years, and still is to many, a season
very greatly to be dreaded. Gruesome tales are
still told which have been proved to be absolutely
true, of men who, having exhausted their provi
sions, run out of powder and shot, and failed to get
help from distant and equally needy neighbors, have
finally disposed of their families and themselves
with an axe, in order to avoid starvation. Only
last winter a northern hunter was found standing
up against a tree, frozen to death, chiefly because
he was in an extremely weak condition from lack of
food. Dr. Grieve, on his northern trip in the win
ter, always finds a number of families already re
duced to rations of plain flour, and often a few with
no flour even, subsisting on rock cod caught through
deep holes in the harbor ice. They have nothing
to turn over to the trader in exchange for further
supplies, and in fact not infrequently the trader
has already advanced them practically all he has.
These conditions will of course only be reme
died when some other means of livelihood is in
troduced for the sustenance of the people in the
winter. Owing to the lack of demand, extremely

68 mitfi Dr. ©renfell in JLaftraDor
low wages prevail when men are hired. A few
years ago it was possible to hire a man for the en
tire winter of seven or eight months for $12 and
his keep, and even now little more than actual food
and clothing can be obtained by a man for his
services in winter. It is for this reason that Dr.
Grenfell has established the mill at Inglee in Canada
Bay, where men whose summer catch has been a
blank, and whose families might otherwise starve or
suffer extreme want, are given an opportunity to
work during the winter.
Dr. Grenfell is responsible for the chief efforts
to increase and better the industrial activities of
the coast. Of major importance is his work in
establishing cooperative stores. With the people
scattered and in many cases illiterate, the traders
have in the past been able to take serious advantage
of them. The worst result of this has been the
prevalence of the truck or barter system of trade,
under which men turned over their fish and furs
and received in return their supplies for the winter,
consisting of flour, salt pork, molasses and tea. I
saw several men on the coast who had never seen
silver or paper money. The result is that the fisher
man is continually in ignorance of his exact stand
ing and in fact or belief continually in debt. Com
petition by other traders is killed because a man
once in debt finds it necessary to turn over all his
products to his creditor. Debt is handed down

Commercial JLaliraDor 69
from father to son, and amounts in many cases al
most to slavery.
The system also keeps the people poor and ill-
nourished and is responsible for a large part of
the disease with which the hospitals have to con
tend. Regulation of this trade is more or less out
of the question. A law has been passed in New
foundland prohibiting trucking, or trading without
cash, but in a country like Labrador its enforcement
is impossible. Even the very men who would be
benefited by it are afraid to implore its aid, for fear
of the traders' wrath.
The only way out of the difficulty was to render
the fishermen independent of the traders and in a
large measure this has been accomplished. At
Red Bay you will see a little one-story store which
last year, in spite of an exceedingly poor fishery,
did a successful business and constructively main
tained its members in comparative plenty. This
same store pays its fishermen members an average
of 30 per cent, dividends on their stock. It was
this same store which was organized first by a
dozen fearsome fishermen who conducted their
work in secrecy, in order that, if the enterprise
failed, the trader would not let them starve the
following winter. Six or seven other cooperative
stores have been established, and, with one or two
exceptions, have been extremely successful under
native managers. The only exceptions were due to'

70 mitii Dr. arcnfell in JLaliraDor
the excessive kind-heartedness of the manager, who
against his better judgment gave advance credit
to people in extreme need.
The stores succeed because they buy the fish from
their members for cash, export it themselves to
the South and import outfits and food at the low
est possible prices. The profits are then divided
among the fishermen members, thus reducing their
outlay considerably. This work is absolutely sepa
rate from the International Medical Mission.
The second effect of the stores has been indirect.
Through their means, competition has been insti
tuted, which makes it practically possible for any
man on the coast to obtain cash for his products.
The traders' prices have also been very greatly
lowered and their standards of business consider
ably improved.
Further industrial work, has been carried on at
one or two of the Mission stations. The weaving
of homespun has been taught, and — even more
hopeful — this work has been extended by the people
themselves into other communities. Many of the
men are excellent carpenters and they have built
their own looms after the models, and those who
have had the advantage of training have taught
others. When the spread of reindeer makes possi
ble the introduction of other domestic animals, such
as sheep, this knowledge will greatly improve the
living conditions of the people.

Commercial JLaliraDor 71
Local pottery has been made and carving has
been taught, and for all these products there is
more demand in America and Canada than can be
supplied for a considerable time. Recently an ef
fort has been made to teach some of the people the
cutting and polishing of labradorite, a beautiful
iridescent stone found in considerable quantities
on the coast. In the Straits, at several ports, an
industry for the manufacture of sealskin boots
flourishes, and here also the output is less than the
demand. As I write this, word comes from Dr.
Grenfell that the sawmill has made several addi
tions to increase its output, and that the coopera
tive store at St. Anthony has been reorganized and
is doing a large business.

CHAPTER V

EXPLORATION

Labrador is one of the least explored and mapped
countries remaining. There are thousands of square
miles as yet untrod by civilized men. When one
considers its comparative nearness to the thickly
populated regions of North America, there is no
country which compares with it in virginity.
The Eskimo have, as far as men know, never
hunted far inland. The two tribes of Indians have
roamed at will, but there are probably many areas
that even they have not seen — sections away from
the waterways and several regions which their tra
ditions regard as inhabited by the Evil Spirit.
In former days the Hudson Bay Company had
several posts in the interior of northern Labrador,
now abandoned, and their factors made many long
inland trips with the Indians. Most of these trips
are now a matter of hazy tradition and conjecture.
The Moravian missionaries, who for several hun
dred years have taken good care of the Eskimo,
have traveled little inland, but some Catholic mis
sionaries have come in long ago from Canada.
72

Ciploration 73
A United States Ethnological Bureau expedi
tion has explored some of the territory. Sev
eral parties have crossed from Quebec to the Labra
dor coast. A summary of these trips is given by
Mr. Cabot in "Northern Labrador." But Labra
dor presents to-day vast opportunities for original
research to both amateur and scientific explorers.
Especially in science is the field open.
One of the earliest scientific explorations was
led to Labrador in 1891 by the late Leslie A. Lee,
Ph.D., Professor of Geology in Bowdoin College
and State Geologist of Maine. He had previously
been in charge of scientific work on the Albatross,
United States Fish Commission steamer, during an
expedition to South America, and was a noted man
of science well qualified for the task. In their own
vessel his party of twenty scientific men explored
the Labrador coast as far as Hopedale and secured
excellent and exact ethnological and biological data.
Four of his men explored the Northwest and
Grand Rivers and discovered a wonderful gorge
which they named Bowdoin Canon, and were the
first to measure, photograph and record the Grand
Falls, a cascade rivaling Niagara and twice as high.
The falls were known to tradition as having been
seen by two employees of the Hudson Bay Com
pany. A Mr. Holmes from England attempted in
1888 to reach the falls, without success. Soon
after the Bowdoin Expedition's trip a Philadelphia

74 Mitii Dr. &xmitll in LafiraDor
party went in and reached the falls; and in 19 lo
a party of Yale men repeated the feat.
Extreme hardships were borne by Professor
Lee's men, as the story is modestly told by one of
the party.
Nine miles were made the day of the first carry
and camp was reached at the beginning of rough
water on the Horse Shoe Rapid. Here the first
evidence of shoes giving out was seen. Constant
use over rough rocks while wet proved too much
for even the strongest shoes, and when Cary and
Cole returned there was not leather enough between
them to make one decent shoe. Rain made the
night uncomfortable, as the light shelter tent let
water through very easily and was then of little
use. At other times the camps were very comforta
ble. Upon arriving at the spot selected, two men
would at once set about preparing their brush for
beds, pitching the tent, etc., while the other pro
vided wood for the camp and for the cook, in which
capacity Cary officiated.
The party believed that a good night's rest was
indispensable where the day was filled with the
hardest kind of labor, and spared no pains to se
cure it. Even on the return Cary and Cole, when
half starved, stuck to their practice of making com
fortable camps, and it is probable that the wonder
ful way they held out under their privations was
largely due to this. While many in their predica-

Cjploration 75
ment would have thrown away their blankets, they
kept them and on every cold and stormy night con
gratulated themselves that they had done so.
At Horse Shoe Rapids the first accident hap
pened. Tracking there was extremely difficult and
dangerous. Shortly after dinner a carry was made,
taking three and a half hours to track out a path
up and along a terrace about fifty feet high. Shortly
after this the boat used by Cary and Smith cap
sized, emptying its load into the river. At the same
time Cary was carried from his footing and just
managed to grasp the line as he came up, and escape
being borne down the stream. When things were
collected, and an inventory taken of the loss, it was
found to include about one-fourth of the provisions,
the barometer and chronometer rendered useless
and practically lost, measuring chain, cooking uten
sils, rifles, with much of the ammunition, axe and
small stores lost. One day was used in making the
length of the lake, and at the camp at its head
Young and Smith turned back.
A very badly swelled hand and arm caused by
jamming his thumb had prevented Young from
getting any sleep, and threatened speedily to become
worse. This, in connection with the loss of pro
visions in the upset, made it expedient to send
the two men back. The returning party was given
the best boat, the best of the outfit and provisions
for six days, in which they could easily reach the

76 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
mouth of the river. Meantime Cary and Cole
pushed on into what was to prove the most eventful
part of their journey.
The lake is simply the river valley with the ter
races cleaned out, and was probably made when the
river was much higher, at a time not far removed
from the glacial period. The head of the lake is
full of sand bars and shoals, much resembling the
mouth of the river as it opens out into Goose Bay.
On both sides of the lake mountains rise steeply
for i,ooo or 1,200 feet. Its average width is from
two to three miles and it has three long bends or
curves. Only one deep valley breaks the precipi
tous sides, but many streams flow in over the ridge,
making beautiful waterfalls.
On Monday, the last day's advance in the boats
was made, the water becoming too swift to be
stemmed. This day Cary got the second ducking of
the trip — a very good record in view of the rough
ness of the work and the smallness of the boats.
During this and the day previous an otter, a crow
and a robin were seen.
The next day the boats and the provisions, ex
cepting a six days' supply carried in the packs, were
carefully cached, and at 10:45 camp was left and
the memorable tramp began. Each man carried
twenty-five pounds. The stream was followed a
short distance, then the abrupt ascent to the plateau
climbed, old river beaches being found all the way

exploration 77
up. From a birch knoll the river was in view for
quite a distance and a large branch was seen mak
ing in from the west.
At II :45 a. m. the Grand Falls were first seen.
The falls proper are about 200 feet high and just
above the river narrows from 250 to 50 yards,
the water shooting over a somewhat gradual down
ward course and then plunging straight down, with
terrific force, the distance mentioned, and with an
immense volume. The fall must be grander at other
seasons, for, while the party was there, the ground
c[uaked with the shock of the descending stream,
and the river was nearly at its lowest point. At the
bottom is a large pool made by the change of direc
tion of the river from south, at and about the falls,
to nearly east below. The canon begins at the pool
and extends, with many turns and windings, for
twenty-five miles through Archean rock. Above the
falls in the wide rapids, the bed is of the same rock,
which seems to underlie the whole plateau.
The very fact of having succeeded made the re
turn distance shorter and fatigue more easily borne,
so they traveled along at a brisk pace, surveying
at times, and little thinking of the disaster that had
befallen them. Camp was made on the river bank,
beneath one of the terraces which lined both sides.
When they arose the march back to the best cache
was resumed. Toward night, as they approached
the place, smoke was seen rising from the ground.

