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I i

".. ^^;

,^0m

"BP^KU.

Thk I'. S. Wkii.iii hei.k in imh I( k .m- Si.u'ake Island Hakiiok.

iFrom a photograph by Hrailford.)

/•> oniisf-itcc.

The Labrador Coast.

70URN.^L OF TIVO SUMMER CRUISFS
TO THAT REGION.

WITH Nrrrns on its harlv discovhrv, on thr fsk'.mo.

^^N ITS PHYSICAI GHOGRAPHY, (iHOl.OGY
AND NATURAL HISTORY,

[ ^

'\ i

ALPHHUS SI>RING PACKARD, M.D Ph D

*Wa<tb flbapa an& Ifllustratiotig.

NEW YORK :

N. D. C. HODGES, Publisher,
47 Lafayette Place.

LONDON: keGAN PAUL. TRENCH. TRUBNER & CO.

1891.

To THE MEMORY OF

PAUL A. CHADBOURNE,

I.ATK I'RKSinKNT OK Wl Mr AMS VOi.U-.C.K, AM) KOK SOMK.

TIME PROFKSSOR ,)|. ( IIKMISTRV AM) NATUUAL

HISTORY IN IIOWDOIN COI.I.KGK , AND WHO

CONDICTF.I) TirK KIKSr STIDKNTs'

KXPKDITION KROM WII.IIAMS

• •OI.I.F.CK TO I.AliRADOR.

THIS ROOK IS (JkATEKl'I.LV INSCRIUKI)

IIV MIS l-ORMKR I'UPII. AND KRIK.ND, TIIK Al'TIIOR. U ||<)

<;i.ADI.Y ACKNOWI.KDCKS TllK KNCr )URA(;|.:MKNT

AND MANY KINDNKSSES RECEIVED IROM HIM

IN HIS EARLY STIDENP DAYS.

,:ni

^ I

5^343

If A

PREFACE.

The Labrador Peninsula is less known than the interior of
Africa or the wastes of Siberia. Its rivers are still stocked
with salmon ; its inland waters are the breeding places of count-
less birds. Its numerous and deep fiords, and the splendid
mountain scenery of the northern coast, with its Arctic ice-
fields and thousand bergs, and the Eskimos, christianized and
heathen, will never cease to tempt to this threshold of the Arc-
tic regions the hardy explorer or the adventurous j'achtsman.

Though this book is mainly based on observations and col-
lections made by the author in his early student days, it was
thought that some general and standard account of the Labra-
dor coast, its geography, its people, its fisheries, its geology, as
well as its animals and plants, might be useful, even if future
explorations of the great fiords and of the interior plateaux
and rivers might in time result in far more complete works.

The scientific results, geological and zoological, are reprinted
from the Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History
for 1867. Chapters I, II, III, and VI are reprinted by per-
mission from the Bulletin of the American (Geographical
Society for 1888. Chapters IV and XIII first appeared in the
Atmricnti NaiurJist, and Chapter V is reprinted from Apple-
tons Journal.

Sportsmen and ornithologists will be interested in the list
of Labrador birds by Mr. L. W. Turner, which has been kind-

Preface.

\y revised atul brought clown to date by Dr. J. A. Allen. Dr.
S. H. Sciulder has contributed the list of butterflies, and Prof.
John Macoun, of Ottawa, Canada, has kindly prepared the list
of Labrador i)lants. The proof of this chapter has, in his
absence, been read by Mr. Sercno Watson, Curator of the
Harvard Herbarium, and who has kindly made some addi-
tional notes and corrections.

Much pains has been taken to render the bibliography
comj)lete, and the author is indebted to Dr. Franz Boas and
others for several titles and important suggestions ; and it is
hoped that this feature of the book will recommend it to col-
lectors of Americana.

The author also acknowledges his great indebtedness to
William Bradford, Esq., the Arctic traveller and artist, for con-
stant aid and courtesies extended while a member of his party,
and for the gift of a number of photographs of the coast scenery
and of the Eskimos, some of which have been reproduced in
this volume.

The results of the three Canadian expeditions to Hudson's
Bay under Lieut. A. R. Gordon, R. N., of which Dr. Robert
Bell was the naturalist and geologist ; and of the journeys of
Dr. K. R. Koch, and of Mr. Randle F. Holme, have been in-
cluded, so that the work has been brought down to date and
represents our present knowledge of the coast ind interior.

It is hoped that the volume will serve as a guide to the
Labrador coast for the use of travellers, yachtsmen, sportsmen,
artists, and naturalists, as well as those interested in geographi-
cal and historical studies.

Brown University,
Providence, R. I.

CONTENTS.

ClIAflKR I.

!I.

III.

IV.

V.
VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.
XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

TiiK Piiyshai. (iEoukapiiv of Lahkaim.r.
Who F:ksi .Saw tiik Lahkahok Chasi ?
TiiK Gi;(i(;kai'HI(ai. Kvdi r ik.n (i|.- F.ahkaijdk.

I.II-K AM) NaTIIRK in .So! rilKRN LAIIRADoR.

Onf. ok Kim V Days in .Soc i iii:rn Laiirador.
.'\ Si mmkr's Criisk lo Nortiikrn I-ahradok,

I. Frciin Boston to Henley Harbor. .
A .Summkr's Criisk to Norimkrn Laiirador.

IF. From Henley Harbor to Cape St. Michael.
A Summkk's Criisk to Northkrn Lauuadok.

III. From Cape St. Michael to Hopedale.
A SiMMKK's Cruisk to Nortiikrn LAitUAnoR.

IV. Hopedale and the Eskimos.
A Si MMKK's Cruisk to Nortiikrn Laiirador.

V. The Return Voyage to Boston.
RkCKNT E.XI'LORATIONS.

TiiK Civil, History ov Laiirador, with a Bkikk Ac

COUNT OI- ITS FISIIERIKS. .

Tiik Lahrador Eskimos an-d tiikir Formkr Ra.\(;k
Southward.

TiiK Gkolo(;v ok the Lahrador Coast.

The Zoology ok thk Laiirador Coast.

The Botany ok the Lahrador Coast.

BIBI-IOCRAI'IIV RKLATINV, TO THE EaRLY E.XIM.ORA-

TioNs, THE Geography, and the Civil and Nat-
ural History of Lahrador. ,

I' AGE
I

')3

I20
140

"<7

2t)()
22<)

234
279

355
448

475

^.1

CIIAITI-.K I.

rili: PIIVSICAI. CiKOCiRAIMIV OF l.AltKADOK.

OuK Um(>\v1((Ij;c of the iiucrioi of tlic J.al)rador penin-
sula is still so sc.mtv, owinj^ to its inaccessibility, its un-
navigable rivers, the -.hortness of the summer season, and
the lack of jrame, as well a« the enormous numbers of
black flies and inosnuitf ts, that any description of this
country must long lenain imperfect. The only scientific
explorer of the inteiior is Professor llind, who ascended
the river Moisie, which, however, is a confluent oi the St.
Lawrence, and is in fact situated only near the borders
of Labrador, m the province of Quebec. None of the
larger rivers of Labrador have been explored to near
their sources; and no one except Indians and but a
single employe of the Hudson Bay Company (Mr. Mc-
Lean) has ever crossed any considerable portion of the
interior. And yet the peninsula is well watered with
streams, rivers, and chains of lakes. I have been in-
formed by residents that the Indians of the interior, pre-
sumably the Mountaineers, can travel in their canoes
from the mouth of the Esquimaux River, which empties
into the Strait of Belle Isle, across the country to the
Hudson Bay posts in Hamilton Inlet. So far as we
have been able to gather from maps and the accounts
of explorers, such as McLean and Da vies, the latter of
whom published an account of the Grand or Hamilton

TUK THYSICAL ( ;K0(;KAI'I1V ok I.AIJKADOK.

Riv". r, and the Moraviiiii missionaries Kohlnicistcr and
Knoch, who in their "Journal of a Voyage from Ok-
kak" described the Koksoak River and its probable
source, as well as from our own scanty observations
taken from elevations near the coast, the interior of
Labrador is thickly studded with lakes, somewhat as in
the Adirondack region of New York, though the in-
terior country is far more broken and mountainous.

It is certainly most desirable that explorers should
penetrate this vast and unknown wilderness, however
formidable may seem the barriers to travel. These
obstacles would be the rapids and water-falls, the long
and difficult portages or carries, and the unceasing
plague of mosquitoes and black flies. But the annoy-
ance from insects might not be greater than that en-
countered by explorers in Siberia, or by trout or salmon
fishermen in northern New England and Canada, while
the difficulties and dangers of river navigation would
not compare with those of a passage through the Colo-
rado River. The route which would be most i)rolific
in results would be to ascend the Meshikumau or Es-
quimaux River from its mouth near Salmon Bay, in the
Strait of Belle Isle, to its source, and thence to connect
with the probably adjacent source of Grand or Hamil-
ton River to the Hudson Bay post at Rigolet, in
Hamilton or Invuktoke Inlet. Another jo'rney which
would be productive of good geographical results would
be to cross the peninsula from Prince Rupert's Land by
way of Rupert River and Lake Mistassini to Hamilton
Inlet. The Koksoak River should be explored to its
sources, and the low, flat, wooded region of the East
Main, lying between Hudson Bay and the Labrador

MAI'S OF rHK I.AHKADOK COAST.

coasl-icgion, should be adequately mapped. At present,
less is known of the vast region between liudson Bay
and the Atlantie Ocean than of perhaps any region of
similar extent in North Ameriea ; although the results
of exploration might be of more value to geographical
and geological science than to trade and commerce.

Thanks to the labors of the Moravian missionaries,
we now have a much better knowledge of the intricacies
of the extreme northern coast of Labrador than is af-
forded by the charts of the British Admiralty or the
United States Coast Survey ; and it is to the rare op-
portunity we have been generously afforded by the
officers of the Moravian Society in London and Herrn-
hul, Saxony, that we are able herewith to present maps
which are at least approximately correct, and which
must for a longtime to come be the only source of
any exact knowledge of the multitudinous bays, inlets,
promontories, and islands of this exceedingly diversi-
fied coast.

The first special map of Northern Labrador to be
l)ublished was that by the Moravian Brethren Kohl-
meister and Knoch. It comprised the northern ex-
tremity of Labrador, north of latitude 57°, including
Ungava Bay, and appeared in 1814.

Previous to this, Cartwright, in 1792, had published
a map of Sandwich Bay and adjacent regions. Then
succeeded the general chart of the coast published by
Admiral Bayfield, in 1827, and the later charts of the
British Admiralty.

In the United States Coast Survey report for i860,
besides an imperfect outline of the coast given in Mr.
Lieber's geological map of the Labrador coast, there is

IlIK I'HVSICAL OKOGkAl'MV OF 1,AJ5KAD0K.

a special map of Ecli[)se Harbor surveyed by Ivieut.-
Commanding' A. Murray, United States Navy, and
drawn to a scale of ^^~^, with the soundings indicated.

About the year 1873 ('^i^ ^'^^e is not given on the
copy of the maj) wc have received) appeared a map of
that portion of the coast embracing the sites of the
principal Moravian stations and lying between N. lat.
55' and 59°. It was prepared by L. T. Reichel from
the sketches made In- himself, and published in the lack
of any authentic maps of the coast. For a copy of this
and the map of Aivektok or Eskimo Bay we are in-
debted to the officers of the Society in Herrnhut, Sax-
ony. On this map are given the route of the ship-chan-
nel from the southward to Hopedale, and thence to the
different Moravian stations up to Hebron ; also the
overland sledge-routes between Port Manvers and Ok-
kak, and the latter station and Hebron. There is also
an attempt to give in a general way the elevation of the
coast, and the elevation of Kaumajet Mt. and Mt. Kig-
lapeit is given as 4,000 feet. Scales of German and of
English miles are also given.

The second special map was also prepared by Rev. L.
T. Reichel, and published in 1873. It gives what is
probably by far the most authentic map of Hamilton In-
let and Aivektok, or Eskimo Bay, and the coast north-
ward, the whole area mapped being comprised between
latitudes 53"^^ 20' and 56° 20' ; it is of special value in
giving a capital idea of the intricate fiord structure of
the coast, and also a census of the white and Eskimo
residents. ^\

We have also been favored by B. Latrobe, Esq., Sec-
retary of the Moravian Missions in Londqn, with the

•t

rHK LAliKADOR I'l.A I K AU.

loan of a MS. map, by the lau- Rev. Samuel Weiz, of
the coast from Hyron Hay in latitude 54^ 40' around to
the mouth of (nori»e River in rnji^ava Bay, and kindly
allowed to copy it.

With the aid of the new maps of Messrs. Reichel and
Weiz we have heen able to have compiled the new gen-
eral map of the Labrador coast herewith presented ; the
southern portion of the coast being reproduced from the
British Admiralty and U. S. Coast Survey charts, as
well as those of the llyilrographic Office, V, S. Navy
Department, as ft)llows :

No. 9. — River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfound-
land, Nova Scotia, and the banks adjacent ; Sheet
"^ I. English and French Surveys. Published March,

1868.
No. 731. — Anchorages N. E. coast of Labrador, Irom

Br. Surveys. Published Sept., 1876.
No. 809. — Coast of Labrador, Cape St. Charles to
Sandwirh Bay. Br. Surveys to 1082.

There are in Lt. Gordon's Report of the Hudson
Bay Expedition of 1885, charts of the Ottawa Islands
in Hudson Bay, and of one of the islands at Cape
Chidlev.

In its •2;eneral features the peninsula of Labrador i^ an
oblong mass of Laurentian rocks situated between the
50th and 62d paralleL of north latitude. On the east-
ern or Atlantic coast it rises abruptly from the ocean as
an elevated plateau, forming the termination of the
Laurentian chain, which here spreads out into a vast
waste of hills and low mountains.*

* Ttie mountains in the Quebec Province which appear in the accompanying
map are hypothetical, and were wronf?Iy inserted by the artist.

THK I'MYSrCAI, CJEOCJkAl'HY OF I-AHKADOk.

This plateau of hills and mountains, with barren table-
lands, rises abruptly from the sea-level, presenting a lofty
but stern and forbidding front to the ocean, throughout
the whole extent of i,ioo miles of coast from the Strait
of Belle Isle to Cape Wolstenholme.

Motiiitains. — On the northern shores of the Strait of
Belle Isle the general elevation of the coast is from 500
to 800 feet, and the highest mountains are the three
Bradore Hills, which are respectively 1,135, 1.220, and
1,264 f^^'t in height. From Chateau Bay and Ca[)e
Charles the coast rises in height northwards, until at
Square Island the higher elevations form mountains
about 1,000 feet high. Going farther on, the Mealy
Mountains, said to rise to an elevation of 1,482 feet, are
seen forming a range extending along the peninsula situ-
ated between Sandwich Bay and Eskimo Bay, with
Hamilton Inlet.

Still higher is Mt. Misery, which we suppose to l>e
the same elevation as Mt. Allagaigai, a noble mountain
mass rising to an altitude of 2,170 feet, forming the
summit of an elevated plateau region lying half-way
between Cape Harrison and Hopedale. It is a con-
spicuous peak seen when crossing the mouth of Ham-
ilton Inlet, and we well remember the grandeur of its
appearance when partly wreathed in clouds, which left
its summit so exposed as to make it look much higher
than in reality.

The highest elevations in Labrador rise from the
irregular coast range between latitude 57" and 60°; and
judging from the views published by Dr. Lieber in the
U. S. Coast Survey report for i860, and by Professor
Bell in the Report of the Canadian Geological vSurvey.

rilK MOUNTAIN KANCiES OF I,AI!RAl>OR.

for 1884. tlu-' scfnery of this part of the country is
wonderfully wild and grand, rivalling that of the coast of
Norway, and of the coast of Greenland, the mountains
being about as high as in those regions. According to
Prof. Bell: "After i)assing the Strait of Belle Isle, the
Labrador coast continues high and rugged, and although
there are some interruptions to the general rule, the
olevation of the land near the coast may be said to in-
crease gradually in going northward, until within seventy
statute miles of Cape Chudleigh, where it has attained a
height of about 6,000 feet above the sea. Beyond this
it again diminishes to this cape, wher- it is 1,500 feet.
From what I have seen quoted of Labrador, and from
what 1 have been able to learn through published ac-
counts from the Hudson [3ay Company's officers and
the natives, and also judging from the indications af-
forded by the courses of the rivers and streams, the
highest land of the peninsula lies near the coast all along,
constituting, in fact, a regular range of mountains parallel
to the Atlantic seaboard. In a general way, this range
becomes progressively narrower from Hamilton Inlet
to Cape Chudleigh." * The highest mountains in Labra-
dor were previously said by Messrs. Kohlmeister and
Knoch to rise from a chain of high mountains terminat-
ing in the lofty peaks near Aulezavik Island and Cape
Chidley. One of the smallest of these mountains,
Mount Bache, was measured in i860 by the Eclipse
Expedition of the U. S. Coast Survey, and found to be
2,150 feet above the sea-level. This mountain is a
gneiss elevation, and a sketch on the geological chart by

* Observations on the Geology, etc., of the Labrador Coast, etc., Rep. of
•Geological Survey of Canada, 1884, p. 10 DD.

rnr. i-iivsicai. <;kograpiiv of i.ahradok.

Mr. Lieber, the geologist of the expedition, shows it t<»
be rounded by glacial action, while lofty, " wild volcanic-
looking mountains form a water-shed in the interior,
whose craggy peaks have evidently never been ground
down by land-ice into domes and rounded tops."

While the highest elevations have never been meas-
ured, the height of three of the lesser mountains along
this part of the coast appears to have been roughly as-
certained. Professor Bell states that the mountains on:
either side of Nachvak Inlet, about 140 miles south of
Cape Chidley, *' rise fo heights of from 1,500103,400
feet, but a few miles inland, especially on the south side,
they appear to attain an altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet,
which would correspond with the height of The Four
Peaks, near the outer coast line, about midway between
Nachvak and Cape Chudleigh." The mountains ar(»und
Nachvak, he adds, "are steep, rough-sided, peaked, and
serrated, and have no appearance of having been glaci-
ated, excepting close to the sea-level." These mountains'
are formed of Laurentian gneiss, " notwithstanding their
extraordinary appearance, so different from the smooth,
solid, and more or less rounded outlines of the hills
composed of these rocks in most other parts of the
Dominion." The height of these mountains was evi-
dently roughly estimated from that of an escarpment on
the south side of the inlet at the Hudson Bay Company's
port, which "rises to a height of 3,400 feet, as ascer-
tained by Commander J. G. Bolton" (p. . 4 DD).

According to the British Admiralty chart and the
Newfoundland Pilot, Cape Chidley rises to a height
of 1,500 feet above the sea, and the highest point of the
Button Islands has an equal elevation (Bell, p. 17 DD).

IHK MOUNTAINS OF NORITIKKN J \MKAl)t)K.

Port Burwcll is situated on the island of which Caj)c
Chidley is the northeastern point. This island is sepa-
rated from the mainland by McLelan's Strait. " Nu-
naingok is situated on an alluvial flat, extending between
the two branches of the strait. The hill which rises
steeply on the south side of it is about 700 feet high ; but
farther in, between the branches and on either side of
them, the mountains are from i,5CX) to 2,500 feet high,
and have ragged tops and sides" (Bell, p. 19 DFJ).

In his report for 1885 Professor Bell gives no additional
measurements of mountains, but observes : " The moun-
tains everywhere in this vicinity | Nachvak Inlet] give
evidence of long-continued. atmospheric decay. The an-
nual precipitation at the present time is not great, other-
wise small glaciers would probably form among these
mountains, which lie between latitudes 58" and 60^, and
which overlook a sea bearing field-ice for half the year,,
and from v/hich bergs are never absent. Patches of snow,
however, remain throughout the summer in shaded parts
of the slopes and on the highest summits, which range
from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the ocean." * Raised
beaches were observed on both sides of Nachvak Inlet.

South of the region visited by Professor Bell are the
two mountains of Kaumajet and Kiglapeit, both of which
are put at an elevation of 4,000 feet on Rev L. T.
Reichel's map. Of these the former constitutes a penin-
sula, off which lies the island of which Cape Mugford is
the eastern promontory ; while Kiglapeit forms the great
headland lying between Nain and Okkak in latitude
about 57°, and of which Port Manvers is one of the in-
dentations.

*Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Canada, New Ser., vol. i., 1885, p. 8 DD, 1886.

IIIK I'llVSICAI. CKOdKAITIV OF I.AIikADOk.

Prom these facts it will he seen that ahmg this part of
the northern coast, mountains as high as the Adirondacks,
and even the White Mountains of New Hampshire,
plunge directly into the sea, and are as wild and suhlime
as the coast mountains of Norway and Greenland.

Drainage and Rivers. — Of the water-sheds and water-
systems of Labrador our knowledge is mostly conjecture,
on account of the lack of information regarding the in-
terior. In none of the charts and maps are the rivers
and internal lakes accurately represented, and there is the
widest discrepancy between the different maps.

The Labrador plateau has an area of about 420,000
square miles. It has a coast-line of about 1,100 miles,
stretching from the Strait of Belle Isle to Cape VVolsten-
holme, and its greatest breadth is said to be 600 miles.
It lies between the 49th and 63d parallels of latitude,
and the 55th and 79th meridians. Bounded on the east
by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the north and west by
Hudson Strait and Hudson Bav, its southwestern limits
are defined by the Bersiamits, Mistassini, and Rupert
rivers. The broadest and in general highest portion of
the plateau appears to be in the southern portion of the
peninsula, and it is here that the larger rivers appear to
take their rise.

From the northern shores of the Gulf of St. Law-
rence and Strait of Belle Isle the Labrador plateau rises
until it reaches a vast table-land or water-shed in the in-
terior, the edge of which has been reached by Professor
Hind in his explorations of the Moisie River.

This elevated region is thought by Professor Hind to
attain a height of 2,240 feet above the sea-level. Pro-
fessor Hind savs of the table-land from which the river

rill': F.AiiuADok iahlk-land.

1 1

Moisic, and also, probably, tlie Esquimaux as well as
Hamilton rivers take their rise : " It is pre-eminently
sterile, and where the eountry is not burned, earibou
moss covers the rocks, with stunted spruce, birch, and
aspen in the hollows and deep ravines. The whole of
the table-land is strewed with an infinite numbei of boul-
ders, sometimes three and four deej) ; these sin<iular
erratics are perched on the summit of ever\ mountain
and hill, often on the edges of cliffs ; and they vary in
size from one foot to twenty in diameter. Language
fails to depict the awful desolation of the table-land of
the Labrador peninsula." This table-land or water-shed
is probably more or less parallel to the strait of Belle
Isle, and situated between loo and 150 miles iidand.
It probably terminates to the northeast in the Mealy
Mountains. Numerous rivers descend the steep south-
ern slope into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of these the
Moisie and Esquimaux rivers are the largest. They are
supposed to arise from a chain of lakes on the summit
of the water-shed, which also gives rise to the Kenamou
River.

The Moisie River forms part of the St. Lawrence River
system. It is 250 miles long, and flows south, empty-
ing into that river near the Bay of Seven Islands, at a
point west of Anticosti and opposite the northern shore
■of the Gaspe Peninsula. From this point the streams
running into the Gulf assume, the further we go east, a
N. W. and S. E. direction. Such is that of the Meshi-
kumau or Esquimaux River, which empties into the
western mouth of the Strait of Belle Isle, at the lower
Caribou Island. This stream is about 250 miles long, as
I learned from residents, and is only navigable for about

I UK I'livsiCAi. <;ko(ji<apiiv or iahkadok.

twelve miles from its mouth by ordinary fishiny-hoat^.
There is no lar^e river between this and Hamilton River,
which flows into the Atlantic in a direction a little north of
east. The latter river seems to flow in a hssure that runs
at rij^ht angles to the line of upheaval in the syenite and
traps of the Atlantic coast; as upon the Gulf coast ihe
rivers flow from liie northwest along natural fissures ini
the earth's crust that run at right angles to the axis of
elevation of the i.aurentian chain on the north side of
the St. Lawrence. In this connection it should i)e no-
ticed that the hords on the Atlantic coast of Labratior
assume the same direction, and though they agree much
in this respect with the direction of those farther souths
there is a yet greater west and east course as we go north-
ward toward Cape Chidley, until beyond latitude 58'
the tiords run in a N. VV. and S. E. direction, especially
on the Hudson Bay slojje. According to Davies, the
Grand or Hamilton River is supposed to rise from a
chain of lakes in the ** rear of the Seven Islands, and
flows for a considerable distance on the top of the ridge^
if 1 may so express it, between the head-waters of the
rivers falling into the St. Lawrence and those falling
into the Hudson Bay and Strait, for they are said by the
Indians to be quite close to the waters of the Grand
River on either side." Our author also states that, " two-
hundred miles from its mouth it forces itself through a
range of mountains that seems to border the table-land
of the interior, in a succession of tremendous falls and
rapids for nearly twenty miles. Above these fal.ls the
river flows with a very smooth and even current.'"
McLean in 1830 descended the river from the now aban-
doned Fort Nasquapee, situated on Lake Petchikapou,

IHK KIVKkS ()| lAHRADOK.

to its mouth, lie had reached the fort from Ungava
Bay. Two otiier important rivers empty int(» Invuk-
loke Bay : the Kcnamou, wiiich Hows in from the south,
and the Nasquapee or Northwest River, which is a iargei
stream with a very circuitous southeasterly course.

Professor Hind gives us the fullest information as to
the rives of this region, and 1 should regard his map as,
in this '-''spect, the most authentic one yet published.
The situations of the rivers and lakes as given in our
map are copied from his, with the exception of those on
ihe Atlantic coast mapped hy Messrs. Reichel and
Weiz. Hind, however, strangely ignores the Esqui-
maux River, which empties into the Strait of Belle Isle.*
According to Hind, whose work appeared in 1863, and
who obtained his information from employes of the
Hudson Bay Company: "The couriers of the Hudson
Bay Company traverse the country between Musquano
•(or Natashquan) and Hamilton Inlet two or three times
every year. The journey can be made in fifteen days
in canoes, and this route has long been a means of com-
munication between Hamilton Inlet and the Gulf. The
St. Augustine forms the great canoe route of the Mon-
tagnais through this part of the country. . . . The

* "The Kenamou River, which enters Hamilton Inlet from the south, cuts
through the Mealy Mountains thirty miles from the coast ; it is a succession of
rapids, and scarcely admits of navigation, even by canoes. The Nasquapee or
Northwest River falls into the inlet on the north side, nearly opposite the
mouth of the Kenamou. The inlet is here twelve miles across. About two
miles from its outlet the Nasquapee River passes through a long narrow lake
bordered by high mountains. It takes its source in Lake Meshikumau (Great
Lake), and the river itself, according to Indian custom, is called by the Nas-
quapees Meshikumau Shipu. There is a canoe communication between this
river and the Ashwanipi, which is shown on two maps, constructed by Montag-
nais Indians, in my possession." — Hind's " Labrador." ii., 138. ' ■

riM. I'UvsuM. (;ko(;kai'IIV ok i-AIirador.

Si. Aiij^ustinc. falling into a fine hay of the same naiiu*,
has lis source in the hikes and marshes on the lal)le-
hmd, wliich also <rive rise lo the Kenamou, which fall<
into Hamilton Inlel. By this route the Montagnai^
can journey in their canoes from the Gulf of Si. I,aw-
rence lo Flamillon Inlet in seven days."

The country north of Hamilton Inlet is thus descriheil
hy one of ihe Hudson Bay Comj)any's ofTicers (presum-
ably Mr. McLean) who was sent to exjilore it : " From
Northwest River House the Nasijuapee River is a;*-
cended for about sixty-five miles, when it is left at Mont
;\ Reine Portage. The country from Mont a Reim-
Portage to Little Seal Lake is as barren and as miser-
able as can be seen anywhere; the trees are all burnl,
and nothing but stones and dry stumps to be seen. On
the ist of July, 1839, the ice was still firm on Meshiku-
mau or Great Lake. There is no wood to build on the
shores of that extensive sheet of water; it is onlv at
Gull Nest Lake that wood remains in that direction.
The borders of Nasquapee River, when the expedition
ascended it in June, were still lined with ice, some of it
ten feet thick." (Hind.)

vSouth of Hamilton Inlet, after passing the first range
of mountains on leaving the bay, an elevated plateau is
gained, says Hind, which continues until the shores of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence are approached, when the
country becomes more mountainous and slopes rapidly
to the seaside. The breadth of the plateau is 100 miles,
and it abounds in lakes.

The Atlantic system of streams to the north is one
of small rivers flowing into the ocean in an easterly
course.

f <

I in: nivkks or noriiikkn i \mr.m>ok.

IJngava hay rcceivts two iniportanl rivn^ which im-
perfect Iv drain the northwestern slope nl Western
Labrador. The smaller of the two is the Kan<inthia-
luksoak or Geor<(e Kiver, which empties into the hay in
lat. 3S ' 57', and is 140 miles loni". its water-shed is
said by Kohlmeister and Knoch to he a chain of hij^h
mountains which terminates in the lofty |)eaks of syenite
at Aulezavik Island and Cape Chidley.

The two Moravian missionaries mentioned above state
in addition that *'ihis chain of mountains may be seen
from the Kan<j^utlualuksoak Kiver. in Ungava I3ay,
which is collateral |)roof that the neck of land termin-
ated to the north l)y Cape Chidley is of no «ireat
width. Both the Nain and Okak Kscjuimaux fre(|uently
penetrate far (Miough inland to fmd the rivers taking a
westerly cmuse, consequently tou'ards the Ungava coun-
try. They even now and then have reached the woods
skirting the estuaries of George and South rivers."
These missionaries describe the Koksoak or South
River as flowing smoothly through a low, rocky (prob-
ably Silurian) district, and emptying into Cngava Hav
in lat. 58" 36'. It is said to resemble at its mouth the
Thames, and affords anchorage for vessels twentv-four
miles from its mouth. This stream })robably arises near
the source of the Grand or Hamilton River, and Hows
in a N. N. W. direction, probably along a natural fissure
formed by the juncture of the Silurian rocks and I.au-
rentian system.*

. * Tills river is said to liave its source in Lake Caniapuscaw, which is 70 miles
long and 20 broad, situated in the centre of the peninsula, equidistant from the
St. Lawrence, from Ungava and Hamilton Inlet, being 350 miles from each of
those points.

"It is rapid and turbulent, flowing through a partially wooded couniry. Ai

THE I'ilVSICAI, (iEOGRAPHV OI- LABRADOR.

At the western political boundary-line between Labra-
dor and Prince Rupert's Land, according to recent maps,
we find apparently another water-shed, which on the
eastern slope sends a few streams into the Koksoak
River, while on its western slope descend several streams
which flow in a westerly course into Hudson and James's
bays.

Thus it will be seen that these four river systems take
their rise from a great water-shed which curves in a
southwesterly direction from Labrador along the north-
ern shores of the St. Lawrence River and the Great
Lakes.

Lakes. — The following remarks are taken from our
memoir on the " Glacial Phenomena of Labrador and
Maine."*

Labrador is essentially a lake district. Its numerous
rivers afford a very imperfect system of drainage to a
country densely covere \ with lakes, ponds, and pools,
and morasses innumera^ile. It resembles in this respect
the probable aspect of the Lake or Terrace period in
New England and Canada after the Glacial period, when

South River House (now abandoned) it receives the Washquah River, which
forms the route of communication between Ungava Bay and Hamilton Inlet.
From this point to the sea (150 miles) the current, though strong, is less b.oken
by rapids" il also widens very mi""h, and ninety miles from its mouth it is a
mile in breadth, flowing between high rocky banks, thinly clothed with trees ;
it is nearly a league in width. Fort Chimo is situated twenty-eight miles from
the sea." George's River was ascended by officers of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany to establish relations with the Nascop6 Indians, near its source. For 220
miles it was, though full of rapids, deep enough for barges. " The general
course of the river is north, running parallel to the coast of Labrador, where it
is at no time more than 100 miles distant, and often much nearer." (Hinrf.)
We may expect a full description of the region about Fort Chimo when Mr. L.
M. Turner's report is issued, as he spent two years at this station,

* Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, i., 210-303, i866.

LAIJRADOR LAKES.

the present broad rivers were only chains of lakes, and
may thus be said to be in an embryonic stage, as its
river-beds have never been remodelled and scooped out
into gentle declivities and broad valleys, nor immense
depths of sand and clay deposited to smooth over the
inequalities of the rocky surface of the country, such as
in the temperate zone render a continent inhabitable
throughout its breadth ; while in Labrador man can only
inhabit the coast, and gain a livelihood from the sea.

We must distinguish two classes in the lakes of Labra-
dor, viz.: the deep mountain /trr/zs, lying in the interior,
directly upon the summits of the water-sheds ; and the
far more numerous broad, shallow lakes and pools spread
|)rofusely over the surface below the height of land.
These last occupy shallow depressions and hollows,
most probably excavated by glaciers in valleys which
have been simply remodelled by glacial action. The deep
tarns, on the contrary, evidently fill original depressions,
sinking between lofty ranges of hills. Davies says that
in the region about the source of the Hamilton River
the lakes are very deep, and lie directly on the height of
land, while the ponds on the lowlands are shallow ; and,
on the other hand, those which directly communicate
with the ocean or with the fiords are in general distin-
guished for their depth. " This almost universal shal-
lowness of the lakes is a singular feature, when the nature
of their borders is taken into consideration, as they are
generally surrounded by hills, which would lead one to
look for a corresponding depth in the lake ; but instead
of this some are so shallow that for miles there is hardly
water enough to float a half-loaded canoe. I am in-
formed l)y my friend, John McLean, Esq., that this is

: I

THE i^MvsiCAi, (;b:o(;raphv of labkadok.

likewise tlie case with the lakes lying on the water-shed
of Ungava Bay. The lakes lying on the table-land are
said to he deep." He also states that the large lakes in
the interior are well stocked with fish, while the shallow
lakes, and, in fact, the deep ones communicating with
the ocean, are in general very destitute of them.

We must believe that the same causes that produce
the deep fiords likewise account for these deep fissures
and depressions in the summit of the water-sheds. It is
evident that any amount of glacial action, however long
sustained and vast in its operation, can never account for
these rude, irregular, often " geoclinal," troughs which
follow lines of fracture and faults, lying along the axis ot
elevation of mountain chains, or at nearly right angles to
them.

Fiords. — The fiords on the Labrador coast are of great
extent and depth. They are either original lines of frac-
ture and faults, or what Professor Dana terms z^oclinal
troughs, occurring at the line of juncture of two rock
formations. Thus, Chateau Bay is a fissure at least
1,200 feet in depth. The western shore rises 600 feet
above the sea-level, and the waters of the bay at their
deepest are 600 feet in depth. This fault must have
been produced at the time of the upheaval of the syenites
of the coast.

All the broad, deep bays and fiords on the Atlantic
Ocean occur at the juncture of the syenites and gneiss.
There are deep bays between Cape St. Lewis and Cape
St. Michael's, where syenites rise through the gneiss,
producing faults and lines of dislocation. The large
bay just north of Cape St. Michael's occurs at the junc-
tion of gneiss and " hyperite " rocks. Sandwich Bay

"TO

s,
e

<;laciai i.akks.

ami Hamilton Inlrl were forincd by the denudation ot
the Domino <^neiss. Despair Mai hoi is a deep liord oc-
curring at the juncture of the " Aule/avik |L»neiss " ot"
Lieher, with syenitic rocks formin<» the coast-line between
this point and Hopedale. The irregular overtlows of
*„ap and syenitic rocks which enclose the gneiss rocks,
produce an immense number of cross tiords and channels,
from the presence of innumerable islands which line the
coast, and an- composed of these eruptive rocks.

These original fissures and depressions have been
modified by glaciers, by frost and shore-ice and icebergs,
and by the waves of the sea.

The shallow lakes, formed most probably by glaciers,
lie in shallow troughs, upon a thin bed of gravel and
boulders. We only learn in some regions, especially in
-Southern I.abrador, that the country has been covered
with boulders by their presence on the banks and in the
centre of these pools. Clear examples of lakes partially
surrounded by walls of rock, with the banks at one end
completed by a barrier of sand and gravel, are frequent.
Such barriers of drift have lost entirely their resemblance
to glacial moraines, to which they undoubtedly owe their
origin, since the drift deposits have been remodelled
into sea beaches composed of very coarse gravel and
boulders, while the finer materials have been swept away
by the powerful " Labrador current," with its burden of
icebergs and floe-ice that has so effectually removed
traces of the former presence of what we must believe
to have been extensive glaciers.

From all that has been published, it would seem that
the entire interior of the Labrador peninsula is strewn
with boulders, having once been covered with land-ice,

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF LABRADOR.

which flowed into the Atlantic on the east and souths
and Hudson Bay on the west and north. The forest
growths sometimes clothe the lower hills, but in general
are confined to the protected river-valleys and lake
basins.

It is to be hoped that at no distant day some skilled
explorer, with a sufficient knowledge of geology, may
thread the interior of the peninsula from Ungava to
Hamilton Inlet, passing thence by the Esquimaux River
to the Strait of Belle Isle. The region from the head-
waters of the Hamilton River to Hudson Bay should
also be traversed, and when this is done we shall be pro-
vided with a knowledge of this vast, shadowy, gloomy,
forbidding region, of which we now apparently know
less than of the interior of Alaska, the tundras of Siberia,,
or the plateaus of Central Africa.

t >

.*
:,i'*

CHAPIER f[.

WHO FIRST SAW THE LABRADOR COAST?

Those rovers of the northern seas, the Norsemen,
pushing out from the fiords of Greenland in their one-
masted craft, no larger than our coasters or n ickerel
boats, without doubt sighted and coasted along " the
Labrador," nearly five centuries before John Cabot made
his first landfall of the American Continent.

The Labrador coast was not, however, the first Ameri-
can land visited by the Norsemen.""'

Kohl states that New England was first discovered
by Biarne, in 990. It appears that Heriulf, one of the
•earliest colonists of Greenland, had a son, Biarne, " v/ho,
at the time his father went over from Iceland to Green-
land, had been absent on a trading voyage in Norway.
Returning to Iceland in 990, and finding that his father,
with Eric the Red, had gone to the west, he resolved
to follow him and to spend the next winter with him in
Greenland.

" They boldly set sail to the southwest, but having

* We should acknowledge that, not having access to the primitive sources in
which the voyages of the Norsemen to the American shores are described, we
have placed our dependence on the account given by a learned German geogra-
pher, J. G. Kohl, in his History of the Discovery of Maine, as the most authori-
tative exposition of early voyages and discoveries in northwestern America.
Kohl's views are based on Rafn's Antiquitates Americanse. (Documentary
History of the State of Maine. Collections of the Maine Historical Society.
/Second Series, Vol. r. 1869). •

I I

WHO FIRST SAW THE LABRADOR COAST?

encountered northerly storms, after many days' sail they
lost their course, and when the weather cleared, they de-
scried land, not, however, like that described to them as
* Greenland.' They saw that it was a much more south-
ern land, and covered with forest*;. It not being the
intention of Biarne to explore new countries, but only to
find the residence of his father in Greenland, he im-
proved a southwest wind, and turned to the northeast,
and put himself on the track for Greenland. After sev-
eral days* sailing, during which he discovered and sailed
by other well-wooded lands lying on his left, some high
and mountainous and bordered by icebergs, he reached
Heriulfsnas, the residence of his father, in Greenland.
His return passage occupied nine days, and he speaks of
three distinct tracts of land, along which he coasted, one
of which he supposed to have been a large island."

So much for the facts taken from the Norse records
and sagas. Dr. Kohl then goes on to say : " That Biarne,
on this voyage, must have seen some part of the Ameri-
can east coast is clear from his having been driven that
way from Iceland by northerly gales. We cannot de-
termine with any certainty what part of our coast he
sighted, and what was the southern extent of his cruise.
But taking into consideration all circumstances and state-
ments of the report, it appears probable that it was part
of the coast of New England, and perhaps Cape Cod,
which stands far out to the east. One day and night's
sailing with a favorable wind, was, in Iceland and Nor-
way, reckoned to be about the distance of thirty German
miles. Two days and ' nights,' therefore, would be sixty
German miles, and this is about the distance from Cap&
Cod in New England to Cape Sable in Nova Scotia."

IMAKNK'S LANI3FAI.I..

That the land tifst seen by Biarne was necessarily so
far south as Cape Cod does not, we would venture lo
submit, follow from the facts we have quoted. Is it not
more probable that the country was some portion of
Nova Scotia, a land as much "covered with forests" :is
New England ?

But Dr. Kohl maintains that the second land which
was "well-wooded" was Nova Scotia. In his own
wt)rds :

"The second country seen by Biarne musi. then,
probably have been Nova Scotia. The distance from
Nova Scotia to Newfoundland is about three days' sail ;
and from Newfoundland to the southern part of Green-
land, a Northman navi<>ator, with fresh breezes, might
easily sail in four days, and thus Newfoundland was
probably the third count r\ discovered bv Biarne."

We should not have the hardihood to criticise Dr.
Kohl's statements and conclusions, if we had not made
two voyages to Labrador, in which we sailed from Cape
Cod to Nova vScotia, skirted that coast, approached
within a mile of Cape Ray, Newfoundland, and spent a
summer on the northern shores of Belle Isle, opposite
Newfoundland ; and a second summer in coasting Lab-
rador ns far north as Hopedale. Henc'e the general
appearances of the Nova Scotian, Newfoundland, and
l^abrador coasts arc, though in a slight degree, to be
sure, known to us.

The records state that the southernmost land seen by
Biarne was *' covered by forests ;" this would apply to
Nova Scotia as well as to the coast of Massachusetts. It
is then said that without landing, improving a southwest
wind and steering northeast, "he put himself on the

WHO FlUSr SAW TlIK I.AItUAhOK COAST?

track for Greenland." This would l)e the course from
Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, it is true, but such a course
would also take him from the eastern end of Nova Scotia
to Cape Race, Newfoundland, while from the present
position of St. John's the course to the site of tht; Green-
land Norse settlements is a northerly one.

As Kohl states, the distance from Nova Scotia to
Newfoundland is about three days' sail ; but the wind
would have to be stion^ and fair all the time, for the
distance from Halifax to St. John's, Newfoundland, is
about 530 miles. A Vikino's ship was by no means a
modern cutter either in her lines or rig. T have seen in
the Sogne fiord a vessel of forty or fifty tons, her hull
clumsy and broad, with her single mast pla-" d mid-
ships and carrying a square sail; her stern rr, r high,
and her prow rising five or six feet above the bows. A
Norwegian friend observed to me at the time, " There,"
said he, " hang the gunwale of that vessel with shields
and fill her with armed men, and you would havea Vik-
' ing's ship !" We doubt whether Biarne's craft could
have made in " one day and night's sailing with a favor-
able wind," more than 138 statute miles, or thirty Ger-
man miles. At such a rate it would take from i\vv. to
six days to go from Halifax to. St. John's, Newfound-
land. The passage by a swift ocean steamer of the
Allan Line requires from forty-two to forty-eight hours.

Passing by Newfoundland, which is well-wooded, ex-
cept on the more exposed northeastern coast, Biarne,
sailing by a land " said to be high and niountainous, and
bordered by icebergs, reached Heriulfsnas." This land
could have been none other than the Labrador coast
from the mouth of the Strait of Belle Isle northward.

niAKNKS RKTUkN VOYAGF.

If Hiai lie's return passage occupied only nine days,
Ifie could not possibly have sailed from Cape Cod to
Greenland in that time. A nine days' trip from Boston
to the Labrador coast at the mouth of the Strait of Belle
Isle is a remarkably short one for an ordinary fishing-
schooner.

The distance from Boston to the Greenland coast a
little north of Cape Farewell, where the southernmost
Norse settlements were made, is about 2,300 miles.
The southern coast of Labrador is about half-way. The
exact sailing distance from Thomaston, Maine, to
Caribou Island, Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador, is 910
miles.

The "Nautilus," the vessel in which I first sailed to
Labrador, was a staunch schooner of 140 tons. She
sailed from Thomaston, Maine, June 27. and passing
around Cape Breton, reached Caribou Island in ten
days* (July 7th) : after leaving our party on the Labra-
dor coast, she set sail for Greenland July 9th, over nearly
the same route as the Norsemen must have taken.
From Captain Ranlett of the *' Nautilus," I learn that
he first sighted land on the coast of Greenland on the
17th, in lat. 62"" 58', and long. 52° 05'. The land next
seen was about lat. 63° 10, long. 50° 45'. This is about
fifty miles south of Fiskernaes, and 25 miles north of
Frederickshaab. The voyage to Greenland was thus
made in about nine days, as the vessel did not reach
land before the i8th. The return voyage from God-
ihaab to Bonne Esperance, Labrador (three miles west
from Caribou Island), was made in twelve days. The

* Rev. C. C. Carpenter writes me that he sailed in a fishing-smack from Cari-
bou Island Oct. 3d, and made the shores of Maine on the 13th,

) '■

WHO MKST SAW IIIK LAHKADOK COAST.''

," Nautilus" lefl Godthaab Auj;'. 131!), and ciUcrcd ihe
Strait of Hellc Isii- Aug. 24tli, anchoring at lionnt
Esperancc Aug. 25111. Then sailing from Bonne Espe-
rance Aug. 26th, (nvingto calms and a storm she did not
reach Thomaston until September 1 itii, a period of about
fifteen days. It thus appears that the voyage from th<
mouth of the Penobscot River, Maine, to soulliern
Greenland, through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a shorten
route than that of the Northmen east of Newfoundland,
took nineteen days, not including the detention on the
Labrador coast, while the return voyage from southern
Greenland to Maine required 27 days.

In 1864 my second trip to the Labrador coast was
made in a VVelllieet oysterman, a schooner of about 140
tons, built for speed, with long spars and large sails,
vShe was probably the fastest vissel which ever visited
the Labrador coast. The voyage from Boston to-
Mecatina Island on the Labrador coast, through the
Gut of Canso, was made in seven days ; it was piobably
the quickest voyage from Massachusetts to Labrador
ever made. We ran from Provincetown to Port Mul-
grave in the Gut of Canso in just forty-eight hours.
The return trip from Caribou Island to Boston, a dis-
tance of about nine hundred miles, was made in nine
days. The average was therefore just a hundred miles
a day. How could a Norseman's cluiDsy craft of forty
or fifty tons, with but a mainsail and a jib, outdo such
sailing as that ?

The Norse record says that Biarne's *' return passage
©ccupied nine days," and Kohl adds that " from New-
foundland to the southern part of Greenland a North-
man navigator, with fresh breezes, might easily s;iil in

HKI.I.Ll.AND THK MODKKN LAHUADOK.

four days. Hut wc have seen that with frtsh breezes a
modern schooner, at least three times as large as a
Viking's ship, reijuired eight or nine days to run from a
|)oint but a few miles from northern Newfoundland, i.e.y
Belle Isle, to southern Greenland. The distance from
vSt. John's, Newfoundland, to the Norsemen's colonies in
southern Greenland is not less than 1,500 miles. To
perform a voyage of liiis length in four days would be
an impossibility for a modern yacht. It is not impossible,
however, that Biarne sailed from scjuthern Newfound-
land to Greenland in a period of about nine days. But a
voyage from Cape Cod to Greenland by an ordinary
schooner rec^uires at least three weeks, or from twenty
to thirty days at tlie most.

Instead then of accepting Kohl's summary of Biarne's
voyage stated on p. 63 of his work, wi' should be in-
clined to believe, as the results of the expedition, that
Biarne was the first European to sigiu the coast of
Newfoundland, possibly the eastern extremity of Nova
Scotia, while he also saw the mountainous, desolate, tree-
less, rocky coast of Labrador.

The next Norse adventurer, Leif. the son of Erik,
not only sighted the Labrador coast but landed on it.
To this country he gave the name of stony land, or
" Helluland," a nairjc perpetuated in an Iceland map of
'570 Iw Sigurd Stephanius.

The records tell us that Leif, the son of Erik the
Red, the first settler in Greenland, having bought
Biarne's ship in the year 1000, manned her with a crew
of thirty-five men, among whom was Biarne himself, and
followed Biarne's track towards the southwest. Kohl
then says: "They came first to that land which Biarne

VVnO IIRSr saw IIIK I.AIlRADOk COAST?

}i;i(l last seen, whicli, as I have- said, was |>i<)l)al)ly (»m
Ncwfoimdlaiid. Wcvc tlicy cast anchor and went on
shoir, for their voyage was not the search of a son after
his father, l)Ut a decided exploriiig exjK'dition. They
found the country as Biarne had descril)ed il. full of ice
mountains, desolate, and its shores covered with large
flat stones. I^-'if. therefore, called it 'llelluland' (the
stony land ),"

Here again we should dilfei Iroin Kohl as to Leif's
lirst landfall. A southwest course would naturallv carry
hini to the Lahrador coa^t, while the description — "full
of ice mountains, desolate, aiul its shores covered with
large Hat stones" — well describes the harren, rock-l)ound,
treeless coast of Labrador, in distinction from the much
lower, wooded coast of Newfoundland. Moreover, vSt.
John's, Newfoundland, lies nearly due south of the
southern extremity of Greenland.

While it is to be doubted whether Biarne ever went
south of Newfoundland, we see no reason for dis-
believing the conclusions of Rafn and Kohl, that the
followers of Biarne, Thorvvald and Thorfmn Karlsefne,
became familiar with Cape Cod and wintered at Vin-
land. There is no reasonable doubt but that they landed
on Nova Scotia ; <^here is no reason to disbelieve the
records which stat..' that they wintered farther west
where no snow (cil, so that the cattle found their food in
the open fields, and wild grapes were abundant, as they
certainly are in Rhode Island and southern Massa-
chusetts, as compared with Maine or Nova Scotia.*

Without reasonable doubt, then, Helluland of the
Norse and Icelandic records is Labrador, though it is
not impossible that the bare and rocky coast of north-

i '

IIKI.IAJLANI) rilK MODKRN lAlJkADOH.

eastern Newfouiulland was hv some rc«j[ar(lr(l as Hellu-
land. It would l)e easy for a vcsscrl in those days to
pass by vvithoul sceinij the openinj^ inlo the Strait of
Belle Isle, and, owin^ to the somewhat similar scenie
features of the two lands, to eonfoimd the northeastern
extremity of Newfoundland with Lahradcn'.

That, as some have elaimed, the Norsemen ever
sailed throuij^h the Strait of IJellc Isle, eoasti'd aloniLi
Southern Lahradoi and wintered at the mouth of thi-
river St. Lawrenee, is eeitainly not supported i)y thi
(;arly Norsi- reeords as interpreted hy Kohl.

Their x-essels sailed to the seaward of Newfoundland.
That thev did not feel drawn to sojourn in Ilelluland
is no wonder. Its eoast presented no more attraetion^
than Greenland, while the jj^rapes, food, and furs, with
the verdure and mild winter climate of "Vinland the
Good," led to one exj)edition after another, as late per-
haps as 1347, when, according to the Icelandic annals,
'* a vessel, having a crew of seventeen men, sailed from
Iceland to Markland."

Then came the decadence of Norse energy and sea-
manship, succeeded by the failure of the Greenland col-
onies, which were overpowered and extinguished by the
b^skimo. A dense curtain of oblivion thicker and more
impenetrable than the fogs which still wrap the regions
of the north, fell upon these hyperborean lands, until, in
1497, the veil was again withdrawn by an English
hand.*

Since the foregoing remarks were sent to the printer,

!•:

*Tlie voyage of Szkolney, the Pole, to the coasts of Greenland and Labrador,
is stated to have been performed in 1476. See Humboldt, Kxamen Critique,
ii, p. 152. (N. A. Review, July, 1838, 179.)

f J

.iO

\VH(» MKSl SAW THK I.A15KADOK COAST?

1: '

Prof. E. N.-Horsford's address at the unveiling of the
statue of Leif Erikscn lias appeared. He also adopts
the general opinion that Ilelluland was Newfoundland,
hut the langfuaoe of these extracts convinces us still
more that Helluland was Labrador.

In the first translation printed by Prof. Ilorsford of the
Saga of Erik the Red, it is stated in the account of the
expedition of Biarne, that after leaving Iceland bound
for Greenland, he missed that country and was "borne
before the wind for many days, they knew not whither,"
linally approaching land which "was not mountainous.
i)ut covered with wood," with rising ground in many
j»arts. Then sailing two days, and putting the ship
about, leaving the land on the left side, he saw land
again, " low and level, and overgrown with wood."
This land was probably Newfoundland, perhaps the
southern or eastern part. We would, however, contend
that the next or third land which Biarne saw was Lab-
rador, for the Saga reads : " At length they hoisted
sail, and turning their prow from land, they stood out
again to sea ; and having sailed three days with a south-
west wind, they saw land the third time." This land
was high and mountainous, and covered with ice. They
asked Biarne whether he wished to land here. He said,
"No; for this land appears to me little inviting."
Without relaxing sail, therefore, they coasted along the
shore till they perceived that this was an island. They
then put the ship about, with the stern towards land,
and stood out again to sea with the same wind, which
blowing up very strong, Biarne desired his men to shorten
sail, forbidding them to carry more sail than with such a
heavy wind would be safe. " When they had thus

HELI.UI AND THK MODERN [..VHRADOU.

sailed four days, they saw land the lourth time." To-
wards evening they reached the very promontory not far
north of Cape Farewell where Heriulf, the father of
Biarne, dwelt.

The hiirh, mountainous land. :overed with, ice, was
probably Labrador near Cape Harrison, or along' the
^.oast to the northward, and a Norseman's vessel, with a
strong-, fair wind, could probably sail from that part of the
Labrador coast to near Cape Farewell, a distance of a
little over 600 miles, in four days, allov/ing that a Vik-
ing's ship of about 60 tons could sail from eight to ten
miles an hour under a spanking breeze. Certainly they
<:ould not have made the distance from an\' part of New-
foundland, which is about 900 miles, in four days.

From the account of the expedition of Leif Lriksen :

" All being now ready, they set sail, and the first land
lo which they caine was that last seen by Hiarne.

" They made direct for land, cast anchor, and put out
in a boat. Having landed, they found no herbage. All
above were frozen heights ; and the whole space between
these and the sea was occupied by bare flat rocks ; whence
they judged this to be a barren land. Then said Leif,
' We will not do as Biarne did, who never set foot on
shore : I will give a name to this land, and will call it
" Helluland" [that is, land of broad stones].'" Here
again we have a much better description of Labrador
than of northeastern Newfoundland. From there Leif
sailed to what he called Markland, or " Land of Woods,"
which may have been southern Newfoundland, or east-
4.^rn Nova Scotia, or Cape Breton, as it is but two days'
sail from the Gut of Canso to Cape Cod ; and the Vin-
land of Leif was undoubtedly the shore lying east and
*-outh of Cape Cod.

•r

■ ,i

i) 'V

■J

s 3'

(! i!

32 WHO IIKST SAW IIIK LABRADOR COAST."

From Mr. J. Elliot Cabot's translation of the Saga re-
lating to Biarnc's voyage (Mass. Quart. Rev. 1849^
quoted by Horsford), we take the following rcferenee to
Helluland. As before, on returning from the south,,
after turning the bow of his vessel from the land and
sailing out to sea for three days with a W.S.W. wind,
Biarne saw a third land ; "but that land was high, moun-
tainous, and eovered with glaciers:" then the wind rose,
and they sailed four days to Heriulfsness.

A.D. 999, Leif set sail. "First they found the land
which Biarne had found last. Then sailed they to the
land and cast anchor, and put off a boat and went ashore,
and saw there no grass. Mickle glaciers were over all
the higher jwrts ; but it was like a plain of rock from the
glaciers to the sea, and it seemed to them that the land
was good for nothing. Then said Leif: 'We have not
done about this land like Biarne, not to go upon it ;
now 1 will give a name to the land and call it " Hellu-
land " [flat-stone land |.' "

The northeastern coast of Newfoundland is rather
low, not mountainous, is somewhat wooded, with cer-
tainly more or less herbage on the outer islands and
points. The rock formations are of later age than the
Laurentian. We are familiar with the appearance of the
Newfoundland side of the Strait of Belie Isle, which
decidedly contrasts with that of Labrador opposite.

CHAPTER III

IHE GEOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION OK LABRADOR.

Junk 24111, 1497, a year before Columbus cbscovered
the American continent, the crew of a little vessel, the
" Matthew," bgund from Bristol on a voyage of discov-
ery to ascertain the shortest line from England to
Cathay, sighted land. The vessel was under the com-
mand of John Cabot, who was accompanied by his son
Sebastian, a lad still under age, perhaps but nineteen or
twenty years old. Sebastian kept the ship's log ; but
the narratives of this, as well as his other voyages, have
been lost.

The land was called " Prima vista," and it was believed
by Biddle and Humboldt, as well as Kohl and others,
that this region which the Cabots first saw was the coast
of Labrador in 56° or 58° north latitude. VVhile the
narrative of this momentous voyage has been lost, a map
of the world ascribed to Sebastian Cabot, and engraved
in 1549, contained an inscription, of which we will copv
an extract translated in Hakluyt's Voyages (iii. 27).

" In the yeere of our Lord 1497, lohn Cabot, a Vene-
tian, and his sonne Sebastian (with an English fleet set
out from BristoU) discouered that land which no man
before that time had attempted, on the 24 of June about
fiue of the clocke early in the morning. This land he
called Prima vista, that is to say, First scene, because as

"^-

II:

II IK OKOtlkAI'MICAI, EVOI.UTfON' OF I.AHUADOU.

I sui)pc)se it was that part whereof they had the first
slight from sea. That Island which lieth out l)efoie the
land, he called the Island of S. lohn vpon this occasion,
as I thinke, because it was discouered vpon the day of
lolin the Haptist. The inhabitants of this Island vse to
weare beast skinnes, and haue them in as great estima-
tion as we haue our finest garments. In their warres
they vse bowes, arrowes, pikes, darts, woodden clubs,
and slings. The soile is barren in some places, and
yeildeth little fruit, but it is full of white beares, and
stagges farre greater than ours." (Page 27.)

Kohl seems fully persuaded that the landfall of John
Cabot was Labrador, because of the presence of white
bears.* But if the inscription and map are genuine, the
description of the inhabitants of the island, both men
and beasts, would better apply to those of the eastern or
southern coast of Newfoundland. The human beings
were more probably red Indians than Eskimo. On the
Labrador coast the soil is " barren" in all places, while
the "stagges far greater than ours" may have been the
moose, which then abounded and still exists in New-
foundland, and must have been rare, if it ever lived, on
the coast of Labrador. Moreover the " white bears"
spoken of as being so abundant may have been a white
variety of the black bear, or perhaps the " barren ground"
pale bear of Sir John Richardson may have been fre-
quent in Newfoundland. It appears to have been of
smaller size than the brown bear of Europe, because in
Parmenius' account of Newfoundland, published in 1 583,

* "This agrees much better with the coast of Labrador than with that of
Newfoundland, to which the white bears very seldom, if ever, come down,"
(Page 133.):

CABOT 11 IK DISCOVKUKR Ol' I.AHKADOU.

is said: " Beares also appear al)oul the tishers' stajj^e
of tlie countrey, and are sometimes killed, hut they
seeme to he white, as I eonjeetured hy their skinnes.
and somewhat lesse than ours," (I lakluyt.)

On the other hand, the true while or polar hear may
have frequently visited the eastern eoast of Newfound-
land, as it formerly ahounded on the Lahrador eoast.

Moreover, nothing is said in the inseription of any
ice, which at that date, the 24th of June, so ahounds
from the Strait of B^Ue Isle northward to the polar re-
ijions. Besides, if we contrast the account of this voy-
ai^e of the two Cahots in 1497 with that of the younger
Cahol the following year, it seems plain that John
Cabot's "Prima vista" was Newfoundland rather than
Lahrador."'

in May, i49(S, Sebastian Cahot, under license of
Ilenrv VII., in command of two ships, manned with
three hundred marineis and volunteers, again sailed to
the northwest in search of Cathay. Kohl says: "We
iiave no certain information regarding his route. But
lie appears to have directed his course again to the coun-
tr\ which he had seen the year before on the voyage
with his father, our present Labrador." Farther on he
remarks : " The Portuguese Galvano, also one of the
original and contemporary authorities on Cabot's voyage
of F498, says that, having reached 60° north latitude, he
and his men found the air very cold, and great islands
of ice, and from thence putting about and finding the
land to turn eastward, they trended along by it, to see

* According to Charles Dean, LL.D., in tlie Critical History of America, vol.
jii., John Cabot's landfall was the northern part of Cape Rreton Island.

THI-; (;eo(;raphical evolution ok i.AbKArxm.

if it passed on the other side. Then they sailed hack
again to the south."

From this and other statements by Humboldt and
D'Avezac, Kohl concludes that "Cabot in 1498, without
doubt, sailed along the coast of Labrador and the west-
ern shores of Davis's Strait. Finally, after a struggle
with the ice off the Cumberland j^eninsula in Syl" north
latitude, where he probably lost a number of his men,,
he abandoned any further advance. He then retraced
his course southward along the coast of Labrador, and
probably came to anchor in some bay on the eastern
coast of Newfoundland, where he rested his men and
^paired the damage done to his vessels by the Arctic
ice. His vessel was probably the forerunner of the fleet
>f ' ..i^lish, Portuguese, Basque, French, and Spanish
fishermen which in the next two centuries visited those
shores, opening to the Old World a source of revenue
more available than the fabled wealth of Cathay.

Still, dreams of the Indies led Cabot on southward,,
past Newfoundland, past Nova Scotia, along the New
England shores, and probably southward near Cape
Hatteras, with the hope of finding a direct passage tt>
the East.

Although t)n their return from their first voyage of
1497 the Cabots believed that the land they had dis-
covered was some part of Asia, to them must be given
the credit of beholding the American continent before
Columbus; while, with little or no doubt, vSebastian;
Cabot beheld in July, 1498, the mainland of Labrador,
for, says Hakluyt, " Columbus first saw the firme lande.
August 1, 1498." *

* Kohl, p. 131, foot-note.

■il

||[K l-OkTlMlUKSK ON THE LABRADOR ClOASI .

English seamen, then, were the first to reveal to a
svorld which had forgotten the deeds of the Norsemen
the northeastern shores of our continent, and to carry
to Europe the news of the wealth of life in the seas of
Newfoundland and the Bay of St. Lawrence.

The Cabots were of Italian origin, though Sebastian
was born in Bristol. The English did not immediately
follow up their discoveries, for the next explorer who
ventured near if not within sight of the Labrador coast
was a Portuguese, Cortereal, who was commissioned by
Emanuel the Great of Portugal, the same enterprising
monarch who had previously sent out Vasco de Gama
on his vovage around the Cape of Good Mope.

Cortereal sailed from Lisbon in the year 1500. His
landfall was Newfoundland near Cape Race, or north-
ward at (Conception Bay. From this point he sailed
northward, and probably discovered Greenland. He
then came to the mouth of a river called by him " Rio
nevado," which is supposed to have been near the lati-
tude of Hudson's Strait. Here he is said to have been
^itopped by ice. He then sailed southward, resting on
the east coast of Newfoundland before returning to
Lisbon.

The next year Cortereal returned to Newfoundland.
He was unable to reach the northern regions on account
of the ice, which was more abundant than the year,
l)efore. On his return his vessel and all aboard foun-
dered, the companion ship reaching Lisbon. The land
Cortereal visited was mapped on a Portuguese chart in
1 504, and was called " Terra de Cortte Reall." Kohl
4;laims that " the configuration of the coasts and the
names written upon them prove that parts of New-

'If

' t

I ^

3S llli; (.KOi.UAPIIICAl. KV<JI,II'110N Ol- I.ABKAIX )U.

foiiiidland ;ni(l of our present LahiMdor arc the rt'<ji<»ns
intended. '

As yet the knowledge of Labrador was in embryo,

KAKIA' VISIIOKS To "IJIK I.ARKADOK COAS'I".

Labrador and NcwIouiuUand l)cin;j: a nebulous iiui>s.
In a I^ortuguesc map of '520, nevertheless, we have
the name of " Lavrador." which, however, was applied to
Greenland, while the Labrador coast and Newfoundland
were confounded and oiven the name " Bacalhaos."

But yet it is to the Portuguese that we owe the n.imc
of Labrador. Kohl tells us that "King Emanuel, hav-
ing heard of the high I rees growing in the northern
countries, and having seen the aborigines, who appeared
so well qualified for labor, thought he had found a new
slave-coast liUc that which he owned in Africa; and
dreamed of the tall masts which he would cut, and the
men-of-war which he would build, from the forests of
the countrv of the ('ortereals."

Tlu' word Labrador is a Portuguese and Spanish word
for laboni. On a i)hotograph of a xVle.xican field-hand,
or |)e()n, ploughing in a field, which we lately [)urchased
in Mexico, is written " Labrador." In a recent book on
Cuba the author thus speaks of a wealthy Cuban planter :
" He is. by his own account, a Hijo dc Labrador (labor-
er's son ) from Alava. in the Basque Provinces."'"' Cor-
tereal's land was thus the "laborer's land," whence it
was hoped slave laborers might be exported to the
Portuguese colonies.

The Portuguese also, as is well known, applied to
Newfoundland the name Bacalhaos, which means dried
codfish or stockfish.

As the result of Cortereal's voyage the Portuguese
fishermen through the rest of the i6th century habitually
visited the shores and banks of Newfoundland, and
undoubtedly were more or less familiar with the Labra-

* A. Gallenga. The Pearl of the Antilles, p. loo. 1874.

rni', i;K()(;kAi'iii('Ai. kvoi.ution 01 i.AnRADOR.

■ f

« .

<l«>r coast, tor Scandinavian authors report their [iresencc
on the Greenland coast. (Kohl, p. 190.)

In a fool-note to j). 197 of his " Pioneers of France in
the New VV^orld," Mr. Parknian remarks: " f.ahrador —
Lahratoris Terra — is so called Irom the circumstance
that (vortereal in the year 1300 stole thence a car^o of
Indians for slaves," That the " Indians" were captured
on the Lahrador coast, however, apj)ears to he an in-
exact statement. There were prohablv then no red
Indians or timber on the Labrador coast, but i,u\-
tereal must have entrapped them in Newfoundland or
some place southward. Kohl | }). 169 1 tells us that
*• these aboriju'ines, captiued accordinij;^ to the custom of
I he e.\r>lorers of that dav, are described, bv an eve-wit-
ness who saw them in Lisbon, as tall, well built, and
admirably lit for labor. We infer from this statement
that they were not Esquimaux from the coast of Labra-
dor, but Indians of the Micmac tribe, inhabitants of
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia." The editor of Kohl's
work adds a quotatit)n from the Venetian Pasquali^o,
who savs : "Mis serene majestv contemplates deriving
ureat atlvantaije from the countr\- not oidy on account
of the timber, of which he has occasion, but of the in-
haltitants, who an- admirably calculati'd for labor, and
are the best slaws 1 have ever seen."

The path t)pene(l by Sebastian Cabot was not only
trod bv Portuij^uese, but the Spanish,* Basques, iMench
(Bretons and Normans), and Lnglish frequented the
rich tishin<j^-banks of Newfoundland, and with little

* "The voyage of Estevan Gomez produced in Spain the same effect whicti
those of the Cabots, of Cortereal, and of the men from Normandy and Brittany
had produced in England, Portugal, and Erance — it conducted the Spaniards to
the northwestern fisheries." (Henry Hudson, by Ashler. Makluyt Soc. [). xcix.)

I III, \ i»\ A(;i'> or « Au I ii'.k.

4»

' «

«loul>t visited ihc (riilf of St. I.uvvicncc and the southern
coasi ol Ivahrador. Tlieii (hscoveries were perhaps
recorded in Gastaldi's maj).

Labrador Hrst became clearly dilTeientiated from
Newfoimdland b\' jae(ines Cartiei. Id him we <)\v<>

11.

TERRA DC LABOHADOR

PART

New France by tt)e 3lalian 3acomo Ai Ga|'taldi in about il)» y.<w "iSSO

the discovery <»f the Strait t)f Belle Isle; of Belle Isle,
the Isola De' Demoni of earlier voyages; of Chateau
Bay and other points on the Tsidf coast of Labrador.

Sailino from St. Maio the 20th of April. 1534, he
arrived Ma\ loth on the eastern coast of Newfoundland,
near Cape Buonavista. Prom this ca[)e Cartier pushed
northward until he came to what is now called Fogo
island, which was one of the resorts of the ijreat auk, or

t
i

rm-; ckograi'iikm, Kvof.i; ii«)n <ii [.abkador.

" pciij^uin" ol the (;;iily rxploicrs. IJiU we will U 1
Carticr describe the scene which niel his eyes in his own
words translated 1)N' llakliiyl from " The lirsl Relation
of laciues Carthier of S. Malo, of the new land called
New l^^'ance, newlv discovered in the )■ >f our Lord

'534'"
" Vpon the 21 of May iIk- winde beiiijn in tlu' West,

we hoised saile, and sailed tow;n(l Vorlh and l)v Fuist
from the Cape of liuona \'isi;i \niil we came to the
Island of Birds, which wasenuironed ahoul with a haidvc
of ice hut broken and crackl : nol withstanding;' 1 he savd
banke, our two boits went thillu 1 to take in sonu- birds,
whereof there is such plenty, that vnlei se a man did sc-c
them, he woukl thinke it an incredii)U' thing : foi albeit
the [sland (which containeth about lea<»ui' in circuit >
be so full of them, that they seeme t ha^ .Mie brouj^hi
thither, and sowed for the ncjnce, ,et au „were an hun-
dred folde as many hovering i ' out it ns within ; sonu-
of the which are as big as ia' .-., bkicke and white, with
t)eaks like vnto crowes : they 1. dwavcs vpon the sea :
they cannot Hie very high, becaiisi 'uir wings ;ne so
little, and no l)igger than halfc ones hau,' '.'et do they
file as swiftly as an\' birds of tlu; aire leuell to t\w water ;
they are also exceeding fat ; we n:niUMl them ApoK.th.
In lesse then halfe an houre we HI led two boats full of
them, as if they hatl l)ene with stones : so that besides
them w'hich we did eat fresh, eury shij) did pov.'der and
salt five or sixe barrels full of them.
. " Besides these, there is another kinde of birds whictt
houer in the aire, and ouer the sea, lesser then the others ;
and these doe all gather themselves together in the Isl-
and, and put themselves vnder the wings of other birds

iiii': \(»\.\(;ks ok ( akiiiu.

dial arc j^ri'atcr : llicsc arc luuncd Cnulci/. 1 here arc
also of anolhci sort Iml l)ii»gcr, and whit*- which hilc
cv<n as iloys : those we named IVIarj^aulx.

" Anil all)cit (he sayd Ishmd he 14 h'a»iucs from I he
maine hind, noiwithstandiiijn hearts eome swimminjn
thither in cai of ihcsavd hirds ; and our men found oiu^
there as j^reat as anv cow, and as white asany swan, who
in their |)resence leapt into the sea; and von VVhitsun
mvndav (foilowint* our vo)a_!L>c toward the land) we met
her hv the way. swimming toward iatid as swiftly as we
couhi saile. So soone as we saw her, we pursued her with
our i)oals, and hv maine strens'th tookr her, whos(; Mesh

was as jLiooc
veres ohie."

I to he eaten as the llcsh <>f a calfe of two

( 'artier then N.nli'd noi ill, entered the Stiait of I5elle

ish

ancliormu" a

t \M

inc

Sahl

on. stil

I settlement east

Brad«

15;

of lirador*- I5ay.

•' White Sand | Blanc Sablon | is a road in the which
there is no place jruarded from the south, or southeast.
But t(nvards south-southwest from the saide road there
are two Hands, one of the which is called Brest Island,
and the other the Hand of Birds, in which there is great
store of Godet/, and crows with red beaks and red feete:
they make their nests in holes vnder the iriound euen
a.s conies."

The ijreat Fn-nch naviijator hai bored in the ancient
port of Brest, near these Islands; the "Hand of Birds,"
being the present Parroqueet Island, fifteen miles east-
ward of the mouth of Esquimaux River.

Our voyager then coasted along these forbidding-
shores to St. James River, where he first saw the natives ;
" they vveare theirjiaire tied on the top like a wreath of

IKK (iKOi.kAi'HICAl KVOlAillON OK LAHKADOU.

I 'ii'i

ill

■A

III

i 4

hay ; . . . they paint themselves with certain Roan
colors ; iheir boates are made of the harke of birch trees,
with the which they fish and take great store of scales,
and as (arre as we could vnderstand since our cornming
thither, that is not their habitation, but they come from
the maine land out of hotter countries, to catch the saide
seals and other necessaries for their lining." These red
men must have been the Mountaineer Indians, which
still come down to the coast from the warmer interior
each summer to fish for seal, ('artier makes no men-
tion of the Eskimo, who would undoubtedly have been
encountered if their roving bands had been livinij on
the coast from Chateau Bay to the Seven Isles, which he
so carefully explored.

This coast appeared to Cartier so disagreeable, un-
productive, and barren, that he exclaimed, " It ought to
be the countrv which God had piven to Cain." So he
crossed the Strait of Belle Isle, sailed over to Newfound-
land, coasted that Island to Cape Anguille, which he
reached on the 24th of June. From there he sailed over
to the Magdalen Islands, to the Bird rocks (Isles aux
Margaulx), thence to Prince Edward's Island, thence to
Miramichi, afterward to Gaspe Bay, and coasted Anti-
costi, crossing over again to near and within sight of the
Mingan Islands, Not on this voyage discovering the
liver St. Lawrence, he finally turned homewards, coast-
ing along the Labrador shore, touching at Cape Tien-
not, now called Cape Montjoli. Thence he returned to
France through the Strait of Belle Isle.

The next year Cartier returned, sailing again through
the Strait of Belle Isle ; and, coasting along the southern
shores of Labrador, discovered the river St. Lawrence.

•i f

IIIK t;KO(;KAFIIlCAL EVOLUTION OF I.AHRADOK.

J I

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'■ !

tlj,

( ■

Oil his ihird voyage, Cartiei entered the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, ])assino in between Newfoundland and Cape
Breton, thus for the first time demonstrating that New-
foundland was an island and not a part of the continent.

The next step in the geographical evolution of Lab-
rador is seen in Mercator's great map of 1569. Kohl
tells us that for the compilation of this map Mercator
had collected many printed and manuscript maps and
charts, and many re})orts of voyages of discovery. " Hut,"
says Kohl, "the best portion O''" lercator's work, and a
real and valuable improvement upon all former maps, is
his delineation of the large peninsula of Labrador, lying
southwest of Greenland. On all former maps, that re-
gion was ill-shapen and most incorrectly drawn. But
here, under the name of 'Terra Corterealis,' it receives
its proper shape, with a full and just development, which
iiad not been given to it on any map prior to 1569. He
makes its eastern coast run southeast and northwest, as it
really does from about 53° to 60° N. In the north he
plainly shows the narrow entrance of Hudson's Strait,
and at the west of it a large gulf, called by him ' Golfam
de Merosro.' This remarkable gulf may be an indica-
tion of either Hudson's Bay or only the Bay of Ungava.
I think that the latter was meant ; first, because the
'Gulf of Merosro' has the longitude of themouth of
the river St. Lawrence, which is also the longitude of
the Bav of Ungava ; second, because the said gulf is
represented as closed in the west. The western coast of
the Bay of Ungava runs high up to the north, where
Hudson's Strait is often filled with ice. This may have
led the unknown discoverers, the informants of Mercator,
to suppose that it was closed in the west. If they had

liir. I'OKTIFCUKSE VOYACIKS.

k)t)kc(l round Cape Wolstenliolm into Hudson's Bay,
thev would have ju-rceivt'd a broad bay and oi)cn water
before tbeni.

Mercatoi does not indieaie, so far as

1 Is

now

sources from which he derived these remarkable improve-
)nents for liis chart, which were not known by Homem
in 1558. and of wiiich tliere are only slight indications
<m the Cabot map of 1544. He adopts the Portuouese
nies for his ' Terra Corterealis.' namelv, ' Golfam de

na
M

erosro.

V. dus Demonios,' 'Cabo Marco,

ilh

da Fort una.

Baia dus Medaus.' ' Rio de 'I'ormenta,

" Ylhas de Caravillo,' ' Baia de Malvas,' etc. Some of
I he names are not new, but had been lonjj^ known, though
not alwavs put in the same position. We know of no
official Portuguese exploring expedition made to these
regions between the time of Homem (1558) and Merca-
tor ( I S69) ; and therefore the suggestions of Dr. Asher,
for the solution of this problem, have a high degree of
probabilitv. He says :"' ' The Portuguese fishermen
continued their surveys of the northern coasts,' com-
7iienced by Gaspar Cortereal in 1500, 'most likely for
no other purpose than to discover advantageous fisheries.
They seem to have advanced slowly, step by step, first
along the shores of Newfoundland, then up to the mouth
of Hudson's Strait, then through that strait, and at last
into Hudson's Bay,' or, as I think, intt) Ungava Bay.
'With a certain number of ancient maps, ranging from
1529 to 1570, before us, we can trace this progress step
by step. In 1544,' the time of Cabot's map, 'the Por-
tuguese seem not yet to have reached the mouth of the
strait; and in 1570,' or, as I think, \$6g, the date of

* See G. M. Asher's " Henry Hudson," Introduction, p. xcvi., London, i860.

IIIK (iKOClKAPIIlCAI. KVOMJTION OF LABRADOR.

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our M creator's map,'"' they have reaehed the bay,*'
Hudson's, or at least Ungava Bay. ' We ean, there-
fore, state with the greatest certainty that Hudson's
Bay,' Hudson's vStrait as far as (Jngava Bay, . . . 'had
been discovered l)efore the publication of Ortelius's at-
las, which look place in 1570,' or, better, i)efore the pul)-
lication of Mercator's chart, which took j)lace in 1569.
' But we are not equallv certain that the discovery falls
within the years 1558 to 1570,' or, better, 1569, 'because
we have only the nesjative evidence of Dieijo Homem's
chart to support the latter assertion. The fact itself is,
however, probable enough.* "

To the English navigators of the i6th and 17th cen-
turies succeeding Cartier we owe the next step in our
knowledge of the geography of the Labrador peninsula.

In 1577 Master Martin Frobisher sighted the coast
of Northern I^abrador, which he called " Frisland,"^
using a word which frequently apjiears in the early
charts. The point he first sighted was probably north
of 58"", for after coasting four days along the coast for
perhaps a distance of nearly two hundred miles, a voy-
age of eight days, between the 8th and i6th of July,
would carry him to Frobisher's Strait. Moreover his
descrii)tion of the coast applies well to the northern ex-
tremity of Labrador beyond Flopedale and Okkak.

The narrative reads thus :

"The 4. of luly we came within the making of Fris-
land. From this shoare 10. or 12. leagues, we met
great Islands of yce, of halfe a mile, some more, some

* Dr. Asher does noi mention Mercator's map of 1569. He had before lilm
the map of Ortelius of 1570, who was only a follower and copyist of Mercator,
but adopted his views.)

,:',

THE PORTUGUESE VOYAGES.

lesse in compasse, shewing above the sea, 30. or 40.
fathoms, and as we supposed fast on ground, where with
our lead we could scarce sound the bottom for depth.

'• Here in place of odoriferous and fragrant smels of
sweete gums, and pleasant notes of musicall birdes,
which other Countreys in more temperate Zones do
yeeld, wee tasted the most boisterous Boreal blasts mixt
with snow and haile, in the moneths of lune and luly,
nothing inferior to our vntemperate winter ; a sudden
alteration, and especially in a place of Parallele, where
the Pole is not eleuate aboue 6t. degrees ; at which
height other Countreys more to the North, yea vnto 70.
degrees, shew themselues more temperate than this doth.
All along this coast yce lieth, as a continuall bulwarke,
and so defendeth the Country, that those that would
land there, incur great danger. Our Generall 3. days
together attempted with the ship boate to haue gone on
shoare, which for that without great danger he could
not accomplish, he deferred it vntil a more convenient
time. All along the coast lie very high mountains cou-
t'red with snow, except in such places,where through the
steepenes of the mountains of force it must needs fall.
I'^oure days coasting along this land, we found no signe
of habitation. Little birds, which we judged to have
lost the shoare, by reason of thickc fogges which that
Country is much subiect vnto. came flying into our ships,
which causeth us to suppose, that the Country is both
more tollerable, and also habitable within, than the out-
ward shoare maketh shew or signification.

" From hence we departed the eight of July ; on the
16. of the same, we came with the making of land,
which land our Generall the veere before had named the

EAST

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ISIXV

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F-t C/)

FROBISHERS VOYAGE.

Queenes foreland, being an Island as we iudge, lying
neere the supposed continent with America ; and on the
other side, opposite to the same, one other Island called
Halles Isle, after the name of the Master of the ship,
neere adiacent to the firm land, supposed Continent with
Asia." (Page. 57.)*

In Rundallf we find it stated that " Frobisher, now
left to himself, altered his course, and stood to the S.W.;
and, seventeen days afterwards, other land, judged to be
Labrador, was sighted in latitude 62° 2' N." (p. 1 1). In
this latitude, however, lies Meta Incognita.

"The great cape seen [by John Davis] on the 31st
was designated, it is stated, Warwick's Foreland ; and
the southern promontory, across the gulf. Cape Chid-
LEY.lj; On this Fox observes: 'Davis and he | Wey-
mouth, a later navigator] did, I conceive, light Hudson
into his Streights.' The modern authority before cited
expresses a similar opinion ; and there is no reason to
doubt the fact.

" From Cape Chidley a southerly course was taken to
seek the two vessels that were expected to be at the
fishing-ground ; and on the loth, in latitude 56° 40', they
\\2idi 'A frisking gale at west-northwest. On the 12th,
in about latitude 54° 32', an island was fallen in with
which was named Darcie's Island. Here five deer were

* " The second voyage of Master Martin Frobisher, 1577, written by Master
Dionise Settle. Hakluyt, vol. iii., New Edition, London, 1810."

f Narratives of Voyages towards the Northwest in search of a passage to
Cathay and India. 1496-1631. By Thomas Rundall, Esq., London, Hakluyt
Society. 1849, 8", pp. 259.

X " ' The Ivor s hippf tdl M. John Chidley, of Chidley, in the county of Deuon,
osquire,' was apparently chief promoter of an expedition which sailed Anno 1589,
for ' the province of Arauco on the coast of Chili, by thestreight of Magellan.
Of this expedition M. Chidley was also the General. Hakluyt, iv. 357."

! i

:i !i'

IHE GKOGKAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF LABRADOR.

i'» '■

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seen, and it was hoped some of them might be killed,
but on a party landing, the whole herd, after being
twice coursed about the island, ' took the sea and
swamme towards ilands distant from that three leagues.'
They swam faster than the boat could be pulled, and so
escaped. It was represented that one of them ' was as
bigge as a good prety cowe, and very fat, their feet as
big as oxe feet.'

"The 13th, in seeking a harbour, the vessel struck on
a rock and received a leak ; which, however, was mended
the following day, in latitude 54°, ' in a storm not very
outragious at noone.' On the 15th, in latitude 52° 40',
being disappointed in their expectations of finding the
Elizabeth and Sunshine, or of finding any token of
those vessels having been in the vicinity, and there
being but little wood, with only half a hogshead of fresh
water on board, it was determined to shape the course
homeward for England. This was accordingly done,
and they arrived on the 15th of September in Dart-
mouth, * giving thanks to God ' for their safe arrival."
(Page 49.)

But it is to Davis, after whom Davis Strait was
named, that we owe the most exact knowledge of the
Labrador coast, until modern times. The following
extracts contain all that we can lind regarding his ex-
ploration of the Labrador coast.

Davis, in the Moonshine, left Greenland in latitude
66° 33' Aug. ist, 1586. "She crossed the strait in
nearly a due westerly direction. The 14th of August
she was near Cape Walsingham, in latitude 66° 19' on
the American side. It was too late for anything more
than a summarv search along the coast. The rest of

; I >:

WEYMOUTH S VOYAGE.

the month, and the first days of September, were spent
in that search. Besides the already known openings,
namely, Cumberland Strait, Frobisher's Strait, and Hud-
son's Strait, two more openings were found, Davis s Inlet
in 56°, and Ivuctoke Inlet in 54° 30'. Davis's men had to
cross the Atlantic in his miserable craft, and he per-
formed the voyage through the equinoctial gales in
little more than three weeks. He reached England
again in the beginning of October, 1586." (Henry
Hudson, cxv.)

Davis was followed by Weymouth in 1602. Accord-
ing to Rundall :

" From the 5th to the 14th of July, the navigator
appears to have been ranging along the coast of Labra-
dor, where, on the loth, variation 22° 10' W., he saw
many islands. On the 15th he was in latitude 55° 31',
variation 17° 15' W.; and the day following saw ' a very
pleasant low land, all islands,' in latitude N. 55°, varia-
tion 18° 12' W. On the 17th he entered and sailed up
an inlet for thirty leagues, in sanguine hope of having
found the desired passage ; but he was doomed to dis-
appointment. In this inlet, which has been identified
with Sleeper's Bay on Davis's Inlet, Weymouth en-
countered his last peril; and escaped in safety. The fly-
boats were assailed bv a furious storm, which terminated
in a whirlwind of extreme violence, that rendered them,
for a while, completely unmanageable ; and though very
strongly built, they took in so much water, for want of
spar decks, that they narrowly escaped being swamped.
As soon as the weather cleared up, the course was
shaped for England." (Page 68.)

The Labrador coast was next seen by Master John

54 IHE GEOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF LABRADOR.

■< rif

'\^

r I.'

!'..^ti h.rtiuJUJkJmx*^<un'

:ms

[ I

VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN KNK;HT.

Knight, who sailed April i8, 1606, from Gravesend in
the Hopewell,

" After a most tedious and uninteresting passage, the
vessel arrived off some broken land, in latitude 56° 25'
N.: much ice driving to the southward. The wind was
fresh and the commander made fast to a piece of ice ;
hut falling calm, he endeavored to row in between the
masses. This was an unfortunate attempt. The weather
became thick and foggy, and a furious storm arose on
June 14: they were driven about in the ice. Lost
si^ht of land till the 19th, when it is described as being
seen again, rising like eight islands in latitude 56°
48' N., variation 25° W. The vessel was then taken
into a cove, and made fast by hawsers laid out on shore.
On June 26th, Capt. Knight, his mate, and three hands
set out, well armed, to explore a large island. They
disappeared, having probably been killed by the natives.

*' On the night of the 29th, ' they were attacked by
savages, who set on them furiously with bows and
arrows ; and at one time succeeded in obtaining posses-
sion of the shallop. However, the eight mariners, with
a fierce dog, showed a resolute front, and the assailants,
upward of fifty in number, were finally driven off. The
savages are represented to have been ' very little people,
tavvnie colored, thin or no beards, and flat-nosed.' They
are also described as being ' man-eaters ; ' but for this
imputation there appears to be no warrant, except in the
imagination of the parties on whom the attack was
made."

On the 4th of July, the vessel was in great danger of
foundering, the craft leaking badly.

" Shaping their course towards Newfoundland, with

III

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rHE GK(Xik/\nilCAl. EVOLUlKiN OK LABKADOK.

ii !i

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r 'If

I. it

a strouji current in their favour, they made Fogo on the
23d of July. At that place they were most hospitably
entertained. Having refitted, they left on the 22d of
August, full of grateful feelings towards their generous
friends ; and arrived at Dartmouth on the 24th of
December." (Pages 75, 76.)

In 1 610 Henry Hudson discovered the strait which
bears his name, his discoveries being recorded in the
accompanying map, copied from the volume on Henry
Hudson published by the Hakluyt Society.

I n the narrative of the Voyage of Sir Thomas Bui-
Ion (1612-13) we find the following reference to Cape
Chidley:

" On this part of the voyage, the following remarks are
reported, by Fox, to have been made by Abacuk
Prickett. ' He saith, they came not through the maine
channel I of Fretum Hudson, nor thorow Lumlcys Inlet;
but through into the Mare Hyperborum betwixt those
Hands first discovered and named Chidley's Cape by
Captain Davis, and the North part of America, called
by the Spaniards, who never saw the same, Cape
Labrador, but it is meet by the N. E. point iA America,
where was contention among them, some maintaining
(against others) that them Tlands were the Reso/utio7t,"'
etc. (Page 89.)

Captaiit Gibbons, in 1614, appears lo ha. • been de-
tained for some months on the ^ idor coast.

"Of the result of the voyage a that is ki.jwn," says
Asher, "is thus laconically coiiiumn'^ated by Master
Fox : ' Little,' he says, * is to be writ to any purpose,
for that hee was put by the mouth of Fretum Hudson,
and with the ice driven into ? bay called by his company

(;iHB(»N s V()Va<;k.

Gibbons his Hole, in latitude about 57 upon the
N. E. |)art of Stinema, where he laid twenty weeks fast
amongst the ice, in danger to have been spoyled, or
never to have got away, so as the time being lost, hee
was inforced to returne.' The bay in which Gibbons
was caught is supposed to have been that now called
Nain, on the coast of Labrador." (Page 95. Arctic
Voyages, p. 205. )

\ I.

<L / JTMt LAND O'^
'2' , •*; ' L r°OOD FORTLSC

■■.| r-^S^

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t J-

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^J—

TABULA NAUTICA.

71(11 nitiirHriilaiitiir oixie marl-
Ihiw iiiratiix uc/reta mtcili'r u
tl. llnilmimi Ainjlii ail ciiiiriim
s'ifjnt \itruiu Ftxnrhiut fiulU'
ija(u Aiittu riii'.

MAI' (IK IIK.NRY Ml'DSON S DISCOVKRIKS — HAKl.UYT SOCIETY.

A summary mention of the early voyages we also
find in the records of the Hakluyt Society:

" Hudson s Strait had been discovered by Sebastian
Cal)Ot in 1498. The Portuguese had sailed through it

fif

THE GEOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF LABRADOR.

I I: ill

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and had become acquainted with part of Hudson's Bay
between 1558 and 1569. In 1577 Frobisher had by
chance entered the strait. In 1602 Weymouth had
sailed nearly a hundred leagues into it, from Hatton's
Headland to the neighborhood of Hope's Advance Bay.

" The whole eas^ coast of North America, from 38°
north to the mouth of Hudson's Strait, had been sur-
veyed by Sebastian Cabot in 1498, and part of it before,
in 1497, by his father and him. Others had redisco\
ered various parts. Thus the east of Newfoundland had
been explored by Cortereal in 1501 ; the south coast,
by some fishers from Normandy and Brittany in 1 504
and 1508. The mouth of the St. Lawrence had also
been visited by Cortereal and by these French mariners.
The river, nearly up to the lakes, and all the surround-
ing country, had been thoroughly explored by Jacques
Cartier in 1534 and 1535, and afterwards by Roberval
and Cartier.

" The Sandbanks near the mouth of the St. Laivrence^
and the fishing-stations along the Newfoundland coast,
were frequented by the English, Portuguese, French,
and Spaniards." (H. Hudson, Hakluyt Soc. cxliv.)

After Henry Hudson's voyage, no further explora-
tions were made of the Labrador coast, so far as we can
ascertain, until the time of rear-Admiral Bayfield, of the
British Navy, who, during the years 181 5 to 1827, sur-
veyed and mapped this coast as well as the Gulf of St.
Lawrence and Newfoundland. His researches are em-
bodied in the English Admiralty charts, from which the
maps of the Labrador peninsula in use up to about 1880
are copied. Of the advances lately made by British and
Moravian surveys mention has previously been made.

i 1

LABRADOR A LAND OF MYSTERY.

To most readers the Labrador coast is still a Meta
Incognita, an Ultima Thule, a land of mystery, shrouded
by fog and gloom. The ordinary knowledge of it is as
vague anu indefinite as in the times of Cabot. The
period when accurate charts of this intricate coast with
its ter'S of thousands of islands, skiers, and ledges will be
made, seems far distant. Local pilots and fishermen
from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and at times from the
United States, with an occasional Newfoundland or
Canadian steamer, ply over regularly beaten routes, but
owing to the lack of commercial interest in these barren,
almost deserted shores, the coast will for years still re-
main well-nigh beyond the pale of modern interests and
thoughts.

In time the Indian and Eskimos will be a people dead
and forgotten. The Moravian settlements will be aban-
doned. Already, owing to the decrease in the cod fish-
ery, famine and want are slowly but surely reducing by
removal and death the numbers of the lingering white
poi)ulation, and the coast will be still more desolate and
lonely than now.

And yet this coast stands like a protecting, guardian
wall between the frozen north and the more temperate,
inhabitable regions south and west. Its unexplored bays
and rivers will always remain full of interest to our ad-
venturous yachtsmen, as well as to the naturalist, the
sportsman, and traveller.

1:1 I

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It! '51

CHAPTER IV.

LIFE AND NATURE IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

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The following recollections of our student days are
offered with the suggestion that the more adventuresome
of our college boys of the present day might spend to
advantage the long summer vacation in cruising on our
northern coasts, and combine in agreeable proportions
science and travel.

In the summer of i860, while a student in Bowdoin
College, I joined the WiUiams College expedition to
Labrador and Greenland under the charge of Professor
P. A. Chadbourne. June 27th found us on board the
Nautihis^ a staunch schooner of about 140 tons, com-
manded by Capt. Randlett. Soon after five o'clock of
a bright, fresh morning our vessel cast off from the wharf
at Thomaston, Me. The Thomaston band played a
lively air, a clergyman made a parting address, calling
down the blessings of Heaven upon the argonauts ; our
Nestor replied, the students cheering- for the citizens of
Thomaston and the band, and with a favoring northwest
wind the Nautihis, gliding down the current of the St.
George's River, a deep fiord, in a couple of hours reached
the open sea.

Our course lay inside of Monhegan, with its high, bold
sea-wall. Passing on, the Camden Hills recede, and we

endeavor with the glass to make out the White Moun

THE NEWFOUNDLAND COAST.

tains, said by some to have been seen by Weymouth from
inside of Monhegan. The ocean swell not being con-
ducive to historical controversy, we turn to watch the
Mother Carey's chickens and the grampus as well as the
fin-back whales sporting in the waves.

By the next morning we had sailed 190 miles from
Thomaston, past Cape Sable, and our northwest wind
still attending, we bowl along, through schools of por-
poise, while two or three whales pass within a few
fathoms of our vessel, showing their huge whitish backs.
The next day our seven-knot breeze does not fail us,
and takes us by the 30th into a region of light winds and
calms off the Gut of Canso.

July I St we sail along Cape Breton Island, its red
shores glistening in the noonday sun and then mantled
with purple as the sun goes down over Louisbourg. As
darkness sets in the lights of Sidney appear. The next
morning's sun rose on Cape Ray, around which we beat,
passing within a mile of Channels, a fishing-village of
Newfoundland, behind which rise steep hills clothed
with " tucking-bush," or dwarf spruce and larch. Cape
Ray pushes boldly into the sea, its precipitous sides of
decomposed sandstone furrowed by the rains which pour
down it^ carred cheeks, on which still linger banks of
the last winter's snows.

