he Atlantic Ocean."
CHARLES. "Sir, I do not understand how the currents can cause a
fog."
MR. BARRAUD. "It is because these streams, coming from tropical
regions, are warmer than the water surrounding the banks of
Newfoundland, and necessarily warmer than the atmosphere,
consequently they cause a vapor to arise which obscures the island
with a moist and dense air. Newfoundland was for a long time
considered the inhospitable residence of fishermen; but of late it
has doubled its population and industry, and the activity of the
British nation has added another fine colony to the civilized
world."
MRS. WILTON. "Newfoundland is the nearest to Great Britain of any of
our North American possessions. It is rather larger than England and
Wales. Its chief town is St. John's. It was discovered in 1497 by
John Cabot. The fisheries here are the chief wealth of the island,
and consist principally of codfish, herrings, and salmon. The great
Bank of Newfoundland, which appears to be a solid rock, is 600 miles
long, and in some places 200 broad."
CHARLES. "Newfoundland is famous for dogs; but I find the most
numerous there are not like those we call Newfoundland dogs, which
are large handsome animals, for _they_ are comparatively rare. The
most abundant are creatures with lank bodies, thin legs and tail,
and a thin tapering snout. They are very intelligent though, and
would beat the Chinese birds in catching fish; for Mr. Jukes, a
gentleman who has been to Newfoundland, says of one of these
dogs:--'He sat on a projecting rock beneath a fish-flake, or stage,
where the fish are laid to dry, watching the water, which had a
depth of six or eight feet, and the bottom of which was white with
fish-bones. On throwing a piece of cod-fish into the water, three or
four heavy, clumsy-looking fish, called in Newfoundland "sculpins,"
with great heads and mouths, and many spines about them, generally
about a foot long, would swim in to catch it. These he would watch
attentively, and the moment one turned his broadside to him, he
darted down like a fish-hawk, and seldom came up without the fish in
his mouth. As he caught them, he carried them regularly to a place a
few yards off, where he laid them down; and his owner told us that
in the summer he would sometimes make a pile of fifty or sixty a
day, just at that place. He never attempted to eat them, but seemed
to be fishing purely for his own amusement. I watched him for about
two hours; a
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