78 Uiitb Dr. ©renfell in JLaGraDor
and, fearing evil, the men broke into a run during
the last two miles. As Gary's journal puts it :
"We arrived at our camp to find boat and
stores burnt and the fire still smoking and
spreading. Cole arrives first, and as I come
thrashing through the bushes he sits on a rock
munching some burnt flour. He announces
with an unsteady voice : 'Well, she's gone.'
We say not much, nothing that indicates poor
courage, but go about to find what we can in
the wreck, and pack up for a tramp down river.
In an hour we have picked out everything use
ful, including my money, nails, thread and
damaged provisions, and are on the way down
river hoping to pass the rapids before dark,
starting at 5."
The extinguished camp-fire had crept underneath
through the peaty soil. Their position was certainly
disheartening. They were 150 miles from their
nearest cache, and nearly 300 miles from the nearest
settlement, already greatly used up, needing rest and
plenty of food, with boat and provisions burnt.
The next day the battle for life began. This
day several trout were caught, line and hooks being
part of each man's outfit, and two square meals
enjoyed, which proved the last for a week. A raft
was made that would not float the men and baggage,
and being somewhat discouraged on the subject of

exploration 79
rafting by the failure, the men did not then at
tempt another, but continued tramping. Following
the river, they found its general course, between
the rapids and Lake Wanimikapo, S. S. E. During
part of that day and all the next they followed in
the track of a large panther, but did not get sight
of him.
After this some time every morning was usually
occupied in mending shoes. All sorts of devices
were resorted to to get the last bit of wear out of
them, even to shifting from right to left; but finally
Cole had to make a pair of nondescripts from the
leather lining of his pack. Cranberries were found
during the day and at intervals during the tramp,
and were always drawn upon for a meal. About
two quarts were added to the stock of provision,
and a supper was made of a red squirrel and a pint
of stewed cranberries. It was a long gruelling trip
to the coast, entailing great hardship.
Finally they reached the schooner and their jour
ney was done. Seventeen days had been used in
making the 300 miles, all but seventy-five of which
were covered afoot. When they came in, besides
the blankets, cooking tins and instruments, nothing
remained of the outfit with which they started on
the return except three matches and one cartridge
for the revolver, which, in Cole's hands, had proved
their mainstay from absolute starvation.
As they climbed over the side of the vessel in the

8o coitf) Dr. (Srenfell in JLaliraDor
harbor they were nearly deafened with exclamations
that their appearance called out, and by the ques
tions that were showered on them. At last some
order was restored, and after pictures had been
made of them just as they came aboard, dressed in
sealskin cassock, ragged remnants of trousers and
shirts, they were given an opportunity to make
themselves comfortable and eat supper, and then
the professor took them into the cabin to receive an
account of their work.
It was many days before their haggard appear
ance, with sunken eyes and dark rings beneath
them, and their extreme weakness, disappeared.
Meantime the vessel had explored further parts
of the coast. At Northern River Professor Lee
very fortunately encountered a camp of Montagnais
Indians. Measurements of some twenty-five of this
nation, heretofore unknown to anthropometric sci
ence, were made, and a full collection of the house
hold utensils peculiar to their tribe was procured.
Several "Nascopies" were among them and were
also measured.
The only remains of the picturesque national
costume that they saw was the cap. The women
wore a curious knot of hair, about the size of a
small egg, over each ear, while the men wore their
hair cut off straight around, a few inches above
the shoulders.
Some curious scenes were enacted while Profes-

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Facing page 8i
exploration 8i
sor Lee was trading for his desired ethnological
material. With inexhaustible patience and imper
turbable countenance, he sat on a log, surrounded
by yelping dogs, and by children and papooses of
more or less tender ages and scanty raiment, play
ing on ten-cent harmonicas that had for a time
served as a staple of trade, struggling with the dogs
and with their equally excited mothers and sisters
for a sight of the wonderful basket from whose ap
parently inexhaustible depths came forth yet more
harmonicas, sets of celluloid jewelry, knives, combs,
fish-hooks, needles, etc., ad infinitum. The men,
whose gravity equaled the delight of the women
and children, held themselves somewhat aloof, sel
dom deigning to enter the circle about the magic
basket, and making their trades in a very dignified
and careless fashion.
That these people are capable of civilization there
can be no doubt. Missing the interpreter, without
whom nothing could be done, the professor in
quired for him and learned that he had returned
to his wigwam. Upon being summoned he said he
was tired of talking; thereupon the professor be
thought himself and asked him if he wanted more
pay. The interpreter, no longer tired, was willing
to talk all night.
At Eskimo Island, at the eastern end of the lake,
a stop was made and a few bones dug up from the
Eskimo graves that abound there.

82 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in JLabraDor
About fifty Eskimo were measured and photo
graphed ; three large houses, comprising the ancient
Eskimo village of "Avatoke," which means "May-
we-have-swalex," i. e., seals, were surveyed, pho
tographed and then thoroughly excavated. All this
was under the leadership of the Professor. Other
parties led by the Captain made trips into the neigh
boring sounds and bays and secured quite a lot of
codfish; and the evenings were very pleasantly
spent cultivating the acquaintance of the Moravian
missionaries. The remains of the village of "Avatoke" have
been deserted for over loo years and the village
was in its prime centuries before that. The out
lines of their houses, roughly eight-sided, about
thirty-six feet across, and each having a long nar
row entrance, are marked by walls now about five
feet high and ten feet thick. In front of this row
of houses, which look toward the sea, are shell
heaps of considerable depth and extent, abounding
in broken implements, pottery and bones.
While part of the force were employed carefully
raking over these heaps of "kitchen midden," others
were measuring the walls, excavating them and also
the floors, which were beautifully laid with immense
flag stones, making photographs and identifying
and labeling the finds.
Small carvings of walrus ivory, stone lamps, por
tions of komatik runners and harness, needles,

exploration 83
whetstones, arrow heads, portions of seal spears,
of kyaks and bones innumerable were among the
finds. Professor Lee's expedition was the forerunner
of several others, including that of Hubbard and
Wallace, and it serves to illustrate definitely what
will be done in the future. A group of scientific
men or pleasure-seekers or both, even if they
have only a summer at their disposal, will find
in Labrador an almost unlimited field, accessible
in a practical way. By hiring a fishing schooner at
St. Johns, or better one of Dr. GrenfeU's sailing
vessels with auxiliary motor, they can leisurely
cruise the coast, finding a good harbor available
each night. Or they can sail straight to Ungava
or Hudson Bay, or across to Baffin Land. In the
latter regions the Eskimo are still more primitive.
I have recently seen remains of ancient Eskimo
villages, of glacial beaches and upheavals, and the
breeding islands where thousands of ducks nest.
Even near Rigolette I found very old Eskimo
graves, and although this place had been frequently
visited there were still parts of skeletons, bone im
plements and stone vessels.
Such a schooner as mentioned above is provided
with her own crew and a skipper who knows the
coast thoroughly. A trip of this kind is entirely
safe. With increasing knowledge of the interior,
there is much less danger there than formerly. The

84 mitif Dr. ©renfell in JLaliraDor
best plan for hunting or exploring seems to be that
pursued with great success by the Yale party, who
brought with them trained Canadian guides and
Micmac Indians. These men make much better
servants than the Labrador liveyeres because they
are more accustomed to that part of the work. For
aid in traveling and as pilots, the party of course
found Labrador liveyeres or half-breed Indians ab
solutely necessary, because of their local knowledge.
A small party or one which does not care strongly
for luxuries and comfort can conveniently use them
alone. With very few exceptions the Newfound
landers know absolutely nothing about the interior
of Labrador; but the coast they know well.
For real excitement a party planned to stay for
the winter in northern Labrador has great possibili
ties. Early arrangements would have to be made
to secure the services of one or more experienced
natives and their dog-teams. Trips such as that of
Dr. Grieve from Battle Harbor to Nain, and those
taken by the Hudson Bay and ReviUon factors,
over the coast range of hills and the long stretches
of sea ice, provide thrills of adventure decidedly
worth while.

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DR. GRENFELL IN SEALSKINS
Facing page
CHAPTER VI
THE LABRADOR MEDICAL MISSION
Dr. Grenfell states in one of his books that "the
raison d'etre of the Mission * is to commend to men
who daily face the perils and privations of the sea
the Gospel of Christ, as the practical rule of life."
This statement needs explanation. Although as it
shows. Dr. GrenfeU's motive is religious and deeply
so, his Mission would never be recognized as a "Gos
pel Mission." He does not seek, as the conven
tional missionaries do, to "save" men by supplant
ing their own religion, by whose tenets they actually
live, with another which for the majority of its ad
herents is chiefly a matter of form. Dr. Grenfell
says further "from the beginning of this work, no
man has ever been engaged in the capacity of priest
or clergyman." So, although the spirit of the Mis
sion is religious, its actual work is very material,
with the medical side as the basis.
In 1892 Dr. Grenfell, who had made an ex
cellent record in establishing medical work in the
* Recently reorganized under the name of The Interna
tional Medical Mission. 8S

86 mitb Dr. (Srenfell in JLaliraDor
Gospel ships with the fishing fleet in the North Sea,
and had shown his ability as a fighter by putting out
of business the rum-ships that traveled with the
fleet, was sent to Labrador by his Society, the Royal
National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. He
came over in charge (being a qualified Master
Mariner) of their sailing vessel, the Albert. He
cruised along the coast, treating 900 patients, and
found conditions which the present visitor is quite
unable to conceive. Not a hospital on the whole
coast and not a doctor except one who came a few
times each summer on the mail steamer, and whose
efficiency is indicated by the fact that his career
was ended by his falling down the companionway
when drunk. Starvation of whole families was
fairly common. Poverty and disease were un
checked. An insidious debt system of slavery to
the traders prevailed, possible because of almost
universal ignorance and illiteracy. Dr. Grenfell
realized that here was a field of endeavor which
offered to occupy fully the lifetime of a strong man.
It demanded one of unusual energy and courage
as well.
I will not detail the history of the Mission. It
is chiefly of course, the history of Dr. GrenfeU's
twenty-three years of remarkably successful work,
and is much too modestly and briefly outlined in
his book "Labrador." In 1893 and 1894 Battle
Harbor and Indian Harbor hospitals were opened,

Ci)e JLaliraDor Q^eDical ۩i0Sion 87
and each summer Dr. Grenfell cruised north, first
in a little launch with three men. His skill and
daring as a sailor, and his endurance in standing
watches after long sieges with patients in the little
harbors, earned the amazement and admiration of
the whole coast. Several vessels were worn out
in this service, disabled or carried away in the ice,
until the little steamer Strathcona was donated,
which is now in active use.
Additional hospitals were built, the staff was in
creased and the work grew. Dr. Grenfell saw that
it was futile to cure diseases like scurvy, consump
tion and anemia caused chiefly by ignorance and
poverty, and then send the patients back to suffer a
relapse under the same conditions. So he began
in 1896 at Red Bay the establishment of coopera
tive stores to help free the people from the traders
and to lower prices and introduce cash trading.
At present there are eight of these stores run and
owned by and for fishermen. They have made it
possible for men in practically any part of the coast
to demand and get from the traders cash for their
fish and furs, and they have greatly reduced directly
and by competition the price of supplies, flour, mo
lasses, tea, etc.
Several thousand patients are now treated each
year at the hospitals and on the Strathcona. Each
doctor also has a launch in which, when he can
get away, he travels the neighboring coast during

88 mitii Dr. (S5renfell in JLabraDor
open water, and a dog-team, with which to reach
as many little settlements as possible in winter.
Dr. GrenfeU's position on the coast is one of great
authority. The prestige and honors which have
come to him have been absolutely unsought and
are simply a recognition of the work which he has
calmly done. His plans have been gigantic, though
each unit has been begun in a modest way. Sev
eral of the projects have failed in part or tem
porarily, and Dr. Grenfell, like all born fighters,
has unhesitatingly made enemies ; but the balance to
his credit, of success and friends, is very large.
The southernmost station, except St. Johns, is
Pilley's Island, on the east coast of Newfoundland.
For some time the people of this district urged Dr.
Grenfell to open a hospital here to care for several
hundred miles of coast that were without medical
aid. Although for the most part poor fishermen
they agreed to provide for the maintenance if Dr.
Grenfell would supply a doctor. As the funds of
the Mission were already heavily burdened it seemed
wisest not to undertake any fresh responsibilities,
but a separate fund was raised in Boston for the
equipment, and Dr. Webster and another doctor and
nurse opened a hospital. By means of strict econ
omy, contributions and the collection of fees from
those able to pay, this hospital has become largely
self-supporting, and is now doing splendid work.
On the northeast coast of Newfoundland, for-

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Clje JLaliraDor Q^eDical fission 89
merly called "Starvation Coast," because of the pov
erty and dire calamity which at one time prevailed,
but now called the "French Shore," because of its
late occupation by the French, is the Mission Sta
tion at St. Anthony, the headquarters of the Mis
sion. Before Dr. Grenfell came to this harbor it
was a struggling little aggregation of ten or fifteen
families. Round the station there has now grown
up a prosperous population of several hundred.
Cod-fishing is the principal industry, with seal-
catching in winter.
The Mission settlement is quite extensive. The
hospital has been recently enlarged to accommo
date about thirty patients and in equipment and
efficiency rivals the best of civilized establishments.
An enlarged orphanage provides a home for twenty-
five children, in charge of Miss Storr and an assist
ant. Then there is the industrial house. Its ground
floor contains a carpenter and machine shop where
all sorts of construction and repairing are done. A
small pottery-kiln adjoins, and a machine shop, and
beyond a power saw is installed to cut up the enor
mous wood supply needed for the winter. Above is
a loom-room where spinning, weaving and kindred
arts are taught. They have to be carried on chiefly
in the winter because in summer all the girls are
needed to help in the curing of fish or in cooking for
the skipper and his crew.