By the next evening we pass Cape St. Georges. The
4th was celebrated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence amid
fog and rain. It was succeeded by a twenty-four hours'
gale, rather severe for the season, which tested the excel-
lent qualities of the Nautilus as a sea boat. This being
our first storm at sea was enjoyed more keenly than sim-
ilar gales in after-years. The sea swept our deck, but

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LIKE AND NATURE IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

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only a few drops entered the cabin. The experience
was novel and interesting ; fortunately we were not sea-
sick ; the long waves sloped up like far-reaching hills ;
sea-birds rode on their crests, and the wind, like a swarm
of furies, tore through our rigging. There were but oc-
casional glimpses from the companion-way of our dark,
close cabin, redolent with the stench of the bilge-water.
The storm abated after sunset, and the morning of the
6th found us only fifty miles from Caribou Island.
Towards noon the first iceberg was seen ; others came
into view, some stranded, others floating on the sea.

The evening was a glorious one ; after a gorgeous
sunset, the twilight lasting until after ten o'clock, the
moon rose upon berg and sea. We were in an arctic
ocean; creatures born in the Greenland seas floated past
our vessel, and while becalmed at night we fished up
from a depth of sixty or seventy fathoms a basket star-
fish {Astrophyton ai^assizii^ large enough to cover the
bottom of a pail.

The impressions made on our minds the next day as
we approached the coast and passed in shore, winding
through the labyrinth of islands fringing the main land,
are ineff'aceable. That and other days in Southern
Labrador are stamped indelibly on our mind. It was
passing from the temperate zone into the life and nature
of the arctic regions. There is a strange commingling
of life-forms in the Strait of Belle Isle : the flora and
fauna of the boreal regions struggling, as it were, to dis-
place the arctic forms established on these shores since
the ice period, when Labrador was mantled in perennial
snow and ice, when the great auk, the walrus, and the
narwhal abounded in the waters of the Gulf of St. Law-

iiii

THE LABRADOR FLORA.

rencti, and the Greenland flora, represented by the
Arenaria groeiilandica, the dwarf cranberry, and the
curlew-berry or black Empetrum, nestled among the
snow and ice of the glacier-ridden hills.

We landed on the morning of July 7th, and I was
astonished at the richness of the arctic flora which car-
peted the more level portions of the island. Groves of
dwarfed alders, over which one could look while sitting
down, crowded the sides of the valleys, watered by rills
of pure ice-cold water. The groves of spruce and hack-
matack were of the same lilliputian height. In the
glades of these dwarfed forests and scattered over the
moss-covered rocks and bogs were Cornns canadensis,
two varieties in flower ; Kalmia glavca was in profusion,
as attractive a flower as any ; the curlew-berry {Em-
petrum nignmt), the dwarf cranberry, with other flow-
ers and grasses characteristic of the arctic and Alpine
regions. Particularly noticeable were the clumps of
dwarf willow from six inches to a foot in height, now in
flower and visited by the arctic humble-bee and other
wild bees. Other insects of subarctic and arctic types
were numerous, among them a geometrid moth {Rheu-
maptcra hastata), which extends from the Alps and
snow-fields of Lapland around through Greenland and
Labrador to the mountain regions of Maine, New
Hampshire, northern New York, Colorado, and Alaska.
The flies, beetles, and other forms had an arctic aspect,
showing that on the shores of the Strait of Belle Isle
the insect fauna is largely tinged with circumpolar
forms.

On the 7th of July our party of seven men landed,
lodged in a Sibley tent, and the Nautilus left us for the

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r.IFE AND NATURE IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

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Greenland seas with the majority of our party. Our
tent, provisions, and baggage becoming soaked with the
rain and dampness, two days after, we moved over to
Caribou Island and built a house of Canada clapboards,
kindly loaned for the purpose by the Rev. C. C. Car-
penter, missionary to Southern Labrador, for whom a
large frame house, sheltering under its roof a chapel,
study, and living-rooms, was building.

A Canadian clapboard is twelve inches long and six
inches wide ; with these and a few joists two of the
party built a house twelve feet square, which sheltered
us from the sun and the black flies, and only leaked
when it stormed, which happened regularly twice a
week, usually Wednesdays and Sundays. Six berths
were put up on the north side (the seventh man was
accommodated in the mission-house) ; a wide board
placed on two flour-barrels at the west end served as a
dining and study table, and in the southeast corner a
little stove, not over fifteen inches square, with a funnel
whose elbow, projecting out-of-doors, had to be turned
with every change of wind, was the focus, the modern-
ized hearthstone, over which hung our Lares and
Penates, sundry hams and pieces of dried beef, pieces-dt-
resistance of our rrteals, often alleviated by game and
fish, clams and scallops or pussels {Pecten magellanicus),
with entrees of seal and whale flesh. How we college
boys cooked and ate, rambled and slept in those seven
weeks of subarctic life is a subject of pleasant memory.
They were days of rare pleasure, of continuous health,
and formed an experience whose value lasted through
our future lives. We made hunting, ornithological,
entomological, botanical, and dredging expeditions in all

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IHK LAHKADOR FLORA.

directions, bv sea and land ; the geology and the tiora
and fauna were explored with zeal, and resulted in the
discovery of many new forms and the detection of
y\ipine and arctic European species before unknown to
this continent. We investigated the Quaternary for-
mation, ice marks, drift and fossil shells; procured
fossils of the Cambrian red sandstone beds, chiefly
a sponge (a new species of Arclupocyatlms), which
were scattered along the shore, probably derived from
the red sandstone strata so well developed at Bradore,
also visited by some of our party. The results were
perhaps of some importance to science, but the lessons
in natural science we learned were of far greater moment
to ourselves.

The coast of Labrador is fringed with islands, large
and small, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Hud-
son's Strait. A sailboat can go with safety from one
point to the other, and only occasionally will be exposed
to the ocean swell. These islands are the exact counter-
part of each other, differing mainly only in size and
altitude. Caribou Island was two or three miles in
length, formed of Laurentian gneiss, which had been
worn and molded by glaciers. Its scenic features re-
called those of the more rugged portions of the coast of
Maine, particularly in Penobscot Bay and Mt. Desert.
'J'he higher portion of the island is of bare rounded
rock, with deep valleys or fissures down which run little
rills ; these valleys are dense with ferns, shelter many
insects, and where they widen out into the lower land
support a growth of dwarf spruce, hackmatack and wil-
low. In the more protected parts a few poplars and
mountain-ash rise to a height of from ten to fifteen feet.

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LIKK AM) NATURK IN SOUTllEkN LAHKAUOK.

The Alpine vegetation is mostly confined to the exposed
bog«ry |)laces or moors, in which are pools of water,
supporting water-boatmen, ease-worms, aquatic beetles
and numerous watcr-Heas, and an occasional hair-worm
or Oordius.

Along the lower portions l)y the shores are patches
of salt marsh with shallow pools of water, which in the
spring and autumn are undoubtedly frequented by ducks
and geese, though only a few of the former were to be
seen. Indeed, I was surprised to see so few sea-fowl.
The) were principally the parroquet, which abounded on
the sea a mile or two away from shore. A favorite
breeding-place of this most interesting of arctic birds
was in the soft red Cambrian sandstone of Biadore, an
island lying fifteen miles easterly from Caribou Island.
With their powerful parrot-like beaks they excavate the
crumbling rock, extending their galleries in to the dis-
tance of several feet. Three of our party made an ex-
pedition to this well-known breeding-resort, and in
thrusting their hands into the burrows received an occa-
sional bite from the sharp strong bills of the birds which
was not soon forgotten. Ducks were occasionally seen,
the eider-duck and also the coot, as well as the loon,
both the northern diver and the red-necked loon. Shore-
birds, particularly the ring-necked plover, and others of
its family, abounded, while the most familiar bird was a
white-headed sparrow which nested near our camp.

It was not yet the time for the curlews. About the
middle of |ulv the sheldrake and coot, which breed in
the inland ponds, lead out their young and appear in
great numbers. The old ones are wary and hard to
shoot, but the voung will then be in fine condition. At

MOUNTAINEER INDIANS.

this time the " 'longshoremen" abandon their diet of
salt pork, bread and molasses, and feast on game, for
then, we were assured, they have "great plenty fowl."

In August, also, one or two families of the red Indians
or Mountaineers of the interior come down to the mouth
of the Esquimaux, or '* Hawskimaw" River, as it is pro-
nounced by the settlers, to hunt seal, especially the
young, and Jucks as well as curlew. These Indians are
entirely governed in their wandering by the situation of
the deer and other game. One may travel a hundred
miles up the Esquimaux River without meeting them.

I saw but a single Esquimau man at Caribou Island.
His low stature, his prominent, angular cheek-bones,
pentagonal face, and straight black hair sufficiently char-
acterized his stock. The only other native Escjuimau
was the wife of an Englishman, John Goddard, the
" King of Labrador," who lived on a point of land three
miles west of Caribou Island. She was a famous hunter,
would go out in a boat, shoot a seal and dress it, making
boots and moccasins from the skin. Whether these
Esquimaux had strayed down from the north or, as I
suspect, were the remnants of their people who may
have inhabited the entire coast from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to the arctic regions, deserves further investi-
gation.

Few mammals were to be seen. The deer and cari-
bou were confined to the mainland. On our island was
a white fox, or rather a blue one, for his summer pelage
was of a slate-color. His burrow was situated in a hill-
side behind our house. He would prowl about our
camp at night, and he might have known that it was un-
safe to come within reach of our guns. His skin un-

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1,1 IK AM) NAIIKI. IN SOUrHKRN I.AHKADOU.

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(loubtedly adorns the museum of the Lyceum ot Nat-
ural History of Williams College.

A weasel also visited our camp. The otter fre(juents
the brooks at the head of Salmon and Esquimaux rivers.
In winter they rarely come outside, /,<•., to the coast.

It Is well known that in Newfoundland the bears,
especially those living near shore, will eat lish, their diet
being mixed, and such bears are more savage than those
in the interior, which live chieHy on berries and ants.
While on Caribou Island a fisherman living a mile and
a half from us had his sea-trout nets invaded by two old
bears accompanied by a young one ; at low water they
would walk out to the nets, tearing them apart in order
to eat the fish.

We were told that a Mr. Hay ward, an Englishman
who lives at a distance of two miles across the bay, had
about ten years since shot the last polar-bear seen on this
coast.

Speaking of trout, there are two kinds : one living in
the brooks and lakes, the other the sea-trout, a handsome
lish about twelve inches in length, whose food we found
consisted of a surface-swimming marine shrimp, the
Mysis oculata, which lives in immense shoals. The sea-
trout is taken in nets, and so far as we experimented do
not, in salt water, rise to the fly.

Although it was now the 15th of July, the warmer
summer weather had not yet come, we were told by the
people on shore. There is, however, scarcely any spring
in Labrador. The rivers open and the snow disappears
by the loth of June as a rule, and then the short summer
is at once ushered in.

Potatoes, and especially turnips, are raised without

LABRADOR BUTTERFLIES.

much difficulty as far north as Caribou Island. Rhu-
barb is said to do well farther up the coast towards the
Mecatina Ishmds. Aniong the wild-Howers bloomiufi
in the middle of July were the dandelion and Potcntilla
anserina. Another Potent ilia was ihe /'. truicntata,
the mountain trident, with its three-toothed leaf and
modest white flower. It was pleasant to see this llower,
so familiar from my earliest childhood, as it flourishes
on the plains of IJrunswick, Me., and is common on
Mt. Washington as well as on the mountains of Maine,
and abounds on the bare spots about Moosehead Lake,
particularly at the foot of Mt. Kineo. The wild cur-
rant, strawberry, and raspberry were in flower; the straw-
berry plants were luxuriant, sometimes eight inches in
height, but the raspberries were dwarfed, not exceeding
the strawberry in height. Up the rivers the raspberries
and blackberries are abundant, but the latter low and
dwarfish.

The shad bush {^Anic lane hie r eanadensis) was now in
flower, blossoming in southern New England in April
or early May, while Rtibus ehanueviorusy the cloud-berry,
so abundant in Greenland and Arctic America as well as
on the fields of Norway and Sweden, and the " tundras"
of Siberia, was going out of flower. With it were asso-
ciated the star-flower, Trientalis aviericana, a few Clin-
foniii borcalis, Smilaeina bifoliata and probably ^S". stellata,
Streptopus ainplcxi folia ; one or two species of Andro-
meda ; an Iris, species of Vaccinium, \\\q Arctostapliylus
uva-ursi or bear-berry ; the shore-pea, a honeysuckle
{Lonieera coeridea), a Viburnum, and also the buckbean
( Menyanthes trifoliata).

Among the flowers fluttered the white butterfly

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III'K AiNM) NAIUKE IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

{Pier is frigid a), a Col i as lahradorensis, Ar^i^ynnis tricla-
ris, and some g-eonictrid moths, while a few owlet moths
ttevv out of the grass at the late twihght, which now
lasted until near eleven o'clock at night, wiicn fine print
could be read.

We were told that the average tem|)eralure in June
here is 48°, that of July 56". In the warmer days of
summer the thermometer rises from 64' to 68°, rarely to
70'. July 17th was one of the warmest and most pleas-
ant days of the month; the temperature was 60° F. The
2ist, however, was much warmer, the thermometer
being 72' F.

July i<Sth was the day of the eclipse ; the sun was ob-
scured in the forenoon ; the light of day vv^as much modi-
fied, though not approaching twilight. The steamer
which we saw on the day of the storm in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence was without doubt that which bore the Coast

Survey eclipse party to Cape
Chidley, where the eclipse was
total.

After roaming over the island
and making pretty full collections
of the insects, we paid attention
to the marine zoology. Shore
collectinsf is not as remunerative
in Labrador as on the Maine and
Massachusetts coasts. The most
noticeable form is the six-rayed
starfish (^Asteracanihion polar is),
which sometimes measured
twenty inches from tip to tip of
its opposing rays ; its color was a dirty yellowish white.

PELICAN S I'OOT SHEl.r.

\5ARINK I.IFK.

not red as in the common five-finger, also abundant.
The polar star-fish is common in Greenland, and is a
truly arctic form.

The common crah (Ca/uer /rrora/a) ircquently oc-
curred under stones, but the lobster was neither seen nor
heard of ; though common on the southern shores of
Newfoundland it does not reach north into the Strait of
ik'ile Isle. Among the worms which occurred at low-
water mark was the Pectinaria. On the New England
coast it only occurs in deep water below tide mark.

Drcdgings were first made at the mouth of Salmon
River, a few rods from shore, in some eight fathoms of
water in a firm deep mud. The most characteristic
shells were gigantic Apkrodite t^ircenlajidica, large c(jck-
les {Cardiuni islandicum), as well as the pelican's foot
{Aporrhais occide?itcilis), which occurred of good size
and in profusion. In the soft mud occurred nmltitudes
of the neat little sand star {Opkioglypha nodosa). An-
other form dredged on rocky bottom was Cynthia pyri-
formis, or the sea peach, and large specimens were cast
up by the waves on the beach. Every spare day was
given to dredging, and having been deeply interested in
marine zoology by the writings of Gosse, in f^ngland,
and of Stimpson in this country, and having obtained a
good idea of the local marine fauna (jf Casco Bay, in
Maine, it was with no little interest and expectation
that we dropped the dredge in arctic waters, and we
were not a little delighted with the result of finding so
near shore and in such shallow water, forms which off
the coast of Maine, in deep water, were rare and usually
but half grown.

July 25th a j)artv of us rowed up Salmon Bay and

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I.IFK AND NATrKK IN SOUIMKKN l,Al',KA UOK.

went a mile up the river. The tide was out and wc
looked for the fresh-water mussel (A /asmodon arcuata),
which is our northernmost species, and inhabits tht-
rivers of southern Newfoundland. We could find
none, although the settlers told us that mussels, clams,
and "oysters" were common enough in the river. But
something better was discovered. We found traces of
genuine Quaternary marine sands and clays containing
fossils. There were several banks of sand and clay along
the edges of the river. In the latter I found Aphrodite
orcenlandica and Aporrhais occidentalism with BiHcifium
iindatuni. They had been washed out of the clay i *to
the bed of the river, and were collected at low-watt^-.
I also dug several inches into the clay bank and found
the disintegrated shells of the Aphrodite, so is u« leave
no doubt but that the shells were fossils. Down at the
mouth of the stream at the head of the bay, on the Hats, I
found several Biucinmn undattim, and quite a number of
Aporrhais, young and old, broken and entire. On each
side of the river was a terrace of sand and clay, with a
tliick growth of alders and willows, with the fire-weed
{ Epilohiuni august if olizim), the golden-rod and a large
cruciferous plant common in the mountainous parts of
New England ; also Couiarum palustre, and a llialic-
triim. Farther back and mostly lining the banks was
a dense growth, impossible to penetrate save occasion-
ally where there was a break in the thicket of spruce
and birch, perhaps Betula populifolia. Still farther up
and away back stretched the bare moss-cov^ered hill-
tops, the summer-resort of deer and caribou. Here we
saw a ptarmigan. But this was one of our halcyon
days, of which there were few, as the last two weeks of

11' IHE KS()UIMAU\ RIVKk.

Jul were stormy and wet. The clear fair-weather winds
were from the southwest; the southeast winds brought
in the fog and rain, while the northerly winds brought
a few curlew, the advance-guard of the hosts which were
to arrive early in August.

The 3d of August was a fine day. v\ party of us
went up the Es(|uimaux River to Mrs. Chevalier's, whose
husband, now dead, entertained Audubon when visiting
this coast. The sail up the river was a pleasant one.
It was about three miles from its mouth to an expansion
of the river on whose shores were four or five winter
houses. Although most of the* settlers live cr the coast
through the year, some have their winter and summer
houses. Those who live up the interior, sometimes a
distance of seventy miles from the coast, where there is
wood and game, move from the shore about the 20th of
October. They spend a month in cutting wood, a fam-
ily burning through the winter about thirty cords.
Then succeeds a month of hunting and trapping. The
snow does not come, we were told, until the last of De-
cember, although we should judge this to be an extreme
statement, and the snow is not usually more than three
feet deep. The people profess to like the winter better
than the summer. riiey shoot deer, foxes, etc., black
fox being sometimes secured, whose skin is worth be-
tween two and three hundred dollars. Grouse are
abundant, a good hunter securing from sixty to seventy
a day in favorable seasons. At any rate fresh meat is
obtained for each family two or three times a week.

The houses are small, built of wood, boarded and
shingled, seldom constructed of logs, and are heated by
j)eculiar stoves, great square structures resembling Dutch

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LIFE AND NATUKK IN SOUTHERN l-ABRAI)OU.

Stoves, and heating the whole house, the two living-
rooms opening into each other; the stove being placed
partly in each, the partition between the two rooms be-
ing cut away to admit the stove.

The French residents at the Mecatina Islands, more
social and gayer than the phlegmatic English settlers
about the mouth of the Esquimaux and Salmon rivers,
spend the winter evening in dancing and other gayeties
to which the Anglo-Saxon, in Labrador at least, is a
comparative stranger.

The Esquimaux River at its eastern entrance is but a
few rods wide. Passing Esquimaux Island we sailed out
into a broad bay or expansion of the river, with ravines
leading down to it, and under the steep bank protected
from the northerly winds were the winter houses pro
viously described. Up the river, just beyond Mrs. Chev-
alier's, the river contracted into narrows with rapids ; it
then opened into another bay or expansion two miles
wide, the river being a succession of lakes connected by
rapids, and this is typical of the rivers and streams of the
[.abrador peninsula. A barge cannot sail up the Esqui-
maux River more than fifteen miles, although one can
push farther on in a ilat boat. VVe were told that the
river is about two hundred miles in length, and although
perhaps the largest in Labrador it has never been ex-
plored.

Here we met the black flics in full force, and ai-
thougii *ve had been fearfully annoyed by them in ram-
bling over Caribou Island, here they were astounding,
both for numbers and voracity. The black fly lives dur-
ing its early stages in running water. The insect finds
nowhere in the world such favorable conditions for its

'"""fflp'iTr

UP rnK KS()inM.\ux river.

ircrease as in Labrador, over a third of whose surfacf is
iriven up to ponds and streams. The insides of the win-
dows of Mrs. Chevalier's house swarmed with these
fiends, the ehihiren's faces and neci<s were exanthema-
tous with their bites ; the very d()<;s, great shaggy New-
foundlanders, would run howling into the water and lie
down out of their reach, only theil^ noses above the sur-
face. The armies of black flies were supported by light
brigades of mosquitoes. No wonder that these entomo-
logical pests are a ))erfect barrier to inland travel ; that
few {)eople live during sunuuer away from the sweep of
the high winds and dwell on the exposed shores of the
coast to escape these torments. They are effectual es-
toppels to inland exploration and settlement.

Accepting our hostess's kind invitation to take dinner,
we sat down to a characteristic Labrador middav meal
of dough balls swimming in a deep pot of grease with
lumps of salt pork, without even potatoes or any des-
sert ; nor did there seem to be any fresh fish. The sta-
ples are bread and salt pork ; the luxuries game and
fish ; the delicacies an occasional mess of potatoes,
brought down the St. Lawrence once a year in Fortin's
trading schooner.

Over the mantelpiece was a stuffed Canada grouse oi
partridge and a ptarmigan in its winter plumage ; but 1
was most delighted with the c:ift of some Quaternary
fossils with which Mrs. Chevalier kindlv ixcsented me.
including large specimens of Cardita horcalis, Apor-
I'hais occidcntaiis and, most valuable of all, the valves of
a i)rachiopod shell, which I had alsc» dredged on the
coast in ten fathoms, the HypotJiyris psittacea. On our
return down the river we fished uj) the valves of the

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J.IKK AM» NATUKK IN SOUTHERN LAHRADOK.

Pectcn mage Hani CHS, the great scallop shell, which lives
in five or six feet of water. This mollusc, which is lo-
cally known in Labrador by the name of " pussel," we
afterwards obtained in quantity, fried it in butter and
meal, finding" it to be delicious eating, combining the
properties of the clam and oyster, the single large ad-
ductor muscle being far more tender than that of the
common scallop of southern New England and New
York.

With our man, James Mosier, and his sailboat we
spent two days in dredging in from forty to fifty fathoms
out in the Strait of Belle Isle, three or four miles from
land. The collection was a valuable one, containing
some new species. The crown of the bank which we
raked with our poorly constructed dredge was packed
with starfish, polyzoans (including a coral-like form, or
myriozoum), ascidians, shells, worms, and Crustacea. The
collection was purely arctic, and had not the only dredge
I had become broken, we should have reaped, or rather
dredged, a rich harvest. As it was, the novelties were
(|uite numerous, and the interest and excitement, as well
as labor, of overhauling, sorting, and preserving what we
did obtain lasted for several days.

The only plant besides stony vegetable growths called
"nullipores" dredged at this depth was a delicate red
sea-weed, the Ptilota elegans, which was found after-
wards to extend as far down in depth as ninety fathoms.
Those who glibly talk, on terra firma, of plant life as
affording a basis for animal life, should dredge in deep
water. They will find that a vast population of animals
of all sorts and conditions in the scale of life is spread
at all depths over the sea-bottom, thriving almost with-

DKElXilNG IN THE STKAll' OK BELLK ISLE.

out exception on one another — on animal protoplasm —
and in the beginning of creation animal life was without
doubt contemporaneous in appearance with vegetable
existence. Indeed, what is the difference in form and
structure between a bacterium and a moner ? The two
worlds of plant and animal life arise from the same base,
a common foundation of simplest structure, showing

A Bkanciiing Polyzoon. Myriozoiim <ul>;^raiil<\ I Natural si/i*.)

none of the distinctive characteristics of animal or plant
life, and only barely earning the right to be called or-
ganisms, that vague term we apply for convenience to
any, even the simplest structures endowed with life.

Of all the pleasures of a naturalist's existence, dredg-
ing has been, to our mind, the most intense. The severe
exertion, the swimming brain, the qualms of sea-sick-
ness, tired arms and a broken back, the memory of all
these fade away at the sight of the new world of life, or
at least the samples of such a world, which lie wriggling
and sprawling on the deck of the sailbo.at, or sink out of
sight in the mud and ooze of the dredge, to be brought

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1,IIK AND NATl'KK IN SOUIIIKKN LAHKADOK.

to light by vigorous dashes of water drawn in over the
side of the boat. Those days of dredging on the Lab-
rador coast, where there was such an abundance and
luxuriance of arctic varieties, vyere days never to be for-
gotten. There is a nameless charm, to our mind, in
everything pertaining to the far north, the arctic world,
and we can easily appreciate the fascination which leads
one back again to the polar regions, even if hunger and
frost had once threatened life. Arctic exploration has
but begun, and though its victims will yet be numbered
by the score, enthusiasts will still attempt the dangers of
arctic navigation, and fresh trophies will yet be won.

Eaily in August, during the few still clear nights suc-
ceeding bright and' pleasant days, wc had auroras of
wondrous beauty, not excelled by any depicted by arctic
voyagers.

On the loth of August the curlews appeared in great
numbers. On that day we saw a flock which may have
been a mile long and nearly as broad ; there must have
been in that flock four or five thousand ! The sum total
of their notes sounded at times like the wind whistling
through the ropes of a thousand-ton vessel ; at others
the sound seemed like the jingling of multitudes of sleigh-
bells. The flock soon after ap})earing would subdivide
into squadrons and smaller assemblies, scattering over
the island and feeding on the curlew-berries now ripe.
The small j)lover-like birds also appeared in flocks. The
cloud-berry was now ripe and supplied dainty tid-bits to
these birds.

By the i8th of the month the golden rods were in
flower. Here, as has been noticed in arctic regions, few
bees and wasps visit the flowers ; the great majority of

LABRAl)f)k KOSSILS,

insect visitors are fiies (Muscidae), especially the flesh fly
and allied forms. A bumble-bee occasionally presents
himself, more rarely a wasp, with an occasional ichneu-
mon fly, but the two-winged flies, and those of not
many species, were constant visitors to the Au<^ust
flowers. The black flies still remainci to this date terri-
ble scourges in calm weather, though »n cloudy days and
at night they mostly disappeared.

Wandering through the fog and drizzle along the mud
flats on the northern side of the island 1 pick{;d up
Aporrhais occidentalism Fnsiis tornatus, Cardita bin'calis,
large valves of Saxicava rugosa, Buccinum and Astarie
sulcata 2iVi(S. compressa ; these dnd Pectcn is/a ndicus und
other shells forming much the same assemblage as I had
dredged a few days previous out in the straits in fifty
fathoms. The only recent shells lying about were shal-
low-water forms, such as the common clam, Tcllina
fiisca and the razor shell. It was evident that hers was
a raised sea-bottom, and the Quaternary formation. In
the afternoon I returned to the spot and dug up many
more shells mingled with pieces of a yellow limestone
containing Silurian fossils, brachiopods, and corals. This
horizon, then, represented a deep sea-bottom, over which
the open sea must have stood at least 300 feet, while the
clay fossils of the mouth of the Esquimaux River must
have lived in a deep muddy bay sheltered from the waves
and currents of the open sea. The drift deposits of La-
brador are scanty in extent compared with those of the
Maine coast. They are but isolated patches compared
with the extensive beds of sand and clay which compose
the Quaternary deposits of New England.

On the 2 2d August we made our last excursion up

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MIK AND NArUKK IN SOUTllKKN I^AHKADOR.

the Esquimaux River, j2:oing up some six miles from its
mouth. From a hill-top I could look over the surface
of this lake-dotted land, 'i'he surface was rugged and
hare in the extreme. The river valley, however, was
well wooded, the si)ruce and birch perhaps thirty feet in
height. Here and there the river passed through high
j)recipilous banks of sand. The hills were rough, scarred
with ravines, precipices, and deep gaps, ihe syenite
wearing into irregularly hummocky hills, the rough
places not lilled up with drift, and thus the contours
tamed down as in New England. Indeed, Labrador at
the present day is like New England at the close of the
ice period or at the beginning of the epoch of great riv-
ers, before the terraces were laid down and the country
adapted for man's residence. Labrador was never
adapted for any except scattered nomad tribes. It is
still an unfinished land.

While the hills were l)are and the rocks covered with
the reindeer moss, here and there by the river's edge in
favorable, protected places were tall alders and willows,
with groups of asters and golden rods. Here I saw a
veritable toad, and glad enough was I to recognize his
lineaments. 1 was also told that there were frogs in ex-
istence, though we never saw or heard them. There are
no snakes or lizards, so that our history of these animals
in Labrador will be as brief as that of the Irish historian,
but we did find a small salamander at Belles Amours in
a later trip to this coast.

On our return we found that a whaler had towed a
whale into the mouth of the river and was about to try
out the oil. We secured a piece of the flesh, and on
reaching camp boiled it; it was not bad eating, tasting

THE RETURN HOME.

like coarse beef. Seal's flippers we also found not to be
distasteful, though never to be rej^ardcd as a delicacy.

Dredging and collecting insects on fine days when not
too calm filled up the measure of our seven weeks. The
time passed rapidly, the days were too short for all the
work we planned to do, and it was not without regret
that we left the rugged untamed shores of " the Labra-
dor." On the afternoon of the very day she had set for
her return to Caribou Island, the Nautilus hove in sight.
As she made our harbor she struck upon a sunken rock,,
tore off a piece of her keel, but slid off and came to an-
chor as near as practicable to the mission house, and
then succeeded the mutual spinning of Labrador and
Greenland yarns by the reunited party.

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CHAPTER V.

ONE OF FIFTY DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

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Four o'clock Saturday morning, July 7th, i860, in
the Strait of Belle Isle, and that huge rampart of rock,
these few icebergs stranded here and there, this occa-
sional lump of floe-ice floating down with the tide, these
outlandish puffins, and large flocks of eider-ducks skim-
ming the surface or flying high overheard, tell us that,
after nine days of sailing, we are sighting the Labrador
coast.

Here codfish grow largest and most numerous; so
twenty thousand fishermen from the British colonies and
about five thousand Yankees migrate hither every sum-
mer for the cod, herring, and salmon that swarm in
these icy waters. Here, in the spring of the year, num-
bers of hardy Newfoundland sealers risk their lives in the
ice just breaking up ; while all the year round there are
estimated to be five thousand Esquimaux, Micmacs,
Englishmen, Frenchmen, Jerseymen, and half-breeds,
who live, thanks to the codfish, on these favored shores.
Here people are born, live, and die, who have never
seen a horse, cow, sheep, or cat, or a civilized dog.
Wild Esquimaux dogs, savage, wolfish creatures, are the
only beasts of burden.

The animals and birds are half arctic and half temper-
ate. Sweet, dwarfish, arctic flowers here nestle in beds

of reindeer-moss, while our Alpine flora one may gather

APPROACHING TITE COAST.

on Mount Washington luxuriates with stunted growths
of bushy firs and birches. So, nearly all the shells,
worms, and creeping things are the same in kind and
number as those that Otho Fabricius wrote of in his
" Fauna Gronlandica," during his dreary life in southern
Greenland one hundred years ago.

As we approach land no capes run out to greet us, or
sheltered harbor opens its arms to embrace. An unin-
terrupted line of coast confronts the gulf. In one place
alone is the intense monotony of the outline relieved by
the Hills of Bradore, where the coast sweeps round fif-
teen miles to the eastward, and the Strait widens out.

It is a charming morning, the sun up but an hour, and
just breeze enough to move us over the placid sea.
Flocks of grave, enormous-hook-billed puffins sweep by
us in squadrons of fifties and hundreds, or flocks of eider-
ducks fiy swiftly out from the land. Coming up nearer
to this strange coast, the line breaks here and there ; a
few rocks and islands start out from the shore. We pass
by schools of two-masted fishing-boats, with two men
a'piece hooking codfish ; we hail the fellows, but they
are too busy to look up. Things look a little more live-
ly ; more islands appear, channels wind through them,
choked with fleets of fishing-smacks. But the wind
leaves us, so we put out a boat and are towed through
these narrow passages, whose walls of rock rise on each
side higher than the masts of our schooner, though not
very precipitously, for all has been worn down and sub-
dued by water. So we move along, as if on a smooth-
flowing, deep, narrow river, or a Norwegian fiord ; now
we round a point, and can almost jump ashore ; then a
bend in the channel takes us over to the other side ; now

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ONE OF FIFTY DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

we luff a little to avoid a group of Nova Scotia fisher-
men, fat, sleek, moon-faced fellows, whose boats, loaded
with fish, are busy discharjjing their burden, pitching up
on deck half-dead cod, which are seized in a trice by
gioups of " headers," "splitters," and "gutters." And
then the multitudinous smells, now coming fierce and
strong from deck and hold, anon gentle and spicy as the
cook turns the morning fry. Now the surface is
streaked with oily films, but these break away and dis-
close, six or eight fathoms below, a clear, sandy bottom,
strewed with fish offal, on which banks of sea-urchins
feed. If we look long and steadily enough, we shall see
swarms of beautiful, delicate, transparent jelly-fish, with
an occasional Clio, a winged moliusk, fully as pure and
beautiful, only more transparent. Suddenly the bottom
is obscured by an immense shoal of capliii, slowly swim-
ming just above the bottom. The rocks now reveal
green, sunny declivities; little valleys, sprinkled with
flowers; an arctic butterfly comes out to our vessel ; and
now we open upon a house ; it is only a deserted fish-
house, but a cur, keeping up an incessant barking on the
other side of the hill, lets us know that there are human
beings, as well as canine, not far off. If we may believe
it, there is a small, stunted, homely, Quebec cow feeding
on the side of the hill. Here was a clear case of unnat-
ural selection. The scenic features of this coast do not
demand a cow to grace the foreground. Her nautical
owner informs us, in sturdy Labradorian dialect, that
she had been brought up this spring. " I made her fast
to her moorings, and there let her bide to eat the grass."
Her husband had broken loose from his moorings, and
was emulating the roar of the waves on the " land-wash."

CARIBOU ISLAND.

The children, more used to seals and sea-cows, had not
vet recovered from their astonishment at this freak of
Nature.

The channel now widens out into the hay of Bonne
Espdrance, a fine open space of water, tolerably well
sheltered from storms. Two days after I ^ot settled on
Caribou Island, in Salmon Bay, three miles cast of
Bonne Espcrance.

Nearly the whole coast of Labrador is lined with mul-
titudes of small islands, separated by deep, narrow chan-
nels from the mainland, with here and Ihere a bay of
some extent, where the islands are separated far apart.
Thus, a small sail-boat can start from the mouth of the
St. Lawrence, and take an inside j)assa<2^e up to the
Strait of Belle Isle, and there will only be a few places
where she will encounter the outside swell. These num-
berless islets and channels are too numerous and intricate
to be accurately mapped. At least, our ordinary charts
^ive no accurate idea of their location, and navigation
for the whole coast is a matter of guess-work.

Caribou Island is the largest within fifty miles, per.
haps, of Salmon Bay. It is about two miles long and
half as broad. But it is in vain to guess about the length
or breadth of any part of this rough-and-tumble country,
so I will measure it with my legs. It is a fresh, cool,
breezy morning ; thermometer, say, at 56°. At noon it
will not be higher than 65°.

At the outset, it may as well be said that this is no
country for slippers or calfskin boots of ordinary make.
Here Jersey cowhide or native-made sealskin boots are
the mode. With anything on but these, two minutes'
walk out-doors will wet one's feet thoroughly, so wet

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ONE OK IIKTY DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

and soaked is the boggy ground. For bog-trotting, or
nioss-traniping, or climbing rocks, sealskins a la Esqtn-
viaux, so light and water-tight, are indispensable.

The way lies round the head of a little bay, which
meets a quiet vale, filled with grass and ferns at the top»
but half-way down, as it widens out, choked with a
stunted spruce and fir growth, or what the people call
"tucking," or " tuckermel-bush." It is in vain that we
try to push through it, so dense the growth, so gnarled,
twisted, and grown together in one impenetrable mass
the trunks, and so flat and table-like the branches spread
out above. Here is a perfectly tight shelter, should it
rain. Many a hunter, belated at nightfall, has crept
under these bushes and made a comfortable night of it.
So the bears find good hiding-places here, and cannot be
found without dogs to scent them out. Lower down,
the valley extends into an alder-swamp, a lilliputian
growth, perhaps three feet high, choked ^'ith rank grasses
and sedges, crowding the sides of a slow-moving brook.
Here mosquitoes and black-flies swarm ; we are under
shelter of a cliflf, and there is no wind to keep off these
horrible pests. How they rage and torment, these myr-
iad entomological furies ! Now for a frantic rush out
of this purgatory, and a tiresome climb of a hundred
feet up this cliff ! It is high, but not very rough, for all
the rocks are hidden by soft reindeer-moss, and the crev-
ices are filled up with tuckermel, and the ravines that
run down its sides have their dripping, mossy walls
sprinkled over with Alpine flowers and their bottoms
carpeted with coarse arctic grasses. Only here and there
patches of the original granite show themselves. Now
and then a brown or yellow butterfly flits by, or an arc-

■ \

SALMON BAY.

«7

tic bumhle-bcc hums and buzzes in the Howcrs ; two
or three l)eetles crawl over the fern-leaves, while a few
meagre, lean-looking files lead a sort of doubtful exist-
ence. There is none of that outburst and profusion of
insect-life that characterizes woodland life in the States
in midsummer. For the benefit of the entomologically
curious, I will state that nowhere on the coast, or inland,
at least within twenty miles of Salmon Bay, has a grass-
hopper been seen or heard of ! The common red-legged
grasshopper, that is so abundant everywhere with us all
the summer, which luxuriates on the summit of Mount
Washington, and is found by arctic travellers about Mel-
bourne Island, spread, in fact, all through British and
Arctic America, is here wanting, so scanty and parsimo-
nious is the distribution of insect-life on these shores.
But I must mention the wasp's nest I stumbled upon
one day, about as large as one of Meenan's fists, stuck
down under the moss, in a mass of roots. Well aware
of the notorious temper of these insects, and fully con-
scious of past sad experiences, I approached the dread
precincts, extended a six-foot pole, and gave a gentle
tap — no answer ; another — two individuals crawl out — a
simultaneous rush of the invader to the rear ; the " com-
bat deepens" — four more dabs with the six-footer — a
baker's dozen issue forth and fly around, alas ! how dolo-
rous and sad ! They give chase for a pace or two, and
then pause, look back irresolutely, and give it up. Such
was my experience with Labrador wasps.

By this time we have topped the cliff, and far down
below lies Salmon Bay. Seven fishermen from New-
buryport find here one of the best harbors on the coast
— securely landlocked, and good anchorage in fifteen

ONE OF FIFTY DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

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fathoms' mud — a beautiful dredging-ground. Large
cockles, curious pelican's-feet, delicate nereids, clumsy
crabs, and neat, active shrimp, abound and multiply as
the sands of the sea in number. On the right is Salmon
Bay settlement, one of the most populous places on the
coast, consisting of seven families. And now ihe eye,
s\veej)ing north, east, and west, takes in the vast desola-
tion of hills, relieved only by gleaming frngments of
ponds, or snow-banks of a sullen white. There is no
continuous series of ranges rising uj) back of one an-
other, like any well-ordered mountain group, but a
chopped sea of undeveloped mountains, whose tops seem
to have been ground down by water and ice when the
world was much younger than it is now, but which, after
this, as if a rebel horde of Titans, made seemingly inef-
fectual attempts to grow up again, and only succeeded
in spots ; which, bare then, have been kept bare ever
since by arctic frosts and snows.

If we imagine we can see forests growing among
those hills, it is only because we have been told that
woods do grow in the sheltered valleys, and now and
then venture up the hill-sides. Thus the country runs
back for hundreds of miles, the hills rising five to eight
hundred feet high, bare and desolate, but the valleys are
much better wooded in the interior of the country, be-
ing warmer and more sheltered. There are no regular
rivers in Labrador, only rows of ponds — and very
crooked rows — linked by rapids, which the Mountaineers
only can navigate in their light canoes. There are no
water-sheds, no continuous valleys to unite into one
stream the thousand ponds that gather in every depres-
sion.

STONE CIRCLES.

Hut we have feasted longenou^li upon this rare. uni(|ue
scene. We speak not of the freshness of the l)reezc,
of the exhilaration and inspiration it l)rin^s, and not,
least of all, of the perfect freedom from every sijj^n of lly
or lnos(^uito. Now, as we return, for two miles of bog-
trottinjj, an hour of hlack-lly and mos(juito li,i»htinjr!

While

sittmg upon

the hill durinii that iialf-hour's rest

the breeze kept the Hies from our face ; but how secretly
and in what untoward numbers iiad tin' silvery-lei»,u:ed
rascals crept into our llannel shirts, covered hat and back,
(\o\n[i nothiiiii but hold on for the wind ! but now,
under lee of this wall, the pla<iues have the advantaji;e.
They Hy into our face, eyes, nose, and mouth ; they do
not bite hard, like the mos(]uitoes, but the vamj)ires suck
U)UiX iind deep, leavinjj great clots of blood. To com-
plete the work, half a dozen frightful horse-tlies of gigan-
tic stature hover about ; now and then, when we are not
watching, they will settle down on our hands and bite
terribly, making a wound which does not heal for days.
It is useless to try to bear it. I make a stampede up
the rocks to the breeze, but they follow in clouds, pounc-
ing down like small-shot on my wide-awake. So run-
ning, as if for my life, one moment, and stopping to rest
the next ; now starting up a white-headed finch or soli-
tary robin, or stopping to watch a Canadian jay or hun-
gry cormorant sailing aloft, or pausing to trace out two
or three contiguous circles of bowlder-stones, which
marked the former wigwams of the Esquimaux, who used
to have bloody fights on this island with the Mountain-
eer Indians; now wading a swamp, or making clHotirs
round miniature ponds, or jumping a narrow ravine, or
circumnavigating a growth of tuckermel — I come to a

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ONK ()|- IIITV DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

stand on the south side of the island. It has been blow-
ing fresh for two or tiiree days from the soutlnvest. and
the ji^uK rolls in a niaji^nificent surf, sweeping grandly upon
the pebbly beach or dashing wiklly against the sea-wall.
Half a mile from shore a huge iceberg is stranded, and
the wind blows cold and damp. Farther out on the
Strait the sun Hashes on four or five other line bergs,
though it is the middle of July. And so clear is the air,
that the low blue-limestone coast of Newfoundland, forty
miles opposite, can easily be seen.

Now, where are all the sea-birds that I expected to
find filling the air, and crowding the rocks, up here in
Labrador ? A lonely raven is just passing over, a few
small land-birds are chipping on the rocks, a small owl
wings his noiseless fiight low over the bogs — these, with
a pair of saddle-back gulls sailing aloft, are about the
only birds to be seen. Sometimes a loon files over the
island, or a small flock of eider-ducks settles down in a
pool. If one pushes out a little way into the Strait,
he will start up a few razor-billed auks, or see a flock of
guillemots, or their cousins, the murres. People here
call the guillemots sea-pigeons, though more like crows
than pigeons in size and color. A flock of pufiins will
fly off just out of gunshot across the bows of one's boat,
for all these sea-birds are shy and difficult to approach.
I must delay a moment on these puffins. They are
queer, grave birds, profoundly Quakerish in their habit,
wise-looking as the seven Gothamites, only wanting a
pair of good, old-fashioned, silver-bowed spectacles to
set off their enormous hook-nosed visages. Just here
they are not very abundant, but fifteen miles up the
coast, at Bradore, these peculiar people have appropriated

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A FLOCK OF CLKLKWS

a rcd-saiuislone island. On tliis patch of rock, whose
soft, crunil)nii<» surface they bore in all directions, niak-
in<r galleries about a foot from the surface, they have
bred from time immemorial. However wild they are
on the waves, here they suffer themselves to be pulled
forth from their holes and summarily choked by ardent
ornithologists without a scjueak of resistance.

Indeed, June and July, or the first of August, is no
time to come to Labrador for birds : all the ducks are
among the inland ponds, breedin<.r The sea-birds that
breed here gather in one place sixty ,/iiles down the coast,
on the Bird Islands, forming the Mecatina group. Tb<'rc
are few to molest their nests, nd they M.e in comparu-
tiv : quiet. Let a crew visit a breedin -place in the middle
of June, and they can very quickly load a boat with eggs.
It is said that vessels come up here from Boston every
year, and load up with eggs to carry back to the Stales.

About the middle of August that beautiful and grace-
ful bird, the sea-swallow, or arctic tern, makes its appear-
ance, flying about the sea-cliffs, hovering over the fisher-
men's boats, and keeping up an interminable screeching
and twittering ; they are the most garrulous of gulls.
With them appear a few of the rarer gulls. Then the
ring-necked and semipalmated plover, and flocks of sand-
peeps and yellow-legs gather on the flats. But the cur-
lews eclipse them all. We had had intimations of their
arrival. Already had small squadrons been seen wheel-
ing around the hill-tops, and now over the sea, and as
they advanced or retreated, their "mild mixing cadence"
now grew loud and near, and now waxed fainter and
fainter. On the afternoon of the loth of August I
heard the alarm of " Curlew !" and, sure enough, over

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ONE OF FIFTY DAYS IN SOUTHERN LABRADOR.

across the neck, a mile away, was a flock of these birds,
darkening nearly a square mile of the sky. There must
have been many thousands in that flock, all piping and
whistling like the jingling of ten thousand sleigh-bells,
or the whistling of the wind through the ropes of a
squadron of seventy-fours, while performing a series of
evolutions of wonderful celerity and precision. The
whole mass wheeled around the hills and over the plain,
now stretching out over the bay, made up of smaller
troops, chasing each other around and through the whole
moving mass in the greatest apparent confusion and dis-
order. It was really a great sight, this marshalling of
the curlew hosts. After this grand review of their forces
they separate into small flocks, scatter over the country
to feed on the curlew-berries now ripening, or to patrol
the shore at low-water in search of stray worms and
snails. The inhabitants kill large quantities of this deli-
cious bird, and salt them down in barrels for winter use.
They cannot conjecture where they come from, but say
that the first northeast wind in late summer always
brings them.

But the sun is going down jn the fog and mist driving
in from the gulf. The wind has hauled to the east, and
blows chilly and damp ; and so ended many of the thirty
fair days of the fifty I spent in Southern Labrador.

!'i

CHAPTER VI.

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

I. From Boston to Hkni.ey Harbor.

In the spring of 1864, Mr. William Bradford, the well-
known marine artist of New York, organized a party to
cruise along the coast of Labrador, and if possible to
reach Hudson's Strait, for the purpose of painting ice-
bergs and arctic scenery. After having previously spent
a summer on the southern coast, with no opportunity of
extended explorations, it seemed rare good fortune to
make one of a party bound for the Moravian settle-
ments, and possibly Cape Chidley.

On the 4th of June, at 10.15 a.m., the fast schooner
Benjamin S. Wright, Captain Brown, with two pilots,
Capt. Ichabod Handy of Fair Haven, Mass., for the
northern coast, and Capt. French for the southern shore,
a Norwegian mate and two deck hands, with a cook and
two cabin boys, carrying a party of fourteen gentlemen
comprising lawyers, clergymen, naturalists, sportsmen,
and pleasure-seekers, left the Philadelphia Packet Pier,
Boston. Owing to an easterly wind a tug towed us
down to the Narrows, where we spread our canvas, and
beat down to Provincetown for the purpose of buying a
whaleboat, making harbor there at 9.30 in the evening.

Spending Sunday at Provincetown, where we visited
some friends in the coast-guard, several of whom after-
wards distinguished themselves in the war of the Rebel-

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A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

lion, on the 6th, with a fresh northwest wind which so
effectually ruffled the ocean that nearly every man set-
tled his account there and then with the sea-god, our
course was laid for Cape Sable, which we sighted at
about I o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th.

The following day we bowled along at the distance of
twelve miles from the Nova Scotian coast, the wind
blowing a fresh gale from the northwest, and about 2
A.M. of the 8th ran into Chedabucto Bay, anchoring four
miles from Port Mulgrave. Weighing anchor the next
day and moving up to the town, a mean little fishing-
hamlet, while the crew took in wood and water, each one,
according to his taste, went either shopping or trouting
in the rain, or geologizing. On the following day I
walked towards Porcupine Point, a bold headland said
to be 275 feet above the Gut of Canso. The view over
the Gulf of St. Lawrence is a very pleasant one. The
Gut of Canso opens into the Gulf four miles from the
Point. The drift material consists of a rich soil con-
taining bits and masses of red sandstone, some of the
fragments containing calamites and the impressions of
delicate sea-weeds. The rocks m situ are a white con-
glomerate dipping at an angle of 80° and with a N. and
S. strike.

The shores of the Gut of Canso are high and bold on
the western side, but much lower on the Cape Breton
shore. The contours of the hills on the Nova Scotian
coast are like those of a granite-gneiss region, the hills
terminating in drift "scaurs." On the Cape Breton side
the houses are more numerous and the farms either more
fertile or cultivated with greater care. At Port Mul-
grave the inhabitants did not raise vegetables enough for

IN THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE.

their own consumption ; and not infrequently a farmer
was seen ploughing with a single ox. Exchange was
$1.95. The people were all "sesesh." Although for
the disunion of the " States," nothing could separate them
from the love of whiskey and gin, as in the course of the
afternoon there was a miserable stabbing fray, witnessed
by a good many of the inhabitants, though it should be
said that there were thirty sail then in the port, from
which part of the material for the affray was afforded.

Our fishermen returned with a liberal supply of trout,
and Mr. Bradford shipped a steward, who turned out to
be an Indian soldier, and had assisted in blowing Sepoys
from the cannon's mouth. Whether he was morally and
intellectually worse or better than a Sepoy was often a
matter of discussion on the cruise.

We were now ready to push out into the Gulf, and
the latter was now ready for the reception of the Benj.
S. Wright. For but a few days ago vessels had been
jammed in the ice immediately north of Port Mulgr~ e,
the ice having remained later in the Gulf and been more
abundant the past spring than for years. We were told
that it was possible for people to walk on the ice a hun-
dred miles out from the Magdalen Islands.

The next day found us off St. George's Bay, the sport
of light, baffling winds or of dead calms, but these '^Mia-
bled us to receive lasting impressions of the beautiful
green slopes of the Cape Breton shores, with their ex-
panse of green sward framing the square acres of
ploughed land centred by red farm-houses. These were
our last views of cultivated fields and well-trimmed glebes,
until on our return we beheld the rich red farm-lands ot
Prince Edward's Island.

A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

Sunday the 1 2th was a red-letter day, spent about the
home of the gannet or solan-goose. At seven o'clock
in the morning — and what a glorious one it was : the
air soft and balmy, our good vessel's bows gently rising
and falling on the swell as if saluting in a measured,
dignified way the appearance of the god of day — at this
hour Entry Island, one of the Magdalens, was twelve

••'SI

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THE LARGEST (5K THE BIRD ROCKS, AS SEEN IN 1864.

(From a Photograph by Black.)

miles off. It is a high mass of red sandstone with
abrupt sides and surmounted by two knolls ; near it
were several small islands, and a high grayish rock
deeply incised by narrow valleys plunging suddenly
down to the sea.

At noon we approached the Bird Rocks, a group
of three islets, the largest 250 feet high and from a

THE BIRD ROCKS.

quarter to half a mile in length, the longest diameter
extending east and west. The top is nearly flat and
slopes gently towards the south. It is formed, as seen
from the south side through a good glass at a distance
of half a mile, of red friable sandstone, with thin beds of
grit, which near the water's edge are several feet in
thickness, while several loose fragments look like bowl-
ders, though there are no true transported rocks on the
island.

The islets were nearly white on top, and I supposed
this was due to the guano, but Mr. Bradford assured me
that the white frosting, as it seemed to be, was the birds
themselves ; and sure enough, except a central patch of
brown and green herbage, the western end was in part,
and the eastern half of the island entirely, white with
female gannets, resting on the rock above as well as on
the larger shelves on the sides, while the small nooks and
shelves of grit were appropriated by myriads of murres.

At the reoort of a gun swarms of birds would rise
from the rock and flutter in the air like flies, and at a
rough estimate 10,000 were there. To the leeward
many gannets, males, were seated in the water or flying
over it, in company with a few murres — but nearly all
were as if in ceaseless motion, and busy fishing or re-
turning with fish to the avian metropolis.*

* In this connection it is interesting to read the description of the Bird Rock
in Cc.rtier's first voyage.

"Wee went southeast about 15 leagues, and came to three Hands, two of
which are as steepe and vpright as any wall, so that it was not possible to climbe
them; and betweene them there is a little rocke. These Hands were as full of
birds, as any field or medow is of grasse, which there do make their nestes ;
and in the greatest of them there was a great and infinite number of those that
wee call Margaulx, that are white, and bigger than any geese, which were
seuered in one part. In the other were onely Godetz, but toward the shoare

! I|

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A SUM.M:RS cruise to northern LABRADOR.

Mr. Bradford spent a busy day in sketching the
unique scene, and his photographer, Mr. Pierce, from
Black's studio in Boston, took four good photographs
of the rocks and birds. These rocks are the remnants
of what were once vastly more extended strata, and the
question arose in my mind whether the red soil of Port
Mulgrave and vicinity were not the debris which had
been in part borne from the Magdalen Isles, and in part
from Prince Edward's Island.

Since 1864, when the photograph was taken by Mr.
Bradford of which the accompanying sketch is a repro-
duction, great changes have come over the famous gan-
net rookery of Bird Rocks. Mr. W. Brewster, who,
with Prof. Hyatt and others, visited these rocks in 1881,
says in his account: "In i860 the numb r of gannets
breeding on the top of Great Bird (then uninhabited)
was estimated by Bryant at about ' fifty thousand pairs,'
or one hundred thousand birds. In 1872 Maynard
found this portion of the colony reduced to about five

there were of those Godetz, and Apponatz. We put into our boats so many of
them as we pleased, for in lesse than one houre we might have filled thirtie such
boats of them : we named them the Hands of Margaulx. About five leagues
fro the said Hands on the west, there is another Hand that is about two leagues
in length, and so much in breadth : there did we stay all night to take in water
and wood. That Hand is enuironed round about with sand and hath a very
good road about it, three or foure fadome deep. Those Hands have the best
soile that euer we saw, fo' that one of their fields is more worth then all the
New land. We found it all full of goodly trees, medowes, fields full of wild
corne and peason bloomed, as thick, as ranke, and as faire as any can be seene
in Britaine so that they seemed to have bene ploughed and sowed There was
also a great store of gooseberies, strawberies, damaske roses, i ^rseley, with
other very sweet and pleasant hearbes. About the said Hand are very great
beasles as great as oxen, which have two great teeth in their mouths like vnto
elephants teeth, and Hue also in the sea. We saw one of them sleeping vpoii
the banke of the water ; wee thinking to take it went to it with our boates, but
so soone as he heard vs, he cast himselfe into the sea. We saw also beares
and wolves ; we named it Brions Hand. (Hakluyt, iii. 254.)

FIRST VIEW OK " THK LABRADOR.

thousand birds (a lighthouse had been erected on the
summit of the rock and several men were living there).
When we landed in 1881 the top of the rock was prac-
tically abandoned, although there were some fifty nests
at the northern end, which had been robbed a few days
before, and about which the birds still lingered."

Mr. Brewster says, however, that the common guil-
lemot (^Loftivia troile^ still breeds at Bird Rocks in
amazing numbers, but that the number is rapidly de-
creasing, owing to the introduction of a cannon which is
fired every half-hour during foggy weather. " At each
discharge," he says, " the frightened murres fly from the
rocks in clouds, nearly every sitting bird taking its t^g
into the air between its thighs and dropping it after fly-
ing a few yards. This was repeatedly observed during
our visit, and more than once a perfect shower of eggs
fell into the water around our boat."

At 6 o'clock this evening we were 95 miles from
Little Mecatina Island, and at 1 1 o'clock of the next
day (the 13th), we sighted land lying under a milage
which looked like the land itself, while the snow-banks
ashore were transformed into icebergs floating in the
quasi sea. This singular mirage lasted until evening.
As the land gradually "hove" in sight the mirage re-
ceded and the bergs became veritable banks of snow.
Little Mecatina was passed at 6 in the evening ; its
longer diameter was north and south, and the southern
end of the glaciated island showed finely the"stoss"
side, the " struck " side gradually sloping towards the
north. The Labrador coast at this point becomes high
and bold, presenting a continuous front to the Gulf, with
an occasional " hump " rising perhaps 300 feet or more

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lOO A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

above the general level of the land. The Island of
Mecatina is 685 feet above the Gulf, Cape Mecatina
being the highest land from Mingan to Bradore.

We dropped anchor in Sleupe harbor in Gore Island,
after the quickest voyage Capt. French had ever made.
The run from Boston had been a fine one, with north-
west winds throughout, and no fog. At sunset the
thermometer was 42°, and it grew still cooler as we ran
into our harbor, which was on the southern exposure, on
which were numerous snow-banks in the deep gulches
leading down to the water.

The rocks were red syenite, like those of Mt. Desert,
Me., with its characteristic hummocky outline and pre-
cipitous walls fronting the sea. No bowlders were seen
about the harbor, but the rockv shores were marked and
polished by the ice for a few feet above the water's edge.

The murres and saddle-back gulls were now just
hatching, while the eider-ducks were beginning to lay
their eggs. The curlew-berry was now in flower. In
the garden of one of the settlers (Michael Cant^), who
were French Canadians, the rhubarb or pie plant was
just above ground, the parsnips were six inches high,
and the grass about the houses was four inches in height,
but as yet there was no verdure on the hills, the surface
being still sere and rusty, the snow having so recently
melted away. The season opens here the middle or last
of May, when the snow mostly disappears. The ice left
the bay the 20th of May, and about this date the black
bear comes out of his winter quarters. It was too early
for cod or salmon, and the capelin had not appeared.

Our harbor was between two islands, and on one were
'two houses, and on the other five, one of them a well-

TIIK KIDKk-DUCK AND ITS XKS'|-.

lOI

built, neat house. About them l()un<re(l several Esqui-
maux dogs. VVe dredged in ten fathoms on a rocky
l)()ttom, not, however, bringing up any novelties, though
tiic animals were all of purely arctic types.

June 14 was spent in egging and in collecting insects.
Mr. Bradford secured the services of a Frenchman and
his sail-boat, and with several others of the party landed
on three islands situated four or five miles away. We
found eight nests and twenty-five eggs of the eider-
duck, with those of the murre or guillemot and auk,
besides three gull's eggs, probably those of the saddle-
back. We also found a nest of the red loon : it was
situated on the edge of a small pond. The nest, partly
submerged, was fourteen inches in diameter and in size
and appearance like the gulls' nests, though the latter
were placed in dryer localities. The eider-ducks' nests
were abundant, as were those of the razor-billed auks,
but those of the murres were even less common. The
eider-ducks ten years ago were extremely abundant, but
the unremitting attacks upon their nests by "eggers"
has resulted in the partial extinction of this valuable and
interesting bird. All the eiders were busy in making
their nests and in laying their eggs. The old or com-
pleted nests contained a great mass of down, and were
12 to 15 inches in outside diameter, the downy mass in
which the eggs sank being five or six inches high ; the
newer nests were without down ; there were about five
eggs to a nest. Most of the nests which we saw were
built on low land, near pools and not far from the sea-
water, in a dense thicket of dwarf spruce trees, called
" tucking-bush " or " tuckermel." The murres and auks,
as is well known, do not make nests, but drop their eggs

I' !

102 A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

r I

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I !

under projecting rocks, or on overhanging shelves on
high cliffs, or under blocks of granite. I found one
murre's egg which had been laid on the ice under a huge
rock, and as I worked my way under the rock to get at
the single egg, the stupid bird did not fly, but simply
moved a few steps beyond my reach, making an odd
guttural noise. It need scarcely be added that the vicin-
ity of a murre's or auk's nest is filthy in the extreme.
The egg-shell of these nestless birds is very thick, so
that they may roll about or drop down without break-
ing ; how they came to be so much more conical or
pointed at one end than usual is an interesting question.*
We also saw a king eider flying with a small flock of
eiders, as well as several "shags" and a northern phal-
erope.

Insect-life was now stirring ; the pools abounded in
water boatmen (Corixa), and whirligig beetles {Gyri-
nus), while a species of feathered gnat {Corethrd) was
just leaving the pupa, the cast skins of the latter floating
on the surface of the pools. A lonely humble-bee was
flying fussily about, a syrphus-fly was hovering over the
flowers of the cloud-berry, and other insects were found
under stones, amongst the moss, or in the water. The
appearance of insect-life corresponded to that of south-

* " There was one bird in particular which we watched for some time, the
proud possessor of a brilliant green, strongly marked egg— as usual, to all
appearance quite out of proportion to her own size — which she arranged and
rearranged under her, trying with beak and wing to tuck the sharp end between
her legs, but never quite satisfied that it was covered as it should be. But for
the wonderful provision for its safety in the shape of the guillemot's egg (a round,
flat-sided wedge, which makes it, when pushed, turn round on the point instead of
rolling, a.s eggs of the usual form if placed on a bare rock would do), most of
those we saw would probably have been dashed to pieces long before." (T.
Digby Pigott's Birds of the Outer Faroes, 1888.)

THE CORMORANT AND ITS NKST.

103

em Maine at the end of April. The next day a white-
faced wasp (l'i's/>a maailata) flew aboard the vessel.
The day was spent in searching for eider nests, of which
I found a dozen in the " tucking-bush," with thirty eggs,
and the rude nests and eggs of the saddle-back gull.

June i6th was a beautiful day, rather warm, with light
winds from the east and south, or quite calm. In the
afternoon a shower passea over from the west, and at night
the wind was northerly ; \\iC southwest summer winds had
not yet set in, the prevailing winds being northerly. We
spent the day in a search for the eggs of the " waupigan "
or common cormorant, and those of the shag or double-
crested cormorant ; William, a very intelligent French
Canadian, takingusto their nesting-place in his row-boat.
The nests were situated on a high cliff, a sort of shelf.
We let William down over the precipice with a rope.
There were fifty-five nests in all, and over them rose
flocks of cormorants disturbed at our coming; they were
very shy and flew rapidly far off", wheeling about in cir-
cles, but not daring to come near the nesting-place.
There were five eggs in a nest ; the latter were about
20 inches in outside diameter, built of thick birch limbs,
whitened, as was the rocky shelf, with the excrement of
the birds, and the entire neighborhood was pervaded
with a far-reaching and intolerable stench of decaying
fish. The eggs of the common cormorant are said to be
laid earlier in the season than those of any other bird ;
they are long, pointed, and of a dirty tea-color, some
nearly white. The shags' nests, mixed with those of the
waupigan, were situated in another place adjoining.
They are usually laid on the bare rock, and William was
surprised to find them on the precipice. The eggs are

"smmmmmmm

104 A summkr's cruisk to nortiikrn i.ahrador.

smaller than those of the common cormorant, are whiter
and more pointed, and are laid later than those of any
other bird.

On our return we went by invitation into William's
house ; his children were attractive in looks, with fine
eyes. This family and a neighboring one were the two
leading I'rcnch Canadian families on the coast. They
told us that it was harder to gain a livelihood than here-
tofore, the game and tish getting scarcer. Still, one
family winter before last shot 1 100 partridges. William,
by the way, told us that there were four varieties of part-
ridge : the spruce partridge, and the white or ptarmigan,
of which they distinguish the mountain ptarmigan and
the river ptarmigan, the latter the rarest ; the fourth kind
they call the pheasant. The partridges were said to be
now laying their eggs. William raised last year twenty-
five bushels of potatoes, also turnips, while barley, hav-
ing three months to grow, ripens on this inhospitable
coast. Sheep might be raised ; there were no cows,
though to the westward they are kept the year through.
We were told that a walrus was killed near St. Augus-
tine within twenty-five years, and that two had been seen
in this vicinity since then. It will be remembered that
the walrus formerly abounded in the Gulf of St. Law-
rence, having been rendered extinct by the early fisher-
men on the Magdalen Islands.

We saw an egging vessel at a distance. The "egg-
ers " watch their chances to take great quantities of eggs
of sea-birds, especially those of the eider-duck and
murres. But there are now few who follow this illegal
and nefarious occupation. Twenty years ago the busi-
ness was at its height, and a schooner would load a cargo

\ .u

TKANSPARLNCV OK IIIK WATER.

105

of 65 barrels of c^^s ami take them to the States or up
the St. Lawrence River to Quebec or Montreal. Of late
years they would give half of what they ftmiul to the
settlers on the coast as hush-money. When colh'cting
the eggs they would make "caches" of them, covering
the heaps with moss ; and if they were on the point of
being caught they woidd smash the whole cargo of eggs
rather than be seized with them. Many are the adven-
tures which the eggers have passed through, and the
stories told of them rival the tales of smugglers and pri-
vateersmen on more favored shores. They still collect
anr ."antonly destroy the eggs of murres.

'1 lie eggs of the eider-ducks we found to make a good
omelet, but those of the murres and gulls were too fishy
to be palatable ; the food of the murres and puffin as well
as gulls consisting largely of small fish, such as capeliii
and lance fish (^Ainmoifytcs). We saw male eiders two
years old ; they were brown with a little white ; we were
told that the eider is four years in arriving at maturity ;
the guillemot only two years ; the puffins and murres
becoming adult in one year. The eider-duck is easily
domesticated, and the young will follow a person to
whom they are accustomed like a dog.

As soon as our vessel came into shallow water,-- and in
our boat excursions we were constantly impressed by the
transparency of the water on this coast — we could look
down for thirty or forty feet and see with distinctness the
bottom with dark masses of sea-urchins and starfish.
The water is more transparent than on the Florida coast.
Indeed the fishermen sometimes complain of this prop-
erty of the water, saying that the fish can see the nets too
readily and do not enter them. The water is so clear

106 A summer's cruise to- northern LABRADOR.

1 '
:1 f .> it

I :s

that the Ctenophores, Idyia roseola and Pleurobrachia^ as
well as another kind I could not secure, were beautifully
distinct far down in the pellucid depths. Fishing had
begun at this locality to-day, the cod having struck in.
It is evident that the ice having disappeared for nearly a
month the water inshore undoubtedly had grown warm
enough to allow the cod and other fish to come into shoal-
water and spawn. It was manifest that as the season
opened later and later from south to north, the move-
ment inshore would be la^.er and later from south to north,
and this fact has undoubtedly given rise to the popular
impression that the cod and other fish migrated from the
southern to the northern portions of the coast of our
continent.

I anxiously questioned William as to the nature of the
interior of Labrador. He told me that there were plains
and terraces inland ; that there were toads and frogs and
" lizards," which being interp 2ted undoubtedly means
the salamander, most probably Plethodon glutinosus of
Baird. He had been here twenty years before he saw
a grasshopper, but this was not on the coast, but in the
interior ; and I know scarcely a better criterion of an
arctic land-fauna than the entire absence of grasshoppers
on the Labrador coast, since none occur in the circum-
polar regions, either treeless Arctic America, Greenland
or Spitzbergen ; but the interior wooded portion of the
Labrador peninsula supports a truly boreal or " Canadian"
insect fauna, with grasshoppers.

Among the insects found were the showy caterpillars
o{ Arctia caja and a weevil. Of the more noticeable
flowers, there were a pink Arenaria, and a leek-like plant
which I have often seen on the summit of Mt. Washington.

CARIBOU ISLAND.

107

The 1 7th we weighed anchor, and with light winds
and some rain early in the morning, but a strong north-
easterly head-wind in the forenoon, we made only twenty-
five miles during the day. The coast along our course
was of very even height, the monotonous outline being
relieved by an occasional elevation. The rock was of
syenite with its characteristic scenic features. It was of
warm, reddish flesh tints, but full of chinks and cracks,
made by the water percolating or running into them and
freezing, resulting in the cracking and disruption of large
rock masses. Then the continued action of the frost
year after year widens the chinks into gulches, with even,
precipitous sides, now filled with snow-banks ten or
fifteen feet long, and sometimes a dozen or more rods
in extent, their edges bordered with arctic flowers. The
hills were barren on top, with mosi and dwarf spruce in
the cavities or ravines. Here and there were to be seen
clumps of grass, but the herbage in a Labrador fore-
ground is not grasses or sedges, but low shrubby woody
plants such as the dwarf cranberry, the curlew-berry
{^E^tipetrum nigrunt), etc., which form a dense uniform
carpet of varied but dull green hues.

On the afternoon of the i8th we dropped anchor near
Caribou Island, and on landing found Mr. Carpenter, the
missionary of these shores, who had befriended us in so
many ways while camping on this island in the summer
of i860. He was well and prospering in his good work.
I lost no time in borrowing a spade and digging for
quaternary fossils, and was rewarded with the discovery
of several species not detected in i860; among these
were Serripes groenlandicus, Buccinum widatiim, etc.

On the evening before June 20, the longest day of the

■

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1 Ml !•

I08 A SUMMP:r'S cruise to northern LABRADOR.

year, I could read fine print until half-past eleven at
ni^ht. The next morning I dredged in eight fathoms
before weighing anchor, and was delighted to find several
large specimens of a delicate bivalve shell (Pandorina
arenosa)', it was afterwards dredged up the coast at
Long Island in fifteen fathoms in sand and stony bottom.
It had not before been found south of the polar seas ;
its discovery so far south was interesting from the fact
that we had found it in a fossil state in sandy strata of
clay at Brunswick, Me., and had also been found in the
quaternary clays at Saco, Me., by Mr. C. B. Fuller. The
association of this shell with Nticula expmisa (antiqua)
in the brick-yard clays gives positive proof that during
the wane of the ice period the shore of Maine was the
home of a truly polar assemblage of marine animals, and
that then as now on this coast these shells were not con-
fined to deep water, but lived in shallow retired bays in
water not over fifty feet in depth.

Throughout the day we were in sight of the butte-like
Bradore Hills, the highest of the three mountains being
1264 feet above the level of the Gulf. As these moun-
tains overlook the scene of Jacques Cartier's explorations
in the Straits of Belle Isle, we would suggest that the
highest of the three elevations be named Mt. Cartier.

On the shores of Bradore Bay are still to be seen, it
is said, the ruins of the ancient port of Brest, which
was founded by the Bretons and Normans about the
year 1500. The ruins are situated about three miles
west of the present boundary of Canada at Blanc Sablon.
Samuel Roberton states in his Notes on the Coast of
Labrador : " As to the truth of Louis Robert's remarks
there can be no doubt, as maybe seen from the ruins and

MOUNT CARTIER.

109

terraces of the buildings, which were chiefly constructed
of wood. I estimate that at one time it contained 200
houses, besides stores, etc., and perhaps 1000 inhabitants
in the winter, which would be trebled during the sum-
mer. Brest was at the height of its prosperity about the
year 1600, and about thirty years later the whole tribe

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THE BRADORE HILLS, THE HIGHEST PEAK MT. CARTIER,

of the Eskimos, who had given the French so much
trouble, were totally extirpated or expelled from that
region. After this the town began to decay, and
towards the close of the century the name was changed
to Bradore."

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IIO A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

By sundown our vessel had made only ten miles, be-
ing off Belles Amours, with a southerly and very light
breeze. The sunset was a glorious one, while the moon
rose through the haze and mirage over the snow-banks
of the Newfoundland coast. At three in the afternoon
we saw several miles ahead of us the fields of ice which
we were soon to encounter, choking up the straits, and
enhanced in apparent extent by the mirage. The Labra-
dor coast, along which we were sailing, is very bold and
bluff-like, with lower points of land reaching out to us
in a picturesque way, the remarkably even outline of the
coast being interrupted by the Bradore Hills.

The dredge was put down about two miles from shore
in from ten to fifteen fathoms on a hard, stony bottom,
with good success. Beautiful specimens of Lucernaria
quadricornis, four inches in height and of a dull amber
brown, came up in the same dredge with that superb
naked mollusc, Detidronotus arborescens, which were of a
beautiful amber hue, dotted with white points. From
the stomachs of fishes caught by some of the party were
extracted specimens of a rare arctic crab {CJiion(£cetes
opilio)y which proved to be not uncommon in from ten
to fifty fathoms in the Straits of Belle Isle.

The next day, from nine in the morning until three in
the afternoon, we moved slowly through the floe-ice,
which proved to be the outskirts of the immense fields
of ice which this summer lined the northern coast of
Labrador. Mr. Bradford kept his photographer busily
at work taking views of the more remarkable forms. The
splendid green hues, so varied and striking ; the endless
variety in the water-worn forms ; the weird noises, now
harsh and grating, now loud and roaring, produced by the

CTENOPHORES IN THE FLOE-ICE.

Ill

attrition of the cakes of ice ground together by the slight
swell or the conflicting currents, lent unending interest
to the scene. The floes had evidently the air of tired
and worn travellers ; they had been borne for at least a
thousand miles from Baffin's Bay ; had been thrown upon
one another by storms and ocean currents, broken and
frozen together over and over again. ; they were now rap-
idly melting away in the bright, warm sun, for the water
was filled with bits of clear dark ice, the fragments of large
floes. Our vessel, her sails scarcely filled out by the light
baffling breeze, rose and fell, ploughing her way through
the yielding floes. The water between the cakes was
alive with bits of animated ice, myriads of transparent
Ctenophores crowding the sea from the surface to a depth
of a fathom or more. The roseate Iciyia, throwing ofif
the most delicate reddish tints, seemed be-
sides to reflect the delicate blues and
greens cast off by the floes ; an Alcinoe-
like form, -floating on its side, with blood-
red tentacles, rose and sank among the ice-
cakes, and with these in lesser numbers
was associated that beautiful spherical liv-
ing ball of ice, the Beroe or PleurohracJiia

1 J J 1 1 T-i Ai- Ti r ^"^''' roseola, nat-

rkoaodactyla. 1 he Alcinoe-like lorm was urai size.
the Mertensia ovum, a creature as fragile as it is beauti-
ful. It is of a delicate pink color, with iridescent hues;
the ovaries bright red, the deep purple-red tentacles in
striking contrast with the delicate tints of the body itself.
From this point until we reached Hopedale in lat. 55^
30' it constantly occurred in the floe-ice, but was rarely
seen in waters from which the ice had disappeared, as in
harbors free from ice the Mertensia would keep out of

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112 A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

view near the bottom ; but as soon as the ice drifted in
and choked up any harbor we were in, myriads could be
seen near the surface, rising and falling between the ice-
cakes, gracefully throwing out their tentacles, which
were nearly two feet in length, and suddenly withdraw-
ing them when disturbed. No true jelly-fish were to be
seen ; the season was early for them, but the beautiful
polar shell-less snail, the Clione limacina, with its long
wings and bright red tints, was not uncommon.

Stopped by the ice early the next morning we came
to anchor at Belles Amours, waiting for a change of wind
to allow a passage past or through the floe-ice. The
coast is high, abrupt, and precipitous. Numerous
streams well stocked with trout tumble into the sea, and
the drift deposits, of limited extent, consisted of coarse
gravels and bowlders of syenite.

We looked for insects, finding nothing of particular
interest, though noticing that the ants had just come out
of their winter quarters. Glad enough were we to find a
snail {Hyalina electrina), and in the mud at the bottom
of the ponds a little bivalve shell (Pistdium) ; under
stones in the brooks were larval stones-flies and Ephem-
erae ; while a little salamander {Plethodon glutinosus)
of a slate color with a paler light dorsal band ran into
the water, to my great disappointment just eluding my
grasp, as it is doubtful if any salamander occurs much
farther north on the coast than this species.

Here the alders were still in blossom, showing that
the season had just opened, though the shadberry, the
golden thread {Coptis) and the bunch-berry {Cornus
canadensis) were likewise in bloom ; on the other hand
the mountain-ash was just unfolding its buds.

THE KILLEK.

113

Dredgings carried on in so shallow water as four and
six fathoms revealed pelicans' feet {aporrhais) in abun-
dance and very fine large Serripes groenlandica, and with
thein in the mud and sand a great abundance of nemer-
tean and other worms, and Amphipod Crustacea, with
fine examples of Cnma bispinosa.

The principal house-owner at this fishing-station was
a Mr. Buckle, who had been out here for twelve years
from Boston. To his comfortable house was attached a
conservatory and garden. Though the scanty soil on
this barren point looked unpromising enough, it was
comparatively rich. He had built his own schooner, a
vessel of thirty tons.

On the beach was the skull of a " killer" ; it had re-
cently been brought ashore and was surrounded by a
number of hungry whelks {Jhiccinuui Hndaiiuii) wiiich
were cleaning off the flesh from the bones. The killer
is the most voracious of the smaller cetaceans, and is the
bulldog among the whales. The head is very blunt, the
skull thick, the jaws powerful, the teeth longer than
those of the grampus. It is at once known when swim-
ming in the water by its high, narrow, pointed dorsal
fm, which projects five or six feet out of water. It at-
tacks with great boldness and pertinacity the right and
finback whales, gouging out from their lips and side
lumps of flesh, and, as Captain Handy told me, is espe-
cially fond of the whale's tongue.

The next day we walked inland, following up the
stream which empties into the Gulf at Belles Amours.
We, however, took the wrong side of the brook and failed
to see the cascade where the stream, as we were told,
falls down over a precipice forty feet high ; but irom a

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114 A SUMMERS CKUISK TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

hill perhaps five hundred feet high, which overlooked the
country, we could trace the course of the hrook for about
two miles, where it ran down a steep ravine, with ponds
on either side, from which flowed streams sending thin
and broken sheets of water over steep precipices. The
lake from which the stream issued was perhaps a mile
long, situated on high land, and a foaming stream poured
into it from the northwest, while farther on in another
depression was probably a second lake like the one in
view. Such is an ordinary Labrador stream — a chain of
ponds connected by rapids or waterfalls. There was a
dreary sameness to the surface of the country, relieved,
however, by a few snow-banks. During our ramble we
heard the familiar liquid notes of the wood thrush, anr^
saw some coots flying over the pond. In the afternor.;
the wind hauled into the eastward and was followed by
rain.

The 24th was misty and drizzly ; the wind east veering
to the northeast. We dredged all the afternoon, part of
the time scraping a coralline bottom. An arctic sea-cu-
cumber (^Pentacta calcigerd) was common in five fathoms
in mud, with the largest Serripes yet met with. The
most interesting form brought up was a beautiful hydroid
{Coryne mirabilis) growing on the red sea-weed (^Ptilota
elegans). It was anchored by its stalk, with bell-shaped
medusae attached, which were provided with four pink
eyes and short, thick, knotted tentacles, the pendant
proboscis being very long, club-shaped and of a pinkish
hue.

While lying at anchor a few boat's lengths from shore
we were visited by two or three weasels, which must
have swum off to the vessel. They were exceedingly

nEI.I.ES AMOURS.

lis

tame, approaching within a foot of my finger even when
it was kept in motion.

On one side of our harbor was, as at Caribou Island, a
sandy beach where the fishermen could haul their nets
for lance. The Newfoundlanders would come here in
their clumsy boats from a distance of eight miles, where
their vessels were at anchor, and seine for lance fish.
Thcv made a oreat deal of noise about it, though there
were only two boats ; one man would stand up in the
stern paying out the net, while the full boat's crew would
row rapidly around the fish, and another man standing up
to his waist jn the water hauled in the net ; in this way
four barrels of fish are often caught at a single haul.

Mr. Phoenix, one of our party, here caught a young
salmon eight inches long. The next day (the 25th)
saw us still weather-bound with thick fog and rain, clear-
ing up towards the evening. In codfish caught at a
depth of fifteen or twenty fathoms we found large fine
specimens of the lobworm (Areincola pzscatoruni) 2iV\6.
a fine polar shrimp {Crangon horcas). To-day I found
the first Cyanca or nettling jelly-fish, the species which
grows on the banks of Newfoundland by the end of
summer, two feet in diameter, with long, trailing ten-
tacles sometimes six fathoms in length ; it is these
feelers, filled with microscopic darts or lasso-cells, which
become entangled with the lines and poison the hands
of the fishermen. As yet not a common jelly-fish, the
Aurelia aurita, had been seen.

The next day we were released from our prison ; a
fresh northwest wind cleared the ice from the shore, and
our good ship made a fine run to Henley Harbor ; time
from 6 A.M. to 3.30 p.m. As we sailed out of the harbor

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A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORIHKRN LABRADOR.

we could see that the low point running out into the
Gulf from the Laurentian background of syenite was the
western extremity of the basin of Cambrian red sand-
stones and grits which extend between Belles Amours
and Anse-au-Sablon. Skirting the coast within a mile
or two of these interesting series of rocks, they are seen
to rise to a height of five or six hundred feet, forming
the coast line, but with a contour tame and monotonous
compared with the syenitic hills of Bradore. The belt is
a narrow one, and while sailing past the shore we could
look up through the harbors and bays to the low coni-

cal hills of Laurentian gneiss in Un

interior. Passing

by Bradore Bay the lofty buttes of Bradore' are seen to
rise up from the low foreground of red sandstone. We
then passed within sight of Greenly Island, where in 1856,
during a severe southwest gale, so sudden and common
in the strait, thirty-one vessels for want of good anchor-
age and shelter were driven upon a lee shore. Parra-
keet Island then hove in sight, a favorite breeding-place
for the parrakeet or puffin, with a single house on it,
the hospitable mansion of a member of the ubiquitous
Jones family, where in i860 a party from our camp on
Caribou Island received board and lodging for which
only thanks would be accepted.

We then sight Blanc Sablon. The land here is high
and descends to the sea in five very distinct terraces, of
which the second is much the highest. There were
huge bowlders of grit on the beach ; the raised beaches
were packed with bowlders and the terraces in general
direction appeared in perspective, as if dipping up the
strait ; like river-terraces they were parallel to each
other, but the lower one gradually dips down and loses

TIIK PRIMOKDIAL SANDSTONES.

117

itself in the water, while another slopes in the opposite
direction. The higher terraces appear as if wooded or
green. There were indeed three shades of green : in the
lower terrace the debris is covered with a pale green
herbage ; the older vegetation is darker, while the upper
rusty green tint is very dark.

At Blanc Sablon, which was originally so named by
Jacques Cartier, the settlement consists of twenty
houses ; they were painted white and from the vessel
appeared like masses of floe-ice stranded on the shore.
Of the houses four are "rooms," or lishing-establish-
nicnts.

We then pass the hshing-settlement of Forteau,'with
a lighthouse on the point, besides about twenty houses,
and a Catholic church. OIT the lighthouse is Shallop
Island ; the harbor is two or three miles deep, walled in
bv vertical cliffs, furrowed and streaked by rain and frost.
Into the harbor empties a salmon stream ; one man here
seems to have the monopoly of the salmon fishery, put-
ting up from twenty to sixty barrels a year ; they are salted
and sent to Europe.

Now as we pass on, the bay opens and at its head
we can see the Laurentian formation, with its low, ob-
tusely pointed gneiss hills ; but the general surface of
the Labrador coast is very uniform, while the opposite
shores of Newfoundland now recede and appear to be
much lower. The strait is about eleven miles wide in
its narrowest part.

Sailing on but half a mile off shore at Anse-au-Loup,
we can plainly see that the Cambrian rocks are red and
gray sandstones — that the strata, almost horizontal, dip
a little to the west, descending to the strait by three

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A SIMMKKS CRUISK lO NoRlllKKN I.AliUA DOR.

lock-lcnacL's or shelves. A lar<i^c brook here plun|Lj:es
in a broad sheet uf foam straight down into the sea. 'I'he
east side of the harl)or of Anse-au-Loup is much higher
than tlie western, tiie surface is irre^uhir, and the but-
tressed steeps recall the Palisades of the Hudson. Tiien
we pass along a beautiful green glacis, and on the
northwest face of the bluff are live terraces, with ihe
sandstone strata slightly inclined. Here on the lowest
bluff are to be seen four terraces (Fig. /?).

In the bay east of Anse-au-Loup, whose shores seemed

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^.TERRACES AT BLANC SABLON ; B, AT ANSE-AU-LOL 1' ; C, TERRACES SEEN
FROM THE MOUTH OF A 3/ Y EAST OF ANSE-Al-I.OUP.

to be well wooded, we can again look through to the
original broken Laurentian rock, and the Cambrian
sandstone (Fig. C) runs out into a low point terminat-
ing in a low, shelving, green glacis. On this point is
the fishing-hamlet of Semedit (a corruption of Saint
Modeste), with but two houses.

The wind freshened off the cliffs, and now sailing on.

HKLLE ISLK.

119

the rouijh and fissured svcnitic coast is in marked con-
trast to (he Cambrian sliorcs we had just lefl. Going
farther on we pass from syenitic to gneiss rocks, which
rise from the water in long swells.

Belle Isle, tlu^ Isle of Demons of theearlv navigators,
now heaves in aight ; the Labrador coast is more sub-
dued, the shores sloping to the water's etlge. There are
no islands along the coast, and within hve miles of
Henley Harbor the rock becomes entirely gneiss in char-
acter, and we lose sight of the rough, hummocky syen-
itic hills, though masses of llesh-red syenite are seen
resting upon the dark gneiss rocks, forming a sea-wall.

Now that notable landmark, the Devil's Dining
Table, appears to view, and we soon distinguish Henley
and Castle Islands, the two latter like two Hat oblong
blocks laid by Cyclopean hands on a foundation of rock.

I' i

CHAPTER VII.

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN I,ABRADOR.

II. HENLEY HARIJOR TO CAPE ST. MICMAEI,.

As we entered Henley Harbor the scene was unique.
The strait was clear of ice, though a few days earlier
the harbor had been packed with it, and remnants were
stranded along the shore or carried hither and thither
with the tides. The outlines of some of the pieces were
beautiful ; many were painted with green tints while
the sun was high, but later in the afternoon the greens
were succeeded by bright azure blues, contrasting with
the almost cobalt blues of the distant Laurentian hills.
The entrance to Henley Harbor is very fine, the sea-
cliffs being over 200 feet high, while behind are the pe-
culiar outlines of the Laurentian gneiss, rising in long
swells like whales' backs to a height of perhaps five or
six hundred feet. Henley Harbor lies under the lofty,
precipitous basaltic cliffs of the Devil's Dining Table,
which caps Henley Island. We sail through a fleet of
Newfoundland fishermen, whose low, thick masts, strong,
' lumsy rigging, and ironed and planked hulks — for they
were sealers, and had not stopped to dofi their ice-armor
— contrasted with the beautiful model, slender, tapering
masts and spars of our fleeter craft. Their decks were
crowded with men, women, and children, dogs and
goats, for these people had, like the old Norsemen,

brought their families and stock with them for a sum-

120

THE SEAL FISHERY,

121

mer's stay on the coast. Ashore, under the dark, beet-
ling crag, lay the fishing-hamlet of Henley Harbor.
The houses were small and mean, the flat roof of some
covered with turf, the grass or moss growing on them,
while the fish-houses and "stages" were of the meanest
description.

After coming to anchor we were boarded by the cap-
tain of one of the sealers, a brigantine of perhaps 140 tons
burden, lately in from Carbonear in Conception Bay.
Her bows and also her sides were planked and heavily
ironed to resist the ice in the spring sealing in the Gulf.
The captain had, immediately after discharging his cargo
of sealskins and blubber — and the smells rising up
through the hold and companion-way j^roved the fact ad
nauseam — only delayed long enough in port to put in
130 bushels of salt, and then cleared for the Labrador
coast without stopping to strip off the outer planking.
The captain was an intelligent, stalwart, English born
man only twenty years old, who had been to sea for six
years. He was frank and communicative, and in half
an hour gave us some insight into the mysteries of fish-
ing and sealing. He had inherited the business, his fa-
ther having been a sealer for fifty years. He owned
the vessel and had brought along a cook ; he took, pas-
sage free, eleven families, numbering 130 souls, men,
women, and children, with goats, dogs, cats, and provi-
sions -for the whole party, and was to land them at some
harbor on the coast north of the Strait, where they
might spend the fishing season in their rude summer
houses, called " tilts."

During the voyage up the women are stowed aft and
in the hold, and in a storm — and when are there two

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122 A SUMMERS CRUISK TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

continuously pleasant days on this coast ? — the hatches
are battened down, the food is handed to them through
a hole in the cabin, and then they are left to take care
of themselves as best they can until the storm clears off,
when the hatches are removed, and the forlorn passen-
gers can take a breath of fresh air.

The captain does not take an active part in the fish-
ing, but makes his profits by charging for freight on the
fish. If the season is a good one and his vessel is soon
filled, he goes back to Newfoundland and charters more
vessels to carry back all the fish which have been caught.
The season lasts from the end of June until about the
20th of October.

The season for the seal fishery during the past spring
was from March 25th until June 4tii. The Gulf, of
course, was filled with ice, no water being in sight from
shore. A successful "catch" of seals is "better than
9000." Each vessel carries fourteen boats, which are
piled up on deck ; four men man a boat ; each man is
provided with a gaff or boat-hook and a piece of ratline
three and one-half fathoms long. On coming up to
where the seals are lying, the crew land on the ice. The
sealer runs up to a seal lying near its hole, which may be
only a rod or so from the vessel or boat, clubs it — and
it is easily stunned and killed with one or two blows —
sculps it, then peals off the skin and blubber, leaving
the carcass on the ice-floe. Each man can tie up five
sealskins, and drag them to the vessel, and sally out
again, rushing ahead and jacing with the other crews of
'* bloodhounds." The scene is one of excitement and
peril, the ice constantly endangering the vessel, which is
liable to be " nipped " and to founder, leaving the ship-

THE SEAL FISHERY.

123

wrecked sealers to burn their vessel and make their way
ashore over the ice. One of Mr. Bradford's most suc-
cessful paintings represents a sealer "nipped" by the
ice, the crew abandoning her after having set fire to their
vessel, and walking with mournful steps over the ice in
the direction of land. The delicate blues of the ice,
the sullen, neutral tints of the sky, the red glare of tlie
flames breaking out of the burning ship, and the warm
tints of the costumes of the men in the foreground,
vividly portray a most tragic scene, enacted only too
often on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

To return to our statistics : a " crew " of sealers im
the ice is composed of fifty men ; each one, if successful,
securing five seals. Two hundred and fifty pelts may
be brought back after each sally from the vessel. In
this way, when the seals are abundant, from 2500 to 3000
sealskins are taken in a single day, 9000 making a cargo.
The shares in the enterprise are ;!^6o each man. The
captain- takes half, "leaving the men in the lurch," as
our informant said, which being interpreted means that
the men realize little or no profits from the voyage.

A sealskin is worth $4.00, a full cargo, perhaps, sell-
ing in the rough to traders for $30,000 or $40,000 ; the
profits on a full cargo are therefore considerable, but the
men's "half," being distributed among a large number,
does not amount to much for each man. This spring
(1864) the seal fishery was a failure.

The young seals are killed by knocking them on the
head with a boat-hook or club, and the old ones by
shooting them with heavily loaded old muskets. The
hunters make holes in the ice and then watch for their
heads to appear above water. Of all the different kinds

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124 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

!i||

of seals, the Greenland or harp seal is the most fero-
cious.

The summer at Henley Harbor was a very backward
one ; the salmon had not yet appeared at the mouths of
the bays and rivers ; nor had the cod and their natural
food, the capelin, moved in from the deep water. The
enormous extent of floe-ice which skirted the coast had
lowered the temperature of the sea ; at the same time
the ice-fields had prevented any icebergs from entering
the Strait. The prevailing winds were cold and easterly ;
the cold climate, the strong tides and the three-knot
Labrador current passing around the cape into and
down the Strait of Belle Isle render navigation here
uncertain and dangerous.

June 27. The light southeasterly wind brought into
the Strait the fog which had lain all the day previous
outside of our harbor, and inland the clouds rested on
the hills ; the day being dark and lowery. In the morn-
ing some of us rowed three miles up to the head of Pitt's
Arm, in Temple Bay, a deep fjord penetrating the high
gneiss hills, into which pours, over a stony channel, a
rapid trout stream about five yards across. The sandy
beach was an ancient sea-bottom containing deep-sea
shells.* On each side of the mouth of the brook were
two terraces ; on the upper terrace, which was about
forty feet above the sea, were two winter houses. I par-
ticularly observed the appearance of these houses. One
was 21X15 feet in size, the walls of upright, thick boards,
the frame of poles ; the flat roof was constructed of poles

* The shells were Buccinum undatum, a variety with two ribs on the whorls;
Saxicava rugosa, Mya uddevallensis, Alacoma proxima, Seriipes groenlandica,
Natica clausa, of large size, and a branching ipo\\zoon, Celleporaria surcularis.

A WINTER HOUSE.

125

placed near together and covered with birch and hemlock
bark, the strips, which were a foot wide, being placed
crosswise; the eaves were scarcely five feet above the
ground, and the floor was in part of boards and in part of
turf. The door, hung on iron hinges, and closed with a
wooden latch and string, was only four and a half feet
high, and there was a single window, 16X15 inches.
Within were three beds and a settle. The lumber for
these shanties had evidently, by the piles of sawdust near
by, been sawn upon the spot and taken from the Labra-
dorian forest of firs near at hand, which measured twelve
inches through at the butt, and were about twenty feet
high. In their branches a robin and a sparrow were flit-
ting about. The willow bushes were here five feet
in height. On the sides of the sandy terraces were
blackberry and raspberry bushes, and currants, shadber-
ries, and golden thread just in blossom, while i..j alders
were still in flower.

I dredged in water about fifty fathoms deep, in
Chateau Bay, bringing up, among molluscs, fine large
Leda permila, Astarte banksii, Lyofisia arenosa, Car-
diu7n islandictim ; rare sandstars, and young and old
arctic crabs {CJiioncecetes opilid).

The 28th was almost wintry in its cold, changeable
weather. A northeast storm raged, with a few drops of
rain and a little snow in the forenoon, while after dinner
there was a thick snow-storm, the hill-tops being whit-
ened with snow for several hours, which, however, disap-
peared by the evening. The water in the harbor was
intensely cold, and the Mertensia and Clione, those
beautiful creatures of the icy seas, abounded.

The forenoon was spent in examining the trap rocks

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A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

I f.

on the harbor side of Henley Island, and in shore-col-
lecting. The rock-weeds or fuci do not grow luxuriantly
on the coast of Labrador, but are stunted and dwarfed,
like their more highly-born relatives of the vegetable
kingdom ashore. Below tide-mark, however, though
the tide on the Labrador coast rises and falls only two
or three feet, the Devil's Apron or Laminaria is seen,
but not so common and laro;^e as on the coast of Maine.
Life between tide-marks is scanty compared with the
New England coast. We never detected the common
whelk that gives the purple dye {Ptirpiira lapilhis) ;
but the two L .lorinas {L. rudis, less commonly L. lit-
toraiis) were common ; these are circumpolar forms,
abounding ai /^e \,.a2r's edjje at Greenland.

In this region scarcely a sea-bird was to be seen, and
rarely even a gull ; but on one occasion three ducks,
while a lonely raven flew about the cliff. Insect life
M^as scanty, and with the animals and plants showed
in its appearance a strange intermixture of what at
home would have been characteristic of early April and
late May. Frogs are seen here, we were told : in the
garden the turnips were just up.

