As lately as 1819 a "specimen" was procured in the following way. A
party of furriers met three natives--two male, one female--on the
frozen Red Indian Lake. It appeared later that one of the males was
the husband of the female. The latter was seized; her companions had
the assurance to resist, and were both shot. The woman was taken to
St. John's, and given the name of May March; next winter she was
escorted back to her tribe, but died on the way. These attempts to
gain the confidence of the natives were, perhaps, a little brusque,
and from this point of view liable to misconstruction by an
apprehensive tribe. Ironically enough, the object of the attempt just
described was to win a Government reward of £100, offered to any
person bringing about a friendly understanding with the Red Indians.
Another native woman, Shanandithit, was brought to St. John's in 1823
and lived there till her death in 1829. She is supposed to have been
the last survivor. Sir Richard Bonnycastle, who has an interesting
chapter on this subject, saw her miniature, which, he says, "without
being handsome, shows a pleasing countenance."

* * * * *

Before closing this introductory chapter a few figures may be usefully
given for reference to illustrate the present condition of the
island.[3] At the end of 1917 the population, including that of
Labrador, was 256,500, of whom 81,200 were Roman Catholics and 78,000
members of the Church of England. The estimated public revenue for the
year 1917-18 was 5,700,000 dollars; the estimated expenditure was
5,450,000 dollars. In the same year the public debt was about
35,450,000 dollars. The estimated revenue for 1918-19 was 6,500,000
dollars; expenditure, 5,400,000 dollars. In 1898 the imports from the
United Kingdom amounted to £466,925, and the exports to the United