90 mitii Dr. Grenfell in JLaliraDor
The industrial house is constantly busy and in
its shops are frequently seen the venerable Mr.
Ashe, his son, Ted McNeil, and the alert Wilson
Jacque. The last three men have had technical
training at Pratt Institute, New York, where they
made excellent records in spite of very slight ele
mentary schooling. They now stand ready to help
Dr. Grenfell on the launches, in building and on
the winter travels. They are all Labrador liveyeres
and are pretty good representatives of the physical
and mental superiority of these people.
Marvelous evidences of civilization have been
made by sheer force to spring up in this northern
wilderness. Where formerly two boys spent their
days hauling water in summer and snow was melted
on the kitchen stove in winter, there now is a reser
voir on the hill behind the Mission buildings, which
connects with a complete water-supply and plumb
ing system. The source is a deep spring which does
not freeze.
A cellar has been dug under the hospital and
a furnace installed. It is hard to realize what this
means on the coast. The ground in most places is
but a thin layer over bed-rock. In digging for
foundations at Battle Harbor, for instance, solid
rock was sometimes encountered two feet down.
Further, the ground never thaws more than five to
seven feet beneath the surface. Below that depth
the soil is frozen solid in the middle of summer.

Clie JLaliraDor Q^eDical Omission 91
In spite of endless difficulties, however, the task has
been accomplished by Mr. Halsey, the "saint in
overalls," and others, with squads of American col
lege men as laborers.
The advantages of furnace heating can only be
appreciated by those who have lived on the coast in
winter. Practically all houses are heated by small
wood-stoves, the kitchen stove and perhaps one
other downstairs and their stove pipes for the rooms
on the second floor. In my own experience the wood
was always very green and coated with an inch of
solid ice, so that it was necessary to stand a barri
cade of pieces around and upon the stove to melt.
Before they were dry they had to be put in, some
times even soaking wet. We managed, however,
to maintain an average temperature of 54 degrees,
to which we became sufficiently accustomed to be
perfectly comfortable.
At night all the fires went out, and as we insisted
on fresh air the snow not infrequently blew in upon
our beds. Those who happened to be on the lee
side of the house on such occasions got up and
shoveled out the others. We once found Dr. Gren
fell reposing calmly beneath a foot of snow, while
snow clung to the walls like a drapery, and sub
merged his bureau in a huge drift.
The installation of running water at the hospital
makes possible a real bath-tub, another formerly un
heard-of thing on the coast. Formerly the members

92 mitii Dr. (Srenfell in JLabraDor
of the staff drew lots for the use of a tin object
resembling a cross between a wash-tub and a rock
ing-chair. With all their advantages I personally
resent the other encroachments of civilization on the
coast, but it is only at St. Anthony that they are
much manifest; the remaining stations are primitive
in comparison.
As a final wonder an electric lighting plant has
been put in, which serves the Mission buildings and
the paths and dock. It is run by a kerosene motor,
fuel for which is much cheaper and easier to ob
tain than gasoline. It makes possible the most
modern electric treatment and X-ray work. The
reputation of this hospital and the wonderful surgi
cal work of Dr. Grenfell and his right-hand man.
Dr. John Mason Little, bring patients even from the
south and St. Johns.
Among the further buildings is the Guest House,
which houses chiefly the volunteer workers. It is
remarkable in the architecture of the coast for its
glass-enclosed porch, within which a pleasant heat
is afforded by the sun even in the extreme cold of
March. The success of this experiment, in spite of
the blowing in of one or two windows during bliz
zards (I remember ireezing my hand slightly when
Dr. Grenfell and I tried to put one back to keep
out the snow during a three-day storm), has led
to the adoption of the plan in the addition to the
hospital.

Cfte JLabraDor 9^eDical fission 93
Across the harbor and out toward its mouth are
the wharf, store houses, and little building of the
St. Anthony Cooperative Store. This, one of the
newest links in the chain, experienced hard times
because it undertook to advance supplies, in deserv
ing cases, on credit. It has learned the old lesson
for itself and is now well on its feet and doing a
large business.
Visitors to St. Anthony who are eager to see the
little places can go by land or small boat to Braha.
The distance is about four miles of the worst walk
ing, with a very indistinct path leading through
"tuckermoor" (a low thick growth of stunted ever
green trees), around little lakes and over mossy
bogs. Here is a cooperative store which flourishes
like most of the series under a fisherman manager.
The cooperative stores are run separately from
the International Medical Mission. When one is es
tablished, the natives of the community put in as
much money as possible and Dr. Grenfell person
ally makes up the remaining necessary capital.
When the store is on its feet and is paying, he with
draws his capital, refusing to accept any part of
the interest and dividends earned upon it, turning
this money back into the store. Each store is thus
locally owned and independent of Dr. Grenfell
financially, and has been no risk to the funds of the
Mission. A little further north from St. Anthony is Cape

94 mitii Dr. (S^renfell in JLabraDor
Bauld, which marks the northern limit of New
foundland, and borders on the Strait of Belle Isle.
Across this strait is the Mission Station of Battle
Harbor, situated on a little island about four miles
from the mainland. The harbor itself is a poor one,
formed by the surrounding islands and part of the
mainland. That which seems to be the harbor is
a narrow "tickle" or passage between Battle Island
and Great Caribou Island. The settlement of Bat
tle Harbor is small, on little Battle Island which
is a mile long. About ten families live here per
manently, but during the summer the population
is considerably increased by Newfoundland fisher
men and visitors. The Mission buildings are
grouped together toward the middle of the island
near the shore and consist of a hospital and a few
storehouses. The hospital has been twice enlarged,
owing to the great demand for increased accommo
dation for patients.
There is also near by the house occupied by the
resident physician in charge. Dr. John Grieve.
Across the harbor are a wharf and storehouse for
coal and supplies, built against the high cliff of Cari
bou Island. The firm of Baine Johnson has a crew
of about sixty men fishing from this harbor, and
near the shore is the wide extent of one of the
largest fish flakes on the coast. The flake is a plat
form of poles on which the fish are spread to dry.
Battle Harbor, lying at the corner where the At-

Cbe JLabraDor Q^eDical amission 95
lantic Ocean meets the Strait of Belle Isle, is just
opposite the mouth of Lewis Inlet, a long bay which
extends for thirty miles back into the interior and
forms the outlet of a river which goes many miles
further back. The important position of this place
makes it seem very possible that at some future time
it may become a large town. This might easily
happen if another industry than fishing were to
be established. At present there is in the winter
only the very minor occupation of furring, which
can support only a limited number of people.
Along the shores of the inlet, after one gets twenty
miles back from the coast, the country is heavily
wooded and could easily support a lumber mill and
possibly a shipyard. The establishment of these
or similar industries would draw to Battle Harbor
a fairly large population, which in turn would make
possible the organization of schools and the other
adjuncts of an enlightened village. This dream is
perhaps of the very far future, but it is not an im
practical idea. One of the serious drawbacks to
improvement in the life of the people is the fact
that they are so scattered and isolated. On the
other hand, however, for the encouragement of
self-sufficing qualities the hunting life is undoubt
edly much to be preferred.
About eight miles west of Battle Harbor is Fox
Harbor, on the mainland, a little cove harboring
three or four families, some of which have con-

96 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
siderable Eskimo blood. This is in fact the most
southern trace of a race which formerly extended
as far south as Maine. It forms the outermost
group of those who live in winter by trapping. The
trappers here, as in most parts of the coast, hold
title to the land by right of succession and use. One
man regards himself as owner of, and covers every
few days, an extent of sixty miles.
The work of the Medical Mission here is like
that in other parts of the coast. The doctor in
charge is assisted usually by a volunteer physician
and one or two advanced medical students, as well
as one or two nurses. The number of cases treated
during the summer is exceedingly large. Most
of these come from various parts of the coast by
the mail steamers, and it is not unusual for ten
serious operations to be performed during one day.
This, of course, entails a very severe strain on the
small staff and taxes its resources to the utmost.
Between times the doctor travels north and west for
fifty miles each way in a thirty-five foot launch, with
sail and a kerosene engine. The crew of the launch
is usually composed of one or two natives and three
or four American college students who have volun
teered their services for the summer.
The hospital contains a large Assembly Room,
in which occasional entertainments are given and
religious services held by the doctor in charge on

Cbe LabraDor Q^eDical Qgiisgion 97
Sunday afternoons. There is a little Episcopal
Church in the village as well.
The winter work is even more interesting than
the summer. Dr. Grieve is the Mission's chief
traveler. His longest trip is more than a thousand
miles and takes him north along the Labrador coast
to Nain or Okkak. He also travels west, along the
shore ice and across the frozen bays for a considera
ble distance. In order to get in both trips he has
to make the western trip extremely early and con
stantly runs the danger of encountering soft or
broken up ice. In spite of having many times
broken through he has always managed to get out
of the difficulty. The western trip, too, serves to
season him and his dogs for the harder trip to the
north. He travels with two teams and one or two
drivers. His dogs are famous on the coast as one
of the finest, most carefully bred packs. They re
ceive the best of care and are fed from depots of
whale or seal meat and fish which are deposited
during the summer by Dr. Grenfell on his way along
the coast in the Strathcona.
During five or six years Dr. Grieve has con
stantly improved his methods of travel, his sleds,
and his harnessing of the dogs and has learned more
and more in regard to the proper equipment of
clothing, so that his traveling is now done with
the greatest possible efficiency. Even so, however,
it requires a very great deal of skill and endurance

98 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in JLabraDor
and usually leaves him thoroughly fatigued at the
end of the season. There is usually no one in charge
of the hospital during his absence, except the nurse
and Mrs. Grieve, who is also a capable nurse.
On the whole. Battle Harbor is one of the most
interesting spots of the coast. The chief difficulty
is that visitors get usually a very superficial glance
at the most civilized portions of the little commu
nity and fail to see the real life of the people which
is just around the corner. For this reason those
who have a day or two at Battle Harbor between
mail steamers will find it well worth their while to
visit some of the little nearby communities. One
of these is Trap Cove, about two miles from Battle
on Caribou Island and can be reached by crossing
over in a boat and going by foot over the hill at the
northern end of the island ; one then descends a
steep path into a little settlement full of dogs and
pups. It is at Battle Harbor that one is usually first
deeply impressed by the Eskimo dogs. One is apt
to be distinctly cautious about venturing near them.
As soon as possible one ought to master the very
simple rule of dealing with them, which is to treat
them with utter indifference and lack of respect. It
may sound a little harsh to a lover of dogs but it
seems to be the only way. One never gets out of an
Eskimo dog's way. If he is lying in the path one
yells at him, gives him a kick, or pretends to pick up

Cbe JLabraDor fipeDical 9iiS0ion 99
a stone as though to throw it. The dogs need not
be in the least feared, because except in very unusual
instances they are thoroughly afraid of men. Dur
ing the summer, too, they are constantly well-fed,
because of the large cjuantity of fish cuttings which
they pick up around the splitting stages. They also
fish for themselves in shallow water ; and their own
ers find it unnecessary to feed them at all during this
season. About the next call of the mail steamer is made
at Square Islands. There is no Medical Mission
station, but a teacher and a doctor are sometimes
located there. On the way along the coast one
passes an interesting natural phenomenon called
"Flole-in-the-wall." It is a large opening through
a thin wall of rock which runs parallel to the shore
a short distance off it. With a heavy sea the water
rushes in behind and out through the hole, which
is well above the ordinary water-level, as though
it were a tunneling river.
About three families at Square Islands are live
yeres, the rest are Newfoundlanders, who come in
other people's boats and settle to fish for the sum
mer. The place was the first one which I saw that
had no dogs. Owing to this lack a degree of civ
ilization prevails which is astounding to the Labra
dor eye. Chickens roam about, together with six
or eight goats. There are several small gardens,
fenced in on account of the goats.

