Chapter 2 Lesson 7 Inquiry

Patrick and two friends were hunting for deer.  The deer grazed like herds of cattle on the tops of the hills where the snow had melted.  These areas were called naps.  As they hunted, the trio also picked cranberries and partridge berries to take back home to their families.  They walked on snowshoes through the deep snow, but they found the snowshoes difficult to use.

Patrick and his two friends bagged two deer and turned around to go home.  Usually, they could tell the direction they were going by observing the tops of juniper and larch trees.  Their branches always pointed east. Now?  They could not see the tops of these trees because of the thick fog that had rolled in.  Patrick knew this fog could last for days.  He decided the group should find a safe place to camp for the night.

The boys cleared a square area in the ten foot deep snow.  One of Patrick’s friends made a shovel, using the side of a standing tree.  Patrick broke spruce boughs off the tree. He placed them underside pointing up, all laid in one way, for beds. 

A second friend collected a yellow fungus growing on a hazel tree to provide tinder for fire. Tinder was where dry leaves, moss, and bark could be whirled in the hands to start the fire. The boys melted snow so they would have water to drink.

After a supper of ptarmagin birds, the three young men went to bed. The next morning, the sun was so bright on the newly fallen snow and the smoke of the fire so irritated their eyes, they became snowblind. To help their eyes, the friends wore black gauze over their faces and made sure they did not rub their eyes.

As they trekked home with the deer and berries, the group came across a cabin. Even though they were tired and hungry, and the door was unlocked, they did not enter it. The first settlers did not lock their doors. They did not need to do so. It was a rule that no one ever touched the things in another person’s house. Another rule was to help others. If a settler was ill or in need, the neighbours got together to help him. The customs were thought of as the right thing to do. Anyone who broke these rules was not liked. The settlers knew the rules were for the good of themselves, their families, and neighbours.

Patrick returned home and was greeted by his family, as well as the pigs, chickens, sheep, or dogs which lived inside his house. As soon as he got inside, he began to cough because the thick smoke from the fireplace's "cruel steam" hurt his eyes and lungs. His sister, who had asthma, was very sickly. They had a sort of chimney of planks stuffed with moss, but there was a large danger of fire. This is why Patrick’s mother always kept a bucket nearby to put out fire.

Patrick’s father had scrounged some paper that had washed ashore from a shipwreck. He was writing a letter, but often, the ink in the pen would freeze. They were happy to see Patrick and the food that he had brought.

Based on Tales of Newfoundland By Cecilia Lucy Brightwell