The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1946, Qupperneq 52

The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1946, Qupperneq 52
50 THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN Winter 194n> were ill from the effects of their long journey, which they had made without a break, travelling by way of England, while we proceeded direct to Quebec. I rough-built a boat and purchased various articles, including a gun, a stove (which had been used, but was strong, and which we kept seventeen or eighteen years and was afterwards used by my brother Jonas); a saw, and various other articles. I also bought two young pigs, but both died, for they did not thrive on their diet of fish. The second group left on the twentieth of August. We three, in our tub-boat, followed a few days after, and caught up with the party at the mouth of the Red River. We had been favored with good weather that far, but at this point we were caught in a thunderstorm and the rain came down so heavily that I could scarcely keep up with the bailing. Nevertheless, I considered our small craft vastly superior to our boxes of the year previous, for I was able to steer it. Towards evening of the following day we passed the Gimli party. Crowded in their boxes, or flat-boats, they looked most uncomfortable. All the other lake- craft had already proceeded north. I had a brief conversation with the people, and then pursued my course to the west, along the sandy beaches. It began to blow from the north and I was compelled to seek shelter of the woods along the shore. We put up for the night, and had a bad time of it, as on many another night, because of the flies and the wet. After another day’s journey we arrived at Erlendur’s place. During the ensuing period, it rained often, so that the people who had not yet shelter suffered considerable dis- comfort. I finished the roof on my house, and moved in about the twenty-third of September. I named the place Skogar (Woods). It was rightly named for the land was for the most part heavily wooded. The site on which the house was built proved rather wet, and the house itself was never free from leak- age. The settlement began to grow up around us, two Johns to the south, one to the west, and other settlers as well. To the north was the school-section. All the settlers gave their farmsteads Ice- landic names. Jon, who called his place Laufas, proved an exellent neighbor. He was one of the best to do of the party on arrival, but he suffered heavy losses; his house burned down and he met with other mishaps. In addition, he had many to support. Thus, much of his substance filtered away. As a matter of fact, I re- linquished my pre-emption in his favor. Conditions were appreciably better in our part of the settlement during the second winter. I was able to get some supplies, including four bags of flour, and we were able to do a considerable amount of fishing. Elsewhere the small- pox raged, and many suffered, but the plague did not hit us hard. Near the beginning of November, two flat-boats were stranded along the shore; one loaded with potatoes, the other with a variety of supplies, including flour. Consequently, we had mainly frozen and spoiled potatoes that winter, for the potato crop that summer had been rather small. There was no milk, but we now had got on to the way of catching rabbits, an, also, I shot some ducks. We did not go hungry, but the food was not always inviting. Now the task at hand was to cut boards with a cross-cut saw, an article which was possessed by few, and to clear the forest. Tending the nets took much time, especially for the siingle- handed.Then there was the interminable carrying, which played out completely those far from the lake, but was com- paratively easy for those located near it. The lake continued to be the chief source of our food supply. The winters were much more pleas- ant than the summers, because in the summertime all roads were impassable, and the fierce swarm of flies was scare
Qupperneq 1
Qupperneq 2
Qupperneq 3
Qupperneq 4
Qupperneq 5
Qupperneq 6
Qupperneq 7
Qupperneq 8
Qupperneq 9
Qupperneq 10
Qupperneq 11
Qupperneq 12
Qupperneq 13
Qupperneq 14
Qupperneq 15
Qupperneq 16
Qupperneq 17
Qupperneq 18
Qupperneq 19
Qupperneq 20
Qupperneq 21
Qupperneq 22
Qupperneq 23
Qupperneq 24
Qupperneq 25
Qupperneq 26
Qupperneq 27
Qupperneq 28
Qupperneq 29
Qupperneq 30
Qupperneq 31
Qupperneq 32
Qupperneq 33
Qupperneq 34
Qupperneq 35
Qupperneq 36
Qupperneq 37
Qupperneq 38
Qupperneq 39
Qupperneq 40
Qupperneq 41
Qupperneq 42
Qupperneq 43
Qupperneq 44
Qupperneq 45
Qupperneq 46
Qupperneq 47
Qupperneq 48
Qupperneq 49
Qupperneq 50
Qupperneq 51
Qupperneq 52
Qupperneq 53
Qupperneq 54
Qupperneq 55
Qupperneq 56
Qupperneq 57
Qupperneq 58
Qupperneq 59
Qupperneq 60
Qupperneq 61
Qupperneq 62
Qupperneq 63
Qupperneq 64
Qupperneq 65
Qupperneq 66
Qupperneq 67
Qupperneq 68

x

The Icelandic Canadian

Direct Links

Hvis du vil linke til denne avis/magasin, skal du bruge disse links:

Link til denne avis/magasin: The Icelandic Canadian
https://timarit.is/publication/1976

Link til dette eksemplar:

Link til denne side:

Link til denne artikel:

Venligst ikke link direkte til billeder eller PDfs på Timarit.is, da sådanne webadresser kan ændres uden advarsel. Brug venligst de angivne webadresser for at linke til sitet.