tting
my anchors for sea, when the barometer was falling, the wind in, and a
fog-bank on the horizon--but now, years after, I still recall my
reluctance to face that ordeal. But like most things, the obstacles
were largely in one's own mind, and the kindness which we received
left me entirely overwhelmed. Friends formed a regular committee to
keep a couple of cots going in our hospital, to collect supplies, and
sent us to Montreal with introductions and endorsements. Some of these
people have since been lifelong helpers of the Labrador Mission.

By the time we reached Montreal, our funds were getting low, but Dr.
Bobardt insisted that we must engage the best accommodations, even if
it prevented our travelling farther west. The result was that
reporters insisted on interviewing him as to the purpose of an
Australian coming to Montreal; and I was startled to see a long
account which he had jokingly given them published in the morning
papers, stating that his purpose was to materialize the All Red Line
and arrange closer relations between Australia and Canada. According
to his report my object was to inspect my ranch in Alberta. Life to
him, whether on the Labrador Coast, in an English school, or in his
Australian home, was one perpetual picnic.

Naturally, our most important interview was with Lord Strathcona. He
was President of the Hudson Bay Company, the Canadian Pacific
Railroad, and the Bank of Montreal. As a poor Scotch lad named Donald
Smith he had lived for thirteen years of his early life in Labrador.
There he had found a wife and there his daughter was born. From the
very first he was thoroughly interested in our work, and all through
the years until his death in 1914 his support was maintained, so that
at the very time he died we were actually due to visit him the
following month at Knelsworth.

We hired the best hall and advertised Sir Donald as our chairman. To
save expense Dr. Bobardt acted in the ticket-box. When Sir Donald came
along, not having seen him previously, he insisted on collecting fifty
cents from him as from the rest. When Sir Donald strongly protested
that he was our chairman, the shrewd young doctor merely replied that
several others before him had made the same remark. Every one in the
city knew Sir Donald; and when the matter was explained to him in the
greenroom, he was thoroughly pleased with the business-like attitude
of the Mission. As we had never seen Canada he insisted that we mus