[ Arnold / "Islands Adrift: St. Pierre and Miquelon"]
This travelogue describing the environs, people, and customs of the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, the last French territory in North America, appeared in National Geographic 41 (Dec. 1941): 743 - 768. Those two islands, about 15 miles off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, remain French territory to this day.
The first mention of Newfoundland dogs (sort of) occurs early on, as Arnold is describing his arrival at St. Pierre:
Everywhere were dogs — large dogs of all sorts, but most of them resembling Newfoundlands in varying degrees.
The above comment is followed by a parenthetical reference to p. 759, on which appears the following image:
Dogs are discussed at greatest length in the section of the article entitled "Hardy Dogs Serve as Lifesavers"; interestingly, Arnold describes the life and treatment of the dogs in terms very similar to those used, over a hundred years earlier, to describe how Newfoundlands were treated in their home country:
Dogs at St. Pierre live a Spartan life, and seem to thrive on it. Many are not fed at all, but are left to forage along the shore, eating scraps of codfish discarded as deft hands split the morning's catch. They live outdoors and even sleep in the snow.
The island's dogs are all powerful swimmers, and the more daring ones will jump into the icy water from a surprising height; for example, from the bowsprit of a schooner. For this reason the ships from France almost always have a dog on board to save members of the crew who may fall into the sea. [In the original there is a page reference here to a photograph of the crew of a French fishing boat, posed for the camera in a relaxed moment; one of the crewmembers is holding a dog; only the dog's head is visible, but it is clearly a small, short-coated dog, not even remotely like a Newfoundland or even the dogs in the photo above.]
The remaining few paragraphs of the "Hardy Dogs Serve as Lifesavers" are concerned with smuggling and the absence of any wild animals on the islands except rabbits.
