Newfoundland

“ Newfoundland seems to be wreathed with fogs forever. As a dwelling-place, this world certainly appears far from complete,—an argument for a better country. But yonder is the blue sky peeping through the mist, an intimation of that better country. A solitary bird sits upon a stick floating by, looking back curiously as it grows less and less. ”

“ It ruffles the moss on the slopes of the hills, scatters the scarlet leaves of the raspberry-trees, and sends the waters of the large blue lakes leaping in frolicsome waves up the beach to the feet of the rocking pines. Behind the hills to the west the clouds are tinged with amber, silver, and gold, and the clang of the woodman’s axe is caught in the clutches of the wind, to be carried o’er chasm and crag far out to sea. Yes, half the joy of life in Newfoundland is to be found in its soul-haunting wind. ”

“ Yet you are not to think of Newfoundland in visions wholly of wind and snow and ice. Newfoundland is not an Arctic country by any means. Nor does the wind blow all the while; nor is the sea all the while in a turmoil. It is a lovely coast [312] after all; and the folk who live there are simple, self-respecting, cheerful—a lovable, admirable folk. ”

“ One hundred and twenty miles is the brief length of Cabot Strait which separates Newfoundland from Canada, but when one has crossed this Arm of the Atlantic, it is to find one’s self in a new world, a world complete in itself. For Newfoundland embodies all that rugged, independent spirit, which, in part, belongs to all islands—notably to the British Islands—and, in addition, it has all the distinction which is a natural attribute of its position as Great Britain’s Oldest Colony. National sense is very keenly developed in the Newfoundlander. ”

“ No English Homer has yet risen to tell the tale of Newfoundland, shrouded in mystery and romance, the daring invasion and vicissitudes of those exhaustless fisheries, the battle of life in that seething cauldron of the North Atlantic, where the swelling billows never rest, and the hurricane only slumbers to bring forth the worse dangers of the fog-bank and the iceberg. Fierce as has been during the four centuries the fight for the fisheries by European rivals, their petty racial quarrels sink into insignificance before the general struggle for the harvest. ”

“ For many years we must be content with the knowledge that the fishing resources of Newfoundland were growing in reputation and popularity. Now and then the curtain is lifted, and we catch a glimpse of life on the island. ”

“ Newfoundland is, of course, the heart of the Cod-fishing industry of the Western Atlantic. The Grand Banks, the playground of the fishing-fleets of France, of the United States, of Nova Scotia, are, when all is said, “The Grand Banks of Newfoundland.” Figuratively and literally speaking “The Banks” are the island “Bread-Box.” And the banking schooners—Newfoundland-owned, Newfoundland-skippered and sailed—are justly the pride of Newfoundland. Seamanship is so natural in a born Newfoundlander that it comes to him like a “sixth sense” or, as some of them say, “natural as sleeping and waking”. ”

“ Newfoundland is the radiating center for the fisheries on the Grand Banks, that submarine plateau of six hundred by one hundred and fifty miles, where are the richest deep-sea fisheries in the world; Newfoundland lies gardant at the very entrance to Canada's great waterways; and Newfoundland's coast line is the most broken coast line in the whole world affording countless land-locked, rock-ribbed deep-sea harbors to shelter all the fighting ships of the world.
What have the deep-sea fisheries of the Grand Banks to do with a Greater Britain Overseas? ”

“ THE OLDEST BRITISH COLONY It would not be an exaggeration to say that Newfoundland, although it is the most ancient of the British Colonies, is less known and understood in Great Britain than any of her oversea possessions. It is generally believed that Newfoundland is somewhere in the Arctic Circle; that the inhabitants are clothed in furs, live in snow huts, feed on codfish; and that for six months of the year the island is unapproachable on account of barriers of ice and impenetrable fogs. ”

“ A PERILOUS ADVENTURE There are no boys in the world more plucky than the sons of the fisher-folk of Newfoundland. If every tale of daring and heroism on the coastal waters were related, only a bulky volume could possibly contain them. There seems to be no fear in the hearts of these lads, and their endurance in times of distress is amazing. ”

“ SHOOTING AND FISHING Now Newfoundland is becoming better known, the living treasures of her forests, moors, and waters are attracting an annually increasing number of sportsmen from Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. “Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,” the sportsman may return for a season to the simpler life lived by races of men in the days when modern commercial methods were undreamed of, when the starry sky was the hunter’s jewelled roof, when the spongelike moss was his pillow, when time was not divided into sections, and he was not forced to calculate ”

“ That which we do call the Newfoundland, and the Frenchmen Baccalaos, is an island, or rather, after the opinion of some, it consisteth of sundry islands and broken lands, situate in the north regions of America, upon the gulf and entrance of a great river called St. Lawrence in Canada; into the which, navigation may be made both on the south and north side of this island. The land lieth south and north, containing in length between 300 and 400 miles, accounting from Cape Race, which is in 46 degrees 25 minutes, unto the Grand Bay in 52 degrees, of septentrional latitude. ”

“ There lies the whole of the Newfoundland Question. Locally, nobody bothers their head about it, but in the press, and on the phantom-haunted ground of electoral politics, it has kindled many passions, and may very likely engender ruin and bloodshed some of these days. These facts taken for granted, I return to my personal recollections. Unlike most of my brother officers, I found my stay in Newfoundland (in the summer months, during which we were stationed there, be it understood) very pleasant. The island is a hilly one, covered with pine forests. ”

“ In 1763 the coast of Labrador, from Hudson’s Strait to the river St John opposite the west end of the island of Anticosti, was attached to the governorship of Newfoundland. The population in 1785 had increased to 10,000. During the wars between England and France which followed the French Revolution, Newfoundland attained great prosperity, as all competitors in the fisheries were swept from the seas, and the markets of Europe were exclusively in the hands of the merchants of the country. ”