Thirty years ago there was but a single house at
Henley Harbor, and none at Red Bay, where now there
are thirty. The fish ^and birds here, meanwhile, have
vastly decreased in [numbers. The fish are principally
cod, salmon, and herring. Old Captain French, our
pilot, never saw a hake on the Labrador coast, and only
two haddock, though both kinds are abundant and
troublesome to cod fishermen at Bay Chaleur, on the
New Brunswick shore.
(I* Detained another day by head-winds and rain in^ the

DK EDGING.

127

early part of the day, the wind in the evening hauled
around to the S. VV., "giving us a fine evening sky. I
dredged in the morning in the rain over the side of the
vessel in four fathoms, the bottom rich in the red sea-
weed {Ptilota), the Desmarestia, and the sea-colander
{Agarum turneri^, and besides a portly queer-spined
amphipod (^Amp/u'tkonotus cataphractiis), which carried
its brood of young, also bristling with spines, a fine large
Crangmt boreas with other bright red shrimps came up.

NEBALIA BiPES. (Enlarged six times.)

In'the afternoon we sailed out two or three miles to the
mouth of the harbor, and dredged in from ten to twenty
fathoms on a hard, pebbly bottom, evidently the contin-
uation of the beach, and showing that the land was for-
merly at least from one hundred to three hundred feet
higher than at present ; besides Lyons ia aretiosa, Kenne-
rliaglacialis, and othei shells and crustaceans, the interest-
ing A'^^^^/za; bipes was taken: it was also found in as shal-
low water as four fathoms. This form is less than half an
inch in length and is found throughout the Arctic Ocean,
is common on the coast of Norway, and its family is now

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A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORIHERN LABRADOR.

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regarded as the sole existing type of a distinct order
{Phyllocaridd), whose gigantic fossil prototypes, some of
them nearly two feet in length, occur in the palaeozoic
rocks in America and Europe.

The next day also we were wind-bound, but the gale
was from the southwest ; the wind blew very fresh, hav-
ing a good sweep over the Gulf, the breakers ran high,
as nearly all the harbors in Southern Labrador, i.e., south
and west of Belle Isle, are exposed to gales, from this
direction. We put out our kedgc anchor, and fre-
queiilly had to haul in a part of the cable to keep the
vessel off the rocks. We should have put out to sea
and taken advantage of the gale to go on our course up
the coast, but were afraid of running upon a sunken
rock at the mouth of the "tickle" or narrow passage
forming our b-irbor.

A part of the day was spent about and upon the
Devil's Dining Table. This is amass of columnar basalt,
which has been described by Lt. Baddely in the Transac-
tions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec
for 1829. The height of the rock above the sea is 225
feet, to the base of the pillars of basalt 180 feet ; the
height of the columns themselves being 25 feet. The
columns are quite regularly prismatic and of nearly the
same size and nature as those of the Giant's Causeway.

Ascending the terrace, carpeted with the mountain
trident, I climbed up the cliff over the basaltic steps,
by the only means of ascent situated on the eastern side,
where the columns had been worn away by a little
stream, on top of the flat table, which was 125 paces
broad at the widest part. The ends of the prismatic
columns occasionally protruded through the dense

lERRACEI) RP:ACIIES.

129

matted covering of curlew-berry or Empetrum. The
air was cold, chilly, reeking with the sea-drift, and the
gale buffeted my face as if a demon were trying to throw
me over the cliff, down to the sea-margin of former days.

From the summit of the table the view was an inter-
esting one, though the atmosphere was very hazy. Belle
Isle was shut out of sight by a thin bank of fog or thick-
ened vapor which lay on the sea to the eastward. A few
miles up the shore was another cliff of basaltic columns,
the bases of the pillars wrapped in snow. There are in
this bay eleven sea-terraces which mark the former levels
of the sea, eight of which could be seen from the top of
this rock. On the west side the terraces slope towards
the north, while on Castle Island they slope towards the
southwest. The most distinct example of these terraced
sea-beaches lay at our feet, forming the western shore ot
Henley Island (on which the Devil's Dining Table is
situated). This magnificent beach rises 180 feet above
the sea-level, and when the sea covered it the waves
washed the base of the basaltic pillars, as indicated by
the debris of broken columns forming the talus at the
foot of the cliff on which I stood. This beach is com-
posed of three terraces, and the two lower ones widen
out into delta-like expansions on the northwest end of
the island, which are free from the usual covering of moss
and curlew-berry, and are so distinctly marked with
windrows of pebbles and gravel that it would seem as
if they had been but yesterday thrown up by the waves.

Greville's Fort*, as we may name it, the ruins of which

* According to a writer in Harper's Magazine for May, 1864, who describes
this fort and gives a plan of it, the fortifications were, supposed to have been

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130 A summer's CkUISK TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

are quite distinct, was built on a broad terrace not far
above the sea. On the mainland, north a little east, are
three beaches with two terraces, which were beautifully
marked, and corresponded with the two lower terraces
at our feet, though covered with the rich deep green
of the Empetrum leaves. Pitt's Arm and Chateau Bay
are also terraced, the beaches themselves of unequal size
and height, but the terraces, as we should expect, are of
even height throughout, as they mark the former level
of the sea. One of the beaches on Chateau Bay was
remarkably steep, composed of large, sea-worn bowlders,
and overhanging like a precipice the winter houses below.
Indeed, all along the Strait of Belle Isle from the Meca-
tinas to this point, wherever there is sand, gravel, or
bowlders, the sea has, when at higher levels, rearranged
and sorted them into terraced beaches or sea-margins.
The future geologist who visits this coast will have an
interesting task in measuring the heights of these ter-
races and comparing them with those of Northern Lab-
rador, of Arctic America, of Greenland, and northern
Europe. These beaches are also seen in inland river-
courses, and by every pond and lake ; they are not, as
along the coast of Maine and Massachusetts, concealed
by vegetation, bushes or forest growths ; but here, owing
to the absence of bushes and trees, they were as distinct
as if the Labrador peninsula had been upheaved but a
year ago. Darwin has studied the formation of the ter-
races along the coast of South America, where the ele-
vating forces were undoubtedly volcanic, but the nature
of the causes which in the northern hemisphere have re-
constructed by the French Canadian^, by whom it was abandoned in 1753 ;
another author states that it was built by the Acadians.

TKRKACKI) HE AC MPS.

131

suited in the secular elevations and depressions of the
land, such as took place duiinjj^ and after the glacial pe-
riod, is purely conjectural, and belongs to the domain of
theoretical geology. To study the causes we must first
learn the facts, hence the careful examination of the os-
cillations of the eastern coast of America from Aspin-
wall to high polar latitudes is of the first importance.
The measurement and comparison of the ancient sea-
beaches on a coast like that of Labrador and Arctic
America, where they arc so easily perceived, will well
repay the labor and time involved.

Robert Chambers's interesting work on the ancient
sea-margins of Norway and Sweden gives valuable data
for comparison with those of the opposite coast of Lab-
rador, and from the rough observations which have been
made it would seem that the oscillations were about the
same, both in height above the sea, and in time, on each
side of the North Atlantic. I have also seen well-
marked terraces in Puget Sound which are beautifully
marked, and these should be carefully measured and
compared in height with those in the arctic region and
Labrador. It was with no little interest that we ob-
served the old beaches on the Labrador coast, and we
shall note their occurrence in the following pages wher-
ever seen.

We remained on the top of the Devil's D'a.ng Table
until the sun had set and the darkness began to creep
over the scene below. Whether his Satanic Majesty
was concerned in the transformation which then came
over the scene we will not undertake to say, but as the
sun went down the rocks and hills beneath seemed to
diminish in height ; an undefined, subtle, neutral tint

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132

A SUMMKKS CKUISK TO NOR'IHEUN lAURADOR.

spread over the landseape ; a brownish haze due to the
vapor in the air came in from the sea and settled over the
hills far and near, and as the t\vili<»ht came on the hills
were still more dwarfed in size, when the chill southwest
wind from the Gulf, the coldest that blows over this '»v.
posed point, sent us back to our vessel, where the t
mometer at 8 o'clock in the evening was 44° F.

The fishins^-hamlet of Menley Plarbor consists of a
few dwelling-houses, some of them inhabited during the
winter, with fish-houses and light wharves here called
" stages." The winter houses are built of thick boards,
with fiat tarred roofs, the sides of the houses being well
battened. The domestic animal here is the dog, New-
foundlanders — seven of them at one house — brougit up
by the hshermen for the summer : there were no Fskimo
dogs or Eskimos at this point, though in the last jent '
they here congregated by hundreds. The f.h-hc
were rude structures of one low shed, roof'-J with turf
and built on piles, reminding us somew^ ..t of pictures
of the ancient pile-dwellings of prehistoric Switzerland.

The fisherman's sail-boat is a ponderous, cit^-sy affair
called a "jack." It is twenty-five or thirty feei '-^ng,
with not much breadth of beam, rudely built, with shotc
masts, and small sails stained red or black, or with both
colors ; the oars are of spruce, and very large and heavy,
and the stern of the boat is provided with two stakes,
such as whalemen use for sculling.

I interviewed a Mr. Stone, one of the settlers, regard-
ing the fisheries and hunting at this point, and he gave
me the following facts : At the height of the herring
fishery in August — and it should be borne in mind that
this fish is only a summer visitant, not spawning on the

V-

THE KISIIKRIKS.

•33

Labrador coast, hut passiiiij up, as Hind in his work on
the Labrador peninsula states, as far as Hudson's Strait
— Stone has cau<j^ht 200 barrels in a season, i le has to
pay twelve barrels for a hogshead of salt, the j)rice of
which is now (1864) very high. He secures 800 quin-
tals of fish at iS>s. a quintal, which amounts to ^720 for
a successful season's work. He can cure the lish on this
coast during the short summer, and is now building a
shed for this purpose.

Of salmon 180 quintals are taken in a good season ; they
are pickled and sell at the rate of $5.00 a quintal (112
lbs.), so that he would realize about $900 from this fish-
ery ; but considering that he had a family of ten chil-
dren, it is not probable that on the average he more
than comfortably supports his fai-iily, and in many sum-
mers the fisheries on this desolate coast are a failure.
And to show what little chance there is to retrieve his
fortunes by the products of the winter's hunting, he told
me that last winter nothing was shot about Chateau Bay
from Christmas until the first of February. During the
entire winter but a single partridge was shot, while at
the same time they were very abundant at Blanc Sablon,
showing that possibly these birds are somewhat migra-
tory, going in flocks from one point to another in search
of food. There* are now neither beaver nor otter, nor
silver nor black foxes to be had ; only two or three
wolves were shot, and two deer. When I asked him
what the people would do if the hunting and fishing con-
tinued to fall off, he replied hopefully, and in his fisher-
man's dialect, "Oh, we'll have a spurt by and by." He
added that the S.W. wind was in summer "the coldest
wind that blows." Winter comes on in November ; by

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/\ SUMMERS CRUISE lO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

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the loth to the 20th of this month the lakes are all
frozen over, and by the 20th the harbor is frozen far out
into the Strait, while in winter they can go out in
sledges on the ice to Belle Isle.

The people here in general were well-mannered, though
rough and out-spoken, asking freely of our stores, and
commenting as freely on what they considered poor
returns in trade.

To return to the Devil's Dining Table, whose geology
is interesting : it is a high ovate mass with vertical sides
and a flat top, which slightly inclines towards the south-
west, and consists of two layers, showing that the rock
is the remains of two separate eruptions, the lower con-
sisting of regular prismatic five-sided columns, each
about two feet in diameter, fluted on the sides and curi-
ously worn by transverse impressed lines. The basaltic
mass rests upon the upturned edges of strata of Lauren-
".an gneiss which have been penetrated by dikes of sye-
ite. North of the basaltic cap, the underlying rocks

castle island from the west ; a, red syenite ; f>, gneiss ; f, basalt (the
devil's dining-table) ; </, raised beach.

are least disturbed, being reddish gneiss-like or foliated
syenite, crumbling and quite fissile, dipping at an angle
of 50° south, 25° east ; just beyond, this reddish rock
runs into the usual dark Laurentian gneiss of the region.
Upon submitting a specimen of the basalt to Mr. J. S.
Diller, lithologist of the U. S. Geological Survey, he tells
me that it is a doleritic basalt.

At the southeast end of the island, along the shore

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CASTLE ISLAND.

'35

looking out towards Belle Isle, the flesh-colored syenitic
rocks present a rough and broken front to the ceaseless
swell of the Atlantic, rising from seventy-five to a hun-
dred feet above the waves, the beetling crags broken and
pierced by deep ocean caves ; with jutting headlands and
little pebbly beaches nestling between them — all the
characteristic scenic features of this syenite, whether at
Nahant, or Mt, Desert, or on the Labrador coast.

The southern end of Castle Island repeats the geology
and scenery of Henley Island; but a little farther down,
away from the sea-cliffs, the syenite and gneiss meet, and
seemed splashed together, like two masses of paste or
dough which has been stirred up and baked. In places,
both rocks were interstratified, dipping north and south
in much disturbed strata, but with a general inclination
towards the north.

The first of July saw us released from oui prison ; the
day was clear and delightful, and a light southwesterly
breeze bore us along a remarkably bold and picturesque
coast. About two miles from our harbor is another trap
overflow capping and, at the southwest end, concealing
from view the .syenitic base ; at the northern end the
basalt is columnar.

We soon came up to our first iceberg, a magnificent
pyramid of ice perhaps a hundred and fifty feet high,
white as Carrara marble, smooth, as if fresh snow had
fallen on it during the past night, lending it a virgin
whiteness, here and there brought more clearly into re-
lief by the subtle azure blue reflected from the sea.
Across its base ran several suggestive cracks, and though
we sailed within two hundred yards of it, it was rather
risky, and we remembered Scoresby's stories of the dis-

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136 A SUMMER'S CUUISK TO NORTHKRN LABRADOR.

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asters attending the overturning and breaking of floating
bergs. Captain Handy, whose life-long experience as a
whaler in arctic regions made him a good judge, re-
marks as we are passing that a berg will not usually injure
a vessel unless a piece of ice falls upon it, but that the
waves will swamp a boat. At Resolution Island he
rowed past an immense berg, so that it could almost be
touched from the boat, saying to himself, " It won't last
three weeks ;" he had gone scarcely three ship's lengths,
when, with a report like the discharge of a park of artil-
lery, it burst into a thousand pieces, many still forming
large bergs; the boat was put head-to, and nearly filled
with water, but there was no further danger.

Off Cape Charles the coast grows more broken and
hummocky, more so than west of Chateau Bay. This is
partly owing to the fact that we look directly upintotlie
fjords and bays, and that the headlands run out towards
us. We pass Battle Island, a comparatively low island,

A, CAPE CHARLES, 654 FT. B, HARE ISLAND ; ENTRANCE TO CAPE CHARLES

HARBOR. C, CHARLES BAY.

with the " ice-loom " or mirage resting over it. We were
glad to pass Battle Island Harbor, which has a bad repu-
tation, or, to use an Anglicism, is a "nasty" place. The
entrance is very sinuous, the turns short, and the vessel
must answer her rudder quickly when going in. Our
fishermen enter it late in the season, as " it is a place
that holds fish late." Perhaps half of the harbors here
are unknown, and the fishermen seldom have occasion
to enter the innermost ones.

Tllfc: IC1£-PACK AND ICE-BLINK.

137

The ice-pack which we were soon to encounter lay
north and east of us, with the " ice-blink " over it. We
pass Outer Battle Island, and the "Two Sisters," hare,
low islands of nearly white gneiss rock. We now sail
into the ice-pack, and are gradually surrounded by floes,

OUTER BATTLE ISLAND "SEEN FROM THE SOUTHWEST; A, CARIBOU ISLAND.

though they are not near enough to impede our progress.
The shore of Caribou Island — for there are two of this
name on the coast — is of a singular pale gray shade from
top to bottom. The people ashore', struck by our model
and spars, so unlike the other craft on this coast, set the
British flag to ascertain our nationality.

CARIBOU ISLAND, BEARING TWO MILKS WEST.

We pass St. Lewis Bay, a large broad indentation,
with its north shore evidently syenitic, as the sea-wall is
high, and the rocks rough and fissured, and more broken
than lower down ; the headlands of syenite probably ex-
tend out from the gneiss mainland.

The ice-floes become larger and more hummocky than
any we have seen before. A humpback whale now pre-

CARIBOU ISLAND, BEARING WEST.

sents a broadside view of himself, with his angular hump,
small fin, and as he "sounds," reveals the pale underside
of his tail and flukes.

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138 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

At Spear Point the outline of the coast is very rough ;
at the erttrance to Spear Harbor, which is a shallow bight,
there is a high, sugar-loaf island ; two black-sailed " jacks "
are entering it. Cape St. Francis is a bold, syenitic head-
land. Over Square Island, which now comes in sight,
being fifteen miles ahead, there is a fine mirage, with
castle-like, shadowy forms resting on the rock. We are
now sailing between the ice-pack and the shore, one
nearly as solid in appearance as the other. The wind is
still off shore, but should it change to the eastward the
ice would come in upon us and choke up the bays and
harbors. Behind us is a pale bluish haze which passes
into a well-marked mirage, and as we sail on it raises the
higher points of the land beneath and expands above
with weird, strange effects. Beyond us the mirage mag-
nifies the larger floes into huge bergs.

NORTH SIDE OF FISHING SHIP HARBOR.

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In St. Francis Harbor is a " room " and a " look-out "
house ; a small bay beyond appears to be filled with ice.
The coast at Fishing Ship Harbor is unusually rough
and broken, like the waves of a chop-sea ; and there ap-
peared to be two terraces at this point, the upper one
very high, but whether of gravel or of rock was difficult
to distinguish. The wind now become very changeable
and baffling, veering from one point to another ; and our
progress was compared by the Captain to sailing up
the Potomac. Passing by perpendicular sea-cliffs, and a

OCCASIONAL HARBOR.

bold headland on which are dead spruce trees, the rock
on the north side of Occasional Harbor changes its char-

OCCASIONAL HARBOR.

acter, becoming a gray, Labradoritic syenite, like what
we afterwards found on Square Island.

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CHAPTER VIII.

A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

III. FROM CAPE ST, MICHAEL TO HOPEDALE.

Cape St. Michael rises from the sea in the boldest,
most vertical cliffs we had yet seen ; they are perhaps
from two to three hundred feet high and pierced by
five caves, one very large and deep, and another oven-
like. In one of the bights indenting this promontory
there are four irregular but well-marked rock-terraces in
the gneiss cliffs. On a following headland the syenite
is seen to be interstratified with much-distorted gneiss
strata, and penetrated by a deep fissure with remarkably
fresh and angular sides. At the head of the bight is
quite a forest of spruce. We are now off St. Michael's
Bay, at the mouth of which is Square Island, with Sugar
Loaf Island just beyond, and now the contours of the
land-surface again begin to be rough and broken.

We run in here to make a harbor, and as we enter it
a pleasant breeze blows off shore ; it is refreshing in its
warmth and in the balsamic flavor of the spruce and
firs of the interior. We are now in a completely land-
locked little box of a harbor in Square Island, the three
"tickles" or narrow passages leading into it not in sight
from where we were to lie moored.

While our vessel, which had come in by the wrong
tickle, was, by a process of towing, and at times by
taking advantage of slight puffs of mind, slowly work-

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SQUARE ISLAND HAKHOR.

141

ing into her deep little harbor, where she anehored in
thirteen fathoms, some of us landed, and what a scene
lay before us ! On every square rod of flat rock on the
steep sides of the harbor was a Newfoundlander's " tilt"
or summer house. The sides made of logs or })lank, the
roof of turf, a square chimney of wood and mud. the
four corner-posts projecting above. They were scattered
about on the rocks like bee-hives, under the shelter of
the cliffs on a low promontory, while the landing-places
or " stages" were supported on long poles.

In the miniature garden-lots some of the children
were turning the sod with rude spades, others were
bringing soil from the naked rocks about into protected
places where they were to attempt the cultivation of a
few turnips and cabbages. On the shores of the harbor
was a narrow margin of grass enriched by the drinpings
of years from the fish-flakes which, supported on stakes
like those on the Maine coast, ran down in parallel rows
to near the water's edge, where were ground-flakes, or
floors of poles lying on the ground. The sides of the tilt
were here and there ornamented with a sealskin tacked
against the wall. The houses of the " long-shore-men,"
or those of the permanent residents, were clapboarded
and a little better looking than the tilts. It was warm
and truly delightful ashore, the wind coming from over
the hills and mosses ; the thermometer was 70° F., and
we learned that for two days it had been unusually
warm and pleasant.

The insects formed an assemblage which in northern
New England would be regarded as a mixture of April
and early June forms, Corethra and Tanapus, two gnats,
which in New England are April forms, mingled with

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142 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

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saw-flies which appear with us early in June. The leaf-
rolling moths had not yet appeared ; a few bumble-bees
were humming their familiar tune, but, as we thought, in
a subdued minor key.

Just before sunset we climbed a steep round hill, rising
perhaps 500 t^ 800 feet above the harbor, and what a
strange, peculiar scene was spread out before us ! Far
inland to the westward there was a fire in the woods,
and the smoke filled the air towards the interior and was
carried far seaward ; the sunlight passing through the
smoke gave a strange appearance to the glowing western
sky, the transformed light falling bronzed and red upon
the broad bay dotted with " skiers," or small low islets ;
and tinging the distant hills, one of which, a mountain
mass of gneiss, seemed to be over a thousand feet high.

In the evening it grew cool and damp : a large cake
of floe-ice higher than the rail of our vessel floated down
upon us and stranded on the shore. All through the
night there was a continual sound of running water
dripping in streams from its under side, the gurgling and
trickling keeping one awake.

The next day was cloudy, with a southeast wind, so
that we could not venture out of our harbor. I went
with a party of trout fishers from our vessel to a chain
of lakes containing, besides a few small trout, eels and
sticklebacks. The insects were more abundant in the
sheltered valleys than along the shore. In the shallow
ponds were chrysalids of the stone-flies and case-worms,
the latter having been found in the larval condition at
the Mecatinas. There were also pupal dragon-flies,
and under the moss and green herbs on the side of a

GEOLOGY OF SQUARE ISLAND.

»43

little rill, earthworms, groundbeetles, cutworms, and
the maggots of the crane-fly.

Here mingled with an Empetrum-like plant was the
Andromeda poli/oh'a,\w\i\\ buinl)le-l)ees probing its deep
flowers ; sedges were in flower, one like our Carcx penn-
sylvanica and perhaps representing it in the Labrador
flora ; the leaves of the hackmatack or larch were half
an inch long, but the birches and mountain-ash were
not yet fully leaved out ; blue and white violets were
sprinkled among the low sedges, while the flowers of
the cloud-berry were now dropping off". The Viburnum
lantanoides was scarcely full-leaved ; the bunch-berry
{Cornus Canadensis) was either in bud or else with
small green flowers. The gold-thread, or Coptis, was in
full flower ; the flre-weed (^Epilobium auQusii/olium)
was but six inches high, the buds not yet apparent.

Robins were singing in the old familiar way, and the
white-crowned sparrow was flitting about as if thor-
oughly at home and rather enjoying the desolateness of
the scenery.

The geology of Square Island harbor is varied by the
presence of a peculiar dark syenite due to the labrador-
ite which replaces the flesh-colored feldspar of the syen-
ite to the southward, while there are large masses of
dark green actinolite with a little quartz, and some iron
pyrites. This peculiar eruptive rock is weathered into
high rounded conical sugar-loaf hills, which lends a
peculiar feature to the scenery of the coast. At certain
points this rock passes into a finely-grained gneiss, with
the scenic features of that rock, but yet combined with
an added feature due to its granitoid character ; the
rock crumbles rather easily, and on the shores of the

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144

A SUMMKKS CKUISK TO NORTIIKKN LABKADOK.

i''

harbor and lakes, blocks of all sizes, angular or weather-
worn, fall clown, (lisru{)te(l by the frost. No boulders,
i.e. trav^elletl rocks, were to be seen. The masses of
labradorite are translucent and opalescent, but still not
of the precious variety, of which, however, I afterward
puicliased fine specimens from the Moravian missionaries
at llopedale. No drift or glacial scratches were to be
seen about here, and none had yet been observed on the
coast, though they were of course always in my thoughts,
and r was disappointed at not finding any, attributing
their absence to the rapid weathering of the rocks on
this coast.

The deep broad bay at whose northern entrance
Square Island is situated must have been fdled with
glacial ice, as the skiers or low islets of gneiss dotting its
surface had evidentlv been ground down and moulded
into their present forms by land ice.

The rock terraces observable here were interesting ;
they were ten or twenty feet high, with the vegetation
growing at the foot of the little vertical precipices. On
their upper third the hills about our harbor were bare,
where in similar situations in the Strait of Belle Isle the
rocks would be covered with a thick and matted growth
of Empetrum and reindeer moss. The steep precipitous
sides of the hills facing the harbor plunge naked and
dark into the water, and from their summits we cnn 1' ok
directly down upon the decks of the vessels *■ ^vnor,
overlooking the " tilts" and "stages" on shore

In the afternoon the vicissitudes of a dredger in such
a harbor as this were well illustrated. I put my dreuge
down at the depth of thirty fathoms at the mouth of a
" tickle," and the results were plenty of a little snail

THK SKAI. FISHERY.

'45

(^Margarita cinerea), the dead shells tenanted by little
hermit-crabs; the two varieties of Mya trnncata, two
beautiful ten-armed starfishes (^Solaster papposa), beau-
tifully roseate in the centre, as well as at the middle and
lips of the fincrcrs ; the omnipresent knotted sand-star
{ Ophioolypha nodosa) with fine gray and red shrimps,
and mingled with the deep-water forms were two littoral
species, the common edible mussel and the Littorina
rtidis. Another hard pull — and dredging in thirty
fathoms by hand, in these days of donkey engines and
steamers, with all the paraphernalia of the modern
dredge, is no fun — over a rocky bottom and not a thing
in the dredge was a disappointment, while the third
pull off a steep })recipice brought up the dredge filled
to the brim with a soft ooze, containing only two or
three worms and a few dead shells.

On Sunday, the 3d, services were conducted by Rev.
David A. Wasson, one of our party. About twenty of
the fishermen came aboard, and after the meeting we
found them very communicative, the sole topic of con-
versation, that which is the staple talk on these shores,
being the fisheries, both of the cod and seal. One sealer
of 120 tons during a cruise of three months laid in a
cargo of i4<S tons of seal's fat obtained from 4700 seals.
Last year (1863) twenty to thirty sealing-vessels were
lost in Green Bay, and six hundred men were obliged
to abandon their vessels and walk home, "with nothing
but their boots," on the ice which was packed in towards
the shore. A few remained aboard. March was an open
month, while April was cold and frosty; "the ice was
packed in 25 or 30 feet, making it bad for the sealers."

On inquiring of an old Newfoundlander why they

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146 A summer's CKUISE to northern LABRADOR.

had been driven ofif of their own fishing-grounds and
obliged to spend the season on this coast, he replied,
"Oh, it was the French. Our fishermen have been on
this coast for seventy years. It was after the treaty
that the French began to fish from Cape St. John
around to Cape Ray, and for forty-six years we have
come up here in this way. By this treaty the French
were not allowed to take anything away from the shore,
nor to cut timber above a certain size, and were not,
and still are not allowed to reside on the island of New-
foundland. They leave from fifty to seventy men to
take care of the fishing establishments or ' rooms, ' an
officer being set over every ten men to keep them in
subordination, while a doctor is stationed at each ' room.
The men live like dogs, cooking out of doors ; they are
allowed the first catch of fish for themselves. They
cook Sundays— after early morning prayers — and work
the rest of the day." It is needless to add that the French
are looked upon as intruders by the English settlers.

The Newfoundlanders themselves, at least the poorer
families, are obliged to fish on credit, running in debt
for their outfit, which is worth £igo, including salt.
When the season is over and the fish is sold, they may
clear ;^i5, as they often obtain 350 quintals of fish.
The "longshoremen," of whom there are here seven
families, are sadly improvident, often giving up fishing
towards the last of the season and idling ; hence as the
result, when the traders have failed them, they are re-
duced, as happened last winter, to actual starvation.
Owing to the lack of fresh meat and vegetables they are
afflicted with the scurvy. One man thus sulTering
showed me one of his legs, which was swollen nearly

^•..»^i.«:.li'J

THE WALRUS.

'i I

twice the size of the well one, and covered with purple
spots. I asked them how they spent their time in the
winter, and they said : " Oh, we get a stick of firewood "
— and it is not much more. But a single deer was shot
here last winter by these thriftless people, while the Es-
kimo, who cpme down from "the nor'ard" in their dog-
sledges, shot fifteen.

The walrus at times appears as far south as this harbor,
one having been shot about fifteen years ago. It evi-
-■^ntly made an impression on the minds of the " long-
si. jremen," as the circumstances of its appearance were
treasured up for years after. It lifted its head above the
water near a boat with a single man in it, who was nearly
frightened out of his wits, as he " thought it was the
devil." His web-footed majesty sank beneath the waves
to reappear to the same man three-quarters of a mile
away, who was not too much terrified to throw as a
peace-offering to the monster a herring, which it swal-
lowed and then disappeared.

By daylight this morning the ice began to come into
our snug little harbor, brought in by an east wind ; it
drifted in during the day, completely sui^rounding the few
vessels at anchor ; though it was a warm, pleasant day,
and the thermometer was 70° at noon, by night it grew
cold, reaching 39°. The ice often comes in through the
narrow "tickles," and becoming imprisoned, remains
until a strong west wind blows it out. In this way large
icebergs frequently come in, as the tickles are about thirty
fathoms deep, there being no friendly bars at the en-
trance to detain these unwelcome visitors. On one oc-
casion, a Saturday night, as a man told me, an iceberg " as
tall as a steeple" floated in as if to make a safe harbor,

f/LA

148 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

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and became anchored within fifty yards of his " stage. "^
Just after he and his family had gone to bed, the berg
broke to pieces — " foundered " — and nearly swamped his
boat, but did not carry away his stage, which was built
upon a rock, though the waves washed a row of punch-
eons off from a neighbor's stage and entered the house,
driving out the occupants.

Of the personal appearance and habits of the majority
of the summer residents there is not much to be said.
Living in dirty, forlorn tilts, smoked and begrimed with
dirt, the occupants in some cases thoroughly harmonize
with their surroundings: their features and hands are
smoked as dark as the herring they eat, and their rough
life is more or less demoralizing; but certainly law and
order are well maintained on the coast, and no cases of
immorality came to our ears.

The Fourth of July saw us still ice-bound. We could
easily walk ashore over the floe-ice ; some of the floes
were higher than our vessel's rail, it being next to impos-
sible to force our boat through the too narrow "leads'
between the cakes. Our surroundings were thoroughly
arctic; the harbof choked with ice-cakes, while the high,
dreary cliffs, rising on every side, made the outlook so
polar and frigid that only a live white bear in the fore-
ground was needed to enhance the resemblance.

This glorious day was celebrated by the imprisoned
party as best they could. At nine o'clock in the morn-
ing a salute was fired from twenty-four gun-barrels, the
largest number we could muster. The exercises of the
forenoon consisted of a prayer by Rev. Mr. Wasson, and
an oration by a member of the legal profession, Mr. Ham,
followed by the John Brown song. For our dinner we

CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY.

149

had a fresh salmon and canned peas, excellent after-
courses, washed down with champagne brought out
with especial reference to the occasion by Mr. Phoenix.
The evening was thick and foggy, and at sunset the
American flag was again saluted and cheered, and the
ship's bell rung, due response being made by the people
ashore and by the crews of the other vessels, wliili- the
captain of one of the Newfoundland vessels politely
sent up rockets, Roman candles, and burned Drum-
mond lights. The effect of the fire-works in the fog and
mist, the glare reflected from the ice into the sky and
upon the surrounding cliffs, the cheers and shouts, which
were prolonged to after eleven o'clock at night, all made
a scene, we venture to say, never before witnessed by
Labradorians.

Before dinner a party was equipped and armed to the
teeth to go on land and look up a black bear which was
seen ashore yesterdav. I joined them with my insect-net.
We j)ushed and shoved through the ice, at times haul-
ing the boat over some refractory floe. A cloudy, misty
day is anywhere unfavorable to insect life, but on this
coast scarcely an insect is then to be seen, so I turned
my attention to ^-e tilts and jacks. A raccoon's skin
was shown us, and we were told that four or five years
since two white-bear cubs were captured near here and
carried into St. John's, while a large white or " water
bear" was shot last week up at Tub Island. This proved
not to be a fish story, as Mr. Bradford afterwards secured
there a good skin which was destined to adorn his New
York studio on Tenth Street. A white bear's skin with-
out the head is worth more than that of a black bear,
for which six dollars is asked.

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150

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

The next two days were climatically repetitions of the
Fourth, a light easterly wind holding the ice in the har-
hor. Going ashore' over the cakes, we spent the day in
entonnologizing, and here the first grasshopper occurred,
found floating in the water of a pool ; at first I thought
it was a wingless form called Pezotettix, from the short-
ness of its wing-covers, but it proved to be an allied
winged form ; two other wingless specimens were the
next day found on the hill-side ; a thousand-legs {jftdus)
also occurred under the leaves and sedges.

The highest hill in sight from the deck of our vessel
was measured by Captain Handy from sextant observa-
tions, and found to be 397 feet above the harbor ; a hill
behind it rose to a height of over 400 feet ; another
higher hill, used as ?■.. lookout, was about 800 feet high ;
the mountain across the bay must therefore be not less
than 1,000 feet high, while those in the interior, near the
head of the bay, seen from the lookout, were probably
not less than 1,500 feet in height. Looking out to sea
from this high elevation the ice was everywhere in view
with leads between the floes, and here and there a vessel
caught in them, besides two broad, massive bergs ap-
parently forcing their way through the ice-field. On the
top of this hill we were in a region of transported rocks,
genuiniC ice-borne bowlders, which could be seen on all
sides dotting the tops of the neighboring hills ; they were
of all sizes, an occasional rocking-stone among them ;
one huge rock was nearly forty feet long and fifteen feet
high. Many were overgrown and partly concealed by
the matted growth of the curlew berry ; bowlders are
also seen scattered over the bottoms of the shallow
ponds, and in the brooks and streams. They appear to

FRESH-WATER SHELLS.

151

have travelled but a short distance from their native
rock, as they are mostly large and angular, though some
are well rounded. The hill-tops, as well as the sides,
have been moulded by ice, roches mojiton^es being as dis-
tinctly marked here as in New England, and the ice
must have moved from the north, a little west ; but owing
to the weathering of the surface of the rocks in this
severe climate, no grooves could here be found to
determine the exact course of the ice. The ranges of
hills, however, and the longer diameter of the ice all
have a N.E. and S.VV. course, while the bays and fjords
ran in a N.W. and S.E. direction, and this was the
course in general taken by the land-ice.

Going ashore again after dinner and following up the
chain of lakes, I saw a prostrate canoe or paper birch a
foot in diameter, and another one, also lying clown, but
smaller, only eight inches thick — good-sized trees for
Labrador: also spruce trees ten inches through. In the
ponds the cow-lily was just beginning to bud, though
not yet reaching the surface; a little cyclas-like bivalve
{Pisidiutn steenbuchii), hitherto only known to occur in
Greenland, was common in the mud at the bottom of a
brook, while a slug (Limax agrestis) was found ashore,
under a stone, just laying its pellucid eggs ; and in an-
other brook was found a fresh-wate'- sponge. A robin's
nest containing three eggs with young nearly ready to
hatch was detected on the bough of a spruce, and it is
most probable that this bird raises but a single brood of
young on this coast. Under a hummock of moss and
sedges lay concealed a dormouse's nest. The curlew-berry
was still in blossom, its flowers like those of the blue-
berry, but of a beautiful pale purple. About the inner-

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A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LAKRADOR.

most lake were, besides spruce, balsam firs and larches,
I he latter six inches thick ; the Kahnia glaiica^ or arctic
laurel, as it may be called, was just beginning to flower.

The 6th closed cold and damp : the northeast wind had
packed the ice in our harbor thicker than ever, while the
thermometer went down to 38° F. The fishermen, how-
ever, manaijcd to seine a few cod and herrino.

The morning of the 7th was the coldest we had expe-
rienced, as the ice formed around our vessel between the
cakes of floe-ice. After a good deal of exertion a few
of us managed, after mucii tugging and pushing and
forcing the ice-cakes apart, to get ashore in a boat ; but
we had, on returning, to leave our boat ashore and walk
back to the vessel. Here I found, my fingers numbed
with the cold, the caterpillar of \iXo\)2\)\y Arctiaijuciiselii
on the larch, which also occurs on the Alps, the moun-
tains of Norwa)^ and in Greenland and Colorado. It
was a truly mimetic or protective form, as on first sight
it looked like a bunch of moss so common on these trees.
At noon it began to rain, and a regular northeast storm
set in. Through the next two days (the 8th and 9th) we
were still ice- and wind-bound, with cold, rainy weather.
Sunday the loth was a repetition of the three preceding,
although part of the day the wind was from, the south-
west. 1 he fishermen reported a fight outside of the
harbor l)etween a whale and a killer and sword-fish, in
which the whale got worsted, turning exhausted upon
his back. The night ended in rain, which continued
through the next morning ; the wind was at first south,
then southwest, and at night again returned to its fa-
vorite quarter, the northeast, with very cold weather.
During the day there were some strange cloud effects, the

IIIK COD-FISH ERV.

153

higher belt of clouds moving from the southwest, while
below the fog scudded in from the east. After supper a
squall froip. the west struck us : this carried the ice off-
shore some distance, but from the lookout we could see
the ice-pack closely hugging the shore to the northward
of our harbor, and we beheld a few icebergs, huge cubi-
cal blocks, rising above the ice-pack. We hope to get
out to-morrow, as several vessels have come in which
left Henley Harbor on the day we did, and which have
been ice-bound in Fox Harbor, just above us.

The people com})lain of the lateness of the season :
the ice holding so late and in such an immense and
unusual quantity is, they say, " killing the cod-lisherv."
We had found a few days j)reviously what we supposed
to be young capelin an inch long, with the tail still heter-
ocercal, and thev are now coming inshore to breed. This
interesting little fish, so valuable as bait in fishing for
ei)d, remains near the coas»; through the winter in deep
water, and is often found in the bay.

The ice having temporarily left the harbor, we could
again dredge, and we had excellent success; the number
and variety of marine animals, all purely arctic in type,
being very pronounced.

Here, more abundantly than elsewhere, though in
deep water, occurred large sea-anemones {Mctridium
niarginatum) and gorgeous sea-pinks (^Urticina crassi-
i'orms), with slashes of red on a flesh-colored ground,
and as beautifully painted as any carnation, besides
shrimps with not less delicate flesh-red and vermilion
tints. The colors of arctic marine animals are some-
times pale and lifeless, but more often of rich salmon and
flesh tints; passing into deep red. W^hy deep-sea forms

i ■:

154 A summer's CKUISK to northern LABRADOR.

when highly colored arc always of some shade of red is
not yet well understood, but such is the case with holo-
thurians, starfish, sandstars, crabs, and shrimps, as well
as polyps and molluscs, whether living at the depth of
100 or 1,000 fathoms. This evening a trader came into
port, which had been in eleven harbors since leaving us
at Salmon Bay.

The 1 2th was another of the long, long, weary days
of the fortnight spent in watching and waiting for our
release from this now detestable harbor, more like a
rocky cage than a haven of rest. I went a-dredging
and lost my dredge at the first haul on a rocky bottom,
which added to the aggravations of the weather, and
left but one other for the rest of the summer's work.

The bay was now full of capelin ; cod were also be-
ing netted as well as salmon, which is said to disappear
from here about the 15th of August. Salmon, by the
way, were here worth 40 cents apiece ; at Henley Harbor
we paid fifty cents for one. The cod are now breeding,
as the spawn is full and ripe, and their livers are poor
and lean. Now the " stages " presented busy scenes, as
there was a " spurt o' fishing " ; one day seven quintals of
cod were pitched out of the boats upon the wharf ; here
the men leave them, turning them over to the tender
mercies of their wives and sweethearts, and it is to be
hoped that the gentler sex on this coast are not in other
respects so fierce and sanguinary as when left alone with
the cod. The " headers," in petticoats tucked up so as
to show their homespun stockings and stout shoes, their
sleeves rolled up and in their hand a formidable knife,
in an instant seize the cod's lifeless corse, and with a
dexterous stroke behead it ; the body is thrown to the

THE FLOE-ICE.

155

"gutter;" the woman or maiden thus styled slits up the
belly, tears out, like an augur of old, the entrails, but
doesn't stop to inspect them, throws the livers into a
hogshead, and the disembowelled fish to the "splitter;"
another girl or woman grown, known by wearing a mit-
ten on the left hand, who attacks the fish on the reverse
side from the "gutter," makes a deep cut along each
side of the back-bone, dexterously but with her mittened
sinistral hand shies that important part of the fish's
skeleton into the harbor, while the fish, after receiving
this threefold treatment, is emphatically slapped into a
sled-barrow and carried to the other end of the low
shed to be salted, when it is ready for the flakes.

While on shore we saw at one of the houses a musk-
rat's skin, which had a much better, finer fur than those
at home.

On the 1 2th the wind veered from the north to the
northeast, and it lighted up so decidedly towards noon
that we hoped to get to sea. After dinner, Mr, Brad-
ford went out in the whale-boat to get a view of an ice-
berg, which he sketched from afar off. It was sur-
rounded by cakes of floe-ice, which assumed a wonderful
individuality. One in particular impressed itself on my
memory : it was a lily done in ice, which nodded and
swayed to and fro in the gentle ocean swell like a
veritable flower moved by a summer's breeze; anotiier
was like a woman's torso : and so passed in review a
series of animal and plant-like forms of every conceiva-
ble shape, while mingled with the white ice were smaller
pieces of dark, colorless ice which may have been sev-
ered from some arctic glacier. But before the artist's
study was fairly made, the insidious northeastern breeze

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156 A summkk's cruisk to northern i.ahrador.

deployed a few skirmishers from the edge of the pack and
soon l)rought the whole floe upon us. Down it came,
borne by the wind and the Labrador current, at the rate
of three or four miles an hour. Tt closed in at Cape
Bluff to the north of us. We ran before the wind, soon
leaving in the distance the twin bergs, with their myr-
midons of the floe. On entering the tickle we found
ourselves completely surrounded, well-nigh cut off from
our harbor, but by dint of tacking and pushing the cakes
to one side with our oars, and running over some smaller
floes which ji'nasheel and ground harshly on our boat's
bottom, wc got thiough just in time to escape being
completely shut out. Not so, however, a boat's crew
which had hurried out to pull up their salmon -nets,
and who did not appear until long after we had boarded
our vessel.

Our box of a harbor was again jaiTjmed full of ice,
eight vessels riding at their hawsers, all ice-bound. And
now looking through the pellucid water between the
cakes of ice, our old arctic friends the Mertensia and
Clione, welled up from below, seeking the surface, as
cold and calm as the ice itself.

As the sun went down the fog succeeded the ice'; but
it hung low, leaving the blue sky above us, screening
our craft even from the shore and in part from the
neighboring vessel. Before the twilight fell the rays of
the sun, then an hour high, passing through the mist
gave rise to a "fog -eater," a broad, diffused rainbow,
which was dispelled as the moon rose and peered in over
the sides of the screen of fog.

Ainong the late arrivals was a Newfoundland fishing-
smack which had two crews aboard, and with them six

ICEBERGS.

'57

women, all unmarried, two of them mere <iirls, who lived
in the same cabin witii the men, but stowed away in
dark holes and corners of the apartment. They were
paid from /lo to ^lo, ys. for the voyage of live months,
or a little over a dollar a week, and their work was to
" head," " <ijut," split, and salt the lish. Everythin<i about
the interior was forlorn, dirty, j^reasy, and not a soul
aboard had apparently washed for weeks.

We remained one more day in Square Islantl Harbor,
the 14th, which ended in a thunder-shower and a west-
erly squall, which cleared the harbor of ice and gave
promise of release from our two weeks' imprisonment.
It was warm and sultry in the forenoon, the westerly
wind bringing" in swarms of moscjuitoes and black-flics,
especially annoying while 1 was ashore beating the herb-
age and bushes for insects.

On the 15th we slipped out of our stone jug at
Square Island, and with a mild southwest breeze, which
freshened in the afternoon, we gaily picked our way
through the ice and amongst the icebergs up the lane
between the shore and the ice-pack, now fairly shoved
to the eastward some miles from land. At noon, after
making about ten miles, we lay to near a superb marble-
white berg, weather-, rain-, and wave-worn, broad at the
base, indented by a deep bay, into which the sea-swell
rushed and foamed. Wasson and Phcoenix got out their
boat and rowed around it; Bradford made studies in oil
of its many phases, its blues so impossible to thoroughly
catch, as well as its ineffable purples. Another berg was
like a huge block of city buildings, the foundations hun-
dreds of feet beneath the waves ; another was a huge

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158 A summer's TRUISE to northern I.AHRAnOR.

pyramid stranded near an island, and looked like a gla-
cier descendinji^ its precipitous sides.

As we go on through the watery lane huge floes swing
oflf shore and are borne down past us by the strong
Labrador current ; the bays are still choked with ice
which the southwest wind is forcing to the seaward.
The ice is remarkably hummocky; worn into the most
fantastic shapes. The coast has the same rude, broken,
tossed, and disquieted appearance as about Square Island,
but with more of the high conical sugar-loaf islands of
Labradorite rock, such as we were now to see all the
way to Hopedale.

At Seal Island the "Domino gneiss " of Lieber ap-
pears, protected seaward by high islands intermixed
with low gneiss "skiers," and as we press on the shore
becomes much lower, the coast -line straight and but
little broken ; but as we approach the Isle of Ponds
the shore seaward becomes high and bold, perhaps 300
to 400 feet, with lofty sea-cliffs. These are formed by
the dolerite or trap rock which has penetrated and over-
flown the gneiss. The scenery of these trap overflows
is quite novel. The seaward side of Spotted Island is
of trap rock, and on the west the gneiss rock is low and
very slowly slopes towards the channel which separates it
from the Isle of Ponds ; there are also two or three trap
islets which rise out of the water. Going ashore and as-
cending one of the trap hills, perhaps the remnants of
some old volcanic crater which rises out of the sur-
rounding gneiss, I can take a view of the whole island,
see other trap hills rising out of the gneiss plain, which
is studded thickly with shallow pools and lakes sunk in
the peat, and is low and flat compared with the coast ten

iiOMINO HARIJOK.

«59

:h
in

miles to the suulli ; while northward this low land or
basin stretches away for several miles, while twenty or
thirty miles inland the country rises into hijjfh hills and
mountains, the highest summit rising perhaps 1,500 feel
above the level of the sea. This range or grou[) of peaks
was probably the Mealy Mountains situated on the
northern side of Sandwich Bay.

The low plain before us evidently belonged to a dis-
tinct geological system from any that we had yet seen ;
it rested in a depression or basin of Laurentian gneiss,
and was called by Lieber the " Domino gneiss," and
probably belongs to the Upper Laurentian system.

The plain is worn smoothly, and slopes gradually
toward Domino Harbor ; scattered over it are patches of
large cobble-stones, which indicate that it was once a
raised ocean-bottom, now at least 125 feet high, which
reached to the base of the angular masses of trap rock
capping the gneiss elevation. Strip off the scattered
masses of matted growth of curlew-berry and crant)erry,
and the smooth, wave-worn, pebbly surface would seem
as if but yesterday won from the dominion of the sea.

Domino Harbor, or Domino Run, as it is called on the
chart, is a broad, deep fissure which nearly divides the
island in two, the shores vertical though not very high,
with fishing-houses along the western side, under which
were moored seven brigs with their sails " unbent," the
bare masts rising but slightly above the cliffs. Not a
tree or bush is to be seen in any direction, only low
spreading masses of willow, belonging to two species :
one of them just beginning to throw out its catkins ; the
other, with small, acute glaucous leaves, had done flower-
ing. Running over the leaves of the willow was an

'I'j'j

l6o A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

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arctic ground-beetle {Carabus groenlandicus), which had
not before been found south of Greenland.

Here was the best summer-house we had yet seen,
well built and tolerably attractive ; two pleasant, wom-
anly faces within, and a spaniel lying in front of *^he
door. Captaui Duff, the proprietor, had a spacious
wharf or stage and a well-kept fish-house, while he had
arranged the white quartz pebbles in an attractive way
to form a drying-floor or flake, instead of using poles ;
and the walk from the stage to the house was neatly
made of short poles, forming a corduroy-path. Another
toad was here seen, which some one had brought from
the head of the bay; the man said that they were only
known to l)e found here and in St. Michael's Bay. We
also were told that a polar bear was killed here two
months ago.

VVe reached this harbor early in the afternoon, and
some of the vessels which we had passed on the way
after awhile came in and dropped their anchor near us ;
others sailed on all night, but gained nothing in the end.
We astonished the natives and fishermen as we sailed
past their slower craft — of which we passed to-day about
thirty ; some would in a flattering and good-natured way
hold out a rope's end, asking to be towed. They told
us they had seen ninetv sail that day in the sound lead-
insf to the harbor.

In dredging at the slight depth of only seven fathoms,
to my great joy that interesting and hitherto purely polar
holothurian {Myri'otrocktis rinkii), came up; with it
were associated the short arctic mya {Mya truncata), the
Iceland cockle i^Cardiuni islandi'cunt), the Greenland
Aphrodite, the polar starfish {Asterias polaris), the inevi

I :«

DUMPLTN HARBOR.

l6l

table knotted sandstar {^Ophioglypha nodosa), and other
forms only previously recorded from Greenland.

The evening' was rarely beautiful for this coast ; the
ice was out of sight, and the wav seemed clear for a ^ood
run on the morrow.

The 1 6th proved all that we could have desired in
point of wind, weather, and absence of ice. A fresh but
warm northwest wind, sometimes almost blowing a gale
off-shore, i)ore us a distance of forty-five miles. The
thermometer at nine o'clock was 64° F. in the shade ; at
ten o'clock 84° in the sun, and at one o'clock p.m. 73°
in the shade. Our way led through a broad sound in-
side of the outer islands, and then across the mouth of
Sandwich Bav. At two p.m., however, our further ad-
vance received a check. We had crossed the mouth of
Sandwich Bay and were approaching the Horsechopson
the north side of the entrance to the bay, when the wind
drew in from the north and headed us off, so that we ran
back to Dumplin Harbor. As we entered we nearly ran
aground ; and then in trying to escape that disaster, we
came near having a collision with a schooner's stern on
the other side of the narrow entrance. On this occasion
our pilot, Captain French, nearly lost his head, and it
has been my- lot on several occasions to sail with pilots
who lost their presence of mind at just the critical
moment when their senses should be ready at an instant's
call. Thorough knowledge of the rocks, shoals, and
headlands of a coast is not always united with the high-
est order of executive ability ; but on the whole, no fault
could be found with the management of our vessel ; she
was a Wellfleet oysterman, built by Donald McKay ; her
lines were beautiful, but she was not adapted for the

I I

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A SUMMERS CkUlSE TO NORTHERN LAliRAUUR.

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, 1 1

t iS i

perils of this coast and of semi-arctic navigation. We
pushed on cautiously and too slowly for the impatient
company aboard, l)ut we all reached home safely, and
ran into no "^reat damper.

Within two hours after we had dropped our anchor a
fleet of thirty-seven vessels of all descriptions — top-sail,
fore-and-aft, and three-masted schooners, brigs and brig-
antines, and hermaphrodite craft — were at anchor in a
line ; they came in one after the other in single file, all
having been headed off by the ice as we had been ; and as
they approached us, we, or rather our goodly vessel, was
the recipient of admiring looks and complimentary ejac-
ulations in Newfoundland dialect, the amount of room
on deck and the cleanliness of our craft being the par-
ticular points of remark : and there was somewhat of a
contrast, which appealed feelingly to our nostrils when
we returned their calls. In the hold of one vessel I was
delighted to see the head and flippers of a veritable wal-
rus. This was alone needed to complete the experiences
of arctic voyaging of the past three weeks. They found
the creaiure, a young one twelve feet long with tusks
four inches in length, about fifty miles from shore near
the entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle ; it was found
dead, having been harpooned, and had evidently floated
down in the floe-ice from higher latitudes.

An interesting feature of the day's sail was the raised
beaches which marked the former level of the oc< an.
Twelve very distinct ones were seen from the vessel
while on her course. At Spotted Island were two low
but very regular beaches, perhaps forty feet high. On a
small islet to the north, between two trap hills, was a
beach which extended up to a height of perhaps from

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IIUNI INc; ION IIARIJOR.

163

150 to 200 fe( above the sea, and divided into three ter-
races, with very stee|) escarpments. On Stony Ishnid,
towards the east, was a small short beach between two
trap hills, and a much higher one was on ihe noithern
side; on an island perha])S twenty-five miles north of
Dotiiino Harbor was a beach at least 100 feet hi<i"h and
facin^^ west. Indeed it looked as if the entire coast and
islands had just lisen from Hie sea, while above tiie for-
mer level of the ocean, when at its highest point, the
hills were strewn with Ixnvlders.

We now passed larger banks of snow than had here-
tofore been observed : one in Mullein Cove on the south
side of Cape North appealed to be nearly a quarter
of a mile long. Cape North is a bold headland, fully
400 feet high, faced with rude, jagged trap rocks, and
within composed of gneiss ; and on the south side a
low raised beach, with large trap islands opposite, called
Greely Islands. We then pass Cape Noble, with its
overhanging cliffs and a fine deep harbor ; near it are
" The Sisters," two low, flat islands, one with a trap dyke
passing through the middle, the other one half black trap
rock, the vegetation on it of a bright green, clinging to
the black debris of the volcanic rock. From this point
we could again see the ice to the northeast moving out
to sea. After passing Long Island head, which seemed
to be of red syenite and about 400 feet high, we sailed
by Huntington Island, a noble mass of volcanic rock
perhaps 500 feet high, with an evergreen growth seen in
the bays indenting its shores.

On the mainland a large fire was raging, probably
set by the Indians; the sky to the westward and all
about us was lurid with the smoke. Here also we felt

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164

A summer's CKUTSK to northern LABRADOR.

the full force of the I./abrador current which hugs this
shore, running at the rate of three knots an hour, its
effects not much weakened by the outer islands. The
water at the surface was perceptil)ly fresh, brought down
by the rivers and streams emptying into these bays.

Going ashore in our harbor (Dumplin) we found the
beautiful dwarf arctic laurel (^Kalinin glaitai) just in
Hower ; associated with it was a narrow-leaved Ledum
in full bloom, and very distinct from the Labrador tea
(Ledum latifolhmi), which was only just beginning to
fiovver ; besides, it is more procumbent and lives on more
exposed surfaces than the broad-leaved species. In one
sheltered spot was a thick growth of spruce, mostly
dwarfed, though one stump was seen to be thirteen
inches in diameter. Dredging in four fathoms did not
bring to light any novelties. On the north side of the
island there was a good deal of ice. Before sunset the
sky cleared in the west ; there was a fresh westerly breeze
through the night, and a good prospect of a fair day on
the morrow. Salmon trout were caught here, and the
sea-trout are at places common enough ; but the shallow
lakes do not abound in fish, although the deep lakes
among the mountains of the interior were said by Davies,
at the time he wrote, to be well stocked with them.
Pike's Harbor was three miles above us, and Tub Island
was also in sight.

From this poin^ we could see the famous Mealy
Mountain range, composed of lofty hills said by ex-
plorers to be from 1,500 to 2,500 feet in height ; we
judged their height to be not much less than 2,000 feet ;
they are certainly considerably higher than the moun-
tains of Mt. Desert. Maine, tne highest peak of which i^

J il

RAISED BEACHES.

165

i,5(X) feet. 1 his range runs in a general northeast and
southwest direction between Sandwich Bay and Hamil-
ton Inlet, and it well deserves to be accurately measured
and mapped. To the highest peak of this range we
have given the name of Mt. Cabot, in honor of John
and Sebastian Cabot. The position of Dumplin Harbor
was ascertained by Captain Handy by reckoning from
observations of the sun at noon to be in lat. 53° 48' ;
long. 56° 23'.

The 17th was a fine day, with the wind from the
south, sometimes hauling east of south. We ran twenty-
five miles across the mouth of Sandwich Bay to Tub
Island, well known to the fisherman on the coast, and the
farthest point reached by American fishermen ; it is high
and steep, and so named for its resemblance to a tub ly-
ing bottom-side up. Beyond this harbor the Labrador
coast is the Ultima Thule of America ; and here the ser-
vices of our coast-pilot. Captain French, were to [)c. su[)-
plemented by native guides. We now had high expec-
tations of making new discoveries in the entomology,
marine zoology, and geology of the northern coast of
this little-known region. Tub Island was found to be
in lat. 54° 12', long. 56" 40'.

One of the most remarkable headlands on the coast
is the eastern end of Horsechops Island ; a lofty basaltic
cliff with a human profile, the nose distinctly Roman
and the forehead retreating. On the north side of the
island were three raised beaches, at least 100 feet high.
Inshore the land was very high (the highest portion 398
feet by the chart), with the snow lying on it in extensive
fields.

A white bear was shot two years ago. on an island a

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i66

A Sl'MMEKS CKUISr, I'O NORlllKKN LAliRADOR.

few miles soLitli of Tub Island, under the follovviiitr cir-
cumstances : A man was walkin"- alon«- the shore with
his little (lirl ; they separated ; she saw the hearand ran to
her father ; the bear also ran, and plunged into the water,
where the man shot him. I was particular to inquire as
to the occurrence of this animal, and from all 1 learned,
it appears to be more or less of a permanent resident on
the northern Labrador coast, though I at first supposed
that it only occasionally strayed from the arctic regions ;
it would seem as if its range overlapped that of the black
bear, the two s|)ecies being found in the same localities,
norlh of Belle Isle,

We visited American Island, which is a little west of
Tub Island, and colonized during the summer by a man
named Williams ; it is of light-colored gneiss, with ex-
tensive broad trap dykes and irregular masses of the same
volcanic material. Williams was distinguished from
other of his countrymen by having married a full-blooded
Eskimo-woman. They had no children of their own,
but had adopted, strange to say, a mountaineer or Nas-
kope Intlian child. The poor thing had been "burnt"
by frost during the past winter, and still suffered from
her exposure. On our way to the island we saw the fin
of a killer j)rojeeting four or five feet above the water,
moving rapidly to and fro in a school of grampus, as if
engaged in combat with the latter, which were recog-
nized bv their small fins, only a foot high, which some-
times broke the surface (^f the sea.

From Tub Island we could easily see the land twenty
miles distant on the north shore of Groswater Bay or
Hamilton Inlet, Tub Island being at the southern en-
trance : it is, however, fortv miles across the mouth ol

SKA-FOWL.

167

this great inlet, the larijest and deepest bay in the
coast.

Unfortunately we did not jljo up Ivuctoke Bay, or
Hamilton Inlet, as it is variously called, thoujLih well
meritinjj a thorough exploration, since it is the largest
and deepest fiord on the Labrador coast. Its general
shape may be seen in the map of Eskimo Bay. The
principal settlement is Rigolet, a Hudson Bay Com-
pany's post.

The ice-belt was reported "as thick enough to walk
on"a few miles to the westward, and the wind blew chilly
and damp from that direction. Day before yesterday
the floes were close in shore. Here we saw more sea-
fowl than had been observed of late, a few puftins,
murres, guillemots, and a pair of eider-ducks. Years
ago these l)ays swarmed with fowl, where now they are
well-nigh deserted. in "Old Man's bight," Captain
French twelve vears ago saw the wild goose in immense
numbers. We did not see a goose upon the whole coast ;
and now since they have been so closelv hunted they are
rare and shy. The captain again and again expressed
his astonishment at the amount of ice upon this nortiiern
coast ; he had never s(xmi it before north of Belle Isle,
and from all accounts it has been the coldest season, with
the most floe-ice, experienced for nearly forty years.
The cod had not "struck in " at this point yet; a few
capelin had been seen, but the fishery had not yet begun,
while last year long before this date there was" plenty of
fish."

This morning at Dumplin Harbor Mr. Mann caught
a Chionobas differing very slightly from C. scmidea, but
in Mr. Scudder's opinion specifically different from that

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l68 A SU'MMKR'b CKUISK TO NORTilEKN LABRADOR.

species, whose only habitat then known was the summit
of Mt. Washington. It has since been observed in the
Rocky Mountains. Here also we found the beach-pea
{^Lathyriis maritimns) just flowering.

July i8. We left Tub Island at 5 o'clock in the morn-
ing, and crossing the mouth of Hamilton Inlet were
obliged to put into Sloop Harbor, twenty-live miles dis-
tant. The southwest wind freshened after dinner and
blew off shore in the evening, but we were prevented
from reaching Cape Webuc or Harrison by the ice, some
of which floated about our vessel while at anchor. It
was, however, waning; large cakes breaking into pieces
with a report like a volley of firearms.

The northern shore of Groswater Bay — Hamiltt)n or
Ivuctoke Inlet, as it is variously called by the French,
English, and Eskimo inhabitants — is in places very high
and rugged, owing to the presence of trap dykes and an-
cient volcanic overflows capping the hills of gneiss.
Huge dykes of the black rock ran in ruffled crests over
the hills of pale, gneiss-like, huge black walls. " Black
and White" is a notable island, conico-pyramidal in form,
the western end of black trap rock, the eastern end com-
posed of the pale gneiss common on this part of the
coast. There is a similar but less conspicuous and lower
island to the eastward. One dyke in particular, seen just
before entering Sloop Harbor, was of basaltic columns
in horizontal, quite regular, prisms. The highest hills ap-
peared to be about seven or eight hundred feet in height,
though this may be too high an estimate ; * but owing
to the great outbursts of black basalt capping the light

* Cape Harrison is estimated on the chart to he 1,065 feet high.

" BLACK-AND-WHirb: " ISLAND.

169

Nortlic-ni Coast ol llainiltcjii Inlet, tour Miles distant, beariii^i- K.

Coast near Indian Ilarl.or. //. Itidian llarlxn-,

Coast hills, 500 to Soo feet hi^h, <>i^ noiili side of Ilainilion lidei, bearing

one mile north.

While and Black" Island near Indian Harbor: <i, black i)asalt; />, whitish

gneiss.

Two parallel dikes, one forming the crest of the hill; one-half mile n. w.; />, (> .

white gneiss.

Three trap dikes; i, the top of "Black and White" Island forming the west-
ern slope, b, b, white gneiss.

m.. ^1^

^anjcw^si^

Northern shore of Hamilton Inlet, the extreme point to the right. a,

basalt; b, white gneiss.

gneiss hills, and running in ridges or forming great
splashes on the face of the hills, and sometimes entire
hills, like craters, the hills are transformed from what

(T'l

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170

A SUMMERS CKHISK K) NOKIHKRN LABRADOR.

would Otherwise he quite tame elevations into hifjh, hold,
wiId-lookin<:i^ peaks.

We went into Indian I larhor, which is an island from
ten to fifteen miles from the mainland, formin_<2: the
northern side of the entrance to Hamilton Inlet, to find
a pilot for Cape Harrison, but none could he found.
Near here is Ice Tickle, wher(; the ice is usually de-
tained later than elsewhere. Around one hij^h head the
murres are very abundant ; it was evidently a favorite
breedinii^-place for them ; indeed all through the polar
regions we imagine that these sea-fowl (murres, dovkies,
sea-pigeons, and guillemots) are somewhat local, breeding
about certain hi^h headlands and inaccessible crairs and
cliffs; Vvhile the puffins select points where they may
burrow and mine in the crumbling rock.

Around the head of this harbor, and esj)ecially well
marked on the southwest side, is a noble beach at least
150 and most probably 200 feet high, lodged between
two hills ; its shingly surface was free from vegetation,
and it looked as though the waves had receded from it
but the night before ; it was divided into two steps or
terraces, the lowermost perhaps about 50 feet above the
harbor. It was a constant source of regret that there was
no means at hand of accurately measuring the height of
these beaches : not an aneroid barometer was aboard, and

THE COAST BKIWEKN CAPK HARRISON AND Sl.OOP HARBOR BEARING TION MILES

WEST.

I was quite unprepared for their accurate study. Indeed
almost no attention has been given to the subject of
ancient sea-margins in the United States, the terraces of

rNHiAN iiAunok.

171

the Great Lakes haviiiff^ heen measured more aecuralelv,
since they are much more distinct than those on the
coast. But on my return after this experience with
Labrador raised beaches, it was easy to detect them in
the vicinity of Salem, Lynn, Chelsea, and Boston, as well
as on the Maine coast, though ctn tiie New Lni'land
shores they are difficult to distiniruish on account of the
vegetable growth and forests which conceal them and
prevent their ready recognition.

Huge bowlders of syenite, some oval and very round,
were scattered about on shore, the smalk'r ones well
rounded by the waves, while tlie bottom of the harbor is
paved with cobble-stones, as wc ascertained by dredging.
The summits of the hills surrounding the harbor were
formed of a pale, whitish, foliated syenite, with scattered
specks of hornblende, while lower down on the sides
the rock u^as a very dark gneiss, slightly porphyritic. I
found here a dwarf willow new to me, the flowers purple,
of nearly the same tint as the flowers of the cloud-berry.
A species of field-mouse, which we failed to capture, was
common here, its nests lined with mouse-colored fur.

The head of the harbor was said to be haunted bv a
ghost ; we did not attemj)t to secure it or to lay it, l)ut
a more substantial, though still a fleeting treasure,
was the huge, glacier-like snow-banks in the vicinity
of the haunted spot, which were perhaps 20 feet thick,
very hard on the surface, and much soiled : too hard, per-
haps, to retain even the traces of the footprints of a Lab-
rador spirit — whose tread, judging by the average Labra-
dorian, must have been a firm one. One of the banks
appeared to have slidden into the water, and from its
edge a miniature berg had broken ofT and was floating

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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80

(716) 872-4503

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A SUMMKKS CUUISK TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

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away. So well marked were the ice-worn hills about us
and elsewhere on this coast, that this snow-bank seemed
but the dwarfed descendant of the great multitude of
glaciers which had so recently filled the innumerable
bays, fjords, and "tickles" of this coast. That this is
not a mere fancy is shown i)y the following facts :

Mr. Licber, the geologist of the U. S. Coast Survey
Eclipse expedition of i860, which went near Cape Chid-
ley, the point we hoped to reach, speaks of walking over
a siiow-bank on the Hanks of Mt. Bache, which " was a
miniature glacier," while "a regular moraine was piled
up along its edges." Captain Handy told me that on
Savage Island, just north of Hudson's Strait, he saw in
August ravines full of ice; and on Button Island as
late as September 20 he found snow in the ravines. He
called them glaciers, one patch of snow being five hun-
dred feet long and two hundred feet broad. On Reso-
lution Island, only one hundred and twenty miles north
of Cape Chidley, he saw glaciers extending into the wa-
ter, from which small icebergs fell into the sea ; and
Captain Hall describes the Grinnell glacier on Meta
Incognita, which was two miles long, and discharged
icebergs into the sea.

The next day the wind was against us, being north
and very light. The day was warm and pleasant, but
towards sundown cloudy, and as usual, as soon as the sun
goes down it becomes cold and chilly. Though the floe-
ice had now disappeared, a large number of bergs were
to be seen outside slowly travelling down the coast,
some of the smaller ones stranded a few miles from the
shore. After this date, and beyond Cape Webuc, we
were not troubled by the floe-ice ; for weeks we had

TKANSI'OKTATiON • )K HOWLDKUS BY ILOK-ICK.

"73

watched the pro^^ress south of this enormous c\p;insc of
floatino^ ice, the stream beinj^ not less than a tliousand
miles lon<» and over a hundred miles in hreadth, more
or less interruptea, of course, by " leads " and open water.
It will be remembered that in former years the " tloat-
injj-ice " t'^eory prevailed, p^eologists almost universally be-
lievin<j that the polishin<>" and ij^roovingof the roeUs and
distribution of drift or diluvium were produced by lloe-icc
passing over the submertjed land. This theory has been
almost wholly abandoned, thouii^h south of the edije of
the great continental fjlacier tloatin<r-ice may have trans-
ported morainal material southward and dropped it ovei
the Middle and Southern Stales, it was therefore with
much interest that I watched day after day the effects
upon the coast of such a mass of ice as beset us for a
period of nearly a month in summer. This immense
body of floating-ice, as we have elsewhere stated,* seemed
directly to produce but little alteration in the appear-
ance of the rocks on the coast ; in fact, the only imme-
diate effects of waves and shore-ice action were observed
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Little Mecatina Island,
where there is no true arctic floe-ice. At Domino Har-
bor, as well as the harbor we were now in, the rocks
had been disrupted, and the land descended in rock-
terraces to the water's edge, and to a point at least two
hundred and fifty feet below it. This singular appearance
I attributed to the action of the ice-fort, or winter-ice.
which has been well described by Dr. Kane. Now
why should not the floe-ice while in motion along
the shore have ground down the jagged and angular

* Observations on the Glacial Phenomena of Labrador anj Maine, Memoirs
of the Boston Society of Natural History, i, pt. ii. Boston, 1867.

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174

A SUMMKKS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABUADOR.

points presented to the ice-eurrcnt ? If our slightly-
huilt vessel could navij^ale these ice-laden waters, lie
in harbors filled with ice, and not even have the paint
worn ofT her hull, how cotdd she have escaped the least
of all the tremendous effects which are by some theorists
attributed to floatinjx ice? Moreover, no bowlders or
gravel or mud were seen upon any of the cakes of lloe-
ice, nor on any of the bergs, many of which were llat-
topped, like ordinary cakes of lloe - ice. If they had
been thus laden, they had dropped all burdens of 'his
nature nearer their birthplace in Davis Strait, or the re-
gions farther north. The icebergs in nearly every case,
when closely observed, bore evidence of having been re-
peatedly overturned as they were borne along in the cur-
rent, often with old water-lines presenting different an-
gles to the present water-level. The floe-ice was hum-
mocky, which is a strong proof of its having come from
open straits in the polar regions, the cakes looking as if
they had been frozen and refrozen, jammed together,
and then piled atop of each other by currents and storms
long before their advent upon this coast. The only dis-
coloration noticed was probably caused by seals resting
upon and soiling the surface. It should however be
mentioned that one bowlder was said to have been seen
by a member of our party upon an iceberg off Cape
Webuc.

Finally, as we shall see farther on, the few ice-marks
and grooves detected by myself and others on the Lab-
rador coast show plainly that the country was once cov-
ered by land-ice, that it filled the bays and fjords, and
moved into the sea at right angles to the course of the
Labrador current, which flows parallel to the shore

GLACIAL MARKS.

•75

north of Belle Isle. Moreover, we would impress upon
the mind of any lin<»erino believer in the sole njieney of
floatiii<4-ice, that the surface of Greenland is covered with
a j^lacier or rather a mcr-de-olacc, from which ice-streams
press throniih the fjord into the sea, and that there are
innumerable j^laciers on the land-masses throufihout the
Arctic Ocean west of the Labrador peninsula, which are
constantly <»rindin<]^ down, polishinii. ;>ii<l grooving their
rocky beds. 'Iheir work is |)erennial : that of the floe-
ice is conhned to the rocks at the shore of the sea, and
there it virtually ends; the after effects of the lloating-
ice beinii so inconsiderable as not to rise to the dignity
of a geological agency.

And so there was a ceaseless charm and interest in
the problems in geology, physical geography, and biology
which suggested themselves to us, whether clambering
over the hill-tops, shuffling over the shingly pebbly
beaches, now raised hundreds of feet above the sea, or
chasing the arctic butterllies and moths, or dredging
polar starpoles and the innumerable marine forms peo-
pling these waters.

Life was monotonous enough to the others, as they
felt bitterly disappointed at their failure to reach the
higher Moravian stations and the promised headland of
Chidley, from which we could look over Hudson's Strait
and the waters of the Gieenland seas ; but so far as I
was concerned, the opportunity to study the glacial
marks, the raised beaches, the insects, and othe? life-
forms, were so many crumbs of comfort to offset the
general feeling of disappointment. It would be next to
impossible to properly explore this coast in a single sea-
son without a steamer and small steam launches for work

lyf)

\ >U.M.MKKS CKUISK I'O NOKTHKKN LAHKADOR.

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in the bays and fjords; thus independent of wind and
ice, one could run outside and do in good weather deep-
sea dredging, scrape the bottoms of the shallower bays
and reaches, measure the raised beaches, geologize, botan-
ize, and entomologize. and reach the better breeding-
haunts of the water-fowl, and do something toward col-
lecting the nests and eggs of land-birds. A well-
ecjuipped party in a steamer could, in four months spent
on this coast, add vastly to what, on the whole, is perhaps
the least-known portion of northern America. With
the ample knowledge of polar life and nature we now
|)()ssess as a basis of comparison, here is a most interest-
ing field of exploration for our rising naturalists; it
would at all events be an excellent training-school in
physical geology and biology.

This day was entirely devoted to insect-hunting, and
I found myself in a new world so far as the insect fauna
was concerned, many truly polar r7>ecies abounding.
The spiders were thoroughly arctic, dark, dull - colored
creatures, occasionally venturing out from their retreats
under the growth of curlew berry, or under stones ; sim-
ilar forms afterwards occurred to me in just such places
on the summit of Mt. Washington, on Gray's and
Pike's Peaks, showing that the Alpine summits of our
mountains are but outliers, aerial islands, so to speak,
detached zoogeographicallv from the frozen regions of
the north.

On a steep, southerly exposure of the harbor, where a
long glacis sloped toward an angular precipice, which
overhung patches of vegetation, between the worn and
polished naked rocks of the shore, we started up a few
butterflies and moths. To my genuine surprise and de-

-*.~-

ARCTIC MOTHS AND RIRCIIKS.

177

light, there fluttered, half skipping and half-Hying, over
the lichened bowlders a butterfly I had never before
seen, the high arctic bluet, (^Polyommatus fniiik/ini't),
heretofore only known to occur in the arctic world, and
discovered by the naturalist of Franklin's voyage. I
also netted an Argynnis, not hitherto discovered so far
south ; it was likewise a polar form.

The moths were all arctic species, and when at rest
so harmonized in color with the lichens and other vege-
tation in which they nestled as to entirely deceive me.
And yet what was the use of practising, even uncon-
sciously to themselves, this deception ? The answer was
not far off — there was a shore-lark, or some such bird,
flitting about and running over the rocks, busily search-
ing for just such moths as these, and the only hope of
safety for the insects from their sharp eyes was in their
resemblance to the lichens.

The only tree seen here was the dwarf birch. Bcttiia
nana; those who have seen this Lilliputian tree on the
summit of Mt. Washington will well remember its
humble stature and little round leaves. No tree per-
haps ever underwent greater modification by climate
than did the ancestor of this species, and we cannot well
doubt but that all these dwarf arctic trees and shrubs, so
closely allied to their congeners in the north temperate
zone, only escaped utter extinction by adapting them-
slvees to the extremes of their arctic surroundings. It
will be remembered that the oak, gum, and tulip tree,
the sassafras and maple, the cypress and sequoia, once
flourished in what is now Greenland in growths as luxu-
riant as the forests of the Gulf States. When the ice-
period was ushered in, and climate and other circum-

178

A SIMMKUS CKUISK TO XOKTIIKRN LAHRADOR.

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stances clianijcd the inhabitants of that tertiary [)ohir
hind, of which Greenland and Sj)itzi)cro[en are the rem-
nants, tliey were either entirely effaced, or enii<»rated
southward, becoming the ancestors of our American
plants and animals, or, as in the case of a few forms,
maintained their ground but changed into the present
arctic animals and })lants.

The afternoon was spent on the opposite side of the
harbor, where there is an ancient sea-beach at least two
hundred feet high, with four terraces, well defined by
the windrows of pebbles left by the retreating waves —
how many thousand years ago, a wise man would hardly
dare to guess. On the two lower terraces the willows
grew in irregular rounded j)atches ; there were two spe-
cies, one growing to a foot in height, their tops of the
same length, as if clipped off with scissors ; the other
species was still more prone, creeping low in the rein-
deer moss and curlew-berry, or spreading vine-like over
the rocks. Their catkins were being investigated by
bumble-bees of two kinds, one or both truly polar.

During the 20th a cold northeast wind blew ; the har-
bor was open to the wind and sea. so that our vessel was
pitching through the livelong day, making everybody's
headache, and sending nearly all to their bunks to sleep
through the discomfort. No ice, however, was brought
in by the wind, which showed that the coast was clear
whenever the wind should be fair. The icebergs, how-
ever, are seen marching ceaselessly down the coast at a
distance of ten or fifteen miles out at sea.

The wind and swell did not prevent the fishermen
from seining for capelin, so essential as bait in fish-
ing for cod. When the seine is hauled the fish are

lOl) AND < Al'Kl.lN.

'79

l)aik'il oiiL with scoop-nets. At siicli times these active
little fish throw oil" from their juleaminu sides all the
colors of the rainbow. The cotl were seen through
the transparent water hoverinjj;^ about the outskirts of
the school, snapping" at any which became separated
from their felk)ws, and following them so near the boats
that the men would drive them away with their boat-
hooks. After capturing one school, they would row
about near shore on th<' watch for another. 'I'he seine-
boats diller from others in being narrow ami long, from
twenty-live to twenty-seven feet in length.

We here saw specimens of a variety of c(kI, called
" duffy," which may be the same as Professor Wyman's
" bull-dog cod." Its head is blunter, the under-jaw is
shorter, while the fish is darker than ordinary cod ; the
fishermen pronounce them " no good ;" it is possible
that such as are taken are simply deformed individuals
of the common species. We found, however, that at
Hopedale these fish were comparatively common, and
taken with the gig by the Eskimo.

We left Sloop Harbor early in the morning of the
2ist with a light easterly breeze, but we made only fiv^e
or six miles, j)laying about the icebergs nearly half the
day. The gigantic steps or terraces carved by the shore-
ice out of the lofty rocky shore of the islands about
here were very remarkable, especially when we saw
them in sections. We counted some thirty bergs to-
day. While Mr. Bradford was industriously painting
them, a party of us went in a boat to Tinker Island,,
a lofty rock far out to sea, its sides sheer precipices,
whose bases were washed by the ceaseless Atlantic
swell ; a yawning chasm nearly divides the island in

i ■ ■!

;! i

two, and by entering the fissure we eould effect a land-
ing, and climb up to the heights above. The rock and
all its belongings, with the sea-fowls tlying about or sit-
ting by thousands on the projecting shelves, reminded
us of the pictures, so familiar in childhood, of similar
scenes in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The
tinkers and murres breeding here were in immense
numbers, the females on the rock shelves, and their con-
sorts resting on the waves, or Hying overhead to the
leeward. This island was situated several miles from

TINKKll ISI.ANli, IJICAUI.NC, TWO TO rHKI'.K MIl.KS WKST.

land, remote from other islands, and consisted of a hard,
coarse-grained granite, the feldspar predominating and
of two kinds — one flesh-colored orthoclase, the other
smoky labradoritc ; it was weathered into regular steps
and shelves, and huge blocks had been detached by the
frost, the angles having been rounded by the weather ;
near the water's edge the waves had worn it into smooth
declivities. The east wind blew chill from the direction
of the ice-pack, which could be seen a few miles off en-
closing a number of large bergs. The pools of water
on the higher portions of the island were inhabited by
case-worms, and it was evident, by the feathers at the
bottom, that the murres used them as wash-basins. In a
deep, narrow chink between the rocks I found a murre's
Ggg, while the tunnels made by the puffins wound
through the scanty soil. I started up a blue fox, which
was running toward me with a murre's egg in his mouth ;

CAFK WEHUC.

I8l

on my throwing a stone at him lie dropped his egg and
scampered off. I hallooed for nearly ten minutes for
some one with a gun to come and shoot him, and kept
him in sight ; with more of curiosity than fear he would
stop at intervals to look at me, keeping a safe distance
off and harking, until he disappeared. Soon Mr. Was-
son came up ; we pursued finding him on the other side
of the island with another e^cr in his mouth. Mr. Was-
son gave him his death-wound, though he ran some
distance with the egg between his teetii before he
dropped dead. His Hanks and bcUv were white, the
rest of a slate-blue color, his legs very long, and tail long
though not very bushy ; the more remarkable features
were his short, rounded ears, as if cropped. Mr. Wasson
also shot a Labradorian falcon, which Professor Baird
afterward wrote him he thought might be an immature
stage of Faico candicans. On this exposed spot the
cloud-berry had nearly done flowering ; the cochlearia,
growing from two to six inches high, was in bloom,
while a pretty, gentian-like flower was found here which
was not observed elsewhere.

We laid to all the short night, as Mr. Bradford wanted
to paint icebergs, getting up at three the next morning
to secure some noble ones. Then we soon ran down
and doubled Cape Webuc or Harrison, which is a lofty
gneiss headland, faced with syenite, its northern face
seamed with vertical trap dykes with an N.E. and S.VV.
direction. Ragged Island now bears N.N.W.. and,
as its name implies, is exceedingly rough and jagged,
and evidently composed of syenite, as are nearly all
these headlands, being probably outflows of crystalline
rocks capping the Laurentian gneiss. We next came

iSj

A SL.MMKIO CRIJISK K) NOKTlltRN I.AliKADOR.

M(.

in siLclit of liijrli roiiiKlfd nunintaiiis near (In; shore,
which appear to 1)C not less than Iwelve huiulred feet
lii^ii ; far hack of tlieni were several peaks, which rose
ahove a mass of clouds j)artiy enveloping them, and
seemed to rise five or six thousand feet into the heavens.
The highest j)eak is Mt. Misery, and Ca|)tain iMtiich

MIKNI Ml>l kV, ciK

.\i.i..\i;.\i(;.\i. 2,r7() ii;i.r, in i, \v. ok c.M'K iiakkison iiy

tllAKI.

says that in clear weather the group seems vj'ry near
when viewed from the southern sitie of Hamilton Inlet.
I do not doubt hut that this peak, which was obscured by
clouds for two days after, was not less than two thou-
sand feet hi<^h.* The view of this mountain, so trans-
formed by the clouds hovering just below its peak, was
the grandest coast view of the voyage.

Towards the end of the day we ran into Stag Bay,
some twenty miles north of Cape Harrison, after a pilot.
Dredging in this harbor at the depth of ten fiUhoms was
not very fruitful, except in some fine varieties or species
of the very variable genus, Astarte, including A. banks ii
and A. co^nprcssa, and a Gammarus new to me. The
harbors on the Atlantic coast of Labrador have rather
barren rocky bottoms ; sea-weeds are scanty, the shores
are so steep; and there are so few large streams emptying
into the bays, that no sediments are carried down from
the land to form muddy or sandy bottoms. If the
floating-ice theory were true, we should have expected

* My guess I found to be a good one, as I find Mt. Misery is put down in the
chart under the name of AUagaivaivik, with a height of 2,170 feet.

-r.

sii(»ki;-r<ii,i,i;( TiN(..

I S3

lo lincl plcnly <>1 si'diinciUs home from ilu- polar seas:
hence the ahsencc of such suhinarine (lej)()sits in lliese
protected harhors, as well as out to sia, so far as we
could learn, — which, however, are choked with ice during
June and July, is a si.nnilicanl fact. When we lay out-
side we were never hecalmed, or saw the time when we
could Lic't a chance to dredge over the vessel's side:
and as we have already said, such work can only he
thorou<;hly done by a well-e(|uipped steamer.

Since leaving thi* Slrail of lielle Isle ther(* has been
little chance of collecinirr the littoral species; indeed,
that broad stretch of shore and tlats between hi^h and
low water mark, w' .h is so characteristic of the Nova
Scotia and New En^lan*' sliores. is here well-ni^h abol-
ished ; the tides rise n-id tall not much over four, or at
the most five or six feet, while the rocks pi unsje directly
into the sea, and there is only a narrow border of fucus
han^rin^r sparsely from the rocks, between tide-marks,
with little life, — indeed, the only sj)ecies I noticed be-
in^ the common shore-snail, Littorina rndis, and the
little amphipod crustacean, GtDnniarus vmtattis. The
same poverty of littoral animals obtains on the Green-
land shores, and it may be thus readily understood why
the starving members of the Greeley party could find
nothing to eat along shore but scattered sea-weed and
" shrimps," the latter undoubtedly the Gammarus nuita-
tus, which is common on the shores of the polar seas.
The best spots to dredge are the patches of shelly bot-
toms situated in eddies at the inner end of a ** tickle "
leading out from a deep harbor, where the tides and
currents have no power ; for where the dead shells are
gathered, the living ones are mixed with tiiem.

^^!

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'X i'

i84 A summer's cruise to northern Labrador.

!
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1

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The vN'hole of the 23d, which was cloudy and raiiiy^
was sjicnt in search of a pilot for Hopedale. A boat's
crew, myself included, rowed some seven or ei^^ht miles
to Roger's Harbor, where in a quiet basin connected
with the sea by two narrow "tickles," were about fif-
teen v^essels — schooners and barks. We went aboard
one, and it was indescribably filthy, above and below ;
from the cabin arose a dreadful stench ; the women
aboard, with one exception, harmonized in point of per-
sonal apj)earancc with their surroundings. We asked
for a little saleratus, and were kindly given some made
from the spruce.

This island is of syenite, its feldspar tlcsh-colored, and
the shore is in its scenic features like that of the rocks at
Nahant or Mt. Desert, with a few small beaches, the
slopes leading down to them of an intense green. The
cod had not yet " put in." Last year on the 26th they
took a hundred quintals the first day they appeared.
The fishermen talk discouragingly of thi^ year's pros-
pects, and seem to be pushing " up to the nor'ard "
more rapidly than usual. In fact, for three years New-
foundland fishermen have gone for fish beyond the
Moravian settlement of Nain. Add to the lack of cod-
fish, the failure of the spring's " swile," " sile," or seal
fishery, and they were doomed to fare pretty hard that
winter.

We found we had not gone far enough to find Tom
Bloomfield,* the man we were in search of, but were
near the house of Cole, a half-breed; part Englishman
and part Eskimo, with an Eskimo wife and half-breed

* See 21 on the map of Eskimo Bay. Cole's house is 22.

EXTINCTION OF THE ESKIMO.

185

lli! 1

children. The captain rowed over, and by tiie merest
good luck found younc^ Cole, who agreed to pilot our
vessel up to Strawberry Harbor, twenty-five miles dis-
tant, where there were said to be two Eskimos who
would be glad to show us the way from there to Hoj)e-
dale, since they were desirous of going there, but had
no boat, and would otherwise have to wait until the
autumn.

Never shall I forget the grandeur, the utter desolation,
and the purple glories of the sky and shore as we rowed
back that evening down Stag Bay, which is a wide
sound, bordered with lofty terraced hills, the last rays of
the setting sun lighting up the heights of the Webuc
Range, as we may term it, uj) whose slopes gradually
rose the purplish tints ushering in the darker shades of
the twilight.

Youncj Cole came aboard the vessel in the eveninjj
after we had returned, in a large jack, which was decked
over ; it had a small punt on it, beside his wife and
child, upon whom he depends to help him row back
should we be fortunate enough to reach Strawberry
Harbor by noon.

It seems that there were formerly a few Eskimos
living in this region, but they have died off rapidly
within a few years past. They had gone with the eiders,
the geese, and the sea-fowl, the walrus and the fish ;
their game and their race had been banished, like them,
to the arctic regions. Our pilot, Captain French, said
that there was now but one Eskimo where there used to
be twenty. Their disappearance here seems due partly
to natural causes, to the absence of abundant game and
birds, and partly to contact with the civilization of this

t.li

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1 86

A SU.M.MllKS CKUISK 1 NUKTIIIiKN LAliRADoR.

coast, unless tlicir close winter houses induce clu'st
troubles : any other diseases are unknown. But what-
ever may have been the cause, they arc rapidly melting
away, disappearino^ by entire families. They have prob-
ably faded away before the Nascopi Indians, who are
belter armed, and their permanence at Hopedale and
northward may be due to the absence of the red Indians
from that part of the coast. But the Innuit or Eskimo is
a doomed race. Whether they are the remnants of the
pakcolithic race (which good authorities doubt) and for-
merly ranged over northern Europe during the earlier
stone age, and extended in America as far south as the
border of the great continential glaciers, and were a few
centuries ago driven northward by the red Indians, is a
problem ; but probably long before the red man entirely
disappears, the Eskimo will be represented by but a few
thousands in the hicfh northern regions.

Cole was not much inclined to leave home, as the
salmon were just about striking in ; and, as he said, they
only remained three or four days, and he might lose
them, since only his father, who, as we understood, also
had an Eskimo wife, would have to attend to the nets
single, or rather — as his better Eskimo half would work
man-fashion with him — double-handed.

At the mouth of the stream where they lived were
several huts tenanted by salmon fishers. About them
lounged a number of full-blooded Eskimo dogs, which
are quite superfluous in summer, but useful in winter,
when they can draw sledges at the rate of a hundred
miles a day should the travelling be good.

Th'e early morning of the 24th of July found us with
our pilot aboard ready to start for Strawberry Harbor ; but

lUt

<;a.mi;.

IS;

there was a dead calm. However, at about lo o'clock a
north wind sjirang up, so that we j)ut to sea and sailed
until within eioht miles of St rawheirv Harbor, when it
blew hard and became too thick to run fartlu^r ; so we
put back three miles and ran under a lee-shore, where
the northeast wind blew a cold, fierce gale, with fog and
rain. (Jur vessel dragged her anchor, which was down
at a depth of twenty fathoms, so that the larger one was
dropped down, making ninety fath(;ms of cable to iiaul
in on the morrow.

Our pilot was a very intelligent half-breed who could
read and write, his wife als(j a half-breed Eskimo. He
said that the ice had only cleared off the previous week,
and up to that time since March they have steadily had
in Stag Bay cold easterly and northeasterly winds. Near
where we anchored was Cole's brother, who had built
himself a new house. Yesterday he took six and to-dav
eight salmon in his nets, which were stretched across the
mouth of a little brook. He shot eleve.. deer during
the winter, one of them sufficient to supply the family
with food for two weeks. They had plenty of deer and
other game when too late in the season for obtaining
fur ; he predicted an abundant supply of game during the

commg autumn.

We will give his statement regarding

the varieties of foxes here, which may be taken for what
it is worth. There are {< ur varieties of foxes which he
said crossed among themselves, i.e., the red and white,
which are the two most common ones ; then the patch
fox, which is blue with red on the rump, and the black
fox. Whether the red and white or arctic fox interbreed
we do not know ; the blue fox is undoubtedly the white
fox in its summer pelage ; the short ears and long tail

',-

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i '

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i88

A SUMMKRS CRUISK TO NORTIIEKN LAHKADOK.

sufficiently distinguisli the arctic fox and its varieties
from the red or Virc^inian species. They had never
seen tlie walrus about here. The spruce-trees up in the
interior are quite larire, Cole said, some of them reaching
a diameter of thirty inches at the butt ; but the birches
are small, none large enough to make canoes.

Of the red Indians of the interior but little could be
learned. The reader will find the best account of them
in Hind's Labrador, while the subjoined extract will
convey some idea of the Labrador Indians as they were.*

U I

* " As for the interior parts of the Lahroiiore, it is wholy occupied by the
northern Indians before taken notice of, who live and depend mostly on fish
and deers flesii ; woolves, foxes and otters, affords cloaihinij; and as these are
to be had by traps, and K""s, and other contrivances, their necessities nor
ambition (hint promjit them to desive many things from us: our twine, fish-
hooks, ice chizxels, ketles, and stnall wares, make up the ultimate of their wants.
As for guns, powder, and sholt, their are numbers of them don't know their use.
The moulted fowls at proper seasons, and what else may be had with the bow
and arrow, procure enough for change of dyett, who live in great plenty other-
wise, do reduce tiiese peoples wains into a narrow compass.

" The skirts and boniers of Labrotlore are hilly and mountainous on every
side (a small part excepted); but the interior parts is covered with lakes and
morassis to a wide extent, which affords an easy communication into all our
principal rivers; but as above, these people have their food and rayment on so
easy terms, that hardly one in twenty have ever taken the trouble to go to ours,
or any of the French setlements. Indolence and idleness has a good share in
this indifference: but surely lis a mark of great wisdom in them.

" However, those few that has frequented the setlements, begin to like our
commodities better; their women like our nicknacks and guegaws, and the men
begin to love brandy, bread, and tobacco, so that a little address and manage-
ment will bring these happy drones out of this profound lethargy. You'll say
these people would, froin their manner of life, have incressed faster than the
other Indians; but the reason I gave before has, in some measure, prevented
them; and now it will be a good motive to apply themselves in earnest to the
use and defence of the gun, who, by the aid and convenience of our setlement
at Richmond Fort, will be enabled to keep in a body, and repell force by force,
without being divided, or under a necessity to travell a great distance from
tl.eir familys, by having all those things brought to their own doors.

" All the hilly and mountainous parts of Labrodore are occupied by the
Usquemews, from the bay of Saint Lawrence on the southern, eastern, and

THE MOUNTAINEER INDIANS.

189

They arc called Montaignais hv the French Canadians,
Mountaineers by the Kn<»lish, but refened to the Nas-
copi trii)e by the more intellijj^ent of the latter. The
tribe is a branch of the Algonkin stock, and is the onlv
tribe known to inhabit the Labrador peninsula. They
are more commonly met with at Riu^olet, the trading
port of the Hudson Bay Company up the Hamilton In-
let (Aivektok Bay); they are also tlescribed by Hind,
who encountered them at the mcjuth of the Moisic River,
which empties into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Along
this part of the coast they are rapidly diminishing : last
winter many of them starved to death — several hundred,
according to Cole's statement.* It now appeared that
the larfve tire, the smoke of which we saw before reach-
ing Dumplin Harbor, was from an area of over forty
square miles situated back of where we were lying at
anchor, and it burnt up some of the traps belonging to

northern borders, and all along the east main to 5O ami 57 latitude, and on all
the ijlands adjacent, who are the seamen and fishermen on salt waters, as those
are on inland lakes and fresh water rivers. Hotii one and other getts great
quantities of deer; but whales, seels, and sea-iiorses, are the priiicii)le s-iipport
of the Us(|uemews; wether these retreat and retire to any distance from the sea-
side uppon the approach of winter, or are wearid witti their long summer day,
and creep into their winters cave to rest, this is certain, we never saw but once
or twice a single Uscjuemew in many years experience in the homeward bound
passage, allho we have been detained by contrary winds at all their haunts.

■'The interior parts of Labrodore affords g(jod shelier, and woods plenty for
the northern Indians, who dress their victuals as we do; and dry'd fish supply
the want of bread; they are very nasty in their persons, as all the Indians are;
but not offensive in their filth, as the Usquemews," (^Coat's Geography of
Hudson's Bay, pp. 88-go.)

* " Returns of the Hudson Bay Company show that about 4,000 Indians
frequent the company's posts throughout the whole of Labrador; and this ac-
count probably includes nearly their whole strength; nineteen twentieths of
them are nominally Roman Catholics." (Encyclopredia I3rit'anica, article
Labrador.) Undoubtedly since this count was -made their number has con-
siderablv diminished.

il ■;:

1 s

n t:

i'it-

STIii

I I

190

A MMMi;US CKL'ISE lO NOKTIIKKN LAlikAIif)R.

