cifAP. XXIX. BASALTIC COLUMNS OF HENLEY HARBOUR. 14.5 



country wears a dreary and most repelling aspect; not a 

 tree, or shrub, or plant of any kind, except the eternal 

 lichens, are to be seen, with the occasional exception of a 

 few willows in the depressions. The soil of the Ungava 

 district, wherever a soil is to be found, consists of decayed 

 lichens, which form a substance resembling the peat-moss 

 of tlie Scottish moors. In the Ioav grounds, and on the 

 banks of rivers, the soil is generally deep and fertile 

 enough to produce timber of considerable size. In the 

 valleys are found clumps of wood which become more 

 and more stunted as they creep up the sides of the sterile 

 hills, till at length they degenerate into lowly shrubs. 

 The woods b(3rdering on the sea-coast consist entirely of 

 larch, which also predominates in the interior, intermixed 

 Avith pine and a few poplars and birches. In favourable 

 seasons the country is covered with many varieties of 

 berry-bearing shrubs — blue-berry, cranberry, gooseberry, 

 red currant, strawberry j raspberry, ground raspberry (Ru- 

 has arcticus), and the bake-apple {Ruhus Chamoemorus), 

 called chicote by the Montagnais and French. This fruit 

 is eaten not only by men, but also greedily by dogs and 

 bears. 



Among the singular natural featin^es of the Labrador 

 coast, the basaltic colunnis of Henley Harbour in the 

 Straits of Belle Isle claim special notice ; they were 

 accurately described by Lieutenant Baddely, in 1829. 



Upon entering the harbom-* it has something- the appearance 

 of a fortification. The upper portion consists of a mass of amor- 



* lAeuteiiant Baddely. Trans. Lit. and Tfist. Sue. of Quebec, 1820. 

 VOL. H. L 