“ The balance of the inhabitants of the country are white men of our own blood and religion—men of the sea and dear to the Anglo-Saxon heart.
During the past years it has been the experience of many of my colleagues, as well as myself, that as soon as one mentions the fact that part of our work is done on the north shore of Newfoundland, one's audience loses interest, and there arises the question: "But Newfoundland is a prosperous island. Why is it necessary to carry on a charitable enterprise there?" ”

“ On the other hand, there are in Newfoundland several considerable rivers falling into the sea on the east coast, up the mouths of which Gaspar Corte-Real might have sailed. The allusion [Pg 365] to the country as fertile, with trees and forests of pines of remarkable height and size, and to there being abundance of timber for masts, etc., also agrees best with Newfoundland. In addition, the coast-line of the country, both on the Cantino map and on later Portuguese maps, agrees remarkably well with the coast-line along the east and north-east sides of Newfoundland. ”

“ The most prominent feature on the east, and that which was nearest to Europe, was the large island of NEWFOUNDLAND, 42,000 square miles in extent, that is to say, nearly as large as England without Wales. It seems to bar the way of the direct sea access by the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the very heart of North America; and, until the Straits of Belle Isle and of Cabot were discovered, did certainly arrest the voyages of the earliest pioneers. Newfoundland, as you can see on the map, has been cut into and carved by the forces of nature until it has a most fantastic outline. ”

“ Nearly every cove of Newfoundland's 6000 miles of coast line shows a straggling group of huts and drying stages on the restricted beaches or clinging to the shelves of grim cliffs.
The first week of March sees the departure from St. John harbour of the seal-killers, nowadays on strong steam vessels. Their goal is the moving field of ice which jams about the northern shores of Newfoundland and carries on its surface herds of harp and hood hair-seals. The hood is a savage and unsociable native of Greenland. The male when attacked blows an inflated skin over his head. ”

“ The history of Newfoundland is of considerable interest, inasmuch as it is our oldest Colony and owing to certain political events, still continues to occupy an amount of attention not vouchsafed to many of the larger Colonies. Its very early history will be found in the various collections already referred to, whilst for more recent information we have the works of Chabert, Reeves, Anspach, Chappell, Bonnycastle, Pedley, Hatton and Harvey, &c. The Dominion of Canada is represented by a vast collection ”

“ On the big stacks of Newfoundland lumber at the harbour-side, on the quays, on the freight sheds and on the roofs of buildings, Newfoundland people, who, like the weather, were giving the lie to the prophets, crowded to see the Prince arrive. He came from Dragon in the Royal barge in the wake of the Dauntless' launch, which was having a worried moment in "shooing" off the eager gasolene boats, crowding in, in defiance of all regulations, to get a good view.
There was no doubt about the warmth of the welcome. It was a characteristic Newfoundland crowd. ”

“ American sportsmen have already discovered in Newfoundland hunting and fishing grounds that rival those of Canada, and some of our rich Americans have permanent camps along the rivers and streams on the south and the west coasts, to which they come every summer for salmon. The railroad manager promises that if I will take the train across country I shall see herds of caribou from the car window.
Much of the land along the railway has been burned over, but nevertheless the country has ten thousand square miles of well-timbered land, worth as it stands five hundred million dollars. ”

“ Liberal grants of land were made to poor settlers, and considerable sums voted for the construction of roads. This was indeed a period of healthy activity, for the development of the seal fishery added in a variety of ways to the prosperity of the island, and the invention of steam, together with the establishment of a regular mail service, brought Newfoundland very much nearer to the home country. ”

“ The cod fisheries of Newfoundland are much larger than those of any other country in the world; and the average annual export has been equal to that of Canada and Norway put together. The predominance of the fishing industry, and its ubiquitous influence in the colony are vividly emphasised by Mr Rogers [2] in the following passage, though his first sentence involves an exaggerated restriction so far as modern conditions are concerned:
"Newfoundlanders are men of one idea, and that idea is fish. Their lives are devoted to the sea and [14] its produce, and their language mirrors their lives ”

“ Thus whom God delivered from drowning, he appointed to be famished; who doth give limits to man's times, and ordaineth the manner and circumstance of dying: whom, again, he will preserve, neither sea nor famine can confound. For those that arrived upon the Newfoundland were brought into France by certain Frenchmen, then being upon the coast.
After this heavy chance, we continued in beating the sea up and down, expecting when the weather would clear up that we might yet bear in with the land, which we judged not far off either the continent or some island. ”

“ LESSON IX NEWFOUNDLAND Newfoundland is an island about the size of New York State. It belongs to England. The cod fisheries there are very extensive.
The people of Newfoundland are strong, healthy and industrious. They are law-abiding, and serious; crime is very rare among them. Their kindness and hospitality to strangers who visit the country are proverbial. Kindness to the poor and unfortunate is a marked feature in the character of the people. When business is poor they are ready to share their last morsel with those in distress.
The fishermen are the working classes of the country. ”

“ The south-western part of Newfoundland reminds one very much of old Ireland in its climate and its physical features, and certainly is quite as well fitted to sustain a sturdy peasantry of small land-owners. ”

“ PERILS OF THE SEA As the livelihood of the people of Newfoundland is almost entirely dependent upon the fisheries, it is natural that they should have to face the perils of the sea. And through what perils the poor fishermen have to pass! ”

“ These and other like reasons alleged in favour of the southern course first to be taken, to the contrary was inferred that forasmuch as both our victuals and many other needful provisions were diminished and left insufficient for so long a voyage and for the wintering of so many men, we ought to shape a course most likely to minister supply; and that was to take the Newfoundland in our way, which was but 700 leagues from our English coast. ”