IimI

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■ {

Cole's brother. The fire was ascribed to Indians, wlio
probably set the woods in a bla>:e to drive out the iranie ;
it was preceded by two unusually warm and dry days,
at the time when the wintl turned westerly and we were
let t)Ut fiom our prison at Scjuarc Island.

The iceberiis were still neiiihborlv, two lariie ones in
the ofhniu:, one like a church steeple, the boily submerj^ed
beneath the waves, while the other suggested the form
of a huge S(iuirrel sitting on his haunches with his tail
over his back. According to Cole the snow and ice
clears off from the coast at this point about the 20th of
June ; at least that is the date when he leaves his winter
house for his residence on shore ; the first of October,
when the snow begins to fall, he moves back into the
interior.

The early part of the next day it stormed, blowing
almost a gale from the north, with heavy rain ; we still
held on to our rather exposed anchorage under a high
point of land; not the least bight or indentation near at
hand for harborage. In the afternoon the weather
moderating, we got under way, and reached Strawberry
Harbor at ten o'clock in the evening. On our way here
we were boarded by an Eskimo in his kayak, who had
been living in this bay during the summer. We first
caught sight of the little craft two or three miles astern.
It looked as it came up, bows on, like a large puffin sitting
on the waves ; soon we could see the paddle describing
a trajectory such as the wings of a puffin n ght make, and
eventually we could recognize the human apart from the
kayak, though an Eskitno seems an integral portion of
his kayak, — one as human as the other. We throw
over a rope, the kayak disgorges the Eskimo, the latter

gi-

STKAWHKRKV HARHOR.

191

deftly climbs up over the rail haiul-ovei-luiud, and then
we take aboard the kayak.

Whether the little box of a harbor we swiui^ in was
called Strawberry* because it was but little larger than
that berry, history does not record ; but it was the (jueer-
est of the (|ueer harbors we had entered, and by this
time the monotony of leavinu; one harbor in the morn-
inir and entering its counterfeit presentment the same
evening- had been a matter of remark by the ij-rumblers
aboard. There was not room enou|Lih to swing by our
cable, so we made fast to the rocks ashore, which rose
in cliffs reaching nearly to our topmasts. Another ves-
sel shared these narrow quarters with us. She had had
tolerably good luck in fishing, her hole being packed two
or three feet deep with codfish.

Deep and seemingly inaccessible to outside life as
Strawberry Harbor promised to be, the next day, which
was nearly calm and sunny, with a little breeze from the
east, the mosquitoes, swarming from land and peering
over into our den, swooped down upon us and made life
miserable. Ashore with my insect-net, they fairly drove
me off the hunting-ground, which proved to be richer in
arctic insect life than any yet experienced.

So with the plants, showing that this spot was warmer
and more protected than anv harbor we had visited for
the past two weeks. In the gulches and ravines tne
mountain-ash, alder, and willows grew to the enormous
height of three feet ; the white spruce-trees were perhaps
twenty-five feet high and one foot in diameter near the
ground. This species of Abies, called in Maine the " cat"

* This harbor is very near Ford's Bight or Nisbet's Harbor, and about ten.
miles from Anderson's house, 16 on the map of Eskimo Bay.

iti^

• f

192

i:>ii'

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LAHRADOR.

li ; )

or " skunk spruce," from its peculiar odor, is a more
hardy tree than the black spruce and grows farther
north. We have seen it growing luxuriously in Aroos-
took County, Maine, but it is rarely found farther south
than Mt. Desert. Violets were in bloom, and one or
two were new to me ; Ledum palustre was now out of
flower, while the Labrador tea (^Lcdum latifoliiivi) was
still in blossom, as were the bunch-berry, the mountain-
trident, and the golden-thread ; Kahnia glaiica was
nearly done flowering, and the green fruit of the curlew-
berry was of full size ; evidently the short Labrador sum-
mer of six weeks had come.

The rocks about us were syenitic, with numerous thin
trap dykes, both vertical and horizontal ; some of them
had weathered away, leaving deep vertical fissures ; where
the horizontal dykes had disappeared, great blocks of
syenite had fallen down, giving a dismantled appearance
to the shore. The south side of the harbor ran in rock-
terraced heights to an elevation of nearly five hundred
feet, the huge rocky shelves falling away seaward as if
laid a. id smoothed with cyclopean hands. Climbing
about over these hills was almost imi)osriblc ; streams
rushed foaming down the ravines, some in sight, others
only known by their rumbling, stifled roar under the
bowlders concealing their bed.

We learned that some Eskimos were spending the
summer on an island hard by, and. we tried to get one
to pilot us to Hopedale, but were unsuccessful. Land-
ing on another flat islet near by, where this or some
other Eskimo, with perhaps his family, had been sum-
mering in his tent or tepic of seal-skins, as evidenced by
the circle of stones used to weigh down the bottom of

SALMON.

•95

ci-
ne

Ti-

the: tL'|)ic ; the marks of his temporary sojourn were in-
dubitable, as witnessed by the stones whieh had been
used to prop up his tent, the feathers and bones of sea-
fowl he had sliot or snared, and by the seattered seal
bones and skins and other unmistakable signs of Eskimo
occupaney and of Eskimo personal uneleanliness.

July 27th and 28th we had a severe ^ale from the
north, with snow and rain. All through the day the poor
women on the other vessel had to do their eooking on
deck without shelter. On the 28th the thermometer
went down to 34" P., and we had nearly two inches of
snow on our deck, while on the hills above us were
drifts a foot deep which lasted for a day or two, as meas-
ured by Mr. Willis, who explored on the following day
the heights above us, and reported tracks of foxes in the
snow. Two deer were also seen by some fishermen.

On the 29th it cleared off, and at sunset the wind
changed to the west. At last we picked up an Eskimo
pilot for Hopedale. He had been partly educated, and
was living with a Norwegian who had been on the coast
for eleven years, during seven of which he was in the
employ of the Hudson Bay Company, his pay being
fifty dollars a year. He brought us two salmon of dt
species I had not before seen, and which proved to be
Saimo znnnaculatus of Storer.

He nets more of these, which he calls salmon trout,
than of the true salmon, fishing for them with a twenty-
foot net. The salmon come in usually on the 2 2d of
July, and continue to run up the streams until about the
20th of August. The " salmon trout" is found nearer
shore, while the large true salmon is more abundant at
the mouth of the bay than ten miles inland, where our

^i/i;p:

!! ' i

:li

Ill

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABKADOK.

Norwegian friend lived. He lieard to-day, as he re-
marked to us, a wolf howling, and supposed it had killed
a deer, as "after feeding upon one they usually begin to
howl." During the winter he shot fifteen deer, enough
for the winter's supply of fresh meat. We found here
fresh traces of the polar bear, an Englishman, named
Tom Oliver, having shot a small one last winter.

Part of this day was spent ashore, and on the side of
a deep ravin we recognized an old acquaintance in a
low white golden-rod like a familiar White Mountain
species. The star-flower ( Tricntalis amcricand), also a
dwarfed yarrow {Millefolinni) and an Andromeda were
seen to-day in addition to the flowers we picked before
the storm ; also a dandelion-like flower. More land
shells (including the slug, Limax agrcstis) were found
here than at any other point we visited; they occurred
under spruce bark and chips in the damp verdure : all of
them i^Pupa Iioppii, Helix fabricii^ and Vitriiia angcliccB)
were Greenland vshclls, never before found south of that
arctic land, and this fact bears witness to the interesting
intermingling of Greenland life, animal and plant, with
the Canadian or boreal forms indigenous in the forest-
clad interior. There are in Labrador two climates, the
arctic on the coast, the boreal or north-temperate in the
interior. The Greenland and arctic forms occurring on
the coast are the remnants of the glacial or arctic flora
which were formerly spread over the entire territory of
British America, New England, and the northern cen-
tral United States during the supremacy of the ice, and
which were, so to speak, pushed out to sea by the migra-
tion northward of the temperate forms, only retaining
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THE COASI NEAR llol'liDALE.

«95

lands of tliis coast, whicli in nearly all respects are arc-
tic and circumpolar, though llopedale is in the latitude
of Duhlin.

Another (ireenland shell, a little fresh-water hivalve
i^Pisidiuni stccnbiichii ) not before known to live st)uth
of Greenland, was common in the j)ools, from which
were arisinj^ caddis-tlies and an Mphemera. A worker
bumble-bee was also seen here for the lirst time, not-
withstandinjr the cold weather of the past few days.

Here were again to be observed the signs of the for-
mer depression of land which marked the height of the
Leda-clay epoch (the Cham|)lain epoch of the books) ;
beaches at least loo feet high, with two terraces, the
lower one from fifteen to twenty feet above the sea-level.
The afternoon of July 30th saw us safe in the harbor of
Hopedale. A fresh, fair, west wind bUnving all night
let us out of our snug little haven at Strawberry. (Jur
pilot simply knew the way to Hopedale, and some of
the more dangerous rocks along our course. The wind
was so fresh that our cautious captain took two reefs in
the mainsail, but it only blew strongly out of the bay,
being an off-shore wind, and the force of the breeze di-
minished sensibly as we went out to sea. The mountains
and hills around our harbor and perhaps for a distance
often miles northward, some of them 800 and 1,000 feet
high, were spotted with snow, the remnants of the past
storm. As we approached within twenty miles of
Hopedale, the outer islands at the mouth of Kippokok
Bay were seen to be more or less hummocky, some of
them high and rounded, evidently composed of the lab-
radoritic syenite, while the mainland at the head of the
bays was of Lauren tian gneiss. Still as we advance

196 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

northward the whole country, or at least the coast, grad-
ually rises higher above the sea, which made me more
than ever anxious to see how it culminated in the wild,
crater-shaped, snow-streaked lofty mountains near Cape
Chidley ; but it was not to be our good fortune to reach
that promised land.

r' '

CHAPTER IX.

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

IV. IIOI'KDALK AND THE KSKIMO.

About an hour before we reached Ilopedale, we
passed a high sugar-loaf-shaped island, "The Beacon,"
with four well-marked terraces carved by the weather or
shore-ice when the sea stood at different levels in the
agesgone by, as the land halted in its upward rise. This

UOCK TERRACES ON "THE BEACON, 700 FEET ELEVATION, NEAR IIOPEDAI.E.

was the landmark for the Moravian vessels from London,
and by boiling water on the summit it had been ascer-
tained to rise 700 feet above the sea. The rock was evi-
dently that variety of syenite containing labradorite and
green hornblende. In the interior a few miles distant
was to be seen a high elevation, broad and massive at the
base, but conical or nipple-shaped at the summit, and
rising perhaps 1,500 feet above the sea.

As we entered, on a Saturday afternoon, the harbor
of Hopedale, which is situated at the head of a deep,

197

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I -1

198

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

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broad bay or sound, we nearly overhauled the Moravian
supply ship " Harmony," just out from London. She
was a bark of 300 American tons, very neatly kept, thor-
oughly well-appointed, and well-officered and manned,
her chief officer, Captain Linklater, a Scotchman. As
she approached the harbor and before we discovered the
mission building ashore, she fired a salute from two nine-
pounders, at the same time sending her flag up to half-
mast : both announcing her arrival and signalling disas-
ter — the death in London of Rev. Mr. Latrobe, Secre-
tary of the Society of the United Brethren. A salute
from a small gun near a flagstaff on the rocks not far
from the mission, and an irregular volley from the fowl-
ing-pieces of the Eskimos answered ; then a dory and a
kayak put off from shore, followed by a hcav^y, clumsy
boflt with a square block tiller, which bore the three mis-
sionaries, clad in seal-skin frocks with capotes, who
greeted the others aboard with a kiss on each cheek.
The boat's flag was also at half-mast, as the oldest mis-
sionary. Superintendent Kruth, had died at Hopedale
but a few days previous. The " Harmony" had brought
over besides a missionary who had been absent for two
years, the agent or supercargo, Herr Lintner, who had
been educated as a civil engineer, and was the son of the
owner of the vessel ; he visits the three mission stations^
and reports to the Society at home as to their condition
and progress.*

* This was the only vessel which visited Hopedale while we were there.
Since that date this part of the coast has been visited by fishermen from New-
foundland and Nova Scotia, attracted northward by the greater abundance of
codfish. Dewitz states that up to the year 1S79 nearly 2,200 vessels had visited
Hopedale, from 500 to 600 annually reaching the port, while in the year 1879
800 vessels touched at Hopedale, and on one morning 72 vessels lay in Hope-
dale Bay.

msm^

ESKIMO WOMKN.

199

|e-

Meanwhile we were boarded by a large delegation of
the squat, square-faced aboriginals ashore, full of curios-
ity and interest, quite ready to accept any offering from
our dinner-table, or even the scullion's waste-pail, and
examining our spars and deck with approving glances.
We returned the visit, and it may be confessed that we
fully reciprocated their interest in our surroundings when
we inspected their own.

There are six Moravian settlements in Labrador, the
oldest being Nain, which was founded in 1771 ; Okkak
was founded in 1776; Hopedale in 1782; Hebron and
Zoar in 1830. Hopedale is situated in kit. 55° 25',
Nain in lat. 56° 25', Okkak in kit 57° 2,2,', and Hebron in
lat. 58° 50'. At these stations there were in all, in i860,
twenty missionaries and about 1,400 Eskimos. Rama
was founded a year or two after our visit.

The new science of anthropology was not so generally
cultivated in 1864 as now, and we took no notes of the
height of the Eskimos at Hopedale and elsewhere ; but
in "Science" for July 29, 1887, we find the following
statements by Mr. VV. A. Ashe as to the mean height
of the Eskimo at North Bluff on Hudson Strait, taken
from measurements of "60 families," the exact number
of persons measured not being stated. The men aver-
aged 5 feet, 3.9 inches, and the women approximately 5
feet, in height.

And here it may be said that the condition of the
women, whether the effect of their semi-civilization and
Christianization or not, was certainly not that of subjec-
tion, but of normal equality. They were certainly
sharper at a bargain than their husbands, and within
doors, at least, appeared to be mistresses of the mansion.

- ii

■M

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

The women's dress differs from that of the men in the
lonc^ tail to their jacket-hke garment ; some wore an old
calico dress-skirt over the original Eskimo dress, — a
thin veneer of civilization typical perhaps of the educa-
tion they had been receiving for the past few generations,
wliicii was not so thoroui^^h-i^oin"' as not to leave extcinal
traces at least of their savage antecedents. But may this
not be said of all of us ? For only a few centuries ago our
ancestors were in a state of semi-barbarism, and the An-
glo-Saxon race can date back to Neolithic Celts and
bronze-using Aryan barbarians. However this may be,
the Eskimos at Hopedale were a well-bred, kindly, in-
telligent, scrupulously honest folk, whereas their ances-
tors before the establishment of the Moravian mission-
aries on this coast were treacherous, crafty, and murder-
ous. To be shipwrecked on this inhospitable coast was
esteemed a lesser evil than to fall into the hands of wan-
dering bands of Labrador Eskimos. The natives have
evidently been well cared for by the missionaries, kept
from starvation in the winter, and their lives have been
made nobler and better. Even in an Eskimo tepic life
has been proved to be worth living. Fishermen and
cruisers are (1864) not welcomed here, and it was not
until a day or two had elapsed and the object of our ex-
pedition made known that we were cordially welcomed-

There were four missionaries at Hopedale : Brothers
Shutt, Kreuchmer, Vollpracht, and Samuel Weiz, the
latter, who died in 1888, a good botanist and interested
in the zoology of the coast. They were now living
with their families under one roof in the new mission
house — a red-roofed yellow building of wood, of two
stories and a half, a large, convenient, warm house —

A FrM.-i!i.(i(ji>i- h Eskimo Faiii\ \i llMn.pAi.r, Lm'.raiok. iSf)_|.
(From a phoioi;i;iph Ky P)ra'lfonl. i

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1: • ■ I'

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Mai

THE NORTHERN LIMIT OF iRKES.

201

there beinj^ seven buildings in all, including the unfin-
ished new chai)el ; at a distance from the others was a
small powder-house. The servants in and about the sta-
tion were Eskimo, neat, cleanly, and intelligent. There
was plenty of lumber, judging by a pile of spruce-logs,
which were about fifty feet long and twenty inches in
thickness at the butt.*

We were also told that the Eskimos had built and
manned a schooner of fifty tons. The mission is in part
a trading-post, but at present 's paying only half its ex-
penses ; the missionaries dealing in furs and curiosities,
which they sell in London. Mr. VVeiz kindly gave me
a list of the plants and vertebrate animals of Labrador,
accompanied with notes, and his herbarium was very
complete in the plants of Okkak, which he said was
warmer, more |)rotected, and had a more luxuriant flora

* The northern limit of trees on the Labrador coast appears from the state-
ments of L. T. Reichel to be not far north of Hebron, as he says that while
the extreme northern part of the coast is treeless, the bays south of Hebron
are well wooded with spruce and larches, and south of this point with birches.
Although situated considerably more to the south than Greenland, the winter
is longer and the cold greater than in Greenland, since the southern extremity
of Greenland is warmed by a branch of the Gulf Stream, while the winter
<:limate of the Labrador coast is lowered by the floating ice borne by the
Labrador current from Baffin's Bay. In Greenland the water becomes open
in April, while in [Labrador the bays are not free from ice till the first of
July. On the other hand, the summer months are considerably warmer
than in Greenland, and hence there is a forest growth, since the interior of
Greenland is buried in ice. In Dewitz's pamplilet it is stated that in the deep
bays between Zoar and Hopedale birches occur, also willows, stunted bushes of
the mountain-ash, and alders, until south of Hopedale the vegetation passes
into the forest flora of Canada. But we observed that the outer islands are
nearly bare from Cape Harrison to Hopedale, the shrubs and stunted trees
mentioned only growing in protected valleys. Dewitz adds that there are rem-
nants of forests on the coast, but that the missionaries have been unable to
plant forests, and they think that the existing forest growth owes its origin to
an earlier, warmer period.

'ih

I i '

! ; 1

202 A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

than Ilopedale. Mr. Vollpracht told me that a large
fresh-water snail (^LimiKva, near elodes) was abundant in
a lake at Okkak. The collection of birds' eggs was a
good one, and they also had skulls of the polar and
black bears and of seals, which they sold to us. I also
purchased a valuable collection of insects, principally
butterflies and moths, obtained at Okkak. We visited
the rather large cemetery, well laid out and fenced in,
situated in a level spot where the soil was deeper than
elsewhere : at one end were the graves of the mission-
aries, over which memorial slabs were laid ; a large
mound marked the last resting-place of Superintendent
Kruth, while among the others was an infant's grave;
at the opposite end of the yard were the short grpv-s of
the Eskimos.

There were six little gardens, each perhaps belonging
to a separate family. They were laid out like those in
the fatherland, with clumps of spruce and larches, em-
bracing a summer-house, a rustic seat, and a grass-plot.
There were also rows of hot-beds, where they rear let-
tuce from plants raised in the house, yielding them salad
in May. Turnips were well forward, onions were in
bud, currant bushes two feet high were in blossom, as
well as potatoes, which were six inches high, and the
rhubarb was quite luxuriant in its growth, its flowers
having been open for some time.

The Eskimos were ready enough to traffic, though
slow at first to bring out their wares, which consisted of
birds' eggs, principally those of robins and murres,
models of kayaks and oomiaks, as well as sleds in
bone and seal-skin. From one of them, named Caspar,
a lame boy who had lived ten years in Hamilton Inlet

KVKNINfi PRAYERS.

203

and knew a little English, I was told tiiat a narvvhale
was seen many years ago on this coast. It appears that
this polar animal occurs now as far south as Hudson's
Strait. Captain Handy told me that on the north side
of Hudson's Strait the narvvhale commonly goes in
herds of thirty. Malmgren, a Finnish author, says that
the narwhale leaves Spitzbergen in summer for more
northern and colder latitudes.*

None of them, however, had ever seen a walrus, but
the white bear was said to be not uncommon ; and he
mentioned the wolverine as occurring; in the neic^hbor-
hood. Showing Caspar the picture of the lobster in my
Gosse's Zoology, he said it, with the shore crab, was not
found here, but south of Grosswater Bay (Hamilton
Inlet); the salmon (kavishilik) were taken in nets; he
was also familiar with the starfish, which he called
ougiak.

At sunset the chapel bell rang for evening prayers,
and all left their work or houses and made their way to
the sanctuary. The men and women sat separately and
at opposite ends of the room, even entering )y a sepa-
rate door ; and the oldest members of the coiigregalion
sat back on the higher benches, probably to overawe the
juveniles on the front seats ; although these must have
been duly restrained by the presence of the seven mis-
sionaries who sat against the opposite wall on the right
side of the leader's desk, their seven wives on the left.
The service was brief, lasting twenty minutes, consisting
of an invocation or address in Eskimo, and a few chants
to German tunes, the congregation joining in the music

* Wie^mann's Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1S64, p. 96.

!^; i

■■yi'

i
)

204

A Sl'MMKRS CRUIIjK lO N'ORTIIERN LABRADOR.

of the oi'fTan, which was well jilayed by an Eskimo hoy.
From the chapel all dispersed to their (piarters, and the
settlement long before dark was buried in profound
silence.

Sunday, the 31st July, was a warm, sunny day, unfor-
tunately as much enjoyed by the moscjuitoes and black-
flies as by us. In the forenoon we went to the service,
which was simple and brief, the natives not being
wearied with a long discourse ; like the yesterday even-
ing prayers it consisted simply of an invocation or ad-
dress, congregational singing and the litany, and in half
an hour the assembly dispersed.

The day was observed by the natives and all others
with more reverence than we have noticed in Lutheran
countries. The evening by invitation was spent aboard
the " Harmony." Captain Linklater, an unusually in-
telligent man, was, as he told us, six weeks on his voy-
age from London here ; he generally first sights Cape
Webuc, though steering for " The Beacon" below Hope-
dale.

In sailing from Hopedale to Nain the " Harmony"
takes an inside course. Above this point the coast is still
more deeply indented by bays and fjords, their mouths
checked with islands which extend fifty miles or more out
to sea. The captain is ordered by the company or gov-
ernor to take two Eskimo pilots from each port ; he gen-
erally leaves them to return when fifteen miles out from
harbor, as they are unacquainted with the rocks and
shoals. Navigation to Nain is represented to be difficult ;
at one place the vessel has to double two points closing
in one beyond the other. The captain while in harbor is
gradually making charts of the coast, which at best can

THE I'T-OK-ICK.

!0S

only l)c approxlniatlvc ; the missionaries liavc also, by as-
ccn{lin<>;' the hii^hcst points near their respective stations,
taken the hearinos of the islands about, Ca|)tain I.. i)y a
patent \o^^ takinij the distance between them.''' For ninety
years a "Harmony" — the name bein<r iianded down
to successive vessels — has made its annual voyaf^e to
Labrador, the missions havinj^' been estai)lished in Green-
land in 1733 and fust on this coast in 1771 ; during that
time but two men have been lost from the vessel, one
of them having been drowned by upsetting in a kayaU.
From the hills east of the station the icc-ficld could
be seen about ten miles out to sea, but bergs were visible
all along the coast. Captain Linklater on this voyage
encountered more ice than in any previous year of his
service. He found the field to be eighty-five miles wide ;
and from careful observations during a number of years
judged the rate of travel of the floe past the coast at this
point to be at the rate of twenty-seven miles a day, or a
little over a mile an hour. During this summer the ice
had, as we had observed, been running down the coast
from June 2 2d to August 2 2d, though it actually began
earlier and must have continued later than that. That
the ice finally disappeared by melting rather than by
sinking we believe, though the fishermen on the coast
maintain that it finally sinks. The extent of the ice-fields
therefore off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland
must have been this season not much less than 80,000
square miles ; the effect of such a wet blanket on the
coast may well be imagined.

* The results of these surveys were embodied in a MS. map by the Rev. S.
Welz, and it was this map which was kindly loaned me by the Secretary, Mr.
Latrobe, of the London office, and used in compiling the map of Labrador in
the present volume.

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206 A SU.MMKR's CRUISK to NOKTIIERN LABRADOR.

August I St was spent in gcolo^rizing, as it was cold
and cloudy, with an easterly wind. 'I'lie island on which
Hopcdale is situated is of the ordinary Laurentian ^^neiss,
which behind the mission house is curiously contorted ;
it is fine-grained, distinctly banded, with veins of quartz
and of granite ; at one point it dipped about 6o° W.
with a N. \\\ and S. E. strike. There are a number
of trap dykes, in places like slightly winding stairs or
steps tlescending to the water's edge, justifying the
term /n?/ applied to this rock, which is from the Swedish
trappa, meaning a series of steps or stairs.

The rocks are water-worn and terraced to the tops
of the hills. Behind the mission house is a raised beach
of large, loose, rounded sea-worn bowlders, generally two
feet in diameter, and mostly concealed by the growth of
Empetrum ; it is narrow and slopes down to a little
bight east of the Eskimo village, and its shores are formed
by what proved to be a raised sea-bottom. To our great
surprise and delight this beach above and between tide-
marks abounded in multitudes of deep-water shells with
other fossils ; and I spent half the day in picking them
up, renewing the search the next day. That it was an
old sea-bottom which had been raised at least from 75
to 100 feet, if not more, was proved by the habits of the
shells, now living ut the depth of from 15 to 20 fathoms
off shore, and al^^o by the quantities of nullipores encrust-
ing the shells and pebbles, showing that the beach had
not been disturbed since its elevation. Indeed it struck
me, though I have no essential proof, that the coast of
Labrador is now slowly rising, and this is also the opinion
of Campbell (Frost and Fire).

Returning to the vessel towards night, an active trade

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KAYAKING.

207

was carried on with the Eskimos to our mutual satisfac-
tion ; we bartered our old clothes for sealskin boots,
mittens, and miniature kayaks, etc.

The two next days were warm and sunny, with westerly
winds, and the time was mainly g'ven to the entomology
of the island, though the mosquitoes were excessively
annoying. On the hills were the Chionobas butterfly, so
wonderfully mimicking the colors of the lichens on the
rocks. The little blue butterfly {Polyoimnatiis Frank-
limi) was very abundant here, resembling some moths
when in flight.

We made long calls upon the missionaries, finding
them very cordial and pleasant, with much love of natural
history. They returned our visit, and their wards, the
Eskimos, swarmed over our vessel like flies. Always
good-natured, without exception rigidly honest and up-
right, they were a continual source of interest and amuse-
ment. They lent us their kayaks, which are framed of
spruce wood and covered with sealskin, and rather wider
and therefore safer to row in than Greenland kayaks,
which are framed with bone. I found it easy enough to
paddle in them, but difficult to keep the bows steady on
the course, each stroke of the double-ended paddle caus-
ing the bows to go too far one side ; they are by no means
so safe, however, as a birch canoe. Some of the passen-
gers and our crew paddled for a distance of one or two
miles, and after a little practice made good kayakers.

One day while rambling over the hills near the station
I came upon a fissure in the rock, marked by a pole,
and loosely covered with a few flat stones. It contained
two skeletons, presumably of an Eskimo man and woman.

I hastily put the skull and bones into the bottom of

t I

III

208

A SUMMI:r\S cruise to northern LABRADOR.

my butterfly-net and eovered them with grass ; on my
way past the chapel I came plump upon a wedding party
going away from the doors. The bride led the party,
clad in her old-time costume, with the addition of a calico
skirt ; at the distance of a few paces followed the groom,
while the friends straggled along behind. Without being
asked too curious questions I carried my precious freight
aboard, glad — to use a sepulchral simile — to kill two
birds with one stone, t.e. to secure the last remains of
an old-time Eskimo couple and to see a young and living
couple so recently united.

At Hopedale we understood the oldest person, the
patriarch of the colony, to be a woman of seventy years :
we saw her — a picture of ugliness which still haunts
our memory. There were three Eskimos who were sixty
years old. A man becomes prematurely old when forty-
five years of age, as the hunters are by that time worn
out by the hardships of the autumnal seal fishery.

mmmm

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CHAPTER X.

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

V. THE RETURN VOYAdE TO ItOSTON.

On August 4th we bade farewell to Moravians and
Eskimos; and with deep regret that it was not possible
for us to go farther north, at least to the 60th parallel
of latitude, we weighed anchor and ran with a fresh west
wind abeam to Thomas's or Maggovik Bay, where the
Norwegian Andersen lives in a well-wooded bight.
Andersen told me he had seen only one sort of caribou,
and did not know of a " barren-ground" as distinguished
from a "wood" caribou. He also said that the white
and blue fox littered together, but that the blue variety
was very rare. After dredging a while in fifteen fathoms
on a muddy bottom, where the interesting MyriotrocJnis
was common, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon Mr. Brad-
ford went with a boat's crew on a trading trip to
Thomas's house. The wind being dead ahead we had
to row all the way up, nearly thirty miles, and back, reach-
ing the vessel at one in the night. We took a late sup-
per at Mr. Thomas's hospitable house, and enjoyed a cup
of tea with goat's milk and good bread. The house was
comfortably situated near some quite sizable spruce-trees,
with a flourishing garden near by. Mr. Thomas (for the

site of his house see 1 7 on the map of Eskimo Bay) is

209

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2IO A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

a trader in furs, of which he had two or three hundred
dollars' worth on hand, and he professed to have more
than he wanted to live on. This little trip gave me
some idea of the country inland, as Thomas's Bay is
thirty miles deep, forming a broad sound, with few is-
lands except at the mouth. Both sides of the bay are
thickly wooded, with mountain summits rising bare and
gray through the covering of dark green coniferous trees,
the birches or poplars not being abundant enough to en-
liven the sombre hues of an evergreen Labrador forest.
The contours of the ridges and hills were regular, the
country was rather low, the scenery on the whole monot-
onous ; and such, I conceive, are the features of the in-
terior of the Labrador plateau, though diversified with,
lakes and deep river valleys. Both sides of the bay
were terraced : on the north side were three long and
regular terraces ; those on the south side were less regu-
lar and much shorter ; one formed a point of land per-
haps a hundred feet high and descending into the water
by three terraces. Farther up, the slope of the hill was
paved with large sea- worn bowlders, for the most part
covered over and hidden by the vegetation. At the
mouth of the bay are also three naked terraces, the
longer one winding up, following the shore, a growth of
trees partially concealing it from sight. The return row
down the bay and the sunset effects were extremely fine.
I cannot attempt to describe them. How the scenery
at this point appeared to a better artist in words than
myself may be realized by the following extract from
one of Rev. Mr. Wasson's papers in the Atlantic
Monthly of May, 1865 :

" In the early afternoon a dense haze filled the sky.

A LABRADOR LANDSCAPE.

211

The sun, seen through this, became a globe of glowing
ruby, and its ghicle on the sea looked as if the water had
been strewn, almost enough to conceal it, with a crystal-
line ruby dust, or with fine mineral spicules of vermilion
bordering upon crimson. The peculiarity of this ruddy
dust was that it seemed to possess body, and, while it
glowed, did not in the smallest degree dazzle, — as if the
brilliancy of each ruby particle came from the heart of it
rather than from the surface. The effect was in truth
indescribable, and I try to suggest it with more sense of
helplessness than I have felt hitherto in preparing these
papers. It was beautiful beyond expression, — any ex-
pression, at least, which is at my command.

" Such a spectacle, I suppose, one might chance to see
anywhere, though the chance certainly never occurred
to me before. It could scarcely have escaped me through
want of attention, for I could wen oelieve myself a child
of the sun, so deep an appeal to my feeling is made by
effects of light and color : light before all.

" But the atmosphere of Labrador has its own secret
of beauty, and charms the eye with aspects which one
may be pardoned for believing incomparable in their
way. The blue of distant hills and mountains, when ob-
served in clear sunshine, is subtile and luminous to a
degree that surpasses admiration. I have seen the Cam-
den Heights across the waters of Penobscot Bay when
their blue was equally profound ; for these hills, beheld
over twenty miles or more of sea, do a wonderful thing
in the way of color, lifting themselves up there through
all the long summer days, a very marvel of solemn and
glorious beauty. The .^gean Sea has a charm of at-
mosphere which is wanting to Penobscot Bay, but the

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212 A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

hue of its heights cannot compare with that of the Cam-
den Hills. Those of Labrador, however, maintain their
supremacy above even these — above all. They look
frozen sky. Or one might fancy that a vast heart or
core of amethyst was deeply overlaid with colorless
crystal, and shone through with a softened, lucent ray.
Such transparency, such intense delicacy, such refine-
ment of hue ! Sometimes, too, there is seen in the deep
hollows between the lofty billows of blue, a purple that
were fit to clothe the royalty of immortal kings, while
the blue itself is flecked as it were with a spray of white
l5gh^., .vhich one might guess to be a precipitate of sun-
shine.

• Thi : \is wonderful ; but more wonderful and most
wonderful was to come. It was given me once and once
again to look on a vision, an enchantment, a miracle of
all but impossible beauty, incredible until seen, and
ev^en when seen scarcely to be credited, save by an act of
faith. We had sailed up a deep bay and cast anchor in
a fine large harbor of the exactest horse-shoe shape. It
was bordered immediately by a gentle ridge some three
ihundred feet high, which was densely wooded with
spruce, fir, and larch. Beyond this ridge to the west
rose mountainous hills, while to the south, where was
the head of the harbor, it was overlooked immediately
by a broad, noble mountain. It had been one of those
white-skied days when the heavens are covered by a uni-
form filmy fleece, and the light comes as if it had been
filtered through milk. But just before sunset this fleece
was rent, and a river of sunshine streamed across the
ridge at the head of the harbor, leaving the mountain
beyond, and the harbor itself with its wooded sides, still

8;.

A LABRADOR LANDSCAPE.

213

in shadow. And where that shine fell, the foliage
changed from green to a glowing, luminous red^brown,
expressed with astonishing force, — not a trace, not a
hint of green remaining ! Beyond it the mountain pre-
served its whited gray ; nearer, on either side, the woods
stood out in clear green ; and, separated from these by
the sharpest line, rose this ridge of enchanted forest.
You will incline to think that one might have seen
through this illusion by trying hard enough. But never
were the colors in a paint-pot more definite and deter-
mined.

" This was but the beginning. I had turned away, and
was debating with myself whether some such color, seen
on the Scotch and English hills, had not given the hint for
those uniform browns which Turner in his youth copied
from his earlier masters. When I looked back, the
sunshine had flooded the mountain, and was bathing it
all in the purest rose-red. Bathing it? No, the moun-
tain was solidly converted, transformed to that hue ! The
power, the simplicity, the translucent, shining depth of
the color were all that you can imagine, if you make no
abatements and task your imagination to the utmost.
This roseate hue no rose in the garden of Orient or
Occident ever surpassed. Small spaces were seen where
the color became a pure ruby, which could not
have been more lustrous and intense had it proceeded
from a polished ruby gem ten rods in dimension. Color
could go no farther. Yet if the eye lost these for a mo-
ment, it was compelled somewhat to search for them, — ■
so powerful, so brilliant was the rose setting in which
they were embosomed.

"One must remember how near at hand all this was

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A SUMMEUS CRUISE TO NORTHERN' LAIJRADOR.

— not more tlian a mile or two away. Rock, cavern, cliff,
all the details of rounded swell, rising peak, and long-
descending slope could be seen with entire distinctness.
The mountains rose close upon us, broad, massive, real
— but all in this glorious, this truly ineffable transforma-
tion. It was not. distance that lent enchantment here*
It was not /en^/ it was real as rock, as Nature ; it con-
fronted, outfaced, overwhelmed you ; for enchantment
so immediate and on such a scale of grandeur and gor-
geousness — who could stand up before it ?

" In sailing out of the bay next day, we saw this and
the neighbor mountain under noon sunshine (lat. 55°
20'). They were the handsomest we saw, apparently
composed in part of some fine mineral, perhaps pure
labradorite. In the full light of day these spaces
shone like polished silver. My first impression was that
they must be patches of snow, but a glance at real spots
of snow corrected me. These last, though more dis-
tinctly white, had not the high, soft, silver shine of the
mineral. Doubtless it was these mountain-gems which,
under the magic touch of sunset light, had the evening
before appeared like vast rubies, blazing amidst the rose
which surrounded them.

*' And this evening the spectacle of the preceding
one was repeated, though more distantly and on a larger

scale. Ph thought it the finer of the two. Far away

the mountain height towered, a marvel of aerial blue,
while broad spurs reaching out on either side were
clothed, the one in shiny rose-red, the other in ethereal
roseate tints superimposed upon azure ; and farther
away, to the southeast, a mountain range lay all in
solid carmine along the horizon, as if the earth blushed

I' •

AN ARCTIC I'TEKOPOl).

215

at the touch of heaven. . . . All the wildiiess and
waste, all the sternest desolations of the whole earth,
brought together to wed and enhance each other, and
then relieved by splendor without equal, perhaps, in the
world, — that is Labrador."

Nearly all the next day was spent in beating down
the coast, finding ourselves at evening off our old haven.
Strawberry Harbor, which we did not enter, but re-
mained outside of it, holding on to the rocks in twenty-
five fathoms with our kedge. We lay over the edge of
a submarine precipice, or, as I supposed, a rock terrace
or shelf like those ashore ; for just before anchoring the
lead reached a depth of forty fathoms, showing quite
plainly that the terraced character of the rock, which
extends up the shore for a distance of perhaps 300 or
400 feet, also extends beneath the ocean to a depth of
at least fifty fathoms or three hundred feet, thus con-
clusively proving that the coast had once been much
higher than at present, and also showing how little the
fioe-ice had smoothed down the ocean-bottom near
shore.

The next day we reached, but did not double. Cape
Webuc (Harrison), as it was called, in the afternoon, and
Mr. Bradford spent every available moment in painting
icebergs. In the calm water we met with great num-
bers of that interesting and curious arctic pteropod,
Limacina helici7ia ; drawing up some in a bucket and
placing them in a glass of sea-water, the beautiful move-
ments of these delicate forms could be seen. They were
like winged sweet-peas — the shape of the body and color
suggesting the resemblance. It had not previously been
recorded as occurrinjr south of the Greenland seas. The

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A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

fishermen, who had never seen them before this summer,
said that the cod fed on them, and injured the fishery,
but all tiiis was the merest nonsense. We hiy to among
the icebergs all night, Bradford vigorously and indefat-
igably at work every spare moment, up at three o'clock
in the morning, and painting the next day until a fog
closed down upon the scene early in the afternoon.

The succeeding day (the 8th) we ran into Sloop Har-
bor, where we dredged in ten fathoms and drew up an
interf^sting arctic Isopod crustacean.

On the 9th we entered Indian Harbor, where lived
a Mr. Norman, who was carrying on an extensive fishery
here, though this year it was, as everywhere else, a
failure, the men at Sloop Harbor having to go thirty
miles for bait. The salmon fishery was also pronounced
equally abortive, only two hundred tierces having been
netted in all Hamilton Inlet, whereas that amount is
usually taken at a single point.

The scenery here — trap-hills and dykes giving some
strange effects — was unusually picturesque, and Bradford
was busy making studies and photographs. The gneiss
is whitish in color, gradually sloping in rocky terraces to
the shore, and extending under the fiord, the bowlder-
laden, smooth bottom being perfectly visible at the
depth of six or eight fathoms ; and I have little doubt it
could have been distinguished at the depth of ten or
even fifteen fathoms.

Here for the first time on this coast were to be seen
undoubted glacial marks. They occurred on the smooth
ice-worn rocks about twenty-five feet above the harbor,
not far from Norman's house, on the southern side of
the tickle. They were lunate impressions varying in

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GLACIAL MARKS.

217

length from five to twelve inches, descrihinor a curve from
three to nine inches deep, and at the bottom of the
crescent sunk an inch deep in the rocks. The iioUows
of the crescents opposed the northwest, showing tiiat
the glacier which produced such marks must have
moved from the land, filling the great bay of which the
fiord was an arm, and were sculptured in a smooth,
highly polished whitish gneiss. Tiie rocky shore was
above the reach of the waves, but dampened by the
surf and spray, so that the surface was entirely free of
lichens, which covered the rock farther up from the
water's edge.

That these were genuine glacial marks was evident
to me at the time, and afterward sufficiently proved in
my own mind when standing on the summit of Bald-
face Mountain near Gilead, Me., where the lunate or
crescentiform marks are abundant.

Ice marks have also been noticed by Campbell in his
*' Frost and Fire." *

* "The coast is now rising between St. John's in Newfoundland and Cape
Harrison in Labrador. Rocks have been marked and the marks have risen; boats
now ground on solid rocks where they floated twenty years ago; rocks which
were seldom seen now seldom disappear at high tides; harbors are shoaling;
beds of common shells are found high above the sea; raised beaches are seen
on hill-sides in sheltered corners; and blocks of foreign rock are perched upon
the summits of islands and on the highest hills near the coast. The rocks are
much weathered, and very few striae were found. Those which were found
aimed up-stream. At Indian Island, lat. 53^ 30', near the lat. of Hull, they
pointed into Davis's Straits, at a heigh"^ v' ,00 feel above the sea; at Red Hay,
in the Straits of Belle Isle, they aimto N*. 45° E. at the sea-level. In winter
the sea is frozen near the coast to a thickness of eighteen inches or more; in
spring the northern ice comes down in vast masses. In 1864 this spring diiit
was 150 miles wide, and it floated past Cape Race. From a careful examination
of the water-line at many spots it appears that bay- ice grinds rock, but does not
produce striation. The tops of conical rocks have been shorn off. The shape
of the country is a result of denudation. No matter what the dip and fracture of
the stone may be, the coast is generally worn into the shape known as ' roches
moutonnees.'" (Vol. ii. p. 236.)

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218

A SUMMKKS CRUISK TO NOKTIIKRN' LAnRADOR.

The afternoon of the lothwe sijjhted the famihar out-
lines of Tub Island. The wind was southeast, and the
next day it was too stormy to allow us to run out ; and
€arly in the sueeeeding day a dry northeast ^ale raged,
but eleared off suffieiently in the afternoon to allow us
to sail, in three hours, twenty-four miles Dumpiin

Harbor, where dredging was profitable, though it was
cold work hauling in the rope in the northeast wind.

The next day we beat against a southeast wind about
twenty miles down to Cateau Harbor, passing numerous
headlands on which raged a line surf. The dredging in
this harbor, where the sea-bottom was sandy and j)rolitic
in worms, shells, a id Echinoderms, was excellent ;
among other rarities we hauled up s| ocimens of the
arctic holothurian Jfyrioh^oi:/ius Rink i, and a smaller
simpler sea-cucumber, the Eupyrgtis : abei', ore like a
small faded Martynia than a cucumlx r.

The 14th and 15th continued to lie stormy, the wind
northerly, with more or less fog, jergs and floating ice,
making it dangerous sailing, '^'♦'^e however got as far as
Indian Tickle, where was the large ' and best appointed
fishing establishment we had yet visitea, ? elongingto Mr.
M. H. Warren, who lives in London during mi" winter,
spending the summer here, where he employs tw. hun-
€red and fifty men. Here the salmon fishery had beei. a
failure, and the fishermen complained of the " black stuff"
in the water, the delicate and interesting Limacina —
which they declared "poisoned the fish."

At noon of the i6th, when the fog lifted, a northerly
wind carried us into Domino Harbor. We found that
there was some trouble at the " rooms" here about paying
duties on produce brought upon this coast by traders.

CUKI.KWS.

219

Tlific l)cin^ no representative from Laliiador, which,
however, is j)(>litieally a i)art of NewfounUland, it was
chiimed that there should he no duties ; they w»'re there-
fore paid under protest to tlie judj^e and coUectcjr. James
Winter, Es([., who had j)ul)hshed umier ilate of Nov.
12th, 1863, a report entitled " Impolicy and (Jhjection-
ahle Nature of Levying Duties upon hread and Biscuit
Imported from I Iaml)urf»;h. By James Winter."

It appears that he had left Newfoundland fSt. John's)
June 15th, and was prevented hy the ice from reachino
Blanc Sahlon hefore the 20th of July ; where he reported
that there were forty vessels, of which thirty-five sailed
from Nova Scotia, the remainder heing^ vessels belonging
to the "rooms," and which l)rought out salt and manu-
factured goods fr<>m England. This harbor (Blanc
Sablon) is perhaps the most important port on the Labra-
dor coast. According to Winter's report the trade at
Blanc Sablon is very extensive, consisting of two large
supplying and fishing establishments belonging to Jersey,
Messrs. Boutellier and De Quetteville & Co., and two
smaller houses, also from. Jersey, engaged in the fishery.
This is the chief place of resort of the large number of
fishing-vessels from Nova Scotia and other colonies
which annually arrive at Labrador.

The 17th was spent in harbor at Domino, which to
the geologist is one of the most interesting points on the
coast. While walking over the barren Domino gneiss
worn down by the glaciers, a flock of twenty five curlews
flew overhead, but they were late, as was everything else
this year.

The 1 8th we set sail from Domino Run for Henley
Harbor in the face of a southerly storm, and beat to

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A SUMMER S CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

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windward all day in the fog and rain, making about
thirty miles. We passed many fine icebergs, some of
them of magnificent proportions, moving down the coast
in a stately way, while others were left stranded close in-
shore.

We remained outside in the fog through the night
and early part of the next day ; took a northerly storm
in the afternoon, and lay to during the night for fear of
encountering the bergs or pieces of floating ice.

We here saw in a large school of humpback and fin
whales what Captain Handy pronounced to be a sperm-
whale by if^ " spout," which formed a single short stream
of vapor curling over in front from the blow-hole, which
is situated at the end of the nose. Mr. Pike (at Square
Island) told us thit a school of nin6 sperm-whales used
to pass annually up and down the coast, but that now
only five of them were remaining ; we may have seen
one of the five.

After a very uncomfortable night, having heaved to
in the darkness in a heavy swell and calm to avoid col-
liding with the ice, which in scattered bergs and floes
surrounded us, we finally on the 20th ran before a fresh
northeasterly gale into Henley Harbor.

Sunday the 21st was, after the fog had cleared away in
the morning, a very pleasant day, though towards night
the easterly wind again brought in the fog. Colonel
Amorv and myself went over to an island on the west
side of the harbor, where a recent severe gale, in which
three vessels had been driven ashore, had washed off the
soil so as to disclose some graves supposed to be those
of Eskimos. We dug into them, finding a few bones
and pieces of flannel ; the former were too much decayed

ESKIMO GRAVES.

221

to be of any value. An under-jaw given me by a man
who lived near by and who had taken it from the graves
had double teeth (sic) all around, the front teeth being
worn down to the gums, the two jaws not overlapping
(this being an Eskimo characteristic) ; the jaw resembled
those of the skulls from Hopedale. There were several
graves formed by natural fissures in the rocks, covered
over by a layer of stones, with soil heaped over them,
each forming a sort of natural dolmen. No one knew
about them, but it was supposed that they may have been
the graves of those killed in a battle of the Eskimos with
the Indians. Battle Point, a little way up the coast,
commemorates a sanguinary fight between these two
races of Labrador aboriginals.

I now learned that the old fort situated on a bluff on
the terrace previously described was built by an early
settler named Greville, who held out one winter against
the wiles of the Indians until, during a deep snow-storm
which barred up the cannon of the fort and choked up
the embrasures, the dusky assailants scaled the walls and
gained entrance within. Our inform.ant said that Greville
wrote a history of Labrador. Near the fort was a circular
area paved closely with cobble-stones, but nearly over-
grown with Empetrum, which was said to have been the
foundation of a Nascopi wigwam, but was more probably
of Eskimo origin. •

The 2 2d was a fine day but nearly calm, and the fore-
noon was spent with the insect-net in hand. The cur-
lews were quite abundant, perhaps a hundred being seen.
After dinner we hauled up anchor, and Bradford went
out in searci; of icebergs. Two small bergs were seen
near the southern end of Belle Isle and farther down the

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222

A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR.

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Strait ; one of them broke to pieces during the nighty
and we afterwards saw the fragments floating upon the
water some miles inshore. We lay all night becalmed
six or seven miles from shore, drifting slowly down the
Strait with the Labrador current ; before night I dredged
in from forty to fifty fathoms on a hard, pebbly bottom,
bringing up besides the common red seaweed {Ptilota)
only a shrimp or two.

Towards noon of the follovvin^ day a steady easterly
breeze carried us down the Strait, and we lay to in the
fog all night, until after breakfast of the 24th it lifted
somewhat and we found ourselves near Whale Island,
three miles west of Whiteley's, and by eleven had for-
tunately worked into the harbor of Salmon Bay off John
Goddard's house near Caribou Island. We went to Rev.
Mr. Carpenter's mission house for our letters, and were
glad enough to accept his hospitality that night, not only
as a pleasant change from sleeping in a bunk, but to
renew an agreeable acquaintance.

I collected more Quaternary fossils from the beach,
though it rained and blew hard all day. We learned
that the weather here had been pleasanter than "to the
nor'ard," and that though the cod fishery had been " bad,"
it was now beginning to " look up." The stormy season
was now about to set in, and it was high time that such
craft as ours should leave the coast. • No sail-boats can
be used here with safety after the middle of September,
the autumn winds are so gusty, with calms and sudden
flaws. Only the small sails of the Newfoundland vessels
and their large crews enable them to coast along this
region after that date.

On the 25th we fairly got under way for home,

mmmm

THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS.

225

taking the tail end of yesterday's storm, though before
the anchor was weighed I did some good dredging,
bringing up among other notable creatures Trito^iofusiis
cretacetis. On the whole the Strait of Belle Isle pre-
sented the most varied and rich dredging grounds I met
with on the coast. We now had before us a run of 340
miles from Salmon Bay to the Gut of Canso, it being 80
miles from Bird Rock to the latter strait. At about five
in the afternoon of the 27th the wind hauled into the
southeast and freshened into a gale of wind during the
night ; it was very thick, but there was no rain. We
lost our reckoning and came near running ashore between
Bird Rock and Byron Island, making seven fathoms*
sounding twice ; moreover, the forecastle stove u[)set,
and the floor got on fire, so that between the danger of
shipwreck and of fire we had an anxious night.

On Sunday morning, the 28th, we ran under jib and
reefed mainsail past Bird Rock to the westward of the
Magdalen Islands, just seeing land through the thick rain
and mist and driving spray, and part of the time a cold
sleet. The water came in over our rail ; things above
and below were knocked about a good deal, and some
bilge-water leaked into the cabin. At 2 p.m., however,
the gale broke, the rain abated, and after a while the
sun broke through the clouds and lighted up, intensify-
ing the rich red hues of the long, low shores of the
Magdalen Islands. Here for the first time we seiw the
fish hawk, while the gannets, glorious birds while on
the wing, were diving from far aloft for mackerel, or
soaring up among the low rain-clouds. The 29th was
warm and pleasant, and we passed many sails, some
going to the Magdalen Islands, but most of them converg-

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224 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR.

ing like a flock of sea-birds towards the Gut of Canso.
About ten o'clock in the forenoon we lost sight of
Deadman's Island, the southernmost point of the Mag-
•dalens, and at two o'clock in the afternoon sighted the
Prince Edward's Islands, and soon after espied Cape
Breton Island.

We expected to reach Port Mulgrave early the next
morning, but our hopes of letters, papers, fresh potatoes,
and beef on the morrow were dashed to the ground, as
soon after sunset we were becalmed and had to come to
anchor within six miles of that delectable haven. We
got into Port Mulgrave the next morning, when six of
our passengers left to return home overland.

We left Port Mulgrave on the morning of the ist
September, passed Halifax light at eight o'clock in the
next evening, and at half-past seven in the evening of
the 3d sighted Thatcher Island light, and ran up to our
pier at Boston the next morning.

A few words as to the scientific results of our voyage.
Although we failed to reach Cape Chidley and to see the
higher Moravian mission stations and Eskimos, or to do
much dredging in water over fifty fathoms in depth, yet
every possible facility was afforded me by Mr. Bradford,
and the results of the voyage were perhaps of some j^ervice
to science. Our geological notes of the coast were
fuller than any yet published ; over seventy-five raised
beaches were discovered ; glacial phenomena of interest
were observed, and the fact of the recent glaciation of
the northeastern part of the Labrador peninsula was
for the first time proved. Dredgings were made among
the islands from Mecatina to Hopedale, and a consider-
able number of new species of marine invertebrates, as

^VT.^50?

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Ayvaraluk

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_^jl,ieoU<-«^^

£i

Lahkadok. (From the British Admiralty Map No. 663.)

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RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE.

225

well as insects, secured, while it was made evident that
the polar fauna and flora, both land and marine, extends
southward into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, many inter-
esting arctic forms occurring which had never before
been dredged south of Baffin's Bay ; valuable data were
also obtained showing that the life along the coast of
Maine during the Leda epoch of the glacial period was
nearly identical with that of the Labrador coast, and
that the alpine fauna and flora of Mt. Washington in
New Hampshire is a remnant of the Labrador assem-
blage of plants and animals ; notes of interest on the
distribution of the fish and mammals were obtained, par-
ticularly of the walrus, white bear, and narwhale, while
the collections of insects were tolerably complete, en-
abling us to compare the Labrador insect fauna with
that of Norway, Sweden, and the Alps of Switzerland.

A voyage to the Labrador coast is an exceedingly
healthful one ; its interest to the sportsman would be
enhanced if, in a steam-yacht and launches, the salmon
streams could be explored and the game reached. But
for lovers of grand coast scenery, famous for its peculiar
wildness and far-reaching desolation, and which is only
inferior to that of Norway, we recommend a cruise to
Northern Labrador.

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CHAPTER XI.

RECENT EXPLORATIONS.

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Of late years fresh attention has been paid to the ex-
ploration of the Labrador Peninsula. Dr. Franz Boas
has published in "Science" for Feb. 17, 1888, " Notes
on the Geography of Labrador," which contains refer-
ence to explorations in this country undertaken within
a few years. Dr. Boas, it appears to us, erroneously
states that the MS. map by Rev. S. Weiz, which we
used in the compilation of the map in the present vol-
ume (originally published in the Bulletin of the Ameri-
can Geographical Society), "was published in January^
1869, in the Missionsblatt aus der Brudergemei7ide''
The MS. map loaned us by the Rev. Dr. Latrobe must
have been a later one, with corrections, as it differs in
a number of essential points, as may be seen if any
one will examine the copy of the Moravian map pub-
lished in "■ Science," and also previously in the Missions-
blatt, with that in this book ; for example, VVeiz's
earlier published map represents Killinek, near Cape
Chidley, as one large island, whereas in our map the
Killinek of 1869 is represented by two large islands.
Also, Nachvak Inlet, Saeglek Bay, and the inlet on
which Hebron is situated are very different in the two

* This map is here reproduced, thanks to the publishers of " Science."

226

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TIIK INTKRIOK OF LABRADOR.

227

maps ; while no mountain lanj^es were inserted in the
London MS. map of Mr. Weiz.

Our knowledge of the interior of Northern Labrador
has been somewhat extended by Dr. R. Koch, who
wintered in Nain m 1882-83, his brief but interesting
account being published in the Deutsche Geographische
i^Ayy/^T (Band VII. Heft 2, 1884, pp. 151-163). The
Eskimos in the spring go after reindeer in sledges from
Nain to the plateau of the interior, which is reached
after a journey of four or five days, at the rate of thirty
English miles a day, through fiord-like valleys. After
one or two days more the height of land is reached.
This water-shed approaches the shore in the northern
part of the peninsula, being only one day's journey dis-
tant from Rama, which is the northernmost Moravian
station, being situated in lat. N. 58" 52' 54 . From
this water-shed arise the rivers Koaksoak and Kangerd-
lualuksoak (George River), which flow into Ungava
Bay. This water-shed terminates in Killinek,^nd its
outliers form the Button Islands. The narrower the
mountainous district becomes, the higher it is. Near
Hopedale the mountains, so far as Koch could see from
looking inland, rise only a few hundred feet ; while at
Nain the mountains close by the sea are from 800 to
1,200 feet high. The Kiglnpait, or Saw-teeth Mountains,
between Nain and Okkak, have an elevation of several
thousand feet (2,000, according to the British y\dmi-
ralty chart). Kaumajat (Shining Mountain), situ;ited
south of Hebron, reaches this height (see p. 9). Al-
though Koch has added nothing materially new to the
information given in the first chapter of this book, we
may add that he states that north of Hebron the coun-

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RPXENT EXI'LORAIIONS.

try is alpine in character, the mountains risinjr ahiiost
vertically from the sea ; but althou<;h the peaks attain
a jjreat height, there are no ice-fields and shinin^j snow-
clad peaks; at the most, snow-fields and miniature
glaciers. Deep, narrow fiords (Sorviluck, NuUatarkok,
and Nachvak) cut into the coast, which is not along
here sheltered by islands from the heavy swell of the
ocean. While south of Hebron numerous islands lie
scattered off the mouths of the bays, northerly from
Komaktorvik there are numerous islands and very dan-
gerous cliffs, the Naviarutsit and Nuvurutsit, which ex-
tend up to Ikkerasak Torksuk, viz., the great thorough-
fare, abounding in whirlpools, of the Eskimo to Un-
gava Bay.

Near Rama, Koch ascended a mountain 2,600 feet
in height. He describes the scene as very grand: " At
my feet I saw the deep, bluish-green fiord surrounded
by steep, wall-like cliffs. The mountains were covered
with shrubs colored red by the first frost of the season.
To the left spreads the dark-blue ocean, with its green-
ish-white icebergs. On the opposite side of the fiord,
:and towards the west, extended steep and ragged moun-
tains and narrow, gorge-like valleys, in one of them a
dark lake, the water of which, black as ink, reflected
the high peaks. In the interior I saw mountains rising
to still greater heights, and covered wii. •" esh snow,
extending north and south as f:" 1 could see. The
highest points of this lange ar pposite tl island of
Aulatsivik, and reach elevations uf from 8,000 to 9,000
feet. While mountains less than 1,500 or 2,oc)o'feet in
height are rounded, and bear evidence of having bt ti

1-AHKAI)()K MOUNTAINS AND RIVKKS.

229

covered by glaciers, the ragged forms of the higher
mountains show no such sii^-ns."

All the lower mountains have rounded, often smoothly
polished, summits, and are covered with numberless frag-
ments of other stones, differin<j: jj^reatly in size, ;i3k1 not
arranj^cd into moraines, but scattered over mountains
and valleys, and often lying in the strangest positions.
The summits of the highest mountains, on the contrary,
are split by the frost into sharp, rugged, enormous
teeth.

Koch then describes a typical valley near Nain, one near
the Kauk (the Cliff), into which tlows the Kaubkonga
(Kauk River). Passing out from the mouth pf the
winding valley, the stream, often broken into raj)ids,
ends in a water-fall about forty feet high, which plunges
into a lake, the Ekkalulik (viz., the place where there
are trout), into which two streams open, the Kaubkonga
and the Jordan. The two rivers flow by rapids out
of different lakes, the Jordan out of the Tessialuk
(Breeches Lake of the missionaries), the Kaubkonga
out of the Tachardlek (Star Lake). Beyond these are
four other lakes, connected by short streams broken
into rapids and cataracts, and which lead up to the
Kairtoksoaks, where the streams take their origin.
The Kaubkonga is a relatively strong stream, but is
a type of all the Labrador rivers, being a chain of lakes
connected by rapids or cataracts. " All the streams, so
far as I have observed, at least those which flow into
the Atlantic Ocean, have this peculiarity : evidently the
corroding action of the water during the short summer
has not not been sufficient during the short time which

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230

UECENT KXPl.OkA'riONS.

has elapsed since the meltiiifi^ away of the glacial cover-
ing to wear the river-valleys into continuous courses."

Koch also observed raised beaches from 10 to 30
metres in height above the sea, and from all his obser-
vations he concludes that after theglaciation of the coast
there was a depression of the land, as proved by the old
beaches, followed in recent times by a slow upheaval.

Some additional information regarding Northern Lab-
rador, says Dr. Boas, is contained in the publications of
the reports of the German polar stations of the interna-
tional system. " Since Koch's visit to Labrador, meteor-
ological observations are being made at all missionary
stations of the Labrador coast, which are of particular
value as filling the wide gap between the system of Can-
ada and the Danish stations in Greenland."

We have already on page 7 given a brief account of
Dr. Bell's observations made in 1884 on the physical
geography of the extreme northern coast of Labrador.

More recently the commissioner of crown lands of
Quebec has sent surveyors who have explored the nu-
merous rivers emptying into the St. Lawrence, Mr. C.
E. Forgues having surveyed the rivers St. John, Mingan,
Natashquan, and Esquimaux. During the summer of
1887 the missionary Edmund James Peck succeeded in
crossing Labrador from Richmond Bay to Ungava Bay,
but as yet no account of what must have been a very
interesting journey has appeared. Dr. Boas adds that
*' Green Island, in Hudson Bay, as shown on Packard's
map, does not exist according to observations made by
Gordon on his expeditions to Hudson Bay. The archives
of the Department of Marines of France possess a number

HOLME S EXPLORATIONS.

231

of manuscript maps of Hudson Strait, wliicii. however,
have not been published."

Very full and detailed information re(;ardin<r the re-
gion of Fort Chimo is contained in the report of Mr. L.
M. Turner to the U. S. Signal Bureau, which has not
yet been published. But until sorhe explorers cross the
peninsula from Fort Chimo to Nain or Hopedale, and
also ascend the Esquimaux River to its source, we shall
be much in the dark regarding the nature of the interior
of Labrador. An attempt to penetrate the interior from
the head of Eskimo Bay (Lake Melville) was made in
1887 by Mr. Randle F. Holme, whose interesting ac-
count, illustrated by an excellent map of the entire Lab-
rador peninsula, appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society, April, 1888. We have found his
map of great service in compiling that of Southern Lab-
rador in the present book.

Mr. Holme tells us that on one occasion Pere Lacasse,
the Roman Catholic niissionaiy to the Indians, journeyed
from Mingan to Northwest River by the Mingan and
Kenamou rivers, and from Northwest l^iver to Ungava
by the Nascopee and Waquash rivers.

Mr. Holme ascended the Grand River, which empties
into Aivuktok Bay, as far as Lake VVaminikapou, his
point of departure being the Hudson Bay post of Uigolet.
After exploring the mouths of Gudder's Bight River, of
the Kenamish, the Kenamou, and the Travespines River,
Mr. Holme ascended the Grand River 150 miles, to a
point within 50 miles of the Grand Falls, whose height
is unknown, but which he regards as with little doubt
" the most stupendous falls in the world." The river is
said by Maclean to be 500 yards broad above the falls.

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232.

RECENT EXPLORATIONS.

contracting to 50 yards at the falls themselves. We are
not satisfied with Mr. Holme's estimate of the probable
height of these falls ; their exploration would certainly
reward any one who is sufficiently enterprising and has
sufficient knowledge of geology and natural history to
make the journey profitable.

In regard to the canoe route from the Strait of Belle
Isle up the Esquimaux River to Lake Melville, we may
add that the Rev. C. C. Carpenter kindly obtained dur-
ing the winter of 1888-89 the following notes from Mr.
W. H. Whiteley, who has spent many summers at Bonne
Esperance, a little island at the mouth of this river, and
can speak with authority, as he is " the most intelligent
and reliable man on the whole coast," and is the magis-
trate of this section of the Labrador coast

" About Esquimaux River, from all I have been able
to gather from the Indians, I think that there is a large
plateau in the interior about five days' walk, for an In-
dian, from our place, probably about 250 miles. They
can walk from Bonne Esperance to Rigolet in ten days,
so they say. They tell us that St. Augustine River rises
from the same lake as Esquimaux River, but I think
they mean the same level plateau. The interior of Lab-
rador is wholly water ; certainly four fifths of the surface
is cut up into small ponds and lakes, which makes trav-
elling except by water impossible unless in winter ;
when on the ice one can make a straight course, and I
suppose this accounts for the intense cold for such enor-
mous bodies of ice, for the lakes are mostly shoal and
freeze to the bottom, making a huge ice-house of Labra-
dor all the spring months, aHd, as you know, well up
into the summer."

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STEAM COMMUNICATION WITH LABRADOR.

235

The means of communication with Labrador from
England is by steamer to Newfoundland, whence mail
steamers make at least two trips each summer from St.
John's along the Labrador coast as far north as Nain,
while the steamer goes as far west as Bonne Esp(§rance
in the Strait of Belle Isle. Mr. Holme states that
" new and superior steamers are being built for the
coastal service from St. John's, and will begin to run
this summer" (1888). Steamers also ran during the
summer of 1890 once a fortnight from Halifax through
Cape Breton Island along the western coast of New-
foundland, touching at Blanc Sablon. There is also
communication by sailing-vessels from Quebec, and oc-
casionally a pleasure-party from Boston or some other
port in the United States visits the Labrador coast.

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CHAI^TER XII.

A GLANCE AT THE CIVIL HISTORY OF LABRADOR, WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF ITS FISHERIES.

The history of Labrador can be told in few words.
The permanent residents dwell exclusively on the coast,
and, as a rule, in the more sheltered harbors and fiords.
The principal settlements on the shore south of the
Strait of Belle Isle are Bonne Esperance, Forteau
Point, Blanc Sablon, Belles Amours, and Henley Har-
bor, a few families being scattered along the shore be-
tween these points. On the Atlantic or eastern coast
the most important settlement is at Battle Harbor, "a
sheltered roadstead between Battle Island and Great
Caribou Island, about half a mile in length and quite
narrow." Farther north are St. Francis Harbor, Batteau
Harbor, Occasional Harbor, Square Island Harbor,
Domino Run. At Cartwright Bay is the southernmost
Hudson Bay Company's post, and these are scattered
along at rare intervals as far north as the fiord or inlet
of Nachvak, the most important post being situated at
Rigolet in Melville Bay, while at Fort Chimo in Un-
gava Bay is another post belonging to this company.

The population of the St. Lawrence coast of Labra-
dor from Port Neuf to Blanc Sablon numbers about
4,400, comprising English, and French of Canadian or

234

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TIIK POPULATION OF LABRADOR. 23$

Acadian origin, who subsist chiclly hy tisiiing and hunt-
ing. Of the whole number 3.800 are Roman Catholics
and 570 are Protestants.

In the scattered settlements north of the Strait of
Belle Isle one meets with Enolish, Scotch, and Jersey
sailors or their descendants, who make a very precarious
livelihood by fishing in the summer and fur-hunting in
the winter. The map at the end of this chapter will
serve as a directory of the coast from Sandwich Bay
northward. The summer or tioating population of Lab-
rador is estimated at about 30,000, mostly Newfound-
landers.

" The last census taken by the government of New-
foundland, in 1874, gives the resident population from
Blanc Sablon to Cape Harrison as 2, 416. Of these
1,489 belong to the Church of England ; 476 to the
Church of Rome ; 285 arc Wesleyans ; 30 are Presby-
terians, and 126 belong to other denominations. Tiiere
are nine places of worship : four of the Church of Eng-
land, three of the Church of Rome, and two of the VVes-
leyan Church.* According to Hatton and Harvey the
total population of Labrador was in 1874 about 12,527,
distributed as follows : —

On the St. Lawrence coast, from Port Neuf to Blanc Sablon 4,411

On the Atlantic coast, white population 2,416

Eskimos 1,700

Indians of the Interior 4,000

12,527

By a more recent estimate the number of Eskimos is
placed at 1,500 or less. It is also probable, judging from

* Hatton and Harvey's Newfoundland ; Boston, 1883, p. 297.

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236 A GLANCE AT THK CIVIL HISTORY OF LABRADOR.

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newspaper statements of famines in Labrador due ti>
the failure of the fisheries in late years, that the white
population of the coast has been somewhat diminished,
and we doubt if the total population exceeds 12,000.

For the followinj^^ brief history of Labrador we are in-
debted to the chapter on Labrador in Hatton and Har-
vey's excellent work on Newfoundland.

The boundaries between Newfoundland and Canadian
Labrador are thus defined in the " Letters-Patent Consti-
tuting^ the Office of Governor and Commander-in-chief of
the Island of Newfoundland " : " We have thought fit
to constitute order and declare that there shall be a Gov-
ernor and Commander-in-chief (hereinafter called our
said Governor) in and over our Island of Newfoundland^
and the islands adjacent, and all the coast of Labrador,
from the entrance of Hudson's Straits to a line to be
drawn due north and south from Anse Sablon on the
said coast to the fifty-second degree of north latitude,,
and all the islands adjacent to that part of the said coast
of Labrador, as also of all forts and garrisons erected and
established, or which shall be erected and established,
within or on the islands and coasts aforesaid (which said
islands and coast, together with the Island of Newfound-
land, are hereinafter referred to as our said colony), and
that the person who shall fill the said office of Governor
shall be from time to time appointed by commission
under our sign-manual and signet."

In 1 864 the boundaries of the Newfoundland portion
of Labrador were thus defined :* " The western limit of
the government of Newfoundland is lat. 51" 25' N.,

* Appendix to the " Journal of the House of Assembly," 1864, p. 613.

THE BOUNDARY IJNK.

237

aOiio^. 57° g' W., and includes Blanc Sablon and tlie
Woody Islands. The northern boundary is Cape Chud-
leioh, in hit. 60° 37' N., lonjr. 65" W." llatton and
Harvey then add : "Thus a line drawn due north and
south, from Blanc Sablon to Cape Chudlei^h, constitutes
tlie boundary between the two jurisdictions." If the read-
er will draw the line on the niaj), he will see that it would
include only a thin strip of the coast from Blanc Sablon
to Davis's Inlet; that it would not include the western
part of Melville Bay, and nortli of Davis's Inlet or the
Moravian settlement of Zoar, would pass almost to the
westward of the mainland, including: only some of the
promontories and the outer islands from Zoar to Cape
Chidley. This was evidently not the intention of the
British Government. The natural boundary line between
Newfoundland and Canadian Labrador would be, it
seems to us, the Eskimo and Kenamou rivers, the
western shores of Melville I5ay and of Grand Lake,
and north of this point the chain of lakes lying on the
heiorht of land extending along- near the 65th parallel
of longitude, the natural boundary line on Ungava
Bay being Whale River.

Hatton and Harvey's history then states: "This por-
tion of Labrador was not always attached to Newfound-
land. The first annexation took place after the Treaty
of Paris, 1763. While the flag of France waved over
Canada, the French carried on extensive fisheries on
the Labrador coast, near the Straits of Belle Isle, to
which they attach the greatest importance. After the
conquest of Canada by Britain, a company established
in Quebec obtained a monopoly of these fisheries
which lasted for sixty years, but was brought to an

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238 A CI ANCK W TilK ("I VI I, HISIORV f)I' I,AHI<ADf)l<.

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end ill 1820. I'lUil 1763 the tishcrics of the wliole
southern ami eastern shores of Lahrador were plaeed
under the government of Ouehee. Increased impor-
tance was ijivc'n to the jrovernorship of Newfoundland
at that date by annexing to it the Atlantic coast of
Lahrador. Ten years after, in 1773, it was considered
advisable to restore this portion of I^abrador to Canada,
owinji;^ to difficulties arising out of «4raiUs made to a
number of persons under the rule of the I^^ench. In
1809 it was ajjain transferred to the jurisdiction of
Newfoundland, under which it has remained ever since.
A Court of Civil Jurisdiction, on the coast of Labra-
dor, was instituted in 1824. A special court of civil and
criminal jurisdiction, called 'The Court of Labrador,*
and presided over by one judge, appointed l)y the Gov-
ernor in Council, secured the administration of justice.
The customs' duties levied on sjoods landed on Labia-
dor are the same as in Newfoundland. The Hudson
Bay Company had formerly the exclusive right of trad-
ing with the Indians of that part of Labrador which had
rivers flowing into the inlet from which the company
took its name, and which is designated East Maine.
In 1870, however, the company surrendered all their
rights of government, property, etc., in the whole of
British North America ; and these having been trans-
ferred to the Dominion of Canada, the company being
still at liberty to carry on their trade without hindrance,
or any exceptional tax, Canada has thus jurisdiction
over all the region of Labrador which does not belong
to Newfoundland."

The two most notable and romantic events lighting
up the usually prosaic course of Labrador history were

CHATKAU.

239

the f()un(liiij» by the liroton tislicnnen and traders of tlie
town of Brest, in liradore Bay, ahoiil 1520, and tlie
battles at Chateau. It will be remembered thai this
town is estimated to have had upwards of i.ooo resi-
dents ; its ruins and terraces l)ein<2: still visible. 'I'hc
other event, or rather series of events, occurred farther
up the Strait of Ik'lle Isle, and the scenes were less
peaceful. Chfiteau, or what is now called Henley Har-
bor, was orij^inally colonized by the Acadian refu<;ees,
who either builj^ a fort here or more strongly forlilied
Greville's Fort, originally built to resist Eskimo attacks.
The remains of these fortifications are still extant.
"In 1763 a British garrison was located at Chateau,
in order to protect the lisheries ; but the place was cap-
tured in 1778 by the American privateer 'Minerva,'
and three vessels and ^^70,000 worth of property were
carried away as prizes. In 1796 the post was again
attacked by a French fleet. A long bombardment en-
sued between the frigates and the sliore batteries, and
it was not until their ammunition was exhausted that
the British trooj)s retreated into the back country, after
having burned the village. In 1535 the French explor-
ing- fleet, under the command of Jacques Cartier, as-
sembled here."

We have already spoken of the Eskimo inhabitants of
the coast. The Indians inhabit the interior, and, as has
been remarked, they are perhaps now the only truly
wild, untamed red-men of North America. They are
of the Mountaineer (or Montagnais) and Nasquapee
(or Nascopi) tribes, and though they are roughly esti-
mated to number 4,000. they are supposed to be slowly
disappearing. " Game," say Hatton and Harvey, "on

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240 A GLANCE AT THE CIVIL IIISTOUY OF LABRADOR.

which they depend, is becoming scarcer every year,
owing largely to destructive fires which have swept over
vast areas, destroying forests, berry-bearing shrubs,
mosses and lichens, and converting whole districts into
hopeless deserts strewed with naked bowk'ers, where no
animal life can exist. Some of the Nasquapee tribe
are still heathen, but the Montagnais are nearly all nom-
inally Roman Catholics. The zealous Jesuit missiona-
ries of early times extended their labors from Canada to
Labrador, and these have been specially successful
amono- the Montagnais. Of late years thev have been
resumed, and are now systematically carried on. The
Indians hunt over the interior, and at certain seasons
visit the coast in order to exchange the products of
the chase for clothing, ammunition, and other necessaries.

Labrador, both politically and commercially, is the
great dependency of Newfoundland, more than a fourth
of the entire export of the fishery product of that colony
beinof taken on the coast of Labrador. The averajre
annual catch of Newfoundland fishermen on the Labra-
dor coast is from 350,000 to 400,000 quintals of codfish,
50,000 to 70,000 barrels of herring, and from 300 to
500 tierces of salmon. The number of Newfound-
landers who frequent the Atlantic coast of Labrador
during the summer, from the end of June till the first or
second week of October, is estimated at 30,000, from
1,000 to 1,200 fishing vessels being employed each
year.

It has been already stated that the fishermen have
only in recent years gone up the coast for their fares
beyond Hopedale. When we visited the coast in 1864
scarcely any fishermen went beyond Hamilton Inlet.

TIIK LABRADOR FISHERIES. 24I

The numerous tishing banks and shoals lying off the
.Vtlantic coast on the edge of the continental shelf, and
probably forming the winter feeding grounds, from
which early in July the codfish migrate inshore, form
an area of 7,100 square miles. It is thought by Hind
that the great cod fishery of the future will probably
be along Northern Labrador and over the adjacent
banks.

The American fishermen have abandoned the Labra-
dor coast, preferring the Newfoundland banks, which are
nearer to their homes. As late as 1880 about one hun-
dred Canadian and Nova Scotia vessels were annually
engaged in the Labrador fisheries. Formerly a good
many Jersey fishermen frequented the coast, where there
were several of their fishing establishments ; but of these
only three remained up to 1880, while all the English
mercantile houses have been withdrawn.

It is estimated that the aggregate value of the fisheries
from all sources on the entire coast " will not fall short
of a million pounds sterling per annum."

The present value of these fisheries is shown by the
following extracts from Hatton and Harvey's "New-
foundland " :

" Exports from Labrador for the year ending July 31,
1880:

NEWFOUNDLAND HOUSES.

Dried codfish 3^3,4,0 qtls.

Green do 144 "

Sealskins 1,096

Seal oil 50 tuns.

Cod oil 76 "

Other oil i "

Blubber 17 "

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242 A G[-ANCE AT THE CI\ FL iriSTORY OF LABRADOR.

Pickled salmon 592 tierces.

Pickled herring 16,970 bbls.

Pickled trout 14 "

Pickled mackerel 459 "

Dried caplin 58 "

EXPORTS BY LABRADOR HOUSES NOT CONNECTED WITH NEW-
FOUNDLAND, FOR YEAR ENDING JULY I, 1880.

Dried codfish 14,000 qtls.

Sealskins mo

Seal oil 14 tuns.

Cod oil 55 "

Refuse 2 "

Blubber 15 "

Pickled salmon 400 tierces.

Salmon in tins 30,oo<- ■' ,

Pickled herring 7c: 'i).;^.

Pickled trout 40 "

Pickled mackerel 200 "

Dried caplin 160 "

EXPORTS BY TRADERS ON LABRADOR COAST FOR YEAR ENDING
JULY I, 1880 (estimated QUANTITIES).

Dried codfish 526 qtls.

Cod oil 14 tuns.

Pickled salmon ; 757 tierces.

Pickled herring 2,612 bbls.

Pickled mackerel , 30 *'

"The foitjgoing statement shows that in that year the
total export of dried codfish was 407,962 quintals — value,
at three dollars per quintal, $1,223,886; the export of
herring 20,282 barrels — value, at three and a half dollars
per barrel, $70,987 : the export of salmon 1,749 tierces,
— value $34,980.

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mmmm

THE LABRADOR FISHERIES. 243

•' For the year ending 31st July, 1881, the exports of
the three great staples were as follows : —

Dried codfish 419,997 qtls.

Pickled herring 33>33o bbls.

Pickled salmon 957 tierces,

" It must be remembered that the foregoing figures
represent only the exports of the fishery produces, and do
not show the quantities consumed by the fishermen while
employed, or afterwards during the winter at tiieir own
homes, which must be very considerable. Fiesides,
about a fourth of the whole catch is sent to Newfound-
land for shipment, and the Canadian and American
fishermen who frequent these shores carry away with
them the products of their labors, which are estimated
to be about a ninth of the entire quantities taken."

To show how precarious and uncertain the Labrador
fisheries are still, I quote from the following letter from
J. VV. Collins, Asst. U. S. Commissioner of Fish and
Fisheries, under date of Oct. 27, 1887, in answer to my
letter of inquiry: "During last July and August I
made a cruise in the Fish Commission schooner Grampus
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around the south and east
coasts of Newfoundland, through the Strait of Belle Isle,
and thence to Mingan. I learned that the cod fishery
on the east coast of Newfoundland (particularly that
portion known as the ' French Shore,' from Cape St.
John to C4pe Bauld) and at the Labrador has been bad
for the past two or three years. But it was worse this
year than ever. As late as July 26th I met Capt. George
Manuel, of the mail steamer Plover, at Twillingate. He
was then direct from the Labrador coast, and reported

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244 A GLAXCK AT THE CIVIL HISTORY OF LABRADOR.

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the cod fishery in a very bad condition, the boats having
taken only from five to thirty (quintals each at the dif-
ferent harbors. Ice was pacl<:ed in on the coast, and
none of the vessels had got beyond Battle Harbor.

•' August I St the average catch of cod on the north-
east coast of Newfoundland — Caj)e Freels to Cape Bauld
— did not exceed a single cjuintal of marketable fish,
and in many j)laces was less than half this amount.

" On August 4th I talked with the crew of the
schooner Edioard Rich, of Catalina, Newfoundland. She
had been fishing in the Strait of Belle Isle, and was then
at Cape Norman. She had a crew of ten men and had
taken only one hundred and twenty quintals of cod up to
that date.

" Newspaper accounts, which 1 saw at a later date,
stated the Labrador fishery had been a failure this year-

"No American vessels have engaged in the Labrador
fisheries since 1880, so far as we are informed ; and then
only a single vessel went there. Unless there is a
marked improvement in the cod fishery of that region, I
believe it will not be long before vessels will stop going-
there. Already the Nova Scotian and Newfoundland
fishermen are changing their summer trips from the
Labrador to the outer banks."

CHAFFER Xill.

THE LABRADOR KSKIMOS AND 11 1 EI K *K(>KMKR RANCiK

SOUTHWARD.

It is not my purpose to give a detailed account of the
Labrador Eskimos, but simply to put togetiier what I
have found in relation to them in works referring to
Labrador, and to add a few notes made during the two
summers spent on that coast in i860 and 1864. Al-
though I was aware that the Eskimos formerly lived as
far south as the r,outhern entrance to the Strait of Belle
Isle, where I saw two individuals in i860, one said to be
a full-blooded Eskimo woman, I regarded them as strag-
glers from the north. It now seems more probable, from
the Rev. Mr. Carpenter's statement, in a subsequent page,
and from the fact, to be hereafter stated, thai several
hundred Eskimos lived at Chateau Bay, opposite Belle
Isle, in 1765, while otherswere known to have extended
as far east as the Mingan Islands, that this race had a
more or less permanent foothold on the northern shores
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. If this was so, it seems
not improbable that this roving race may have made,
in very early times, expeditions farther south to Nova
Scotia and New England. Here also cjmes to mind
the theory of Dr. C. C. Abbot, that the Eskimos for-
merly inhabited the coast of New Jersey during the
river-terrace epoch.

245

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246 THE LABRADOR ESKIMOS AND THEIR FORMER RAN(;E.

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Although at first disposed to reject such an assump-
tion, the examination we have made leads us to look
with more favor upon Dr. Abbot's theory, and to think
it not improbable that long after the close of the glacial
period, i.e., after the ice had disappeared and during the
early part of the terrace epoch, when the reindeer and
walrus lived as far south as New Jersey, the Eskimos,
now considered so primitive a race, possibly the remnants
of the Pahcolithic people of Europe, formerly extended
as far as a region defined by the edge of the great mo-
raine , and as the climate assumed its present features,
moved northward. They were also possibly pushed
northward by the Indians, who may have exterminated
them from the coast south of the mouth of the St. Law-
rence, the race becoming acclimated to the arctic regions.
All these hypotheses came up afresh in our mind a few
summers ago when we began to collect these notes. Their
substantiality became more pronounced after reading the
confirmatory remarks made by Professor E. B. Tylor at
the Montreal meeting of the British Association. We
are not now, however, prepared to adopt the view that
the Norsemen did not go as far south as Narragansett
Bay, and that the natives they saw were not red Indians,
their word." skrellings" being indiscriminately applied to
any of the native tribes they saw.

We do find, however, unexpected confirmation of
Professor IVlor's supposition that " Eskimos eight hun-
dred years ago, before they had ever found their way to
Greenland, were hunting seals on the coast of Newfound-
land, and caribou in the forest," for these events did
actually happen in Newfoundland, or at least there are
traces of Plskimo residence in large numbers at Chateau

Mir.UATIONS OF THE ESKIMO.

247

Bay in 1 765, of their repeated crossing over to Newfound-
land, and of their learning a few French words from the
French settlers.

At all events the facts we here present should induce
our New Enu:land and Canadian archteolojrists to make
the most careful examination of the shell-heaps about
the mouth of the St. Lawrence and on the shores of
northern and southern Nova Scotia, as well as of
Maine and northern Massachusetts, for traces of early
Eskimo occupation.

Certain facts seem to confirm the early belief of the
Greenland Danes and Moravians that the Labrador Es-
kimos were an older people than those who migrated into
Greenland. In the extracts from the appendix to
Cranch's History of Greenland given farther on, we shall
see that the Eskimos of these two regions differed in their
dress and kayaks, differences we have personally noticed.

Whether the Labrador Eskimos belong to an older
stock than those living directly north of Hudson's Bay
we cannot say. Crantz, however, remarks : " As early
then as the year 1800 our missionaries learned from the
reports of Northlanders who visited their settlements
that the main seat of the nation was on the coast and
islands of the north, beyond Cape Chudleiohr Crantz,
in a note (xvi), also claims : " There can be no hesita-
tion in affirming that Greenland was peopled from Lab-
rador, not Labrador from Greenland."

The theory that the Eskimos entered America by way
of Behring Strait, now generally received,* was thus stated
by Crantz in 1767 : "Our Greenlanders, it should seem,
having settled in Tartary after the grand dispersion of

* Mr. Dall and others do not, however, accept this view.

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248 THE r,ARRADC)R ESKIMOS ANH THEIR FORMER RANGE.

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the nations, were gradually impelled northward by the
tide of emigration, till they reached the extreme corner
of Kamtschatka, and finding themselves disturbed even
in these remote scats, they crossed the strait to the
neighboring continent of America. . . . Our savages
then retired before their pursuers across the narrow
strait, either by a direct navigation or by a more gradual
passage from island to island, to America, where they
could spread themselves without opposition through the
unoccupied wastes round the southeast part of Hudson's
Bay, or through Canada up to the northern ocean. And
here they were first met with in the eleventh century by
the discoverers of VVineland. But when they were
compelled to evacuate these possessions likewise, by the
numerous tribes of Indians superior to themselves in
strength and valor, who thronged to the north out of
Florida, they receded nearer to the pole, as far as the 60th
degree. Here Ellis in his voyage to Hudson's Bay found
the Esquimaux,* resembling the Greenlanders in every
particular of dress, figure, boats, weapons, houses, man-
ners, and customs. . . . The clerk of the Califor-
nia^ says that these Esquimaux are grievously harassed
by the Indians inhabiting the south and west shores of
Hudson's Bay, who are in all respects a distinct race.
An unsuccessful hunting or fishing expedition is a suffi-
cient pretext for their oppressors to fall upon them and
take them prisoners or murder them. These acts of
violence have induced the fugitives to retreat so far to

* Charlevois derives this name from the Indian word Eskimantsik, which in
the language of the Abenaquis signifies to eat raw; and it is certain that they
eat raw fish. (They also eat seals and birds raw.)

f Account of a voyage for the discovery of a northwest passage, vol. ii.
P- 43-

mmmm

HUDSON BAY ESKIMOS.

249

the northward ; and part of them in all probability passed
over to Greenland in the fourteenth century, either
crossing Davis's Strait in their boats from Ca/yc IVa/si'nQ-
liam in lat. 66" to the South Bay, a distance of scarcely
forty leagues, or otherwise proceeding by land round the
extremity of Baffin's Bay, where, if we may trust the re-
ports of the Greenlanders, stone crosses, like guide-posts,
are still to be seen at. intervals along the coast."

That the Eskimos were more abundant on the eastern
shores of Hudson's Bay may be proved by the following
extracts from Coats's Notes on the Geography of Hud-
son's Bay, reprinted by the Hakluyt Society."^* It ap-
pe.Ms from his notes that the Eskimos inhabited Labrador
from the Gulf of St. Lawrence around to James's Bay,
i.e., as far south in E^udson's Bay as Belcher's Island
(lat. 56" 6') and the Sleepers. Their southern range
was probably Hazard Gulf, in lat. 56° 22'. The coast of
Hudson's Bay is wild and barren, with floating ice.
Speaking of tlie barren, treeless coast from Cape Diggs
to Hazard Gulf, Coats says : " Doubtless the native Us-
quemows know the time and seasons of those haunts,
and nick it, for we found vestiges of them at all the
places we stopt att." From the foregoing extract it is
obvious that Captain Coats obtained his knowledge of the
Labrador Indians and the Eskimos from his personal ob-
servations and inquiries while in Hudson's Bay ; he per-
sonally only by hearsay received information that the
Eskimos, by whalers called "Huskies," lived as far south
as St. Lawrence Bav ; but his statement will be seen to

* Notes on the Geography of Hudson's Bay, being the remarks of Capt. W.
Coats in many voyages to that locality between the years 1727 and 1751. Ed-
ited by John Barrow. London, Hakluyt Society, 1852. 8vo.

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250 rilK lAHRADOR KSKIMOS AM) TMKIR FORMER RANGE.

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be confirmed by Crantz. The northern Indians men-
tioned by Coats are undoubtedly the Naskopies.

The follo\vin<i^ extracts from the appendix to Crantz's
History of Greenland, English translation, fully prove
that several hundred Eskimos s))ent the summer at Cha-
teau Bay opposite the northeastern extremity of New-
foundland, and also crossed over to the latter island, and
must have been, for several years at least, residents on
the shores of the Strait of Belle Isle. The first visit of
the Moravians to the Labrador coast was in 1752 ;
Christian Erhard, a Dutchman, but a member of the
Moravian Society, landed in July in Nisbet's Haven,
with a boat's crew of five men, at a point north of this
harbor, where all were murdered by the Eskimos, the ves-
sel returning- to England. The next attempt to approach
the Eskimos v/as made in 1764, by Jens Haven, who had
labored for several years as a missionary in Greenland,
and had recently returned with Crantz to Germany.
With letters of introduction to Hugh Palliser, Esq., the
governor of Newfoundland, in May of the same year he
arrived at St. Johns ; " but he had to meet with many
vexatious delays before he reached his destination, every
ship with which he engaged refusing to land for fear of
the Esquimaux. He was at length set on shore in Cha-
teau Bay, on the southern coast of Labrador ; here, how-
ever, he found no signs of population except several
scattered tumuli, with the arrows and implements of the
dead deposited near them. Embarking again he finally
landed on the island of Quirpont or Ouiveron, off the
northeast extremity of Newfoundland, in the Strait of
Belle Isle, where he had the first interview with the na-
tives." " The 4th September," he writes in his journal,

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THE ESKIMO IN NEWFOUNnLANl*.

251

** was the liappy day when I saw an Escjuimau arrive
in the harbor. I ran to meet him and addnssecl him in
Greenhmdic. lie was astonislied to hear his own lan-
guage from the mouth of an European, and answered
me in broken French." The next day eighteen returned
his visit. On the third day the Eskimos left the harbor
altogetiier, and after a short stay at Ouirpont Haven re-
turned to Newfoundland.

The following year Haven, with three other mission-
aries, landed, July 17, 1765, in Chriteau Hay, lat. 52°, on
the south shore of Labrador, opposite Belle Isle. " Here
the party separated ; Haven and Schlotzer engaging
with another vessel, to explore the coast northwards ;
they did not, however, accomj)lish anything material in
this expedition, nor did they meet with a single Esqui-
mau the whole time. Drachart and John Hill remained
in Chateau Bay, and were fortunate enough to have the
company of several hundred Es(|uimaux for ujiwards of
a month, during which period they had daily opportu-
nities of intercourse. As soon as Sir Thomas Adams had
received intelligence that they had pitched their tents at
a place twenty miles distant, he sailed thither to invite
them, in the name of the governor, to Pitt's Harbor. On
the approach of the ship the savages in the kajaks hailed
them with shouts of 'Tout camarade, oui IIu !' and the
crew returned the same salutation. Mr. Drachart did
not choose to join in the cry, but told Sir Thomas that
he could converse with the natives in their own language.
When the tumult had subsided he took one of them by
the hand and said in Greenlandic, ' We are friends.'
The savage replied, ' We are also thy friends.' "

Crantz then describes, from the notes of Haven and

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252 TMK I.AHKADOK ESKIMOS AND IIIKIR FDRMKK RAN(;K.

Drachart, the peninsula of Lal)rador and some of the
animals as well as the habits of the Eskimos. These
people remained at Chateau Bay through the summer
until at least after the middle of September, as on Sept.
12th and 13th the shallop ran ashore, and the Eskimos
invited them to lodge in their tents, carrying the mission-
aries ashore on their backs.

Th(,' following extract shows that the T^skimos must,
before the year 1765, have been in the habit of crossing
the Strait of Belle Isle and landing on Newfoundland :

" The governor wished to prevent them from crossing
over to Newfoundland, where, according to their own
account, they procured a certain kind of wood not to be
found in their country, of which they made their darts.
But since they interpreted this prohibition as a b.each
of peace, it was rescinded on their promise to commit
no depredation on the fishing-vessels they might meet
with on the way ; to which engagement they scrupu-
lously adhered."

The account then goes on to say that during the inter-
val which occurred between the visit of Haven and Dra-
chart in 1 765 and the foundation of the first missionary
settlement at Nain in 1771, "the old quarrels between
the natives and the English traders were resumed ; and
as no one was present who could act as interpieter and
explain the mutual grounds of diflferencc, the affair ter-
minated in bloodshed. Nearly twenty of the natives
were killed in the fray, among whom was Karpik's
father ; he himself, with another boy and seven females,
were taken prisoners and carried to Newfoundland. One
of these women, of the name of Mikak, and her son,
were brought to England, where they recognized an ac-

K.'^IPII

THK MORAVIAN STATIONS.

253

quaintance in Mr. Ilavcii, who had formerly slept a
night in their tent. Karpik was detained by (iovernor
Palliser, with the intention of eoniniitting him to tiie
care of Mr. Haven, to be trained uj) for usefulness in a
future mission to his countrymen. He did n(jt arrive in
England till 1769, at which time he was about lifteen
vears old." He died in luigland of small-|)ox.

We glean a few more items from Crantz regarding the
distribution, numbers, and habits of the Labrador Eski-
mos. The Moravians, after founding Xain (lat. 56 25 ),
determined to found two other stations, one to the north
and the other to the south. Okkak ( 150 miles north of
Nain in lat. 57" t^^) ) ^^''^^ ^'^^^^ founded on land |)urchased
from the Eskimos in 1775, Haven with his family estab-
lishing himself there the following year. The reason for
founding these stations was due to the fact that it " was
found insufficient to serve as a gathering place for the
Eskimos dispersed along a line of coast not less than six
hundred miles in extent, es|)ecially as it afforded but
scantv resources to the natives during the winter season,
when they had fewer inducements to rove from place to
place.

In the summer of 1782 the Moravians began a third
settlement to the south, " on the spot which they had
formerly marked out and purchased from the Esquimaux.
This station received the name of Hopedale." As ob-
stacles to the missionary work were the following : " The
spirit of traffic had become extremely prevalent amongst
the southern Esquimaux ; the hope of exaggerated ad-
vantages which they might derive from a voyage to the
European factories, wholly abstracted their thoughts from
religious inquiries ; and one boat-load followed another

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254 '•"'IK I.ABUADOk KSKIMOS AND IIIKIU FORMER RANGE.

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througlioul the summer. A I'rcnchman from Canada,
named Makko, who had newly settled in the south, and
who sustained the double eharacter of trader and Catholic
priest, was particularly successful in enticing the Esqui-
maux by the most tempting offers. Besides the evil
consequences resulting from these expeditions in a spir-
itual point of view, so large a proportion of their wares
was thus conveyed to the south that the annual vessel
which brought out provisions and other necessaries for
the brethren, and articles of barter for the natives, could
make up but a small cargo in return, though the brethren,
unv/illing as they were to supply this ferocious race with
instruments which miji^ht facilitate the execution of their
revengeful projects, furnished them with the firearms
which they could otherwise, and on any terms, have pro-
cured from the south."

