Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1Audubon, John James
History
Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1
Audubon, John James
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 -- Diaries; Birds -- North America; Naturalists -- United States -- Diaries
_June 25._ Made a drawing of the Arctic Tern, of which a great number
breed here. I am of Temminck's opinion that the upper plumage of this
species is much darker than that of _S. hirundo_. The young men, who
are always ready for sport, caught a hundred codfish in half an hour,
and _somewhere_ secured three fine salmon, one of which we sent to the
"Gulnare" with some cod. Our harbor is called "American Harbor," and
also "Little Natasquan;" it is in latitude 50 deg. 12' north, longitude
23 deg. east of Quebec and 61 deg. 53' west of Greenwich. The waters of all
the streams which we have seen are of a rusty color, probably on
account of the decomposed mosses, which appear to be quite of a peaty
nature. The rivers appear to be formed by the drainage of swamps, fed
apparently by rain and the melting snows, and in time of freshets the
sand is sifted out, and carried to the mouth of every stream, where
sand-bars are consequently met with. Below the mouth of each stream
proves to be the best station for cod-fishing, as there the fish
accumulate to feed on the fry which runs into the river to deposit
spawn, and which they follow to sea after this, as soon as the fry
make off from the rivers to deep water. It is to be remarked that so
shy of strangers are the agents of the Fur and Fish Company that they
will evade all questions respecting the interior of the country, and
indeed will willingly tell you such untruths as at once disgust and
shock you. All this through the fear that strangers should attempt to
settle here, and divide with them the profits which they enjoy. Bank
Swallows in sight this moment, with the weather thick, foggy, and an
east wind; where are these delicate pilgrims bound? The Black-poll
Warbler is more abundant, and forever singing, if the noise it makes
can be called a song; it resembles the clicking of small pebbles
together five or six times, and is renewed every few minutes.
_June 26._ We have been waiting five days for wind, and so has the
"Gulnare." The fishing fleet of six or seven sails has made out to
beat four miles to other fishing grounds. It has rained nearly all
day, but we have all been on shore, to be beaten back by the rain and
the mosquitoes. John brought a female White-crowned Sparrow; the black
and white of the head was as pure as in the male, which is not common.
It rains hard, and is now calm. God send us a fair wind to-morrow
morning, and morning here is about half-past two.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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