IOO ^itb Dr. (Srenfell in JLabraDor
One of these was shown to me with pride by a
nice old liveyere woman, who had carefully tended
it for years. It was about five feet square, with
little paths the width of one's foot (quite a width
when one wears sea-boots), and was flourishing for
Labrador, for it had a single poppy about a foot
high, and also contained several bushy strawberry
plants which had put forth some beautiful foliage
but had forgotten all about the berries. Two tiny
leaves gave promise of a rose-bush some time ; while
the crowning glory was an apple tree, five years
old, and five inches high.
There is a little store, kept by the most prominent
liveyere, in which he sells a few things like knives
and hard-tack, and buys from the people bake-ap-
ples that they pick and furs that they trap, to sell
them again to the schooner that brings his goods
and the Newfoundlanders from the south. He of
fered to sell me a lynx skin, but I declined with
thanks, because he admitted that the animal had
not been killed in winter, and the fur was apt to
part from the skin and cleave to the clothing.
We went into one house, during the doctor's
rounds, where the family was just finishing a din
ner of hard-tack soaked in water and fried in fat,
and washed down with tea sweetened with molasses.
Square Islands is a fairly representative summer
Labrador community, but it shows much New
foundland influence because of the majority of its

Cbe JLabraDor QieDical omission loi
population. On the other hand it usually has
few Newfoundland fishing schooners lying in the
harbor. At several similar places Dr. Grenfell has work
ers stationed when possible. For instance, at Spot
ted Islands, further north, where the people are
largely liveyeres, he has had for two years a young
doctor who, living in one of the houses, has treated
patients, taught school, and been of help to the peo
ple generally.
At one place a doctor and nurse spent the winter
absolutely away from any hospital or other evidence
of civilization. They brought most unaccustomed
help to the little community, and incidentally had
an interesting winter, with long, exciting, if some
times arduous, trips by dog-team.
The next station of the Labrador Medical Mis
sion is Indian Harbor, at the mouth of Hamilton
Inlet. It consists of a small hospital and a large
general hall, not infrequently pressed into tempo
rary ward or dormitory service. The permanent
population of this region is small, so the hospital
is usually abandoned for the winter. It serves the
fishermen injured or taken sick on schooners, and
also liveyeres brought to it from distant points by
boat, or sent thither by Dr. Grenfell when longer
treatment is needed than his hurried visits in the
Strathcona will allow.
Much farther north, at Paul's Island, is a co-

I02 mitii Dr. (Srenfell in JLabraDor
operative store, established several years ago, and
flourishing to the great benefit of the liveyeres
there ; true Labrador people. Far to the south, west
of Battle Harbor, is the fourth regular hospital sta
tion, at an isolated place called Harrington. It is
on the southern coast, in Canadian Labrador. In
spite of the latitude the conditions here are as hard
as any. The population is different because of a
large French Canadian element, but it is supported
by fishing and sealing in much the same way as the
rest of the coast.
For the last few years seals have been so scarce
that the people have suffered real hardship from
lack of proper moccasins, no other boots being at all
suited to the conditions. Dr. and Mrs. Hare and a
nurse, with an occasional medical student and assist
ant nurse, do most self-sacrificing work. Single-
handed often the surgeon runs the hospital, and
travels in a small launch in summer, and with dogs
in winter. The sea-traveling is hard, for the coast
is dangerous and foggy; and the dog-travel in spite
of a splendid team, affords great risks near the first
and last of winter because of the many deep bays
which have to be crossed, no matter how rough and
unsafe the ice.
The latest and crowning achievement of Dr. Gren
fell is in a much different line. St. Johns, New
foundland, is the market and commercial center of
the coast, to which the fishermen and sealers have to

Cbe JLabraDor ^eDical scission 103
resort in great numbers to settle up for their catch.
It is a very small city and contained no adequate
place to which the men could go when ashore except
saloons, of which it has over fifty. Dr. Grenfell
planned and raised the money forthe building of the
King George the Fifth Seamen's Institute, which is
recognized as a model institution and has been vis
ited by a commission from England who wish to
duplicate it in their ports.
The seafaring men have here baths, comfortable
bedrooms and lounging rooms, laundries where
they can do their own washing, a huge hall for mo
tion pictures and other entertainments, billiards,
pool, soda, bowling, a big swimming pool, a good
restaurant, an officers' room — all at moderate
charges — and a complete separate floor with a
matron for the girls employed on vessels, and the
main offices of the International Medical Mission.
Every cent of building cost has been paid off, and,
although the operation of the Institute cost during
the first year $16,000, it maintains itself, paying all
this out of current income. Best of all is the fine
spirit of management and patrons alike.
These are some of the specific points ministered
to by Dr. Grenfell; but a feature of his work is its
informality and lack of red-tape, so that even as this
is written plans are probably being laid to reach
and help new ports. To him and the type of en
ergetic individuals who work with him, every cove

I04 mitii Dr. (Drenfell in JLabraDor
on the coast is full of interest; but the combined
resources admit the establishment of stations in only
a few places. Indeed, Dr. Grenfell allows no
amount of zeal to carry him beyond the practical
limit ; and he prefers to limit his efforts somewhat in
area in order to work more efficiently.
The wider field of Dr. GrenfeU's work is the
100,000 square miles or more of Labrador. His
name and he himself are known from one end to
the other, and his relation with his people is unique
in any community. He has enemies, but cautious
inquiry will generally show them to be persons or
adherents of persons who have had the bad judg
ment to sell liquor, cheat the poor, or otherwise
so act as to feel his power in an unpleasant way.
Public opinion is against them and with Dr. Gren
fell, less because of what he has done for the peo
ple than because men know him as a man.

CHAPTER VII
HOW TO REACH LABRADOR
It is possible to reach Labrador from Boston in
a week. Leaving Boston by the Plant Line one
may sail to Halifax, or by the Dominion Steamship
Company to Yarmouth, and from either of these
places go by rail to Sydney, Cape Breton Island.
Here one takes the steamer of the Reid Newfound
land Company to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland,
where one connects with the Reid Newfoundland
Railway. It is possible to cross the country east
ward by the railroad to the capital, St. Johns, and
the Labrador-bound traveler has the choice of doing
so and going thence to Labrador in a way described
later. If he wishes the quickest route, he takes from
Port aux Basques another branch of the railroad
northward to Bay of Islands, Newfoundland.
There he may take a small mail steamer of the Reid
Newfoundland Companj', which calls at several
more ports of the west coast of Newfoundland and
then crosses the Strait of Belle Isle to Forteau,
Labrador ; thence it skirts the south Labrador coast
until it reaches Battle Harbor, the metropolis of
105

io6 mitii Dr. arenfell in JLabraDor
Labrador proper, and in some years goes south on
the east coast of Newfoundland to St. Anthony.
Two other boats go as far north as Battle, one of
the Reid Newfoundland Company, which makes
about six trips from July to October, and twice gets
as far north as Nain. So much depends on the ice,
however, that one may start expecting to reach Nain
and have to turn back some loo miles further south.
No passenger steamers go north of Nain; but the
Moravian missionaries have a ship which comes
from England once a year or so, striking the coast
usually near Rigolet, and then goes to the far north
Moravian stations; and the Hudson Bay Company
sends up from St. Johns to Hudson Bay each year
some ships, which call in at Battle. These boats
north of Nain, however, are very irregular and
take passengers only by special arrangement.
The third mail steamer which goes as far north
as Battle Harbor is run by Bowring Brothers. It
starts at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and runs up the
east coast of Newfoundland to Battle Harbor,
Labrador, and back. This third line makes it pos
sible to go from New York to Labrador with one
change. Bowring Brothers' Red Cross Line pro
vides first-class accommodations from New York
to St. Johns, where one may connect with the line
for Battle Harbor, or the Reid-Newfoundland boat
going further north on the Labrador coast. For
those who like a sea voyage, and wish to go from

^oto to IReacb JLabraDor 107
New York with the greatest comfort, this is the best
route. Or, as suggested above, one may reach Port
aux Basques and then cross Newfoundland by rail
road to St. Johns and there connect with either
northern boat.
Any person, no matter what his tastes may be,
can get real pleasure from a trip to Labrador. At
the very worst, if for instance the weather should
prove bad, or his tastes are particularly jaded, he
will enjoy Labrador because it will be absolutely
new to him. Even if he has traveled in Newfound
land, he will have seen nothing like it.
One thing only is necessary — he must take the
trip in the right spirit, remembering that the ordi
nary first-class accommodations to which American
travelers are accustomed are to be had only as far
as Port aux Bascjues or St. Johns. Further north
the accommodation is decidedly second-class.
A slight exception must be made for the Reid
Newfoundland Railway Company, which although
narrow-gauge, has nevertheless a good dining serv
ice and Pullmans.
The northern boats have few staterooms and
it is impossible to engage securely a whole one. It
must be remembered that these lines are not pri
marily for tourists. They run a few months each
year only, for the benefit of the coast inhabitants,
bringing them mail and supplies. During the height
of the season they are often crowded so that com-

io8 mitii Dr. (©renfell in JLabraDor
mon humanity overcomes selfish desires and each
stateroom holds four people.
Not long ago a few American millionaires trav
eling on the coast made arrangements with the
owner and head of one of the lines to have a state
room apiece. The boat was extremely crowded and
the result was that all the other tourists, hunters
and fishermen were herded together in the so-called
second-class, which is equivalent to the ordinary
steerage, while the few rich Americans contentedly
occupied the entire first cabin. The affair caused
so much fury on the coast that it was taken to the
Newfoundland Parliament, and the owner, who is
a member, found himself in extremely hot water.
Pioneer necessity on the Labrador tends to do
away with class distinction and spread a feeling
of genuine democracy which is very pleasing to an
American, however accustomed to obeisance he may
happen to be. One should not suppose, however,
that this feeling in the Labrador people presents
itself in impudence or that over-readiness to demon
strate equality to all comers that is so offensive.
The people have a quiet modesty and deference
which is the most real sort of courtesy.
These northern boats are full of interest. One
of them often employed to help out in the service
but not regularly used, is upwards of fifty years
old and as strong as on the day she was built. She
was formerly an old sailing British man-of-war.

i^oto to Eeacb JLabraDor 109
Several hard fights in African waters left her eter
nal oak beams absolutely untouched, and with oc
casional resheathing, topping and inside fitting she
has done many years of helpful service on the coast.
Others of the northern vessels are former sail
ing ships admirably adapted to the service by the
thick sheathing with which they combat the ice.
One or two of them are still used each spring for
the chase after seals among the ice floes. Only
four years ago the old Virginia Lake, which had
reached Nain twice the previous summer, was at
last crushed in and destroyed in March by the in
calculable strength of the spring ice-pack. In these
staunch vessels the summer passengers, however,
may feel absolutely safe, for although there is plenty
of ice it is loosely scattered, and during a great
many years none of these vessels has ever suffered
serious accident.
The Labrador coast is in fact by no means as
unsafe for navigation as it is sometimes regarded.
It is poorly charted indeed, but this is a disadvan
tage only to strangers, and not to the old skippers
of these vessels, who know the coast like a book.
Their ability to travel unerringly in the fog and
dark is almost uncanny. There is also a good, safe
harbor nearly every ten miles, to use in case of
emergency. The northern boats run along "inside"
a sheltering fringe of islands, and are usually south

IIO mitii Dr. ©renfell in JLabraDor
before the dreaded "equinoctial gales" break loose
very late in the season.
The latter are indeed severe. From forty to
sixty fishing vessels are apt to be wrecked every
year. During these times Dr. GrenfeU's staunch
little steamer Strathcona labors without thought
of danger. Dr. Grenfell has the reputation of trav
eling in weather which scares the most hardened
skippers. He usually succeeds in pulling half a
dozen unfortunate fore-and-afters off the rocks
upon which they have been driven, and in rescuing
several crews.
Persons wishing to stop over will find Battle
Harbor, Labrador, and St. Anthony, northern
Newfoundland, the most convenient places. St.
Johns, Newfoundland, is the only point on the coast
boasting real hotels, and these are decidedly second-
class. Of chief interest is the new Fisherman's In
stitute which Dr. Grenfell has established there.
At St. Anthony the International Medical Mission
has limited accommodations, the best of any of
the stations. These should, however, be arranged
for in advance by writing or telegraphing the Ma
tron of the Guest House, St. Anthony, Newfound
land. At the other stations the Mission is always glad
to extend hospitality when it can, but, during the
summer especially, the absolute need on behalf of
the patients thronging to the hospitals usually

^oto to JHeacb JLabraDor m
makes this impossible. Not infrecjuently the very
benches in the small waiting-room have to be made
up as beds for sufferers.
At Battle Harbor Mr. Croucher, summer factor
for the Baine Johnson Company, traders and fish
merchants, and his assistant, Mr. Lewis, often are
kind enough to take into their houses the few trav
elers that they can accommodate.

CHAPTER VIII
AN AMERICAN IN LABRADOR
An ever increasing number of Americans, Cana
dians and English are giving their services for per
iods of from three months to several years in order
to help Dr. Grenfell solve the social and medical
problems of the coast. Most valuable is the work
of medical and surgical specialists and of nurses,
next comes that of third-year medical students, ac
countants, electricians and teachers. Still others
without technical or professional training do sec
retarial and administrative work and heavy manual
labor. The life of these people is in its way as inter
esting as that of the liveyeres whom they try to
serve. To depict it I quote a few passages from
my diary as volunteer aide for over a year in the
Labrador Medical Mission, serving in many capaci
ties. August 13th — AVe took a trip in the kerosene
launch to Fox Harbor after supper, and lost our
bearings toward the end of the journey on account
of fog. We ran along, trying to find the harbor.