Crantz then mentions a feature of Kskimo life which,
however repugnant to the feelings of the Moravians, is of
interest to the ethnologist, and has not, so far as we are
aware, been observed among the Eskimos of late years.
This was the erection of a temporary winter c'stufa or
public game-house. "A kaclic, or |)leasure-house, which,
to the grief of the missionaries, was erected in 1777
by the savages near Nain, and resorted to by visitors
from Okkak, has been described by the brethren. It
was built entirely of snow, sixteen feet high and seventy
feet square. The entrance was by a round porch, which
communicated with the main body of the house by a
long avenue terminated at the farther end by a heart-
shaped aperture, about eighteen inches broad and two
feet in height. For greater solidity the wall near the
entrance was congealed into ice by water poured upon it.

ESKIMO CAME.

255

Near the entry was a i)illar of ice supporting the lamp,
and additional light was let in through a transparent
plate of ice in the side of the building. A siring hung
from the middle of the roof, by which a small bone was
suspended, with four holes driven through it. Round
this all the women were collected, behind whom stood
the men and bovs, each havinjr a Ion" stick shod with
iron. The string was now set a-swinging, and the nien.
all together, thrust their sticks over the heads of their
wives at the bone, till one of them succeeded in striking
a hole. A loud acclamation ensued ; the men sat down
on a snow seat, and the victor, after going two or three
times round the house singing, was kissed by all the men
and bovs; he then suddenlv made his exit lhroui»h the
avenue, and, on his return, the game was renewed,"

The narrative then goes on to state that "one of the
objects of the establishment at Hopedale had been to
promote an intercourse with the red Indians who lived
in the interior, and sometimes approached in small par-
ties to the coast. A mutual reserve subsisted between
them and the Esquimaux, and the latter fled in the great-
est trepidation when they discovered any traces of them
in their neighborhood. In 1790, however, much of this
coldness was removed, when several families of these In-
dians came to Kippokak, an European factory about
twenty miles distant from Hopedale. In April, 1799,
the missionaries conversed with two of them, a father
and son, who came to Hopedale to buy tobacco. It
appeared that they were attached to the service of some
Canadians in the southern settlements, as well as many
others of their tribe, and had been baptized by the French
priests. They evidently regarded the Esquimaux with

iWP^ ^

I '

Sni

V I

256 Tlii: I,.\l!K.\l)OK ESKIMOS AND TIIKIR lORMKK KANdE.

alarm, tliuu^li they (.'ndcavorcd to conceal their suspi-
cions. excusin«i themselves from lodging in their tent on
account of their uncleanly habits. At parting they as-
sured the hrelinen that they would receive fre(|uent vis-
its from liieir countrymen, but this has not as yet been
the case."

I^om Cartwright's "Journal of a Residence in Labra-
dor" we glean the following statements, which certainly
confirnrtiiose of the Moravians : In 1765 a blockhouse
was erected in a small fort at Chateau Bay to protect the
English merchants from the Eskimos. (Cartwright also
gives the best account we have seen of the Bethuks of
Newfoundland.) The southern tribe of Eskimos were
at Chateau Bay in i 770, Cartwright observing that some
Moravians were there at the same time. He also states
that there was an Eskimo settlement "some distance to
the northward" of Cape Charles, and th<.t a family of
nine I^skimos came to sj)end the winter; li\mgnear Cart-
wright's house, and more Eskimos came to join them in
July, 1 771, there being thirty-two in all; they traded
whalebone with the Eskimos to the northward.* Cart-
wright saw deserted li^skimo winter houses near Denbigh
Island.

In 1771 he saw an Eskimo pursuing a "penguin" in
his kayak near Fogo Island, off the coast of Newfound-
land !

* That the French in 1753 traded with the Eskimos for whalebone and oil is
shown by the following extract from Jeffrey's Northwest Passage, p. 147.
" The Eskemaux go up to Latitude 58, or further North; there leave their great
Boats, pass a small Neck of Land, taking their Canoes with them, and then go
into another Water which communicates with Hudson's Streights, carry their
Return of Trade into Eskemaux Bay, where ihey live in Winter; and the French
made considerable Returns to Old France, by the whalebone and oil procured
from these People."

IIIK F.SKIMd IN I.AIJKADOK.

25;

g'l

jreat
n go
their
ench
:ured

August 3(j, 1772, "500 or ihcrcahuuts" I'Lskinios ar-
rivcii at Charles's 1 1 arbor from Chateau Bav to the south-
ward, to meet their rehitions from f^ondon, whom Cart-
wright had the year previous taken with him to I^ondon,
some of tliem having died in England of the small-|)o.\.
In April and May, 1776. Eskimos were observed living
near Huntington Island. Many lilskimos died in Ivuk-
toke Inlet, j)rol)al)ly from the small-pox, brought over
from England. Cartwright also reports seeing Eskimos
at Huntington Island in 17S3, also at Chateau Bay. where
they were observed in i 786.

The foregoing extracts abundantly prove that the Es-
kimos rejieatedly crossed to Newfoundland, residing, dur-
ing the summer at least, on the outer islands opposite
Belle Isle. No reference is made to the former presence
of the Eskimos in Newfoundland. It is not improbable
that there was at least a sliuht intercourse between the
Bethuks, the aborigines of Newfoundland, said to be a
branch of the Algonkins, and found to be in possession
of the island by Cabot in 1497. A stone vessel dug uj*
with other Bethuk remains is described as "an oblong
vessel of soft magnesian stone, hollowed to the depth of
two inches, the lower edges forming a S(|uare of three
and a half inches in the sidles. In one corner is a hollow
groove, which apparently served as a spout."* If this is,
as has been suggested to us by Professor Tylor, attribut-
able to the influence of Eskimo art, the style may have
been suggested by the possible intercourse of these ab-
origines with the wandering Eskimos.

* Newfoundland, ils history, its present condition, and its prospects in the
tuture. By Joseph Hatton and the Rev. M. Harvey, Boston, 18S3, p. 169. See
also Mr. Lloyd's paper, Journal of the Anthropolojiical Institute of Great Brit-
ain and IreUnd.

25<S IIIK I-AHkADOR KSKIMOS AND IIIKIK 1()I<N:i:R KANCJE.

In connection wilh the subject of tlie relations between
the Indians of Newfoiuuiland and the Labrador Hskimos,
may be cited the followinii statement of that industrious
historian, the hue Jesuit, Father Vetromile. In an ar-
ticle entitled " Acadia and its Aborigines,"* he "-'ays :
"The Etchimins, Micmacs, and .Vbenakis are very often
considered as one nation, not only on account of the
similarity of their language, customs, suavity of manners,
and attathment to the T'rench, but also for their league
in defending themselves a<>ainst the English. Although
the Micmacs are generally somewhat smaller in size than
the other Indians of .Acadia and New I-'rance, yet they
are e(]ually brave. They have made a long war against
the Esquimaux (eaters of raw llesh), whom they have
followed and attacked in their caverns and rocks of Lab-
rador, f Newfoundland must have several times been

* Colleclions of the Maine Hist Snc, vii,, pp. 339-341). 1876. Communi-
cated Ian. 16, 1S62.

I Father Vetromile evidently lakes this statement from Charlevoix, who in
his Histoire gencrale de la Nouvelle France, i., p. 124. remarks after speaking of
the Micmacsof .Acadia: "Ilsonl fait lontems tine criielle guerre aux P'squimaux,
et pour les aller atiaquer jusques dans leurs Cavernes, et sur leurs Rochers,
ils lie craignoienl point de faire trente a quarante lieues en Mer, dans leurs Ca-
nols d'C'Corce." That Newfoundland was the field of hard wars between the
Micmacs and Eskimos, seems to be a pure assumption on the part of Vetromile.
Charlevoix, however, on p. 421, vol. i., of his Histoire, remarks: " On ii'a ja-
mais vu sur ses Cotes, que des Eskimaux, qui y passent de la grande Terre de
Labrador, pour chaffer, et pour faire la Traitte avec les Europcens ; mais ces
Sauvagesont souvenl parte d'autres Peuples, avec qui ils sont en commerce."

In vol. iii, p. 17S, again discoursing of the Eskimos of Newfoundland, Charle
voix remarks : " Ce qui est certain, c'est qu'on n'y a jamais vft que des Eski-
maux, qui n'en sont pas originaires. Leur veritable Patrie est la Terre de Ln-
/'orai/or, ou Labrador; c'est la du moins, qu'ils passent la plus grande partie de
I'annee; car ce seroit, ce semble, profaner le doux nom de Patrie, que de le
doniier a des Barbares errons, qui ne s'affectionnent a aucun Pays, & qui pou-
vant a peine peupler deux ou trois Villages, embrassent un Terrein immense.
En effet, outre les Cotes de Terre-Neuve, que les Eskimaux parcourent pen-

\i.

.KSKl.MO TRADITIONS.

259

the fit'ld of lianl wars between the Micmaes and Esqui-
maux ; the hitter were always ehased l)y the foniicr"

(l>- 339).

Nearly all the extraets we have made tend to show

that the I^.skimos were ijeneiallv driven northward bv the
Indians and eonfined by them to their natural habitat,
the treeless regions of arctic America, whither the In-
dians themselves did not care to penetrate.

In 181 1 two Moravian missionaries* explored the
northern coast of Labrador from Okkak to Un^ava Bay,
making an excellent map of this part of the coast. The
expedition arose from their desire to establish missions
where the Eskimos were abundant, as farther down the
coast they were regarded as " mere stragglers."

An Eskimo tradition of interest is mentioned in this
hook, as follows : "July 24th. Amitok lies N. W. from
Kummaktorvik, is of an oblong shape, and stretches out
pretty far towards the sea. The hills are of moderate
height, the land is in many places Hat, but in general
destitute of grass. On the other side are some ruins of
(ireenland | Eskimo] houses.

"The Esquimaux have a tradition that the Green-

dant rEt6, dans tout ce vaste Continent, qui est entre le Fleuve Saint-Laurent,
le Canada, & la Mer du Nord, on n'a encore vfi que des Eskimaux. On en a
nieme trouvt assez loin en remontant le Fleuve Bourbon, qui se dccharge dans
la Baye d'Hudson, venant de I'Occident."

Nuttall, in his Manual of Ornithology, Water Birds (Boston, 1834), speaking
of the great auk, says : '• Many are said to breed on the desert coasts of New-
foundland, where they have been seen jy navigators, though not recently.
According to Pennant, the Esquimaux, w'io frequented this island, made cloth-
ing of the skins of these birds."

* Journal of a voyage from Okkak, on the coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay,
westward of Cape Chudleigh, undertaken to explore the coast and visit the Es-
quimaux in that unknown region. By Benj. Kohlmeister and George Knoch,
missionaries of the Church of the Unitas Fratrum. London, 1814, Svo, pp. 83.

t:i:

260 IIIK I.AHKADOk KSKIMOS AM) IIIKIK l-ORMKU KANdK.

,. I

hi
ft

III :

landers | i.e., Greenland Eskimos | came originally from
Canada, and settled on the outermost islands of this
coast, but never penetrated into the country before they
were driven eastward to Greenland. This report gains
some credit from the state in which the above-mentioned
ruins arc found. Thev consist in remains of walls and a
grave, with a low stone enclosure round the tomb, cov-
ered with a slab of the same material. They have been
discovered on islands near Nain, and though sparingly,
all along the whole eastern coast, but we saw none in
Ungava Bay."

The following extracts from Robinson's " Notes on the
Coast of Labrador,"* throw some further light on the
early occupation of southern Labrador and eastern Can-
ada by the Eskimos:

"The Esquimau tradition concerning the Norse-
men is clear enough : that they were a gigantic race, of
great strength — were very fierce, and delighted to kill
people — that they themselves could not be killed by
either dart or arrow, which rebounded from their breasts
as from a rock. The Esquimaux suppose these giants
still to e.xist, only very far north." (Page 28).

"When the French first frequented the coast, it was in
possession of the Esquimaux up as far as the west end of
Anticosti. It appears that they had not been long in
possession before the arrival of the Europeans, and that
they had got it by conquest. During the time they held
the coast, it would seem, the Esquimau country was
the champ tfhonneur of all the tribes of Indians from
New England and the Lakes to Hudson's Bay. Mic-

Trans. Lit. and Hist. Soc, Quebec, iv. i. Feb., 1843.

■pm

''>l

ESKIMOS AND MOl'N TAINEKKS.

!6l

macs and iVhinaquis, from Nova Scotia and Maine ;
Iro(iuois, from lakes Cliamplain and Ontario; Alyon-
(juins and Xascopies, north of the St. Lawrence — all sent
their war parties a<j:ainst the I^^s(iuimaux : as to their im-
me(hate neighbors, tlie Monntaineers, a continual war
ragcvl hetween them.

" Notwithstandint; all these enetjiies. the Escpiimau.x
maintained their concjuests with a strong haml, and, it is
j)robable, would have progressed farther south if the
Europeans had not arrived. No account of their num-
bers has come down to us; vet from various items it
would a|)j)earto be seventy thousand. When l)e Monts
first settled Port Royal in Nova Scotia in 1605, he was
surprised with the appearance of an Indian army near
his settlement, of four hundred men, who had just re-
turned from an expedition against the Es(|uimaux. It
would seem by this that the parties who ventured into
the I'^squimau country were numerous" (pp. 42. 43).

" I have said that they maintained their concjuests
along the Gulf shore until about the year 1600, when
the Mountaineers, having received firearms from the
French, and learned the use of them, this soon turned
the scale, as it does everywhere else, and the Esquimaux
were forced to give ground, retiring downwards to the
Straits, and concentrating themselves on Esquimaux Is-
land, about one mile from the house of the late Mr. N.
Lloyd, of St. Paul's. There they fortified themselves in
a camp, with walls composed of stone and turf, with a
ditch outside, in circuit more than half a mile, which re-
mains almost entire to this day. In this fort they main-
tained themselves till about the year 1640, when they
were assaulted bv the Mountaineers aided bv the French,

. ! I

262 rilK I-AI5U.\I)()k KSKIMOS AND rilKIK lOKMKR l<AN(;K.

! I

I'! 'V ■

iMl

.t-

and cither totally extirpated or expelled ; the few that
escaped returning to the north, outside of the Strait of
Belle Isle. In this assault, it is said, more than i.ooo
were slain, and hy the (juantity of human bones scattered
over the island I should think the number was not over-
rated. After their expulsion from the Gulf shores they
occasionally made predatory excursions against the
French — coming into the Straits, early in the spring, in
skin-boats — burning fishing-rooms, boats, etc., killing the
guardians or making them lly. Twice they assaulted
liradore during the times of the Courtemanches, in one
of which they lost four hundred men : indeed, they con-
tinued this warfare until three years before the contjuest ;
when, after destroying several fishing-stands along the
Straits, they were repulsed by some sealing crews at
Pennoyer River (pp. 45, 46).

The following extract from Arthur Dobbs's " An Ac-
count of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay"
(London, 1744) throws light on the struggle for exist-
ence on the East Main, nearly two centuries ago, be-
tween the red Indians and the Eskimos:

"The East Main from Slade River to Hudson's
Streight is least known, there being no factories fixed
there for Trade, altho' the best Sable and black Fox
skins are got there. Here the Nodway or Eskimaux
hidians live, who are in a manner hunted and destroyed
by the more southerly Indians, being perpetually at war
with each other."

The stone structures, particularly the grave or dolmen-
like burial-places referred to by the Moravians, are of
course matters of very great interest. In connection
with that statement we would draw attention to the fol-

r.SKIMo (;UAVKS.

263

lowing extract from " Tlu,' three vovaijes of M.irtiii
Frol)isher," second voyage, 1577, IlaUluyt Society, Lon-
don, 1867, |). 136 :

" In one of the small islands here | near Lecester's
Hand in Beares sound | we founde a tomhe, wherein the
bones of a dead man lay to^etlier, and our savage hein^
with us and tlemanded (by sij^nes) whether his country-
man had not slain this man and eat his llesh so from the
bones, he made signes to the coiurarie, and that lie was
slain with wolves and wild beastcs.'*

Although it is generally stated that the TLskimos seldom
if ever bury their dead, the 'oregoin[»- .-.tatement would
show that in early times at least t>,r;y took pains to place
the corpse in stone tombs. I found at lioj)edale, in 1864,
two skeletons, evidently Eskimo, interred in the follow-
mg manner : while walking over a high bare hill north-
east of the station I discovered a pole projecting from
what seemed a fissure in the rock ; it proved to be the
sign of an Eskimo grave ; the pole projected from the
chasm, which was about fifteen inches wide and twenty
or twenty-four inches in depth ; the opening was covered
by a few large stones laid across the fissure. At the
bottom lay the remains of two skeletons entirely exposed
to the elements, with no soil over them. The skulls
were tolerably well preserved, and so were the long
bones, but the vertebrae, ribs, etc., had mostly decayed.
Judging by the way in which such objects are preserved
in the open air on this coast, the burial must have been
made at least over half a century ago, but more probably
from one to three centuries since.

Mr. Holme found on Eskimo Island, twelve miles
west of Rigolet, about seventy graves. " These graves

isilil;

I. II 1,1 1 iiUli

I •

264 TMK !,AI{KA1)<M< KSKIMOS AND THEIR FOUMER RANGE.

!•' 'I,

fi I

i (I ■

I [k

'1 iu

were made in the orcliiiary Eskimo custom, not being
underground, although the soil was by no means defi-
cient, but consisting of rough unhv wn blocks of stone
heaped together in an oblong form, the inside measure-
ments being 2 feet by i^ feet. Many of them had been
disturbed by bears or wolves, but in most of them a skull
and bones were lying.*

We now glean the following extracts from Hind's
excellent Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador
Peninsula, which show that the Eskimos spread south-
westward along the coast of Labrador as far as the Min-
gan Islands.

Speaking of the Montagnais or coast Indians of Lab-
rador, he writes : "Of their wars with the Mohawks to
the west, and the I^^squimaux to the east, between twp
and three hundred years ago, there not only remain
traditions, but the names of many places in the Labra-
dor peninsula are derived from bloody battles with their
bold and cruel enemies, or the stolid and progressive
Esquimaux" (ii. p. 11).

" The summit of the Great Boule, seven hundred feet
above the sea, and the brow of the bold peninsula on the
west side of the harbor | Seven Island Bay| were two
noted outlooks in the good old Montagnais times. They
are not unfrequently visited now, when the Indians of the
coast wish to show their country to the Nasquapees from
the interior, and to tell them of their ancient wars with
the Esquimaux. . . . They were able to hold their own
against the Esquimaux in consequence of the almost ex-
clusively maritime habits of the people, who rarely as-

•'I

i 111

Proc. Roy. Geographical Soc, April, 1888, p. 193.

^-a

KSKIMO IN THK CULF OF ST. I.AWKFNCK.

265

ive

eet
the
two

cended the rivers farther than the first falls or rapids ;
and they fearlessly pursued their way through the interior
of the country as far as the Strait of Belle Isle and
Hamilton Inlet, hut exercising the utmost caution as
they approached the sea to hunt for seals" (p. 30).

Of the Mingan Islands Esquimaux Island was so
named " because the Esquimaux were wont to assemble
there every spring in search of seals," etc., etc. (p. 49).

" The ruins of Brest must not be confounded with
those of the old Esquimau fort some distance farther up
the straits, and which are found on Esciuimaux Island in
St. Paul's Bay. These ruins, consisting of walls com-
posed of stone and turf, remain almost entire to this
day ; * and on the same island are large numbers of
human bones, the relics of a great battle between the
Montagnaisand French on one side and the Esquimaux
on the other, which were found about 1840" (p. 130).+

"At Fox Harbor there is a small settlement of Esqui-
maux, who are now orderly and industrious Christian
people, fruits of the faithful labors of the missionary at
Battle Harbor, who has resided eight years on the coast"
(p. 198).

" Seals have been the chief cause of the wars between
the Montagnais and Esquimaux of the Labrador penin-
sula, and most of the conflicts between these people
have taken place at the estuaries of rivers known to be
favorite haunts of the seal " (p. 204).

hi:

* Robertson of Sparr point.

f In an intere<!ting map in Charlevoix's Histoire, vol. i., faring p. 41S, the
site of Brest is indicated by " Fort Ponchartrain," while the "old Esquimaux
fort "of Hind is on this map called " Vieux Fort," and is situated on the west
side of the mouth of Eskimo River, at the mouth of which is the "I. des Esqui-
maux" of Charlevoix.

ij;t

1 :.

266 THK I,A15RADf)R KSKIMOS AND THEIR KORMER RANfJE.

Regarding the Eskimos living near Caribou Island, at
the mouth of Esquimaux River, Strait of Belle Isle, in
i860 and several years after that date, the following in-
formation has been kindly given me by the Rev. C. C.
Carpenter, for some years (1858 to 1865) a missionary
to this part of the Labrador coast : " Concerning the
Esquimaux (* Huskemaw,' old father Chalker at Salmon
Bay used to call them), in my time there was only one
family living in the immediate vicinity of the mission,
and that only a fragment — the Dukes family. They
once lived at the extremity of Five League Point. The
husband (George ?) died and the wife married an Eng-
lishman, old Johnny Goddard. She was a full-blooded
Esquimau, and could kill a seal by imitating its appear-
ance in dress and cry, just as quick as the next man, and
a good deal quicker if the other was white ! She died at
a great age about the year 1879. I was on the coast,
after an absence of fifteen years, in 1880, and was told
that she was about 100 years old, but I deemed that an
exaggeration. Her sons were George and Andrew,
both now dead of consumption. I buried George at
Middle Bay in 1862. Andrew died since we came away.
He had visited Halifax and had had his photograph
taken ; I have a copy of it ; it is, however, of a dressed-
up man, not my old Esquimau friend. Both of the
sons were unmarried. A daughter of old Aunt Jenny
Goddard had a daughter, I think by an American sailor.
She was called Lucy Dukes, and (her mother dying) was
adopted by Mrs. Goddard. I dare say you remember
her there at Stick Point Island ; she was lame. She
married little Johnny Goddard, nephew of old John,
and they with several children occupy the island home.

r1;

lliJi

EXTINCTION OF THK ESKIMO.

26;

She said to mc in 1880, ' There's my Jenny, just look
at her narrow features ; you know (iranny had a very
narrow face !' And yet an old sailor once sa'd that the
old woman's face was as flat as a barn-door !

" There was another family of Esquimaux, whose
residence was at St. Augustine ; I cannot recall the sur-
name. I used to see one, ' Louis the Estjuimau.' My
impression is that one only of that family was living in
1880, for 1 brought home Esquimau dolls in full dress
made by her. These I feel sure were all the remnants
living in my parish, say for lifty or a hundred miles up
and down the coast.

"The Esquimaux in Southern Labrador are a rem-
nant. Once powerful there and numerous, they were
defeated in a battle fought on Esquimaux Island (at the
mouth of the river) by the Indians (Mountaineers), and
what few were left went northward."

We observed on Caribou Island traces of Eskimo
occupation in the form of a circle of stones, like that
observed farther north near Strawberry Harbor.

Along the coast north of Hamilton Inlet are a few
Eskimos, half-breeds and probably remnants. At Roger's
Harbor we took aboard as pilot to Strawberry Harbor one
Cole, a half-breed, p"rt Eskimo and part Englishman,
who had an Eskimo wife and two three-quarters-breed
children ; his mother was an Eskimo. There were for-
merly a few Eskimos living in this region, but they had
died off rapidly within a few years past ; our pilot from
the States, Captain French, who had frequented this
coast for many years, said that there was now but one
Eskimo where there used to be twenty. Their disap-
pearance seems due partly to that of seal, fish, birds, and

■. i

: i .

'? i! '

i J

' 'f

li ■ f ; -^

11 i

5 :'^

268 IHE LAHRADOK KSKIMOS AND THEIR FORMER RANGE.

Other game, and partly to contact with the civilization
of this coast, their close winter houses inducing con-
sumption and other chest troubles ; but whatever the
causes, the race is rapidly fading away, going by entire
families. Cole was intelligent and could read and write.

On our way to Strawberry Harbor we were boarded
by an Eskimo who paddled up to our vessel in his kayak.
He had been living in the bay during the summer. The
next day I landed on a little flat islet near our harbor,
and found traces of recent Eskimo occupation. An
Eskimo family had evidently been summering there in a
sealskin tent. The marks of their temporary sojourn
were the circle of water-worn stones which had been
used to pitch the tent, the feathers and bones of sea-fowl
which had been shot or snared, scattered bones of the
seal, and other unmistakable signs of Eskimo occupancy
and of Eskimo personal uncleanliness. While here we
learned that some Eskimos were spending the summer
on an island hard by, and we tried to find one to pilot
us to Hopedale, but were unsuccessful. We, however,
obtained one who had received some education and was
then living ten miles up the bay with a Norwegian in
the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, his pay being
fifty dollars a year.

At the time I visited Hopedale, which was in the
summer of 1864, in the expedition of Mr. William Brad-
ford, the well-known artist, the Eskimo population of
that station was about two hundred. It was reported to
us that during the preceding March twenty-four Eskimos
had died of " colds ;" while at Okkak twenty-one had died,
and the same number at Nain. Thus over a tenth part
of the native population at these stations had died of

THE MORAVIAN SKTILEMENTS.

269

chest diseases in a single month. This high death-rate
may be the result of their partial civilization and less
hardy out-of-door life, but their houses are not very
different from those their savage ancestors inhabited.
The missionaries have wisely not attempted to force
upon them European standards of living as regards dress
and houses, and their system of trading with them as
well as teaching them does not appear to have been ac-
countable for this rapid decrease. On the contrary,
anthropologists as well as humanitarians are under obli-
gations to these devoted Moravians for their success
in preserving on American soil this interesting peo-
ple intact, unmixed, and with some of their harmless
and more interesting habits preserved. They are, how-
ever, doomed, judging by the |)ast years' experience, to
ultimate extinction.

The Eskimo settlement of Hopedale, the only one wc
visited, was founded in 1782. It consisted in 1864 of
about thirty-five houses, arranged with more or less dis-
order in three principal streets. They are mostly built
of upright spruce logs with the bark still on, dovetailed
at the corners and banked nearly to the eaves with turf
on the outside ; the roof rather flat, though irregular,
with a skylight and small window in one side, either, as
in the case of the more well-to-do families, consisting of
a rude sash with four or six glass panes, or panes of the
mtestines of the seal sewed together.

The house is entered through a long low porch, prob-
ably the survival of an ancient style, i.e., the low porch
of their snow houses through which their forefathers
crept on their hands and knees. On entering we were
obliged to stoop low and to circumspectly make our way

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270 THK LABRADOR ESKIMOS AND THEIR FORMER RANGE.

between the carcass of a seal or a codfish, as the case
might be, and a vessel of familiar, democratic shape and
use, filled with urine, in which the sealskins are soaked
before being chewed between the teeth of the housewife,
an important step in the process of making or mending
sealskin boots ; while Eskimo dogs of various sizes and
colors blocked the devious way.

Across the end of the interior, which was floored with
wood, and in which we could not stand erect, was a
wooden bed or seat, a sort of divan, on which sat a
woman in spectacles weaving a basket of dried rushes
which had been colored blue or red ; she nodded a wel-
come and made us feel quite at home. The other be-
longings of the house were a hearth or fire-plac • of a few
pebbles situated on one side, a soapstone lamp, which
was a flat oblong dish carved out of soapstone, of nor-
mal Eskimo design-, some knives of European manu-
facture, needles and thread, while on a shelf we noticed
an Eskimo Bible with the owner's name written in a
neat hand on the fly leaf. On the whole the interior
was neater and less oflfensive to the eye and nostril than
we expected, as was the exterior. Beside the house, on
a cross-pole supported by two uprights, rested a kayak,
and over other horizontal poles hung drying a black
bear's skin or dried codfish, as the case might be. The
spaces between the houses were rudely drained, and sav-
ing the usual refuse heap at the rear of the house, r dog's
carcass, fish bones, and other rejectamenta, there was
nothing particularly repulsive, though certainly nothing
attractive about the houses. Two families sometimes
live in the same house, which is partitioned off simply
by a low rail passing through the middle. We do not

rrp'

KSKIMO DRESS.

271

remember seeing any babies, and there seemed to be few
children compared to the adults ; here as in the arctic
regions the Eskimos having small families.

The women's dress differs from that of the Greenland
Eskimo in the much longer tails of their jackets, which,
as seen in our engraving, nearly reach to the ground ;
by the Greenlanders it is worn but little longer than the
men's ; this difference, as seen on p. 247, was remarked by
Cranch. Of late years woolen goods have partly super-
seded sealskin, but the pattern has been retained. An-
other difference is the form of the kayak ; that of the
Labrador Eskimo is much broader than the Greenland
kayak, and of clumsier build, since the frame of the for-
mer is made of spruce ; this renders the Labrador kayak
perhaps safer.

So far as we could see, the Labrador Eskimos at and
north of Hopedale are full-blooded. Our engraving
is from a photograph taken by Mr. Bradford, and
gives an excellent idea of a Hopedale Eskimo couj^le
with their baby. The faces apparently show no trace of
foreign blood, while there is said to be not a full-blooded
Eskimo in the Greenland colony, the intermixture with
the Danes and Scandinavians in general being thorough-
going. Few Europeans or Americans had previous to
1864 visited the Labrador coast north of Hopedale, and
there the race has been preserved in most cases intact,
though there may now bean occasional intermixture with
the Newfoundland fishermen, who now go as far as Nain.

As to the number and distribution of the Eskimos
north of the Moravian stations, we now have some defi-
nite information from Lieut. Gordon's report of the
Hudson's Bay expedition of 1884. He says: "I can-

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272 THE LAHKADOR ESKIMOS AND TIIKIR FORMER RANGE.

not help thinking that their numhers have sensibly di-
minished, inasmuch as we found signs of their presence
everywhere ; yet except at Port Burwell, Ashe Inlet, and
Stupart's Bay, none were met with. About six miles
south of Port Burwell | Cape Chudleigh | there are the
remains of what must once have been a large Eskimo
settlement, their subterranean dwellings being still in a
fair state of preservation. At the present time, so far
as I can learn, there are only some five or six Eskimo
families between Cape Chudleigh and Nachvak.

" Along the Labrador coast the Eskimos gather in
small settlements round the Moravian Mission stations;
at these places their numbers vary considerably. Nain
is reported to be the largest settlement, and its Eskimo
population amounts to about two hundred souls" (p. 16.)

The following notes will show how rapidly the Es-
kimos are diminishing. In an extract in Hind's Labra-
dor, published in 1863, from an article by Rev. L. T.
Reichel, it is stated that the number of Eskimos dwelling
along the coast, which is about 500 miles in length, "is
computed at about 1,500, of whom 1,163 belong to our
mission. There are about 200 heathen living to the
north of Hebron, and there are said to be others scattered
here and there, but their number cannot be considerable,
and some are settled at the establishments of the Hud-
son's Bay Company."

In 1 87 1, in a pamphlet entitled " Die Missionen der
Briider-Unitiit. I., Labrador," Rev. Mr. Reichel stated
that the number of Eskimos is smaller than generally
supposed. There are along 500 miles of the north coast
scarcely 1,500 souls, of which 1,124 I've at the six mis-

PRESENT NUMBKK C»F LAHKADOK KsKIMOS.

273

der

ited

jally

joast

Imis-

sion stations. The " heathen" Eskimos north of I lehron
scarcely number 200.

A. von Dewitz, in his " An der Kuste Labrador's"
(Mesky, 1881), informs us that within the kist decade the
extinction of the race has rapidly advanced, and that by
the end of the century only the last remnants of this
people will be surviving. In the southern mission sta-
tions almost all the children die early, and in the north-
ern stations the case is not much better. The last census
gave scarcely 1,100 as living at the stations, and about
50 in Hamilton Inlet (Aivektok Bay). There are also
about 100 " heathen" Eskimos on Cape Chidley, and 200
in Ungava Bay.

Owing to the kindness of the Rev. B. La Trobe, Sec-
retary of the Moravian Missions in London, I have re-
ceived the following statistics in a letter dated August 30,
1887: "The number of Eskimos at our stations at the
beginning of 1886 was as follows : Hebron, 207; Hope-
dale, 160; Nain, 214; Okkak, 308; Ramah, 71 ; Zoar,
90 ; total, 1,050. Including these, we reckon that there
are less than 1,500 Eskimos on the strip of coast from
Hamilton Inlet (Aivektok Bay) to Ungava. The race is
comparatively pure, but there are some half-breeds, for
Hudson's Bay Company's employes and other settlers
have married Eskimo women. Whilst Christian influ-
ences are brought to bear on the increasing number of
fishermen and sailors visiting the stations, every barrier
is set up against immorality. Thirty years ago the num-
ber under charge of our missionaries was about 1,200, I
expect purely Eskimos ; now it is about the same, in-
cluding settler families. Zoar was commenced in 1865,
and Ramah in 1871."

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274 THK LAHKADOK KSKIMOS AND THKIK KOKMKU KAN(;K.

It is interesting to note that Reichel gives some facts
showing the former (perhaj)s temporary) occupation by
Greenland I^Lskimos of some of the outer islands of the
n(H"thern part of the coast. At Kernertulik on Okkak
Island is a cave where traces of a Greenlander's house are
still to he seen. Javranat, on the mainland near Okkak,
is so called from the (jreenlander's word Javra, meaning
" frightful," in allusion to a tragedy in which many Es-
kimos perished, having been beaten by the strategy of
their Greenland assailants. Reichel also states that in
early times the Eskimos were feared on account of their
robberies, which were often accompanied by murder and
manslaughter, as far down in general as Newfoundland,

Rev. J. |. Curling states : " By the last census in 1884
the number of inhabitantsof the coast from Blanc Sablon
up to Cape Chudleigh was 4,211. Erom Hamilton In-
let to Cape Chudleigh there were 1,425, of whom only
60 were Europeans." (Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, Lon-
don, X. 193, April, 1888.)

Our imperfect account of the Eskimos of the Mora-
vian settlements may be supplemented by the following
remarks translated from Dr. K. R. Koch's excellent ar-
ticle in the " Bremen Geographical Journal " for 1884, as
he spent thirteen months at Nain, and had excellent op-
portunifies for observing these people, and obtaining
information regarding their life during the different sea-
sons of the year:

*' While the marriages of the Eskimos are often child-
less and the greater number of the children die young,
the families of the white settlers are usually very robust,
and the children strong and healthy, while the mortality
is low. The number of the settlers increases therefore

SUMMKU ANIJ WINIEK I-IIK ()!• TIIK KSKI.MO.

^75

from year to year, and by tliis means tliey advance far-
ther and farther towards the north. Ik'sides tliis normal
diminution of the I^skimo population, epidemics appear
which are mainly introduced through the traffic with the
fishing-vessels, and as the result an extraordinarily great
j)ercentage die ; for example, when the measles broke
out about three years a.i^o | 1879?] about twenty per cent
died.

" The yearly life of the Eskimos is as follows : During
(he summer, and especially in the hunting season, that is,
from May to December, the Eskimos with their families
are scattered along the shore at their different fishing-
places. After the men return in May from the reindeer
hunting, they take their whole families with them to the
islands lying near the seashore, to hunt seals. On their
return to the northern seas the seals follow the outside
edges of the drift ice, and the hunters are often obliged
to drive far out in their dog-siedges to reach the seals'
course. Hence they wait with their wives and children
upon the outer islands until the coast ice has left the
bays and straits between the islands. This takes place
about the last of June. Then they hasten back in their
kayaks to the stations where they have passed the winter
months, in order to prepare their large sail-boats, wiiich
are generally purchased of the Newfoundland fishermen.*
With these they fetch their families, which have in the
meanwhile remained at the spring fishing-grounds, and
go trout-fishing in the inlets on the river courses. Then

* In 1864 the Eskimos had no sail-boats except one large schooner they built
themselves, at Hopedale, and at that date there was little if any communication
with the Newfoundland fishermen.

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276 THE F-AHkADOR KSKIMOS AND PHKIR FORMER RANCH.

follows for from three to four weeks the season of the
cod fishery.

"As already stated, the codfish appear in such vast
quantities that it would be easy for the Eskimos to
gather enough provision for the winter for themselves
and their dogs, were it not for the innate thriftlessness
of the Eskimo, which leads him as soon as, with the fish
he has caught, he has paid to the mercantile house the
remainder of the debt contracted in the foregoing win-
ter, to again renew his credit, and to forthwith abstain
from further fishing, which he might very well carry on
until the end of September. In autumn the season of
reindeer-hunting again returns, whereupon from Novem-
ber till Christmas-time the Eskimos set out upon the
autumnal seal fishery, when they seek to kill them in
their kayaks through the thin ice, or to catch them in
nets. This mode of hunting is extremely toilsome and
dangerous. The temperature of the air is usually at this
time far below the freezing point, sinking to from — 10° to
— 20° C. and in December seldom rises above —20° C. In
this temperature the Eskimo sits for hours at a time,
bound fast in his kayak, paddling back and forth in the
bays and straits, wet through by the icy spray of the
waves, which at once freezes on his skiff and his clothes.
If overtaken by a storm or the darkness of the night he
must seek shelter in any station on the coast and there
remain through the night watches or await the cessation
of the tempest. In like manner must those work who
have set their nets. Often on taking up the nets the
seals fall out through the meshes, and must, with great
pains, be fished out again. Even hauling the net out
from the water is in the extreme cold very disagreeable

SUMMER AM) WINTKR LIFE OK THE ESKIMO.

277

work. They take the seals out morning and evening,
and in tlie mean time they either sit coneealed on the
bank in order to shoot at the ereature, or they paddle in
their kayaks over the bay with the same object, for all
seals killed with ji^uns belong by contract to those who
shoot them.

" As soon as the bays and straits are covered with ice,
the seal fishery, so far as it is carried on with nets, natu-
rally ceases, and the Eskimos go to hunt those seals which
have been shut into the bays by the ice. They often
ha .(J go over very unsafe places upon the still thin ice,
and hence this mode of hunting is often accompanied by
involuntary cold baths.

"About Christmas-time all the Eskimos with their
families again assemble in their winter houses at the mis-
sionary stations where they are settled. Now comes the
time of schooling for the children, and the season of rest
and religious duties for the older persons. For more
than a hundred years have the missionaries of the United
Brethren been active on these shores, and it is owing to
their zeal that nearly all the Eskimos (except a few fam-
ilies which live quite far north of Killinek) have been
converted. But they have not sought alone to Chris-
tianize them, but also to civilize them I believe that
upon the whole coast there is not an Eskimo who can-
not read, write, and cipher, although singularly enough
they are not, to be sure, particularly given to this last ;
on the other hand they have an extraordinary memory,
and I believe they know well by heart the usual church
tunes. Through close personal contact with the mission-
aries they try to gain information regarding European
customs. Every Sunday afternoon they are allowed to

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278 THE LABRADOR ESKIMOS AND THEIR FORMER RANGE.

come to the missionary house, where illustrated papers
which have been sent as presents are shown to them.
They are especially attracted by music, and whoever
plays to them always finds a grateful public ; and they
are not listeners alone but also play themselves. Thus
the organ or harmonicum used in the church service is
played by Eskimos in the winter in the presence of the
entire brotherhood, and the organ is accompanied by a
small orchestra likewise composed of Eskimos."

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CHAPTER XIV

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LAURADOU COAST.

il ■■!

In its general features the peninsula of Labrador is
an oblong mass of Laurentian rocks lying between the
50th and 60th parallels of latitude. It rises abruptly
from the ocean as an elevated plateau, forming the ter-
mination of the Laurentian chain, which here spreads
out into a vast waste of hills and low mountains. Thus,
there is, except near Cape Chidley, no well-marked, single
chain of mountains rising above spurs of smaller eleva-
tions, but simply an interior height of land with isolated
peaks, irregular in its course, from which streams take
their rise and flow by various directions into the ocean.

This plateau of hills and low mountains rises abruptly

on the coast from the ocean to a height of from 500 to

1,000 feet, and inland continues to rise in peaks to a

height of from 1,500 to about 6,000 feet until it reaches

the water-shed at a distance of 100 to 200 miles from the

coast. On the western slope this plateau falls gradually

away by an easy descent towards the shores of Hudson's

Bay. Dr. Bell states that the northern coast increases

gradually northward, " until within seventy statute miles

of Cape Chudleigh, where it has attained a height of

about six thousand feet above the sea." Thence the

elevations or peaks decrease in height to Cape Chidley

279

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280

THK GEf)LO(;Y OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

or Chudleigh, where they are fifteen hundred feet in
elevation. He adds that the highest land of the Lab-
rador peninsula forms a regular range of mountains
parallel to the Atlantic seaboard, this range becoming
progressively narrower from Hamilton Inlet to Cape
Chidley. (Report for 1884, 10. DD.)

On the south, the coast has a northeasterly trend, fol-
lowing the coast-line of the southern Atlantic border of
the continent. From Belle Isle, situated at the mouth
of the Strait of Belle Isle, the eastern coast trends in a
northwesterly direction to Cape Chidley, thus follow-
ing the northwesterly trend of the northern Atlantic
coast-line of the continent from Cape Race in New-
foundland to the head of Baffin's Bay, near latitude 80°.
It thus lies parallel to the western coast of Greenland.
The northeasterly trend of the southern coast of Labra-
dor is determined by the same course of the Laurentian
range of syenites and gneiss rocks which forms the
northern shore of the St. Lawrence Gulf and River. Its
northwesterly course beyond the Strait of Belle Isle is
likewise determined by a range of syenites and trap-
rocks, upheaved in a general N. W. and S. E. direction.
Thus the interior plateau of Laurentian gneiss seems
surrounded by a framework of igneous rocks, which
has apparently preserved to this day the original form
and proportions of the Atlantic slope of the azoic
nucleus of our continent.

Laurentian Gneiss and Syenite. — Between Little
Mecatina Island and Henley Harbor there is a great
uniformity in the rocks, which are either wholly gneiss,
or more commonly a syenitic gneiss, forming bold head-
lands. At Bradore are two lofty hills of gneiss, esti-

i.i

THE LAURENTIAN ROCKS.

281

mated by Bayfield to be twelve hundred feet high. Be-
tween Belles Amours and Anse-au-Sablon, on the north-
ern side of the Strait of Belle Isle, occur the lower
Silurian or Taconic rocks, which have been already fully
described in the " Geology of Canada," published by the
Canadian Geological Survey. In coasting within a mile
or two of this interesting region we see the red sand-
stones running out as a low point of land resting on the
lofty, precipitous Laurentian rocks. Between Bradore
Bay and Anse-au-Loup these sandstones nnd grits rise
up to a height of five to six hundred feet, forming the
coast-line ; and looking up through the bays and harbors
we can see the low conical hills of Laurentian gneiss in
the interior. At the eastern termination of this forma-
tion the Laurentian rocks rise into high, rugged, and
broken syenitic hummocks, in marked contrast with the
regular terraces and smooth slopes of the fossiliferous
sandstones and limestones. Approaching Henley Har-
bor, there is a visible change in the scenic features of
the coast; the hills grow more regular in outline, and
slope gradually to the water, giving us the peculiar
physiognomy of the Laurentian gneiss.

Upon entering Henley Harbor the dark gneiss is seen
resting upon syenite, and at the point of contact inter-
penetrated by irregular intrusive masses of the latter
rock. On Henley Island, where these rocks crop out
under the trap capping this island, there appears a true
syenitic gneiss, very hard, distinctly stratified, and of the
usual flesh color of the syenite. .

At this point I broke off some pieces of nearly un-
stratified syenite which showed very distinctly the sedi-
mentary origin of the rock, for the cavities were often

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282

THE CIEOLOGV OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

partly rounded and contained rolled quartz pebbles, one
being ovate and nearly two inches long. This syenitic
gneiss was evidently an altered conglomerate.

The syenite is the same as occurs on the coast of the St.
Lawrence River, and while of the same color as that of
the Maine and Nahant syenite, differs in its greater hard-
ness and in the absence of black hornblende. It is com-
posed of a flesh-red orthoclase or potash feldspar and a
smoky and glassy quartz with minute particles of horn-
blende disseminated sparsely through the mass. It is
exceedingly tough and durable, as evidenced by the lofty
capes and islands standing far up above the gneiss rocks
spreading around the base of the overflows.

At the northern end of the island the syenitic gneiss
dips under the trap in a southeasterly direction at an
angle of 50°. On an island a few rods farther to the
north the gneiss assumes its usual character, being
banded with light and dark strata, and has the general
N. N. E. strike and dip indicated above.

At Square Islfwid, which lies at the mouth of a deep
bay just north of Cape St. Michael occurs in large,
conical hills what I judge to be the great anorthosite for-
mation of Logan and Hunt, composed of large, crystal-
line masses of labradorite, with a little vitreous quartz,
and coarse, crystalline masses of hornblende. The lab-
radorite is of a smoky color, very lustrous, translucent
and opalescent, with cleavage surfaces often two inches
in diameter, and on some of the faces presents a greenish
reflection. This is but a slight approach to the rich
blue reflections of the precious labradorite which I have
seen only at Ilopedale, where we obtained specimens
brought from the interior by the Eskimos which

THK LAURENTIAN ROCKS.

283

compared favorably with specimens from the Ural
Mountains.

As the rock weathers, the greenish hornblende crystals
project in masses sometimes two inches in diameter. This
rock easily weathers, and large masses are detached by
frosts and readily crumble to pieces. The gneiss rests
on the south side of the hill. From the top of the hills
here can be seen huge gneiss mountains at least two
thousand feet high, rising in vast swells at a distance of
fifteen to twenty miles in the interior, while the bay is
filled with innumerable skiers and islets of gneiss.

At Cape Webuc or Harrison the gneiss again appears
upon the coast as a lofty headland faced with steep preci-
pices of syenite. From off this cape are seen in the
interior lofty mountains, of which the central and high-
est peak is called Mount Misery, which in this clear
climate can be plainly seen in pleasant weather by fisher-
men at a distance of seventy-five miles in an air line.
At Strawberry Harbor on the south side of Thomas Bay
are lofty syenite hills. This point is fifty-five miles
north of Cape Webuc. It is a small, deep hole in the
coast, like a "purgatory," and an amphitheatre of rock
rises around it in huge steps, affording a striking illustra-
tion of the power of the frost and waves on this exposed
coast. The rock is a hard, tough, flesh-colored syenite,
with deep vertical and horizontal fissures resulting from
the decomposition of thin trap dykes, thus causing huge
blocks of syenite to be detached and fall down. In sail-
ing twenty-five miles up this bay, the gneiss rises on
each side from the ocean into hills eight hundred to one
thousand feet in height. About Hopedale, which is in
latitude 55° 30', the rocks are gneiss. Behind the Mis-

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284

THE f;KOL(3GY OK THE LABRADOR COAST.

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sion House the strata are much disturbed locally ; at one
locality the gneiss with veins of quartz and syenite
trends northwesterly and dips 6o° west. Trap dykes^
prismatic in places, cross the island in a northeasterly
direction.

Northward of Hopedale the " Aulezavic gneiss" of
Lieber forms the coast range of mountains, which, ac-
cording to Lieut. Curtis (Trans. Geol. Soc, London,
vol. ii. 1773), rise to a height of 2,733 feet at Mount
Thoresby, on an island south of Kiglapeit. This
observer states that Kiglapeit is evidently higher than,
but inferior to, Kaumajet, which *' has been seen thirty
leagues from land," and is lower than Nachvak, which
must be three thousand feet high.

At Aulezavik Island near Cape Chidley, according to
Mr. Lieber, " syenitic gneiss is the true rock of the
region, the normal one, although so many modifications
occur that entirely new rocks are produced, having no
direct connection with the basic syenitic gneiss. In
jonsequence of this we have beds in which quartz alone
occurs, or beds entirely occupied by the red feldspar of
the region, as is seen with very beautiful distinctness in
some of the dangerous Pikkintit Islands. Again, some
beds are composed of white quartz and tourmaline as in
Norway, others contain scarcely anything but black
hornblende, or tourmaline and garnets. Some are com-
posed of green hornblende, approximating to actinolite.
From this there seems to be a passage into a coarse
diorite rather porphyroid in its character, but occurring
in regular intercalated beds, not in dykes, and evincing
no sign of an eruptive origin. Again, some beds are
composed of quartz and garnet, while others are studded

rse

IP"

LAURENTIAN TKAl'-ROCKS.

285

with a beautiful golden-colored mica. A rock which ap-
pears identical with aphanite, although not at all igneous,
I also found, yet, with all this apparent variety, the transi-
tions are too gradual to permit the differences to leave
any effect on tne landscape."

For some notes on the geology of Hamilton Inlet we
are indebted to Mr. Davies : "In some places mica slate
was found — it is said that the Mealy Mountains are com-
posed of this rock. I had no opportunity of verifying
this fact, as I did not visit them. Granite was only seen
in one place, viz., on Lake Keith, an expansion of the
Grand River, about one hundred and thirty miles from
its mouth. Specimens of chlorite schist were also pro-
cured on this lake, as was also a specimen of sandstone,
with disseminated grains of iron pyrites. At some dis-
tance below the lake, primary marble, of a beautiful
whiteness, was seen cropping out at the edge of the
water ; it was found in contact with a quartz rock jxiss-
ing into mica slate, having crystals of common garnet
imbedded in it ; this was the only place where limestone
of any sort was seen.

" The shores of the bay where they are not of rock are
generally composed of rolled fragments of syenite, mica-
slate, quartz, hornblende, sometimes in large masses,
feldspar, etc. Magnetic iron in the form of sand was
also met with in some of the small coves."

Laurentiari Trap-rocks. — At Henley Harbor is a
system of trap-rocks which have been upheaved in a
N. N. E. and S. S. W. direction, in a course much more
northerly than the direction which the Straits of Belle
Isle assume. These rocks consist of three masses of co-
lumnar basalt, capping the syenitic gneiss. It is a hard.

i! •!!!

ii.f:

11,^

W 5'

;•

286

rilK (JKOI.OGY OK THli: LABRADOR COAST.

fine, compact dolerite, breaking with a conchoidal frac-
ture and metallic ring, and contains much iron. The
mass is two hundred and fifty-five feet high on Henley
and Castle islands, and consists of two layers of vertical
columns. West of these basaltic rocks, on the opposite
side of the harbor, is a large trap overflow forming a hill
over three hundred feet high, and apparently of the
same age. It should be remarked that the two la3-ersof
basalt representing successive overflows incline at a very
slight angle towards the S. W. The third mass of ba-
salt is seen rising out of the ocean a few miles northerly,
nearly in a line with the basalt of Henley Harbor.

Dykes of this age were likewise seen at Strawberry
Harbor, Cape Webuc, and at Hopedale, intersecting the
Laurentian gneiss and syenite. Their age is plainly an-
terior to the deposition of the undisturbed Cambrian,
" primordial " strata at Anse-au-Loup, and on the New-
foundland coast opposite.

Domino Gneiss. — A system of lifht-colored gneiss and
trap rocks which lie in a depression of the Laurentian
rocks, about one hundred and twenty-five miles long and
probably twenty-five miles broad, stretching along the
coast between Domino Harbor and Cape Webuc, agrees
with the " Domino Gneiss" of Mr. Lieber.

At Domino Harbor in lat. 53° 30", these rocks attain
their greatest development, occurring as a slightly schis-
tose, light-colored gneiss, the base of which is a white
granular vitreous quartz, with speckles of black horn-
blende, with a few particles of a lilac-colored mica.
There are also minute rude crystals of yellow garnet, or
cinnamon stone, disseminated through the mass. No
feldspar was detected in this rock. In some places the

ill i

THL DOMINO GNKISS.

287

rock was exceedingly tine, in others it assumed almost a
conglomeritic aspect, from the presence of small masses

of quartz.

Th(

e quart/ is often colored green.

lis

rock weathers easily, leaving masses of (juartz projecting
on the surface ; it is comparatively soft, and has been
greatly denuded. It thus forms at this locality a broad,
low, flat plain about ten miies broad and fifteen to twenty
miles long, through which rise bosses of trap. Its sur-
face is but a few feet above the level of the sea, and to
one just corning from the high coast to the southward
this broad, naked flat, almost wholly destitute of vegeta-
tion, with no valleys to shelter even a growth of spruce
trees, and but slightly furrowed by glacial action, with
patches of white rock glistening in the sun from between
the dull green morasses and ponds that are everywhere
scattered over its surface, — presents a strange and foreign
feature of the coast scenery, startling from its very tame-
ness. When in contact with the trap hills the rock is
much harder, rising into higher elevations.

Nowhere was I able to see the juncture of this rock
with the Lower Laurentian gneiss, which rises from the
edge of this formation into high hills and mountains.
So smooth had this plain been levelled and worn by gla-
cial and aqueous agents, that it was difficult to observe
the dip and strike of the beds, which, when undisturbed
by eruptive rocks, I am inclined to believe, dip easterly
at a slight angle. At Dumplin Harbor, which is a bight
in an island lying just S. E. of Huntington Island, the
gneiss, when lying next to trap, dips at an angle of 35°
S. E., the strike of the beds being northeasterly. At
Tub Harbor these rocks come in contact with the Lau-
rentian syenite. Between the lighter-colored gneiss

288

THE GEOLOGY OK THE LAHRADOR COAST.

lii!

■ : • '

were beds of a dark fine-grained hornblendic quartzosc
gneiss, capped by the syenite. At Indian Harbor, about
thirty miles north of Tub Harbor, and on the opposite
side of Hamilton Inlet, these same rocks appear. These

rocks occur also at Sloop Harbor, rising two hundred
feet high, and are capped by syenite, which is very pale
in color, with particles of black hornblende. Here, as
at Tub Harbor, the strata at the point of contact with

Ired

)ale

;, as

Ivith

TUAT DVKKS.

289

the syenite become a dark jj^neiss. The Escjuiniaux
Islands, which lie off this

ast,

;d of th

re com pi
jight-coiorcci gneiss.

Invariably accompanying these rocks is a doleritic
trap of a [)eculiar mineralogical character, occurring in
overflows of a peculiar physiognomy, and upheaved in a
direction at nearly right angles to that of the Laurentian
dykes, thus following the general northwesterly trend of
the Atlantic coast of the peninsula.

This rock differs from the hard fine-grained trap at
Henley Harbor in being coarsely porphyritic. It is
composed of large crystalline masses of hypersthene and
labradorite, this last being of a dark smoky color, and
precisely such as described as occurring on Scjuare Island.
It seems to follow that this porphyritic trap is the result
of the refusion of the anorthosite rock, which must con-
sequently underlie this Domino quartzite. This is an
argument for the unconformable bedding of this gneiss
upon the Lower Laurentian gneiss, while this trap-rock
is evidently of the age of the Domino gneiss, which it
has somewhat disturbed. The Isle of Ponds is largely
composed of these trap hills. Huntington Island is a
large mass of trap. Tub Island, as its name betokens, is
a peculiar, truncated cone of trap, resembling an inverted
tub. These trap overflows extend northward to Cape
North, which is a lofty headland of trap capping the
gneiss, and thus adding very materially to the elevation
of this as of all the other numerous gneiss promontories
which run out from the main land. Occasionally an
island is seen half black and half white, one side being
composed of the dark trap-rock, and the other of the
light-colored quartzite. Such is " Black and White," a

!Mi

III

290

THE (lEOLOGY OF THE LAHRADOR COAST.

very prominent island near " Indian Tickle," a harbor at
the northern side of Hamilton Inlet. Here are some
remarkable dykes which ascend the gneiss hills in huge
irregular zigzag crests, often crossing each other at right
angles.

Beyond this point the older Laurentian gneiss again
appears, and forms the high bold shores extending to
Hopedale, rising in the interior into lofty imposing
mountains on whose tops lie patches of snow.

Among the erratic rocks at Domino Harbor were
some which show that in the interior are beds of jasper
and chert. There occurred several small bowlders of jas-
per and gneiss. The jasper was pale green, banded and
striped by darker shades of green, while the irregularly
alternating bands of syenitic gneiss appeared to be an
altered quartzite, as it was found under a glass to be
largely composed of a fine granular quartz-rock, with a
little flesh-colored and white feldspar, and minute par-
ticles of hypersthene.

Several bowlders of chert occurred at Tub Island.
This was a very tough, compact, silicious rock, lineated by
fine veins of quartz. It weathers to a dull chalky white.

It is most probable that these rolled stones were borne
down from the interior by glaciers, but the chert pebbles
may have been borne on iioating ice from Frobisher's
Bay, as Mr. Hall notyceb such rocks as being abundant
there. At Tub Island I was shown specimens of mag-
netic iron ore, which were brought from " Cartwright's
Tickle," a few miles toward the main land. It occurred
in veins half an inch wide.*

* For further information regarding the Laurentian rocks of Northern Labra-
dor, see Dr. Bell's observations in Report of the Canadian Geological Survey
for 1,884 and '85.

i^ I

11 IK I.AliRADOR DRIFT.

291

|mag-
irred

Labra-
I Survey

Qiia/irnary Formation. — In studyinjj: the drift plu'-
nomcria of Labrador as compared with those of the tem-
perate zone, we shall at the outset lind ourselves disap-
pointed in our anticipations as to their relative develop-
ment. In a region which has evidently been exposed to
the most intense action of glaciers, prolonged over a
j)eriod vastly longer than in Canada or New luigland,
we have surviving this period of denudation and wasting
away of the surface but few drift scratches remaining
on any exposed surfaces below a height of five hundred
feet above the sea, and superficial deposits which are re-
duced almost to a minimum as compared with those of
the temperate zone.

In this absence of drift and more recent deposits, the
Labrador plateau agrees exactly with all mountainous
districts above the level of most deciduous trees. We
are to look to the lowlands about their base for the
ddbris and drift borne down by streams or glaciers from
the mountain centres. The Labrador plateau has been
greatly denuded. Its highest mountains have been trun-
cated and their peaks sliced off by the denuding agent
as if by a knife. The Domino gneiss has lost at least
three hundred to four hundred feet of its comparatively
soft strata, as evidenced by the lofty trap hills which now
rise above the strata of altered sandstones. The trap is
as firm and hard at the top of the overflows as at the
base. The loose material resulting from this long.con-
tinued denudation is not now found in the interior or on
the coast of Labrador, except in very small quantities.
It was evidently conveyed southwards by icebergs and
floe- or shore-ice, and forms the bottom of the St. Law-
rence Gulf, and the banks and shoals southward. In

i ; I

■i.i.

292

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

most subarctic and all arctic lands the soil is but a few
inches deep.

In all temperate regions the superficial deposits have
been characterized by Prof. Desor* to be " a succession
of rocky hills and drift plateaus or valleys, which can be
traced to the highest elevation of the country, near the
dividing ridge, each following plateau or valley being
commonly at a higher level than the preceding." This
state of things obtains in Labrador, but there is an im-
mense disproportion between the rocky hills and the
drift deposits. We find no sandy plains or level tracts
of glacial drift, or marine clays, distributed at intervals
from the coast to the interior. They take the form of
occasional, isolated sand-banks and cliffs of clay, of slight
extent, overhanging rivers, and which by their secluded
and retired positions have escaped the general denuda-
tion by the Labrador current which must have passed
over the lower levels of the peninsula subsequent to the
glacial epoch. In travelling in the interior we find our-
selves walking, when it is possible to walk or climb at
all, over the rocky floor of this inhospitable region,
smoothed in spots, though rarely striated by glaciers,
but on the coast more generally mangled and torn by
the action of shore-ice and frosts, which have here shown
a vast power.

The Leda clays are mostly confined to the head of re-
tired bays, or if in more exposed situations, lie between
bold headlands. The vast sand barrens of Canada and
New England spreading into broad plains, are here rep-
resented by precipitous masses of sand hanging upon the

* Foster and Whitney's Report on the Geology of Lake Superior,

ff-'i

iS' ll

I of re-
Lween
la and
|e rep-
m the

GLACIAL MARKS.

293

Steep mountain slopes. The traveller stumhles upon
them in ascending the swift impetuous streams.

The most abundant superficial deposits in Labrador
are the ancient sea-beaches, which are found, according
to Prof. H. Y. Hind, at all levels to a height of twelve
hundred feet above the sea, at a distance in the interior
of one hundred and twenty-five miles from the coast.
They are evidently altered glacial moraines.

Glacial Epoch. Drift Stricc and Roiuidcd Rocks. —
The Labrador plateau has been, at least near the Atlan-
tic, moulded by ice to a height at least of twenty-five
hundred feet above the level of the sea. In Southern
Labrador Dr. Bell states that the valleys and hills, " up
to the tieight of sixteen hundred feet, at any rate, have
been planed by glacial action." (Rep. for 1884, 2^1 D.D.)
The gneiss mountains are moulded into large flat cones,
often with a nipple-shaped summit ; the syenites are
either moulded into domes or into high conical sugar-
loaves ; the anorthosite syenite at Square Island occurs
in high rude cones ; and the trap overflows accompanying
the Domino gneiss form rough irregular bosses. Only
at one point, near the northern termination of the penin-
sula at Cape Chidley, have the mountains by their alti-
tude escaped the rounding and remodelling action of
glaciers. These scraggy peaks, covered with loose square
blocks detached by frosts from their slopes, remind us
of the summits of Mount Washington in New Hamp-
shire and Mount Katahdin in Maine. In a sketch of
the former mountains by Mr. Lieber, as given in the
" Report of the Coast Survey," the transition from the
remodelled low mountains of the coast to the " wild
volcanic-looking mountains" of the interior height of land

■III

K HHH

294

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

;u.

is very marked. Mount Bache, which was determined
by the expedition to be two thousand one hundred and
fifty feet high, was " one of the smallest mountains."
The larger ones are inaccessible. Those who have been
upon the summits of Mount Washington or Katahdin
will recognize how well Mr. Lieber's description of the
summit of Mount Bache agrees with the physiognomy
of the New England alpine summits :

" A second cause of the irregularity of surface here is
to be found in the tremendous power of the frost of a
Labrador winter, the influence of the heavy covering of
snow, and very probably also the former existence of
glaciers, all of which we shall presently take occasion to
discuss.

" The effects of frost are manifested in a singularly
forcible manner. The entire surface, where it is not too
steep to enable debris to collect, is covered with broken
masses of rock, cubes of ten feet and less scattered in
wildest profusion. Sometimes a patch of moss, the grass
and heather of this country, fills up the crevices, but gen-
erally we may look down into them far and deep with-
out ever detecting the base upon which the rocks rest,
hurled aloft, as they appear,- by the hands of Titans. In
scaling, in company with Mr. Venable, the summit of
Mount Bache, on an occasion intended mainly for taking
its altitude barometrically, we enjoyed the finest oppor-
tunities for studying this phenomenon. The summit and
sides of the mountain present few steep precipices. I
speak comparatively only, and in reference exclusively to
Northern Labrador. Yet, scattered helter-skelter over all,
and piled up in endless number, the whole surface is cov-
ered with such loose rocks. The diflficulties of locomotion

si' :

iiili,:L

|por-
and
I
lyto

Irall
Icov-
ition

A MINIATURE GLACIER.

295

may readily be conceived. In scarcely a single instance
did we see the gneiss beds still in situ, and in only one
or two exceptions some giant wedge seemed to have
driven them asunder. Yet none of the blocks were
rounded. Attrition of no kind had influenced them to
any perceptible extent, neither had atmospheric influ-
ences altered the color, hardness, and composition of their
exteriors ; it was simply a wilderness of unchanged
blocks of the gray gneiss.

" There was a puzzle. Whence came these broken
rocks? There was no higher spot whence they might
have fallen. The slight protrusion of the uptilted beds
of gneiss in sitn, to which I have referred, alone seems
to have been permitted to remain for the purpose of
instructing us. Clearly, that force which had riven its
beds asun.der, no other than the frost, had broken the
rest from their foothold and prepared them for removal
by another coming into play at a later season — the thaw-
ing down-gliding snoiv. Many of the blocks were prob-
ably but slightly removed from their original position,
perhaps barely turned over or merely forced a little out
of place. Yet the effect to the eye of the beholder
would be as great as if they had been transported hun-
dreds of miles.

" When we descended from the mountain we crossed
over a broad patch of snow, deeply packed (twenty feet
deep), which clearly taught us how the blocks were
moved. In truth, this was a miniature glacier, and a
regular moraine was piled up along its edges. It is im-'
possible for us to form any estimate of the amount of
snow which may fall per square foot in a winter, but
from the fact that such quantities were still remaining

V tl

296

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

'i >.

':U''.].

3 i ji !

i'^l

late in July, and certainly they never altogether thaw
away, we may reasonably infer that during its downward
progress, either as snow or water, a tremendous force
must be exerted, a force quite sufficient to account for
the characteristic surface phenomenon just described."

Contrary to the statement of Sir John Richardson
in his " Polar Regions," both the accounts of Parry and
the earlier arctic voyagers, and especially C. F. Hall in
his " Arctic Researches," prove that on the northern
edge of the American continent, and as low down as lat.
62°, and upon land rising between one thousand and two
thousand feet above the level of the sea, there are mers
dc glace of great extent, discharging glaciers into the sea
which present ice-fronts one hundred feet high.

Parry, in his second voyage (p. 12), states that on
the north side of Hudson's Strait, after passing by Res-
olution Island, there "is a smooth part of the land
rather higher than that in its neighborhood, and for an
extent of one or two miles completely covered with
snow. The snow remains upon it, as Mr. Davidson in-
formed us, the whole summer, as they find the land pre-
senting the same appearance on their return through the
Strait in the summer. This circumstance, which has
obtained for it the name of 'Terra Nivea' upon the
charts, I do not know how to account for, as the height
of the land above the level of the sea cannot certainly
exceed a thousand feet."

Mr. C. F. Hall, during his residence in Frobisher's
Bay, had excellent opportunities of observing during all
seasons of the year both ends of the Kingaite range of
mountains on ' Meta Incognita' which support this mer
de glace, which he named the Gnnnell Glacier, and which

[ainly

Isher's
i\cr all
ksfe of
mer
Lvhich

GLACIERS NORTH OF LABRADOR.

297

on the coast annually discharges icebergs from its streams.
He describes it as being two miles long, starting from a
sea of ice which extended many miles N.W. and S.E.,
reaching across the peninsula of Meta Incognita, nearly
to the strait which divides Frobisher's Bay from Hud-
son's Strait. Mr. Hall states that " from the informa-
tion I had previously gained, and the data furnished me
by my Innuit companion, I estimated the Grinnell
Glacier to be fully one hundred miles long. At various
points on the north side of Frobisher's Bay between Bear
Sound and the Countess of Warwick's Sound, I made
observations by sextant by which I determined that over
fifty miles of the glacier was in view from, and southeast
of, the President's Seat. A few miles above that point
the glacier recedes from the coast and is lost to view by
the Everett chain of mountains ; and as . arkey [an
Esquimau] said, the oii-u-e-too (ice that never melts),
extends on ives-se-too-ad-loo (far, very far off). He added
that there were places along the coast below what I
called the President's Seat, where this great glacier dis-
charges itself into the sea, some of it in large icebergs.

" From the sea of ice down to the point where the
abutting glacier was quite uniform in its rounding up, it
presented the appearance, though in a frozen state, of a
mighty rushing torrent. The height of the discharging
face of the glacier was one hundred feet above the sea."

Given, as stated below, the rise of the Labrador penin-
sula only five hundred feet above its present level, and
we must have had during the glacial period most exten-
sive glaciers fed by broad seas of ice resting on the table-
lands, reaching above the line of perpetual snow ; as only
one hundred and twenty miles northward of Cape Chidley

i!l

I-

I : '

298

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

ii'^''!-;

'■i li t

we find the snow-line reaching as far down as one thou-
sand feet, or thereabouts, above the sea-level. We are
inclined to doubt the accuracy of Parry's estimate of the
height of these table-lands, as the height of Mount Bache
is over two thousand feet, and it just reaches the lowest
limit of the snow-line, which in Greenland is two thou-
sand feet above the sea.

Owing to the extensive weathering of the rock, glacial
grooves and scratches occur very rarely.* I doubt not
they will be found abundantly after ascending five hun-
dred to o!gh. .undred feet from the sea-level, for below
this point the action of the waves and shore-ice has
obliterated '^^th <"i£e and loose drift. We have good
evidence that an enormous glacier once filled the great
fiord, Hamilton Inlet, which at its mouth is forty miles
broad. Peculiar lunoid fiwrows were observed on the
northern and southern shores about forty miles apart,
which would seem to justify the conclusion, that the
glacier was of that breadth where it descended into the
sea. The best examples of these lunoid furrows oc-

1 ^'%

* J. F. Campbell, who visited this coast in 1864, states in his work entitled
" Frost and Fire," that at Indian Island, lat. 53° 30' "the striae pointed into
Davis's Strait at a height of four hundred feet above the sea; at Red Bay, in the
Strait of Belle Isle, they aimed N. 45° E.' at the sea-level."

At Newfoundland, about St. John's, " the striae which were found were near
the coast, and seem to indicate large land-glaciers moving seawards. At St.
vjohn's the marks run over the Signal Hill, five hundred and forty feet high, from
W. and N. 85" W. eastwards; at Harbor Grace, from S. 75° W. down the bay
northeastwards; at the head of Conception Bay they fill a large hollow, over-
run hills, and point from S. 15° W. northwards. Vast terraces of drift stretch
along the base of rounded hills at the head of Conception Bay, at Harbor Grace,
and at Old Purlican, near the end cf the bay, sixty miles off. At the head of
the bay most of this drift seems to have come from the hills. Opposite to
granite hills are numerous blocks of granite; opposite to sandstone and slate
hills, sandstone and slate bowlders abound." — " Frost and Fire," ii. 1865, p. 240.

illl

*i' :

GLACIAL LUNOin FURROWS.

299

curred at Indian Harl)or on tlie northern shore of tlam-
ilton Inlet, near the fishin<r estahlislinient of Mr. Nor-
man. This harbor is a narrow "tickle" or passage, where
the Domino quartzites, very smoothly worn and pol-
ished, are capped by trap overflows, and run under the
water to the depth of thirty feet, forming a polished and
smooth bottom to the harbor. The marks occur about
twenty-five feet above the water's edge, and below the
line of lichens which are kept at a distance by the sea
spray.

These crescent-shaped depressions, which run trans-
versely to the course of the bay, were from five to four-
teen inches broad by three to nine inches long, and
about an inch deep vertically in the rock. Their inner
or concave edge pointed southwest, the bay running in
a general S.W. and N.E. direction. They were scattered

GLACIAL LUNOID FURROWS AT INDIAN TICKI.K, I.AHRADOR.

irregularly over a surface twenty feet square. When
several followed in a line, two large ones were often
succeeded by a couple one quarter as large, or vice versa.
Also at Tub Harbor, on the southern coast of this bay,
similar markings, but less distinct, occurred about the
same distance above the sea, and on a similar polished
quartzite. These agiee precisely with the'Munoid fur-
rows" of Mr. DeLaski, as observed by him in great
abundance on Isle-au-Haut, in Penobscot Bay, speci-

ill:

t lii '

I ,■'

m .'i ■

300

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

mens of which he has deposited in the Museum of the
Portland Society of Natural History.

These were the only glacial markings I observed. It
should be noted that Mr. Jukes, in his "Geology of
Newfoundland," states that he never observed any glacial
striae during his explorations on that island. They
were observed in abundance by Professor Hind about
fifty miles froiri the mouth of the river Moisie, where
occurred "gneiss terraces five in number, the highest
being about one thousand feet above the sea, and backed
by a stunted birch- and spruce-clad mountain some eight
hundred feet higher still. The sloping sides of these
abrupt steps are rounded, polished, and furrowed by
glacial action. Cuts half an inch deep and an inch or
more broad go down slope and over level continuously.
Rounded und water-worn bowlders are perched here and
there on the edge of the uppermost terrace. These
strange memorials of the drift begin to be more com-
mon" (p. 133).

Fine examples of rounded and embossed rocks oc-
curred at a bay situated a few miles to the westward of
Little Mecatina Island. Here the numerous islets of
syenites assume a low dome-like shape, whose shores
descend to the water's edge by a gentle slope, and are so
smooth and polished that one can with difficulty descend
them when wet without slipping.

On the southern coast the eminences all present their
longer slopes to the northward, and their lee sides de-
scend seaward and southward in sudden falls and slopes.
On the contrary, on the eastern and Atlantic shores
the s^oss or struck sides look westward, and the lee side
is on the eastern side of the hills, thus showing that the

GLACIATION OF HUDSON'S STRAIT.

301

denuding and abrading agent moved downwards from
the top of the water-shed — that is, always nearly parallel
to the coast.

The adjoining illustration brings out clearly some of
the characteristic features of the scenery of the coast of
Labrador. In the foreground the rocky shore of the
Horsechops, as the deep fiord is called, which is situated
far up on the eastern coast of Labrador, has been ground
down, smoothed, and polished by the great mass of land-
ice which formerly filled Hamilton Bay and moved slowly
down from the table-land in the interior, and whose ice-
front must have presented to the sea a wall — perhaps
five hundred to one thousand feet high.

Across the fiord on the shores of the bay, which rise
abruptly in great rocky terraces — also a characteristic
feature of Labrador and arctic landscapes, — may be seen
scattered snow-banks, which linger on these shores as
late as August, while those in the more shaded, protected
places may live on until the early snows in September
give them a renewal of life, so that their existence may
become perennial.

About Cape Chidleythe hills and rocks are shown by
Mr. Lieber's drawings to have been rounded and moulded
by ice to a height corresponding to that of Mount Bache,
as noticed above.

Dr. R. Bell shows that the basin of Hudson's Bay
may have formed a glacial reservoir receiving streams of
ice from the east, north and northwest, and south and
southwest. The direction of the glaciation on both sides
of Hudson's Strait was eastward. "That an extensive
glacier passed down the strait may be inferred from the
smoothed and striated character of the rocks of the lower

: m

:i1

m'i

DISTRIBUTION OF UOWLDKKS.

3OJ

levels, the outline of the glaciated surfaecs pointing to
an eastward movement, tlie eomposition of the drift, and
also from the faet that the long depression of Fox's
Channel and the Strait runs from the northwestward
towards the southeast, and that this great ehannel or sub-
merged valley deepens as it goes, terminating in the
Atlantic Ocean. Glaciers arc said to exist on the shores
of Fox's Channel, and they may send down the Hat-top-
ped icebergs which float eastward through the lower part
of Hudson's Strait into the Atlantic. During the drift
period the glacier of the bed of Hudson's Strait was
probably joined by a contribution from the ice whicb
appears to have occupied the site of Hudson's Bay, and
by another, also from the southward, coming down the
valley of the Koksok River, and its continuation in the
bottom of Ungava Bay. The united glacier still moved
eastward round Cape Chudleigh into the Atlantic."

Distribution of Bowlders. — The whole surface of the
country is strewn thickly with bowlders. After ascending
five or six hundred feet above the level of the sea, and
penetrating into the interior, their presence is especially
marked. Near the shore they are rarely seen, being
covered by vegetation. We must look for them about
the edges of ponds and along the banks of the rivers,
and especially in raised beaches. I am also inclined to
think that their abundance near the coast ^ <jjreatly less-
ened by their having been carried off by shore-ice into
the sea, and there rearranged into submarine beaches.

No loose, single bowlders scattered over the surface
of the country were seen on the coast from Mecatina to
Square Island. They only occurred as stated above,
along the courses of rivers, by ponds, and rearranged

I'i'

i»-il

' V

■I ■;;:

304

Till' GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

vfm i'

into l)cachc.s. But we first saw them on a hill, estimated
roughly to he one thousand feet high, a few miles north
of Cape St. Michael, at Scjuare Island, where they lend
a new feature to the landscape. At this level they were
strewn sparsely upon the tops of the surrounding b'"^
One was about fifteen by forty feet in size. A large p.u-
portion were well rounded, while others were angular.
The greater proportion were of syenite, a few small ones
were of greenstone.

Northward of this locality I did not have an oppor-
tunity of ascending the mountains above the level of the
ancient coast-line.

Professor Hind likewise found very few bowlde? • at a
distance from the bed of the Moisie, for a dista'ice of
fifty miles from its mouth. But on ascending th water-
shed, and penetrating farther inland, they eve.yw'
grew more numerous. A few miles beyond " Bu. ..
Portage" on this river, "huge blocks of gi .iss, twenty
feet in diameter, lay in the channel or on the rocks
which here and there pierced the sandy t ,ct through
which the river flowed ; while on the summits c' moun-
tains and along the crests of hill ranges they seemcJ ?s
if they had been dropped like hail. It was not difficult
to see that many of these rock fragments were of local
origin, but others had travelled far. From an eminence
I could discover that they were piled to a great height
between hills three and four hundred feet high, and from
the comparatively sharp edges of many, the parent rock
could not have been far distant." *

Also at Caribou Lake, an expansion of the same river,

* The Labrador Peninsula, p. 227. Also, Quart. Joitrn. Geol. Soc, Jan. 20,
1864, p. 122, On Supposed Glacial Drift in the Labrador Peninsula, etc.

RAISED HEACIIES.

30s

.gh

tnce
ht

IP"

rom
lock

Iver,

20,

he states, "the long' line of enormous erratics skirting
the river looked like druid's :^iouumental stones ; for in
many instances they were disposed in such a manner as
would almost lead one to suppose they had been placed
there by artificial means" (p. 229).

Of this same expedition Mr. Cayley has published an
account in the " Quebec Transactions," where we have
the statement of this observer that bowlders are very
thickly strewn over the surface and on the summits of
mountains 2,214 ^^^t high, and situated one hundred and
ten miles from the coast, being near the head-waters of
the Moisie. " Immense numbers of bowlders had for the
last few miles strewn the sides of the mountains, in some
cases almost seeming to mak( up the very mountains
themselves ; there being this difference, that whereas the
rock itself in situ is granitic, the bowlders in every case
are of gneiss." *

Nowhere did I see on the coast of Labrador any de-
posits of the original glacial clay, or " unmodified drift."
Upon the sea-shore it has been remodelled into a strati-
fied clay, and the bowlders it once contained now form
terraced beaches. Professor Hind, however, notices the
occurrence of "drift clay, capped by sand," in precipitous
banks rising seventy feet above the level of the Moisie
River, twenty miles from its mouth.

Before giving an account of the marine clays and their
fossils, which should naturally come in at this place, I
would draw attention to the numerous raised beaches
that line this coast.

Raised Beaches. — Some of the finest examples of
raised beaches and rock-shelves representing ancient coast-

* Up the River Moisie, loc. cit., N. S., vol. i. p. 88.

•«i

:i:!l

f '■ ■'

': v.

306

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

V^'

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lines, about four hundred feet above the present coast-
line, are seen in the lowest Silurian rocks on both sides
of the Strait of Belle Isle. The following notes and
sketches were made while coasting along the northern
shore, which rises in high sandstone and gritty bluffs,
contrasting in their regular water-worn outlines most
strongly with the peculiar swelling curves of the Lauren-
tian gneiss which rise near Bradore — according to Bay-

TERRACES AT ANSE-AU-LOUP, {A) {B) AND (C) LOOKING EASTWARD AT THE
NORTHEAST END OF THE CAMBRIAN FORMATION.

field's measurements, one thousand two hundred feet
above the sea — or the jagged, rough, and hummocky
outlines of the rude syenitic hills, which rise four hun-
dred feet above the sea. At Anse-au-Loup, as seen
from one half to one, mile from the shore, the land rises
on the west side of the bay in three very regular terraces
i^A), the lower of which is covered with debris. On the
east side the land is much more irregular, descending in
buttressed steeps like the Palisades on the Hudson,
though far exceeding them in height. On the east point

feet
)cky
Ihun-
seen
Irises
races
the

Ison,
)oint

RAISED BEACHES.

307

are five terraces on the N. VV. side with heavy buttresses,
and beyond four terraces come in sight (^). The strata
here are nearly horizontal, dipping under the Strait at
a very slight angle. At the eastward termination of the
formation are again seen five very regular terraces (C)'
running out in a long low point, beyond which rise the
syenite hills. At Blanc Sablon five terraces are very
distinctly marked, the second of which is the highest ; and
there is a beach of huge bowlders very regularly packed
by the action of the waves, as observed by Admiral Bay-
field.

In Chateau Bay and Henley Harbor are some fine ex-
amples of ancient sea-margins. They occur in recesses
in the shore which have been sheltered from the denud-
ing agency of the waves and strong arctic currents,
which have swept around this bend in the coast with
great power. The most plainly marked example forms
the eastern shore of Henley Harbor, being the western
short of Henley Island. This beach, which is one hun-
dred and eighty feet high above the water-level, is com-
posed of three well-m.arked terraces, which become
steeper as we go from the bottom to the top. The
upper terrace begins at the base of the basaltic columns
capping this island, and is covered at its upper edge with
the debris from this mass of trap. The two lower ter-
races at the northern end of the island present a delta-
like expansion facing the northwest. On these terraces,
which are destitute of the usual covering of moss and
Empetrum, can be most distinctly seen the windrows of
pebbles and gravel thrown up by the retreating waves.
A continuation of this beach is seen on Castle Island
just south. (See p. 134.)

i; ;.

iln'

308

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

I? m

II '

^^B

On the eastern side of the same island is a beach of
the same height, but much steeper, as it directly faces
the ocean, and more irregular than the one just described,
as its surface is broken by jagged masses of syenitic rock
which protrude through it, and by large masses of trap
which have fallen from the cliffs above.

North of Henley Island is a broad flat beach consist-
ing of two low terraces, on the uppermost of which, and
commanding the harbor, are the ruins . an old fort
built during the last century. Also on the mainland
near the head of the bay are situated in bights in the
shore three low beaches, each composed of two terraces
overgrown with vegetation. They are all apparently of
the same height, and correspond in height with that of
the second beach or terrace on Henley Island. On the
€ast side of Pitt's Arm is another similar beach, and still
another at the head of the bay on the west side of the
stream emptying into this bay. Upon this latter beach
are large bowlders, often two feet in diameter. Across
the bay from Henley Island is a lofty steep beach slop-
ing towards the east, and of the same height.

It is an important fact that the present contour of the
coast, from the sea-level to a height of about five hun-
dred feet, also extends to at least fifty fathoms, or three
hundred feet below the surface of the water. Such we
found to be the fact in dredging for a distance of nearly
six hundred miles along the coast. The jagged nature
of the rocky terraces at Strawberry Harbor, so interest-
ing a feature in the coast scenery, extends at least to a
depth of two hundred and forty feet, a few rods from the
shore, as in anchoring with the kedge anchor it would
drop on to a rocky shelf, and then drag and fall twenty

RAISED BEACHES.

309

)f the
hun-
three
Ich we
pearly
liaturc
Iterest-
5t to a
>m the
I would
rvventy

fathoms lower on to another syenitic shelf ; such a suc-
cession of rocky terraces we have no doubt extended
much farther below the point sounded by our ship's
lead.

Again, dredging was carried on off Henley Harbor on
a pebbly bottom three hundred feet below the surface
which formed the continuation of the same beaches
which rose some two hundred feet above the sea-level.
It follows from this that as both the jagged rocks and
submerged beach must have formerly formed a coast-line,
the land once stood at least three hundred feet higher
than at present, and it is more than probable, much
higher. Such an elevation would have produced the
most important modifications of climate, lowering it
greatly, bringing the snow line farther down towards the
coast, and must have led to a great accumulation of the
snow and land-ice.

At the settlement in Chateau Bay is a remarkably
steep beach, which ascends half-way up the side of the
hill, which is about five hundred feet high. It is com-
posed of large bowlders very closely packed in layers,
without any gravel to fill up the interstices, and slopes
to the level of the water at an angle of at least 40°, being
the steepest beach I saw on the coast. It consisted of
two terraces, the lowest almost precipitous in its descent.
This beach, when below the level of the sea, was evi-
dently exposed to the action of the powerful Labrador
current which piled these huge water-worn rocks into a
compact mass which served to resist the waves, while the
coarse gravel and sand were borne rapidly away farther
out to sea on to lower levels. It is a general rule that
all beaches on this coast with a northerly and easterly

! il

310

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

r't

V r'-

Vi'-.

h ■.' I

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* 7 , ; i

, ■ i ;

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s|i'

exposure to the open sea, are much steeper, and com-
posed of much coarser materials, than those in more shel-
tered situations.

At Domino Harbor are beaches more than one hun-
dred feet high, and in sailing up the sound which lies
between the mainland and the numerous islands that line
this coast, twelve beaches were seen rising from forty to
one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, and
composed of two or three terraces.

In Sloop Harbor, twenty-five miles south of Cape
Harrison, is a noble shingly beach nearly two hundred
feet high on the south side of the harbor, consequently
facing the north.

Thomas Bay, which lies about thirty miles south of
Hopedale, afforded, along both of its shores for thirty
miles from the sea, fine examples of raised beaches, com-
posed for the most part of three terraces. High beaches
also occurred at Hopedale. The mission house and
buildings belonging to this Moravian settlement also
rest upon raised gravelly beaches, which afford soil deep
enough for gardens and cemeteries.

It is to be regretted that from want of time and proper
instruments we were unable to measure the heights of
these beaches and their respective terraces. Those given
are simply approximative, with the exception of the one
noticed as occurring upon Henley Island. The mass of
basalt was rudely measured by Lieut. Baddeley, and es-
timated to be two hundred and fifty-five feet high. The
terraces rise to the base of the pillars, which he estimated
to be one hundred and eighty feet above the sea.

I believe it will ultimately be found that all these
beaches rise above the present level of the sea at uniform

oper

;s of

iven

one

Iss of

Id es-

The

lated

Ihese
form

RAISED BEACHES.

heights, and will be found generally to agree in this re-
spect with similar beaches in the St. Lawrence River and
the coast of the British colonies and New England,
after making due allowances for local oscillations of the
land. At Chateau Bay it could easily be seen that all
the terraces composing the different beaches were of the
same height ; and, so far as memory would show, in the
absence of actual measurement, all those beaches ob-
served farther northward presented terraces which very
generally corresponded in height with those of Chateau
Bay.

I am informed by Captain Ichabod Handy of New
Bedford, Mass., who has spent several years in Hudson's
Bay engaged in the whale fishery, and is a close ob-
server, having coasted in a whale-boat the whole shore
from Nain to Resolution Island in lat. 62°, that there
are several very high raised beaches near Hebron, and
also near Nain, one of which he roughly estimated to be
three hundred feet high. He observed that the beaches
north of Nain increased in height. There were also
beaches on Button Island. He noticed one on Reso-
lution Island, about two hundred feet high, which was
composed of three terraces. On the Lower or East
Savage Island he described to me a plain of soft clay ele-
vated fifty feet above the sea, into which he "sank knee-
deep," and perceived in it numerous " clams and mussels,"
and also the skeleton of a whale, the " boar-head " whale
(^Balaena boops), stranded upon the surface. This ancient
sea-bottom was flanked by a raised beach from thirty to
forty feet in height.

At Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome he describes the
beaches as being higher than any observed southwards.

1 :

•N1

«iia

312

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

and he also noticed clay-banks, containing shells, raised
above the present level of the sea.

Prof. Hind has noticed some remarkable beaches far
in the interior of the southern part of the peninsula, and
at a great height above the present level of the sea.
Though this author does not refer to their rearrangement
by the currents and waves of the sea, his description of
the immense deposits of rounded and water-worn bowlders
agrees precisely with similar raised beaches both upon,
and a mile back from, the coast, observed by myself,
where they are covered by moss and Empetrum, or
stunted spruces. At *' Burnt Portage," upon the river
Moisie, one hundred miles from its mouth, and 1,857
feet above the level of the sea, this author describes a
" hill of bowlders or erratics, all water-worn and smooth,
without moss or lichen upon them, and piled two or three
deep, and, for aught you know, twenty deep. . . .
The well-worn masses of all sizes, from one foot to
twenty feet in diameter, and from one ton to ten thousand
tons in weight, are washed clean. ... I could without
difficulty see three tiers of these ' travelled rocks,' and
in the crevices the charred roots of trees which had
grown in the mosses and lichens which formerly clothed
them."

Another feature of great interest in this connection are
the rocky terraces or steps which have been hewn )ut of
the solid rocks along the coast for a height of five hun-
dred feet above the present level of the sea, and mark
the oscillations of the old coast-line ; and as there occur
in the interior of the country one thousand feet above
the present coast-line similar lines of erosion, they pre-
sent the best evidence we have, to determine how far

Lhed

are
It of
lun-
lark
:cur
»ove
jpre-
far

ROCK TERRACES.

313

above its present level the glacial sea stood. These
rock terraces could only have been formed so fully as
seen here during a vast period, and the ice-foot of Dr.
Kane, to which their formation is probably due, must
have remained on the shore during the entire year. Fine
examples of similar terraces are described and figured in
Kane's " Explorations," vol. ii. p. 81. At various points
along the coast the joint action of frost, the waves, and
floating ice can even now be seen building up these steps
in the slopes of trap and syenitic rocks, by taking advan-
tage of the jointure and cleavage planes vvhich cross at
nearly right angles. At Strawberry Harbor the syenitic
rocks have broken off into huge cubical blocks of many
tons' weight. The rock abounds in cracks and fissures,
into which the ice has entered wedge-like, and burst them
asunder, while the fragments have been borne away by
shore-ice. Thus for a height of five hundred feet the
shore consists of a series of steps ten to thirty feet high,
forming broad shelves on which the sea-birds build, and
where a little vegetation lodges. Where the shore con-
sists of trap-rocks, as at Domino Harbor and Tub Island,
the steps are much smaller and more numerous. At
Domino there are regular steps in the quartzites, which
lend a very peculiar feature to the shores of the harbor,
as at a little distance the rocky slopes descending by
hundreds of steps to the water, appear like a lofty beach
of bowlders. At Sloop Harbor these rocky steps are of
vast extent, their tops shelving inland, and in profile the
rocky promontory presents a strange serrated outline
when viewed from the sea. The lofty sugar-loaf syenitic
island a few miles south of Hopedale, noticed previously,

' ^i

I u\

\\y

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

■?'1i

and which is seven hundred feet high, has its surface di-
vided into four terraces of rock, which reach two thirds

13 ill, 1

of the distance up its sides from the water, thus affording
a means of estimating the different heights at which the

ROCK TERRACES.

315

land paused in its oscillations upwards.* We must again
refer to Mr. Hind's work for an account of similar rocky
terraces in the interior of the peninsula. Near the
" Lake where the land lies," he describes the gneiss hills

1 i *

III '

fPf

:,f!f<

I''

ROCK TERRACES ON A CONICAL PROMONTORY NEAR HOPEDAI.K, LABRADOR.

fding
the

as rising in "gigantic terraces." He likewise speaks of
'* gneiss terraces five in number, the highest being abqut
one thousand feet above the sea," and he states tnat the
sloping sides of these abrupt steps are rounded, polished,
and furrowed by glacial action. f

Mr. Cayley has described them also quite fully : " We
now made the fifth portage [fifty miles from the mouth
of the river, and 370 feet above the level of the sea],
where we first met with some curious natural steps or
terraces, which were continually repeated on our march.
They were usually five or six in number, averaging three
or four feet in height ; the distances* between each rather
irregular, just affording room enough to take two or
three paces, and their surfaces presenting the appearance
of having been artificially constructed. They were of

* "Terraces or banks of gravel and ancient shingle beaches were observed
on either side of the inlet [Nachvak Inlet] at various heights up to an estimated
elevation of two thousand feet."
Surv. Canada for 1885, p. 7, DD.

t Hind's Labrador, p. 133.

Bell's "Observations," 1885, Rep. Geol.

'\\*>:

316

THE GEOLOC.Y OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

the common dark hornblendic gneiss, and ran in a gen-
eral northeast and southwest direction." *

No glacial striae upon these terraces were observed
near the shore. It is evident that this process of terrac-
ing the cystalline rocks by frosts and shore-ice began
during the glacial epoch. At present we must assume
that the striae found by Professor Hind upon these
rocky steps far inland were graven by angular stones
frozen into the bottoms of glaciers, for we find no such
marks at present upon those now upon the coast, which
shows how insuflficient is the action of floating shore- or
floe-ice, or grounded bergs even, in striating so regularly
these hard crystalline rocks.

We saw a good example of rocks polished by the ice
and waves at Gore Island Harbor, a point westward of
Little Mecatina Island. On the faces of several cliffs
forming perpendicular walls facing a narrow passage
into which the waves rushed with great force in the
calmest days, the sea-wall was smoothly polished and
water-worn for ten feet above its shore-line, while above,
the face of the cliff was roughened by the action of frost.

Upon this coast, which during the summer of 1864
was lined with a belt of floe-ice and bergs probably two
hundred miles broad, and which extended from the Gulf
of the St. Lawrence at Belles Amours to the arctic
seas, this immense body of floating ice seemed directly
to produce but little alteration in its physical features.
If we were to ascribe the grooving and polishing of
rocks to the action of floating ice-floes and bergs, how is
it that the present shores far above (500 feet), and at

* Up the River Moisie, loc. cit,, p. 82.

THK FLOK-TCK.

317

ill

the

and
bove,
frost.

1864
ly two

Gulf
arctic
'redly
itures.
r of
how is

nd at

least 250 feet below the water-line, are often jagged and
angular, though constantly stopping the course of masses
of ice impelled four to six miles an hour by the joint
action of tides, currents, and winds? No bowlders, or
gravel, or mud were seen upon any of the bergs or
masses of shore-ice. They had dropped all burdens of this
nature nearer their points of detachment in the high arctic
regions. The bergs all bore evidence of having been
repeatedly overturned as they were borne along in the
current. Thr floe-ice was hummocky, which is a strong
proof of its having come from open straits in the polar
regions, the masses looking as if having been frozen and
refrozen, jammed together, and then piled atop of each
other by currents and winds long before ap})earing upon
this coast ; while the bergs exhibited old water-lines pre-
senting different angles to the present water-level. The
only discoloration noticed was probably caused by seals
resting upon and soiling the surface. One bowlder was
noticed by a member of the party resting upon an ice-
berg off Cape Harrison in August.

This huge area of floating ice, embracing so many
thousands of square miles, was of greater extent, and re-
mained longer upon the coast in 1864 than for forty
years previous. It was not only pressed upon the coast
by the normal action of the Labrador and Greenland
currents which, in consequence of the rotatory motion
of the earth, tended to force the ice in a southwesterly
direction, but the presence of the ice caused the constant
passage of cooler currents of air from the sea over the
ice upon the heated land, giving rise during the present
season to a constant succession of northeasterly winds
from March until early in August, which further served

318

THE (JKOLOGY OK TllK I,AHKAl)t)K COAST.

to crowd the ice into every harbor and recess upon tiie
coast. It was the universal complaint of the inhabitants
that the easterly winds were more prevalent, and the ice
" held " later in the harbors this year than for many sea-
sons previous. Thus the fisheries were nearly a failure,
and vegetation greatly retarded in its development. But
so far as polishing and striating the rocks, depositing
drift material and thus modifying the contour of the sur-
face of the present coast, this modern mass of bergs and
floating ice effected comparatively little. Single ice-
bergs, when small enough, entered the harbors, and
there stranding, soon pounded to pieces upon the rocks,
melted, and disappeared. From Cape Harrison in lat.
55° to Caribou Island was an interrupted line of bergs
stranded in eighty to one hundred or more fathoms,
often miles apart, while others passed to the seaward
down by the eastern coast of Newfoundland, or through
the Strait of Belle Isle.

