are very common.
Of the caribou I have already written at length; other game animals of
Labrador are but infrequently met with by the hunter; the red or Barren
Ground bear is probably extinct in _explored_ Labrador; and the lynx and
wolf, though common enough, rarely fall to the bullet.
The gun-shooting in Labrador is often capital, willow-grouse, ptarmigan,
geese, black-ducks, and many other species existing in fair numbers.
I think, with a good dog, one could bag from ten to fifteen brace of
willow-grouse in the many places where these birds abound. The wild
fowling is less satisfactory, thanks to the senseless and criminal
slaughter of nesting birds in the bad old days of the “Eggers.”
The fishing on the Labrador is excellent. The salmon, unlike those of
Alaska, take the fly well and freely, and in spite of netting—an evil
(thanks to the vigorous measures of Sir Edward Morris’ government) now
on the decrease. At the head of Byron’s Bay the American party of Mr.
Paul Rainey had grand sport in 1909, and there are many fine rivers. In
some years the salmon are much earlier than others. At the right season
every stream in Labrador is full of trout, and the sea-trout fishing late
in the year is magnificent. In early September we had no difficulty in
taking all the sea-trout we wanted.
So much, then, for the merits of the Labrador; now for her drawbacks.
Beyond the difficulties of communication—difficulties already much
reduced during the last year or two—the main drawback is the plague of
mosquitoes; but, save on the great central plateau, they are no worse
than one meets with on the Quebec rivers, or than those of northern
Norway and Lapland. On the plateau the mosquitoes are truly past
endurance, but there is nothing to attract sportsmen to that bleak place.
About August the 25th the mosquitoes and black-flies become very subdued,
and are no longer to be reckoned even a nuisance. Indeed, the end of
August and the whole of September are the ideal times for the gunner in
Labrador.
[Illustration: Cut off from the World.]
The keen sportsman who goes there will thoroughly enjoy himself. He
can then take both trout and sea-trout, track deer and bear in the
first snow, and—if he so wishes—shoot willow-grouse rising from the low
birch and alder. Above all, he will enjoy the glorious northern fall.
Fortunate, indeed, is he who can spend his holiday on the Labrador,