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Flies were really bad. One chap from Conception Ilarhour. Dave Wade,
with us. Younger than me, Only a little bit ofa hoy. Almost dcvoured him,
cycs closed up. I-lad to carry him aboard thc boat. When we canlC dO\\1l
they had to lead him from the stage head, T\\o on thn.--c days and couldn't
work. lie was eaten so much that his cycs closed up - out around the
headlands. Out around the fishing areas they \\cren't that bad. Up in the
ba)' they were a scourgc. No fly oi1. 2lG
! had been tempted to bury my facc while spreading caplin on Tickcraluck Island.
Despite warnings! had received in narrative form I found it impossible to bclie\e how
dangerous the flies could be:
In Ma)'·Junc 1976, I went to Postville, Labrador, working as an
"archaeological field assistant" for thc e\\foundland Museum at a Dorset
Eskimo site there which was about to be ploughed under by new
construction.! spent a total ofthree and a halfwecks in Postville, boarding
\\;th a local family, While there I heard many stories about lmnsponation
on the Labrador coast. In panicular, scarc slories aboul Lab Airways were
common, But I also heard the following story about a $1. John's
businessman carrying on his business on the Coast. I can't rememhcr who
told it to me but il went like this. The businessman arrived one morning in
a community {I don'( remember ifit was named) and did his business
before nOOIl. He was to meet someone al a pan oflhe communily a lillie
dislance inland in Ihe afternoon, but since hc had some timc to spare. hc
thoughI hc would walk. There were 2 ways: by road and over a marsh. Hc
thoughI he'd go over the marsh. lie wcnt alonc. lie never showcd up at his
appointmcnt and he ncvcr returned to the boat in thc hurbom. A search
party WCllt out ancr dark but thcy ncvcr found himlillncXI morning. It
had been 11 warm day with plenty of nies whcn he set out. lie was found
wilh his face clawed 10 strips with his own nails, scratching llt I1r bitcs. I-Ic
had apparently gone crazy wilh Ihe nies and died on the marsh. 2 I
'" MU "LA 86-013. C87()().
211 This story was told 10 me by Philip lIiscock in Junc of 1984 while wc were talking
about my travel arrangements to the Labrador. We spoke of il again over coffee in the
studenl centre ofMemorial University, January 28. 1986 and Philip wrote out the text of
the SlOT) for me. Post\'ille is on Figure I. 6,
135