The Labrador Banks, — Prof. H. Y. Hind* has pointed
out the existence of shoals or fishing-banks off the Ailik
Head and Kippokak Bay, composed of morainal mat-
ter brought down the fiords and pushed into the sea.
That the fiords and bays were, however, excavated by
the glaciers themselves we are much inclined to doubt,
since these bays and fiords were natural valleys, which per-
haps date back to Laurentian times, and whic'' h /e been
for many geological ages excavated by s' .s, thougl
during the glacial epoch remodelled by th ce and sub-
glacial streams. Referring to .Kippokak Bay, t le next

* The effects of the fishery clauses of the treaty of Washington on the fish-
eries and fishermen of British North America, 1877, Part II. pp. 68, 69, quoted
in Goode's Fishery Industries of the United States, V. vol. i. 134-137, 1887.

THE LABRADOR F ISHINCMJANKS.

319

►ubt,

per-

Ibeen

)UgV

sub-

Inext

bay north of Ailik, he remarks : " But the glaciers of
Labrador have probably left even more valuable records,*
in the form of moraines, of their early existence here
than deep fiords or innumerable islands. These are the
shoals and banks which lie some fifteen miles outside of
the islands, and on which icebergs strand in long lines
and in groups. I have styled them the Inner Range of
Banks, to distinguish them from a supposed Outer
Range in deeper water, where large icebergs sometimes
take the ground. The inner banks, as far as they are
known, are stated by fishermen to have from twenty to
forty fathoms of water on them. Commander Max-
well's soundings between Cape Harrison and Gull Is-
land, near Hopedale, and just outside of the island zone,
rarely show depths greater than forty fathoms. In one
instance only, in a distance of about one hundred and
ten nautical miles, is a depth of fifty-nine fathoms re-
corded.

*' Absence of Isla7ids on the Sotithern Labrador. — The
Admiralty chart portrays a very important confirmation
of the Labrador coast-line, from Saint Lewis Sound
to Spotted Island. The trend of the coast-line between
the Battle Islands, south of Saint Lewis Sound, and
Spotted Island, Domino Run, a distance of sixty-five
miles, is due north, and, with very tew exceptions, there
are no islands off the coast throughout this distance, ex-
cluding the group close inshore between Spotted Island
and Stony Island. As soon as the coast-line begins to
turn northwesterly islands become numerous and con-
tinually increase in number as far as Cape Mugford, and
even towards Cape Chudleigh. Between Cape Harrison
and Cape Mugford, the island zone may be estimated

320

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

.11

\^'

H i

!■;

r'li

- i, . ;

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i^r*

as having a depth of twenty miles from the mouth of
*the fiord seawards. The cause of the general ahsence
of islands south of Spotted Island and Stony Island can
probably be traced to the never-ceasing action ot north-
ern ice driven on the coast-line, where it suddenly makes
its southerly bend by the influence of the rotation of the
earth upon the arctic current. This current sweeps past
the Labrador coast with a speed of from i^ to 2 knots an
hour, and a westerly pressure, due to the earth's rotation,
which may be estimated at about eleven inches. That
is to say, the mean level of the sea on the coast of Labra-
dor is supposed to be about eleven inches above the level
it would assume if uninfluenced by the earth's rotation.
As soon as the ice-ladened current reaches Spotted Island
it is in part relieved from this pressure by the trend
of the coast from southeast to due south ; hence the cur-
rent changes its course suddenly and onto the land.
But the effect of this sudden change in the direction of
the current near the shore is to throw the icebergs onto
the coast from Spotted Island to Cape St. Lewis, where
they may be seen stranded each year in great numbers.
The islands which doubtless once existed here have been
removed by constant abrasion, acting uninterruptedly
for ages, and with the islands the moraines lying sea-
wards. VVe may thus trace the cause of the vast differ-
ence between the distribution of stranded icebergs south
of ^L'potted Island and northwest of it. In one case they
are stranded near the coast-line, wearing it away and
deepening the water near it, assisted by the undertow ;
in the other case they are stranded some fifteen miles
from the island fringe, and continually adding to the
banks the ddbris they may bring, in the form of mud

THE LABRADOR FISHING-BANKS.

321

)Uth

thev

a I

low ;

hiles

the

[nud

streaks, from the glaciers which gave them birth in the
far north and northeast. It is more than probable that
this distribution of icebergs has a very important bearing
upon the food and feeding of the cod, which justifies me
in referring here with so much detail to the action of
glacial ice.

" The Inner Range of Banks. — The foundation of the
inner range of banks consists, very probably, as already
stated, of glacial moraines. In their present state they
may reasonably be assumed to be formed in great part
jf remodelled debris brought down by the same glaciers
which excavated the deep fiords,

" The absence of deposits of sand in the form of mod-
ern beaches on every part of the Labrador coast visited
tliis season, except one, was very marked. The excep-
tional area observed lies between Sandwich Bay and
Hamilton Inlet, Cape Porcupine being the centre. It
is protected from the northern swell of the ocean by the
Indian Harbor Islands and promontory. Here large
deposits of sand are seen, covering many square miles in
area. The reason why sandy beaches are not in general
found on this coast, notwithstanding that enormous
quantities of rock are annually ground up by coast-ice
and ice-pans driven on the shore, arises from the under-
tow carrying the sand seawards and depositing it on the
shoals or banks outside of the islands.

" It may be advisable here to advert to a popular error
which assumes that the depth of water in which an ice-
berg grounds is indicated by the height of the berg
above the level of the sea. It is commonly stated that
while there is one ninth above there will be eight ninths
of the berg below the sea-level. This is approximately

i h

11!

9
,Jiii

I ii'',-

322

THE GEOLOGY OK THE LABRADOR COAST.

£■•:!. 'if;

l 'y

If!

r 1 ^

true only with regard to volume or mass of the berg,
not with regard to height and depth. A berg may show
an elevation of one hundred feet above water, and yet
its depth below may not exceed double that amount, but
its volume or mass will be about eight times the mass it
shows on the surface. Hence, while icebergs ground in
thirty and forty fathoms of water, they may expose a
front of one hundred or one hundred and fifty feet in
altitude, the broad, massive base supporting a mass about
one ninth of its volume above the sea-level."

Oscillatio7i of the Land. — From all the indications
noticed casually by us, such as the position of beaches
apparently very recently raised above the sea-level, so as
to be just beyond the reach of the waves, the land is
slowly gaining on the sea. The Rev. C. C. Carpenter,
missionary at Caribou Island, in the Strait of Belle Isle,
also informs me that this is his impression, gained both
from his observations and information given by the set-
tlers. To this last source Mr. J. F. Campbell is indebted
for the statement in his " Frost and Fire," that the
coast of Labrador is slowly rising. On the other hand,
the land appears to be sinking about Hudson's Strait.

In Dr. Bell's Report for 1884 of Lieut. Gordon's
Hudson's Bay Expedition, it is stated that ancient stone
structures, erected by the Eskimos, were observed, and
Dr. Bell remarks : " From what I have seen of the situa-
tions which the Eskimos in various places in Hudson's
Bay and Strait choose for their camps, there appeared
to be little doubt that they had lived here when the sea-
level was twenty to thirty feet higher than it is at pres-
ent."

River Terrace Period. — Owing to the great denuda-

THE LEDA CLAYS.

323

lOW

yet
but
ss it
d in
se a
et in
bout

tions

aches

so as

and is

enter.

e Isle.

I both

le set-

lebted

at the
hand,
Strait.

)rdon's
stone
d, and
situa-
dson's
.peared
he sea-
lit pres-

tion of all drift material, and the hilly character of the
country, we find no broad terraced river valleys, such as
characterize more temperate regions. On the contrary,
the rivers are a succession of ponds, connected by rapids,
where the stream plunges from one rocky terrace to the
next one below, taking the direction of natural ravines.
Though the volume of these rivers during the Terrace
epoch, or period of great rivers, may have been greater
than now, as evidenced by a few small terraces upon
their banks, we have no evidence that they ran in much
wider channels than at present, owing to the great height
of their banks.

The Occurrence of the Leda Clays in Labrador. — At
the mouth of Salmon River, a small stream flowing into
the Strait of Belle Isle three miles east of the mouth of
the Esquimaux River, occurred a clay-bank about ten
feet high, and situated just above high-water mark,
which was dark blue and free from bowlders. It con-
tained in abundance Aporrhais occidentalism Serripes
gronlandicus, and Cardium Hayesii.

This deposit of clay is of more recent age than the
deposits noticed below, as it was a few feet higher, and
situated more ^and. It undoubtedly rests upon the
lower fossiliferous gravel-beds, though I did not see the
point of contact.

The most important deposits occurred at Caribou
Island at the mouth of the Strait of Belle Isle, at Pitt's
Arm in Chateau Bay, and at Hopedale. They consisted
of sandy clays and a coarse gravel found between tide
marks, and extending beneath the water. Should the
present banks now lying ofT the coast be raised and ex-
posed to view, we would have an identical deposit. • All

i!i

I '

324

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

1 ''

If :■

the stones and pebbles of this ancient sea-bottom, finely-
exposed at Hopedale, are covered with nullipores and
polyzoa ; the Afya truncata still remains perpendicular
in its holes, and the most delicate shells, with their epi-
dermis still on, are unbroken, and their valves often
united by the ligament. The delicate Myriozoum has
preserved its fine markings nearly as perfectly as in
specimens dredged at the present day, and the cases of
the delicate Spiochastopterus are still preserved. It is
evident that this deposit has slowly and almost imper-
ceptibly risen some four hundred or five hundred feet,
without any paroxysmal movement of the continent,
over an extent of coast some six hundred miles in
length.

This rise of the Labrador peninsula must have accom-
panied the rise of the polar regions, including Arctic
America and Greenland, and in fact all the land lying
in the. northern hemisphere. Many facts in the distri-
bution of fossils in these glacial beds, and the present
relations of these beds to deposits above and beneath
them, tend to prove that the glacial epoch occurred
simultaneously over all the arctic regions and the
northern temperate zone, and that the submergence and
subsequent rise of the continental masses and outlying
islands were synchronous in both hemispheres. Pro-
fessor Haughton has summed up the evidence of such
a rise from raised beaches and ancient sea-bottoms in the
American Arctic Archipelago.* The researches of Dr.

* " McClure found shells of the Cyprina islandica, at the summit of the Cox-
comb Range, in Baring Island, at an elevation of five hundred feet above the
sea-level; Captain Parry, also, has recorded the occurrence of Venus (probably
CypriAa islandica) on Byam Martin's Island; and in the recent voyage of the

QUATERNARY FOSSILS.

325

Kane in the extreme north of Greenland enabled him
" to assert positively the interesting fact of a secular
elevation [480 feet] of the crust commencing at some as
yet undetermined point north of 76°, and continuing to
the Great Glacier and the high northern latitudes of
Grinnell Land." (Vol. ii. p. 81.)

We need not here allude to the similar oscillations in
northern and central Europe to still greater heights
above the present level of the ocean.

At various points along the coast from Caribou Island,
where they were abundant, to Hopedale, occurred in the
drift gravel beds associated with the fossils, numerous
pebbles and small bowlders of a light silicious bedded
limestone, which contained numerous Silurian fossils.
Lieber mentions finding pieces of limestone on the shore
of Aulezavik Island. There can be little doubt that
these bowlders were transported on ice from the Silurian
basins in the arctic regions on the west side of Baffin's
Bay. Perhaps their origin may by future observers be
traced to the Silurian limestones found at the head of
Frobisher's Bay by Hall. Such fragments are not now
to be seen on the floe-ice coming down from the north.

A large proportion of the species mentioned in the
following lists (reprinted from the Memoirs of the Boston
Society of Natural History, i. 231-234) occurred in great
abundance and in a good state of preservation, so
that they could be compared very satisfactorily with

^il

' I r I

Jlhe Cox-
Ibove the
Iprobably
\e of the

'Fox,' Dr. Walker, the surgeon of the expedition, found the following sub-
fossil shells at Port Kennedy, at elevations of from one hundred to five hundred
feet: Saxicava rugosa , Tellina proxima, Astarte arctica (borealis), Mya uddeval-
lensis, Mya truncata, Cardiutn sp., Buccinum undatum, Acmea testudinalis, Bala-
ftus uddevallensis." — Appendix to McClintock's Narrative. (Amer. edit. p. 370.)

I (..r-- -=^

■I

,.1:

i ;

I- • I

i' ;

326

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

recent specimens dredged upon the coast. Most of the
species, after careful and repeated comparisons with the
recent examples, did not present any appreciable differ-
ences. In a few instances there were characters found
by which the fossils could be distinguished from the recent
shells of the same species, and those I have carefully
enumerated.

Nullipara polymorpha Linn. This plant occurred
abundantly at Caribou Island. At Hopedal*^ it was pro-
fusely abundant, growing in large free masses or encrust-
ing shells and stones.

Euryechinus drobacJiiensis Verrill. ( Toxopneustes dro-
bachiensis A. Agassiz. Echinus grantdaris Say.) Frag-
ments of the shells and numerous spines occurred abun-
dantly at Caribou Island and Hopedale.

Lepralia Belli Dawson. Encrusting pebbles at Hope-
dale. One colony also on a shell. The young cells
were large, with crowded and sometimes perforate, gran-
ulated conical ovicells. The avicularia are situated either
in front of the opening or crowded to one side, and are
two in number. Both old and young correspond pre-
cisely with a specimen received from Dr. Dawson.

Lepralia pertusa Thompson. This species occurred
on the shells of Buccinum cretaceum. It agrees well
with the large, oblong and coarsely punctate recent
specimens. It is well figured by Dawson in the Canadian
Naturalist and Geologist, Feb. 1859, p. 15, fig. 16.

Lepralia ciliata Johnst. This form also occurred
frequently with the preceding. The cells are convex,
the avicularia are present, projecting over the aperture.
The surface is punctate.

Celleporaria surcularis Packard, Can. Nat. Dec. 1863,

"\X\ \

(lUATERNAKY FOSSILS.

327

i I

' 1

r ■

p. 410. Occurred frequently on Lamellibranch shells
in large a!id thick masses at Caribou Island and Hope-
dale.

Myriozouvi subgracile D'Orbigny. {^Millepora trim-
cata Fabr., Faun. Groenl.) Fragments of the stems of
this graceful species occurred abundantly at both locali-
ties.

Rhynconella psittacca (Gm.). Perfect valves were
found at Caribou Island, and others were given me
which were reported to have been found three miles from
the mouth of the Esquimaux River. Other shells, such
as a Cardiuni and Cardita borealis, also came from the
same place, showing that they had been washed out of a
drift disposit on the river. This species was abundant
at Hopedale, where the valves adhered by their ligament.

Pecten islandicus Linn. This v/as not common. Sev-
eral ponderous valves, larger than I have seen elsewhere,
had the ribs united into groups of two or three, separated
by sulci of equal width ; but in young and fragile sub-
jects the ribs were equally distributed, and differed in no
respect from the living young, or from those of the same
age, from the drift clays of Maine and New Brunswick.

Yoldiamyalis Stimps. A specimen of Yoldia arctica,
received from Dr. Liitken, approaches Y. niyalis more
than Y. sapotilla. It is however, longer, and the lunula
is not so short and deep as in Y. myalis. One valve.
Hopedale.

Leda minuta Moll. {Area minuta Fabr., Faun.
Groenl.) Caribou Island, rare. Common at Hopedale.

Modiolaria discrepans Moll. One broken valve.
Hopedale.

328

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

; I

In;- ^

Mytilns edulis Linn. Fragments of large valves were
abundant, but young shells were uncommon.

Carclmm Hayesii Stimps. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc.
Philad. p. 581, 1862. This species occurred both at
Hopedale and Caribou Island.

Serripes gronlanduus (Chemn.) Beck. Caribou
Island, frequent. Chateau Bay.

Astarte Ba7iksii Leach, Zool. Beechy's Voyage. {A.
WarJianii Hancock, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xviii.,
1846, p. 336, pi. v., figs. 15, 16. A. Richardsoni Reeve,
Last of the Arctic Voyagers, ii. App. A. fabiila Reeve,
1. c. ; A. Laurentiana Lyell ; A. compressa Daws., — not
of European authors.) A fine series of specimens, re-
cent and fossil, from Labrador, and fossil from Maine
and the river St. Lawrence, has convinced me that the
numerous variations of form which this species assumes
are of local origin, arising from differences in habitat or
age. Among a number oiA. Laurentiafia Lyell, received
from Montreal through the kindness of Dr. Dawson, are
some thinner and more finely striated than usual, but I
have recent specimens and also fossils from Labrador
agreeing with them. The species varies in the length of
the shell and the form of the posterior end, but the shape
of the anterior end, the sulci and the hinge characters are
in all the varieties very constant.

Very elongated forms are like A. Warhami Hancock,
which we would consider as a synonym of this species.
The varieties A. Richardsoni and A. fabula have oc-
curred in the same locality, at Dumplin Harbor at
the mouth of Sandwich Bay, Labrador, where I have
dredged them alive.

Astarte striata Gray. One specimen from Hopedale.

"m I

■BBJI-

icock.

QUATKKNARY FOSSILS.

329

It did not differ from drift shells found at Brunswick,
Maine. This shell, as it occurs fossil, is thicker, more
ponderous, more equilaterally triangular ; the beaks are
directed more anteriorly, the teeth are much larger, and
the lunule broader and shorter, than in A. Banksii.

Astartc compressa Linn. {^A. elliptica Brown.)
Common in all the beds, but not so abundant as A.
Banksii.

Cardita borealis Conr. Very abundant with the pre-
ceding.

Macoma sabtilosa Morch. {^Tellina proxima Brown.)
Of frequent occurrence.

Cyrtodaria siliqua Daudin. Several valves at Caribou
Island.

Panopcea norvegica Sprengel. A perfect valve of this
shell occurred at Caribou Island.

Mya truncata Linn. Both the short and common
elongated varieties of this species occurred, especially at
Hopedale, in great profusion.

Saxicava arctica Desh. Large valves occurred in
great profusion in all these beds.

Chiton marmoreus O. Fabr. Several valves were
found at Hopedale.

Acmaea testudinalis (Miill.). One specimen occurred,
encrusted with Nullipora.

Lepeca cceca Moll. (/*. Candida Couth. ; P. cerea
MoUer, Reeve.) Frequent.

Pimcturella noachina (Leach). (^Diadora noachina
Gray.) Frequent.

Margarita cinerca. (Couth.). One specimen. Hope-
dale.

ill

I i

''i

330

thk (;eolo(jy of the lahradou coast.

"lit

^!'f*H

Margarita varicosa (Mighl. et Adams). Frequent at
Hopedale and Caribou Island.

Turritella erosa Couth. As numerous in proportion
to the succeeding species as at present on the coast.

Ttirritella reticulata Mighl. et Adams. (Z". lactea
Moll.) Profusely abundant in both places.

Tiirritellopsis acicula (Stimps.). One specimen.
Caribou Island.

Aporrhais occicientalis Beck. Several. Caribou
Island.

Lunatia grbnlandica Moll. Frequent.

Natica clansa Sovvb. Frequent.

Adifiete viridula Stimps. At Caribou Island.

Bcla robiista Pack. No specimens cf this species
occurred at Caribou Island associated with the other
species ; it seems quite rare, and has not occurred in a
living state. Though very distinct from any of the other
species, it might be mistaken for a very much shortened
and thickened B, amcricaiia. It is much shorter and
broader than B. americana ; the whorls are five in num-
ber, angulated, giving the shell a well-marked turretted
form ; the fourth whorl is one half to two thirds as long
as the first, which is unusually large in proportion to the
rest of the shell. The aperture is broad, regularly ovate ;
canal long, narrow, oblique, and not gradually widening
towards the aperture. It has much fewer ribs than B.
americana, there being thirteen on the lower whorl,
where in B. americana are eighteen. Length .18;
breadth . 1 1 inch.

Beta americana Packard.- (^Fusus turricnlus Gould,
Invert. Mass. Beta scalaris Packard, Can. Nat. and
Geol. 1863, — not of Moll., Index Mollusc. Gronl.) Va-

(^UATHkNAKV lOSSILS.

331

im-

ite;

|ing

prl,

i8;

lid,
land
\Va-

riety. One specimen occurred fossil at Caribou Island
which differed in no respect from a recent specimen
dredged in fifteen to thirty fathoms at Square Island,
which will be further noticed below.

Beta exarata Moll. {Dcfrancia exarata Moll., Index
Mollusc. Gronl. ; Pleiirotoma rugulahis " Moll." Reeve,
Icon. Conch, f. 345.) Caribou Island. Common.

Beta IVoodmna MoW. {P/e?a'o^oma /iiir/>u/ar/a Couth.,
Bost. Journ. ii., p. 183. Pleiirotoma ieucostonm Reeve,
Icon. Conch, f. 278.) Caribou Island. The most com-
mon species of the genus in these deposits, though very
rarely found living by us ; it is of large size and much
eroded.

Beia decussata (Couth.). It occurred very rarely at
Caribou Island.

Bela pyratnidalis (Strom. ). ( Pleurotoma rufa Couth.)
Not common ; at Hopedale and Caril)ou Island.

Bela violacca Mighl. et Adams. {^De/rafici'a cylin-
dracea Moll. Ind. Moll. Gronl. ; Pleurotoma (^ronlandica
Reeve, 1. c. fig. 343.) Of common occurrence at Cari-
bou Island.

Bticcmum glaciate Linn. Caribou Island, an imper-
fect specimen.

Buccmum grdnlanduumWsiV^cock. Annals and Mag.
Nat. Hist, xviii. p. 329, pi. v., figs. 8, 9, 1846. Pitt's
Arm, head of Chateau Bay ; one specimen, with the
outer coating of shell worn off.

Buccinum tenue Gray. i^Buccinum scalariforme Beck,
Stimps., Can. Nat., Oct. 1865, p. 14.) One specimen
occurred at Caribou Island, wanting the lip and spire,
but showing well the abbreviated longitudinal waves
characteristic of the species.

prr

III

332

TIIK f;H(H,OGY 01 'I'HK LAHkADOK COAST.

» .

w ^ 1

mn li^i'

f^i

Buciiniiiii uniiatiini I^inn. {B, nndatttm (ireene,
Gould, Dawson ; B. labradorense Reeve, Packard, Can.
Nat. viii. p. 416, 1863.)

Tritonofusus crctaceus {Bnccinum creiaceum Reeve,
Icon. Conch ; Packard, Can. Nat. viii., p.
417, pi. ii. fig. 6, 1863.) This interesting
species, now found not uncommonly on
the coast of Labrador, also occurs fossil
not unfrcquently at Caribou Island. It
differs in no respect from living forms.

Fusus i^Ncptuncd) toi'uatus Gould.
Rarely found fossil at Caribou Island, and
in the blue clay at the mouth of Salmon
River.

Fnstis (^Ncptunca) lahradorcMsis Pack.
Shell fusiform ; whorls moderately convex,
sutures deeply impressed, the upper ones somewhat flat-
tened, spire elongated, acute, lower whorl ventricoriC,
covered with rather coarse revolving stria?. On the
lower whorl are twenty nearly straight, coarse, flattened
folds, which on the succeeding whorls run the entire
length of each whorl. Aperture ovate, columella con-
cave, smooth ; canal moderately long, oblique, slightly
tortuous, spire a little longer than the shell. Length,
one inch ; breadth .48 inch. One specimen at Caribou
Island. It differs from Fnsns pullus Reeve (fig. 89) in
being apparently a much thicker shell, in the longer
canal, and in the more ventricose body of the shell, with
the coarser revolving lines.

Fusus tortuosus Reeve, Belcher's Last of the Arctic
Voyagers, ii., p. 394, pi. 32, fig. 5. Our specimens dif-

TIUTONOKUSUS
CRETACEUS.

))in

jnger

with

.rctic

(.)UATEKNAKV FOSSILS.

333

fer from the description, in the absence of the long tor-
tuous canal which gives the species its name. The fos-
sils have the same convexity of the whorls, which are
covered by similar revolving striie ; hut the first whorl is
less contracted at the origin of the canal, and the canal
itself is from half to two thirds the length of the first
whorl, while in F. tortuosus the canal nearly equals the
length of the whorl. In this respect it approaches Fusiis
pygrtKeus Gould, from which it is distinguished by its
size, the greater convexity of its whorls, and the dce])ly
impressed revolving lines.

This was a frequent shell in the gravel deposit on
Caribou Island, and large specimens measured nearly
three inches in length.

Trichotropis borcalis Sovvb. et Brod. Not uncom-
mon at Hopedale and Caribou Island.

Spirorbis glovierata Miill. Occurred as usual on shells
at Caribou Island.

S. vitrea Stimps. Only young and flattened speci-
mens occurred.

Spioch^topterus typus Sars, Fauna littoralis, ii. Frag-
ments of tubes belonging apparently to this worm were
found fossil at Caribou Island.

Balanus porcatus Da Costa. Numerous fragments
occurred at Caribou Island and Hopedale.

In the above list occur several forms of great interest
which have not been found fossil elsewhere, or in no
such profusion, arid seem to be perhaps characteristic of
this fauna and to have had their metropolis either in this
area or in Arctic America, in contradistinction from
Arctic Europe. Such are

t ■ 1 1.

If'<l

liiy^ji

f I

334 thp: geology of the Labrador coast.

Cardita borealis Bcla exarata,

Astarte Banksii, Beta woodiana,

Margarita varuosa, Bela robusta,

Turriiella recticulata, Bela america7ia,

Turritella erosa, Fustis torttiosus,

Aporrhais occidentalis, Fusus labradorensis,

Admeie viridula, Biicciimm undtilatu^n,
Trito7iofitsns crctaceus.

From this list the polyzoa are excluded, since no spe-
cies are recorded from Greenland, except by Otho Fa-
bricius in the Fauna Gronlandica.

Upon comparing this list with that of the species
comprised in the present fauna of Labrador, we can ob-
serve how similar are the two faunae, and how persistently
the characters of the earlier of the two have survived the
important changes this region has undergone since the
glacial epoch. We have here the present Syrtensian* or
Newfoundland Banks fauna in its purity, without the
intermixture of the few southern forms that have subse-
quently encroached upon its limits. We shall below
show where it shaded almost imperceptibly into the
Acadian fauna, its nearest southern neighbor ; but now
we have to determine its most northern limits.

Fortunately MoUer, in his " Index Molluscorum
Gronlandise," and Rink,f have noticed the few fossils

* We have applied the term Syrtensian to the subarctic assemblage of marine
animals characterizing the Banks of Newfoundland, of Nova Scotia, and the
coast of Southern Labrador and of Newfoundland. It is a subdivision of the
Arctic fauna, being in some respects intermediate between the Arctic and Bo-
real faunae.

f Udsigt over Nordgrcinlands Geognosi af H. Rink. Viden. Selsk. Skrifter,
Kjobenhavn, 1853, p, 96. The species were identified by Dr. O. A. L. M6rch.

fill!

OUATERNARV FOSSILS.

335

the

bse-

elow

the

now

which have occurred in the Quaternary clays of southern
Greenland, a list of which is here given.

Pecten islandinis, My a trttncata,

Leda mtnuta, Mya arenaria,

Mytilus ediilis, Pa7topcra norvcgica,

Modiolaria discors, Saxicava arctica,

A star te semtstilcata l^Gdich, Tellina calcarca,
Astarte corrugataVtxoww, Tellina fragilis^ (^gronlan-

dica)y
Natica clausa B. & S.,
Littorina gronlandica,
Fusus de spec tits Linn,
Margarita glanca.

Cardium ( Aphrodite )

grdnlandicuvi,
Cardium islandicuni,
Cryptodon Jlexuosus,
Cyrtodaria siliqiia,

Ftistis pracilis Da Costa.

By reference to the lists of fossil shells found in the
clays of the New England and Labrador coasts it will be
seen that during the Quaternary of the French and Scan-
dinavian geologists, or post-pliocene period of Lyell, the
distribution of marine animals was governed by the same
laws as at the present day. In going southward from
Labrador to New York the seas became warmer the more
they came in contact with the heated waters of the Gulf
Stream, whose influence was slightly exerted on the
coast of New England during the glacial period. The
climate of New England was not purely arctic, but
rather sub-arctic, where now it is " boreal." While this
period was characterized by the wide distribution of
what are now purely arctic or circumpolar species, there
were also intermingled boreal or Acadian forms. Thus
the arctic Leda arctica, Pecten gronlandicus, Serripes
gronlandtciis, Pandorina arenosa, and Fustis tornatus

*. !'-■

rzsmm

iSl

336

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

i W'l

^ '1

i fM

. i

! H

||fl

! ^-

m^pK

I • ■ • ■

■

•L,

were thcii widespread and most characteristic shells from
Greenland to Portland, Maine. The Leda especially,
abounding in every clay deposit, has now become wholly
extinct south of Spitzbergen and the 70th parallel of
latitude.

An exceedingly small percentage, if any, of the species
has become wJiolly extinct, the only instances occurring to
us being the Beluga vermontana, about which there must
be great doubt, since owing to the difficulty of distinguish-
ing the fossil species of whales, it may be the common
white whale and the new species of Fiisiis (^F. labra-
dorcnsis), and, possibly, Bela robusta, described above.

A considerable number have become extinct in the
north temperate seas, owing to the great changes in the
climatic conditions. A parallel case is shown in th
southward migration and subsequent extinction in Eu-
rope of the musk-ox, polar bear, lemming, and other
quadrupeds now confined mostly within the limits of the
arctic circle.

During the glacial period, or that of the deposition of
the jlacial beds (Leda clay of Dawson), which are un-
mistakably rewashed terminal moraines left during the
incoming or coldest period of the Quaternary (when,
we have every reason to believe, true glaciers of great
extent eroded the present river systems as far south as
New York, the southern limits of the ice having been
indicated by Clarence King, Prof. G. F. Wrig! t, and
others), there was a greater uniformity than now of the
climate ; but yet, as shown by the distribution of animal
life, there was a decided change from a purely arctic to
a sub-arctic climate, from Greenland southward.

At present, the arctic or circumpolar fauna is restricted

the

heat
h as

an(

Imal
ic to

cted

FAUNA OF TFIK P.ANKS.

337

to a distri'^t north of the yearly isothermal line of 32°,
which thus includes the Arctic-American Archipelago,
northern Greenland, Spitzbergen, Nova Zemhla, and
the coast of Siberia. This is a true ch'-cimipolar fauna,
and can scarcely be said to be Asiatic, European, or
American, though members of the group extend in di-
minished numbers and size down on the Asiatic coast,
to Japan, as we are informed by Dr. W. Stimpson and
by P. P. Carpenter in the Report of the British Associ-
ation for 1856 ; on the European coast as far as the
Mediterranean Sea, and on the eastern American coast
as far as New Jersey, where the polar currents give, at
great depths, the necessary amount of cold for their ex-
istence. South of this circumpolar belt is a sub-arctic
zone of life corresponding to the yearly isothermal of
40°. This line starts from near Cape Breton in North
America, and includes Iceland, the Hebrides, the Faroe
Islands, Finmark, and northern Norv/ay. On the
American coast this fauna is characterized by a small
number of species not yet recorded as found in the cir-
cumpolar district, which only occur southward in the
Acadian district in diminished numbers and impoverished
in size. This Syrtensian fauna bears the same relations
to that of the Acadian district as that of Finmark (judg-
ing from the data furnished us in the papers of Professor
Sars) does to that of the Baltic, North, and Scottish
Seas, the boreal or Celtic fauna of Forbes, and which is
the European representative of the Acadian fauna. We
have shown* that this fauna is limited to Hudson's Bay,
the coast of Labrador, and the northern cd^st of Nevv-

* Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, Dec, 1863. See also the Proc. Bost,
Soc. Nat. Hist., Jan. 1866, p. 276.

1*11!

■I ,-i

■*■■■ •

■■ *?
'1.

.- ;t

■

338

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

' fel^'l

foundland. Southward it follows the line of floating ice,
which partially excludes Anticosti, but includes both the
Grand Banks and those shoals lying to the southwest-
ward along the track of the polar current, which on the
coast of New England flows between the coast and the
inner edge of the Gulf Stream ; along this line lie the
Banks, off Nova Scotia, and Maine, and Massachusetts,
together with the St. George's Banks and the Nantucket
Shoals. Its influence is likewise felt as far south as the
shoals lying off the coast of New Jersey. This current
would even seem to impinge slightly upon the north
side of Cape Hatteras, where Redfield supposes its final
influence to have been felt. Returning again to the
shores of the British colonies, we find this Skoal or
Syrtensian fauna most curio.usly interwedged with the
Acadian or New England fauna. This is owing, with-
out doubt, to the overlapping of the Gulf Stream upon
the great polar current. Thus, while the mouth of the
Bay of Fundy is properly a Syrtensian outlier, the head
of the bay, the coast of New Brunswick, the western
side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the mouth of the river
St. Lawrence on its southern side, and a small isolated
area on the southern coast of Newfoundland, sheltered
from the polar current sweeping by Cape Race, and on
which a small branch of the Gulf Stream may possibly
impinge, are outlying areas inhabited by species most
characteristic o*" the coast of New England north of
Cape Cod, constituting a fauna termed by Professor
Dana the Nova Scotian Fauna, and by Liitken, the Aca-
dian Fauna. Thus between Greenland and Cape Cod
there are two distinct faunae : the Acadian, with outliers
situated north of 'its normal limits, due to the influence

FAUNA OF THE BANKS.

339

of the Gulf Stream, or, perhaps, to the absence of the
polar current ; and the Arctic (Syrtensian or Labrador
fauna), peopling the coast of Labrador and Newfound-
land, sending outliers far southwards, due to the influ-
ence of the polar current.

Having shown how these three faunae are limited at
the present day, it remains to notice how this distribu-
tion differed in Quaternary times. The arctic or polar
current must have sent a branch through the present
course of the St. Lawrence River into Lake Champlain,
in a general southwestern direction. This current was
evidently a continuation of the present Belle Isle cur-
rent, which even now pushes the cold waters of the
Strait far up beyond the island of Anticosti beneath the
fresh waters of the St. Lawrence River. It has been
noticed by Dr. Dawson, f who has satisfactorily shown
the effects of this powerful St. Lawrence current, that
the post-tertiary fauna of the St. Lawrence, as it has
been studied by him at Montreal, Riviere du Loup, and
Quebec, was in all its features purely Syrtensian, and
identical with that of the colder portions of the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, and especially the coast of Labrador.

The clay beds of Canada synchronize and agree in
their general features very nearly with those of Maine,
as has been already observed by Dr. Dawson. AH the
beds to the eastward of the Saco River afford a Labra-
dor fauna. About Portland and on the Saco River we
are, hov/ever. on the limits of the post-tertiary Acadian

^ ' 'll

jfll

t-l^i

:ii:! v:|

l^.i

f Address of Principal Dawson before the Natural History Society of Mon-
treal, May, 1864, published in the Canadian N'aturalist, where he shows that the
general southwest striation of the valley was " from the ocean toward the inte-
rior against the slope of the St. Lawrence valley." (p. 9.)

.i: ■

340

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

fauna. Certain common Syrtensian and purely arctic
forms there dwindle in size and diminish very sensibly in
numbers, and a few arctic species are replaced by Aca-
dian forms.

At Point Shirley we have good evidence of the begin-
ning of the Virginian fauna, where Venus mercenaria
and Bticcinuni plicostim abound. This must have been
the northern limits of the fauna so well developed, as
noticed by Desor, in the beds of Nantucket, where the
temperature of the sea could have scarcely differed from
that of the present period. The same may be said of
the post-tertiary fauna of South Carolina, and, from
what little we know, of that of Florida, where the heated
Gulf Stream evidently preserved the same conditions as
now, only more checked in its northern limits than at
present by impinging more directly on a coast lined with
floating ice, as that of Maine must have been in post-
tertiary times.

At such a time the increased degree of moisture must
have produced a much greater rainfall, the fogs must have
been of greater extent, and the snow line must have ap-
proached much nearer the sea, than at present, on the
eastern coast of America, south of lat. 60°, and glaciers
of great extent must have surrounded the mountains of
New England. The land fauna and flora of New Eng-
land must have been that of Labrador. The Greenland
seal {Phoca \ Pagopliilus\ groenlandica), the Beluga ver-
montana, and among plants the Potentilla tridentata
and Arenaria groenlandica (both of which are now
found in the colder parts of the coast of Maine) must
have been the characteristic species. Remnants of such
a flora and fauna we now behold on our alpine summits.

ust
have
|e ap-
the
ciers
ns of
|Eng-
iland
ver-
^itata
now
must
such
mits.

OUR ALPINE REMNANTS OF THE LABRADOR FAUNA. 34I

On the top of Mount Washington, the last five hundred
feet exhibit a purely sub-arctic or Labrador vegetation.
We can scarcely call it arctic, for the dwarf spruces and
firs are of the same size as in the more unprotected places
in Labrador. The same species of weasel which abounds
in Labrador we have seen on the summit of Mount
Washington. The insect fauna we must believe is an
outlier of the Labrador sub-arctic assemblage of insects,
though with certain features of its own. While some
Diptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera are identical, cer-
tain species, such as Chionobas semidea, Aroy^inis mon-
timis Scudder, differ slightly from any yet found in Lab-
rador, though they may yet be found farther north, or
may prove to be local species, remnants of a sub-arctic
fauna which peopled the surface of New England, living
between the coast and the snow line in the interior. As
the line of perpetual snow retreated up the mountain
sides, the more hardy species followed, while many
others doubtless died in the great changes of climate and
topography which ushered in the historic period. As
there are aerial or alpine outliers, relics of this ancient
sub-arctic fauna and flora, so we must consider the pres-
ent abyssal forms, and outliers of the Labrador marine
fauna, — such as inhabited the Banks of Nova Scotia and
northern New England, and the cold waters of the
mouth of the Bay of Fundy, — as the remnants of the
Syrtensian fauna, which during the glacial period must
have been spread very uniformly over this area.

The arctic sea-birds even now breed upon the islands
in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, as they do on the
coast of Labrador. I am told by fishermen that the
Puffin, Mormon urctica, used to breed on Mount Desert.

1 1,

1:1

jllgi|'

342

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

[ '

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U-

li '

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The A/c(i impennis was probably a common bird, as it
was once on the shores of Scandinavia and Scotland ;
there are rum.ors extant among our oldest fishermen of
its having been seen years ago, but within the recollec-
tion of men now living, as I am informed by Professor
A. E. Verrill ; and its bones have occurred in the kitch-
en-middings of the coast of Nova Scotia and of Massa-
chusetts at Ipswich. It is known by Rev. Mr. Wilson,
a missionary in Newfoundland, to have been common
less than forty years ago about the Fogo Islands, on the
northeastern shore of Newfoundland, as I have been in-
formed by Mr. G. A. Boardman of Calais, Maine.
These birds represent the sub-arctic avi-fauna of New
England during the later period of the drift, and owe
their extinction possibly to the slow changes of the
climate, which must have been gradually ameliorating for
two centuries past in the north temperate zone, but
more especially to their destruction by man. •

All the facts cited above must at least tend to disprove
any theory of a former tertiary or post-tertiary continental
connection between Europe and America. The fauna
and flora of Labrador during the glacial period were too
distinct, the oceanic currents could not have allowed
any interchange of forms, and the great depth of the sea
in Baffin's Bay would have prevented such migrations as
Forbes supposed to have taken place from Europe.

The geological history of the American continent, as
laid down so clearly by Professor Dana in the Proceed-
ings of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science for 1856, proves that the different formations
were, during paleozoic, mesozoic, and tertiary times,
built around the granitic laurentian nucleus of British

TlIK A.MKRICAX flLACIAL FAUNA UNLIKE TIIK EUKOPL' AN. 343

America, and gradually proceeded southward. All the
tertiary rocks form narrow strips of land along the coast.
No well-informed geologist can believe that the tertiary
strata formed continuous sea-bottoms, — that, for instance,
the miocene beds of Spitzbergen were continuous with
those of Disco Island in Greenland, or that the Green-
land beds are apart of the miocene strata of the Southern
States. Equally unfounded on general geological prin-
ciples seems the theory of a tertiary Atlantis, advanced
some years ago, especially by Heer and others, though
first propOb ^d by Forbes, to account for the distribution
of life in the /.zores and the islands lying off the mouth
of the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, the fauna as we go
southward from the arctic zone becomes more and more
distinct, audit is probable that such distinctions obtained
from the earliest palaeozoic times. The Silurian fauna
of Europe is nearly as distinct from that of North
America as the tertiary fauna of England and France is
from that of Virginia, as in the latter case insisted on by
Sir Charles Lyell in the Quarterly Journal of the Geo-
logical Society for 1845.

During glacial times, the cave-bear, lion, hyena, an
aurochs were associated in Europe with the musk-ox
reindeer, and polar bear. It cannot be said that th
glacial fauna of America was derived by immigration
from Europe, for not a single feature peculiarly Euro-
pean in its type is found in our post-tertiary beds. On
the other hand, the glacial fauna of northern Europe
was essentially Arctic-European or " palgearctic." Be-
cause the musk-ox is found fossil in the turbaries of
France and gravels of Germany, it need not be inferred
that the European fauna of that period borrowed an

! ' F M

344

iiiE geol()(;y ov the Labrador coast.

American feature. We would rather suppose that the
former range of the musk-ox, a circumpohir species, was
Arctic-European as well as American. In considering the
origin of the llora of Labrador, though not possessing a
special knowledge of the botany, we would on general
l)rincii)les venture to dissent from the view of Dr.
Hooker, that the flora of northeastern Arctic America
is essentially Scandinavian in its origin.

The flora of Labrador, so far as we were enabled to
observe, follows closely the laws of distribution of the
land and sea animals ; and any theory that separates the
origin of the two assemblages cannot be in accordance
with the general laws of the distribution of life, be it
plant or animal, over the surface of the globe. The
fauna of Australasia is no less peculiar than its flora ;
the flora of Brazil is characterized by its peculiar tropical
American forms, just as the fauna is circumscribed by
peculiar features. So we must believe that the origin of
the Arctic- European and Arctic-American and Arctic-
Asiatic floras and faunas was distinct from the outset, and
that they have never borrowed, by extensive inter-conti-
nental migrations, each other's peculiar characteristics.
As we have observed in regard to the animals, there are
a very large proportion of arctic plants spread over the
whole arctic zone, which cannot be said to be American
any more than European or Asiatic, but simply circum-
polar. On the other hand, there is a small percentage of
which the reverse is true, and this is paralleled among the
animals.

Sir J. D. Hooker, in his elaborate essay on the Dis-
tribution of Arctic Plants in the Linnean Transactions
for 1 86 1, accounts for the greater richness of the flora of

DIS'IRIUUTION ()!• ARCllC I'LAMS.

345

Lapland over that of other arctic regions by the blend-
ing of warm and cold currents of air and water, and its
great diversity of mountains and lowlands ; while on the
broad plains of Siberia and the level plateau of Labrador
there is the greatest uniformity of climate, and hence a
corresponding paucity of plants.

The same climatic conditions determine the distribu-
tion of marine life. As we go from Norway to Green-
land the number of species lessens greatly. Dr. Liitken,
in his admirable View of the Echinoderms of Green-
land, shows that the fauna is essentially Arctic-American
rather than European. It is so with the other radiates,
and the articulate and molluscan fauna, and the fish
fauna would seem to follow the same law.

Dr. Hooker cites fifty-seven species of plants which
do not cross from Greenland to America. This is par-
alleled by the apparent restriction of a few species of
marine invertebrates to the high polar seas, such as the
Leda trtuicata and Pcctcn gnvnlavidicus, though in gla-
cial times they abounded in northeastern America.

Among the most purely Arctic-American plants are
the Potentilla tridcntata, which is abundant in Green-
land and which we have collected in profusion in Lab-
rador, Maine, and on the White Mountains ; also the
Arenaria grcenlandica, which is more thoroughly arctic,
preferring the coldest spots on the outer islands of the
coast of Labrador, and the alpine summit of Mount
Washington, and which has even been detected on Cape
Elizabeth, Me.

These two plants — which Dr. Hooker acknowledges
liave never occurred elsewhere on the globe within the
historic period — -he supposes were originally from Scan-

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346

rilK GEOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

dinavia, though they have never l)een found in Europe.
By this mode of reasoning we might just as well imagine
the clam, Afya arcnaria, to have been derived originally
from Europe, or the bison to have been derived from
the aurochs of Europe. The presence of such charac-
teristic Arctic-American forms in Greenland must de-
stroy our confidence In the supposed identity of the
Greenland flora with that of Lapland, for there are
strong grounds for regarding the flora of Greenland as
arctic and circumpolar simply, rather than European-
Arctic, and that on either side the Hora becomes more
strongly either American or European, as we go west-
ward or eastward of Greenland.*

When, following the line of the yearly isothermal of
32°, we go to the southward on either side of the At-
lantic, we find warm and cold currents of air and water
intermingling, and thus producing much greater diver-
sity of climate than in Greenland. While the Gulf
Stream abuts directly upon Scandinavia, some of its
effects are felt in Newfoundland and Labrador. Both
lands are continental, and shade into temperate regions.
There is a very perfect correspondence in the geology
and distribution of the formations, and hence, as Hooker
observes, there are a large number (230) of plants,
common to Labrador and Scandinavia, which do nol
occur in Greenland. This is parallelled very exactly in
the distribution of animal life. In the seas of Labrador
and Newfoundland are found forms derived from the
more temperate seas of New England, as on the coast of

* In a paper by Eug. Warming in Engler's JahrbUcher, x. 1889, on the flora
of Greenland, the author concludes that Greenland is not a European province
bill has nearer relations to America. {Nature, May 30, 1S89. p. 117.)

DISTRIBUTION O.- A;ICTIC PLANTS.

347

Norway many forms occur which are derived from the
British seas, and are even found as far south as the
Mediterranean. These serve greatly to swell the lists.
In fact the facies of the flora of Lahrador is sub-arctic
and by no means purely arctic, as is that of Greenland.
Explained in this way the flora of Greenland seems to
us no more anomalous than its colder climate and re-
moteness from sub-arctic lands, isolated as it ever has
been by deep seas and powerful oceanic currents of dif-
ferent temperatures, which, we must believe, served
from very early times as barriers against the comming-
ling of more temperate forms of life with purely circum-
polar species.

There is, in our view, no reason to believe that the
glacial period, as some writers have suggested, has
shifted from the eastern to the western hemisphere, or
vice versd ; for the same causes which brought on the
cold period were evidently common to the arctic and
sub-arctic regions throughout their whole extent, though
governed greatly by the present distribution of the iso-
thermal lines. That the drift deposits were laid down
contemporaneously on both sides of the Atlantic, seems
proved by such facts as this : that Ledaarctica (/,. port-
landicci), more than any other shell characteristic of the
drift deposits of the northern portions of America and
Europe, has become alike extinct both in Scandinavia
and its equivalent, Labrador, Canada, and New Eng-
land.

The break in the glacial beds — which by Sars* (in
which he closely follows D'Archiac) are divided into an

* Cm de i Norge forekommende fossile Dyrelevninger fra yuartaerperioden,
etc.; af M. Bars, Christiania, 1S65.

■

sr <

♦;k

•. t

■ (

348

THK (JKOI.OGV OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

earlier Quaternary or "j^/ac/a/" formation, from which
few fossils have been taken, and those purely arctic in
character, and the more recent beds, " post-glacial,"
resting upon them, containing a great influx of boreal or
sub-arctic and some Lusitanico-Mediterranean species —
does not seem so distinctly marked in northeastern
America as in Europe. In southern England the able
researches of Mr. Searles V. Wood, Jun., enable this
writer to '* arrive at the conclusion that the widesj^rcad
bowlder clay of England is wholly distinct from the
older, but partially developed drift of the Cromer coast.
That conclusion was arrived at by the minute examina-
tion of more than eight thousand square miles of the
eastern portion of England, and the grounds for it were
submitted to geologists in a detailed map of the drift
beds over the whole of that area, with copious sections.
It was thus that I acquired the opinion which induces
me to deny, as I do, ' that we have yet any evidence of
any general submergence at the incoming of the glacial
period, far less of repeated oscillations of submergence
and emergence.' . . . Now although I have endeavored
to show that on the east coast of England four oscilla-
tions of climate have occurred since the incidence of the
glacial period, viz. : first, the extreme cold of the Cromer
drift when the country except a part of Norfolk was
land ; second, the ameliorated climate of the sand and
gravel series, which overlies that drift unconformably.
and partially underlies the bowlder clay ; third, the re-
turn of cold with the extensive submergence which in-
troduced the widespread formation of bowlder clay ;
and fourth, the return to sand and gravel conditions,
with the elevation and denudation of that clay and the

THE BOWLDKR CLAY.

349

)nier

introduction of the post-glacial scries — yet the oscilla-
tions of climate during the tertiary period begin as well
as end with these." — The Reader, London, 1865, p. 466.

Having the grand outlines of this formation thus
mapped out for us, it remains for geologists in this coun-
try to see how far the parallel can be carried out in
America. There is as yet ev^erythmg to be learned of
the lowest and oldest bowlder clay of the coast of Maine ;
to ascertain how far it is conformable with the brickyard
clays of the uplands, and whether there is an overlying
bed of sand such as the sheets of sand resting every-
where on the upper bowlder clay. At present there
have been revealed no signs of this lower bed of sand
clay, and the lowest clay beds we are acquainted with
seem to graduate into the rewashed, more inland, and
more recent bowlder or brickyard clays.

In adopting the term Quaternary Period, we would
use it in the amended sense proposed by D'Archiac in
1848, in his " Histoire des Progres de la Gdologie."
From his able review of all the prime characteristics so
trenchantly dividing this period from the Pliocene Ter-
tiary, we are led with that author to consider this period
as rather equivalent to the Tertiary as a whole, than to
either of its three subdivisions ; and rather as the begin-
ning of a new epoch or period, than the close of the
Tertiary. The distinctions, as shown by D'Archiac, ob-
tain no less in the tropics than in the high latitudes. In
tropical America the period is marked off from the Ter
tiary by the appearance of the great mammals, the Her-
bivores characterizing the formation in America, and the
great Carnivores the deposit of the Eastern hemisphere.
About the Mediterranean the Tertiary Period closed

in, :

i:V

[ I 'I

i-i

350

iiiK (;i;oLoc]v of tiik larkadou coast.

witli the upheaval or the Sul)-Aj)cnnincs of Italy, or Alps
of X'alais.

Professor Dana, in his " Manual of Geology," states
further important clistinetions, such as the rise of land in
the high latitudes which had not before taken place since
PaltL'OZoic times, ushering in the period of great glaciers,
and thus serving, over one half of the surface of the
globe, to further separate this epoch from the Tertiary.

Another feature of this j)eriod is the great uniformity
of climate ovv.r broad, continental areas, and the wide
distribution in space of certain species most characteristic
of the Quaternary Formation, Such are the occurrence,
on both hcmis|)heres, of the musk-ox, the Siberian mam-
moth (^Ii. prinn'ocn/iis), and, among marine mollusca, of
Lcda arctica Gray. Sars {portlandica), which is now re-
stricted to the circumpolar seas.

Gnieral Conclusions. — To account for all the facts
which have been developed above, v.e must assume, —

1. That the northern portion of iNorth America, thai
is, the boreal and arctic regions, stood at a much higher
level above the sea than now. We have given good
evidence that it stood at least three hundred and sixty
feet above that level in Labrador. It would be safe to
assume that the coast line stood at an elevation not fall-
ing short of six hundred feet. While this increase in the
height of the land would not materially change the
physiognomy of the continent north of the St. Lawrence
' River and Gulf, where the tableland rises abruptly from
the ocean as in the arctic regions ; it would effect a
great alteration in the distribution of dry land south of
the parallel of 50° N. Should all the present sea-bottom
lying within the limits of the depth of one hundred

\ s

Till". I.KbA ( I.AV

351

latlioms Ik' thus raisL-d, the viiilf ul vSt. Lawrence would
be represented l)y a river deha, one mouth in the Straits
of Belle Isle, the other flowing out between Cape Bre-
ton and Cape Ray. All the submarine j)lateau.\, such
as the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, and the banks ly-
ing off the coast of Nova Scotia, Maine, and Caj)e Cod,
would l)e elevated above the sea, and probably form
broad plains. Thus the effects on the distribution of
life would essentially differ from those of the region
north of 50' N. Such a rise and enlarged area of land
would, as has been stated by physicists, produce an ex-
tension southward of an extreme arctic temi)erature.
While the climate would be greatly lowered, we still
have added the j)roximity of Lhe Gulf Stream, as evi-
denced by the temperate rather than arctic fauna of the
glacial beds of New York and Nantucket, and the more
tropical assemblage of South Carolina. Such a blending
of hot and cold currents of air and water must have pro-
duced <"vcn more fogs and a much greater rainfall than
now, to feed the enormous glaciers which moved into the
sea from off the principal watc-sheds.

II. Leda Clay. — There was a gradual change of level
in the .sea. At the close of the glacial j)eriod the snow
line gradually receded from the coast, and the glaciers
retreated to the mountains. During the slow and gen-
tle submergence of the land ushering in this epoch, the
crude moraine matter was sorted into beds of regularly
stratified clays one hundred to three hundred feet in
thickness. The lowest beds consequently are the most
ancient, as is also evidenced by the greater prevalence of
arctic forms. During this time the sea was filled with
floating ice, as at present on the Labrador coast, and the

352

Tin: (JKOLOGV OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

great polar or Labrador current exerted its full power.
The temperature being so even throughout the northern
hemis[)heres of the globe, there was a great uniformity
in the distribution of life, and certain species enjoyed a
wide distribution where now they are restricted to com-
paratively narrow areas. Toward the close o^ this period
the Greenland seal, the walrus, and the Vermont whale
(^Beluga l^crmontand), flourished. The Age of great
Mammals dated from this early period. An arctic fauna
and flora inhabited the coast between the sea and the
low snow line, and the flora and fauna which are now
found only on our alpine heights, or in cold, isolated
spots on the coast of Maine and the northern lakes, then
peopled the surface of New England and Canada. All
the biological features of this epoch partook of an inter-
mixture of the boreal and arctic faunas and floras that
are now more distinctly circumscribed into narrower
areas.

We have no evidence of an intercontinental commu-
nication with Europe during this period. Then, as now,
there was a local facies imprinted on those animals
whose remains have survived, exhibiting the same fauna!
distinctions, and even more strongly marked than now.

The close of this period was signalized by a great
amelioration of climate, by broad areas of marine clays
finely laminated, and having more sand and loam inter-
mixed than in the lowest and oldest beds. This was the
' transition from a period of broad estuaries, and, at a late
stage, of shallow seas, to the next epoch of a secular
emergence. It ushered in the —

III. Period of raised Beaches (Saxicava Sands). This
necessarily implies a great denudation of the glacial clays

THE TERRACE EPOCH.

353

lunal
»o\v.
rreal
I clays
iintei-

|a lau"
jculai

This
Iclays

The rolled, sea-worn bowlders, shingle and sand, com-
posing the mass of the ancient osars and beach deposits,
now found at all heights from the sea-level to those of
five hundred or six hundred feet, are derived from the
resorting of the moraines. We thus find that the high-
est beaches are the oldest, and the most recent, those
just above the ocean level. The temperature of the sea
did not differ greatly from that of the present day. Dur-
ing the epoch the present distribution of the faunae now
inhabiting the temperate and arctic zones was estab-
lished, and since then but little change has taken place.
The fresh-water shells found about the Niagara River
and other deposits in Canada, were, so far as we know,
introduced at this time. Those shells found in beach
deposits on the St. Lawrence River, from four hundred
to five hundred feet above the present level of the river,
show that but little change has taken place in the climatic
relations of the land or in the distribution of the animals
depending on such relations. It is evident that the
Acadian fauna, once restricted to the regions south of
the Saco River, during this epoch crept up the coast of
Maine, extended itself along the western shores of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and prevailed in the St. Lawrence
River, and the broad estuary now represented by Lake
Champlain.

The close of this period witnessed the surface of New
England covered by broad lakes and ponds, with vast
rivers and extensive estuaries, with deep fiords cutting
up the coast-line. Its sc3nic features must have resem-
bled those of Labrador at the present day.

IV. T/ie Terrace Epoch. The estuaries and deep
bays left beach deposits of sand and shingle, resulting

.; t

s '

354

THK (iE()LO(;V OF TIIK LABRADOR COAST,

from the drainage of the slowly rising continent. All
the terraces are unconformable to the marine sands
underlying them, though the highest terraces farthest
from the coast may have been forming while the more
recent sea-beaches were being dej)osited by the action of
the waves and tide. Thus the early part of the Lake
period is synchronous with the latter part of the Beach
period. So also the lower strata of the Leda clays were
laid down during the deposition of the oldest beaches,
causing a constant inosculation of these unconformable
deposits, and thus the beginning of one epoch overlaps
the close of the previous one.

<■' )

I if"" • i I

Hi, i

CHAPTER XV.

IIIK /ooI.UdV OK THE I.AIiKAIXJK CDASl',

VViiiM': the zoology of the interior and western j)or-
tions of the Labrador peninsula is un(loiil)te(lly lii<e that
of the Hudson's Bay district and the cooler portions of
Canada, as well as northern Maine and New Hampshire,
it presents quite different features on the treeless |)or-
tions of the coast, and on the outer islands. There, the
fauna, as a whole, is closely allied to that of southern
Greenland, and is remarkably free from the "boreal"
forms ranginf^ throughout British America. Indeed
the insects and mollusksare in many cases identical with
those of Greenland, as are the climatic,* topographic,
and general geological features of the coast. Did the
mountains of Labrador rise above the snow line, where
now they just reach its lower limits, and were the rain
fall slightly greater, glaciers would undoubtedly exist,
running down the fiords into the sea, as they do north of
Hudson's Strait, and we should perhaps have a nearly
perfect correspondence between the Atlantic slope of
northern Labrador and that portion of Greenland lying
between the 6oth and 70th parallels of latitude.

On the outer islands, lining the coast for nearly forty
or fifty miles deep, in the vicinity of Hopedale, the birds,

*The mean annual temperature of Hopedale in lat. 55° 35' "is certainly not
higher than 26° Fahr." Ball's Notes of a Naturalist in South America, p. 273.

355

■^ i

«••:

V'l

I :

: .

' 1
1

v ■ '■

1'^

;5^>

THE ZOULOOV OF TIIK LAHKAUoK COAST.

insects, land sliclls and the ve^L'tation, present an almost
purely circuni|)()lar character. Thus certain huttertlies
and moths lirsl discovered i;) hi,<:h latitutes are very
al)undant about Ilopedale and southward, also occurinj^;
on the alpine summits of the White mountains and ol
the Rocky mountains, and certain of them even fre-
(juentinj^ the Al|>s of Switzerland, the mountains of
Scandinavia and the summits of the Altai mountains in
northeastern Asia.

It is this mingled circumpolar and boreal fauna whicU
composed that assemblage of life-forms, which peopled
New England and the extreme northern states, us well as
Canada, during the glacial period and which as the ice
waned, migrating northward, was gradually driven to-
wards the north pole, though still lingering on the ali)inc
summits, and on the treeless barrens of Labrador. These
l»leak, bare tracts, including many thousand S(juare miles
of islands lining the Labrador coast, agree in their vege-
tation and animal life with similar tracts and islands in
latitudes 70" to 80° N. This is due to the cold Labra-
dor current, and to the immense fields of lloating ice,
nearlv filling up the channels and friths between these
islands throughout the entire short summer of six weeks,
thus greatly reducing the temperature, while in Novem-
ber the bays and inlets freeze up solid until the following
June.

Indeed the Labrador peninsula with its varied physi-
cal features affords admirable examples of the influence
of the environment on animal and plant life. The com-
plete harmony which exists between the organisms, bolli
terrestrial and marine, and their surroundings, is evidently
the result of their adaption to the arctic or the subarctic

If h

THE WHITE BEAR.

357

nature of their habitats. The peninsula stands out in tiie
Athintic ocean, boundcl on the north hv the jjohn si-a
and lands, with their float ini»; ice, p^lacii'rs, and frozen
soil. I*ast the Atlantic shores of tiie peninsula sweeps the
broad, deep, and powerfid Labrador or polai current . bear-
ing on its surface through tiie spring and summer months,
and about Hudson's Strait, in certain years, throuiihout
the autumn, a mass of float inj^- ice about loo.ooo s(|uare
miles in extent. Hence the mean annual t('m|>eralure
is, on the coast, especial!; '>n the promontories and
islands, as low as that of soutlicrn (Ircenland.

In my first published r'-marks on ♦be occuruiice of
the white bear in Labrauor, where it is sometimes called
the "water bear," in distineiiiui from the black bear,
which is very common on that coast, i then suj)posed
that the polar bear was a stra«»<2:Ier from Iludson's or
Haffm'sbays. rather by accident than otherwise, ai rare in-
tervals breeding so far south as Labrador. Hut on look-
ing over the accounts of the earlv discoverers and navi-
gators, as well as Cartwright's "Journal," I am led to
materially alter my opinion and to suppose that ihe for-
mer limits of this creature extended even possibly as far
south as Casco bay, on the coast of Maine.

Whether there are any notices of or references to the
white bear in the records and sagas of the Norsemen
who visited the coast of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia,
we are unable to say. White bears were, however, seen
by the first English navigator who discovered our shores,
the intrepid Venetian, John Cabot, then sailing under
an English flag. The following reference to white bears
appears in an extract from an inscription on the map of
Sebastian Cabot in Hakluyt's Voyages (iii. 27) :

■Hygll

IftNr

Ill lit

'I- '

358

THK ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

" In the yeere of our Lord 1497 lohn Cal)Ot, a Vene-
tian, and his sonne Sebastian (with an English fleet set
out from Bristol!) discouered that which no man before
that time had attempted, on the 24th of lune, about five
of the clock early in the morning. This land he called
Prima vista, that is to say. First scene, because as I sup-
pose it was that point whereof they had the first sight
from sea. That Island which lieth out before the land,
he called the island of S. lohn vpon this occasion, as 1
thinke, because it was discouered vpon the day of lohn
the Baptist. The inhabitants of this Island vse to weare
beast skinnes, and have them in as great estimation as
we have our finest garments. In their warres they vse
bowes, arrowes, pikes, darts, wooden clubs and slings.
The soil is barren in some places, andyieldeth litle fruit,
but it is full of white beares, and stagges far greater than
ours."

This account shows quite conclusively that John
Cabot's Prima Vista was some point of land in eastern or
northern Newfoundland. The eminent geographer, Dr,
J. G. Kohl, in his History of the Discovery of Maine,
seems fully peri^uaded that the landfall of John Cabot
was Labrador. But if the inscription and map are gen-
uine, the description of the inhabitants of the island, both
men and beasts, would better apply to those of the east-
ern or southern Newfoundland. The human beings
were more probably red Indians than Eskimo. On the
Labrador coast the soil is ''barren" in all places, while
the " stagges far greater than ours" may have been the
moose, which does not inhabit the Labrador coast.
Whether the "white beares" were the polar bears or a pale
variety of the barren-ground bear of Sir John Richard-

lit

THE WHITE BEAR.

359

n or
Dr.
line,
abot
gen-
oth
least-
ings
the
hile
the
loast.
pale
ard-

son is somewhat uncertain. We should have unhesitat-
ingly referred the creature to the polar bear, were it not
that in Parmenius' account of Newfoundland, published
in 1583, it is said : " Bears also appear about the fishers'
stages of the countrey, and are sometimes killed, but they
seeme to be white, as I coniectured by their skinnes,
and somewhat lesse then ours." (Hakluyt.)

The next explorer of this coast was Cortereal who, in
1500, landed on the Newfoundland coast, at or probably
near Cape Race. In an old Portuguese map of about
the year 1520 is a long Latin inscription, thus translated
by Kohl, a part of which we copy : " This country was
first discovered by Caspar Cortereal, a Portuguese, and
he brought from there wild and barbarous men and white
bears. There are to be found in it plenty of animals,
birds and fish." The land from which Cortereal brought
the white bears was evidently the same as that in which
he kidnapped fifty-seven of the aborigines. These were
Indians and not Eskimo, and must have been the inhabi-
tants either of Newfoundland or of Nova Scotia, for a per-
son who saw them in the streets of Lisbon described them
"as tall, well-built, and admirably fit for labor." That,
however, they were the aborigines of Newfoundland,
perhaps Bethuks, seems proved by the fact that a num-
ber of white bears were also captured and sent to Spain
with them. From these facts it seems reasonable to infer
that the white or polar bear was a resident on the eastern
coast of Newfoundland.

The next navigator to explore these seas was Jacques
Cartier, who arrived May loth, 1534, on the eastern
coast of Newfoundland. To this observing seaman we
owe our first accounts of the great auk or " penguin" on

__ii

. t'

lit

■ i 1 ■ ;

» (

360

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

the Island of Birds, now Funk or Fogo Island, on the
northeastern coast of Newfoundland ; also of the Bird
rocks of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

While harboring at what is now Funk Island, Cartier,
after describing the great auks, tells us that he saw a
white bear. In his own language, done into quaint
English by Hakluyt : "And albeit the sayd Island be
14 leagues from the maineland, notwithstanding beares
come 'swimming thither to eat of the sayd birds : and
our men found one there as great as any cow, and as
white as any swan, who in their presence leapt into the
sea, and upon Whitsun-monday (following our voyage
towards the land) we met her by the way, swimming
toward land as swiftly as we could saile. So soone as
we saw her, we pursued her with our boats, and by maine
strength tooke her, whose flesh was as goode to be eaten
as the flesh of a calfe two yeres olde."

From this graphic and circumstantial account we feel
sure that this was the great white or polar bear {^Ursns
maritinms) ; that it reached its full size, was not uncom-
mon on the mainland (John Cabot says the land was
" full" of them), and that it bred there, as those men-
tioned by Parmenius in 1583 were probably young ones.

The white bear is still occasionally seen on this coast,
as Rev. Mr. Harvey states :* "The seal hunters occasion-
ally encounter the white or polar bear on the ice off the
coast, and sometimes it has been known to land."

Now, if in these early times of Cabot and Cartier the
eastern coast of Newfoundland was the habitat and
breeding place of the polar bear, it is not unlikely that

* Halton and Harvey's Newfoundland, Boston, 1883, p. 193.

THE WHITE BEAR.

361

)m-

len-

ast,

the

land

:hat

it occasionally might have visited, as we know the walrus
did, the coast of Nova Scotia and of Maine.

Our supposition is based on the following facts : In an
ancient map of '* New France," by the Italian Jacomo
di Gastaldi, in about the year 1550, republished by Kohl,
and which we present, though of reduced size, what we
should consider as veritable white bears are depicted as
swimming in the ocean far from the coast of what must
have been Nova Scotia, and near to but west of Sable
Island or " Isola della rena." In the map the l)cars are
placed to the southward of "Terra de Nvrvmbega,"
which evidently comprised Nova Scotia and Eastern
Maine. Sable Island is an enlarged portion of a broad
band, intended to represent the banks of Newfoundland
and La Have.

That the animals represented are bears admits of little
doubt ; of the four figures the lowermost one is a seal ; it
is drawn without ears, while the three other figures have
large, drooping ears, like those of a bear. A* ny rate,
if the locality was put in at haphazard by the map-drawer,
why should white bears be also represented, as they seem
to be in the ocean off Isola de Demoni. The figures of
the black bear, as well as of the rabbit and of the abo-
rigines were all drawn, and it seems not unreasonable to
infer that white bears were actually seen and reported to
the south and west of Newfoundland.

That the white bear may have visited the coast of
Maine, near Portland, is further proved by the probable
discovery by Prof. E. S. Morse of a white bear's tooth
in the shell heaps of Casco Bay.

Speaking of the bones of the bears found in a shell
heap on Goose Island, Casco Bay, Maine, the late Pro-

ll •ijllifl

n ^

\i i

IM \

362

Till-: /OOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAS F.

fessor VVyman remarked in the Amkuican Naturallst,
1.575. January, 1868 :

"The bones of the dear though much less numerous,
were similarly broken up, and in two instances had been
carbonized by contact with the fire. Among the speci-
mens collected by Mr. Morse in his first visit to Crouch's

TERRA SE L.ABOBADOR

PARTE INCOGNITA

New France b> tl)c 3lalian 3acomo Ai Ga|'la{.di in abcut il)t ymr 1550

cove was the last molar from the lower jaw. The crown
was somewhat worn, but the ridges were not all effaced ;
it was of small size, measuring 0.55 inch in length and
and 0.46 in breadth. The average size of eight speci-
mens of the same molar in the black bear was : Length,
0.60 inch ; breadth, 0.47, while that of two specimens
from the polar bear was, length, 0.54 inch ; breadth,
0.45. The tooth from the shell heaps, therefore, as re-

THE WHITE HEAR.

363

gards size, more closely resembles the last-mentioned
species, as it does also in the shape of the crown — hut it
must be unsafe from a single specimen of tiie molar in
question to attempt to identify them. The former exist-
ence of the polar bear on the coast of Maine is rendered
quite probable by th(; fact that the tusk of a walrus has
actually been found at Gardiner."

That the white bear formerly was an inhabitant of
Newfoundland seems probable from the facts we have
brought together, and it is to be hoped that the antiqua-
rians and naturalists of Newfoundland will investigate
the shell heaps, should such be found, of that island for
further facts bearing on this subject.

VVe will now turn our attention to the former presence
of the white bear on the Labrador coast, where the set-
tlers still call it the "water bear." VVe find only in Cart-
wright's Journal reference to this creature, but this is suf-
ficient to show that it bred on and permanently inhabited
this coast from Belle Isle, or Chateau Bay, northward.
A white bear was killed in 1 769 at Pitt's harbor. Chateau
Bay. There is a "White Bear Sound" on Cartwright's
map just north of Cape Charles, near Battle Island.
Cartwright's house was to the northward of Cape Charles,
in an arm of Sandwich Bay. In 1770 Cartwright saw
the track of two large white bears, and the Eskimo killed
one the same year near his house. In April, 1772, the
tracks of three white bears were seen. In April, 1776, a
white bear and cubs were seen near Huntington Island,
and in the following May another was observed. White
bears were also seen up the rivers leading into Sandwich
Bay, and on pp. 410-11 Cartwright describes the habits
of the white bear in Labrador, stating that the young

,;|-t.- I

364

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

:1«

are horn in March, the parent bringing forth usually one
at a time, sometimes two.

While on the coast of Lai)rador in the summers of
i860 and 1864, we gatiiered what facts we could as to the
occurrence of this animal, publishing them in the Pro-
ceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History (Vol.
X, 1866, 270), from which we take the following extract :

" At Square island, a locality situated between Belle
Isle and Domino Harbor, two cubs were captured and
taken to St. Johns, Newfoundland. At Domino Har-
bor the skin of a bear killed during the preceding spring
(1863) was obtained by one of our party. An intelli-
gent hunter told me that the white bear was not unfre-
quently seen at Stag Bay, near Roger's Harbor, which
is situated a little more than fifty miles ,outh of Hope-
dale. One was killed there during the preceding winter
(1863), and in the autumn their tracks were abundant.
They were very shy, and could not be seen in the day-
time. Further south they are much rarer. The last
polar bear said to have been seen in the Strait of Belle
Isle was shot fifteen years ago (1849), at the settlement
•of Salmon Bay."

While the entire peninsula was during the glacial
period mantled in ice, and as cold, or nearly so, as
Greenland is at present, the more exposed parts of the
coast north of Belle Isle are still arctic, or at least sub-
arctic. On the other hand the main land, for the most
part consisting of Laurentian gneiss and schists, has
probably from Archaean times been dry land, forming an
important portion of the continental nucleus of North
America. Its scanty soil is now over a large proportion
of its surface probably frozen throughout the year ; the

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIANS AND KSKIMOS.

36:

Barren Grounds extend as far south as perhaps hit. 58°,.
and spread still southward on the higher elevated por-
tions of the plateau, which are bare of trees, so that the
northern third of the peninsula is practically arctic, the
animal and plant life being essentially arctic. But
southward, including the sheltered valleys of the north-
ern or Atlantic coast and of the elevated interior, with
the St. Lawrence region, the climatic features and flora
and fauna are like those of the western and southern
shores of Hudson's Bay and the northern shores of
the St. Lawrence. It thus forms a portion of the Boreal
or Canadian Province of temperate North America.

It will thus be seen that the conditions of existence,
and the adjustment of the plants and animals to their
habitats in Labrador, are those primarily depending on
the temperature both of the ocean and of the air ; and
the more we know of the distribution of life in this
region, the more delicate appears to be the balance
maintained between the organisms and their environ-
ment. This is also seen in the relative distribution of
the Indians and Eskimos. The former inhabit the
boreal, wooded portions ; the latter the arctic, bare, tree-
less, Arctic portions of the coast and of the Barren
Grounds, when the latter shade into the barren east and
west coast of the northern extremity of the peninsula.

The best example of a purely arctic animal which
still breeds on the coast is the white bear. It is an in-
teresting fact that at Fort George, Hudson's Bay, both
the black and white bear are known to breed. The
white bear mates about the middle of April, and
" the young, from one to three in number, are born in
holes under rocks lined with brush, grass, and moss, to-

I n

I '{I

•F-*-

I ;

iS '

»i^

.■ A

366

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

wards the end of October. At time of birth they are
the size of a large rat, white in color, helpless, and with
closed eyes. They are suckled for five months, the male
assisting in rearing them." *

With the white bear is still associated the walrus,
which was formerly as abundant on this coast, and in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Magdalen Islands and
certain parts of Nova Scotia, as it now is in the polar
regions.

The Britons and Basques, as well as the English, went
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, after morses, during the
years 1591-93. How abundant they were is stated in
" A relation of the first voyage and discoverie of the
Isle Ramea, made by for Monsieur de La

Court Pre Rauillon, and Grand Pre, with the ship
called the Bonaventure, to kill and make Traineoil of the
beast called the Morses with great teeth, which we have
perfourmed by Gods helpe this yeere 1591." (Hakluyt
iii. 235.)

" The coast stretcheth three leagues to the west from
Lisle Bl- nch or the white Isle, vnto the entrance of a
riuer, where we slewe and killed to the nun^ber of fif-
teene hundred Morses or Sea oxen, accounting small and
great, when at full sea you may come on shoare with
boates, and within are two or three fathoms water."

'' The 14 [June] we came to the two Islands of Birds,
some 23 leagues fro Menego ; where there were such
abundance of Birds, as is almost incredible to report.
And vpon the lesse of these Islands of Birds, we saw
great store of Morsses or sea Oxen, which were a sleepe

* Miles Spencer, Annual Report of the Geological and Natural History Survey
of Canada. New Series, iii. Part 2, 1878-88, p. 76.

THE WALRUS.

367

vpon the rockes ; but when we approched nere vnto
them with our boate, they cast themsclues into the sea
and persued vs with such furie as that we were glad to
flee from them."

" The three Islands of birds are sandy red, but with
the multitude of birds vpon them they looke white. The
birds sit there as thicke as stones lie in a paucd street.
The greatest of the Islands is about a mile in compasse.
The second is a little lesse. The third is a very little one,
like a" small rocke. At the second of these three lay on
the shore in the Sunshine about thirty or forty sea-oxen
or morses ; which when our boat came nere them, pres-
ently made into the sea, and swam after the boat." (The
voyage of Mr. Charles Leigh and diuers others to
Cape Briton and the Isle of Ramea, 1597. Hakluyt
iii. 242.)

Parkman* also tells us that the year after the battle
of Ivry, St. Malo sent out a fleet of small craft in quest
of this new prize.

Hind, speaking, of Seven Islands Bay, in his work on
Labrador, says: " In the spring and at the approach of
winter it is visited by myriads of ducks, geese, and
swans ; it was formerly a favorite haunt of the walrus,
which, although not now seen even in the Gulf itself,
was once common as far up the great river St. Lawrence,
as the mouth of Saugenay, and from this animal the
' Pointe aux Vaches,' about a mile below Tadousac,
takes its name. Not improbably the * fishes like horses'
which the Indians described as frequenting the Chi-sche-
dec, and which Lescarbot calls hippopotami, were these
large animals."

* Pioneers of France in the New World, p. 209.

ilil

II ' "'«*«

W-

368

THK /.OOr/XJY OF THK LABRADOR COAST.

The bones of the wahus were in late years still to he
found on the shores of the Magdalen Islands, its former
great abundance there having been commented on by
Cartier and Charlevoix. According to tradition, it also
inhabited some of the harbors of Cape Breton ; and I
have been informed l)y a Maine fisherman, that on an
islet near Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, the bones of an
enormous seal-like creature are to be found in the sand
near the shore, iifteen to twenty feet above the sea. The
last one seen or heard of in the Gulf, so far as I could
ascertain, was killed at St. Augustine, Labrador, about
the year 1840. One was seen at Square Island in 1849,
and two shortly before that, and another was killed at
the same place about the year 1855. In 1864 I saw the
head of a young walrus, which was found floating dead
in the drift ice north of Belle Isle, having been killed
apparently by a harpoon. Mr. Stearns states that two
were shot in 1880 and 1881 at Fox Harbor, St. Lewis
Sound, off shore a little way.

The following lists, with the remarks appended, will
give in a methodical way what little is really known of
the zoology of the Labrador coast, beginning with the
animals of the lowest classes and ascending to the high-
est. The lists are printed rather for the benefit of the
scientific than the general reader. It may be mentioned
that a few species of sponges were collected, but not
identified.

CCELENTERATES. (Polyps, Hydroids, etc.)

Metridium marginatum Edw. & H. From Indian
Harbor southward, below low-tide.

Urticina crassicornis Ehr. From Square Island
southward ; i-io f.

rOLVrS AND IIVDKOIDS.

369

I, :
%4

Edivardsia sipiiuculoidcs Stimp. Ilcnlcy IIarl)ur ; 4 f.

liydractinia polyclina \<^AS'?,. Salmon Bay, Strait of
Belle Isle.

Corync uiirabilia Agass. Belles ^Amours.

Clava niu/iicornis Pallas. Salmon Bay.

T/niiaria thuja ''leniing. Mingan Islands, Labrador.

Halccium halccinhni Johnst. Caribou Island in ei^ht
fathoms, gravelly bottom, where its branehes supported
the nests of Cerapus rubricoriiis Stimps. Frecjuent in
thirty fatiioms ; Chateau Bay, on a sandy bottom.

Halecium muricatiDn Johnst. Off Caribou Island,
in from thirty to fifty fathoms. Square Island in thirty
fathoms.

Cotulina polyzonias {\J\\\\\,^. Caribou Island.

Cotulina triciispidata (Alder). Strait of Belle Isle in
forty fathoms upon DipJiasia rosacea.

AmpliitrocJia rjioosa (Linn.). S(iuare Island, 30 f.

Serttilaria Jiliciila Ell, and Sol.

Scrtnlaria Jalcata Linn. Mingan Islands, Gulf of St.
Lawrence.

Sertidaria argentca Ell. and Sol. Caribou Island.

Sertiilaria cupresshia Linn.

Sertidaria abictina Linn. Mingan Islantls, Gulf of
St. Lawrence, and Labrador.

DipJiasia rosacea (Linn.).

Dynamc7ia pumila Lamx.
tween tide-marks.

LafcBa duniosa (Johnst.).
and ; 1 5 f.

Laomedca amphora Agass. Square Island.

Clytia voltibilis (Alder.). Henley Harbor, 20 to 30 f.

Oceania languida A. Agass. Caribou Island, 8 f.

Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
Strait of Belle Isle, be-

Cateau Harbor, Long Isl-

370

TIIK ZOOLOGY OF TllK LABRADOR COAST.

\> ■ ■

i;lr=

Campanularia verticillata Johnst. Ilcnley Harbor,
20 f.

Luccrnaria quadricornis MQll. Caribou Island, 10 f.

Mana7iia auricula (Fabr.).

Tracliynema digitate A. Agass. Strawberry Har-
bor, 15 f.

Cyanca arctica Pdr. ct Lesson. Strait of Belle Isle.

Aurelia Jlaviditla Pdr. et Lesson. Strait of Belle
Isle, and in retired bays.

Idyia roseola Agass. Cape Webuc (Harrison) to
Salmon Bay in tbe Strait of Belle Isle.

Plciirobrachia rhododaclyla Agass. Little Mecatina
Island.

A/ericHsia ovum Morcb.

Echi\()1)i:kms.

Astrophyton euciicviis Miiller and Troseliel. Strait
of Belle Isle, 18 to 80 f.

Ophiacaiitha spinulosa Mull, and Truscb. Strait of
Belle Isle, 40 f.

Amphiura sundcvalli M. and T. Cateau Bay, Long
Island, 15 f.

OpJiiopholis aculcata Miiller. Wbole coast 2-50 f.

Ophioglyplia Sarsii (Liitken). Cateau Bay, Long
Island, 15 f.

' Ophioglypha nodosa Lyman. Salmon Bay to Square
Island, low-water to 30 f.

Ophioglypha robusta (Ayres). L'Anse-au-Loup to
Square Island, 2-10 f. (Stearns).

Crossastcr p)apposa (Linn.). Salmon Bay, Square Isi
and, 15-30 f.

tMi

STARFISH.

371

Solaster endeca (Linn.) Forbes. Long Island, Catcau
Bay, i5f.

Cribella sani^uinolcnta (MUll.). Salmon Bay, Strait
of Belle Isle, 15 f., S(iuare Island (Stearns).

Asterias groenlandiciis Steenstr. Caribou Island and
Square Island, 15 f.

Asterias vulgaris Stimps. Whole coast.

A s terms polar/ s (Miill et Trosch.). Caribou Island,
Square Island and Hopedale. Large specimens, measur-
ing 20 inches across, frccjuently occurred in pools at low-
vatermark. The color in life was a light greenish hue,
mottled with reddish brown.

Lcpastcrias littoralis (Stimps.). Near Scjuare Island,
1-5 f. (Stearns).

Stronc,vloccntrotiis drobachicnsis Agass. Whole coast.

Echinarachnius parnia Gray. Strait of Belle Isle.

Lopkothiiria Fabricii\^xx\Vi. Esquimaux Bay, 15 f.

Pcntacta calcigcra Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle.

Pcntacta frondosa Jaeger. Strait of Belle Isle.

Ckirodota Ucvc Grubc. Whole coast.

Eupyrgus scabcr Ltitken. Salmon Bay, 10 f., to
Long Island, 15 f.

Myriotrochus Rinkii Steenstr. Sandwich Bay to
Domino, 7-30 f.

POLYZOANS.

Tubtdipora serpens (Linn.). Square Island, 30 f. ;
Henley Harbor.

Tubulipor a patina Johnst. Domino Harbor, 7 f.
Tubulipora divisa Stimps. Henley Harbor, 4 f.
Tubulipora hispida Johnst. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
Tubulipora palmata Wood. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

bliiiii' ^

372

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

r A

F| -i

TubuLipora expansa (Packard). Strait of Belle Isle.

Tubulipora atlantica Johnst. Strait of Belle Isle,
50 f. ; Square Island, 30 f.

Discoporella verrucaria (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle,.
50 f.

Hippothoa catcmilaric Jameson.

Hippothoa borealis D'Orb. Strait of Belle Isle and
Cateau Harbor.

Hippothoa expansa Dawson. Strait of Belle Isle.

Lcpralia annulata O. Fabr. Strait of Belle Isle ;
also in Cateau Harboi, Long Island, 15 f.

Lcpralia ciliata Johnst. Whole coast.

Lepralia (n. sc). Allied to L. trispinosa Johnst. ;
very abundant.

Lepralia per tusa Thomps. Cateau Harbor, 15 f.

Lcpralia producta Pack.

Lepralia trispinosa Jf inst.

Lepralia Belli Dawson. Strait of Belle Isle.

Lepralia labiata Stimps.

Lepralia lineata Hassell.

Smittia globifera (Pack.).

Electra pilosa (Linn.).

Membra7iipora lineata (Linn.). Strait of Belle Isle,
10-50 f.

Membranipora tmicornis var. americana D'Orb.

Membranipora solida Pack.

Beania adniiranda Pack.

Crisiae burnea {\J\XiX\?). Hopedale, 10 f.; Henley Har-
bor, 4 f.

Bugulopsis Peachii (Busk.).

Cellularia ternata (Solander). Strait of Belle Isle,
50 f.

MOLLUSCS.

373

Isle,

Scrupocellaria americana Pack. Strait of Belle Isle,
50 f. ; Belles Amours, 8 f. ; Square Island, 10-30 f.
Acamarchis plurnosa Busk. Thomas Bay, 15 f.
Caber ea Hooker i Busk.

Flustra borealis (Pack.). Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
Flustra truncata Linn.
F. membranacea Linn.
Flustra papyrea Pall, digitata (Pack.). Chateau Bay,

30 f.

Bugula murrayana Busk. Whole coast.

Bugula murrayana var. fruticosa Pack.

Cellepora pumicosa Ellis.

Celleporaria surcularis Pack. Can. Nat. p. 410.

Escliara lobata Lamx. ? Whole coast, 10-50 f.

E, elega7itula D'Orb. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Porella elegantula D'Orb. var. papposa (Pack.).
Chateau Bav.

Leieschara subgracilis (D'Orh.) (A fyrw20u?u subgracile
D'Orb.). Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Brachiopods.

Hypothyris psittacea King.

Frequent on hard and sandy bottoms along the whole
coast in from eight to fifty fathoms.

MOLLUSCS. *

LaMELLIBRANCII I ATA.

Anomia ephippium Linn. Caribou Island, 8 f. ;
Square Island, 30 f.
Anomia aculeata Gmelin. Strait of Belle Isle, 10-50 f.

* This list has been perfected by incorporating the species found by Mr. W.
A. Stearns, and recorded by Miss Katharine J. Bush in her " Catalogue of
MoUuscE.," etc., of Labrador.

ML.

374

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Astarte Banksii Leach. Whole coast in deep water.

Astarte compressa (Linn.). Abundant on the whole
coast in from lo to 50 f.

Astarte arctica (Gray). Henley Harbor to Square
Island, 2-15 f. (Stearns).

Astarte elliptica (Brown). Henley Harbor, 5-15 f.
(Stearns.)

Astarte striata Leach. Hopedale, 10 f.

Cardium ciliatum Fabr. Square Island, 30 f ; Sal-
mon Bay, ID f.

Cardhcm Hayesii St\m^s. Whole coast, 10-30 f.

Pecten tenuicostatus Mighl. Strait of Belle Isle.

Pecten islandicus Miill. Whole coast, 10-50 f.

Limatula sulculus Leach. Several were dredged in

1 5-50 f.

Nucula tenuis Turton. Common on the whole coast.

Nucula expansa Reeve. Chateau Bay, 50 f.

Yoldia myalis (Couth). L'Anse-au-Loup, 15 f.

Yoldia sapotilla Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle, 10-15 L

Leda buccata Stimps. Long Island, 15 f. ; Henley
Harbor, 20 f.

Leda Jacksoni Gould. Henley Harbor, 10-15 f.
(Stearns.)

Leda minuta (Fabr.). Whole coast, 15-50 f.

Crenella glandula (Totten). Caribou Island, 5 f.;
Square Island, 30 f.

Modiolaria corrugata Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Modiqlaria nigra (Gray). L'Anse-au-Loup, 10 f.
(Stearns.)

Modiolaria discors (IJinn.). Near Square Island, 1-4 f.
(Stearns.)

Modiolaria Icevigata Gray.

MOLLUSCS.

375

I u I— m

•15

Modiolaria faba (Fabr.). Henley Harbor, 4 f.

Modiolaria discrepans Mull. Strait of Belle Isle;
Square Island, 30 f.

Mytilus modiolus Linn. Strait of Belle Isle.

Mytilus ednlis Linn. Whole coast.

Alasmodonta ar'cuata Barnes ? I was told that a fresh-
water mussel was common in Salmon River.

Pisidium Stcenbuchii (Moll.). Square Island and
Strawberry Harbor.

Cryptodon obesus Verrill. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.,
and whole coast.

Axinopsis orbiculata Sars. Henley Harbor, 10-15 f.
(Stearns.)

Venericardia borealis (Conn). Strait of Belle Isle,
50 f.; Long Island, 15 f.; Chateau Bay, 50 f.

Cardium pinmdatiLm Conr. It did not occur north
of the Strait of Belle Isle.

Serripes groenlandicHs V>^c^. Whole coast, 10-50 f.

Gemma Totteni Stimps. Indian Harbor, low-water.

Tapes fiuctiwsa Sowb. Henley Harbor, 20 f.; Square
Island, 30 f.

Mactra solidissinia Chemn. Mouth of Esquimaux
River ; Strait of Belle Isle.

Mactra polyncma Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle.

Mesodesina Jaiiresii Joannis. Strait of Belle Isle.

Macoma fragilis {^2i\)\. fiisca Gould). Whole coast.

Macoma sabulosa Stimps. Whole coast.

Solen ensis Linn. Strait of Belle Isle.

Tliracia Conradi Couth. Strait of Belle Isle.

Thracia myopsis Beck. Salmon Bay, 10 f. ; Long
Island, 15 f.

Periploma papyracea (Say.). Chateau Bay, 15 £

I^smI

I • .i:,-'^

wmFT

H'"'

376

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Kennerlia glacialis (Leach). Strait of Belle Isle, 1 5 f. ;
Henley Harbor, 20 f.; Square Island, 30 f.

Lyonsia arenosa (Moll.). Strait of Belle Isle, 15 f.;
Long Island, 15 f.

Cyrtodaria siliqiia Daudin. Strait of Belle Isle, 1 5-
50 f.

Mya truncata Linn. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f; Square
Island, 30 f.

Mya arenaria Linn. Whole coast.

Saxicava rugosa Linn. Whole coast, 10-50 f.

Gasteropods.

Clione limacina Phipps. Whole coast.

Limacina helicina Phipps. Off Cape Harrison.

Prodoporia ? sp. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Eolis sp. Henley Harbor, 4 f.

Dendroiiotus arbor escens Fabr. Hen lev Harbor,

CylicJma alba Lov6n. Caribou Island, JO-15 f.;
Chateau Bay, 50 f.; Sloop Harbor, 7 f.

Bulla pertemiis Migh. Belles Amours, 8 f.

Bulla occulta Migh.

Coryphella divcrsa Couth. L'Anse-au-Loup. (Stearns.)

Tonicella marmorea (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle, low-
water to 50 f., and northward.

Trac hydcrmou album (YJiun.^. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
' T. rubrum. (Linn.). Whole coast north to Square
Island. (Stearns.)

Acmcea testudinalis Miiil. Low-water to 15 f.; whole
coast.

Acmeea rubella (Fabr.). Square Island, 30 f.; Stra^v-
berry Harbor, 20 f.

MOLLUSCS.

377

Lepeta cceca (Miill.). Henley Harbor. (Stearns.)

Puncturella noachina (Linn.). Strait of Belle Isle,
10-50 f.; Square Island, 30 f.

Scissurella crispata Flem. Strait of Belle Isle.

Adeorbis costiilata Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle.

Machce7'oplax varicosa {^\^^\'^. Square Island, 10-
30 f. ; Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
^ Mac hisi'oplaxobsnira (Couth.). L'Anse-au-Loup, i5f.

Margarita cincrea Gould. Caribou Island, 7 f.; Long
Island, 15 f.; Square Island, 30 f.

Margarita argentata Gould. Near Square Island.
(Stearns.)

Margarita grcenlandica (Gm.). Strait of Belle Isle,
15-20 f.

Margarita Jieliciiia Moll. Strait of Belle Isle.

Margarita campanulata Morse. Strait of Belle Isle.

Littorinclla mimUa (Totten). Strait of Belle Isle ;
Fox Harbor. (Stearns.)

Cingu/a castanea Moll. Strait of Belle Isle ; near
Square Island, 1-4 f.

Veliitina haliotoides Miill. Whole coast.

Lactina vincta Turt

Littorifia vestita Gould,
whole coast.

Littori7ta palliata Go\x\d. Strait of Belle Isle, with
varieties as in Maine.

Littorina littorea (Linn.). (Stearns.)

Sea/aria grcenlaiidica Perry.

Turritella erosa Couth. Chateau Bay, Long Island,

Turritella reticulata Mighl. Salmon Bay, 15 f.;
Chateau Bay, 15 f.; Square Island, 30 f.; Hopedale, 10 f.

Square Island. 30 f.

Not uncommon along the

-:■,!

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11^

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378

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Turritellopsis acicula (Stimps.). Strait of Belle Isle^

50 f.

Aporrhais occidentalis Beck. Salmon Bay to Hope-
dale, 6-50 f.

Menestho albula Moll. Strait of Belle Isle, 2-15 f.

Velutina Icsvigata (Linn.). Henley Harbor, 3-8 f.;
Square Island, 1-4 f. (Stearns.)

Lamellar ia per spicua Lovdn. 15 f.

Natica heros Say. Salmon Bay, Strait of Belle Isle.

Natica clausa Sowb. Whole coast, 15 f.

Lunatia grwnlaiidica (Moll.). Chateau Bay, 15 f.

Bela scalaris {)Aid\\.^. Square Island, 15-30 f.; Dump-
lin Harbor, 4 i.

Bela rosea Sars. Forteau Bay, 20 f. (Stearns.)

Bela mitrula 'Low en. With the preceding. (Stearns.)

Bela incisula Verrill. Forteau Bay to Square Isl-
and, 2" 20 f. (Stearns.)

Bela nobilis (Moller). Whole Coast.

Bela woodiana Moll. Whole Coast.

Bela exarata (Moll.). Whole coast.

Bela dccussata (Couth.). Salmon Bay, 10-15 ^-I
Square Island, 30 f. '

Bela pleurotomaria (Couth.). Square Island, 30 f.;
Sandwich Bay, 4 f.

Bela py rami dalis Stimps. Square Island, 30 f.

Bela cancellata Mighl. Square Island, 30 f.

Bela violaeca Stimps. Square Island, 30 f.

Bela borealis (Rve.). Square Island, 30 f.; Sandwich
Bay 4 f.

Buecinum donovani Gxdiy. Henley Harbor, low-water
to 15 f. (Stearns.)

Buccinum totteni Stimps. Henley Harbor, 8-15 f.
(Stearns.)

MOLLUSCS.

279

Buccinum ciliatum (Fabr.). Henley Harbor, 3-8 f.
(Stearns.)

Buccinuin tindatum Linn. Whole coast.

Buccinum tenue Gray. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Tritonofusus crctaceus (Reeve). Strait of Belle Isle
to Square Island, 7-30 f.

Sipho lividus (Morch). Henley Harbor to Square
Island, 1-8 f. (Stearns.)

Ftisus syrtensis Pack. Square Island, 30 f.

Fusus tornatus Gould. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

TricJioti'opis borealis Brod. and Sowb. Whole coast,
10-50 f.

Adnicte cotithouyi (Jay). Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.
(Square Island, 1-4 f. Stearns.)

