1916] Townsend, — The old Stumps at Blanc Sablon 187 



valleys' did he indicate a possible forest covering. But here at least 

 was a remnant of the forest which had once sheltered Carcx Deweyana, 

 Actaca rubra and Viola Selkirkii, though at the present time only 

 shrubs or dwarf straggling trees, as described by Cartier, thrive on 

 the bleak and wind-swept shores of the Straits of Belle Isle; and that 

 the forest was an extensive one and presumably once fringed the en- 

 tire length of the Straits we are safe in assuming from the presence 

 at Bonne Esperance L'Anse au Clair, Forteau, Red Bay, and Chateau 

 (as shown by the collections of John A. Allen and others) of a relic 

 forest vegetation (sometimes further augmented by Onoclea scnsi- 

 bilis, Osmorhiza obtusa, Pyrola sceunda, etc.) such as abounds on the 

 terraces of Blanc Sablon." 



The name of the island near at hand "Isle au Bois" hints at the 

 former presence of a forest, yet if forests existed in Cartier's time we 

 should expect a different account from him. Our knowledge of the 

 history of the Labrador Peninsula since the glaciers melted a few 

 thousand years ago would negative the possibility of a climate or 

 topography that could support a forest such as these stumps and 

 woodland plants suggest. Moreover the stumps themselves can 

 hardly date back to Cartier who found " the land that God gave to 

 Cain.'' 



How can we explain the seeming paradox? Like many things in 

 nature, the explanation, which I chanced upon in a walk over the 

 plains to Anse Eclair, is very simple. The answer is there has been 

 no change; here are forest conditions at the present day, and here 

 are plenty of forest trees right before our eyes. Where the ancient 

 white stumps are so prominent the forest has been cut away as is 

 apt to be the case near settlements, but farther away to the east and 

 west along the coast there are regions where forest conditions of 

 darkness, dampness and quiet reign as truly as in the forest aisles 

 where the trees rear their heads to the skies and wave and sough in 

 the winds. The forest vegetation is the same in both cases. 



One is at first disposed to deny these statements and say there are 

 no trees here, merely spruce and fir bushes, insignificant things with 

 flat tops clipped as it were by the arctic blasts, but a close examina- 

 tion reveals the forest conditions. This examination is extremely 

 difficult unless one is provided with an axe, or, better still finds a 

 place where wood cutting has recently taken place, and the actual 

 habits of the wood-cutter can be learned. This gives the key to the 

 situation and at once explains the existence of the ancient stumps. 



