NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



111 



10 species; and the Trichoptera (caddis- 

 flies) 5 species. 



The Hemiptera include onlj^ 4 species; 

 the Orihoplera number one. Eight Oti- 

 donala (dragon-flies) have been found in 

 Labrador; one E'phemeris, or May -fly; 

 3 Piecopterids; several Thysanura or 

 spingtails; and the snow-flea; all these 

 have been recorded. Sixty species of 

 beetles and 11 spiders have l;)een de- 

 scribed from the peninsula. 



Fish 



The inland waters of Labrador are well 

 stocked with fish. The sturgeon is 

 common in many streams; the northern 

 sucker and the red sucker are common 

 throughout the peninsula in all the lakes 

 and streams; the whitefish is everywhere 

 abundant; the Atlantic salmon enter 

 all the streams opening on the Atlantic 

 and Hudson Straits watersheds; the 

 Great Lake trout, the brook trout, and 

 the pike are found in most of the 

 streams; the ling, an important fish 

 for the Indians because it will take bait 

 freely during the winter months when 

 other fish can not be caught and food is 

 scarce, is abundant in all the deeper 

 lakes. 



The most important fish of the coastal 

 salt-water is the cod, which comes to the 

 coast to feed on the immense schools 

 of caplin that run inshore to feed. The 

 cod comes to the Labrador coast about 

 June twentieth, and moves northward 

 along the coast at the rate of about a 

 degree of latitude a week, but from 

 August to September they are spread 

 along the entire coast. The smaller 

 cod begin leaving the coast about the 

 first of October, but the larger remain 

 until well into November. 



The mackerel left the Labrador coast 

 about the middle of the nineteenth 

 century and is rarely found there now. 

 The herring is again abundant after a 

 long period of relative absence. The 

 halibut, dab, and rock-cod are common. 

 The sleeper shark is abundant in all the 

 inlets and near the coast, a scavenger of 

 the sea-floor. 



Crustacea of many species frequent 



the Labrador coast. Crabs, lobsters, 

 shrimps, amphipods, isopods, copcpods, 

 and barnacles are numerous. The niol- 

 luscan fauna is distinctly Arctic, largely 

 of circumpolar species, both lacustrine 

 and littoral. Land molluscs are rare. 

 The plankton life, seasonally, is ex- 

 ceedingly rich. 



CONCLUSION 



The Labrador is relatively unexplored. 

 It offers one of the most promising 

 fields for the explorer and the pioneer 

 naturalist. The coast may be readily 

 visited during the summer months by 

 mail-steamers from St. Johns and by 

 fishing vessels from Gloucester, Pro- 

 vincetown, and the Atlantic coastal 

 fishing towns, where the cod-fleets 

 have their bases. The interior may be 

 traversed only by well-organized and 

 well-equipped expeditions with e.xpe- 

 rienced guides and leaders. 



5. NEWFOUNDLAND 



By W. Elmer Ekblaw 



introduction 



Newfoundland, an island of some 

 42,000 sq. mi. off the mouth of the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, lies between the parallels 

 of 46° 36' 50" and 51° 39' north latitude, 

 and between the meridians 53° 37' and 

 59° 24' 50" west longitude. It forms 

 an equilateral triangle, the distances 

 between Cape Bauld at the north angle. 

 Cape Spear at the southeast angle, and 

 Cape Ray at the southwest angle, being 

 each approximately 320 mi. 



GEOLOGY 



Except for a belt composed of the 

 highest portion of the Long Range 

 Hills, the entire island has been glac- 

 iated. Possibly two-thirds of the area 

 is occupied by Laurentian granites ami 

 gneisses, with considerable tracts of 

 serpentine; lluronian gneisses and 

 schists predominate in the eastern 

 portion; considerable belts of Carl>oni- 

 fcrous sandstones and .shales and scat- 

 tered tracts of Silurian and Devonian 