Trophon clathratjis (Linn.). L'Anse-au-Loup, 10-
15 f.; Henley Harbor, 3-15 f.

Trophon scalarifornie Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle,
50 f.; Chateau Bay, 50 f.; Henley Harbor, 20 f.

Astyris rosacea (Gould). L'Anse-au-Loup, 8 f,;
Henley Harbor, 3-8 f. (Stearns.)

Ischmia {Pupa^ Hoppii Beck. Strawberry Harbor.

Zoogcnctes harpa (Say). Caribou Island.

Conuhis {Helix) Fabricii Beck et M oiler. Straw-
berry Harbor.

Hyalina electriiia (Say). Belles Amours.

Vitrina angeliccB Beck et Mdller. Strawberry Harbor.

Limax agrestis Linn. Strawberry Harbor and at
Square Island.

Cephalopods.

Ommastrephes illecebrosus Les.
15 f.; and Fox Harbor. (Stearns.)

L'Anse-au-Loup,

.,Hlf!|

ic'i ft

liiUBilll'' i'

^1" ".fyf

ill

380

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Worms.

Syrinx ? sp. Salmon Bay, 8 f.

Phascolion strombi Thoel. {^Phascolosoma hamulatum
Pack.) Salmon bay, 8 f.

Gordtus lacustris Fabr.? Fauna Gronl. Caribou Is.

Pontobdella sp. Henley Harbor, 4 f.

Po7itobdella ? livida Pack. Belles Amours, 8 f.

Ccrebi'attdiis {Aleckelid) olivacea Rathke. Salmon
Bay- 10 f., to Henley Harbor, 20 f.

Cerebratiihis cylindricus Pack. Belles Amours, 8 f.

Lumbrictis terrestris Linn.? Square Is. and Hopedale.

Spirorbis vitrcus (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle, 40-
50 f.; Strawberry Harbor, 15 f.

Spirorbis sinistrorstts Montagu. Henley Harboi, 4 t.

Spirorbis Incidus M orch. {Spirorbis porrectus M till. ).
Whole coast, 11-30 f.

Spirorbis cancellatus (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle, 40 f.

Spiroi^bis granuiatus (MuW.). Whole coast, io-4of.

Spirorbis spirilhim (Linn.). Whole coast.

Vermilia serrtila Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle, 50 f.

Amphitrite cirrata Mtill. Cateau Harbor; Caribou
Island, Strait of Belle Isle, 8 f.

Amphitrite f sp.

Ampharete Grubei Malmgren. Henley Harbor, 4 f.

Pectinaria granulata ( Li nn. ). Cistenidcs granulattis
Linn, non Johnst. Whole coast, low-water to 50 f.

Pr axilla Millleri Malmg. Chateau Bay, 30-40 f.

Nicomache himbricalis Malmg. Salmon Bay, 8 f.

Spiochcstoptei'tis typicus Sars. Chateau Bay, 30-40 f.

Arenicola marina (Linn.). {Arenicola piscatorum
Lamk.)

i' '

CRUSTACEANS.

381

Trophonia aspci'a (Stimps.). {Siphonostomum as-
per'um Stimps.) Salmon Bay, 8 f.

Trophonia plumosa (Milll.). Salmon Bay, 10 f.

Cirratulus cirratiis (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle.

Hetcvoncrcis arctica Oersted ? Strait of Belle Isle.

Ncpkthys lo)i^isctosa Oersted. Belles Amours, 5 f.

Nephtliys cesca Oersted. Whole coast, 5-30 f.

Eteone cylindrica Oersted. Belles Amours, 5 f.

Phyllodoce grccnlandica Oersted. Salmon Bay, 8 f.;
Square Island, 15-20 f.

Nothria conchylega Malmgren. Salmon Bay, 15 f.;
Chateau Bay, 30 f. ; Gateau Harbor, 15 f.

Nereis pclagica (\J\m-\.). Whole coast, 10-30 f.

Nereis dcnticidata Stimps. Salmon Bay, between
tide-marks.

Plioloe mifmta Oersted. Belles. Amours, 8 f.

Harmothoe imbricata Linn. Whole coast, 4-15 f.

Lepidonohis squaniatus (Linn.). Whole coast, low-
water to 20 f.

Crustaceans.*

Nympho7i grossipcs Fabr. Salmon Bay and Square
Island; 15-30 f.

. Coroimla diadcma (Linn.). Taken quite frequently
froHi the skin of whales caught in the Gulf of St. Law-
rence.

Balanus crenatiis Brug. Whole coast.
Balaniis balanoidcs Linn. Whole Coast.
Balaims porcatns Da Costa. Whole coast.

* Compare also " List by Prof. S. J. Smith of Crustacea from Port Burwell,
collected by Dr. R. Bell in 1884." Report of Progress of Geological and Nat-
ural History Survey and Museum of Canada, 1S82-83-84. Appendix iv. 57
DD. (Port Burwell is an inlet on the Ungava side of Cape Chidley),

if lit

riils'

■iiMI

P ^

ft '

382

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Lerncra branchialis Linn.

Daphnia sp. Found al)undantly in all the fresh-water
pools.

CypridiJia excisa St imps.

Bi'iinchmecia paludosa (MQli.). Found abundantly at
" Indian Tickle," on the north shore of Invuctoke Inlet,
in a pool of fresh water.

Ncbalia bipes Fahn Henley Harbor, 4-8 f.

Bopyriis mysidum Pack.

Aif^a s{). One specimen was taken from the under
side of a cod in the Strait of Belle Isle.

Tanais filum Stimps. Caribou Island, 8 f.

Praniza ccrimi Stimps. Ciiateau Bay, Long Island,

15 f-

J(sra nival is Ys^xoy^x. Indian Harbor, Sandwich Bay.

Idotcea viarmorata Pack. Sloop Harbor, Kyuetar
buck Bay, 7 f.

Caprclla scptcntrionalis Kroyer. Wiiole coast, 4-30 f.

Hypcria mcdusanivi Bate. Found with numerous
young in the stomach-cavity of Cyanca arctica, at Dom
ino Harbor.

Diilic/iia porrccta {fide Bocck).

Cerapus rnbriforjuis Stimps. Inhabits flexible tubes
in HaleciiDii lialccina. Eight fathoms, sand, Carib(ju
Island, Strait of Belle Isle.

Amp/iitJwc mactdata Stimps. Henley Harbor, 8 f.

Ganimariis lociista (Linn.) Leach.

Gammarus dentatus Kroyer. Square Island, 15-30
f.; Strait of Belle Isle, 15 f.; Chateau Bay, 20-30 f.

Paramphitoe panopla K royer.

Calliope heviiisciila Bate. Henley Harbor, 4 f.; Stag
Bay, 15 f.

CRUSTACEANS.

383

Amphitonottis Edwardsii Bate. Square Island, 30 f.
Amplutonotns cataphractiis Stimps. Henley Harbor,

4f.

Atylus vulgaris Bate. Henley Harbor, 4 f.; Square
Island, 15 f.; at Sta<j Bay, 15 f.

Atylus {Paramp/iitoe) inermis (Kroyer). Henley
Harbor, 10-20 f.

Atylus {ParampJiitoif) bispinosus Beck.

iMonoculodcs nubilatus Pack. Caribou Island, 8 f.;
Henley Harbor, 4 f.

Ampelisca Gaimardi. Chateau Bay, 30 f. ; Catcau
Harbor, 15 f.

Ampelisca pelagica (Stimps). Chateau Bay, 30 f.;
Stao; Bay, 10 f.; Caribou Island, 8 f.; Long Island, 15 f.;
Strawberry Harbor, 14 f.

Avipclisca Eschrichtii Kroyer. Caribou Island,

14 f.

Haploops tiibicola Kroyer. Cateau Harbor, 15 f.

Pontoporeia fcmorata Kroyer. Belles Amours, Strait
of Belle Isle, 5-8 f.

Anonyx ampiilla (Phipps). Dumplin Harbor, Sand-
wich Bay, 4 f.

Anonyx lagena Kroyer. Sloop Harbor, 8 f.

Afionyx prodnc/a, 15 f., sand.

Lysianassa appcndiculata Kroyer. Henley Harbdr,
Strait of Belle Isle, 40 f.

Alauna Goodsiri Bell. Belles Amours, 6 f.; Thomas
Bay, 15 f.; Square Island, 15-30 f.; Henley Harbor, 8 f.;
Cateau Bay, Long Island, 15 f.

Mysis ocnlata Fabr. Abundant along the whole coast.
The young go in schools, and the sea-trout consume
great numbers of them.

I ill

384

THE ZUOLOGY OK THK LAUKADOR COAST.

Pandalus annu/iconu's Leach. Henley Harbor;
Sloop Harbor, 6 f. ; Hopcdalc, 10 f.

Uippoiytc acuUata {V\\\'>x.) \\.x()\c\\ Caribou Island^
14 I'.; Square Island, 15-30 f.; Domino Harbor, 7 f.;
Slrait of Hello Isle, 10 f.

Jlippo/yU' po/aris {'^•A\nnc) Kroyer. Square Island,
J 5-30 f.; Strait of I3elle Isle, 10 f.

Uippoiytc J^liippsii Kroyer. Domino Harbor, 7 f.

Ilippolyte hirg/da Kroyer. Belles Amours, 10 f.

Ifippolytc maciloita Kroyer. Scjuare Island, 15-30 f.

Ifippolytc Sinvcrbyi Leach. Square Island, 15-30 f.

Ilippolyte Gaimardi M. Edwards. Common on the
whole coast. Caribou Island, 15 f.; Square Island, 30 f.;
Henley Harbor and Sloop Harbor, 8 f .; Hopedale, 10 f.

Ilippolyte Fabricii Kroyer. Domino Harbor, 7 f.

Argis lar Owen. Square Island, 30 f.

Sabinca scptemcarinata Sabine. Thomas Bay, I5f.

Crampon ^^^r^i" ( Phipps). Caribou Island, 8 f. ; Strait
of Belle Isle, 10 f. ; Square Island, 30 f.; Henley Har-
bor, 4-10 f.

Crauooit vulmris Fabr. Caribou Island.

Hoiuarus amcricanus M. Edw. Henley Harbor ;
rare. This seems to be the northern limits of the lobster.

Eupao-tiriis pubesccns Stimps. Abundant on the
whole coast from low-v^ater mark to fifty fathoms. Strait
of Belle Isle, 50 f.; Hopedale, 10 f.

^Eupao^uriis Kroyeri Stimps. Found with preceding.

Ilyas coaj^ctata Leach. Henley Harbor, 30 f.

Ilyas arauca (Linn.).. Abundant along the whole
coast, 5-50 f.

Ckioncecetcs opilio (Fabr.). Strait of Belle Isle,
10-50 f.; Chateau Bay, 30-50 f.

SIMDKKS.

385

Cancer borcalis Slimps. Not unconiinoii at (Jaiihou
island, Strait of Ik'llc Isle, hut it did not occur to us
northward. I was informed that it was found in Hamil-
ton Inlci. where the temperature of the water must be

hif^her than on the coast.

LIST OF THE SPIDERS. MVRIOPODS, AND
INSECTS OF LA Hk A DOR.

A list of all the known species of terrestrial Arthro-
pods of the Lahrador coast may prove convenient as a
startinj^-point for future investigations. Hence I have,
hesides enumerating the si)ecies of other groups, revised
the lists of Lepidoptera — Mr. Scudder kindly contrihut-
the list of huttertlies. F^or changes in the names of the
Tortricidae I am indehled to Prof. C. W. Fernald's ex-
cellent catalogue of the Tortricidteof the United States;
Prof. FYunald has also revised the list of Pyralidae.

Araciixida.

The spiders which I collected at various points on the
coast were sent to Prof. T. Thorell, of Upsala, for iden-
tification and description. Out of ten s[)ecies collected,
seven were new to science. Prof. Thorell's paper was
published in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of
Natural History, xvii., April 21, 1875.

Epcira pata^iata (Cierck). Square Island, Straw-
berry Harbor.

Epcira Packardii Thor. Square Island.

Tetragnatha cxtensa (Linn.). Square Island.

Linyphia Emertonii Thor. Square Island, and near
Dumplin Harbor.

lU.lJ

i?t;':!|

386

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Square Island.
Strawberry Harbor.
Strawberry Harbor.
Square Island, and near

Clubiona frigidula Thor.

Gnaphosa bt'umalzs Thor.

Lycosa grceniandua Thor.

Lycosa furcifera Thor.
Dumplin Harbor.

Lycosa fiiscula Thor. Strawberry Harbor.

Lycosa labradorensis Thor. Strawberry Harbor and
Square Island.

Xystic7is labradorensis Keys. K. K. Zool. Bot. Ges.
Wien., 479, 1887. Ungava Bay (Turner).

Myriopoda.
JmIus sp. Square Island.

Insects.

Ortkoptera.

Calopte7ius. A Pezzotettix-like species, with short
wings. Square Island.

Odonata.

Diplaxs\).,utdir rubicundii/a. Caribou Island. Drag-
on-flies were very rare on the coast, and I saw none
north of the Strait of Belle Isle.

yEschna sp. Caribou Island. Perhaps another
species (identified by Dr. P. R. Uhler) also occurred,
and an i^schna-like form was observed at Tub Island.

Hemiptera,

Teratocoris sp.

Deltocephalus debilis Uhler. Hopedale. A few other
species of Cercopidse were seen at Caribou Island.

iPVi

I l,.'1lil

>:i#!

BEETLES.

387

Trigo7iotylus ruficoniis Fallen. Hopedale.
Corixa sp.

Platyptei'a.
Pteronarcys regalis. Okkak. Hopedale.

Plcctoptera.

Potamanthiis marginalus Ztit. This boreal European
May-fly, occurring in Lapland, we have found in abun-
dance in southern Labrador.

Per la sp. Belles Amours.

Chloropcrla sp. A small greenish species was observed
at Strawberry Harbor.

Trichoptera.

Desniatatilius phuiip'oris Kol. Okkak.

Lininopliihis siihpiinctidattis Zett. This Lapland cad-
dis-fly is the most abundant species in Labrador, and
what are probably its cases are common in the pools of
fresh water. Three or four other species also occurred,
but have not been identified. No genuine Nettroptcra
or Mccoptcra (Panorpida^) occurred.

COLEOPTERA.

Lepyrus colofi (Linn.). Cape Chidley (R. Bell).
Pissodes ? sp, Hopedale.
Coccinella laaistris Lee. Okkak.
Leptura sp. Caribou Island.
Criocephaliis obsoletus Randall. Okkak.
Ar^aleus: miens Lee. Near Cape Harrison.
Telephortis fraxini Say. Hopedale.
Podabrus Icevicollis Kirby. Hopedale.

Ill

iJSi-i

388

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

V-! r

Podabriis mandibiilaris Kirby. Caribou Island.

Sericosomus incongruus Lee, Square Island.

Eanus vagus Lee. Square Island.

£. pieties (Cand.) Horn. {E. niaciilipennis Lee.)
Caribou Island to Square Island.

Cryptohypmts bicolor Germ. Belles Amours, Straw-
berry Harbor and Indian Harbor.

Byrrhus amcricmius Lee. Caribou Island.

D, Kirbyi Lee. {B. picipes^. Caribou Island.

Atomaria. Not determined. Caribou Island.

Ips sanguinolentus Oliv. Caribou Island.

Blcdius. Not determined.

Qucditts sublimbatus Mokl. Blanc Sablon (R. Bell).

Tacliyportis n. sp. Hopedale.

Crcophihis villosiis Gray. Caribou Island.

Agathidiuin obsolctum Lee. Square Island.

Silpha Lappouica Linn. Caribou Island to Hopedale.

Philhydrtis bijidus Lee. Caribou Island.

Gyrmus picipes A\xh(t} Square Island.

G. minutus Linn. Square Island.

G. affinis Aube ? Square Island.

Colymbctcs picipcs Kirby. Caribou Island and Straw-
berry Harbor.

C. binotatus Harris (probably).

C. sculptilis Harris. Caribou Island, Square Island,
Hopedale.
' C. 710V. sp. Square Island.

Agabtis parallclns Lee. Square Island.

A. longulus Lee.? Stupart's Bay (R. Bell).

A. anibiguus Lee. {A. infuscatus Aub^). Caribou
Island.

A. subfasciahis Lee. Caribou Island.

BEETLES.

389

and,

A. semipimctatus (Kirby). Caribou Island.

A. IcBvidorsus Lee. Caribou Island.

A. piuictiilatus Aube. Caribou Island.

A. discolor Lee. Indian Harbor.

Hydroporics catascopium Say. Square Island and
Dumplin Harbor.

H. tenebrosus Lee. Caribou Island.

H. piiberidus Lee. Sloop Harbor and Dumplin
Harbor.

H. longicornis. Stupart's Bay (R. Bell).

H. perplexiLs Shp. Stupart's Bay (R. Bell).

Trechus micaus Lee. Belles Amours.

Patrobiis tc7itns Lee. Square Island,

P. Jiyperboretts Dejean. Belles Amours, Strait of
Belle Isle ; Cape Chidley (R. Bell).

Harpalits Jierbivagus Say., v-diX.proximtcs Lee. Square
Island.

Amara oblusa Lee.

Aniara, near A. melanogastrica Esch., perbaps A.
bninni.

A. peiinis Dej. Caribou Island.

Amara, "no name." Strawberry Harbor, Square
Island, and Hopedale.

A. similis Lee. {Stereoccrtis siniilis Kirby). Caribou
Island.

A. Juematopiis Kirby. Sloop Harbor, Hopedale,
Okkak (S. VVeiz).

Pterosticlms adsir ictus Esch., var. oriiwniiun Kirby.
Mecatina ; Gulf St. Lawrence.

Pterostichns hudsonicus Lee. Stupart's Bay (R. Bell).

Pt.y speeies not determined. Hopedale, Tinker Isl-
and, off Cape Harrison (Cape Webuc).

390

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

H '

%l.i

Pt. liiczottii Dej. Blanc Sablon (R. Bell).

Platyniis simuitus Dej. Belles Amours, Strait of
Belle Isle.

Calatlms ingrains Dej. Whole coast.

Carabtis cJiamissonis Fischer. Domino Harbor and
Okkak.

Nebria Sahlbergii Fischer. Sloop Harbor, Cape
Chidley (R. Bell).'

Notiopkilns Sibirictis Motsch. Domino Harbor,
Square Island.

DiPTERA.

Scatina estotilandica Rondani, Archiv, etc. Canestrini
iii., fasc. i, 35, Labrador. Osten Sacken adds : Mr.
Rondani, in the same place, mentions Scatophaga dia-
denia Wiedemann (Montevideo) as having been re-
ceived from Labrador.

HclopJiilus glacialis Loew. Stett. Ent. Zeit. vii., 121.

Helophi'lus grcenlandiciis (O. Fabr.).

Do/ichopies sten/ianwiari Y.Qtt. Sloop Harbor, July 19.

Tkcrioplectcs Jiavipes W ied.

Thcrioplcctes septentrionalis Loew. Verb. Zool. Bot.
Ges Wien., 1858, 593.

Tipula tesscllata Loew. Cent, iv., 4.

Tipula septcnlrionalis Loew. Cent, iv., 3.

Micromyia Icucorurn. Prof. C. W. Woodworth writes
me that on examining the collection of Diptera which
I made in Labrador, and which is now in the Cambridge
Museum, he detected the rare European Cecidomyid
Microinyia leucoruni, " belonging to a genus hitherto
unrecorded for North America." The collection consists
mostly of muscids, with some interesting Empidse.

1 ?i.

F,I;

■■M

MOTHS.

391

Amalopsis hypcrborca O. Sacken. Monogr. iv., 269.
Dicranoniyia haltcrata O. Sacken. Monog. iv., 71.

LEPIDOFTERA.

Tineidcr.

Glyphipteryx sp. Caribou Island,

Tinea fiiscipiuictclla Haw. ( = GicopJwra fri^idclla
Pack.). Caribou and Square Islands.

CEcopliora sp. Hopedale.

Incurvaria labradorella Clem. Caribou Island.

Ornix boreasclla Clem. Caribou Island.

Tinea spilotcUa Tengstrom. Caribou Island, Square
Island, " Okkak. June." Christoph.

Gelechia continnella Zell. Moeschl. (' = trimaculella
Pack.). Strawberry Harbor.

Gelechia labradorica Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Gelechia bmmella Clem. Caribou Island.

TortricidcB.

Grapholitha nebnlosana Pack. Strawberry Harbor.

Phoxopteris plagosana (Clem.). Caribou Island and
Square Island.

Phoxopteris tineana Hubn. (Pandemis leucophale-
rata Pack.). Hopedale.

Sericoris bipartitana (Clem.). Caribou Island.

Pccdisca solicitajia (Walk.) (Halonota packardiana
Clem.). Caribou Island.

Sericoris tnrfosana H. S.

Sericoris glacia)iay\.QQ<=>Q\i\. Whole coast; common.

Penthina cnprcana (Hiibn.).

Penthina murina Pack. Caribou Island.

'A ,:|

(, I

392

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

PeiitJiina scptentriojiana Curtis. Sloop and Straw-
berry Harbors. (Polar regions, Curtis.)

Pent Ji ilia micrjm'stana (Clem.). (P. tessellana Pack.).
Caribou Island to Hopedale.

Poithina frii^idana Pack.

Cone Jiy lis dentschiana Zetterstedt (Lozopera ? fusco-
strigana Clem. ; C. chalcaiia Pack.).

SciapJiila osscana Scopoli (Ablabia pratana Iliibn.)

SciapJiila niocsc/i/criana (VVrcke).

Sciapliila uivcosana Pack. Moravian Stations, Au-
£l^ust.

PyraIid(C.

Crtivibus ■>:vistri(itcllus Pack. Caribou Island.

Cra))i{)ns aroillacccllus Pack. Square Island.

CriDnbns triclioslonuts Christoph. Moravian Stations.

Cr ambus labradorcnsis Christoph. " Okkak, July."

Crambus albellus Q\q:\w. Mouth of Esquimaux River,
Aug. 3.

Cra)}d)us inornatcll us Q\q.xx\. Caribou Island, July 15.

Scoparia crnturic/ia Sv. {Pcmpclia fusca Harv.
Endorca / frigidclla Pack. ).

Endorea / albisinuatclla Pack. Okkak.

Pyrausta borcalis Pack. Square Island.

Pyraiista cpJiippialis Zcttst.

J\raitsta torvalis Moeschl.

P/iiyiiavna inquinatalis Zell. (Scopulaglacialis Pack.).
Hopedale.

PJialc^cnidcc.

Eupitliccia lutcata Pack. Caribou Island. July.
EupitJiccia gclidala Moeschl. Moravian Stations.
Glaiuopteryx ccesiata (S. V.). Whole coast.

MOTHS.

393

Gla7icoptc7'yx polata (Dupon.). Whole coast.

ii laucoptcryx phocaiaria (Moeschl.). Moravian Sta-
tions.

Epirrita dilntata (Borkh.). Moravian Stations.

J^ctropJiora tnincata (Hufn.). Whole coast.

Pctrophora priinata (Linn.). • Whole coast.

l\'trophora populixta (Linn.). Whole coast.

Pctrophora suspcctata (Moeschl.). Moravian Stations.

Ochyria viunitaria Iliibn., and var. labradorcnsis
Pack. Caribou Island.

Ochyria abrasaria H. Sch. Caribou Island.

RJicuuiaptcra lugiibrata Stand. Whole coast.

Rhcnniaptcra hastata (Linn.). Whole coast.

Rhciimaplcra disccplaria (F. R.). Moravian Stations.

Triphosa did)itaria (Linn.). Caribou Island.

Semioihisa dispuncta (Walk.). (Sex-maculata Pack.).
Square Island.

Anaitis sororaria Iliibn. Moravian Stations.

Aspilatcs gilvaria S. V^. Moravian Stations.

Acidalia scntinaria Iliibn. Moravian Stations.

Acidalia Jrigidaria Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

NoctitidcB.

Brcphos parthcnias (\J[ux\?). Moravian Stations.
Pliisia u-aiirciim Boisd. Moravian Stations.
Plnsia parilis Iliibn. Moravian Stations.
Plusia divcrocns Fabr Moravian Stations.
Anarta funcsta (Thunberg). Moravian Stations.
Anarta mclaiiopa (Thun.). Moravian Stations.
Anarta Melaleuca (Thun.). Moravian Stations.
Whole coast.

mw&

f^m

394

THE Z()Ol/)(iV OK THE LABRADOR COAST.

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ULiii

Auar/a vidua Christoph. Moravian Stations.

Anarta cordigera (Thun.). Moravian Stations.

Anarta algida Lef. Moravian Stations.

Anarta lapponica (Thun.). Moravian Stations.

Anarta schonherri Zett. Moravian Stations.

Anarta zcttcrstedtii Staud. Moravian Stations.

Hadena cxulis Lef. Moravian Stations.

Hadcna cxornata Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Pachnobia carnca Tliun. Moravian Stations. Whole
coast.

PacJmobia okakensi's. Packard. Okkak.

JMatncstra arctica Boisd. Whole coast.

Dianthoecia subdita Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Diantlioecia pJioca Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Noctua rava H. Sch. (umbratus Pack.). Moravian
Stations.

A gratis septeiitrionalis Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis fusca Boisd. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis Wockei Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis spcciosa Hiibn. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis coinparata Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis dissona Moeschl. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis conflua Tr. Moravian Stations.

Agrotis littoralis Pack. Caribou Island.

Lciuania rufostrigata Pack. Caribou Island.

Liparidce.

Maria Rossii (Curtis). Whole coast,

ArctiidcB,

Arctia Quenselii Paykull. Whole coast.

Platarctia borealis (Moeschler). Moravian Stations.

Euprepia caja (Linn.). Whole coast.

BUTTERFLIES.

395

Ilcpialidcc.

Hcpialus lahradoricnsis Pack. Caribou Island.
Jlepuiiiis liyperborcus Moeschler. Moravian Stations.

* RllOTALUCKRA.

BrcntJiis cJiariclca (Schneid.). This is the Argynnis
hoisduvahi of the previous list. A detailed description
of the species, drawn up exclusively from American
material, will be found in the Proc. Bost. Nat. Hist.
Soc, Vol. xvii., p. 297, where most of the other species
are described. Caribou Island, Strait of Belle Isle, and
from Square Island northward. July 14 — August 3.
Abundant.

Brentkis triclaris (Hiibn.) = Argynnis triclaris of the
previous list. Caribou Island to Hopedale, July 14 —
August 3.

Brentkis polaris (Boisd.) = Argynnis polaris of the
former list. From Square Island northward. July 14
— August 3.

Brentkis frigga (Thunb.) = Argynnis frigga of the
former list. Okkak. (Rev. S. Weiz.)

Eugonia j-albunt (Boisd.-Lec.) = Grapta interroga-
tionis of the previous list. Okkak. (Rev. S. Weiz.)

Qineis jutta Hlibn. = Chionobas jutta of previous
list. Square Island, July 14; Hopedale, August 3.

* A revised list of the butterflies obtained in Labrador by Dr. A. S. Packard,
by Samuel H. Scudder. (The list was prepared for use in the present work.
The species have been arranged in the descending order by the author.) In
1866 I published a list of Dr. Packard's collections in the Proceedings of the
Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xi. The present list is merely a rede-
termination of the same material, in the light of larger collections since seen.
The same order as before is followed. The specimens are mostly in my collec-
tion and in that of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. — S. H. S.

i ■if '•
^iiiliillfc:

I' ■>
it

396

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE I ABRADOR COAST.

CEnci's bore (Esp.) = Chionobas bore of former list.
I I()()L'(lale, Aug. 3.

(lincis ceno (Boisd.) = Chionobas oeno of former list.
Strawberry Hari)or ; Hopedale, August 3.

Agriadcs lujuilo (Boisd.) = Lycaena aquilo of former
list. Sloop Harbor, July 19; Henley Harbor, August
15; Hopedale, Aug. 3.

Picri'i frigida Scudd. I have not re-examined this.
Caribou island. Strait of Belle Isle, July 14-30.

Eurymus labradorensis (Scudd.). This is the Colias
palceno, as well as the C . labradorensis of the previous
list. The specimen referred to the former being of the
same species as the latter. I will not here venture on a
discussion as to the validity of the spccilic name retained
here, but as the species was described and figured suffi-
ciently for determination, and is the common form in
south-eastern Labrador, it is easily identifiable. Caribou
Island to Hopedale, July 14 — August 3.

[We add the following extract from W. H. Edwards,
Can. Ent. xxi. 67. Chionobas semidea Say "also flies
within the Arctic circle, as far north as Cumberland
Island, and in Labrador."]

\ ■

■i-i:

iliil

^fo

TuNicATEs (Ascidians).

Didernnium roseum Sars. Hopedale, 10 f.
Ascidia callosa Stimps. -Strait of Belle Isle, 40-50 f.
Glanditla glutinans M oiler. Henley Harbor, 6 f.
Cynthia pyriformis Rathke. Strait of Belle Isle.
Cynthia vwnoceros Moll. (C condylomata Pack.).
Caribou Island, 8 f.

Cynthia echinata (Linn.). Chateau Bay, 50 f.

FISHES.

397

Cynthia carnca h^. (C. placenta Pack.). Strait of
Belle Isle, 40 f.; Henley Harbor, 10-20 f.; Cateau
Harbor, 15 f.

Pelonaia aroiifcra Stimps. Strait of Belle Isle, 15 f.

Boitenia holtcni (Linn.). Strait of Belle Isle.

Fishes.

Somniosus microcephalus (Block). "Sleeper shark."
Not rare all alonii^ the coast. (Stearns.)

Scomber vcrna/is Mitch. A few mackerel are taken
in Au<^ust in Salmon Bay and Red Bay. The Strait of
Belle Isle is evidently the northern limit of this genus.

Pygostcus Cuvieri Brevoorti. {Gastcrostcus Cnvicri
Girard ; Gastcrostcus biaculeatiis Auct. iii part). A
large number of specimens from a tidal fresh-water
spring, near Salmon RivTr, Strait of Belle Isle.

Animodytcs dubius Reinhardt. Four specimens from
Sloop Harbor, collected in July. They differ from the
A. aviericanus of our coast in having a much longer
body. This species is probably the American one con-
sidered by some authors as the A. tobian?is. (Putnam.)

Scbastcs norvcgicHs Cuv. Young specimens were
dredged in fifteen fathoms.

Gyinnacantluis patris (Storer). T'lree specimens
from Henley Harbor, collected in July.

Cottus scorpioldcs Fabr. Sculpin. (Stearns.)

Cottus grcenlandicus Cuv. and Val. Northern sculpin.
(Stearns.)

Gymnacanthtis pistilliger (Pallas). (Stearns.)

Hippoglossoides platessoides Fabr. Arctic dab. Com-
mon in harbors. (Stearns.)

^^^g^^jA

398

THE ZOOLOCiY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

• ■ i

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Plcuroncctes americanus Walb. I'lounder. Whole
southern coast. (Stearns.)

Cycloptcrits lump its Linn. Strait of Belle Isle.

(iculits aroiosiis Mitcliill. Eight specimens from
Sloop Harbor, collected in July. From a can com-
parison I am satisfied that these specimens are the same
species as the common cod of New England, the (radits
and Morrhua a))U'rica)ia of authors, and which Prof.
Gill considers as identical with the Gadiis arenosus of
Mitchill. Prof. Gill also has considered specimens of
the cod from Labrador, which he had examined, as iden-
tical with our common s:)ecies. (l^utnam.)

It happened that our vessel touched at th difTerent
harbors from Mecatina Island in the St. La" rence Gulf
to llopcdale, a distance of over six luuu' ed r 'es, at
times when the cod was successively maki' g itj t ap-
pearance. Thus at Gore Island, near T.ittle Mecatina
Island, we found the cod was just begi' .ling to be taken
by the fishe'-men. June i6, A few w -'"c seined July 6th,
at Squar<.^ Island, on the Atlantic coast, ^uly i2th they
were evidently breeding, as the females w r*^ full of
spawn, their livers poor, with little oil in them, a. ! Hie
fish were generally in poor condition. At Tub Islaui
Harbor, which is situated on the south side of Hamilton
Inlet, the fishery had not begun July 17th. Three days
later a few were seined at Sloop Harbor, on the north
side of Hamilton or Invuctoke Inlet, while at Strawberry
Harbor, about fifty miles to the northward, they were
caught in abundance on the 25th of July. The season
was so cold and stormy, owing to the presence of the
drift ice in an unusual quantity, and for a much longer
period than for many years previous, that the fishery

KISIIES.

399

\vas almost a failur(\ scarjely half as many fish havino^
been taken as during the preceding year. It was the
same with the salmon and the capelin.

The " rock cod," or dnjfy, as it is termed by the fisher-
men, which they consider less valuable than the deep
water cod, swarms about the boats when the fisherman
are seining the capelin, and are seen snapping them up.

Ciadns oi^ac Richardson, (jreenland codfish. (Stearns.)

Mi'r/uei'its vit/i^aris Fleming? I was told by a fisher-
man that he had taken but one hake during a jieriod of
forty summers spent on this coast. lie had never seen
a haddock on this coast. Both of these species are
abundant at the mouth of the St. Lawrence in Bay
Chaleur.

Brosviius flavescnis Lesueur ? A " cusk" was caught
in eighty fathoms in the Strait of Belle Isle. The speci-
men is in the Collection of the Lyceum of Natural His-
tory, Williams College.

Sabuo salar Linn. Owing to the great lowcrixig of
the climate by the drift ice, the salmon fishery was al-
most a failure this season. The fishery had just begun
at Henley Harbor, opposite Belle Isle, on the 28th of
June, i86j. At Square Island they were not netted be-
fore the I 2th of July ; here they disappear usually about
the 15th of August. July 23d they had not appeared at
this point. At Thomas Bay, near Cape Harrison, they
appeared on the 2 2d of July. At this place the salmon
was said to disappear about the 20th of August. At
Groswater Bay, (Hamilton Inlet), only two hundred
tierces were taken during the whole season, when usually
five times that number are caught.

The salmon remains upon the coast at the mouth of

1 ■

•

:lM

ippip

I I');

111

400

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LARRADOR COAST,

Streams about a month, during the Labrador mid-summer,,
which corresponds in temperature to that of the middle
of May in New England.

At Hopedale the sahnon is quite rare, and I was in-
formed that it was not common north of this point. It
seems to be a rare species in Greenland, thus showing
the close correspondence of the climate of the Labrador
coast in latitude 57° to that of the southern coast of
Greenland. One young specimen from a tidal stream
at Belles Amours, Strait of Belle Isle, was collected June
28th.

Salmo iiiwiaciilatus II. K. Storer. Three specimens
from near Hopedale were collected July 29th. These
specimens are unquestionably referable to the S. immacii-
latus of Storer, and arc distinct from the S. triitta of
Europe, with which species Perley and others have con-
founded them. They differ from S. triilta by having
larger scales, and being without spots, as their name in-
dicates. (Putnam.)

Saluw sp? Two specimens from the Island of Ponds,
near Domino Harbor, collected in July. This species,
which, from its rather imperfect condition, I have not
been able to recognize, appears to be closelv allied to
the S. triittavii Europe, being spotted as in that species,
but of somewhat different shape, especially of the head.
There are also specimens from Greenland belonging to
diis species in the collection of this vSociety, collected by
tne Williams College expedition to Greenland and Lab-
rador in i860. (Putnam.)

Sabno Jmdsonicus Suckley. Three specimens from a
tidal pond of brackish water on Square Island were col-
lected July 15th. These specimens are identical with

^.v

FISHES.

401

those mentioned by Dr. H. R. Storer as S. foutinalis,
which Dr. Suckley referred to his 6'. Jmdsonicus ; but
from a comparison of the limited number of specimens,
I am yet in doubt whether the Labrador brook trout
differs specifically from tlie S. fotitinalis of New Eng-
land. (Putnam.)

Afa//ol2ts villosiis Cuv. The capelin, capelina of the
Portuguese fisherman (Parkhurst, 1578), was very late
in making its appearance on the coast this season, owing
to the great quantity of ice, which likewise detained the
cod. At Square Island, the 12th of July was the earliest
date of their appearance in great numbers. July 4th,
the young, about one inch in length, were seen swim-
ming in the water, their bodies very transparent, so as
to enable the vertebraj and ribs to be distinctly seen, and
provided with very plainly marked heterocercal tails, in
the upper and larger fork of which the vertebral column
terminated.

The capelin spawns on pebbly shores near the water's
edge, and I was informed by two fisheruKm who had
each observed the act, that during the spawning of the
female, two males swim close to her and press her be-
tween them, being enabled by the large and prominent
ridge on the sides of tlie body to retain the female in
tliis position between, and a little below them, so that as
the eggs are pressed out tliey are fecundated by both
males. This probably accounts for the much greater
proportion of males to the other sex, as in a boat-
load of these fish it was often difficult to find a single
female.

A very close observer, the late Capt. Nathaniel E.
Atwood, who fished as far north as Groswater Bay as
female.

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402

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST,

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early as 18 19, tells us in his autobigraphy :* " When the
capelin came on the coast the first that arrived were
males. You can tell the male from the female by ex-
ternal signs, so as to distinguish the sexes perfectly well.
When the males had been on the coast about a week,
then came a mixture of females. They look very much
like a smelt, and are soft and full of spawn. We did not
use them for food. On an average about one-tenth of
the capelin were females. When jy had deposited
their spawn the males deposited their milt and made the
whole water white. Then the females went off. Soon
after the fishing slacked off, and we used to say they
were capelin sick."

According to information received from intelligent
fishermen, the capelin remains upon the coast the year
round, but in winter retires to deep water. Is it not
probable that the cod has the same habit of going from
deep water in-shore and to elevated " banks," for the pur-
pose of spawning during the spring and summer ; and in
the winter of retiring to depths inaccessible to the fish-
erman ? Should the cod be found to present local vari-
eties at intervals along the Atlantic coast, as seems prob-
ably the case, it would be a natural inference that it did
not migrate for hundreds of miles northward, following
the coming of spring from Massachusetts to Hudson's
Bay. It is abundant in Massachusetts Bay and on the
coast of Maine during the same time in summer that it
abounds on the Labrador coast and in Greenland. All
the facts observed by us tend to prove that the cod docs
not migrate extensively, as commonly supposed.

* U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. The Fishery Industries of tlie
United States. Section IV. Fishermen, 1887. p. 151.

nfmF

THE HERRING FISHERY.

403

lloc;

It me

Clupca harcngtis, Linn. The herring fishery begins
ill the Strait of Belle Isle during the middle of August.

after the cod fishery is over. The fact elicited from
several intelligent fishermen, that the herring does not
spawn abundantly upon the coast of Northern Labrador,
that is, above the Mingan Islands, but visits the coast in
schools after the breeding season is over, while it breeds
al)undantly on the coast of New Brunswick, at BayCha-
leur, the Magdalen Islands, and on the southern coast of
Newfoundland, affords excellent data for limiting the
southern boundary of the Arctic fish fauna on the eastern
Atlantic coast. This line agrees with what we have de-
fined* as the southern limits of the " Syrtcnsian Fauna,"
which as an assemblage peoples the coast of Labrador,
and extends around the northern shore of the continent
into Hudson's Bay ; and southward, follows the line of
floating ice, thus partially excluding Anticosti, embracing
the Banks of Newfoundland, the banks Ivino^ off" Nova

* Scotia and New England, such as Jeff'ries and St.
George's Banks, and more faintly indicated on those
banks of New Jersey which are swept by the southern
extension of the Labrador or Polar current. An outlier
of it is also found at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy.
On the southern shores of Newfoundland, which are
partially protected from the Polar current sweeping by
to the eastward, upon which the Gulf Stream slightly
impinges, though with a much diminished force, the
herring breeds, as here the species is surrounded by
physical and climatic conditions very precisely corre-
sponding to those of Nova Scotia and Maine, thus con-

* Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, Dec, 1863.

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404

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

stituting an outlying area isolated from, and yet belong-
ing to the Acadian district or fauna. Therefore it ap-
pears that the line of floating ice, which extends down
the coast of Labrador as far as the Mingan Islands, is the
northward limit of the haddock and mackerel, while the
herring, a member of the Acadian fauna, does not breed
in any comparative abundance north of this point. Tiic
distribution of Radiates, Mollusca, Articulates, and
Fishes thus agrees very closely on the northeastern
shores of the continent.

One person at Henley Harbor takes upon the average
eight hundred quintals during the short summer season,
and cures them there. A few herring were seined at
Square Island on July 6.

I find in a lecture on the Herring Fishery by M. A.
Warren, Esq., who owns one of the largest fishing estab-
lishments on the coast of Labrador, some ol)scrvations
on the herring as observed in Labrador and Newfound-
land, which are here quoted, as the article is not likely*
to fiiU into the hands of American naturalists.

"The female herring in Newfoundland come near the
shore in moderate weather, and deposit their spawn,
generally at night, in from 3 to 5 fathoms of water. The
males follow and shed their milt over it." ..." It is
impossible, without seeing it, to form any idea of the
prodigious abundance of the ova of the herring yearly
deposited in Fortune Bay, and other of tiie favorite
spawning-beds of the herring. Tiie water will at limes
be seen white with milt for many acres." ..." From
personal observation, and from all the information I can
obtain, I believe there are several schulcs of herring that
come in on different portions of our coast to spawn. It

^l> - , !.

■Hiiiiiiilii

BATRACIIIANS.

405

is certain there are several varieties of the common her-
ring ditfering in size, shape, and solidity of flesh. In
Fortune Bay the spawn is deposited in the months of
March and April ; in St. George's Bay, in the month of
May, and a fortnight later on St. Barbc's. My impres-
sion is that on the southern shore of the Labrador coast
the spawn is deposited in June, or early in July. During
the months of August and September the Lnbrndor
coast from Mecatina to Bear Island is visited by vast
shoals of large fat herring, which have in them neither
roe nor milt. I consider these herring, by their size and
appearance, to be of the same species or the same shoal
as those which spawned in St. George's Bay, in May or
in June, on the Labrador coast, and which pass on in
September and October to the Arctic waters, or more
probably to the dc})th of the ocean.

" Of laie years herring-seines have been much used on
the Labrador coast, almost entirely superseding the use
of nets, to the manifest injury of the fishing population.
These immense seines, most of them more than one
hundred and twenty fathoms long, often enclose over
three thousand barrels of herring. During the fust two
to three years over one hundred and fifty seines were
used on the coast by Nova Scotia fishermen."

Batraciiia.

Raita scptcntrionalis Baird. Okkak. Frogs were
heard and seen at Stag Bay, Domino Harbor, Lewis
Bay, Henley Harbor, and on the coast of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence.

Btifo ainericana Lee. Salmon Bay.

4o6

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

ill

PletJiodon ghUinosa Baird ? A salamander of a dark
slate color, with a paler dorsal stripe was observed at
Belles Amours.

Birds.

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LIST OF THE BIRDS OF LABRADOR, INCLUDING UNGAVA,
EAST MAIN, MOOSE, AND GULF DISTRICTS OF THE HUD-
SON BAY COMPANY, TOGETHER WITH THE ISLAND OF
ANTICOSTI*

The scope of country intended to be embraced with-
in the above heading is bounded on the north by Hud-
son Strait, extending from east to west ; on the east by
the Atlantic Ocean ; on the south by the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to where the parallel of 50 degrees north lati-
tude strikes the land, then west to the intersection of the
82d degree of east longitude. The western boundary is
the 82d degree of west longitude north to Hudson Strait.

The period during which my own observations were
made extends from June 15, 1882, to October 3, 1884.

The principal scene of my investigations was in the
vicinity of Fort Chimo, situated about 27 miles up the
Koksoak River, flowing into Ungava Bay, which is an
immense pocket towards the eastern portion of the south
side of tludson Strait. At this place I remained from
August 6, 1882, to September 4, 1884.

The southern portions of the country are ei.iirely sub
atctic in character, while the northern portions are
strictly arctic.

The topography of the region is so diversified that

* By Lucien M. Turner. Reprinted by the author's permission from the
Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, 1885, pp. 233-254. Revised and
brought down to 1891, by J. A, Allen.

■iivfiw

HIKDS.

407

even a scanty description is impracticable in this connec-
tion.

The climate is scarcely less diverse, the range of the
thermometer at Fort Chimo being, for the period men-
tioned above, 86t^ degrees for the maximum, and just
50 degrees below zero for the minimum, giving a range
of 136.5 degrees for that period.

Winter begins (zero of temperature) about the ist of
November and continues to the last of April. Snow
falls every month in the year, and the lowest temperature
of each month in the year is never above tlie freezing
point. The warmest night showed only 54 degrees.
Snow remains from the last of September to the end of
May ; snow-shoes have been used as late as the 19th of
May. Rain seldom falls before the iith of May, and
rarely after the middle of October.

The bird-life is abundant in individuals if not in species^
Some of the birds which most certainly occur within the
territory, yet of which no satisfactory evidence of actual
occurrence has been recorded, are with one or two
exceptions omitted for obvious reasons. Tringa inarz-
tima, for instance, certainly occurs somewhere along the.
coast, but has not been detected and recorded ; t.he same
with species of Fulix.

Reference is made to the following authorities, and
extracts made without comment or responsibility for
their assertions :

Audubon, J. J. Birds of America; seven volumes, published
from TS40 to 1844.

Nuttall. Manual of Ornithology, rd edition, 1840.

Verrill, A. E. Notes on the Natural History of Anticosti,
summer of 1861. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History, vol. ix., pp. 132 to 150, inclusive.

■:{

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kibittbm.

408

THE ZOOLOCiY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Coues, E. Notes on the Ornithology of Labrador, summer of
i860. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phil-
adelphia, August, 1861, pp. 215 to 257, inclusive.

Stearns, W. A. Notes on the Natural History of Labrador
(with few additions on authority of Coues), i88o-'8i-'82, pp. iii
to 138. inclusive, of the Proceedings of the United States Na
tional Museum, 18S3.

Brewster, William. Notes on the Birds observed during a
summer cruise in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Proceedings ot
tlie Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xxii., pp. 364 to 412,
inclusive, October 3, 1883.

Richardson's Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. ii.

Kumlien, L. Bulletin of the United States National Museum.
No. 15. Contributions to the Natural History of Arctic Amer-
ica, made in connection with the Howgate Polar Expedition,
i877-'78. Washington, 1879, pp. 69 to 105.

[The followinji;, mostly issued since the pubhcation of
Mr. Turner's paper, are of interest as bearing upon the
bird-fauna of Labrador :

1- ^! \
/ ' ' '■•

n \

Stearns, \V. A. Bird-life in Labrador, American Field, April
26-Oct. II, 1890. A series of twenty-five articles, giving at
length the author's ol)servations on the birds of Labrador.

Merriam, Dr. C. Hart. List of birds ascertained to occur
within ten miles of Point de Monts, Province of Ouel:)ec, Canada,
based chiefly upon the notes of Napoleon A Comeau, Bull. Nutt.
Orn Club, vol. vii., 1882. pp. 233-242; vol. viii., 1883, p. 244; The
Auk, vol. i., 1S84, p 295 ; ii , 1885, p. 113.

Palmer, William. Notes on the birds observed during the
cruise of the United States Fish Commission Schooner " Grrm-
ptis" in the summer of 1887. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xiii,,
1890, pp. 249-265.

See also a review of Mr. Turner's List in "The Auk,"
vol. ii., p. 368, and Mr. Turner's reply thereto (** Auk," iii..
p. 140).

BIRDS.

409

The nomenclature here adopted is that of the American
Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American
Birds. In Mr. Turner's list, as originally published, the
names adopted, were, in the main, those of Ridgway's
" Nomenclature of North American Birds," forming
" Bulletin 21" of the U. S. National Museum. In the
present reprint, aside from the revision of the nomen-
clature to bring it into conformity with the system now
almost universally adopted, the only changes are the
addition of a few titles to the list of authorities cited,
the numbering of the species consecutively instead of in
conformity with the Ridgway " Nomenclature," and the
addition of critical remarks on a few species attributed
to Labrador on doubtful evidence.

An asterisk (*) prefixed to a name indicate! that the
species is resident throughout the year. A dagger (+)
similarly placed indicates breeding.

J. A. Allen.]

1. Turdiis iimstclimis (Gmel.). Wood Thrush.
Stearns, p. 116, asserts that he heard this species in

Southern Labrador. [Labrador is quite beyond the
normal range of this species, which is found only spar-
injjlv in Northern New Enoland. Mr. Stearns omits
the species from his later " Bird Life in Labrador," cited
above.]

2. Tiirdus fusccscais (Steph.). Wilson's Thrush.
Audubon, vol. iii., p. 27, saw young July 20, 1833.
Brewster, p. 368, saw a pair July 24, 1881, on Anti-

•costi. [This species can reach Labrador only as a
straarffler, beinij of rare occurrence even in Northern
New England.]

.4: > " . !

410

Tin-: zooLocjv of tiik Labrador coast.

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f 3. Turdtis alicia; Baird. Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Rare in Ungava. Common in southeastern and
southern portions. Breeds wherever found in summer.
Nest and eggs i)rocured at Fort Cliimo, June 28, 1884.

4. I Urdus ustulatus swainsoni (Caban.). Olive-
baci-ced Thrush.

Brewster, p. 369, obtained an adult female at Fox
Bay, Anticosti, July 11, 1881.

Verrill reports it very common (p. 137) on Anticosti.
Specimens were obtained June 13 and in July, i860, at
Rupert House, by Drcxler.

5. Turdus aonalaschkcc pallasii (Caban.). Hermit
Thrush.

Brewster, p. 369, found it an abundant species at
Anticosti and on the south shore of Labrador.

Verrill, p. 137, found it common at the same place.

f 6. I\Ierula mioratoria (Linn.). American Robin.

Abundant throughout the country. Breeding plenti-
fully at Fort Chimo, Ungava.

7. Saxicola ccuanthe (Linn.). Stone Chat.

Coues, p. 218, obtained, August 25, i860, at Henley
Harbor, Labrador, a single individual of this bird.

f 8. Rcguhis ca/endula (\Jw\n.). Ruby-crowned King-
let.

Common in southern portions. Audubon, vol. ii., p.
168, found them June 27, 1833, and saw the young of
tlje year a month later.

Coues obtained a specimen August 6, at Rigolet, vide
p. 219.

Stearns shot a single specimen at Old Fort Island,
October 11, 1881, vide p. 116.

f 9. Regulus satrapa\J\z\\X.. Golden-crowned Kinglet.

BIRDS.

411

Audubon, vol. ii., p. 165, found them feeding tlieir
young in August.

10. Payiisatricapillus Linn. Black-capped Chickadee.

I am informed by credible persons, long resident in
the country, that two species of chickadees occur at
Northwest River, at the head of Hamilton Inlet.

Verrill, p. 138, reports it very common on Anticosti.

*f II. Par us huchoniciis Vorst. Hudsonian Chick-
adee.

Abundant everywhere in the wooded tracts. Young
of the year were obtained July 19, 1882, at Uavis Inlet,
and in early August at Fort Chimo.

Audubon, vol. ii., p. 155, states that they found a nest
in Labrador.

12. St'lhi cafiadcitsis \J\x\w. Red-bellied Nuthatch.
Audubon, vol. iv., p. 179, states that he saw one in

Labrador which had probably been driven there by a
storm.

Verrill, p. 138, reports it as common on Anticosti.

13. Troglodytes Jiyemalis Vieill. Winter Wren.
Audubon, vol. ii., p, 129, found this species in South-
ern Labrador, July 20, 1833.

Verrill, p. 1 38, states that he observed a small wren
at Southwest Point, Anticosti, in July, which he thought
was this species.

f 14. Motacilla alba Linn. White Wagtail.

Four individuals of this species were seen by Alex.
Brown and James Lyall (of the Hudson Bay Company),
August 29, 1883, at Hunting Bay, 4 miles south of Fort
Chimo. These persons described the bird accurately,
and declared they were the two parents and two young;

412

THE y.nOLOC.Y OF TIIK I.AHR/^I'OR COAST,

h 1

1 i

of the year. 1 must add that 1 place tl'iO fullest reliance
in their assertion.

f 15. Anthus pcnsilvanicus (Lath.). American Tit-
lark.

Abundant throughout the territory. Nests and eggs
obtained at Fort Chimo, where it breeds plentifully.

16. Mniotilta varia (Linn.). Black-and-white
Creeper.

A specimen was obtained at Moose Factory, May 13,
1S60, and also on the 31st uf that month, by C. Drcxler.

Brewster, p. 369, obtained a specimen at Fox Bay,
Anticosti, July 11, 1881.

17. Hclminthophila pcycgrina (Wils.). Tennessee
Warbler.

Obtained by Drexler, at Fort George, in June and
July, i860.

Brewster, p. 370, obtained a specimen near Fox Bay,
Anticosti, July 1 1, 1881.

18. Compsothlvpis amcricana (Linn.). B.lue Yellow-
backed Warbler.

Brewster, p. 370, saw a male at Fox Bay, Anticosti,
July II, 1881.

19. Deiidroica tio;r{na (Gmel.). Cape May Warbler.
Specimen obtained by Drexler, May 28, i860, at

Moose Factory.

20. Dcndroica a^stiva (Gmel.). S m jer Yellow
Bird.

Specimen obtained by Drexler, Jul) 2, i860, at Fort
George.

Brewster, p. 370, reports it as abundant on Anti-
'Costi.

IIIKDS,

413

f 2 1. Dcndroica coronata (Linn.). Vcllow-runip War-
l.Icr.

Au(lul)on, vol. ii., p. 24, found them plentiful in Lab-
rador, with youncr seareely able to (ly.

Drcxler obtained spccinicns, July 21, i860, at Moose
Faetory.

f 22. Dendroka maculosa (Gmel.). Blaek-and-yellow
Warbler.

Drexler obtained a specimen at Moose Factory, May
28, i860.

Audubon, vol. ii., p. 66, reports it common, with eggs
and nest in beginning of July, 1833.

Brewster, p. 371, found it abundant on Anticosti.

23. Dcndroica cceni/cscens (Gmel.). Black-throated
Blue Warbler.

Audubon, vol. ii., j). 63, states he found a dead one in
Labrador. [This species is erroneously entered in Mr.
Turner's list as " Dcndroica cccrnlca (Wils.). Cerulean
Warbler."]

24. Dcndroica castanca (Wils.). Bay-breasted War-
bler.

Drexler obtained a specimen at Moose Factory, June
2, i860.

Three individuals were seen at Black Island, Hamil-
ton Inlet, by me July 9, 1882. Two were shot, but lost
in the thick undergrowth ; one of the birds was actually
in my hand, but escaped.

•f-25. Dcndroica striata (Forst.). Black-poll War-
bler.

Abundant throughout the wooded portions of the
region. Breeds plentifully at Fort Chi mo, where seven
nests and eggs were obtained in 1884 by me.

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THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

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26. Dendroica blackburnia (Gmel.). Blackburnian
Warbler.

Audubon, vol. ii, p. 48, saw several in Labrador.

27. Dendroica virens (Gmel.). Black-throated Green
Warbler.

Brewster, p. 371, saw two or three on Anticosti.

f 28. Dendroica palmaruni hypochrysea (Ridgw.).
Red-poll Warbler.

A specimen was obtained by Drexler at Moose Fac-
tory in July, i860.

Audubon, vol. ii., p. 55, found them plentiful in Labra-
dor. Young seen in August.

f 29. Seiurus a^irocapillus (Linn.). Golden-crowned
Thrush.

Stearns, p. 116, records this species as breeding in
Southern Labrador.

Brewster, p. 371, saw a pair at Ellis Bay, Anticosti,
July 21.

Verrill, p. 137, obtained specimens at Anticosti, July
15, 1861.

t 30. Seiurus novcboracensis (Gmel.). Small-billed
Water Thrush.

Several individuals, young of the year among them,
were procured by me at Davis Inlet in August, 1884,

A specimen was procured at Moose Factory, May
26, i860, bv Drexler.

31. Geothlypis trichas (Linn.). Maryland Yellow-
throat.

Common in southern portions of Labrador.

Stearns, p. 116, reports it from Natashquan.

Brewster, p. 371, found it at Fox Bay, Anticosti
July II.

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BIRDS.

415

f 32. Sylvania piisilla (Wils.). Black-capped Yel-
low Warbler.

Audubon, vol. ii., p. 21, records it as breeding in Lab-
rador, and a nest obtained.

Brewster, p. 371, records it from Anticosti.

t 33. Sylvania canadensis (Linn.). Canadian Warb-
ler.

Audubon, vol. ii, p. 15, reports it as breeding in Lab-
rador.

f 34. Seiophajra rnticilla (Linn.). American Red-
start.

Verrill, p. 137, records it as breeding on Anticosti,
with young ones just able to fly, July 18, 1861.

A specimen was obtained by James McKenzie at
Rupert House, September 3, i860.

Brewster, p. 372, records it from Ellis and Fox Bays,
Anticosti, and from Mingan. on the south shore of Lab-
rador.

35. Vireo olivaccns (Linn.), Red-eyed Vireo.
Verrill, p. 138, reports it as common on Anticosti.

36. Vireo philadclphicHs (Cass.). Philadelphia Vireo.
Individual obtained from Moose Factory, June 2,

i860, by Drexler.

37. Vireo noveboracensis (Gmel.). White-eyed
Vireo. Audubon, vol. iv., p. 148, states that a few were
seen in Labrador. [Audubon was probably mistaken,
Labrador being beyond the known range of this
species.]

* f 38. Lanius borcalis Vieill. Great Northern Shrike.

Not common at Fort Chimo. Breeds there. Young,
unable to fly more than a few rods, were taken by the
hand at that place, June 30, 1884. Said to be common

4i6

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

in the more southern portions, and there known as the
" Silky Jay."

39. Ampelis cedrorum (Vieill), Cedar Wax-wing.

Specimen obtained August 26, i860, by Drexler, at
Moose Factory.

t 40. Pctrochelidon huiifrons (Say). Cliff Swallow.

Verrill, p. 137, reports it breeding in large numbers,
July 15, 1 86 1, on Anticosti.

f 41. Chelidon erytJirogastcr (Bodd.). Barn Swal-
low.

Breeds at Northwest River, at the head of Hamilton
Inlet.

f 42. Tachycincla bicolor (Vieill.). White-bellied
Swallow.

Common at "Big" Island, in the Koksoak River, near
Fort Chimo, where it breeds abundantly. Abundant
throughout the northern portions.

Brewster, p. 372, saw two at Antieosti, June 9.

f 43. Clivicola riparia (Linn.). Bank Swallow.

Audubon, vol. i., jx 189, states that it rarely begins to
breed before June, and lays only once. Said to be plen-
tiful on south shore of Labrador.

Verrill, p. 138, reports it plentiful on Anticosti.

* f 44. Piuicola emiclcator (Linn.). Pine Grosbeak.

Abundant in summer only, at Fort Chimo; breeds
there ; nest and eggs obtained.

Plentiful in southern districts among the timbered
tracts. Resident south of the " Height of Land."
This bird is known as the " M<.,)e."

45. Carpodacus purpiireus (Gm.). Purple Finch.

Kumlien, p. 75, obtained one on shipboard off Resolu-
tion Island.

Si'l

... ^

I!:'

BIRDS.

417

Drexler obtained it at Moose Factory, May 28, i860.
Occurs plentifullv in southern portions.

* f 46. Loxia icucuptcra Gmel. White-winged Cross-
bill.

Abundant at Fort Chimo in winter, rare during other
winters. None observed in summer. Birds of the year
are taken in early winter. Breeds in central portions
and resident there.

47. Acanilii'i hornemanni {\\o\\)^. Mealy Redpoll.

Very abundant in winter. Not occurring in summer
from May 15 to September i of each year.

* t 48. Acaiitliis horncmaiuii exilipcs (Coues).
White-rum ped Redpoll,

Abundant and resident. Breeds plentifully at Fort
Chimo, where nests and eggs were obtained.

* I 49. AcantJiis linaria (Linn.). Common Redpoll.
Abundant and resident. Breeds plentifully at Fort
Chimo, where nests and eggs were obtained.

50. Acanthis linaria rostrata (Coues). Greater Red-
poll.

Rather common in winter. None to be seen from
May 15 to September i of each year.

51. Spifui. '/'?>//> (Linn.). American Goldfinch.
Kumlien, p. 76, caught an adult male on shipboard ofT

Cape Mugford, August 22. 1877.

Occurs in southern portions of Labrador.

A bird called " Goldfinch" was described accurately,
and asserted to occur occasionally at Fort Chimo, but I
did not succeed in finding it.

52. Spiints pinits (Wils.). Pine Goldfinch.
Recorded by Audubon, vol. iii.. p. 126, as common..
Brewster, p. ^'j^^, saw a flock, July 24, on Anticosti..

i':l

w ■

418

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

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t 53. Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.). Snow Bunting

Abundant at Fort Chimo. Breeds on the islands in
Ungava Bay and occasionally on the mainland. Resident
in the southern portions of Labrador.

f 54 Calcarhis lapponiciis (Linn.). Lapland Long-
s|)Lir.

Abundant at Fort Chimo. Breeds near the mouth of the
Koksoak River and on the larger islands in Ungava Bay.

f 55. Amnwdranms sandivichensis savanna (Wils.).
Savannah Sparrow.

Common throughout the region. Breeds at the mouth
of the Koksoak River and at Davis Inlet.

•f 56. Zonotrickia leucophrys (Forst.). White-
crowned Sparrow.

Verv plentiful throughout the country. Breeds
abundantly at Fort Chimo.

f 57. Zonotrickia albicollis (Gmel.). White-throated
Sparrow.

Reported by Stearns, p. 117, as common and breed-
ing in Southern Labrador.

Audubon, vol. iii., p. 154, states that this species is
common, and that he saw young late in July.

Drexler obtained this species at Moose Factory, May
31, i860.

Verrill, p. 138, reports this species as by far the most
common singing bird at Anticosti.

f 58. Spizella monticola (Gmel.). Tree Sparrow.

Common throughout the entire country. Breeds plen-
tifully at Fort Chimo, where eggs and nests were taken.

t 59- 7^11(^0 hyemalis (Linn.). Black Snowbird.

Not observed in the Ungava district. Common in
the eastern and southern portions of Labrador. Breed>

BIRDS. 419

at Davis Inlet and Rigolet. Known as the "Stone
Chat " on the east coast.

t 60. Mclospiza lincolni (Aud.). Lincoln's Finch.

Rare at Fort Chi mo ; a male obtained June 10, 1883.
Common in southern portions.

Audubon, vol. iii., p. 117, found young July 4, 1833.

Drexler procured specimens at Moose Factory, May
2^, i860.

61. Mclospiza geo7'giana (Lath.). Swamp Sparrow.

Audubon, vol. iii., p. in, states it to be abundant in
Labrador.

Brewster, p. 375, found it plentiful on Anticosti.

f 62. Passerclla iliaca (Merrem). Fox-colored Spar-
row.

Common in southern portions. Young obtained at
Rigolet late in June and early July. 1882.

63. Pipilo crythropJithalmus (Linn.). Chewink ;
Towhee.

Audubon, vol. iii., p. 168, states that it occurs north-
ward to Labrador. [Doubtless an error.]

f 64. Scolecophagus carolintis (Mull.). Rusty Black-
bird.

Common. Breeds at Fort Chimo, where young just
from the nest were obtained, July 10, 1884.

* f 65. Corvtis corax principalis Ridgw. American
Raven.

Abundant throughout the region. Breeds at Fort
Chimo; nearly fledged young seen in nest May 18.

66. Corvus amcricamis Aud. Common Crow.

Rare and only found in southern portions.

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 89, states few were to be seen in
Labrador.

!i I

: }

420

THE ZOOLOGY OK THE LABRADOR COAST,

ttl . ' » \

Coues, p. 226, saw one flying-.
Stearns, p. 117, reports it from Eskimo River.
Verrill, j). 138, records it as very common on Anti-
costi. Not known to breed in Labrador.

* t 67. Perisoreiis cafiadcnsis (Linn.). Canada Jay.
Plentiful in interior of southern and westen portions.

Breeds and resident wherever found.

* f 68. Perisorciis canadcfisis Jiigricapillus (Ridgv'.).
Coastwise and interior especially abundant. Resident

and breeds at Fort Chimo.

f 69. Otocoris alpcstris (Linn.). Shore Lark.

Common. Breeds at the mouth of the Koksoak River
and at Rigolet.

f 70. Tyrannus tyraniius (Linn.). Kingbird ; Bee
Martin.

Audubon, vol. i., p. 207, found it breeding in Labrador.

71. Contopiis borcalis (Swains.). Olive-sided Fly-
catcher.

Audubon, vol. i., 215, records it from the coast of
Labrador.

f 72. Contopiis richardsoni i^wdAW'i.). Western Wood
Pewee.

Audubon, vol. i., p. 220, states that he fount! it breed-
ing in Labrador. [This was erroneously entered in Mr
Turner's list as '' Sayornis pJia'bc (Lath.). Phcx'lx"
Bird."]

']}^. Confopiis vivens (Linn.). Wood Pewee.

Audubon, vol. i., p. 233, records it [probably erm-
neouslv I from Labrador.

74. Eiupidonax flaviventris Baird. Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher.

Brewster, p. 380, reports it common at Ellis Bay,
Anticosti.

mmtmmtmtmmtimfwt

BIRDS.

421

-f* 75. Empidonax minimus Baird. Least Flycatcher.

Audubon, vol. i., p. 237, found it nesting in Labrador.

Obtained by Drexler at Moose Factory, May 30, i860.

76. Trochilus colubris Linn. Ruby-throated Hum-
ming-bird.

A single individual, male, was seen within 4 feet of
me July 17, 1882, on the hill-top (825 feet elevation)
back of the station at Davis Inlet.

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 195, states that few were seen in
Labrador.

']']. CJiordciles virginia?ms (Gmel. ). Nighthawk.

Stearns, p. 117, records it from Natashquan.

Obtained by Drexler in August, i860, at Moose
Factory.

* f 78. Dryobates villosus Iciicomelas {^o^(\.^. Hairy
Woodpecker.

Resident in southern portions of Labrador; probably
docs not occur north of the " Height of Land."

* f 79. Dry abates p7ib(:scevs (Linn.). Downy Wood-
pecker.

Common and resident in southern portions ; probably
does not range north of 56°.

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 249, reports it from Texas to
Labrador.

Brewster, p. 381, found it breeding at Fox Bay, Anti-
costi, July 1 1.

* t 80. Picoidcs ardiais (Swains.). Black-backed
Three-toed Woodpecker.

Common and resident throughout trie- wooded por-
tions.

* t 81. Picoides amcricanus Brehm. Banded-backed
Three-toed Woodpecker.

'•A

(-. '!

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iiil

422

TllK ZOOLOtiV Ol- TH1<: LAHKADOK COAST.

f r i

Common and resident throughout the wooded por-
tions.

f 82. Colaptes auratus (Linn.). Yellow-shafted
Flicker.

An accidental straggler was procured from the main-
land near Akpatol; Island, Hudson Strait, in October,
1882. Reported to be a common summer visitor to
Northwest River.

f 83. Ccryle alcyon (Linn.). Belted Kingfisher.

Asummer visitor to Northwest River, where it breeds.

Drexler obtained a specimen, May 26, i860, at Moose
Factory.

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 208, records that he has met
with it from Texas to Labrador.

84. Coccyzus americamts (Linn.). Yellow-billed
Cuckoo.

Audubon, vol. iv.,p. 296, states that even in Labrador
he has met with a few of them [ — a statement requiring
confirmation].

85. Coccyz7is eiythi'opktkahiius (WWs.). Black-billed
Cuckoo.

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 301, states that they saw a few
in clumps of low trees a few miles from the shore of the
gulf. (The text evidently refers to Labrador.)

* ?t 86. Asio accipitriims (Pall.). Short-eared Owl.

Common in summer only at Fort Chimo. Specimens
obtained there and at Davis Inlet. A very light-colored
individual was seen, July 18, 1882, at Davis Inlet.
Downy young individual was obtained at Fort Chimo.
Plentiful on the east shore of Hudson Bay. Not known
to winter in the Ungava district.

87. Scotiapicx cinerea (Gmel.). Great Gray Owl.

3 \ ; .

BIRDS.

423

Specimen (No. 32306 ^ ) in the Smithsonian Institu-
tion collection was obtained by James McKenzie at Moose
Factory. No lecord from other parts of the country.

88. Nyctala acadica (Gmel.). Saw-whet Owl.

Specimen (No. 32301) in Smithsonian Institution
was obtained at Moose Factory by James McKenzie.

* f 89. Bubo virginianus satiwatns Ridgw. Dusky
Horned Owl.

Not rare at Fort Chi mo. Resident. Downy young-
obtained June 20, 1884.

* f 90. Nyctea nyctca (Linn.). Snowy Owl.
Common throughout the country. Breeds at Fort

Chimo.

* f 91. Surnia alula caparoch (Mtill.). American
Hawk Owl.

Rare at Fort Chimo. Eggs obtained June 8, 1S84,
and downy young nearly ready to leave the nest were
taken June 20.

* f 92. Falco islandus Brilnn. White Oyrfalcon.
Common at Fort Chimo and east coast of Labrador.

Resident in northern portions, breeds at Fort Chimo.

\ 93. Falco rii-sticolus Linn. Iceland Gyrfalcon.

Winter specimens only obtained at Fort Chimo.
Not known to breed in the Ungava district.

'"' f 94. Falco rtisi /coins obsokttts {Grc\c\.). Labrador
Gyrfalcon.

Abundant at Fort Chimo. Fggs obtained May 24.
Young and adult specimens of this bird procured. Very
rare in winter at Fort Chimo.

f 95. Falco pei'e<^rinus anattim (Bon.). American
Peregrine Falcon ; Duck Hawk.

Abundant at Fort Chimo. Eggs, downy young, and

ill;

424

THK /OOI.OC.V or TIIK LARRADOR COAST.

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adults taken there. Does not pass tlie winter in the
Un^ava district.

f 96. Falco coltimbarius XJxww. Pijjeon I lawk.

Auduhon, vol. i., p. 89, states that e^gs and nest were
found ahout June i.

Coues, p. 216, met with it on two occasions; one nt
Groswater Bay on August 5, and on the 25th of August
■ ^ Menley 1 1 arbor.

97. Falco sparverhts Linn. Sparrow Hawk.

Coues, p. 216, saw a single individual in Labrador.

t 98. Pandion haliactus carolnicnsis {Qx\\.). American
Osprey ; Fish Ihiwk.

Mr. John Ford assured me that the F^ish Hawk breeds,
four or live pairs of them, about 4 miles above the
station of the Hudsun Bay Company on Northwest
River.

Nuctall, page 81, rei)orts it from Labrador.

Brewster, p. 382, records that few vvere seen at Anli-
costi.

99. Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Marsh fLuvk.

Audubon, vol. i., p. 105, saw it in I^abrador.

100. Accipitcr vclox (Wils.). Sharp-shinned Hawk.

I'iichardson, vol. ii., p. 44, states that one was killed
near Moose Factory and deposited by the Hudson Bay
Company in the museum of London.

W'rrill, {). 137, reports having seen this species near
Salmon River, Julv 3, 1861.

* f 101. Accipiter atricapillus (Wils.). American
Goshawk.

Resident in Ungava district. Winter specimen ob-
tained in early December, 1882. Breeds at the " Chapel "

lURDS.

425

near Fort (^liimo. Specimen ol)taine(l from Ri^j^olet.
Known as *' Partridge Hawk."

102. Biitco /aiissii?i7is {SXW'f,.). Broad-\vini»ed 1 lawk.

Specimen (No. 33209 i) in Smithsotiian Institution
collected by James McKenziein 1862 at Moose 1^'actory.

f 103. ^IrchUmtco lagopus sancti-joliaunis (Gmel.).
American Rough-legged Hawk.

Both light and dark phases, with their eggs, voung,
and adults, collected at Fort Chimo. Apparently more
abundant on eastern and northern shores than on the
southern portions of Labrador. Downy young were
also obtained, of the black phase, July 17, 1882, at Davis
Inlet. Termed "Squalling ITawk" bv the planters.

+ 104. .Innila chrysactos (Linn.). Golden Eagle.

Specimens procured in Ungava district. Breeds in
the northeastern ])ortions among the hills. A pair also
breed at the " Forks" in tht^ Ungava district. The
Eagles are termtd "Grepe" by the planters, and is a
word derived from some of the earlier Scandinavian
settlers on tlie coast who apply the term Grcpe to a
Vulture.

f 105. Jialiicctus Iciicoccphalus {SJxww?). Bald Eagle;
Gray Eagle.

Nuttall, p. 75, records it as breeding and rearing its
voung in all the intermediate space from Nova Scotia
or Labrador to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

106. Eciopistcs inigraioruts (Linn.). Passenger
Pigeon.

Specimen obtained August 16, i860, by C. Drexler,
at Moose Factory.

Verrill, p. 138, saw a single individual at Heath

lH'

426

llir, ZOOI.OdV OK THK LAHKADOK (OAST.

Point, Anlicosti, and was informed that they are very-
rare there.

* f 107. Daif/raQapus canadensis (Linn.). Canada
Grouse ; Spruce Partridge.

Abundant throughout the wooded tracts. Resident.
Eggs, downy young, and adults i)rocured at Fort Chinio.

* f 108. I^onasa iimbcUus togata (Linn.). Ruffed
Grouse..

Occurs rarely at the head of Hamilton Inlet, l^ut only
on the south side ; rather common at Paradise River,
flowing into Sandwich Bay, and abundantly in the val-
leys to the southward, where birch grows plentifully.
These birds are known as " French Hens."

Audubon, vol. iv., p. 80, reports it as common from
Maryland to Labrador.

* f 109. Laovpns lagopiis (Linn.). Willow Ptarmi-
gan.

Exceedingly abundant throughout the country.
Breeds by thousands at Fort Chimo, where eggs, adults.
and young in all stages were procured.

'" t 110. Lagopns rHpcsi7^is{G\.w.). Rock Ptarmigan.

Plentiful everywhere on the treeless areas. Eggs,
young in all stages, and adults were procured from vari-
ous places.

III. Ardea hcrodias Linn. Great Blue Heron.

An individual was seen by Mr. John Saunders (of the
Hudson Bay Company) to fly from the creek which is
the outlet of Whitefish Lake, near Fort Chimo, in the
summer of 1880. A specimen was obtained at Moose
Factory by James McKenzie, August 29, i860.

Verrill, p. 138, states that a large Heron, which ap-

y '

. \

3..;

niRDS.

42r

peared to be of this species, was seen at Ellis Bay, Ami-
costi.

t 112. Botaiints lentiginosus (Montag.). American
Bittern.

Accordinj^ to Coues, p. 227, a wing of a Bittern was
seen in the possession of a native at Rigolet (?).

Drcxler found it breeding at Moose Factory, and ob-
tained specimens August 29, 186-.

Verrill, p. 138, records it as common at Anticosti. A
young one, just able to fly, was caught iVugust 4.

f 113. IhcDiatopHS palliatus Temni. American
Oystercatcher.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 237, found several breeding in
Labrador.

f 114. Arcnaria intcrprcs (Linn,). Turnstone.

Occasional at Ungava Bay. A young bird of the year
was obtained there in the middle of September, 1882,
f\nd an adult at Davis Inlet. Not rare on the east coast.

115. Charadrius squatarola (Linn.). Black-bellied
PJover.

Stearns, p. 118, reports it plentiful in South Labrador.
Not observed in the Ungava district. Not breeding.

116. Charadrius dominictts Miill. American Golden
Plover.

Occurs, in fall only, at the mouth of the Koksoak.
Common in the southern and western portions near the
coast. Not known to breed there.

f 1 1 7. ^Egialitis semipalmata Bonap. Semipal-
mated Plover.

Occurs abundantly throughout the coast region.
Eggs, downy young, and adults obtained from Ungava^

428

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

and downy young with their parents obtained from
Davis Inlet. Known as " Beach Bird" in Labrador.

118. PhiloJicla minor (Gmel.). American Wood-
cock.

Several persons assured me that they had jr^illed wood-
cocks on the eastern portions of the Labrador shore.

f 119. Gallinago delicata (Ord.). Wilson's Snipe.

I heard and saw a male making the peculiar noise
with its wings, in early June, over a swamp to the north
of Davidson's Lake, a fev; miles from Fort Chimo.
Specimens were procured, June 15, i860, by Drexler, at
Rupert House.

Coues, p. 229, met with a single specimen.

120. MacrorJicwipJiiLs grisciLS (Gmel.). Red-breasted
Snipe; Gray Snipe.

Rare at Fort Chimo. Common in southern and
western portions. Specimens obtained at Fort Chimo
and Davis Inlet.

121. Triiiga camitiis Linn. Knot ; Robin Snipe.
Audubon, vol. v., p. 256, states that it ranges along

the coast from Texas to Labrador, but does not record
having met with it in the latter country.

Coues, p. 229, obtained at Henley Harbor a few spe-
cimens in immature plumage.

122. Tringa ntaritima Brtinn. Purple Sandpiper.
Although I can find no record of the occurrence of

this species in Labrador, yet it abounds on the Atlantic
coasts to the north and south of Labrador in spring and
fall.

ti23. Tringa manclata YioiW. Pectoral Sandpiper.

Common almost everywhere on the coast. Specimens

BIRDS.

429

procured by Coues, p. 230; Stearns, p. 119, and by my-
self.

124. Trmga fuscicoUis Vieill, Bonaparte's Sand-
piper.

Excessively abundant at the mouth of the Koksoak
River in July, August, and September; also on the
eastern shore of Labrador. Not known to breed in the
country.

f 125. Tringa viimitilla Vieill. Least Sandpiper.

Not common at Ungava. I have reason to believe
that occasional pairs breed at the mouth of the Koksoak
River.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 282, states that he found nest
and eggs, July 20, 1883, in Labrador.

Coues, p. 232, observed it to be plentiful in Labrador.

Brewster, p. 386, observed a few daily on the beach
at Anticosti.

Stearns, p. 119, records it common in spring and fall,
and breeds in summer.

f 126. Ereiinctcs pusillus (Linn.). Semipalmated
Sandpiper.

Occurs sparingly at the mouth of the Koksoak River,
and from its actions indicated breeding.

Audubon, vol. v., p, 278, states he found them dis-
persed in pairs and having nests early in June in Lab-
rador.

Stearns, p. 119, reports this species as common in
spring and fall.

127. Calidris arcnaria {IJxw'Ci^. Sanderling.

Three individuals were seen at the mouth of the Kok-
soak River associated with Tringa fuscuollis. Two of
these were obtained.

430

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 288, states he saw young in Lab-
rador early in August, 1833, moving southward.

128. Liniosa luemastica{\J\wx\.^. Hudsonian Godwit.

Rare. Drexler obtained a specimen near Rupert
House, July 30, i860.

Stearns, p. 1 19, obtained a single individual at Gid
Fort Island.

f 1 29. Totanus mclanoleucns (Gmel.). Greater Yel-
low- legs ; Tell-tale.

Not common in Ungava district. Specimens obtained
at the mouth of the Koksoak River and only in the fall.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 319, states he found this species
breeding in June in Labrador.

130. Totaniis flavipes (Gmel.). Yellow-legs.

A single individual was seen October 8 abou 50
miles above Fort Chimo, on the Koksoak River, flying
from a bar.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 313, states he found few of these
birds in Labrador.

f 131. Totanus solitariiis (VVils.). Solitary Sand-
piper.

A single individual was obtained near Fort Chimo in
July. Its actions indicated breeding.

132. Tryngitcs siibruficollis (Vieill.). Buff-breasted
Sandpiper.

Coues, p. 235, obtained a single individual August 20,
i860.

f 133. Actitis macularia (Linn.). Spotted Sand-
piper.

Common at Fort Chimo, where downy young and
adults were procured.

Audubon, vol. v., p. 303, states he found it breeding

BIRDS.

431

in LiTSrador, July 17, 1833, and obtained fully-fledged
young July 29.

134. Numenms longirostris VVils. Long-billed Cur-
lew.

Most diligent inquiry failed to satisfy me that this
species occurs on the north, east, or southern portions
of Labrador. Coues apparently satisfied himself, from
inquiry, that the bird does occur there, vide p. 235.

135. Niimc7iijis Jnidsonicus Lath. Fludsonian Curlew.
I saw three individuals of this species in September,

1882, at the mouth of the Koksoak.
Coues, p. 235, procured a few individuals.

136. Nnmeiiins borcalis (Forst.). Eskimo Curlew.

Several large flocks were seen September 4, 1884, fly-
ing over the mouth of the Koksoak River. Plentiful in
the fall in the southern portions and as far north as
Davis Inlet ; they do not halt above this latter place
while on their way southward.

f 137. CrynwpJiiliis fiilica7'ius {\J\wx\^). Red Phala-
rope.

Abundant on the Labrador coast north of Davis Inlet.
Common in Hudson Strait. Rare in Ungava Bay,
where a specimen was obtained. Breeds sparingly in
Hudson Strait.

f 138. PJialarop7is lobatiis (Linn.). Northern Phala-
rope.

Breeds on the islets in Ungava Bay. Common on
northern portions of the Labrador coast.

139. Ra/his vtrginmmts \JiVin. Virginian Rail.

A single specimen was taken in Hamilton Inlet a few
years ago and submitted to M. Fortesque, Esq, (of the

iii

r I

I|l,l» l*W

432

THE ZOOLOGY OK THE LABRADOR COAST.

Hudson Bay Company), who identified it beyond ques-
tion,

140. Porzana Carolina (Linn.), Sora i'vail.
Obtained by Drexler, August 26, i860, at Moose

Factory.

141. Fulica aincricana Gmel. American Coot.

^•\ s|)ccimen was shot on a lake near Nain several
years a^i^o. Several persons who saw the stuffed bird
described this species bevond possibility of doubt.

142. Oloi- coliimbianiLs (Ord). Whistlin*:^ Swan.

An occasional straggler over the southern portions
only of Labrador. The Eskimo of the western side and
northein end of the region apply the name Koogzliook
to this bird, and is exactly the same name as is given to
it by tlic Eskimo of Norton Sound, Alaska.

1 43. Chen hyperborea nivalis (Forst.). Greater Snow-
Goose.

Occasionally a straggler is seen in the western portions
and along the western end of Hudson Strait. Eskimo
from the eastern shore of Hudson Bay reported it to be
very plentiful during the migration. -Those people ap-
ply the term Kangok to this species, and what is rare
among the names of birds is, that the same term is ap-
plied to this species by the Eskimo of Norton Sound,
Alaska.

t 144. Branta canadensis (Linn.). Canada Goose.

Common throughout the territory. Breeds along
'Hudson Str. : near the mouth of St. George's River,
where eggs, young, and adults, were procured.

Breeds plentifully on Anticosti, according to Verrill,

P' 139-

145. Branta bcrnicla (Linn.). Brant.

■ ■ fclliMPii

BIRDS.

43:

Seen in spring only at Fort Chimo. Not known to
breed in the region.

Audubon, vol. vi., p. 205, states that it breeds from
Labrador northward.

146. Anas boschas (Linn.). Mallard.

Rare at Fort Chimo. Common on eastern and more
plentiful on southeast coast. Specimens obtained from
Davis Inlet and at the mouth of the Koksoak River;
known in Labrador as Mallard and Oreen Head.

f 147. Anas obscui'a (Gmel.). Black Mallard.

Not common in Hudson Strait. Doubtless breeds
there, as a female obtained in July had the abdomen
bare and no quills in the wings.

Audubon, vol, iv., p. 246, found eggs and young July

5» 1833-

Verrill, p. 139, states that it breeds abundantly on An-

ticosti.

f 148. Anas strcpc7'-a {\J^w\^.). Gad wall.

Not observed in Hudson Strait.

Verrill, p. 139, states that few specimens were seen on
Anticosti, and a half-grown young one was caught near
the middl'' of July.

149. Anas aviericana (Gmel.Y Baldpatc.

Mr. John Ford assures me that the Widgeon is com-
mon in Hamilton Inlet and on the southeast shore of
Labrador.

150. Anas discors {\J\x\x\.^. Blue-winged Teal.
Brewster, p, 3(89, records that fishermen report its oc-
currence at Anticosti.

151. Anas crcrca (Linn.). English Teal.

Coues, p. 238, obtained a male in Labrador, July 23,
i860.

'v \

I J

iii

i:'i

434

THE ZOf)I/)r.Y OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

152. A7i(7s carolme7tsis {Gmt\.). Green-winged Teal.
Fully-tiedgcd young females were obtained at Fort

Chimo late in July.

Coues, p. 238, saw it in a collection at Rigolet.

153. Dafila acuta (\Jinr\.). Pintail.

A single (young of the year) female was taken at the
mouth of the Koksoak River. An adult was procured
at Davis Inlet. It is very doubtful that this species
breeds in the Ungava district.

154. Atx sponsa (Linn.). Wood Duck; Summer
Duck.

Stearns, p. 120, reports it not rare in the interior of
Labrador.

155. AytJiya amcricaiia (Eyt.). Redhead.
Stearns, p. 120, reports it as common, and saw an in-
dividual, September 20, in Baie des Roches.

156. Glatuionctta islaiidica (Gmel.). Barrow's
Gold en- eye.

Obtained specimens from Davis Inlet. Plentiful in
the fall on the Labrador coast.

157. Ghnuionetta clangiila amei'icana (Bp.). Ameri-
can Golden-eye.

Specimens were obtained from Ungava Bay, where it
is abundant in fall, as it is also on the Labrador coast.

158. Ilistrioniciis histrioninis (Linn.). Harlequin
Duck.

Abundant in Hudson Strait. Specimens from Un-
gava Bay, where this duck certainly breeds. Plentiful
on the eastern coast of Labrador.

f 159. Claiigula hyemalis (Linn.). Long-tailed
Duck ; Old Squaw.

Abundant in the proper season along the entire coast.

msiuagmm

dll

BIRDS.

435

Eggs, downy young, and .idults were procured at Fort
Chimo.

1 60 Camptolainms labradorhis (Gmel.). Labrador
Duck.

Formerly abundant. Now supposed to be extinct.

* f 161. Somatcria mollissima borealis Brehm.
Common Eider.

Abundant in Hudson Strait. Eggs, young of the
year, and adults procured in Ungava Bay. Plentiful on
eastern and southern coasts.

'^ t 162. Somateria dresseri Sharpe. American Eider.

Common on south shore of Labrador.

* t 163. Somateria spectabilis (Linn.). King Eider.
Abundant on Atlantic coast of Labrador, where it is

reported to breed. Nest and eggs were found by N. A.
Comeau near Mingan {vide Canadian Naturalist and
Sportsman, vol. i., No. 7, p. 51, July 15, 1881). Not
known to enter Hudson Strait.

164. Oidemia ainericana Sw. & Rich. American
Scoter.

Obtained at the mouth of the Koksoak River. Abun-
dant in Hudson Strait and eastern shore of Labrador,
where it is reported to breed sparingly.

f 165. Oidemia deglaiidi Bonap. American Velvet
Scoter.

Obtained from the eastern shore of Labrador. Com-
mon alonij all the coast.

The CE. fnsca of Audubon, vol. vi., p. 333, doubtless
refers to this species, and he reports it as common.
Nesting and young able to swim from June r to July 28.

f 166. Oidemia per spicillata (Linn.). Surf Duck.

■ I

436

THE ZOOLOGY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

.-. !'■

Rare in Hudson Strait. Abundant on the eastern
coast of Labrador, where it breeds sparingly.

167. Mcroa7iscr amcricaruis (Cass.). American Shel-
drake.

Stearns, p. 121, reports he has seen one individual of
this species near Fort Island. This is probably the " Pie
bird" that I heard of on the Labrador coast.

*f 168. Merganser serrator (Linn.). Red-breasted
Sheldrake.

Abundant throughout the country. Breeds. Downy
young, unfledged young, and adults were procured at
Ungava and Davis Inlet. Known as " Shell bird" on
the Labrador coast.

169. LopJiodytes ctictillatiis (Linn.). Hooded Shel-
drake.

Stearns, p. 121, records it as rather rare, but occa-
sional in Southern Labrador.

f 170. Phalacrocorax carbo (Jlaww?). Common Cor-
morant.

Not observed in Hudson Strait. Plentiful, and breed-
ing alone the eastern and southern coasts.

f 171. Phalacrocorax dilophiis (Sw. & Rich.).
Double-crested Cormorant.

Plentiful, and breeding along the eastern and southern
coasts. Not observed in Hudson Strait.

f 172. Sula bassana {y^ww^?). Gannet.

Abundant and breeding on southeast and southern
shores of Labrador.

173. Gavia alba {Qf\xx\^,^. Ivory Gull.

Audubon, vol. vii., p. 150, records it from south shore
of Labrador. Not known to enter Hudson Strait.

* + 174. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). Kittivvake Gull.

^rui'iii I

BIRDS.

437

Breeds plentifully on the northern portions of the
Atlantic coast of Labrador.

Brewster, p. 398, found young on Anticosti, Occurs
but rarely in Hudson Strait. One individual was seen
over 100 miles up the Koksoak River, October 13, 1883.

Verrill, p. 141, reports them breeding in immense
numbers on the eastern and northern shoies of Anticosti.

f 175. Lariis glaticus Briinn. Glaucous Gull; Bur-
gomaster.

Not rare in Hudson Strait. Not known to breed
there. Breeds plentifully on the eastern and southern
coasts of Labrador.

176. La7'2is leticopicrtis V'dhQw White-winged Gull.

Audubon, vol. vii., p. 159, states that few were seen
in Labrador.

f 177. Lams marimis Linn. Great Black-backed
Gull.

Not observed in Hudson Strait.

Audubon, vol, vii., p. 174, reports it common and
breeding on Labrador coast.

Coues, p. 244, obtained young, a few days old, at
Sloop Harbor, June 4, i860.

Brewster, p. 395, found young of few days old on
Anticosti.

Known as the " Saddler " or "Saddle-back" on the
coast.

f I 78. Lams argentatus smithsonianns (Zo\xts. Amer-
can Herring Gull. ^

Excessively abundant in Hudson Strait, where eggs,
young, and adults were obtained. Common on the
Atlantic coast of Labrador.

f 1 79. Lanes delawareiisis Ord. Ring-billed Gull.

iiii 18

;•/.!

P'^^T'

ifii

438

THK ZOOI.OC.Y OF TIIF I,AnKAI)f)R COAST.

f ' '

Coues, p. 246, obtained three young of the year at
Henley Harbor, August 21, i860.

180. Lams Philadelphia (Ord.). Bonaparte's Gull.
Coues, p. 247, saw immature birds.

Stearns, p. 122, reports it to be abundant in fall on the
southern coast. Not known to breed in any part of
Labrador.

181. Xei)ia sabinei {^'^^^.^. Sabine's Gull.

A single male was obtained in the middle of July,
1884, near the mouth of George's River, flowing into
the eastern side of Ungava Bay.

182. Stei'iia tscheoTava\^<i\)fz\\. Caspian Tern.

An individual was obtained by James McKenzie at
Moose Factory.

t 183. Sterna hinindo Linn. Common Tern.

Audubon, vol. vii., p. 100, reports it breeding in Lab-
rador.

t 184. Sterna paradiscca Briinn. Arctic Tern.

Breeds plentifully on islets in Ungava Bay ; young of
the year and adults and eggs were procured there.
Abundant on the other coasts of the country. Known
as the " Rittick" at Ungava ; an Orkney Isle word.

185. Sterna antillanwi (Less.). Least Tern.
Audubon, vol. vii., p. 119, reports it abundant and

breeding on western (southern) shore of Labrador.

186. Megalestris skua {^xWx\x\.^. Skua Gull.

' A single individual was seen near the vessel, sitting in
the water off the north side of the Strait of Belle Isle,
June 22, 1882.

187. Stercorarius pomarinus (Temm.). Pomarine
Jaeger.

One was shot by Coues, p. 243.

MtflM«^Aa*Mdiil

*m>'^

lilRDS.

4.39

Parasitic

188. Stcrcorarius parasiticus, (Linn.).
Jaeger.

Coues, p. 243, records having seen this species in Lab-
rador. Not known to enter Hudson Strait.

189. Sfcrcorarius /ofigiiaitdiis Vieill. Long-tailed
Jaeger.

A single individual was obtained in Ungava Bay in
the early part of July. Several were seen. Brewster, p.
395, saw a single individual July 20, near Mingan Har-
bor.

f 190. Fnimarus glacial is (Linn.). Fulmar Petrel.

Not observed in Hudson Strait. Excessively abun-
dant fiom Cape Chidley to Strait of Belle Isle. Thou-
sands were seen in July near the former locality.

191. Puffimis kiildii ( Boie). Cinereous Shearwater.
Kumlein, [). 102, reports it common from Belle Isle

to Grinnell Bay.

[This species is regarded as doubtfully North Ameri-
can. No American specimen is known to be extant.]

192. Piiffums major Faber. Greater Shearwater.
Kumlein, }>. 102, reports it from Belle Isle to Resolu-

ion Island.

193. Piiffijiiis Strickland i Ridgw. Sooty Shearwater.
Coues, p. 243, states that he saw, on August 19, i860,

few of this species with individuals of P, major.

194. Proccllaria pelagica Linn. Stormy Petrel;
Mother Carey's Chicken.

One obtained (middle of July, 1882) 20 miles up the
Koksoak River. Another was seen 70 miles up that
river, October 9, 1882.

195. Oceaniles oceanicus (Kuhl.). Wilson's Petrel.

!': \>

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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(716) 872-4S03

o"^

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•1

in
111

I '

440

riiK zf)oi,of;v 01 thk lahkador coast.

Atlantic coast of Lal)rador ; observed mostly in spring
and fall, then plentiful.

196. Cymochorca Icucoi'rlwa (Vieill.). Leach's Petrel.
^Atlantic coast of Labrador ; observed mostly in spring

and fall, then abundant.

197. Colymlms auritus (Linn.). Horned Grebe.

A single Grebe was seen in a tide pool at the moutiiof
the Koksoak River, September 15. 1882. I will not un-
dertake to assert what species it was, as it appeared to
be a bird of the year. Stearns, j). 132, reports Podiccps
holbdlli as " not rare in spring and fall. Occasionally
breeds." Fhe individual seen by me may have been of
this species.

* f 198. Uriiiaior /)n/)i'r {Ounu.). Loon.

Occurs in Hudson Strait, east and south shores of
Labrador. Specimens procured from Davis Inlet and
Rigok'i.

109. Uriuator arcticus (Linn.). Black-throated
Diver.

Stearns, p. 122, records that two specimens were pro-
cured off the Labrador coast by one of the French
priests at Bersimis. One in 1880.

\ 200. L'rinator Imunic (Gunn.). Red-throated
Diver.

Very plentiful throughout the county. Eggs, downy
young, and adults were procured at Ungava. Kno\vn in
, Labrador as " Waby."

201. Plant us inipciniis (Linn.). Great Auk.

Supposed to have formerly occurred on the Labrador
coast. Undoubtedly extinct now.

f 202. Alca tenia Linn. Razor-billed Auk.

BIRDS.

