Social Life and Institutions 209 
     
    
   
   
    
     and under the sea, but not everyone possessed a gun, 
     
     while after 1749 the colonists were forbidden to fish 
     
     lest in so doing they should neglect agriculture. But 
     
     the settlers at Malpeque had oysters and other shell- 
     
     fish at their very doors, those on the seacoast must 
     
     have found it impossible to resist lobsters, fresh her- 
     
     ring, and cod, while those on the rivers could catch 
     
     delicious trout without any of the fishing tackle for 
     
     which Louisburg charged so much. 
     
    

    
     For clothing the ancient settlers relied on the 
     
     sheep from whose wool they made a coarse drugget, 
     
     but for linen they had to rely upon the stores in 
     
     Louisburg. The newer settlers, who were in the ma- 
     
     jority after 1750, were unable to get sufficient start 
     
     to become self-supporting, and at times were utterly 
     
     destitute. The ancient settlers also grew tobacco 
     
     which brought comfort to the men during the long 
     
     winter evenings as they sat in their little log huts 
     
     beside the fireplace and made their axe-handles, tubs, 
     
     benches, and other necessities. The women chewed 
     
     spruce gum at their work, both as an aid to digestion 
     
     and as an excellent substitute for the toothpaste 
     
     which they had never known. 
     
    

    
     The coming of spring brought not only new hope 
     
     to the hearts of all but also maple sugar, the manu- 
     
     facture of which in a crude form they had learned 
     
     from the Indian. But here again, all could not share 
     
     in its joys, for nature had not planted a scarlet 
     
    
   
   
    
     maple tree on every hill, while on the other hand fire 
     
     had destroyed many a beautiful grove.