Along the Labrador coast / by Charles Wendell Townsend.

  • Townsend, Charles Wendell, 1859-1934.
Date:
[1907], ©1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Along the Labrador coast / by Charles Wendell Townsend. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    fog. The wind was fierce and searching, and we were glad to get down in the lee of the rocks. The captain as usual was non-committal as to plans, and we were wise enough to ask no questions. The morning passed all too quickly in exploring the island and studying birds, during which occupation I incidentally learned something about Eskimo dogs to be related later. Entering by invitation an Eskimo hut of rough beams and sods, I found an Eskimo woman sewing on skin boots of raw sealskin. Every now and then she stopped to chew the hide so as to soften it to her liking. The door of the hut was not over four feet high, and I could not stand erect inside. I sat down on a bench near a small iron stove, the heat of which was comfortable. A part of the room was cur¬ tained off for sleeping. The walls were pa¬ pered in places with newspapers. Everything was neat and clean. The skins of a black bear, of a fox, of a harp-seal, of a muskrat, and of a woodchuck were all produced for my inspec¬ tion. I purchased the sealskin.