3n American in JLabraDor 113
until we heard breakers on our port bow. We
dropped both anchors just in time to head her off,
and turned in for the night. There were four
bunks in the combined cabin and engine-room, and
six hands aboard, — the hospital physician, Dr.
Grieve, an energetic Scotchman, two of the Mis
sion's seamen and three Americans. We held watch
in turn, two on deck at a time, which made the
accommodations sufficient. We sounded frequently
with the lead-line to make sure that the anchors
were not dragging and letting us drift toward the
rocks. When it became light we saw the reef near
us, and we were glad that we had not gone ashore
in the dark and fog to find the harbor, for the dory
would have been carried in and dashed to pieces
before we could have gotten down the shore be
yond the reef. We could see the harbor compara
tively near, so we steamed in and blew a blast on
the horn. A young man came out of one of the
huts and rowed out in a punt to carry the doctor
and me ashore.
We climbed up the rails of the only sort of wharf
much found on the coast, a fish-stage, and went to
a small hut covered with peat sod. A middle-aged
Eskimo in the usual fishing costume, knee-boots
with iron heel-plates, overalls, jersey, pipe and tam-
o'-shanter, met us at the door and took us into the
hut, which was made of hand-hewn boards scrubbed
clean. Here were his fat wife, one well boy and

114 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
one with the mumps. All could speak English, and
as the mother had followed carefully the verbal
instructions which the doctor had given her, the
child was pronounced well enough to put down his
bed and walk.
August 30th — We were opening some sacks of
clothing in the morning and paying off some men
to whom work had been given to help them out of
dire need. Their tastes were surprising. Some of
the knitted woolen things the women "take down"
and reknit to suit themselves, as wool is so hard
to get. A stranger strolled in and happened to
see a green fancy vest which a doubtless well-mean
ing but scantily informed friend in civilization had
sent. He saw that I was busy so he went away, but
later he came back and stood admiring the waist
coat for all he was worth.
"I wonder now what would be de price o' dat. I
s'pose 'tis way up altogedder. Now dat ves' sort
o' strikes my fancy. I 'low 'tis slack enough in d*
wais'. Yes, yes, I suppose I'd be willin' to give
half a quintal or a quintal o' fish for un." I ex
plained that clothing was given only for work. His
offering a quintal of cod-fish for a thing of no use
to him shows rather picturesque ignorance of value,
for a quintal is worth about $4.00, which is a good
deal to a man who gets perhaps a hundred or less,
on which to support a large family for a year.
September 7th — We started about five in the

AN ESKIMO FAMILY AT HOME
Facing page ii4

3n American in LabraDor 115
morning to go by sea to St. Anthony, or "Sanan-
tony." When we were about half way there fog
settled about us and we had of course to steer by
compass. We ran into Black Jack Cove, in which
eleven schooners were wrecked last year, landed a
passenger, and cleared out. The cove is narrow
and unprotected from certain winds. It was very
thick and dusky when we reached St. Linair or
Leonard Bay and, as no one on board knew this part
of the coast, we put in for the night. There was
formerly a French settlement here, and I found a
man who could speak very good French indeed.
His dogs were of the mixed variety, and were all
tied with long ropes. Although they weren't hus
kies, he told me of an occasion when he went to
feed them and they jumped on him and knocked
him down, biting him seriously before his son could
drive them off. He was fortunately able to get
to his feet again, or he would probably have been
torn to pieces.
We reached our destination and got four car
penters to help finish the addition of the hospital,
and started back. We had heard stories of drink
running rife at Carpoon, and the doctor intended to
check it in the bud. We ran into the harbor and
found that a gang of French Canadians, foreign
ers of course to the country, had gone on a spree
with the only liquor they could get, — some wood-
alcohol. They took it at first diluted with sugar

ii6 ^itb Dr. ©renfell in JLabraDor
and water, but as recklessness increased they forgot
the delicacies and were soon drinking it "neat.'
Two had just died from the effects of the poison
and one lay sick and blind for life. Several more
were blinded for a time but recovered.
No efforts were needed on our part to check the
debauch. It was indeed pitiable, but no better ob
ject lesson could have been desired. The news that
these men had died from drinking spread rapidly
all along the coast.
After doing all we could we went straight on
in a hard blow. Our motor got a hot-box and we
had to sail. Immediately the wind died to a calm
which lasted for some time before a breeze started
up. Two hours later we entered the harbor and
found that the Strathcona had arrived laden with
northern products, including an addition to the fox-
farm, some Husky pups, an Indian "cracky," or
small dog, with yellow eyes, and some sealskin
boots for the staff.
We went to work unloading coal from Dr. Gren
feU's schooner, which had also just arrived and
was alongside the storehouse in very deep water.
It took three days to unload the one hundred and
twenty tons by hand, using a block and winch.
The days were ten-hour days, broken only by din
ner and "mug-up" at eleven and four. This was
an application of scientific management, for we
found that regular interruptions did away with the

an American in JLabraDor 117
necessity for drinks of water at all hours. "Mug-
up" is a light meal consisting chiefly of tea, with
occasional hard-tack, dried caplin, and biscuits.
September 14th — On a bright night we set out
over the still sea for Antill's Cove, towing in a
scow some of our precious "coals" for our friends
of the whale factory. We were about a mile from
their cove when we made out a boat in the dark
ness, which we soon saw was full of men, rowing
like mad. They were so anxious to get along that
they did not see our side-lights until we were quite
near, when they sang out that they had an injured
man aboard. We stopped, and the patient was care
fully transferred.
The men at the whale factory had been cutting
the blubber from two whales brought in by the
steamer, and were working overtime in the dark,
so that the oil wouldn't spoil by lying over Sunday,
on which day they never work for any considera
tion. They were using extremely sharp knives,
with handles three or four feet long, and one of the
men had accidentally slashed another. The skip
per fortunately knew about a tourniquet, and they
put on some heavy whale-oil, these measures dimin
ishing the bleeding. They would have brought the
man to hospital in the whale steamer, but she
had just blown out her boilers. It was some dis
tance to row, but they had quickly jumped into a
boat and pulled at killing speed for the hospital.

ii8 mitii Dr. ©renfell in JLabraDor
Next day we finished blasting away rocks from
behind the hospital and began to tear down part of
the old building. Every upright had been chopped
from a log and every plank was hand-sawn or hewn.
We had no really skilled carpenters, but we were all
good at the sledge-hammer and crow-bar, smash
ing out the walls, ripping up the floor and pulling
down the ceiling. The walls of some of the rooms
were covered with old newspapers and Youth's
Companions, read, reread, and still doing duty in
keeping out the cold.
The men were all more or less sailors and used
nautical terms in carpentering. We were about to
rip the oil-cloth from the wall of an upstairs bed
room when one of them sang out, "All ban's aloft
to furl th' 'ile-skin!"
"Ahoy, slack away d' main-sheet!" referred to
the improvised string fastening of a door.
September i8th — The wind had increased to a
fierce gale. The schooners in the harbor put out
extra lines in all directions to prevent being blown
loose. The sea was driven in great waves against
all projecting rocks, and several small islands were
hidden from sight by the continuous wall of water
blown up around them. The water swept clear
over several islands. It dashed twenty feet up
the point on one side of the "souther' tickle." There
were no white caps : the whole sea was a mass of
foam with small green spots flecking it. The wind

an American in JLabraDor 119
was mainly northeast and came right through the
tickle with tremendous force, driving along great
piles of soap-suds foam, churned up on the rocks
outside. A small boat tugged at an inch rope until
it broke, when the boat was whisked out through
the souther' tickle onto the rocks and was smashed
to pieces.
The big fish steamer, although held fast by nu
merous chains and ropes, broke her forward lines
and was swinging ponderously around toward the
other side of the harbor, where she would have
swept away two schooners and our launch and
smashed in her bows, — when they got a cable ashore
and checked her a few yards from the rocks. It
was exciting, for there was but a small fraction
of the time ordinarily necessary to get out a line in
which to prevent great destruction.
We were thankful she hung on; but we realized
that her one small cable was not highly dependable
in this gale, and there was still a chance of her last
hold being broken, so we decided to move our
launch out of harm's way, although to do so was
rather a risky job. The doctor was mustering his
forces on the wharf, when a boat put across from
the other side ; a thing which no one else had dared
to do. It brought four fishermen who had seen
the danger the launch was in, and volunteered to
take her out of it, even if they had to tow her with
their skiff.

I20 mith Dr. arenfell in JLabraDor
The doctor thankfully accepted their aid, which
showed a very good spirit, and the combined crews
reached the launch after some hard rowing. We
fired up and raising the two anchors started at full
speed ahead against the wind. She crept along
slowly in a half-hearted fashion until she reached
a narrow place between steep rocks and the steam
er's bow. The wind came through this funnel with
great pressure and held back the launch as easily
as would the touch of a giant's little finger. For
some seconds she didn't budge, despite the best ef
forts of the engine ; and it was almost impossible
to steer her clear of the rocks. Gradually she
gained headway and passed the steamer's bow; we
made her lines fast to the storehouse and put out,
with the help of our friends in the skiff, an extra
anchor. September 22nd — In the wake of the equinoctial
gale we had just experienced and which had not
died out for three days, came the mail boat, and
I took a short trip north. We landed before dark
at Spear Harbor, went ashore in the jolly-boat and
climbed up as usual the slippery bars of a fish-stage,
passed through the low room, getting a couple of
bumps on the same old spot, and went up the rocky
path to the main house, the kitchen of which usually
serves as a post-office. Benches wainscoted the
walls, occupied chiefly by fishermen. The women
folk sat in corners or stood about the doorway.

an american in JLabraDor 121
Two of the crew entered with the little mail-bag,
dumped it on the table and began the conversa
tion with :
"Good-night, b'ys. Did 'e feel de breeze strong
'ere?" In another corner I was tackled with the ques
tion: "Is dey ar' wrack up d' coas', sir?"
I replied with the precious news, "Few on the
Labrador, but in Newfoundland Twillingate is
swept clean, — wharf, stages and all, so the people
have no place to make their fish. Twenty-seven
schooners a total wreck; only two hung on in the
whole harbor. In Bonavista six schooners lost
and two Norwegians drowned. Three schooners
lost in American Tickle, one of them blown out
to sea with all hands." The news was received with
neither indifference nor surprise, but with calm
resignation; in fact it was too much a regular fact
of their life to cause hysterical and useless pity.
While we were at Hawke's Harbor the whale-
steamer Cachelot (of late years I believe a financial
misnomer) came in with a freshly caught fin-back
whale, number thirty-seven only though the sea
son was nearly over. Further on several half-breed
Eskimo came aboard. They struck me as more en
terprising and intelligent than the average white
fisherman ; though the full-blooded Eskimo are
much less provident than the whites. They were

122 mitii Dr. (©renfell in JLabraDor
very talkative and very anxious to hear the phono
graph in the cabin, which repeated its repertoire of
five pieces several times. In the crowd were a few
who were part Indian, fierce-looking, dark and
silent. Wood is so scarce here that we brought some
common two-inch sticks all the way from St. Johns
for cemetery rails. At this harbor we met Dr.
GrenfeU's steamer, the Strathcona, and as I had
been invited to join her I transferred myself
and dunnage to her ship's boat. Dr. Grenfell and
his assistant and crew were preparing to run up
Eskimo Bay to Northwest River. We gathered in
the little cabin for a reunion at a dinner of goose,
which was unfortunately tough but none the less
appreciated just then, because they had eaten noth
ing in the fresh meat and poultry line for some
time. We started up the bay and had just dropped
anchor at Muliak when a boat came alongside con
taining a man who wanted a pair of glasses, "So's,
doctor, I kin see to shoot, doctor. 'Tis a 'ard t'ing,
sir, fer a man what depen's mos'ly on 'is gun fer
a livin' when dey is ar' geese an' de likes of dey
about, an' me wantin' un so bad, an' can't git un,
fer me oies."
The only other means of support that this man
has is the salmon fishery, which is now often small,
leaving him without supplies enough for the winter.

an american in JLabraDor 123
In the fall he gets ducks, snipe, yellow-legs, and
traps foxes, martens and once in a great while a
silver-fox, which always pulls him temporarily out
of the mire.
At Carawalla we found the two or three Es
kimo houses deserted. On our return we stayed
over Sunday at Rigolet, where Dr. Grenfell held
three services, one aboard and two in the trader's
dining-room, attended by the family, servants, and
several half-breeds and Eskimo living near.
Further on we stopped to take aboard some wood
cut by poverty stricken men to help out with their
year's food. It was piled a little way back from
the land wash, and there was so much that it took
the whole crew several hours to carry it down and
take it aboard in the dory, towed by the jolly-boat.
Dr. Grenfell pitched into this work as usual and
lugged the largest back loads of fire wood. We
soon reached Indian Harbor, which we helped to
shut up for the winter. The Mission buildings here
would delight the heart of the author of the Sim
ple Life. The only sharp reminder of civilization
in the plain board interior is the small organ in the
corner with its rough hewn stool.
At Cartwright I was pleased to see a monument
in the graveyard to the famous old trader Cart
wright, who founded the settlement. Many of the
inscriptions dated far back, and with their upside-

