Bear tips and more! Excerpts from George Cartwright’s The Labrador Companion

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of George Cartwright’s Labrador Companion in order to do this blog post! Edited by Marianne P. Stopp, this fascinating book presents several newly discovered Cartwright manuscripts that document his experiences operating a series of merchant stations in southern Labrador between 1770 and 1786.

Although his focus is firmly on instruction in the manifold ways to capture animals, he also provides rare glimpses of Innu and Inuit life, the everyday work in Labrador’s fur-trade, as well as routines for housekeeping and gardening. The book also highlights personal accounts that make for some amusing passages, such as Cartwright’s opinion of a balanced diet, and his tips about bears – both of which are excerpted below! Be sure to read the book for more great stuff!

Cartwright’s Opinion of a Balanced Diet

A list of the quantities of provisions which will be necessary for one man for a year, upon a supposition that he gets nothing fresh, excepting fish in the summer:

1 Barrel of Pork
½ Barrel of Beef (if no Beef, he must have as much Pork in lieu)
2 ¼ Cwt [225 pounds] Bread
2 ¼ Cwt [225 pounds] Flour
2 Cwt [200 pounds] dried Cod-fish, or ½ Tierce [16 gallons] of Salmon
9 Gallons of Pease
9 Gallons of Treacle (to make Spruce Beer)
6 Gallons of Olive oil
6 Gallons of Vinegar
6 Pounds of Butter

Cartwright’s Bear Tips

Tip #1
Remember, never to eat the liver of a White Bear, for it is of a poisonous quality; it will certainly make you extremely sick and cause all your skin to peel off, even if it does not kill you.

Tip #2
A White Bear, being an animal of great strength, would be extremely useful in Labrador, if well tamed; he would be much better than a horse to ride upon, and draw very heavy loads upon a Sled. One caugh[t], when very young might be completely tame & domesticated, by giving him his liberty in the house, and never feeding him upon raw meat.

George Cartwright’s The Labrador Companion

By George Cartwright, Edited by Marianne P. Stopp

A newly discovered manuscript that expands our knowledge of the eastern coast of Canada’s Labrador peninsula.

New manuscripts directly related to Canada’s history rarely come to light. The Labrador Companion, written in 1810 by Captain George Cartwright (1739-1819), and discovered in 2013, is a fascinating and unusual find because of its level of detail, its setting in a hardly studied part of Britain’s fur-trade empire, and because it is a personal account rather than a trade outfit ledger or government document. Read more >

Learn more about George Cartwright’s The Labrador Companion.