3-077-747 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Winter Scenes in Newfoundland, 1890. '1. A Newfoundland Sleigh. 2. Labourers cutting ice on the lake. 3. The Mail Steam-ship Circassian blocked by Ice in the harbour. 4. Driving a Newfoundland dog. The oldest of the British colonies...Newfoundland has yet been more backward than it ought to have been, for it is nearer to our own islands than any other country of North America, being within five days' steam-ship voyage across the Atlantic. Its population is still under 200,000...A correspondent, Mr. J. F. Morris Fawcett, writing from Fort Townshend, St. John's, favours us with a few Sketches of winter scenes in Newfoundland. The first represents the work of ice-cutting on the lakes, by which a large number of men earn a livelihood in this season. After cutting blocks out, the holes freeze over again, and small trees are stuck in to warn people from crossing the lake. Another Sketch is that of the dog drawing a heavy slide with a man driving down the hill. The Newfoundland sleigh is of peculiar form, and is very convenient for narrow roads: this vehicle travels swiftly and safely. The situation of the mail steam-ship Circassian, stuck in the ice of the harbour, where she was detained nearly a week, is shown in one of these Illustrations'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.