124 mitb Dr. (Grenfell in JLabraDor
down n's, Charlotte spelled Chariot, etc., were amus
ing. One showed forth this touching ditty :
"Gentle reader, stop and think,
While I'm in eternity, you're on the brink."
Next day there was a very heavy sea and the
Strathcona rolled like a ball. The first thing to
do was to turn the table and chairs upside-down,
and lash everything on the deck. The boats on the
davits at each side dipped into the water, so that
there was some danger of their being carried away.
The jib-sheet was torn off by the force of the wind,
and things were upset generally. It was a hard
task getting into Venison Tickle, for there is scant
room between the islands. We stayed only a short
time in spite of the weather, because Dr. Grenfell
was in a hurry. The secretary amused us by keep
ing his oil-skins always at hand, ready to leave at
short notice. After going through a cross sea which
gave the ship a patent ball-bearing, interlocking,
sideways rotary motion, we arrived at Square
Islands, and attended to a large number of patients.
October 4th — Back at Battle Harbor, we got to
work again at the building, which had grown in
my absence. I learned the gentle art of shingling,
or how to make the roof leak. At all hours, from
six in the morning, when the day had just emerged
from darkness, until six at night, when it had be
gun to sink again, I could be seen clinging like a

an american in JLabraDor 125
limpet to the scaffold, on which all true heroes meet
their end, or hanging over the edge or around a
corner. Then I went at painting.
Hard-driven authors who ^resort for a theme to
the delights of angling should try the job of the
aerial artist. Seated upon his throne, — insecure of
course like all thrones, — he surveys the vast expanse
of sea, and the much vaster expanse of roof. The
sun is shining brightly — on the other side of the
building,' — here in the shade it is sweetly cold ; bitter
would hardly do, especially as sweet smells are
wafted from the chimney by a suffocating draught
of smoke. This is pleasant, for it drowns the odor
of paint on the artist's overalls. After a hard day
of wrist exercise, the spot made on the roof is
usually large enough to be seen with the naked
eye, but it shrinks considerably during the night,
necessitating a long search for it before beginning
work in the morning.
Having found the blot on the 'scutcheon, the
artist seats himself comfortably on the steep side
of the roof and coils up his legs, resting their
lower ends on the thin edge of a board nailed to
the slope. He has crawled out here from a window,
and after carefully painting all round him ends up
with the window, making it impossible to get back.
The men delighted in simple jokes, such as,
"Hand up the bake-apple jam, b'y," referring to
the red paint. One of them remarked the fact

126 ^itb Dr. arenfell in LabraDor
that I didn't wear a cap : he was number eighty-
nine to ask, "Don't e mind your head cold, sir,
widout ar' cap!" With extreme satisfaction one of
them saw me put on mitts toward the end of a chilly
day, and exclaimed joyfully, "I sees, if you is able
t' bear the col' on your 'ead, you likes to wear cuffs
a scattered time." Another volunteered the state
ment that if he hadn't wore a cap like I didn't he
like as not mightn't a lost his hair like he had : dis
playing a crop in which harvest had begun.
As winter was coming on the sealskins which
I had collected from hunters were turned over to
an Eskimo woman to be made up into my cold
weather clothes. The first step which she took was
to soften the skins, which were as stiff as cardboard.
My tailor's husband assisted (although further
north he would have scorned doing so). I also
tried my hand at it, but it was a slow, hard job. It
was amazing to see the ruthless manner in which
those prize skins were handled, or rather trampled ;
but it appears that sealskin is exceedingly durable.
The man first rove a line through the holes in
the edge of a skin and tied it up in a bunch; then
he "tukikava" (trampled) it with his sea-boots. I
told him in great anxiety that he had misunder
stood me, — that I wanted the hair left on. He re
plied with the racial, "I suppose," meaning "Yes,"
and continued stamping and smashing it into a ball.
Then he took out the string, and holding a fistful

an american in LabraDor 127
of skin in each hand, made a rotary motion as
though turning a crank.
The skin has a coating of black vellum on the
inside, and this was gradually broken up into white
lines by mauling. The next process consisted in
man and wife each seizing an end and twisting the
skin until the latent oil appeared in beads. This
was wiped off and the skin again "tukikava," —
rubbed or ground as above. We spent several
evenings at this wrist exercise, I trying to hurry
matters along. Matters are very slow in spite of
hurrying; I have never seen an Eskimo run or do
anything speedily except eat.
The numerous white lines had now become
merged together and no dark was visible, so that
the skins were ready to be scraped with a "kiliu-
tok," a native tool somewhat like a sugar-scoop.
To use this one holds the skin taut over the edge
of a bench with the knee and one hand, and plows
right in with the tool. The act is performed with
all the force one can summon, which by the time
the tail is reached is very little indeed. The skin
is left white and pliable, although it never becomes
as soft as deerskin. The good folk finally realized
that I wanted the clothes for use that winter instead
of the following one, and began to work a bit more
speedily. They really took a hearty interest in
getting them just right.
As bought the skins are split and stretched flat,

128 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
oval in shape and from two to six feet long, with
the hair on. In full-grown seals used for clothing,
the hair is only about half an inch long and not
thick; in the whelps or "white-coats" the hair
grows two inches before it is changed for the new
short gray coat. The best skin is that of the ranger ;
it is a beautiful silvery gray on the belly, and has
very dark spots close together on the back. Next
to this is the bedlamer, or young harp, with light
half-moons on its back, and the jar, with light-gray
circles, also set in dark gray. The largest variety
is the square-flipper, from ten to fifteen feet long,
with skin as thick as shoe leather. That of young
square-flippers and of harps is used for boot-bot^
toms; while ordinary sealskin, about as thick as
sheepskin, is used for the legs.
After several days of hard labor my lady-tailor
proceeded to cut out the trousers or "hudulik" en
tirely by eye, using a "wulu," a sharp tool much like
a small meat-chopper. This particular one was of
ancient Eskimo manufacture, nearly a hundred
years old, having been handed down through several
generations. The ivory handle had been polished
and the blade worn to half its original size by con
stant use.
After cutting out the pieces the good woman pro
ceeded to sew them together with whale-sinew
(which had been drying on the roof), and a square-
topped needle. This sinew runs along the back of

The author in the Eskimo sealskin clothes he wore during
the winter, examining Eskimo carving
Facing page 128

an american in LabraDor 129
the whale and is as large as a man's wrist; while
dry it was split up into four or five cords and each
of these was again split and resplit into strings,
which were dried for four or five days, and then
split into threads as needed. It was quite a task to
"mitsuk" the trousers, but the result was worth
while. They were mainly of two pieces, a whole
skin to each leg: in shape they were just like or
dinary trousers, but large enough to be worn out
side a pair. Around the bottom they have a two-
inch band of white-haired skin. Around the top
there is another white band. There is one deep
pocket, put in as an extraordinary innovation, only
after much discussion.
This work of art completed, the "netsik," or shirt,
was tackled in the same manner. This is the same
shape as a sweater, but is loose enough to go outside
coat, sweater and trousers, and has a hood, which
is part of the back and front pieces, and a peak at
the back of the top : it frames the face, the chin
and forehead being partly covered. The bottom and
sleeves have the same two-inch band of white-haired
skin. Dr. Grenfell was kind enough to give me a silver
fox-skin to trim it with, and two strips from the
back with soft, long hair were bound around the
front edge of the hood, to prevent the cheeks from
freezing. The seal-skin "cuffs," or mitts, I also had
trimmed with fox-skin around the wrists. These

I30 mitii Dr. (grenfell in LabraDor
mitts were thin, and, of course, not warm enough
by themselves. Their advantage is that they are
windproof, and when worn over a pair of blanket
ing mitts they are ideal.
I had several pairs of these mittens made, and
also a lot of blanketing socks to wear, one or two
pairs at a time, over my long stockings and inside
my seal-skin boots. These proved in one way better
than arctic hare socks, because they were absorbent.
With this outfit I felt fully prepared for winter;
the only portion of my anatomy which could possi
bly freeze being my nose, and, as that article seemed
at first impossible to cover, I was somewhat per
plexed ; however, a brilliant thought struck me, and
I sent to America for a football nose-guard. It later
proved utterly impracticable because the rubber be
came dangerously cold and froze to my lips. A less
fool idea was used by one of my colleagues; an
amusing rabbit-fur shield. Freezing of the vapor
in the enclosed air made it more of a nuisance, how
ever, than occasional frost-bite.
I notice from my friends' remarks that some of
them seem to have the impression that a mission can
exist only among wild, untamed savages. The peo
ple of Labrador do not deserve this compliment, for
they have yet to learn the edibility of the English
and American persons laboring among them; even
the dogs, with their carnivorous tendencies, seem

an american in LabraDor 131
to have looked upon them as the amateur does upon
the mushroom, so far sticking to the local species.
Many of the Labrador and Newfoundland fisher
men have, however, peculiarities as pleasing at times
and shocking at others, as those of savages. One of
their idiosyncrasies consists in buying an outfit of
clothes at the beginning of the fishing season and
placing them where they belong; then, in order to
perform no unnecessary labor, and also to conserve
the bodily heat, they allow their garments to "stop"
on, night and day and other times, until a shirt wears
out ; then they put another over it to cover up the
holes. As a result of this labor-saving scheme, night-
clothes are few in the realm. Therefore I was not
much surprised when one of the men came to me in
their usual child-like confidence to show me a suit
of clothes for the winter which he had picked out in
payment for work. The doctor had merely made
sure that he was getting the correct value, but had
not noticed what he had taken, and it was for me
to discover that his find was a heavy suit of woolen
pajamas. When I recovered and explained to him
he was very downcast.
"Sure dere's vist an" all to un, sir," he remon
strated ; "do dere bees min what 'auls off every
thing and weers dey to bid? Slapes in um? Moi
son! Shifts every night! Moi sweet man! I
tought dey was a bewtiful suit. An' I'd a wore um !

132 mitii Dr. arenfell in LabraDor
Sich clever tassels! First col' day 'e 'd a saw me
bout in um! Moi sonn! Ain't dat too bad!"
Billy, a half-witted old man with a paralyzed arm,
who splits wood for his keep at the hospital, fell
down and skinned his nose. As soon as he arose,
displaying the injured member, there was a general
chorus of "Billy's wracked. Carried away de jib-
boom !"
On Monday afternoon there was a church wed
ding ; and, not wishing to miss any available fun, I
went. Being already more or less familiar with the
interior decorations, I was in no hurry to enter;
but waited instead for the bridal party. At three-
quarters past the appointed hour a boat was des
cried coming around the point from Trap Cove;
the anxious watchers around me gave a sigh of
relief, for it was overly cold for their best clothes.
A bunch of "bride-boys" (bridesmaids) rushed
down to the fishing-stage to do the greetings,
while the men assisted the toe-pinched male portion
of the bridal party to haul their sea cab up on the
rocks, after doing which the man proceeded to the
church with his " 'ooman" on his arm, followed by
four or five "bride-boys," each with her future
"man" on one side or the other, just as it happened.
Let me explain that "boy" is used generally with
out regard to sex, and a phrase like "Yes, boy," is
often equivalent to "Yes, indeed." A boy is called
"young-feller" or sometimes a "small young-feller."

an american in LabraDor 133
Filing thus past groups of admiring friends, who
waited respectfully on the steps, the bridal party
marched up the aisle and seated themselves on the
front seat. It was a rather dark day and the church
was filled with people and a dim religious light. In
front, however, sufficient light shone from the
bride's greenish-blue dress to enable the minister to
read the service. I did not ascertain whether the
groom had borrowed the shoes he wore ; but I think
they must have been used during the courting; if so
they were a valuable asset, for they were almost
all patent leather and still able to outshine any or
dinary kitchen stove. The ring, the maid-of-honor's
dress, and a few other pieces of regalia had been
borrowed, I heard ; but the question in my mind is
"From whom?"
The hitching proceeded without many pauses, the
hardest part being the manipulation of clumsy
hands, where the minister has to see that the
groom's right grasps the bride's right. As the ser
vice was entirely from the book, down north, where
people frequently marry and then wait a year or so
for the minister, one of the neighbors can easily do
the job, with a little practice, and a canvas apron
for a surplice.
During the service the wind had increased to a
gale and it was snowing hard, making it too dan
gerous to round the point to Trap Cove. The only
alternative for the party was to walk up over the

