bark; they are always warmed with stoves, otherwise the _igloe_ would
afford more comfort.

The half-breeds live in much the same way as their European
progenitors; they are generally sober and industrious; and although
unacquainted with any particular form of religious worship, they
evince, in their general deportment, a greater regard to the precepts
of Christianity than many who call themselves Christians. They are
entirely free from the crimes that disgrace civilized life, and are
guilty of few of its vices; should a frail fair, however, make a _faux
pas_, it is no bar to her forming a matrimonial connexion afterwards.
The women are much fewer than the men, and on this account a greater
indulgence may be extended to their faults than otherwise would be.

I was surprised to find them all able to read and write, although
without schools or schoolmasters. The task of teaching devolves
upon the mother; should she (what seldom happens) be unqualified, a
neighbour is always ready to impart the desired instruction.

The Esquimaux half-breeds are both industrious and ingenious; they
are at a loss for nothing. The men make their own boats, and the women
prepare everything required for domestic convenience; almost every
man is his own blacksmith and carpenter, and every woman a tailor and
shoemaker. They seem to possess all the virtues of the different races
from which they are sprung--except courage; they are generally allowed
to be more timid than the natives. But if not courageous, they possess
virtues that render courage less necessary; they avoid giving offence,
and are seldom, therefore, injured by others.

The Hudson's Bay Company obtained a footing here a few years ago, by
buying out some of the petty traders, whose operations extended to the
interior, and consequently interfered with the hopeful Ungava scheme;
independently, however, of this consideration, expectations were
entertained that Labrador might become the seat of a profitable branch
of the business, from its various resources in fish, oil, and furs.
These expectations were not realized, owing to the strong competition
the Company met with; while their interference in the trade subjected
them to the charge of "grasping ambition," a charge which appears but
too well founded, considering the monopoly they possess of the whole
fur trade of the continent. "Plus le D----e a, plus il voudrait
avoir," is an old adage; nor have we any reason to believe that any