114 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. vir. 



the summit, and in its headlong fall was shattered into 

 countless pieces of all sizes and shapes. These had 

 ploughed their way through the forest, and carried the 

 trees before them in their resistless rush to the valley 

 below, where they lay matted together over roots, rocks, 

 and broken limbs in inextricable disarray. 



A close inspection of the mineral characters of the 

 rocks developed another feature of high interest. The 

 rock was no other than the celebrated Labrador felspar, 

 not unfrequently distinguished by the exquisite play of 

 colours which its surface exhibits when seen at particular 

 angles of vision. A mountain range of Labrador felspar, 

 no doubt the fire-rocks of the Nasquapees, small areas of 

 which, under favourable conditions and aspects, charm 

 the eye with changing lustre, and reflect the most lovely 

 greys, the most delicate blues, and the softest golden 

 yellows. 



The time I could give to an examination of this 

 stupendous land-slide, and the beautiful rocks of which 

 its ruins were composed, only enabled me to detect in a 

 few instances the lustre of the Labrador felspar. 



But the entire mass of the mountains as well as the 

 debris were unquestionably composed of it. After 

 having feasted on the wild beauty of this extraordinary 

 scene, I turned my eyes towards the mountain, on the 

 opposite side of the valley, about two miles distant, 

 where I saw another land-slide, the counterpart of the one 

 at my feet, but of much more ancient date. The birch 

 had begun to grow among the shattered fragments, but 

 the large crushed trees were withered and dead, and lay 

 at the bottom of the slide in most intricate disorder, 