134 Mitii Dr. (25renfell in LabraDor
high hill between them and the harbor, and get
someone to put them over to our side of the
tickle. This they started to do, but the blinding
snow put them off their course, and the wind made
it impossible to climb. They slowly zigzagged up
a short distance, and finally, losing their way alto
gether, turned back and made for the lights. They
reached the house shortly before two, and, yielding
to the inevitable, resolved to stay over night at a
neighbor's. The next day, when I looked out of the window,
I gained the impression that the house had been
tipped over on its side, for it was snowing hard,
straight across the window, parallel to the ground;
the falling snow being blown that way by the gale.
All this day the exiles were unable to return. I
went on an errand to a house on the point, and was
hardly able to push against the wind, in spite of the
fact that my legs were well sheltered from it, for
in some places I was up to the waist in soft snow.
On the return trip I had a "fair" wind, which blew
me along, so that I only needed to lean back and
keep my feet ahead of me. I carried a bundle, and
could hardly look around without finding a silent
dog or two sneaking up behind to smell of it. This
was interesting, for one of the nurses was going
along the same path last year, when the dogs sprang
suddenly on her from behind, threw her down, and
began to tear at her. Fortunately she was well bun-

an american in LabraDor 135
died up, and their bites had not yet penetrated her
clothing when a man rushed out of a nearby house
and drove them off.
I was glad to see Battle Harbor in its winter
costume, for its appearance is much changed. The
snow was blown from the projecting rocks and
packed into the crevices. In spite of its stays, the
top of the flagstaff was brokenoff short. The dogs
lay around, comfortably nestled in the snow, or ran
about looking for scraps. They are rather more
dangerous now than during the summer, when they
can get plenty of cod heads and entrails from be
neath the splitting rooms, for now the fishing is
practically over, and the people don't begin to feed
their dogs until there is enough snow to use them on.
The snow had come and been followed by a thaw,
but was not gone by the afternoon of October 25th
when we set out in the launch for the whale factory
at Antill's Cove, towing two trap-skiffs. There had
been a run of whales, and eight were rotting in the
water, stripped only of their blubber. They had
come in so fast that the men were not able to cut
up the carcasses to make fertilizer. When we
reached the wharf another whale had just been
hauled up on the slanting slip. It was sixty feet
long and nearly twice the height of a man. It had
been dead two days, but the large feather-bed
tongue was still trembling when I crawled up into
the open mouth.

136 ^itb Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
There was a steam-winch at the head of the
wharf, and, the first operation, after cutting off the
large tail, was to cut long strips of thick blubber
and tear them off with a steel cable from the winch.
They were then cut up into pieces a foot square, so
that the oil would be boiled out. The coarse-fibered
flesh is cut up into cubes of the same size and boiled
also. As the blood gushed out and ran in large
streams down the slip, it was steaming hot and
pleasant to warm one's feet in, for it could not pene
trate sea-boots.
We obtained a supply of whale carving-knives,
which have handles four feet long, and have to be
sharpened frequently with horn-handled steels ex
actly like those used in American dining-rooms.
The other tool necessary was a steel hook, about
two feet long, with a loop handle. With this equip
ment we ran one of the skiffs through a narrow
passage between two whales and into a small cove
in a partly cut-up body.
Half of the party clambered aboard the whale,
and we all began cutting steaks. One would get a
grip with his hook, while the others cut out a ten
or twenty-pound block, which the first lifted into
the boat. We frequently sank almost to the knee
in the blubber, and one man, climbing up a small
hill, fell over the edge into a deep valley filled with
salt water, and was rescued with some difficulty.

REINDEER TEAM

Facing page 136

an american in LabraDor 137
After loading two trap skiffs, we got back to the
hospital with a fine lot of food for our dogs.
A short time later we got off our last mail, by
dog-team, and settled down for the long winter in
Dr. GrenfeU's country of adventure.

CHAPTER IX

THE LABRADOR ESKIMO

The Eskimo of Labrador have always been more
or less of a problem to men of science. In the first
place their origin has never been definitely estab
lished. There are certain anthropological reasons
for tracing them back to Mongolian stock, but, on
the other hand, there are many radical differences
which nearly discount this theory. Such small mat
ters as, for instance, the cross-section of the hair,
prove that they are of a quite different stock from
the Chinese and Japanese, and their stature, build
and appearance are wholly different from those of
the North American Indian.
The resemblance to the Eastern races is further
completed by their general intellectual development,
or rather their possibilities for intellectual develop
ment, and their mechanical ingenuity and skill. The
Eskimo are frequently regarded as stolid and ig
norant people, whereas the reverse is distinctly true.
They manifest very considerable ability in learning.
The Eskimo seem to have a natural language
sense. Their own language is quite well developed
138

^ht LabraDor (Eskimo 139
in its spoken state and differs very slightly from
the Eskimo of Alaska and Greenland. It is the
Moravian missionaries who have reduced this lan
guage to a written basis, very satisfactorily con
structing the words according to the phonetic sys
tem, with which their native language, German, had
made them familiar.
The following specimen of written Eskimo is
from a translation of one of the Psalms :
8. Tamanna pivlugo taipkotitunak-ituksaungi-
lase : Atatapse attoriakartasse kaujimaveit tuksiar-
vigekartinnassiuk. 9. Taimak pivlugO' imak tuksiaritse : Atatavut
killangme ! Akkit nakorijaule.
10. Nalegaunit kailaule. Perkojettit malliltaulit
nuname sorlo killangme.
II. Uvlome piksaptingnik tunnitsivigittigut.
12. Ajornivut issumagijungnerkit, sorlo uvagut
uvaptingnut ajortullijut issumagijungneraptigik.
13. Oktorlungnartomut pitinata, piulittigule ajor-
tunnit. Nalegaunek, pitsartunerlo, ananaunerlo
pigigangne issokangitomut. Amen.
The language is replete with consonants, quite
too much so for beauty. There is the same differ
ence which is noted in most Northern languages as
compared to Southern ones; namely, the much
diminished use of the lips in forming the words
and the comparative stiffness which results. In
fact, Eskimo represents the extreme in this particu-

I40 mitii Dr. arenfell in LabraDor
lar, and can be spoken with the face practically im
mobile and almost no motion, not only of the lips
but even of the jaws. Spencer and other author
ities believe that this is the direct result of the
severe cold, which naturally stiffens the face and
tends to diminish flexibility of the lips. This
seems a practical theory, especially as it is true that
the Eskimo in speaking even hold the teeth tight
shut. When first learning English they find it diffi
cult to get over this habit, and the resulting speech
is extremely amusing, giving the impression that
the speaker is undergoing a chill.
Several hundred years ago many of the Eskimo
were taught German by the Moravians, and ever
since then a large number of them have spoken this
language and alsO' English, which they have learned
from the traders and the visiting fishermen and
whalers. They also early learned the language of
the Indians of the interior, a form of Cree. In a
few cases they have also learned French from the
Indians and occasional strangers. Many of them
to-day speak nothing but Eskimo, but a considerable
number speak Indian, German and English besides,
showing a facility which indicates the possession of
at least one kind of brain power to a considerable
degree. Another evidence of the Eastern mind is the
manual work in which the Eskimo engage. Ex
tremely limited as to materials and tools, their work.

^iit LabraDor (Eskimo 141
while cruder, is nevertheless clever and intricate in
a manner which suggests the work of the Chinese
and Japanese. Their carving in ivory, which they
obtain from the tusks of walrus, is very cleverly
done, although without the formal design shown in
Eastern work of the same sort. Their pictures of
animals and hunting scenes are simple line draw
ings, usually scratched on the surface of a tusk with
a sharp instrument and marked in later with black
pigment. To be sure these attempts are not capable
of ranking with civilized work, but they have the
good qualities of fairly close attention to detail.
Their chief fault is the same mechanical formality
and stiffness found in the very best Eastern work
of to-day, for which no apologies are made.
They seem to have a love of beauty, and manifest
it less by ornamenting their tools and utensils than
by making them, in their eyes at least, beautiful in
form and clever in construction. On the Labrador,
it must be borne in mind, the traders have brought
civilization to a considerable extent and with it
civilized utensils, weapons and material such as iron.
Nevertheless many of the ancient Eskimo tools are
still in use. Among the very Northern Eskimo may
still be found bone knives and soapstone lamps. As
one goes farther south these become rarer. The
bone snow knife, which is used for cutting blocks
of snow to make snow houses, as shelters on the
journey, is pretty widely found.

142 mitii Dr. (Grenfell in LabraDor
It is extremely interesting to see the extent to
which the Eskimo have adapted civilized materials
to their ancient designs. I have, for instance, a
"wulu," or skin scraper, which is an exact repro
duction in wood and a piece of iron stovepipe of an
instrument formerly made of some strong bone. I
also have a tool, the "kiliutok," mentioned in the
chapter "An American in Labrador," which is used
for cutting out sealskin garments, and which was
formerly made of the hard outside bone from the
jaw of a whale, which, in this specimen, has a blade
of iron skilfully riveted to an ivory handle. The
complete instrument resembles an old-fashioned
meat-chopper of the single blade variety. The very
ingenious fire drill, in which a stick is made to re
volve in a small hollow in a piece of wood by means
of a bow, the string of which is twisted about the
stick, is now very little used in Labrador, if at all,
because of the introduction of matches.
Similarly rifles have largely driven out the use of
the Eskimo harpoon, which was one of the best in
stances of the Eskimo's inventive ability. It con
sisted of a wooden shaft made usually from a piece
of driftwood, to which was lashed a complicated
ivory point, in such a manner as automatically to
dislodge as soon as it had entered the seal's body,
and, by permitting the shaft to float free, prevent
the breaking of a very scarce and consequently val
uable thing like a piece of wood. To the weapon

Cbe LabraDor (Eskimo 143
was also attached a long line made of sealskin or
walrus hide, at the other end of which was an in
flated seal's bladder, which prevented the animal
from sinking, and thus . being lost after he was
killed. The ability of the Eskimo is well shown by the
extent to which they have in the past adapted bone
to the uses ordinarily served by iron and steel.
They have, for instance, manufactured needles of
hard bone, which are by no means large or clumsy,
and in which they have drilled tiny eyes by means
of a very small piece of sharp stone mounted at the
end of the drill similar to the one used in making
fire. Thread was undoubtedly a problem at first
because there was no vegetable substance from
which it could be made. This was solved by the
use of sinew from the various animals, the most
common being the seal and caribou and the most
valued the whale. The huge ligament which runs
down the back, and to which are attached the mus
cles which move the whale's enormous tail, is about
as large as a man's wrist. This is cut out, dried
and split into finer and finer fibers until pieces the
thickness of thread are finally obtained. These are
so tough that it is nearly impossible to break them.
The Eskimo women can be rivaled by none as
seamstresses ; their sewing is so delicately and skil
fully done that their seams are not only strong, but
water- and air-tight. The boots which they make

144 ^itb Dr. (Drenfell in LabraDor
are undoubtedly the best in the world. It is said
that on the Labrador coast an Eskimo woman's
marriageability is dependent upon the condition of
her teeth, because as long as she is able to chew the
edges of the tough sealskin in order to make them
soft for sewing, she is still a fit companion and help
mate to her husband. European clothes and ma
terials are being more and more used on the coast,
especially in summer; but among the Eskimo seal
skin is very largely worn in winter.
There are three parts to the wardrobe : the "net
sik," or cossack, which is the combined jacket and
hood pulled down over the head, "hudulik," or
trousers, and the "kamik," or boots, not to mention
the mitts. The top garment, like all the others, is
made exactly in the same way from one end of the
coast to the other. The best seal is the species
called "ranger," which is a beautiful silvery gray
mottled with darker spots on the back and nearly
white on the belly. The boots are made knee length,
with a soft moccasin bottom, and are also of seal
skin, the hair being turned outside and scraped off.
Formerly the Eskimo wore underclothes of bird
skins, the breasts of eider ducks being chiefiy used.
Now, however, undergarments the same shape as
the outer ones are made of "duffle" or blanketing.
European influence has also been felt in the mat
ter of food, very much to the detriment of the
Eskimo. Their teeth, which formerly, without any

^iit LabraDor (Eskimo 145
scientific care, were flawless, are now very generally
injured by the effects of sugar, or rather molasses,
with which they sweeten their tea. Indirectly this
has undermined their digestions, aided in this mat
ter by the injurious effect of tea, and has been one
of the factors in impairing the wonderful strength
of constitution which the Eskimo formerly had.
There has been much discussion by scientific men
as to the effect of environment on diet. It is claimed
by most popular writers that meat, and especially
fat, is craved in a Northern climate, and is, in fact,
absolutely essential to health. This is probably not
true, for, although fat is eaten more willingly in the
cold climate, there seems to be no reason why the
Eskimo or anyone else could not subsist perfectly
well on farinaceous foods, if only these were as
readily obtainable.
If the Eskimo are of Mongolian origin, or if, as
must be true, they came from a more southern
climate, they furnish the best instance of man's
ability to adapt himself to widely varying condi
tions. The climate is, of course, the worst of these
conditions with which they have to contend. Their
first efforts were naturally against rather than with
this condition — namely, the protection of their
bodies by means of fur clothing and fire.
But slowly they underwent a passive adaptation
accomplished by Nature alone. Like' the northern
animals and the comparatively inactive women-folk

