PREFACE 



Labrador Peninsula, with the coast and islands of 

 -*- the Gulf of St. Lawrence, possesses a colonial and 

 imperial interest which can scarcely be over-estimated 

 in contemplating the possible future of British North 

 America. 



The annual value of the Fisheries in British American 

 waters exceeds four millions sterling, besides being the 

 best nursery for seamen ' the world ever saw.' 



The fisheries on the Atlantic coast of Labrador alone 

 yield a yearly return of at least one million sterling ; and 

 yet, since the destruction of the town of Brest, at the 

 Gidf entrance of the Straits of Belle Isle, more than two 

 hundred years ago, no attempts have been made to form 

 settlements on an extensive scale on or near the coast. 



In the great interior valleys, some ten or fifteen miles 

 from the coast, timber fit for building purposes and fuel 

 exists in abundance, and the climate and soil admit of the 

 successful cultivation of all common culinary vegetables. 



West of the Mincjan Islands lame areas exist suitable 



D o 



for settlement. Limestones and sandstones occupy the 

 coast, and extend about ten miles back over a space 

 of eighty miles on the Straits of Belle Isle, and great 



