SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 63 



MANY DISASTROUS WRECKS. 



The appalling loss of life and property which has occurred in this dangerous spot 

 early led to the establishment there of life saving stations. These were organized by 

 the government of Nova Scotia in 1801, and maintained by that province until con- 

 federation took place, when this service was undertaken by the Dominion. The British 

 government contributes £500 a year towards the cost of carrying on this good work. 



Many disastrous wrecks have occurred here. The first of these recorded was in 

 1583, when the Admiral, a vessel in the navy of Queen Elizabeth, was wrecked and 

 nearly 100 lives lost. Up to the present time no less than 171 known wrecks have oc- 

 curred. The last wreck of importance, comparatively speaking, was that of the steam- 

 ship Moravian, from Antwerp to Boston. This was a vessel of 2,000 tons, which struck 

 on a sand bar on the 12th of February, 1899, and broke up the following June. There 

 were 40 persons on this steamship, 21 of whom reached the island- in their own boats, 

 while 19 were rescued by the island lifeboats. No one was drowned in this instance, 

 but one man died from the effects of exposure. It has been truly said that 'no other 

 island on this globe can show so appalling a record of shipwreck and disaster.' 



THE ISLAND TREELESS. 



There are no trees on Sable Island to break the force of the winds, which some- 

 times blow fiercely and raise dense clouds of drifting sand. The gradual wasting of 

 the island and the lessening of its surface has led to the consideration of the possibility 

 of establishing tree growth there, that thus the land might become more fixed and fur- 

 ther lessening of the surface be retarded if not prevented. 



INVESTIGATIONS LOOKING TO TREE PLANTING. 



During the early part of 1900, I was requested by the Minister of Marine and 

 Fisheries, Sir Louis Davies, to consider the subject of a somewhat extensive experi- 

 ment in tree planting on Sable island, and if this was thought feasible to make the 

 necessary arrangements to obtain a sufficient number of such trees as would be desir- 

 able for that purpose. Having obtained the ready concurrence of the Hon. Minister 

 of Agriculture to devote such time as was necessary to carry out this object, steps were 

 taken to gain information on the subject. From the outset I have had the hearty co- 

 operation of the deputy minister, Lieut.-Col. F. F. Gourdeau, who has been most en- 

 thusiastic in the work, and has been of the greatest assistance to me. During my visit 

 to the Paris Exposition in 1900, a journey was made to the sea coast of Brittany with 

 Lieut.-Col. Gourdeau to see the results of the planting of pine forests there on the 

 drifting sands on the ocean shore, to gain information as to the methods adopted in 

 planting and the varieties of trees which have been successfully grown. 



We found large districts planted with pine trees growing thriftily, although slowly, 

 on what 50 or 60 years ago was a bare and barren coast covered with drifting sand. 

 Formerly houses and villages were at times engulfed by these terrible drifts, but under 

 the influence of this successful planting, the drifting of the sand has long since ceased 

 and a soil is gradually, though slowly, forming mainly through the decay of successive 

 crops of the needle-like leaves of the pines. A careful survey of the district showed 

 that the trees were almost all of one species known as the maritime pine Pinus pinaster 

 (P. marUimd) known also in Europs as the cluster pine. In that locality it is a rather 

 small growing tree with large long leaves and very large cones. The trees throughout 

 the district of country visited between St. Nazaire and Baule seemed to range from 20 

 to about 50 years of age ; their height was from 15 to 25 feet, and the trunks of some of 

 the larger specimens, when measured, three feet from the ground showed a diameter of 

 about 12 inches. Specimens of other species of pine were occasionally found growing 