146 ^itb Dr. (!5renfell in LabraDor
of the cave-dwellers, they gradually developed a
layer of fatty tissue. Consequently, they are mar-
velously able to withstand the cold, even the occa
sional temperatures of sixty and more degrees be
low zero, and the much more severe blizzards at a
higher temperature. I have never heard of an
Eskimo suffering from freezing, though it doubtless
has happened.
Another condition to which the Eskimo have
adapted themselves is the sunlight. During the
spring, especially in March, the sun approaches very
near the earth, and its light is therefore very in
tense. The temperature is still below zero, except
in the direct rays of the sun, where it becomes un
comfortably warm. Snow still covers the entire
landscape, and each noon its topmost surface melts
very slightly. All the rest of the day it freezes
again, producing a glassy surface, which reflects the
dazzling sunlight with cruel brilliancy.
For the ordinary mortal a short exposure to this
light affects the eyes quite painfully. A day of it
or less causes the affliction known as snow-blind
ness. The sufferer's eyes become swollen and
watery, and soon he is absolutely unable to see.
Whether he opens his eyes or keeps them shut the
feeling is as though a mixture of pepper, sand and
acid were being continually dashed into them.
Nothing can give material relief; and the pain is

Cbe LabraDor (Eskimo 147
severe. With the lapse of time, however, the afflic
tion gradually disappears.
White men prevent much of this suffering by
wearing smoked glasses. The light is very apt to
enter from beneath and sideways, however. Gog
gles are better; but some men become snow-blind
in spite of every precaution. The Eskimo had no
glass, but they made very ingenious wooden goggles
fitting the eye socket closely, and provided, instead
of glass lenses, with two narrow slits, crossing at
right angles, through which they could see per
fectly. But here, too, passive adaptation seems to have
taken place, for the Eskimo are much better able to
stand the glare than white men. It is not impossible
that their slit-like eyes have been evolved directly
by the effect of this condition on many generations.
Nowhere has the environment been more unmerci
ful, and consequently the survival of the fittest
more relentlessly worked out than in the North. It
seems entirely possible that those individuals whose
eyes happened to vary from the normal toward a
narrower shape, letting in less light, were able to
hunt in times of severity, while the less fortunate
Eskimo starved because of blindness. Among the
following generations would have been a larger per
centage of individuals with the successful form of
eye ; and gradually this form would have become,
as it is, a racial characteristic. This theory tends

148 mitii Dr. (Srenfell in LabraDor
to disprove the Mongolian origin of the Eskimo,
because it offers a cjuite different explanation of
their appearance.
On the other hand some sort of southern origin
seems imperative as an explanation of the Eskimo's
character. There are very few, if any, northern
races whose mental make-up has not a serious, se
date, heavy, or even morose tone. The northern
Indians, Norwegians, Anglo-Saxons and Russians
all have different varieties of this general tempera
ment. The Eskimo, on the contrary, have a sunny,
genial, amiable, care-free nature, more or less re
sembling that of the French, Italians and negroes.
If the Labrador Eskimo were originally as war
like and treacherous as the early explorers and mis
sionaries relate, the change which has taken place
in them is indeed marvelous. One must remember
that these pioneers called them Indians, not differ
entiating them as a separate race ; and it is probable
that some of the bloodthirsty attacks described
were not made by Eskimo at all. In Greenland the
first white men to see the Eskimo there found them
naive and friendly; Stephanson's experience with
the blonde Eskimo whom he discovered was the
same. At any rate the Labrador Eskimo of to-day are
kindly, curious, ingenuous people. The white men
who live among them soon come to love them. A
poor little Eskimo boy, whom Dr. Grenfell picked

^iit LabraDor (Eskimo 149
up on the northern coast, and, after removing a
tubercular rib, nursed back to health, was my play
mate for many months when stationed at one of the
hospitals. The handicap of his somewhat frail con
dition, lack of mother and father, and imperfect
knowledge of English did not lessen his plucky self-
reliance and indomitable spirit. He was full of
energy and played outdoors and on the boats in the
harbor, regardless of wet and cold. His mind was
as bright as his dark eyes, and, although mischiev
ous, like most normal boys, he had a sunny and
altogether lovable disposition. I wanted very much
to adopt him, quixotic as the idea doubtless was, but
in the climate of the eastern States he probably
could not have lived.
The Eskimo are undoubtedly best off in their
own haunts; and they have a strong love of the
north. One of the most detestable cruelties ever
inflicted on a primitive people was that perpetrated
by the men connected with the World's Fair at
Chicago, who brought south a large number of the
Labrador Eskimo, to exhibit them. After the Ex
position they took little or no trouble to send them
back. Many of those who had not already fallen
victims to the climate and the diseases of civiliza
tion died in the struggle to reach home. Only a
few of the lot ever got back to Labrador. One little
boy. Prince Pomiuk, who became widely known
through the efforts of a kind old gentleman once

I50 Mitii Dr. (!5renfell in LabraDor
on the coast, was finally sent north, but died after
long suffering.
It was probably one of these derelicts from whom
Dr. Grenfell received a message while I was with
him in Labrador. The message was relayed along
by telegraph and dog-mail, and arrived when we
were frozen in for the winter. It said simply "I
want to get home. Anatuk." It was impossible to
find any trace of the sender; no one knows what
has become of him.
In Labrador the "umiak" or "woman's boat," a
large cani.e, is no longer used to any extent. The
fisherman's trap-skiff has generally replaced it. For
a single fisherman the small punt with oars has
somewhat replaced the native canoe as well. But
many of these canoes or "kyaks" are still built and
used in fishing and hunting seal.
The frame is wooden, pointed at both ends, and
covered with sealskin. The top is similarly decked
over except for a hole into which the one user puts
his legs, to sit on the bottom. Seals, women or
other "chattels" can be carried on the fiat deck. A
double-paddle is used; and in spite of its narrow
blades propels the kyak at good speed even against
a strong wind and tide. Dr. Grenfell has used one
for many years, and is remarkably skilful in hand
ling it. He keeps it lashed on the deck of his little
steamer ; and because its dark color and little height

DR. GRENFELL IN HIS ESKIArO KAYAK

Facing page 150

Cbe LabraDor (Eskimo 151
above water make it inconspicuous he finds it well
adapted for shooting ducks.
The southern EskimO' live in huts made of plank
ing or split-logs roofed with sod. A few of their
houses are very comfortable for the coast. The
more northern groups live in a type of sealskin tent
called "tupik" during the summer. Snow-houses
are temporary dwellings only, used chiefly on jour
neys. The Eskimo are very skilful in building them
in a very short time. The blocks of packed snow
are cut with a bone knife and carefully fitted to
gether to form a circular wall a few feet high cov
ered with a dome-vault. When we remember the
advanced stage of culture reached in Europe before
the simple dome-vault was discovered, the evident
rediscovery of this principle by so primitive a people
seems again to show minds capable of invention
and achievement.
The same qualities are displayed in the varied
use of almost the only other raw material besides
snow and ice possessed by the Eskimo, the seal.
Walrus was used in much the same way, but, as has
been remarked, is now scarce. Naturally the plen
tiful seals were early used for food ; but, in addi
tion, the skins furnished clothes and boots and bags,
the bones countless implements. Instead of window-
glass thin bladder-skin stretched taut was used.
The fat furnished fuel for cooking, and light.
The Eskimo have not stopped with providing the

152 mitb Dr. (©renfell in LabraDor
mere necessities of life. They find time and means
for play and luxuries as well. One of the least
necessary things is land transportation. The north
ern Indians developed this very little. But the Es
kimo evidently very early caught and tamed litters
of wolf-pups, from which stock they have devel
oped the partially domesticated Eskimo dog or
husky. We found that our best dogs were those of
purest Eskimo breed. Only the uncompromising
taste of the huskies for other animals excuses the
use of more civilized breeds.
The Eskimo "komatik" or sled is a long, low,
narrow one made of wooden cross-bars lashed to
wooden runners, and will stand hard strains with
out breaking. The runners are shod with smooth
pieces cut from the jaw-bone of a whale. Even on
our light imported sleds we frequently used these
whale-bone shoes. Nothing causes less friction on
comparatively soft snow. But in the main part of
winter when there is no partial thaw the bone does
not glide so smoothly. At this time the Eskimo
mix dirt and snow thawed over a seal-oil lamp, and
coat the under-surface of the runners with mud.
Allowing this to freeze on, they polish it and apply
additional coats until they produce a fairly thick
frozen mud shoe, almost frictionless on the snow
of midwinter. When it wears off a fresh coat is
readily put on. When a slight thaw melts it off it

Dr. Grenfell carrying up surveying apparatus to
top of cliff

Facing page 152

^iit LabraDor (Eskimo 153
is no longer wanted, because the bare whale-bone
glides best on the damper snow.
The Eskimo in Labrador as elsewhere are pecul
iarly susceptible to certain diseases in spite of their
remarkably strong constitutions. Consumption has
played great havoc among them. That they have
not been wiped out by it is due to their remarkably
sound systems. Men at the very door of death,
who would be doomed by any physician with wide
experience, have rallied and gotten entirely well.
The Eskimo have not developed the immunity to
many diseases that has been produced in most civil
ized peoples by the very prevalence of those dis
eases. Ills which we regard as simple, such as
measles, often prove fatal. While on the coast I
saw the sad results of an epidemic of scarlet fever.
Much trouble is caused the Eskimo and the other
natives by ignorance and neglect, and Dr. Grenfell
is constantly teaching the simple truths of hy
giene, knowledge of which will prolong the life of
this fine race. He has also become skilful in the
specialized sort of medical work necessary to their
unusual needs. One of his colleagues has discov
ered a skin disease new tO' medicine and found only
among the Eskimo. An effective cure has at last
been evolved.
Work of this type, coupled with the broad and
wise policy of developing by aid the Eskimo's own

154 Mitii Dr. (Srenfell in LabraDor
initiative rather than cramping it, is typical of Dr.
GrenfeU's efforts among all his Labrador people.
He has accomplished more for them in such varied
ways, in comparatively few years, than centuries of
evangelization could have done. Secondarily, and
with no thought of doing so, he brings a stirring
inspiration to America toward effective self-forget
ting work. He has helped not only the people of
Labrador, but us. May we increasingly help him.

APPENDIX: ADDRESSES
Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell, Labrador, care of the
Grenfell Association of America, 156 Fifth
Avenue, New York.
Dr. Grenfell is always ready to answer the ques
tions of persons who are in any way interested in
the coast. As his time, however, is extremely full
of the duties attendant on the administration of an
establishment now of considerable size, as well as
of his surgical and literary work, it is always well, if
possible, to obtain information from some other
source. Information on nearly all the parts of the
Mission's activity can be obtained from the secre
taries of the various Grenfell Associations. The
chief of these follow :
Grenfell Association of America, 156 Fifth
Ave., New York.
New England Grenfell Association, 14 Beacon
St., Boston.
Grenfell Association of Canada, Jose Machado,
Esq., Secretary, 224 Wellington St., Ottawa,
Ont. 155

156 appenDii: aDDresses
Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisher
men, Bridge House, i8i Queen Victoria St.,
London.
Bowring & Co., Red Cross Line, 17 Battery
Place, New York. The above company can give
information in regard to its lines from New York to
St. Johns and further north. It is the best line by
which to send packages to the coast.
J. W. N. Johnstone, General Passenger Agent,
Reid Newfoundland Company, St. Johns, New
foundland. Mr. Johnstone is exceedingly kind in
assisting intending visitors to Newfoundland and
Labrador. He is also ready to help them find guides
and to indicate good localities for hunting and fish
ing. W. & S. Job & Co., St. Johns, Newfoundland,
and 68 Broad Street, New York. This firm con
ducts trading operations in fish on the coast, both in
the Straits and further north. They also sometimes
have a small steamer, which can be chartered for
cruises or exploration.
Mr. A. Sheard, Seamen's Institute, St. Johns,
Newfoundland. By recent organization, which aims to produce
the highest efficiency, and eliminate duplication of
effort and waste, Mr. Sheard has been made Busi
ness Manager of the entire International Medical
Mission. All business matters consequently should

appenDii: aDDresses 157
be referred to him, and will receive very prompt and
careful attention. To him also application should
be made for the hiring for summer cruises of Dr.
GrenfeU's vessels.
The author occasionally lectures on behalf of Dr.
GrenfeU's work, and may be addressed in care of
The Grenfell Association of America, 156 Fifth
Ave., New York.

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