poor fishing season. The meals on this boat are great and I have had only very slight feelings of sea- sickness. Jean got off at Cartwright taking a letter to Mum for me.

This boat seems to be too small for the number of people on board or that what it seems to my inexperienced eye at least. I’ll be glad to be off it. My cold is definitely clearing-up now after a couple of aspirins last night. Wish it would hurry up and go.

The arrival of the boat at settlements along the coast is obviously a great occasion. The fishermen and some curious relations bring their dried salted codfish, oil drums, fishing nets and luggage out to the boat. I took some photographs of the fishermen’s gear being loaded. They try to catch their fish by using nets. These people are not so far above a subsistence level of living. I’ve made friends with the crew who are a nice enough bunch although coarse in speech. I have to listen very carefully to make out exactly what they are saying because their pronunciation of English is hard to understand. The fishermen are a tough bunch – My God they’ve got to be in this bleak landscape to survive. I watched two of them have a trial of strength in the lounge this afternoon but only arm to arm.

Arrival in Port Hope Simpson – First Impressions

I finally arrived in PHS on the 30th. It was an experience similar to alighting from a tube train in the middle of Dartmoor! After my unannounced arrival at 6.15 a.m. I met The Principal of The Anglican School where I was going to work. Pete has just left at 9.00a.m. for George’s Cove where one teacher is needed there, about twenty miles from here. I’ve been here for only three hours and this man jokes about sleeping with somebody’s girlfriend! It was true! There were two wanton girls outside my bedroom late night!

Hardly anybody here goes to work. I am staying with a Mr. and Mrs. Coish and their very young daughter Kimberley. He built the house himself. They seem to be a relatively well off family but still quite poor in material things. Sanitation and hygiene are very poor which is not helped by the fact that there is no running water. The water is an opaque brown in colour and tastes quite pleasant. The water in the streams is fit to drink, as it is – no dead sheep or cows. I bought my Parka today at $28.89 (about £11.00) – it’s fabulous. The men don’t seem to talk about anything else but women and sex. It looks like I will have to be very much on my guard against the “fair sex”!?!?!?!? In fact, I even wrote a postcard home asking for five bottles of multi-vitamins – maybe to help me desist!!! This house where I am staying is virtually one big room where everybody knows what everybody else is doing more or less.

I’ve written to Mum, V.S.O and Jane ref. Derby College. I am off to see Pete at 7.00 a.m. tomorrow.

1^st September

Getting Ready for Teaching

Well, make that 10.30a.m. because it took two hours to get the speedboat going. I’ve traveled about twenty – two miles each way today. The weather was sunny and the views were magnificent. The people were very happy although the majority of them had

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