441

Nor observed in Hudson Strait. Abundant on east-
ern and southern shores, where it breeds plentifully.

t 203. Fratcrcula arctica (Linn.). Common Puffin.

Plentiful on eastern and southern coast of Labrador,
where it breeds. Not known to enter Hudson Strait.

* t 204. Allc alle (Linn.). Sea Dove ; Dovekie.
Common in Hudson Strait. Winter (December 19,

1882) specimen taken 100 miles up the Koksoak River.
Occurs in myriads alon^ the eastern shore of Labrador.
Known as the " Bullbird." Breeds plentifully in certain
localities not visited by me.

* t 205. Cepplnis trrylle (Linn.). Black Guillemot.
Common in Hudson Strait, east and soutii shores of

Labrador. Breeds wherever found in summer.

* f 206. Ccpphus ?/iiru(///i (U\ch\.). Mandt's Guille-
mot.

Occurs in Hudson Strait occasionallv onlv, accordingf
to my own ol)servation. Plentiful on tiie eastern coast
of Labrador. Sjiccimens j)rocuretl at Fort George by
Drexler, July 17, 1861. Breeds wherever found in sum-
mer. Known as " Pioeon" or "Sea Piijeon " on the
eastern coast. .

* f 207. C/r/a troilc (Linn.). Common Guillemot.
Plentiful on eastern and southern coast of Labrador.

\ot observed in Hudson Strait.

* t 208. Uria /omz'i'a (l^riinn.). Briimiich's Guille-
mot.

Obtained only from Hudson Strait, where it breeds.
Abundant on eastern and southern coasts.

Besides these species the following was collected by
Dr. Robert Bell, and recorded by him in the Report of
the Canadian Geological Survey for 1882-83-84.

IJ ':

l, '

...^

442

THE ZOOLOGY OK IHK LAHRADoR COAST.

vv^

I f

SI!

Proccllaria tcnuirostn's Aud. Slender-billed Fulmar.
Port Burwell, 28il> September.

Mammals.

/ 'cspcrtilio subulahis Say. Little Brown Bat. Natash-
quan. (Stearns.)

Lepiis amcricanus Erxl. (Stearns.)

Ercthizon dorsatitin (Linn.). Near Flopedale.

Fiber zibet hicus Cuv. Henley Harbor.

Castor canadensis Kuhl. Rapidly becoming extinct
on the coast.

Sciuropterus volucella (Pallas). Specimens found at
St. Augustine. (Stearns.)

Scinrns Jnidsonius Pallas. "Common in the woods,
along the southern coast. (Stearns.)

Arctcmiys vionax (Linn.). "Common at Mingan,
growing scarce towards Bonne Esperance." (Stearns.)

Zapus hudsouicus (Zimmermann). Not rare on the
dry tops of many of the islands along the southern coast.
(Stearns.)

Hespcromys /eucopns (Rafinesque). Not rare.
(Stearns.)

Arvicola sp.

BaUcnoptera
the coast.

Balerna mysticetus Linn. The Hump-backcJ Whale
is commonly seen. This species shows its tail and the
pale underside of the body when it "breaches"; the
Fin-back does not show its tail.

PJiyseter macrocephalns Linn. For many years the
tishermen on the coast have noticed a school of nine

(Stearns).

The Fin-back is frequently seen upon

h I

HAMbMl^ia^^U

MAMMALS.

443

sperm whales passingr up and down the coast. Lately
the number has been reduced to five, one of which, prob-
ably, was seen off Domino Harbor, in a large school of
" Finners" and "Hump-bacUs."

Sibbaldius horcalis (Fischer). A Sulphur-bottom
Whale was towed ashore at Old Fort Island in 1878 or
1879. (Stearns.)

Monodon monoccros Linn. While the Narwhal is
abundant, going in schools, in Hudson's Strait, it had
not been seen at the Moravian settlements since at least
1830.

Delplii^iapterus catodon (Linn.). The White Whale is
not uncommonly seen passing in schools along the coast
in the summer-time.

Orca oiadiator (Bonnaterre). The Killer, which was
described to me as having the head much shorter and
blunter, and with longer teeth than the (irampus, from
which it is easily distinguished by its sharp, dorsal fin,
five or six feet high, is commonly said, by the fishermen,
to attack the Right and Finback Wliales, "gouging out
lumps of flesh." At Belles Amours, an individual was
captured, from whose stomach five shoulders of the seal
were taken.

Globiccphalus intcrmedms (Harlan). The Black-fish,
or (irampus, abounds on the whole coast.

Grampus griscus (Cuvier). The Grampus occurs
along the coast as far as Belle Isle, and perhaps farther.
(Stearns.)

Odobccniis rosmarus (Malm.). Atlantic Walrus.

Phocavituliua Linn. Harbor Seal. Ascends the rivers
into fresh water.

nS'5r^

444

THK /.()()L()(;y ok thk lahuador coast.

I i

Phoca fwtida Fabr. In harbors in spring and autumn.
(Stearns.)

Of the Pkoca hispida Erxl., no information could be
obtained.

Pai^ophilus p'ivnlandiciis Gray. (Phoca fjroenlandica
auct. ) This species is most abundant and extensively
hunted by the sealers. The young soon after birth
weigii 70-80 pounds, while the adult weighs 140-150
pounds. (Common in migrations all along the shores
south of Belle Isle. ;

Eripiathus barhatjis Qi\\\. (Phoca barbata Fal^r.). It
is probably the species which is called by the sealers the
" S»]uare Flipper." It is very rare, and much the largest
species known. The young weigh 140-150. pounds,
while the adult will weigh 500-600 pounds.

Cystophora cristata Nilsson. The Hooded vScal is not
uncommonly, during the spring, killed in considerable
numbers by the sealers. The young "pelt' weighs 70--S0
pounds, while the old male or "dog hood," weighs 400
pounds.

Raii}:;ifcr caribou Baird. Lives in summer on the hill-
tops away fiom the woods.

Ovibos nwschatus Hlainville. As the Labrador Es-
kimo have a distinct name for the musk-ox, it is natur-
ally inferred that it may have formerly inhabited the
northwestern part of the peninsula, as it once occurred on
the opposite coast of Hudson's Bay as far south as
Churchill River.

UrsHs viaritimus Linn. White bear.

Ursus amcricamis Pallas. The black bear is abundant
on the southern coast, where it leaves its winter quarters
in May, but above Hopcdale is very rarely seen.

i»,^.*^,^,;^ ^-<^ -^ ^ - ,

MritH

MAMMALS.

445

Procyon lotor Storr. Raccoon. Square Island.

Lutra canadensis Sabine. Common along the whole
coast.

Mephitis viephitica (Shaw). Rarely seen on the
southern coast. (Stearns.)

Gulo luscus (Linn.). Wolverine. Generally distrih-
uted alonji^ the coast. (Stearns.)

Putorius vison (Schreber). The Mink is common
alon<T the coast.

Putori^is vu/oaris (Erxl.). This and the Ermine are
common eve r)' \v li v re .

Putoi'ius e7'minea (Linn.).

iMnsteia aniericana Turton. The American Sable or
Marten is common.

Mustela fennanti Erxl. The Fisher is occasionally
seen in Southern Labrador. (Stearns.)

Vulpcs fiilvits Linn. The Red Fox occurred com-
monly at Stagn^ Bay, with the following species of ihe
silver and black fox. The former is not uncommon, the

black very rare.

Vulpes lagopus Linn. The " Blue Fox " is exceed-
ingly rare about the mouth of Hamilton Inlet. An old
hunter told me he had seen but three of them within a
period of forty years. Their fur is shorter, and the tail
shorter and more bushy than the " Patch r\)X." On a
high isolated rock much frequented by sea-birds, 1 no-
ticed a Patch Fox with a murre's ^^^ in its mouth. It is
very tame and unsuspicious on the outer islands, where it
lives evidently by robbing the nests of sea-birds. It is
the common statement of the hunters that the different
varieties of this species are found in the same litter.

446

THE ZOOi^OGY OF THE l.AHKAUOK COAS i ,

i >,

• i

Cam's lupus Linn. The Gray Wolf is said by Stearns
to l)c very rare.

Lynx ca?iaflinsis (Desm.). The Lynx is common in
winter. (Stearns.)

Al'I'ENDIX VO ClIAI'TER XV. ZooLOGY.

Hy an unfortunate oversi^^ht the end of the list of in-
sects was left out of its proper place.

i.EriDDiTEkA — concluded.

Eurymus nastcs ( Boisd. ) =: Colias nastes of former
list. I have not re-examined specimens, as they are ap-
parently no longer extant.

Paviphila comma (Linn.) = Hesperia comma of my
former list, 'i he sin<ile specimen obtained was not ex-
amined l)v me in my study of the species of Famphila
(Memoirs Host. Soc. Nat. Hist, ii., 341), and is the
only specimen 1 have seen of F. comma from America.
It belongs to the var. catena Staud. found in northern
Scandinavia and Lapland, and exactly resembles the
specimen of that variety figured by me in the memoii
referred to al)oye Moschler has already noted that it
is this variety which occurs in Labrador.

Hesperia centaur cce Ramb.

HVMEXUI'TKKA.

Uroceriis flavicornis Fabr. Common on Caribou
Island.

Urocertis cyaneus Fabr. Hopedale.
Euura orbitalis Norton. Var. a. b. Caribou Island.
Nana I us Labrador is Norton. Caribou Island.
Nemahis malacus Norton. Caribou Island.
Nematus fallax Norton. Caribou Island.
Nematus monela Norton. Caribou Island.
Nematus fuhipes Norton. Caribou Island.

BWBI*Vj»---/-y-

INSECTS.

447

Ncmatit^ placcntiis Norton. Caribou Island.
Allantiis originalis Norton. Caribou Island.
Macropliya {^Pachyprotasis) otticga Norton. Caribou
Island.

Tenthrcdo mclUnus Norton. Caribou Island.
Tenthredo cinctitibiis Norton. Caribou Island.
Formica hcrculanca Linn. Whole coast.
Formica sanoninea Latr. Strait of Belle Isle.
Vcspa nmculata Linn. Southern coast, Mecatina
Island.

Vcspa norvegica Fabr. Caribou Island.
Bouibus laciistris Crcsson. Whole northern coast ;
common.

Sloop Harbor and Hope-
Square Island and Hope-
Caribou Island and whole

Bo Dibits kirbycllus Curtis,
dale.

Bonibus frigidiis Smith,
dale.

Bonibiis nivalis Dahlb.
coast northward.

* Ichficumon larice Curtis. Ross' Voyage. Fig. i.
Okkak.

" This species labelled /. erythrosomus by Holmgren
seems to me to be the same as /. larice of Curtis, only
differing in the color from our specimens from Green-
land." (C. Aurivillius in letter.)

Ichneumon ^ligroriifus. Fide Holmgren. Caribou
Island.

Ichncmnon Packardii Holmgren MS. Hopedale.

Cryptus Fabricii Schiocdte. Tub Island.

Campop/ex air/ icus Curt\s 7 Caribou Island.

*The Ichneumonidae were partially named by the late Mr. A. E. Holmgren'
of Sweden, the work having been interrupted by his death. Besides these about
twenty other species were collected, with two or three species of Chalcididx.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE HUTANV OK TIIK I.AHKADOR COAST.

t t

!■'■

Very little hcrhalizin*^ has been done on the shores of
this region and none at all in the interior. The earliest
paper devoted especially to Labrador botany appears t(j
be E. Meyer's Dc plantcs labradoricis ])ublishL'd at
Lcipzi_of in 1830. The late Rev. Samuel Weiz, lor many
years missionary at Hopedale, kindly allowed us while
at that station in 1S64 to make a copy of his list of
northern Labrador plants. As regards the botany of
the St. Lawrence or Gulf Coast of Labrador we know
more. The Rev. S. R. Butler, a missionary and succes-
sor of the Rev. C. C. Carpenter at Caribou Island, near
the mouth of Eskimo River, botanized several seasons
on Caribou Island, at Forteau Bay and L'Ance Amour,
and the results are given in his excellent list entitled
"Labrador Plantes," published in the Canadian Natural-
ist.""' This list was added to by Mr. \V\ A. Stearns,t who
collected at Harrington Harbor, Baie des Roches, Bonne
Esperence and Salmon Bay and at a point seven miles
up the Eskinio River. Miss MacFarlane also alTt)r(ltd
Mr. Butler " much valuable material." Reference may
also be made to Sir John Richardson's list of plants col-

*VoI. V. 1870. September No.

f Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. No. 8. Aug. i. 1883.

448

v:\

,.a,- '.

NuUlllKUN l.lMirs t>l- IKKKS.

449

Iccted on tlu- Nlaiul of Anticosli ami coast of I.ahrailor
in i860. Wliili' tlu' plants of tlic (lulf coast arc a mix-
ture of arclic, subarctic and Alpine lloras with that of
the northern Canailian shores of the St. Lawrence River,
those of northern Lahradcjr are naturally more purely
arctic.

'I'hc extreme northern point touched by an observer
of plant life in I'ort Chimo. In the introduction to
iiis list of birds of Labratlor ''' Mr. Turner thus refers to
the vegetation : — "The limit of liees ceases oidy 10
miles north of Tort Chimo. The principal trees are
species of Abies, Larix, Hetula, Poj)ulus, iVlnus, Salix,
and Juniperus. The moie common llowering plants are*
Anemone, Ranunculus, Draba, X'iola, Arcnaria, Stellaria»
Lathyrus, Potentilla, Ivubus, Ribes, Saxifra<^a, Epilo-
bium, Ileiacleum, Taraxacum, X'accinium, Kalniia,
Rhododendron, Ledum, I^inu^uicula, Oentiana, Einpe-
trum, IJabenaria, Iris, and Smilacina. Of sedges and
grasses, J uncus, Scirpus, Eriophorum, Carex, Poa, \Uy-
mus, and Aira are the more common." Dr. Robert
Bell collected j)lants on the northern coasts, which were
identified by Prof. Macoun, and are embraced in the
lisi iiiven beyond.

Dr. Koclif thus writes rei^ardlng the forests and vcfj^e-
tation at Nain, a point not far from the northern limit
of trees : " The northernmost vallevs in which firs <xvo\v
ojien into Napartok Ba\'. North of Napartok Bay |.
(Napartok means fir) [more properly spruce] are found
only dwarf willows and birches ; mosses and lichens form

• *Prnc. r. S. \af. Mil-:, vin. \os. 15, 16, 18S5.
f Deutsche Genpraphiscbe Blatter, Bremen, 1884.
:J Napartok Bay is just south of the 58th parallel of latitude.

!':*■!

¥'

450

TIIK HOTANV OK rilK I.AHUAOOU COAST.

1 '

:(■{ !

the principal covering of the jriound. In the south,
near the coast, the forests have heen partly destroyed hy
reckless cutting, and the devastated character of the
region about IIo[)edale is due in great part to the
destruction of the forests on the valley sides hy the
Eskimo. As everything naturally grows slowly on ac-
count of the short summer, the trunks of the firs are
subjected to great tension, so that those which have lost
their bark seem twisted like corkscrews. Hand in hand
with this goes on a rapid new growth of the thickness
of the trunk towards the top; both causes render the
W(jod useless for timber. On account of ihcsliort spiiiiir
this country, like other arctic regions, has a llora numer-
ically rich in individuals but poor in species, and it
reminds one of the alps and the mountains of Norway.
Of the plants, besides bilberries and cranberries, only a
kind of cochlearia and cloudbeny ( in Eskimo . I /x/?ii')
are useful, the latter being used by the l-lskimoin attacks
of scurvy, hence for that reason it is much valued and
gathered. In consequence of this many places ar<'
named for it, for example Akbikse, Akbiktok, z'/'.z.
l)laces where Akbik grows.

" Moreover the missionaries raise potatoes and cab-
bages, but not only is the seed sown with much trouble
— for the garden must be dug out of the snow in spring
— but also during the summer they must be covered
every night with mats on account of the nightly frosts."

Of the mosses of Labrador what is known is probably
comprised in a paper entitled Moosvegetatiofi and Moos-
beaude in Labrador,

II-

PLANTS

451

CATALOGUE OF THE PLANTS REI'ORTED

BV VARIOUS TRAVELLERS AND

OTlll'lRS AS GROWING ON THE

COAST OE LABRADOR.

CoMi'ii-Ki) itv John NLvcoun. Naturalist ok iiil Di> '

I'AKTMLNT OK InTKRIOK, OtTAWA, CaNADA.
KANUNCULACK.l-

7. Anemone pixrviflora M-'lix. Coa^* of Labrador
(Ton. and Gray, j). 12) ; con.iiion on ilic highlands of
F( rteau (VV. E. Stearns); llojx'da!' (VVciz).

20. TJialictruni dioicuni Liiin. ( )n Caiil)oii Island
(S. R. Butler) ; common on hijj^hlands alon<i the mar-
p[ins of streams, and in the interior at Eorteau ( W. E.
Stearns).

22. Thalictrjun Coruuti Linn. Coast of Labrador
at Eorteau (McGillColl. Herb).

34. Rantineulus ajfinis R. Br. Ilopcdale (Weiz).

40. Ranunculus pygrncnis VVahl. C^oast of Labrador
(Pursh) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

44. Ranuncu/us nivalis Linn. From Labrador and
Spitzbergen (Torn and Gray, page 21); Hopedale
(Weiz).

54. Caltha pahistris Linn. Strait of Belle Isle (J. Rich-
ardson) ; Hopedale (Weiz). Sec R. Avicricanus
(J. M.).

57. Coptis tri folia Salisb. Labrador and north to
lat. 58° (Hooker) ; on hills, Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

!»' '.

452

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

nympiM':ace/E.

! '

95. Nuphar advetta Ait. Ponds, Caribou Island (S.
R. Butler).

SARRACENIACE.'E,

100. Sarracenia purpurea Linn,
bogs. (Hooker).

Not infrequent in.

PAPAVERACE/E.

102. Papavcr nudicaulc Linn.
Weiz.

Hopcdale Islands,

CRUCIFERyE.

Cardaminc prate7isis Linn. Wet, swampy meadows
(Brunot) ; Hopedale (Weiz). See C. Cell idi folia.

143. Arabis alpina Linn. Coast of Labrador (Col-
master) ; Forteau Bay, by the seashore (S. R. Butier) ;
Hopedale Islands (Weiz). ♦

144. Arabis stricta Huds. Coast of Labrador (Col-
master vide Pursh). This is very likely Arabis conlinis,
Watson. Hopedale Island (Weiz).

169. Drab J alpina var. (?) corynibosa, Durand. Coast
of Labrador (Abbe Brunot).

170. Draba stcllata var. nivalis, Regd. Coast of
Labrador (Colmaster vide Hooker).

175. Draba incana Linn. D. contorta Ehrh.; Weiz'
List. D. glabella Richardson ; Weiz, List. Coast of
Labrador (Pursh) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

Var. confnsa Poir. Nachvak, coast of Labrador (R.
Bell) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

176. Draba arabisans Michx. Hopedale (Weiz).

177. Draba aiirca Vahl. Hopedale (Weiz).

PLANTS.

453

182. Cochlearia officinalis Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Abbe Brunot); Hopedale (Weiz).

185. Cocldearia tridactylites Banks. Coast of Labra-
dor (Sir Joseph Banks); Cape Charles (Abb(3 Brunot) ;
Hopedale (Weiz) ; Seashore, Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

197. Capsella bursa-pastoris Moench. Introduced.
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

'I 1; .'1
\

VIOLACE/E.

240. Viola canina var. sylvestris, Regel. \\ Muhlen-
bergii ? Weiz' List. Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Isl-
and (S. R. Butler).

229. Viola blanda Willd. Hopedale (Weiz).

CAKYOl'HYLLACE.'i:.

263. Silcnc acaitlis Linn. Caribou Island (S. R. But-
ler); Hopedale (Weiz).

264. Lyc/mis apctala Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Judge Morrison).

266. Lychnis alpiua Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Judge Morrison); Ungava Bay (Barnston) ; Nach-
vak (R. Bell) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

281. Arcnaria verna Linn. A. junipcrina I^msh ;
Weiz' List ; Caribou Island (vS. R. Butler) ; Cape
Charles and Amour Bay (Abbe Brunot) ; Coast ol
Labrador (Pursh) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

287. Arcnaria Grccnlandica Spreng. Nain and
Ford's Harbor (R. Bell) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; summits
of low hills at Baic des Roches, abundant (W. E.
Stearns); Caribou Island (Butler).

I :!)

454

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

288. Arenarm serpyllifolia Linn. Coast of Labra-
dor. Introduced. (Abb6 Brunot.)

291. Arenaria peploides Linn. Honkenya peploides
Ehrh.; Butler's List; Coast of Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler) ; Ilopcdale (Weiz).

295. Stellaria borcalis Bigel. Hopedale (Weiz).

298. Stellaria crassifolia Ehrh. Arenaria norvegica ?
Weiz' List. Rather common in damp localities along
the coast (W. E. Stearns); Hopedale, Weiz.

300. Stellaria loui^ipes Goldie. Var. minor, Hook.
Hopedale (Weiz); Nain (R. Bell).

Var. Edivardsii Torr. and Or. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Coast of Labrador (Miss Macfarline) Caribou Island ?
(Butler.)

305. Stellaria Innnifusa Rottb. Arenaria Purshiana,
Seringe ; Weiz' List ; Nain, along the coast (R. Bell) ;
Hopedale (Weiz) ; seashore of Labrador (Pursh) ; Sea-
beach, Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

511. Cerastijcm alpinum Linn. Forteau Bay (S. R.
Butler) ; Hopedale Islands (Weiz) ; Ford's Harbor and
Nain (R. Bell).

Var. glabratzim Hook. Hopedale (Weiz) ; Nach-
vak (R. Bell).

318. Sagina jiodosa E. Meyer. Mingan Islands and
Labrador Coast. (St. Cyr) ; Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

321. Spergularia salina Presl. Brackish sands along
the coast (Abbd Brunot).

PORTULACACE.^.

340. Montia fofttana Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Gmelin.)

..->1>^.r-*J.lH»«f-f i^^^ p^.^

PLANTS.

455

LKGU MINDSET.

499. Astragalus alpinus Linn. A. Lahradoricus.
Hook.; Weiz' List. Caribou Island or Fortcau liay
(S. R. Butler); Ilopcdalc (Weiz) ; Nain and Xachvak
(R. Bell).

525. Oxytropis podocarpa Gray. Labrador and the
Arctic recrions, (Dr. Gray).

527. Oxytropis campcstris L. Var. ciurulea, Koch.
Coast of Labrador, (Abbe Brunot) ; Ford's Harbor and
Nachvak (R. Bell) ; Hill-sides near Forteau Light-
house, (S. R. Butler) ; Hopedale (VVciz).

533. Hcdysanun borcale Mott. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Forteau Bay (S. R. Butler).

556. LatJiyriis maritimus Bigel. Pisum maritimum,
Linn., Weiz' List. Hopedale (Weiz); Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler.)

559. Lathyrus paliister Linn. Caribou Island and
Forteau Bay, (S. R. Butler.)

'r'

ROSACE.E.

571. Prnnns Pcnnsylvanica Linn. Cerasus ?

Butler's List. Caribou Island. (S. R. Butler.)

588. Rubns Cluviicemorus Linn. Ford's Harbor (R.
Bell) ; Straits of Belle Isle (St. Cyr.) ; Hopedale
(Weiz); Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

589. Rtibus arcticus Linn. Peat hogs, coast of Lab-
rador (Abbe Brunot) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Is-
land (S. R. Butler).

Var. grandiflorus Ledeb. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker) ; Nain and Nachvak (R. Bell).

592. Rubus triflorus, Rich. Forteau Bay (S. R.
Butler).

456

THE KOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

'; i

• i

I '!l

605. Dryas octopctala Linn, D. tenella, Pursh ; Weiz'
List. Hopedale (Weiz) ; Nachvak and Cape Chudley
(R. Bell) ; Mill tops, Point Amour rs. R. Butler).

612. Geitm rivalc Linn. In springy places along
the coast (VV. E. Stearns).

613. Gcttm trijioriim Pursh. Dry rocky ground
(Judge Morrison).

618. Sibhaldia proctunbcnsXJKXwx Coast of Labrador
(M'Gill Coll. Herb.); liopedale (Weiz).

625. Pot cut ilia Nort'Ci^ica Linn. Forteau Bay and
Caribou Island (S R. Butler) ; Nain (R. Bell).

637. Potentilla nhea Linn, liopedale (Weiz).

641. Potentilla niaculata Poir.

P. Salisburycnsis Ihunke ; Weiz' List.

P. anrca Oeder; Weiz' List.

P. crocca Haller ; Weiz' List. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Nain and Nachvak (R. Bell); on hills at Amour (S R.
Butler).

643. Potentilla cmarginata Pursh. Coast of Labrador
(Colmaster).

645. Potentilla pahistris Scop.

Coniarnm palustris Linn. ; Weiz' List. Hopedale
(Weiz) ; Caribou Island. (S. R. Butler).

647. Potentilla friUicosa Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker).

648. Potentilla tridcntata Solander. Hopedale
(Weiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

649. Potentilla Anserina Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

653. Alchemilla vulgaris Linn. South coast of Lab-
rador near Amour (^S. E. Butler); collected m several

PLANTS.

457

localities along the coast (VV. E. Stearns); Hopedale
(VVtiz).

656. Potcrium Canadeusc Bentii. cS: Hook. Sangui-
sorba Canadensis, Linn.; Weiz' List. Hopedale (VVeiz);
con^.mon on dry sloping flats along the coast (VV. E.
Stearns); Caribou Island (Butler).

674. Pirns Americana DC. Var. microcarpa, Torn
& Gr. Caril)ou Island, (S. R. Butler). Not rare on
the coast (W. E. Stearns); Hopedale (VVeiz).

685. Ainclanchicr Canadensis Var. (?) oligocarpa, T.
& Gr. South coast of Labrador at Amourand Caribou
Island (S. R. Butler).

SAXIFRAGACE/E.

686. Saxifraga oppositifolia Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
on rocks at Amour (S. R. Butler).

688. Saxifraga Aizoon Jacq. Coast of Labrador
(Judge Morrison) ; Hopedale (VVeiz).

690. Saxifraga ccrspitosa Linn. Var. Groenlandica,
Wahl ; S. Groenlandica, Linn.; Weiz' List. Hopedale
(Weiz) ; Forteau Bay (S. R. Butler) ; Nachvak (R.
Bell).

693. 'Saxifraga rivu/aris Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Coast of Labrador, (M'Gill Coll. Herb.); Nachvak
(R. Bell).

695. Saxifraga cermia Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Coast of Labrador (Pursh).

698. Saxifraga nivalis Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Nachvak (R. Bell) ; Coast of Labrador (Pursh) ; Cari-
bou Island, (S. R. Butler).

702. Saxifraga hieracifolia Waldst. and Kit. Hope-
dale (Weiz).

1.1

'. I

458

niK BOTANY OF IHl!: I.ABKADOK COAST.

713. Saxifraga trictispidaia Retz. Coast of Labra-
dor (McGill Coll. Herb.); Nachvak (R. Bell).

714. Saxifraga aizoidcs Linn. Southeast coast ol
Labrador (S. R. Butler) ; Hopedalc (VVeiz) ; Nach-
vak (R. Bell).

724. Mitclla mtda Linn. Cool damp places (Hooker).

']}f']. Parnossia pahish'is Linn. Hopedalc (VVeiz) ;
Coast of Labrador (Hooker).

740. Parftassia Kotzehici Cham, and Schlecht. Hope-
dale (VVeiz) ; Coast of Labrador (M'Gill Coll. Herb.).

753. Ribcs prostratnm L'Hev. R. ^landulosum, Ait.;
VVeiz' List. Hopedalc (VVeiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

CRASSULACE/li.

769. Scdum Rhodiola DC. Nain, Nachvak, and Ford's
Harbor (R. Bell) ; Ilopedale (VVeiz).

DROSERACE.E.

771. Droscra rotwidifolia Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker); Hopedale (VVeiz); Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

HALORAGE/E.

781. Hippiirtis vulgaris Linn. Coast of Labradoi
(Hooker) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

%":

fttn;l

ONAGRACE.E.

786. Epilobium angusti folium Linn. Hopedale
(VVeiz) ; Coast of Labrador (Hooker) ; Caribou Island,
(S. R. Butler) ; Nain and Nachvak (R. Bell).

787. Epilobium latifolium Linn. Hopedale (Weiz);

PLANTS.

459

Amour Bay, on the south coast, and Caribou Island (S.
R. Butler).

789. lipilobium alpinum Linn. E. nutans, Lchm.;
Welz' List. Hopedale (Weiz) ; South coast of Labra-
dor (Abbe Brunot).

794. Epilobitim palustrc Linn. Var. lineare, Gray.
Hopedale (Weiz) ; Coast of Labrador (Judge Morri-
son).

UMBELLTFER^.

871. Archangclica atropurpurea Hoffm. Angelica
Archangelica, Schrank ; Weiz' List. Hopedale (Weiz);
On the south coast at Amour Bay and Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

d>'j2. Ai'cliangclica Gjuelmi DC. Coast of Labrador,
(McGill Coll. Herb.) ; Strait of Belle Isle (St. Cyr).

864. Ligusticiim Scotictim Linn. Caribou Island (S.
R. Butler).

883. Heracleum laiiatum Michx. Caribou Island,
(S. R. Butler) ; Coast of Labrador (Hooker).

CORNACE^.

885. Cornus Canadensis Linn. Caribou Island, and
Forteau Bay (S. R. Butler) ; Nain (R. Bell) ; Hope-
dale (Weiz).

896. Cormis Suecica Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Abb^ Brunot) ; Caribou Island (S. R. Butler) ; Ford's
Harbor (R. Bell).

CAPRI FOLIAGES.

916. Viburnum pauciflorum Pylaie. Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

it '^^;

■

460

IIIK BOTANY OK THE LABRADOK COAST

919. Linncea borealis Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ; Carl
bou Island (S. R. Butler).

929. Loniccra cccrulea Linn. In bogs, frequent
(Hooker); Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1 »

-ill

RUniACE.E.

941. Galhnn trifidum Linn. (6^. Claytoni Hook. ;
Weiz' List.) Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

COMPOSIT.F..

984. Solidago macrophylla Pursh. {S, thyrsoidcct E.
Meyer; Weiz' List.) Hopedale (Weiz); Caribou Is-
land (S. R. Butler) ; Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

986. Solidai^o ]^irga2trcd, van alpina Bigel. Hope-
dale (Weiz) ; Ford's Harbor and Nachvak (R. Bell).

987. Solidago mnltiradiata Ait. Along the coast of
Labrador (Judge Morrison).

10 1 9. Aster Radula Ait., var. str ictus Gray. Cari-
bou Island (S. R. Butler) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; coast of
Labrador (Pursh).

1079. Ei'igeron unijlortis Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
coast of Labrador (Colmaster) ; Nachvak (R. Bell).

1092. Hrigcron acris \J[nw. Coast of Labrador (Torr,
and Gray); Hopedale (Weiz).

1098. Antcnnaria dioica GaTtn. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

1099. Antennaria alpina Goertn. Coast of Labrador
(Colmaster) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

1 100. Antennaria Carpathica R. Br. Coast of La-
brador (Dr. Gray).

PLANTS.

461

1 106. Ciuaphalimn Xorvegicum Qmww^ix. (C syha/i-
cum Linn.; Wciz' List.) Hopedale (Wciz) ; coast of
Labrador (Torr. and Gray).

1 1 10. Gnap/ta/i'ion sKpiniiin V'xW. (G. pus ill 11 ni
IliLMikc; Weiz' List.) Coast of Labrador (Dr. Morri-
son) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

1 1 73. Achillea Millefolium Linn., var. nigrescens
E. Meyer. Hopedale (Weiz) ; Nain (R. Bell) ; Cari-
bou Island (S. R. Butler).

1193. Artemisia borealis Pall., var. spil/iannva Torr.
and Gray. Coast of Labrador (Colmaster) ; Hopedale
Islands (Weiz).

1214. Peiasites palmala Gray. Swamps, Labrador
coast (Hooker) ; Hopedale Islands (Weiz).

1 1 22. Arnica alpina Murr. Coast of Labrador (Torr.
and Gray) ; Hopedale Islands (Weiz) ; Naclivak and
Cape Chidley (R. Bell).

1242. Scnecio Pscitilo-Arnicah.cs'^. Hopedale Islands
(Weiz); coast of Labrador (Hooker).

1244. Senecio/ri<^r/(/us 'Less. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Gray).

1237. Seiiccio anrc7is Linn., var. borealis, Torr. and
Gray. Nachvak (R. Bell); Hopedale Islands (Weiz).

1286. Hieraciuui viilmhun Vx\QS. Coast of Labrador
(Colmaster) ; Hopedale Islands (Weiz).

1308. Taraxicum officinale Weber, var. alpinnm,
Kocb. Not uncommon along the coast (jf Labrador
(W. E. Stearns) ; rocky soil, Nachvak and Nain (R.
Bell) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

I I

ti!:-.

■,<

> i;

IM"

^-■? - ill

462

THE ISOTANV OI- THE LABRADOR COAST.

CAMl'ANULACE.E.

1 34 1. Ca7npanula7iniJiora\J\\\^. Hopedale (VVeiz) ;
Nachvak and Cape Chidley (R. Hell).

1 344. Cavipanjila roiundifo/ia L., var. arclica Lange.
Hopedale (VVeiz); Middle Bay, Belles Amours, and
L'Anse Amour (S. R. Butler) , common at Forleau
Bay (W. E. Stearns).

ERRACE.i:.

1352. Vacciviiim Pcnnsyhixniciim, var. a^is^iistifolium
Gray. Nain (Lundberj:;^) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou
Island (Martin, S. R. Butler).

1356. Wxcciniu))! nligiiiosiun Linn. Mopedale
(Wei/) ; common on the coast at Nain, Ford's Harbor,
and Nachvak (R. Bell) ; Caribou island (S. R. But-
ler).

1358. ]'accinium ccrspitosmn Michx. Hopedale
(Weiz) ; on hill-sides at Belles Amours and on Caribou
Island (S. R. Butler).

1364. Vaccinium \ltis-Id(ea Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1365. Vaccinium Oxycocciis \^\\w\. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Caribou Islands (S. R. Butler).

1366. J^acciiiiitnt niacrocarpon Ait. By lakelets
along the coast. (Abbf^ Brunot).

1367. Chioj^encs kispidHlaTorr. ?ind Gx2iy. On moss,
along the coast (Hooker).

1369. Arctostaphylos aipina S^xeng. {Arbutus alpina
Linn.; Weiz' List.) Hopedale (Weiz) ; Ford's Harbor
and Cape Chidley (R. Bell).

1383. Andromeda polifolia \J\XiW. Hopedale (Weiz);
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

I'LANTS.

^;«

1376. Cassandra caiycu lata V)ov\. Borders of lakclt-ls
and swamps along the coast (Hooker); Square Island
Harbor (B. P. Mann).

1378. Cassiopc hypiioides Don. Andromeda hyp-
iioides Linn.; VVeiz' List. liopedalc (Wciz) ; Nain
and Cape Cliidley (R. Bell) ; coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison).

1 38 1 . Cassiopc tctrap^oha Don. A iidromcda Iclragona
Linn.; Weiz' List. Hopcdale (Weiz) ; coast of Lab-
rador (Colmaster) ; abundant along the coasi at Nain
and Nachvak (R. Bell); Caribou Island (S. R. Butlci).

1389. Bryaitiktis iaxiJoiiusGmy. Andromeda neru-
/ea Weiz' List. Hopcdale (VVeiz); coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison) ; Nain. Nachvak, and Ford's Harbor
(R. Bell).

1393. KalmiaangnstiJolia\A\\\\. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison).

1394. Kalmia glanca Ait. Hopcdale (VVeiz); Cari-
bou Island (S. R. Butler) ; coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison).

1395. Ledum palusire \J\nv\. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison) ; Hopcdale (Weiz) ; Ford's Harbor and
Nachvak (R. Bell).

1396. Ledum latifolium Ait. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison) ; Hopcdale (Weiz) ; Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

1386. Loiseleurta procumbeiisT>tsw. Azalea procum-
bens Linn.; Weiz' List. Hopcdale (Weiz) ; coast of
Labrador (Dr. Morrison) ; Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

1402. Rhododendron Rhodora Don. Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

1405. Rhododendron Lapponicum Wahl. {Azalea

\ ,.

I I

i<hA

464

Tllli BOTANY 01 Tin; LAllKAlJOR COAST.

I i\

.. .1

i \

Lapponha, Weiz' List.) Cuastof Lal)rador (Dr. Morri-
son) ; Ilopcdalc (Wciz) ; on a liill-top al Belles Amours

(S. R. Butler); NachvaU ( U. Bell).

1409. jyro/ii minor Linn. Cold woods, Labrador

(Dr. Morrison); Ilopedalc (Weiz).

1410. Pyrola saunda, wav. pioui/a Cixwy. Cool hoggv
ground, Labrador (Storer) ; llopedale (Weiz).

141 1. J [yro/a c/i/orajU/ta ^wwxlA. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison).

1413. Pyrola rolutidifolia I^., var. piiiiiila Hook.
Ilopedalc (Weiz) ; (piite eonmion along the northern
coast (R. Bell).

1 41 6. Moficscs un/jlora Gray. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison) ; I lopedale (Weiz) ; Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

I )I A PEN SI ACE. r..

1424. Di ape US ill procumhcns Linn. Ilopedalc
(Weiz); coast of Labrador (Dr. Morrison); common
on hill-tops, Caribou Island (S. R. Butler) ; Nain and
Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

PLUMIiA(;iNACE.i:.

1426. Armeria vuli^aris Willd. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison) ; Ilopedalc (Weiz); Nain and Nach
vak (R. Bell).

PRIM U LAC E/E.

1427. Primula farinosa Linn. Hopedale Islands
(Weiz) ; Caribou Island and L'Anse Amour (S. K.
Butler).

1428. Primula Mistassinica Michx. Bonne Esp(5r-
ance and neighboring islands, and at Forteau (S. R.
Butler) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

-Mi

I'LANTS.

4t>5

2192. Primu/a Jii^aiikscnsis Ilorncin. N oil lain
Labrador (Turner).

1 2 13. Trioitalis .1 nuriiaua I^ursli. Coast of Labra-
dor (Hooker); llopedalc (Wciz); Caribou Island
(S. R. Hullcr).

GENTIANArE.F..

1480. Gcntiana .Iviixrclla L, var. acuta Hook.
Coast of Labrador (Hooker); Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler); Hoj)edale (Weiz).

1482. Gcntiana propimjna Rieliards. On hillsides at
An' ir and lowlands at Bonne Lsi)ciance (VV. A.
Stearns) ; more likely the preeedin^ speeies (Macoun).

2194. Gcntiana nivalis Linn. Labrador, colleeted by
Moravian missionaries (Gray) ; Ilopetlale ( Wciz).

1500. P/ciiro<^y?ic rotata Griseb. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Gray) ; on the ilats at Caribou, and shores of
Esquimaux River, and at Bonne Esperance (S. R.
Butler).

1 50 1. Plctirogynic Carintliiaca Griseb., var. p2isilla
Gray. Coast of Labrador (Pursh).

1504. Halcnia dcflexa Griseb. Forteau Bay (Miss
Brodie) ; on the hillsides at L'Anse Amour and the low-
lands at Bonne Esperance (\V. E. Stearns) ; Caribou
Island (S. R. Butler).

1 506. Afcnyanthcs trifoliata Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison); Hopedaie (VVeiz) ; Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

BORRAGINACE/E.

1570. Mcrtensia maritima Don. Hopedaie (VVeiz);
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1. 1

I i '

466

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

SCROPHULARIACE.K.

1674. Veronica alpina Linn. Nain (Lundberg-;
Hopedale (Weiz).

1689. Castilleia pallida Kunth, var. septentrioiialis
Gray. (^Ba^^tsia pallida Linn.; Weiz' List.) Hopedale
(Weiz) ; Ford's Harbor and Nachvak (R. Bell).

1696. Euphrasia officinalis \-Aww. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

Var. Tatarica Benth. Coast of Labrador (Pursli) ;
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1697. Bartsia alpina Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Colmaster) ; Ungava Bay (McGill Coll. Herb.) ; Nach-
vak (R. Bell).

1702. Pcdicnlaris Gra^nlandica^^iL. Coast of Lab-
rador (Dr. Morrison) ; Nachvak (R. Bell) ; Hopedale
(Weiz).

1704. Pedicular is Lapponica Linn. Coast of Labra-
dor (Colmaster) ; Nachvak (R. 3ell) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

1706. Pedicularis enphrasioides Stephan. Coast of
Labrador (Colmaster) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Ford's
Harbor (R. Bell).

1714. Pedicularis hirsnta Linn. Ford's Harbor and
Cap. Chidley (R. Bell).

1 71 5. Pedicularis flaminea 'L.mn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
coast of Labrador (Colmastery ; Ford's Harbor and
Nachvak (R. Bell).

1 7 18. Rhinanthtis Cristagalli U\nx\. Common along
the whole Labrador coast (W. E. Stearns) ; Caribou Isl-
and (S. R. Butler) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

w aMW ur tiM** uijwj »ii-i.i m ».

If':

PLANTS.

LENTIBULARIACE/E.

467

1737. Pinguicula vulgaris Linn. Ungava Bay (Mrs.
Lizzie Crawford) ; L'Anse Amour Bay (S. R. Butler) ;
Hopedale (Weiz) ; Nachvak (R. Bell).

1 738. Pinguicula villosa Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Gray) ; Hopedale (VVeiz).

1739. Pifigtdcula alpina Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Steinhauer).

PLANTAGINACE/E.

1808. Plantago mar i lima Linn. Crevices of rocks,
coast of Labrador (Pursh) ; Hopedale (VVeiz) ; Caribou
Island (S. R. Butler) ; Nachvak (R. Bell).

FOLYGONACE.l-:.

1869. Polygonutn avictilare\J\x\\\. Hopedale (Weiz).

1892. Polygonum vivipariim\J\ViX\. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Ford's Harbor and Cape Chidley (R. Bell).

1902. Oxyria digyna Campdera {^Rumex digyna
Pursh.; Weiz' List). Hopedale (Weiz) ; coast of Lab-
rador (Dr. Morrison) ; Nachvak and Cape Chidley (R.
Bell) ; Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1904. Runiex occidcntalis Watson. Coast of Labra-
dor (Storer) ; Bonne Esperance (J. A. Allen).

1867. Koenigia Islandica Linn. Hopedale (Weiz).

SANTALACE/E.

1930. Coinandra livida Rich. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

BETULACE.E.

1977. Betula papyri/era Michx. Coast of Labra-
dor (Prof Sargent).

I i^iii

i!i

S^: i

r'l -r'n ■

i''t

I- 1 h
ifli' If

llil

1, !

468

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

ail

1979. Betula piimila Linn. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker).

1 98 1. Bet7cla giandiilosay\.\c\\x. Coast of Labrador
(Hooker) ; Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

1982. Betula na7ia Linn. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison).

1986. Alnus viridis DC. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison); Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

SALICACE.E.

2004. Salix adcnophylla Hook. Coast of Labrador
(Dr. Morrison and Bebb).

2007. Salix ai'ctica R. Br. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison) ; Nachvak and Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

2005. Salix argy7'ocarpa Anders. Ungava Bay (G.
Barnston) ; Forteau Bay and Carrall Cove (Alien).

2010. Salix balsaniij era ^■axtaXX.. Chateau and Square
Island (Allen).

2012. Salix Candida Willd. Forteau Bay (Allen).

2013. Salix chlorophylla Anders. Nain and Ford's
Harbor (R. Bell).

2021. Salix glatica Linn. Damp places at Nachvak
and Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

2022. Salix hcrbacca Linn. Coast of Labrador (Dr.
Morrison) ; Nain and Cape Chidley (R. Bell).

2042. Salix rctiailata Linn. Nachvak and Caj)e
Chidley (R. Bell) ; coast of Labrador (Dr. Morrison).

2050. Salix vestita Pursh. Coast of Labrador (Col-
master) ; Nachvak (R. Bell).

2051. Salix Uva-ursi Pursh. Coast of Labrador
(Colmaster) ; Dead Islands (Allen).

2053. Populus trctnuloides Michx. On dry slopes in
the interior (Hooker).

PLANTS. ^

EMPETRACEvE.

CONIFER/E.

of ilid?;$rk:~"" "^- "'^'"'^ '-■■""• ^°^^'

2082. ^.jr.« „,^^« Li„k. Not uncommon (Hooker^

2083. /-...« «/^. Link. Not uncommon (Hooker
2094. Lartx Americana Michv «?, "°''^'>„

(Hooker). ' Sv.ampy soil

ORCHIDACEyE.

2221. Listera cordata R. Br Tnact r>f i u j
(Morrison) ; Hopedale (Welz) ^"'"''°''

(S.^R.^Bu^tr"'' ^'''"^'"''' '^^ ^'- ^'"''''°" '^'•'•"^
R.^Bmlerf''"""'"'""'''^ ''"''• ^^^■■''°" I^'-d(S.

(VVeiS ^'''"''" "''"''''" ""■'"• ""P^^'^'^ I^'='"ds

IRIDACE.E.

2270. /r/s Hookeri Pennv /^/ .v/ • • txt . ,
Hopedale Island (Weiz). ''''' " ^'''•>

LILIACE/E.

(S^R.^Bmle?"''" '^'^^''"^-'/"^-^ Do. Caribou Island

2288 St,-eptofius roseus Michx. Caribou Island (S
R Butler) ; Hopedale (Welz) *■

R.'Butiert"'""" "''''"'' ""'''■ '''"'°" '^'"''' (S.

I :ii

• 1

!■:?:; i^' 1

!;■: ■■-■"■: ■ '■■

I;: JiilJ n I

iii

Ij !

Si J:

i
IV' < ^

470

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

2293. Smilicina trifolia Desf. Caribou Island (S.
R. Butler).

2294. Maianthemum Canadense Desf. Caribou Isl-
and (S. R. Butler).

2329. Tofieldia borealis Wahl. Ford's Harbor (R.
Bell) ; coast of Labrador (Hooker) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

2341. Clintonia borealis Raf. Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

JUNCACE/E.

2367. ytmcus triglurnis Linn. Ungava Bay (G. Barn-
ston).

2369. yunciis castaneus Smith. Ungava Bay (G.
Barnston).

2389. Luztda spadicea, var. parvijiora Meyer. Nain
and Nachvak (R. Bell).

2394. Lttsula spicata Desv. Ungava Bay (G. Barn-
ston) ; Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

2396. Liizula arcuata Meyer. Ungava Bay (G.
Barnston) ; Nachvak (R. Bell).

TYPHACE/E.

2401. Sparganiuvt simplex Huds. Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

2403. Spargaiiium hyperboretim Laest., var. Atueri-
canum Beeby. Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

-a

lii

NAIADACE/E.

2424. Triglochin pahistre Linn.
(S. R. Butler).

Caribou Island

PLANTS.

471

2425. Triglochin maritimum Linn. Coast of Lab-
rador (Dr. Morrison).

CYPERACE.'E.

2489. Eriophorum vaginatum Linn. Hopedale

(VVeiz) ; Caribou Island (S. R. Butler) ; Bonne Esp(5r-
ance (Allen) ; Dumpling Harbor (Mann).

2490. Eriophorum rtisseoliim Fries. Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler, Martin) ; Hopedale (Weiz) ; Fortcau
(Allen) ; Nain (Lundberg).

2491. Eriopho7'um polystachyon, var. august ifoliuin
Gray. Hopedale (VVeiz).

Eriophorum Scheuchzeri Hoppe. Coast of Labra-
dor (Martin) ; Nain (Lundberg).

2476. Scirpiis cc€spitosus Linn. Hopedale (VVeiz).

2556. Carcx canescens Linn. Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

2564. Carcx lagopina Wahl. Maritime rocks, Labra-
dor (Allen).

2566. Carex pratensis Drejer. Middle Bay, Labra-
dor (Allen).

2598. Carex vulgaris, var. hypcrborea Boott. Nain
and Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

2604. Carex lenticular is Michx. Coast of Labrador,
Lat. 51° 30' (Allen).

2608. Carex salina^2\\\. Coast of Labrador( Bailey).

2609. Carex ambusta Booth. Ungava Bay, North
Labrador (Bailey).

2617. Carex Mage llafiica Lamarck. Caribou Island
(S. R. Butler).

2618. Carex rariflora Smith. Coast of Labrador
(Miss Brodie and Allen).

!"1'

i|!

'; Si^'

'il'i!

I' I
I

472

THE BOTANY OF THE LABRADOR COAST.

2627. Carex vaginata Tausch. Northern Labrador
(Turner).

2672. Cai'ex oligosperma Michx. Swamps on the
coast of Labrador (Allen).

2674. Carex mil iai' is M\c\\'^, Ungava Bay (Turner).

2678. Carex rotundata Wahl. Ungava Bay (Turner).

GRAMINE.E.

2726. Hierochloa alpina Roem. and Schultes. Ford's
Harbor (R. Bell) ; Ungava Bay (G. Barnston).

2807. Deschampsia alba Roem. and Schultes. Ungava
Bay (G. Barnston) ; Nain (R. Bell).

2812. Trisetum sitbspicatum, van molle Gray. Nain
(R. Bell).

2848. Poa alpina Linn. Nain and Cape Chidley(R.
Bell).

2854. Poa ccjiisia All. Ford's Harbor (R. Bell).

2905. Fcstiica ovina, van brevi folia Watson. Ford's
Harbor ( R. Bell).

2949. Elyiims mollis Trin. Nain and Ford's Harbor
(i^.. Bell).

EQUISETACE.E.

Eqnisctum sylvaticwn Linn. Hopedale (Weiz) ;
Caribou Island (S. R. Butler).

Eqitisetiim arvcnse Linn. Hopedale (Weiz).

FILICES.

Botrychium Lunaria Swartz. Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler) ; Hopedale (Weiz).

Cystopteris fragilis Bernh. Nain (R. Bell).

;i.,..-^wztB-^-ik-.-.j^i^:^.--.' fi. f

PLANTS.

473

Polypodium Dryopteris Linn. Caribou Island (S. R.
Butler).

\\\

LYCOPODIACE/E.

Lycopodium Selago Linn. Nain and Ford's Harbor
(R. Bell).

Lycopodium lucidulum Michx. Caribou Island (S.
R. Butler).

APPENDIX.

The following notes and corrections to this chapter
have been made by Mr. Sereno Watson, who kindly read
the proof in the absence of Prof. Macoun. Proof of
pp. 448-459 was read after the pages had been printed.
Mr. Watson writes me that the earliest paper on the
Labrador flora was one by Schrank in the first volume
of the Regensburg " Flora" (1818), on some plants sent
to Schreber by the Danish missionary Kohlmeister*.
It was not completed, however. Meyer's list includes
198 species.

P. 448, line 5, for plantcs rtdidi plantis.

P. 448, line 14, for Ance read Anse.

P. 451, line 15, for cormiti, Linn. xt2i6. polygaittim,
Muhl.

P. 451, line 23, dele See R. Americamis (J. M.).

P. 452, line 20, for Draba alpina Var. (?) cory^nbosa,
Durand, read Draba Fladnitzensis, Wulf.

P. 452, line 21, add Dead Islands (J. A. Allen).

P. 452, line 24, after Labrador (Pursh), add from the
next line, Nachvak, coast of Labrador (R. Bell).

* Spelt Colmaster in the foregoing list.

% \

•1

, I

! I. '

474

THE BOTANY OK THE LABRADOR COAST.

P. 452, line 25, dele Var. confusa Poir.

P. 452, line 26, dele Ilopedale (Weiz).

P. 452, line 27, for Draba read Van; and for Michx.
read Watson.

P. 453, line 10, dele sylvestris Regd. V.

P. 453, line 1 1, for Weiz* List read Gray.

P. 454, line 27, for Spergularia salina Presb. read
Buda borealis Watson.

P. 454, line 28, add Bonne Esp^rance (J. A. Allen).

P. 455, lines 5, 6. for and the arctic regions (Dr.) read
Schweinitz in Herb. Gray.

P. 455, line 10, add Ungava Bay (L. M. Turner);
Square Island (J. A. Allen).

P. 455, line II, for Mott read Nutt.

P. 455, line 13, for maritimum read maritimus, and
dele Pisum maritimum Linn. Weiz' List.

P. 455, line 20, after Caribou Island insert (S. R.
Butler).

P. 457, line 10, dele Canadensis Var. (?) ; and for I &
Gr. read Roem.

P. 457, line 30, for Hit. read Kit.

P. 459, line 6, de\e pahcstre Linn. Van; and for Gray
read Muhl.

P. 459, line 10, for Hoffm. read Linn.

P. 459, line 14, for Archangelica read Coelopleuruni\
and for Db. read Lecheb.

. t

CHAPTER XVII.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES RELATING TO THE
GEOGRAPHY AND CIVIL AND NATURAL HISTORY OF
LABRADOR.

This list is merely a tentative one, and will doubtless
be found quite imperfect, especially in titles relating to
early discovery, and early maps and charts. The au-
thor is indebted for certain titles, also for advice, to Dr.
Franz Boas, who has kindly lent him Chavanne's " The
Literature on the Polar Regions of the Earth," from
which a number of titles have been copied. Acknowl-
edgment of aid should also be made to Mr. W. F.
Ganong for titles of the North American Pilot. The
titles of the works of Ramusio, Eden, Gilbert, Frobisher,
and Hakluyt have not been included. *

A. Explorations, Geography, and History.

Anon. A brief account established among the Esqui-
maux, on the coast of Labrador. London, 1774, 8vo.

The Grand Falls of Labrador. (Goldthwaite's

Geographical Magazine, Feb. 1891, vol. i. No. 2; pp.
1 1 7-1 19.)

Anspach {C. A.). Geschichte und Beschreibung von
Neufundland und der Kuste Labrador. Aus dem

475

;im!

476

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

:' t

Engl. 30. Bd. der Bibliothek der neuestcn Rcischesclirci-
bungen von Bertuch. Weimar.

History of the island of New Foundland

and the coast of Labrador. London, 18 19.

Ashe {Lieut. E. D.). Journal of a voyage from
Quebec to Labrador. (Nautical Magazine, 1861, Janu-
ary ; pp. 1-13.)

Journal of a voyage from New York to

Labrador. (Trans. Lit. and Historical Society of Quebec ;
IV ; April, 1861. Appendix. 8vo, pp. 1-16.)

Aufzcichmingen (Aus den) eines Kabeljanfischers in
Labrador. (Globus, Hildburghausen, 11 ; 1862 ; pp.
281, 314.)

Baddclcy {Lieut. F. //.). Geology of a portion of the
coast of Labrador. Trans. Lit. and Hist. Soc. Quebec,
I. art. vi. pp. 72-79, 1829. (His account and measure-
ments of Castle Island are based on Capt. Campbell's
explorations made in the autumn of 1827.)

Ballantyne {R. J/.). Ungava : a tale of Esquimaux
Land. London, Nelson, 1857; i860.

Bancroft {George). History of the United States,
vol. hi; 1840. (" Scandinavians may have reached the
shores of Labrador." J. Winsor's Narr. and Crit. Hist.
America i. p. 93.)

Barrozv {Sir JoJui). Voyages to the arctic regions.
London, 1818. Places Vinland in Labrador or New-
foundland. (J. Winsor's Narr. and Crit. Hist. America,

I. P- 93-) .

Bayfield {Rear- Admiral Henry JVoo/sey). Sailing

directions for the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence. 2

vols. London, 1837-43.

Bcschreibung der Ktiste von Labrador vom Cap St.

BIKLIOGRAPIiY.

477

Charles bis zur Sandwich-Bucht. [Aus Hydrographic.
Notice, No. 3, London, 1873.] (Hydrogr. Mittheil.,
Berlin, i. 1873 ; pp. 175-^77-)

Bcschreibtmg . einiger Hllfen, Buchten, und Anker-
pUitzc an den Kiisten von Neufundiand und Labrador.
(Annalen der Hydrographic, Berlin, iv. 1876 ; [)p.
21-26.)

Biddle {^R^. Memoirs of Sebastian Cabot, with a re-
view of the history of maritime discovery. Illustrated
by documents from the rolls, now first published. Phila-
delphia, 1831 ; 2d ed. London, 1832.

Boas {Franz). Notes on the Geography of Labra-
dor. (Science, New York, Feb. 17, 1888; xi, 'J'J-'J().

Boiichette. British Dominions in North America.
(With a topographical map of Lower Canada, 1832,)

Bowen (^Noel H.). The social condition of the coast
of Labrador. Trans. Lit. and Hist. Soc. Quebec, iv. art.
19; Feb. 1856, pp. 329-341.

Bj'itish North America. Comprising Canada, British
Central North America, British Columbia, Vancouver's
Island, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, New Brunswick,
Prince Edward's Island, Newfoundland and Labrador.
378 pp., with maps. London, Religious Tract Society,
1864, 8vo.

Cabot, (y. Elliot). Massachusetts Quarterly Review,
II. (Places the localities on American coast visited by
the Northmen about Labrador and Newfoundland.
Winsor's Narr. and Crit. Hist. America, i. 96.)

Campbell {J. F^. Frost and Fire. Edinburgh, 1865 ;
2 vols. 8vo. (The author visited the Labrador coast in
1864, and noticed the ice-marks at Indian Island and
Red Bay.)

liii

.. !

478

niniJOGRAi'iiY.

Carpenter (C. C). Report on the Labrador mission
at Caribou Island, Straits of Belle Isle. (Annual report
1-6 of the Canada Foreign Missionary Society, 1858-
1863.)

Carticr {Jac(]7ies). Discours du voyap^e aux Tcrres
ncuvcs, les Canadas, Labrador, etc. 2d ed. Rouen, Bapt.
du Petit-Val, 1585; 1598, i2mo.

Bref rilicit et succinate narration de la navi-
gation faitc en 1535 et 1536 au Canada, Hochclaga, Sa-
guenay. R(5improssion ligurdc dc I'ddition de 1545, pr(5-
c(5d(5e d'unc introduction, par d'Avczac. Paris, Tross,
i8e>3. — Voyage dc jaqucs Cartier au Canada en 1534 ;
nouvelle cniition puhliee d'aprcs I't^dition de 1598 et
d'aprds Ramusio par Michelant. Documents inddits sur
Jaqucs Carticr ct le Canada communiques par A. Ramc.
Paris, 'Jross, 1865, cartes. — Relation originale du voy-
age de J. Cartier au Canada en 1534. Documents ind-
dits sur J. Cartier ct le Canada (nouvelle sdrie), publids
par Michelant et A. Ram(5. Paris, Vross, 1867, por-
trait, fig. Ens. 3 vol. petit in-8 br., n. c, (^papier de Hoi-
landc) (144).

Les cartes sont tres curieuses, elles sont reproduites
en fac-simile d'apres celles de Ramusio, 1556.

• Discours du voyage fait en (1534), par le

capitaine Jacques Cartier aux torres neuves de Canada,
Norembergue, Hochelage, Labrador et pays adiacens,
dite Nouvelle France. Public par H. Michelant. —
Documents inddits sur Jacques Cartier et le Canada,
communiques par A. Ramd. Paris, 1865, pet. in-8 br.
{^papier vHin Whatman, public au prix de 20 fr.)(29).

Avec 2 grandes cartes tiroes du Ramusio de 1556, et
reproduites en fac-simile.

iMntj()(;RAiMiv.

479

Cartier {Jacques) (and diIrms^. N'oyage to New
France. Pinkerton, vol. xii; Ilakluyt, vol. iii; Ra-
musio, vol. III.

Cartwright {George), A journal of transactions and
events during n icsidcnce of nearly sixteen years on the
coast of Labrador containin<Tf many interesting^ ])articii-
lars, both of the country and its inhabitants, not iiilherto
known. 3 vols, with charts. Newark, i 792, 410.

Sixteen years on the coast of Labrador.

Newark, 1792; 2 vols. 4to, maj>s.

Labrador: a poetical cj)islle ; 1783. Re-
printed for W. H. VVhitclcy, 1882 ; 8vo, i)p. 18.

Cayley {Edward). Up the River Moisii;. Trans. Lit.
and Hist. Soc. Quebec, n.s. i. ']i.

Chabcrt {M. de.). Voyage fait par ordre du roi en
1750 et I 75 1, dans rAmcri(|ue scptentrionale, pour recti-
fier les cartes de I'^Vrcadie de I'lsle Royale et de I'lsle
de Terre Neuve ; et pour en fixer les principaux points
par des observations astronomiqucs. Paris, 1753,410.

Chappell {Lieut. Edward). Narrative of a voyage to
Hudson's Bay in his majesty's ship Rosamond, contain-
ing some account of the northeastern coast of America
and of the tribes inhabiting that remote region. Lon-
don, 1 81 7; pp. 1-279, """^P* Svo.

Reise nach Neufundland und der sUd-

lichen Kiiste von Labrador. A. d. Engl. Jena, 1819, 8vo.

Charlevoix {P. de.). Histoire et description gen^rale
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pp. 30-32. 8vo.

List of vertebrates observed at Okkak, Lab-
rador, by Rev. Samuel Weiz, with annotations by A. S.
Packard, Jr., M.D. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. x.
April, 1866. pp. 264-277. 8vo.

View of the lepidopterous fauna of Lab-
rador. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. March, 1867. pp.
32-63. 8vo.

Observations on the glacial phenomena

of Labrador and Maine, with a view of the recent inver-
tebrate fauna of Labrador. Memoirs Bost. Soc. Nat.
Hist. I. pp. 210-303, 1867. 4to, 2 plates.

The Esquimaux of Labrador. Appleton's

Journal, Dec. 9, 1871. pp. 657-659. (Reprinted in
Beach's Indian Miscellany, Albany, 1877.)

List of the Coleoptera collected in Labra-
dor. Ann. Rep= Peab. Acad. Science, Salem, for 1871
pp. 92-94 ; April, 1872. 8vo.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

495

Packard (^A. S.). One of fifty days in southern Labra-
dor. Appleton's Journal, Aug. 22, 1874. pp. 241-243.

Glacial marks in Labrador. American

Naturalist, Jan. 1882. pp. 30-33.

Do Labrador dogs bark ? American Nat-
uralist, XVIII. p. 1063. 1884. "

The bees, wasps, etc., of Labrador.

American Naturalist, xviii. p. 1267. 1884.

Life and nature in southern Labrador.

American Naturalist, xix. 269-275, 365-372 ; Mar.,
April, 1885. 8vo.

Notes on the Labrador Eskimo and their

former range southward. Amer. Nat., xix. 471-481,
553-560. May, June, 1885. 8vo.

List of the spiders, myriopods, and insects

of Labrador. Canadian Naturalist, Aug. 1888. pp. 141-
149.

Payne (/^ /^.). (Eskimo of Hudson Strait. Proc.
Canadian Institute, 1889.)

Pilling {jfa^nes Constantinc). Smithsonian Institu-
tion I Bureau of Ethnology | J. VV. Powell, Director
Proof-sheets | of a | bibliography | of | the languages
of the I North American Indians | By | James Constan-
tinc Pilling I (Distributed only to collaborators) |

Washington | Government Printing-office | 1885. pp.
i-XL, 1-1135. 29J facsimiles. 4to. Only 100 copies
printed.

Smithsonian Institution | Bureau of Eth-
nology : J. W. Powell, Director | Bibliography | of the

I Eskimo language | By James Constantine Pilling
Washington | Government Printing-office | 1887. PP
i-v, I- 1 16.

I !

496

bihuoc;rai'hy.

Plantes du Labrador. (Bulletin de la Soc. de Geogr.
Paris, I Scr. vi. jx 132.)

Richardson {Sir John). Fauna l^oreali-Americana.
Vol. i-iv. London, 1829-1837. 410.

{jfohn). Lisl of plants collected vi^ the island

of Anticosti and coast of Labrador in :86o. Canada,
Botanical Society Ann. i, 1861-1862. pp. 58-59.

Sniiidcr {Sanmel Hiibbard). Descri|)tion of some
Labradorian Butterflies. Proc. Soc. Nat. Hist. Boston,
XVII, 1874. pp. 294-314.

A revised list of the butterflies ol)tained in

Labrador bv Dr. A. S. Packard, Canadian Entomologist,
Auo-. 1888. p. 148.

Spencer {Miles). Notes on the breeding habits of
certain mammals, from personal observations and en-
quiries from Indians. (Appendix iii. to A. P. Low's
Report on Explorations in James Bay, etc. Report
Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survev of Canada for 1887-88, m.
p. 82. 1889.)

Stearns ( Winfred Alden^. Notes on the natural his-
tory of Labrador. Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, vi. Aug.
I, 1883. 8vo. pp. 1 11-137.

Stearns ( Winfred A.). Bird life in Labrador. Re-
printed from the American Field, Chicago, 111. 1890.

Steinhanr {Henry). Notes on the geology of the
Labrador coast. Trans. Geol. Soc. London, it, 18 14.
pp. 488-494.

Stnpart {R. F.). The Eskimo of Stupart Bay.
(Can. Institute, new ser. iv. pp. 95-114. Toronto,
1886. 8vo.)

Turner {Lucien M.). List of the birds of Labrador,
including Ungava, East Main, Moose and Gulf districts

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

497

of the Hudson Bay Company, together with the island
of Anticosti. Proc. U. S. National Museum, viii, July
13. 1885.

On the Indians and Eskimos of the Un-

gava district, Labrador (Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, sect.
11; 1887. 99-119-)

Physical and zoological character of the

Ungava District, Labrador. (Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada,
sect. IV, 1887. pp. 79-83.)

Thorell ( Tamerlane). Notice of some spiders from
Labrador. (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist, xvii, Boston,
1875. 8vo. pp. 490-504.)

Vogelsang {H^. Sur le Labradorite colore de la c6te
de Labrador. (Verhandl. d. Geolog. Reichsanst., Wien.,
1868 ; p. 107.)

C. CHARTS.

Besides the ancient maps and charts illustrating the
discoveries of the early voyagers, and referred to or
copied on pp. 33-59, Winsor (Narr. and Crit. History of
America, i, 120) states: "What was apparently a work-
ing Portuguese chart of 1503, grasps pretty clearly the
relations of Greenland to Labrador."

Northern Labrador, Greenland with Baffin's Bay,
Straits Davis's and Hudson. Amsterdam, P. Mortier,
1700.

Canada et pays voisin. Par Guillaume Delisle, Pre-
mier G^ographe du Roi. Paris, 1 703.

A Collection of charts of the coasts of New Found-
land and Labrador, with the particular plans of the prin-
cipal harbors. Drawn from original surveys taken by

I !

498

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

James Cook and M. Lane, and J. Gilbert .... chiefly
engraved by Thomas Jefferys, geographer to the king.
London, J. Jefferys, 1766-1770.

Arrowsmith (A.). Northern seas between Europe
and America, including the American coast (New
Foundland, Labrador, and Greenland). London, 1808.
(Name of Hamilton Inlet applied to Invuctoke Bay.)

The North American pilot | for Newfoundland, Lab-
rador, I the Gulf and River St. Lawrence : | being a col-
lection of I sixty accurate charts and plans, | drawn from
original surveys : | taken by | James Cook and Michael
Lane, surveyors, | and Joseph Gilbert, and other officers
in the king's service. | Published by permission of the |
Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty :
I chiefly engraved by | the late Thomas Jefferys, geog-
rapher to the king. | On thirty-six large copper-plates. |
London : ] Printed according to Act of Parliament and
sold by R. Sayer and J. Bennett, No. 53, in Fleet Street.
I MDccLxxix. I N.B. Of whom may be had Sailing Direc-
tions to the above charts.

A new and enlarged edition of this work was published
in 1799, containing 61 charts on T,y copper-plates.
Printed and published by Robert Laurie and James
Whittle.

(The edition of which the title is quoted above seems
to be simply a reprint of the ist edition, which appeared
in 1 775. I have not been able to see a copy of the latter,
but from its title on Harvard College Library Catalogue
cards, think the title is exactly as given below.

BIBLIOGRAI'HV.

499

Part.e de TAm^rique Sept., qui comprend le C-.n.da
a Lou,s,a„e, le Labrador, le Groenland.'la No v. A 1:

P rTs : ;■ "''S "• '■ ''''""'■ ^'^"^ '-■°'°'- -' f-'^"-
fails, 1 77 1. Chaque 30 x 44 cm.

pa sage of Hudson, Frobisher, and DavLs, with Plan of
Manvers Port, 1808-1863

^;-ha,le.s to Sandwich Bay. surveyed by order of Hon
Commodore Bvron Mv Mlrh,,.l T ^ "'"<=' "' *'o"-
I , . .''""■ oy ivjichael Lane, survevor •> ».fl
London, W. Faden, ,809. '^e>o,. 2ed.

J/.r.. (7,,/,ife/„. -r|„ American Gazetteer etc

Map. Third edit. Boston, July, ,8,0. Art Labra:

T Th 5 """P ^"''' '""'^ "'""'-■« "f places on the

Labrador coast which we have not se'en on other

etc^T^r^,^ J''" '^"'"'"'''" Universal Geography;
A. w /^l- ^^^^^"''"^dition. Vol.,,, ,8,9. 8vo
^«./../(Z«v« r/..). Missionatlas der Brtidc-Unitat
15 Karten ,„ Q,, Polio, Farbendruck nm Tex He r" "
hut Expedition der Missions-Verwaltung, ,86. '

bt. Lewis Sound and Inlet, surv. by Bayfield ,8«
.:7;,ooo London, Hydrogr. Office, ^863, No ,'.'''

Uirador Coas^, Hamilton Inlet. Capt. SirF Mc-
Chntock ,860. London, Hydrogr. Office, ,864

Laira^or Coast, Indian Harbor, Commander Chim-

500

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

mo, 1867, 1:12,172. London, Hydrogr. Office, 1868,
No. 222.

Labrador Coast, Webeck and Hopedale Harbors and
Allik Bay. Commander Chimmo, 1867, 1:24,344. Lon-
don, Hydrogr. Office, 1868, No. 223.

Labrador Coast, Indian Tickle and Occasional Har-
bors. Commander Chimmo, 1867, 1:24,344. London,
Hydrogr. Office, 1868, No. 225.

Labrador Coast, Domino Run. Lieut. J. J. A.
Gravener, 1867, 1:18,255. London, Hydrogr. Office.

Labrador Coast, Cape Charles to Sandwich Bay, vari-
ous authorities, corrected to 1867. 1:243,440. London,
Hydrogr. Office, 1869, No. 263.

Labrador, with plans of Port Manvers and Eclipse
Harbor. London, Hydrogr. Office, 1871, No. 1422.

Labrador, Commander Maxwell's Chart. London,
1871?

Rezckel(^L. Tk.). Labrador. Aivektok oder Eskimo
Bay, 1873. Lith. 1:2,300,000. Missionsblatt der
Brudergemeinde.

Labrador, compiled from various documents in the
Hydrographic Office, London, 1881. (Large corrections,
June, 1 88 1. Small corrections ix, 1884, with plans of
Port Manvers and Eclipse Harbor.)

Weiz and Packard. Map of Labrador, compiled by
J. Leuthner, from British Admiralty maps, and an un-
published Moravian map (prepared by Rev. Samuel
Weiz). Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,
No. 4, 1887.

Cape Cod to Belle Isle. Imray & Son, London, 1886.
(" By far the best map we have of this coast." Ganong,
p. 126.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

501

r.o^"Z^^"'Tl . Bibliography of Ptolemy's Geog.
raphy Harvard University Bulletin. Bibliographical
Contributions, No. ,8, 1884. "og'aphical

Ganongi^W. F.). Cartography of the Gulf of St
Lawrence from Cartier to Champlain. Proc. and Trans
Royal Soc. of Canada, vol. vii. for ,889. ,890

ERRATA.

Pp 120 and 140. for Cape St. Michael's read Cape St. Michael
P. 396. The remainder of the list of insects will h. t ' "^"**''-
P. 484. Add to Bibliography HuThZT!l7 v '^ °" ^P" ^"^^ ^""^ 447.

See p. 29, foot-note. ^'''^^^' ^"'"^"^'^^ {Alexander von). Examen critique.

i
i

/
/
/
/

A
A
A
A
A
A
A

A
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi

Be
Be

Be
Be
Be
Be]

INDEX.

Abbot, C. C, 245

Acadian fauna, 337

Ailik Head. 31^8

AIca impennis, 342, 360

AUagaigai, Mount, 6, 182

Allen, J. A., 406

Alpine fauna, 176, 356

flora, 66, 341"
American Island, 166
Anorthoslte formation, 282
Anse-au-Loup, 118
Anse-au-Sablon, 236. 281
Aphanite, 285
Arachnida, 385
Arctic fauna, 63, 356, 365

Arenariagroenlandica. 63, 340, 345
Ascidians, 396 ^

Auk, great, 256, 342. 360
Aulatsivik gneiss, 284
Island, 228
Auroras, 78
Bache, Mount, 7, 294
Banks, Labrador, 241, 318
Basalt, doleritic, 134
Battle Island, 136

Point, 221
Bayfield's charts, 58
Beaches, raised, 130, 162, 170, 178,

Inl' f^^' "°' ^3°. 315. 353. 305.

307, 309, 3T0, 3ir
neacon, 197
Bear, black, 34

Beetles^'s;* ''' '''' ''"'' '''' 3"
Bell. Robert, 8, 9, 301. 322
5 II A ' "9. 129. 134, 280
Belles Amours, no, na, 234, 281,

j Bethuks. 257

I Biarne's Voyage, 21

Birch, dwarf, 177
I paper, 151

j Bird rocks, 96
' Birds, list of, 406

Birds, sea, gi, 126, 167

Black and White Island. 168, 280

Blanc Sablon, 43, 116, 219, 234. 237,

Boas, Franz, 226

Bonne Esp6rance, 232

Bowlders, 150, 303

Brachiopods, 373

Bradford, William. 93

Bradore, u6, 262, 280
Bay, 281
Hills, 6

Brest, 108, 239, 265 :

Butterflies, 395

Button's voyage, 56

Cabot. Mount, 165

Cabot's voyages, 33

Cambrian rocks, 117, 281

Caniapuscaw, Lake, 15 "

Canso, Gut of. 94

Capelin. 154, 401 .

Carabus groenlandicus, 160 '

Caribou, 209

Caribou Island, 65. 85

upper, 137
Carpenter, C C, 64, 245. 266
Cartier, J.. Voyages of, 41

Mount, 108, 109
Cartwright, George, 256
Cartwright's Tickle, 290
Castle Island, 286, 307
Cephalopods, 379

503

504

INDEX.

Chadbourne, Paul A., 60

Charles, Cape, 136

Charlevoix, 258

Chiteau Bay, 130, 239, 247, 250, 311,

Chert, 2QO

Chidley, Cape, 8,27(9

Chimo, Fort, 16, 231, 406.

Chionobas, 167

semidea, 341
Chudleigh, Cape, 8, 279
Clays, Leda, 323, 339, 351
Clione limacina, ii^
Cloudberry, 69
Coast, elevation of, 322, 324
Coats, W., 249
Cod, bull-dog, 179

fishery, 124, 126, 146, 154, 156,
240 , 398
Ccelenterates, 368
Coleoptera, 387
Cormorant, 103
Cortereal's voyage, 37
Crantz, 250
Crustaceans, 381
Curlewberry, 63, 107
Curlews, 78, gi
Cusk, 399
Davis Inlet, 53
Davis' voyage, 52
Despair Harbor, 19
Devil's Dining Table. 120, 128, 134
Dewitz, A., von, 273
Diptera, 390
Domino gneiss, 159, 286

Harbor, 159, 218, 286, 310

Run, 159, 219
Dredging. 76, no, 113, 125, 127, 145,

153, 160, 218, 223
Duck, eider, 101, 105 -. \(j1
Duffy, 179. 399

Dumplin Harbor, 161, 164, 218, 287
Echinoderms, 370
Eggers, 104

Elevation of coast, 322, 324
Entry Island, 96
Eskimo, 67

camp, 193

dress, 200

game, 254

graves, 207, 263

in New Foundland,246, 252

house, 270

longevity of, 208, 269

mean height, 199

numbers of, 235, 261, 272

population, 235

Eskimo, ruins, 262

their former range, 245
yearly life, 275
Esquimaux Island, 265, 267

River, I, 2, II, 73, 74, 80,

232
Falco candicans, 181
Fauna, circumpolar, 337, 356
Fiords. 18, 228
Fisheries, 124, 126, 132, 146, 154,

156, 240, 243

herring, 132, 240
Fishes, 397

Fishing Ship Harbor, 138
Flies, 390

Fly, black, 74, 86, 89
Flora, Labrador, 63, 69, 143, 201, 344
Flounder, 398
Ford's Bight, 191
Forests, dwarf, 86
Forteau, 117

Fossils, quaternary, 75, 79, 107, 124
Fox, 133, 187, 209

blue, 180, 209
Frobisher's voyage, 48
Frog, 126, 405

Game, 72, loi, 133, 167, 194
Gasteropods, 376
Geology, 279
George, River, 15
Gibbons* voyage, 56
Glacial beds, 336

marks, 150, 216, 293
Glaciers, 172, 219
Gneiss, Domino, 159, 286

Laurentian, 280
Gore Island Harbor, 316
Grand Falls, 231

River, 121, 231
Granite, 285
Grasshopper, 150
Greely Islands, 163
Greville's Fort, 129, 239
Groswater Bay, 166
Grouse, 73
Gull Island, 319
Hake, 399
Hamilton Inlet, 53, 166, 288, 298

geology of, 285, 288
River, 12
Handy, Ichabod, 93
Harrison, Cape, 181, J's, 283, 286
Hebron, 199, 311
Helluland, 29, 32
Hemiptera, 386
Henley Island, 129, 310

INDEX.

505

Henley Harbor, 120, 132, 220, a8o.

281, 285, 307
Herring fishery, 132, 240, 243, 318,

403
Hind, H. Y., 10. 13, 318
History of Labrador, 234
Holme, Randle F., 231
Hopedale, 197, 199, 253, 283, 286

310, 323
Horsford, E. N., 30
Horsechops Island, 165, 301
House, winter, 124
Hudson Bay Co. posts, 234
Hudson's voyage, 56
Huntington Island, 163, 287, 280.
Hydroids, 368 ^

Icebergs, 135, 157
Ice. floe, no, 173, 205, 317, 357
foot, 173, 313
Tickle, 170, 218
Indian Harbor. 170, 216, 288, 299

Harbor Islands, 321
Indians, red, 188, 256, 359
Insects, 63, 102. 141, 150. 176, 207,
225, 386 ''

Iron, magnetic, 285
Isle of Demons, 119

Ponds, 158, 289
Ivuctoke Inlet, 53, 166
Jasper, 290
Kaubkonga River, 229
Kauk River, 229
Kaumajet, Mount, 9, 227, 284
Kayak, 207
Keith, Lake, 285
Kenamou River, 13
Kiglapeit, Mount, 9, 227, 284
Killer, 152

Kippokok Bay, 195, 255, 318
Koch, R., 227, 274
Kohl, J. G., 21
Kohlmeister, 2, 15
Koksoak River, 15, 406
Knoch, 2, 15
Kypocock Bay, 318
Labradorite, 282
Labrador current, 320, 357

Maps of, 3
Lamellibranchs, 373
Latrobe. B., 273
Lauren tian rocks, 117, 279
Leda arctica, 347, 350

portlandica, 347, 350
clays, 292. 323, 339, 351
Leit s voyage, 27, 30
Lepidoptera, 391

Lieber, O. M., 284

Limacina helicina, 215

Lobster, 71, 203, 384

Long Island, 163

Lunoid glacial marks, 216, 298

Mackerel, 397

Magdalen islands, 96, 223

Maggovik Bay, 209

Magnetite, 285, 290

Mammals, 442

Mealy mountains, 6, 13, 159, 164

Mecatiiia, Cape, 100

. Little, Island, 99, 280, 300
Mercator s map, 4(1
Meshikumau River, 2, ri 71, 74, 80
Minerva, 239
Mirage, 99, 136, 138
Misery, Mount, 6,182.
Moisie River, 10
Molluscs, 373

quarternary, 326
Montaignais, 14, 67,' 189, 239, 264
Moravian settlements, 199
Mosquito, 86, 191
Moths, 391
Mount AUagaigai, 6,182

Cabot, 165

Cartier, 109

Misery, 6, 182
Mountaineers, 14, 67, 189, 239, 256,

2 Oil

Mountains of Labrador, 6, 7, 8

Mugford, Cape, 9, 319

Murre, loi, 170, 180

Muskrat, 155

Myriopoda, 286

Nain, 199, 327, 229, 253, 311

Nachvak Inlet, 9, 284, 315

Nascopi Indians, 239, 256, 264

Nasquapee Indians, 239, 256, 264

Nautilus, voyage of, 60

Newfoundland, 61

Newfoundlanders, 240

Nisbei's Harbor, 191

Norsemen, 21

North, Cape, 163, 289

Nucula expansa, 108

Occasional Harbor, 139

Odonata, 386

Okkak, 199, 201, 202, 227, 253

Orthoptera, 386

Otter, 68

Pandorina arenosa, 108

Parroqueet Island, 43 y

Penguin, 256

Pike's Harbor, 164

5o6

INDEX.

Pikkintil Islands, 2H4
Pitt's Arm, 124, 308, 323
Plants, list of, 447
Platyptera. 387
F'lecloptera, 3H7

Polyomniatus fianklinii, 177, 207
F'olyps, 3«)8
Polyzoans, 371
Porcupint", Cape, 321
Port Biirwell, (j
Man vers, ()
Neuf, 234
Potenlilla tridentata, ()C), 340, 345
PtarnniKan, 72
Puffin, 83, f)(), 34 r
Pussel, f)4, 75
Rama, 228
Reichel, L. T., 274
Rigolet, 167
Rise of land, 322
River terrace, 322
Robin, 151, 410
Roger's Harbor, 184
St. Francis, Cape. 138

Harbor, 138

Lewis Bay, 137

Sound, 319

Michael, Cape. 140
Bay, 40

Modeste, 118

Paul's Bay. 2f)5
Salamander, 106, 112
Salmon Bay, 71, 87, 222

Fishery, 133, 154. 186, 187,
193. 216, 399
Sand, magnetic iron, 285
Sealer, 121
Seal fishery. 122, L45

Island, 158
Seal's flippers, 81
Semed , iS
Shallop Island, 117
Shag's nest, 103
Shells, quarternary, 326
Silurian fossils, 325
Sister Islands, 163^
Skralings, 246

Sloop Harbor, 168, 179, 288, 310, 313
Snails, 194, 202
South River, 15
Spear Harbor, 138

Spear Point, 138

Spotted Island, 158. 162. 319

Spruce, 188

cat, i()i

skunk, 192

white, 191
Square Island, 138, 140, 28a
Stag Bay, 182. 185
Strawberry Harbor, 190, 215, 283,

286, 308, 313
Stony Island, 163, 319
Syenite, Laurentian, 280
Syrtensian fauna, 334, 338
'laconii. rocks, 281
Terraces, river, 322

rock, 144, 197, 315
Thomas Bay, 209, 210, 283, 3iO
Thoresby, Mount, 284
Tickle, 140, 183
Till, 121, 141
Tinker, iSo

Island, 179
Toad, 160. 405

Trap dykes, 168, 285, 286, 289
Trees, northern limits of, 201
Trichoptera, 387
Trout, 68

salmon, 193, 400
Tub Island, 165,218,287,288,289,299
Tuckermel bush, 86
Tucking bush, 86
Tunicates, 39b
Turner, L. M., 231, 406
Tylor, E. B.. 246
Ungava Bay, 406
Vetromile, Father, 258
Walrus, 104, 147, 162, 366
Wasp, 87, 103
Watson, Sereno, 473
Weasel, 68,114
Webuc, Cape, 181, 215, 283, 286

Range, 185
Weiz, Samuel, 5, 226
Whale, humpback, 137

sperm, 220
Whiteley, W. H., 232
Wolf, 194
Wolverene, >:?
Worms.
Zoar. z<
Zoology Labrador, 355

8, i62. 319

I, 140, 282

)r, iQo, 215, 283,

, 3>')
111, 281)

334. 338
I

4. '97. 315
210, 283, 3|o
284

285, 286, 289
mils of, 201

13. 400

[8, 287,288, 280, 299

H, 406

■. 258

162, 366

473

, 215, 283, 286

'5
226

:. 137
o
233

dor, 355

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI.

Recent Explorations.— Rediscovery

Falls.

OF THE Grand

of ?h7r^ i'J^' '"^'""^ '° ^'- '^""'^'^ ""'-"e's ascent
of the Grand R.ver, to a point within fifty miles of the

Grand Falls, which he claimed to be " the most stupen!

the Bowdoin ColleXe^rn^tahrdrin'chf^e

Rivf; wrh\^"'M ^•,''^^' "'" ' P"'^ "P ^"e Grand
over 'h! K "P''^'"'""'' ""^ mystery which has hung
over the subject, and thus achieved the most importanf

fnTeSfr b"T^"^ ''"'"' '""^ ''''" -ad^r h
by wht mJ 7;;5^,f-.^-°veryof this cata-
nren.rL7 T foUowmg account has been

prepared from dispatches, sent to the daily-press and h,=
been kindly revised by Professor Lee anrM^X'
rJ,\^''^^'^T" '^^' Rockland, Me., early in July in
consisting of nineteen members
The party left Rigolet for Grand River July 27

mstruments, fire-arms, and provisions for a month. E

507

5o8

REDISCOVERY OF GRAND FALLS.

B. Young and D. M. Cole were in one boal ; W. R.
Smith and Austin Gary, who was chief of the exploring
party, in the other.

Twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river the first
falls were reached. They make a descent of 70 feet in
two leaps, and necessitate a portage up a steep ascent of
210 feet, then half a mile through woods, and finally a
descent to the river of 140 feet. With much labor this
portage was accomplished in four hours. A cache of
provisions was made below the falls. Then the struggle
began. Up to this point the current had been easy and
the river about a mile wide ; but above the falls the river
narrowed somewhat and the current became swifter, so
that tracking was rendered necessary at times. This
was no small labor, as the banks are rugged and jagged
rocks, bowlders and fallen timber obstructed the way
of the trackers. After a struggle of forty miles of this
sort the Gull Island Rapids presented a still more serious
difficulty in the way of tracking. Here the boats had to
be lightened and guided through a short but extremely
difficult rapid — a slow and laborious task. For a dis-
tance of fifteen miles above, the river flowed very swiftly
between high wooded b^nks, rendering rowing very
often impossible and tracking difficult.

After this the next hard work was in the Horseshoe
Rapids. In these a most unfortunate accident happened
to one of the boats. While tracking around a turn the
boat in charge of Gary and Smith was over-turned, the
keel and sharp prow ill adapting it to such rapid water.
A large part of the provisions, cooking utensils, the shot-
gun, the barometer, and a revolver weie lost. But though
crippled the party were undismayed and pushed on up

3at ; W. R.
e exploring

iver the first
f 70 feet in
ep ascent of
and finally a
:h labor this
A cache of
the struggle
een easy and
falls the river
le swifter, so
imes. This
1 and jagged
;ted the way
miles of this
niore serious
boats had to
ut extremely
For a dis-
d very swiftly
rowing very

le Horseshoe
;nt happened
id a turn the
jr-turned, the
rapid water,
isils, the shot-
But though
lushed on up

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XL

509

to the Mininipi Rapids, the most formidable of all
except the Gull Island Rapids. The route here laid
through a burnt district. Precipitous banks lined the
river and the current was very fierce. After a stretch
of smooth water and then alternate rowing and tracking,
next in succession came the Mouni Rapids, which were
comparatively easy. Between the Mininipi and the
Mouni another cache was made. After passing the
Mouni Rapids the voyagers glided into Lake Wami-
nikapou, a most beautiful sheet of water 40 miles in
length and 150 miles from the mouth of the river. The
scenery here was simply grand. High precipitous shores
studded with high groves, towered six or eight hundred
feet above the placid bosom of the lake.

Holme in 1887 had succeeded in reaching the middle
of the lake when he was obliged to relinquish his under-
taking, estimating his distance from the falls at 50 miles,
20 of which would have been in the dead water of the
lake.

The Bowdoin party had a comparatively easy time
rowing across, and had pushed five miles beyond when
a halt was called because of the disablement of one of
the party. For some days Young had been suffering
from a severe sore on his hand, which, irritated by row-
ing and aggravated by exposure, was beginning to
develop serious symptoms and was very painful. Owing
to this and the loss of provisions in the Horseshoe
Rapids it was decided to divide the party — Cole to con-
tinue with Gary, and Young and Smith to return. Up
to this time the party had been eleven days on the river.
Young and Smith made the return to the mouth in five
days without incident. They were well received by Mr.

510

REDISCOVERY OF GRAND FALLS.

McLaren, Hudson Bay Co. 's factor at Northwest River,
and thence were conveyed across Lake Melville in a
yawl, with their Rushton boat in tow. During the night
a severe storm arose and filled the Rushton, making it
necessary to cut it loose. Parties going up the lake
some days later found the boat dashed to pieces on the
rocks. Young and Smith reached Rigolet August i8,
and found very comfortable quarters with Mr. Bell, factor
of the Hudson Bay Co., who showed them every kind-
ness.

Meanwhile Cary and Cole pushed on for sixty-five
miles, finding the distance much farther than it had been
estimated. Most of this was made in easy rowing water,
but tracking was necessary for the last eight or ten miles.
At this point a short reconnoitre satisfied the men that
it would be impossible to proceed farther with the boat
because of the extremely heavy water above. Conse-
quently a cache was made of the boat, and all unneces-
sary luggage and provisions, and the two men struck
out through the woods to gain the plateau, which was
a very arduous task. Upon reaching the table-land a
mountain, rising from five to eight hundred feet from
the surface, was sighted about six miles away ; and as it
was the highest land anywhere around they ascended to
get a view of their surroundings. The whole country
was spread out beneath them, but there was as yet no
sign of the falls. They called this mountain Mt. Hyde
in honor of the president of Bowdoin College. Bear-
ings were taken from the summit and an attempt made
of surveying, but the black-flies became intolerable and
compelled them to beat a retreat to the river valley,
where they camped for the night. Next day the journey

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI.

511

vest River,
elville in a
g the night
, making it
ip the lake
eces on the
August 18,
Bell, factor
every kind-

DX sixty-five
i it had been
>\ving water,
or ten miles,
he men that
ith the boat
ive. Conse-
all unneces-
men struck
1, which was
table-land a
d feet from
ly ; and as it
ascended to
lole country
lS as yet no
|n Mt. Hyde
lege. Bear-
|tempt made
iolerable and
[river valley,
the journey

was continued for seven miles along the river to a point
where the river issues from a remarkable gorge, worn
out of the solid Archaean rock five hundred feet or more
in depth and from 150 feet to a quarter of a mile in
width.

Once more they were obliged to take to the high
ground, and for the rest of that day and part of the next
skirted the gorge. They were proceeding in this man-
ner when a distant rumbling led them to approach the
river. It was flowing at their own level. Below them
were the long-sought-for falls, and three cheers for Bow-
doin immediately mingled with their roar.

As was expected, reports concerning them were greatly
exaggerated. The falls themselves are 150 feet wide
and do not exceed 150 feet in height. For five or six
miles above was a series of heavy rapids with several
smaller falls varying from 10 to 25 feet in height and
making about 100 feet more fall. The water, as it ap-
proached the brink of the Grand Falls, makes a long,
graceful bend downward and then shoots straight down-
ward into the canon. The river above the falls flows
almost due south by compass (really S. E.) while im-
mediately upon striking the bottom of the gorge it
makes a sharp in to the east and continues in that
direction for several hundred yards when it again resumes
its general southeasterly course, and goes roaring down
the canon in heavy rapids. Although reports concern-
ing them were greatly exaggerated, the falls were found
to be truly grand. But probably the most remarkable
feature of all is the great gorge, worn as it is in the solid
granite. It is probably one of the oldest drainage lines
in the world. This was named the Bowdoin Canon.

512

REDISCOVERY OF GRAND FALLS.

Several hours were spent at the falls measuring and
photographing, but the results are as yet not available.

The Labrador Plateau has been estimated by other
parties to be 2,000 feet above the sea-level, but owing to
the loss of the barometer our men were unable to deter-
mine the accuracy of this estimate. The plateau is for
the most part level with occasional prominences. It is
well wooded with spruce timber, the largest of which are
perhaps eight inches through. A heavy carpet of moss
lies underfoot and there is very little underbrush to make
travelling difficult. Innumerable lakes dot the surface
in all directions, a large chain of which are undoubtedly
drained by the Grand River. The black-flies on the high
ground were terrible.

The falls were reached on the morning of the 13th
of August. On the next day the successful explorers
started to retrace their course of 300 miles. They had
reached the end of their provisions and were worn out
and hungry. On the afternoon of the 15th, with no
little joy, they sighted the location of their cache of boat,
luggage, and provisions. But their joy was soon turned
to dismay, for, instead of the pleasant sight they had ex-
pected, nothing but smoking and charred remains greeted
their eyes. Rifle, ammunition, instruments, boat, pro-
visions — everything that had been left behind was burned,
and there they were nearly 300 miles from the mouth of
the river. It is supposed that the camp-fire still hung in
the moss and peat soil after it was thought to be com-
pletely extinguished, and later revived and spread to the
cache.

About three pints of parched flour and as much rice,
together with one can each of burned baked beans and

easuring and
ot available,
ted by other
but owing to
able to deter-
plateau is for
nences. It is
; of which are
irpet of moss
)rush to make
)t the surface
J undoubtedly
es on the high

r of the 13th
sful explorers
js. They had
vere worn out
15th, with no
cache of boat,
,s soon turned
It they had ex-
mains greeted
ts, boat, pro-
d was burned,
the mouth of
le still hung in
|ht to be com-
spread to the

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI.

513

tongue, a 32-calibre revolver, a small axe, fish-line, and
a few matches were all they had to rely upon for a safe
voyage back, nor did the resources of the country war-
rant them in expecting much from that quarter. For
eight days the two men built rafts, tramped and floated
down the river, travelling a distance of 150 miles with no
other food than the above-mentioned provisions, an oc-
casional squirrel, and berries. Black-flies harried them
terribly, and made their condition almost unbearable.
At last the cache between the Mininipi and Mouni
Rapids was reached. From this they obtained five
pounds of buckwheat and a can of tongue to last them
for the next seventy-five miles to the cache below the
first falls. By continual rafting and tramping they
reached the cabin of an old trapper, near the mouth of
the river, August 29th, ragged and shoeless and much
worn with hardships and privations. Thence they were
conveyed to Northwest River, where they received kind
treatment at the hands of Mr. McLaren, and from
there went across Lake Melville to Rigolet in a yawl,
arriving on the afternoon of September ist. The main
expedition had been waiting for them in that vicinity for
six days, and was beginning to get anxious, for they were
due August 25th, and according to the report brought
back by Young and Smith were likely to be on time.
When at last they did arrive they were welcomed on
board with every demonstration of joy.

as much rice,
:ed beans and