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Show Newfoundland Superstitions. (S. W. Watts in Collier's Weekly.) On one occasion I was with my guide on a bare hilltop in a driving snow squall waiting for deer, and in one of the intervals, inter-vals, when it was too thick to see, the guide remarked: "Maybe you don't believe be-lieve in spirits?" "The world is full of many strange things which are difficult to understand," I reslied, "Well," said he, "you may believe me or not, but 1 can take you to a place up here on the Labrador coast where there is no one within a hundred miles of you, and of a dark night you can hear voices all around you talking. And, again, there's an island out here off the coast , called Cooper's island, where a number of men lived making casks for the seal oil fishery. The smallpox came among them and they all died, and now no one lives there; but on any stormy night if you go near the place you can hear the sound of the hammers on the casks. "And then, an uncle of mine was on board a fishing schooner going up toward the Labrador coast. They had a fine wind and were making good headway, head-way, when suddenly the ship stopped short and would not move an inch, al-though al-though the wind still blew and all sails were drawing. Then a big sea washes over the rail nd leaves a corpse upon the deck. The crew was much astonished and did not know what to do. Bat the captain, he knew what was the matter. He ordered every man on board to come up and lay hands on the corpse. They all did so except one man, and he hung back. Then the captain ordered him to be seized and brought ud to the dead man. This was done, and as soon as he touched the corpse it threw Its arms about him, and, another wave coming over the side, carried car-ried them both into the sea. You Bee, that man had murdered the other the year before when he was sailing in a vessel ves-sel over that same spot." |