324 Perley^s ohservatioris on the 



ing the valleys and lower lands, are found large open tracts which 

 are called " marshes." 



Let it be understood that these marshes are not always 

 low-lying lands, or even very level. They are frequently found 

 at a considerable height above the sea, and often with an undu- 

 lating surface. 



Moss covers these marshes to the depth of several feet; it 

 is green, soft, and spongy, and is bound together by straggling 

 grass, and a variety of marsh plants. The surface is uneven, 

 abounding in holes and hillocks, the tops of the hillocks being 

 frequently covered with a short, dry, crisp moss. 



The various colours of the mosses on these marshes, give them 

 a peculiarly rich appearance, especially if seen from a distance, 

 clothing the slopes of a hill with tufts or thin skirts of wood, 

 scattered about. In such cases, a person not acquainted with 

 the country would be led to believe it possessed great agricultural 

 capabilities, and might be highly cultivated. 



Except in long continued droughts or hard frosts, these mar- 

 shes are always wet, and incapable of bearing the weight of a 

 person walking across them. A march of three or four miles 

 across a Newfoundland marsh, sinking into the moss at every 

 step, always as far as the ancle, but sometimes knee-deep, is a 

 most fatiguing operation, and most toilsome if a load has to be 

 carried on the shoulders. 



This thick coating of moss is precisely like a great sponge 

 spread over the country. At the melting of the snow in spring, 

 it becomes thoroughly saturated with water, which it lon^ re- 

 tains and which every rain-fall continually renews. 



Numerous ponds of water are found everywhere in Newtound- 

 land* and it is scarcely possible to walk a mile, in any direction, 

 without encountering large pools, sometimes spreading out into 

 very considerable lakes. In the lower parts small sluggish 

 brooks or gullies are met with everywhere. 



The extreme wetness of the marshes is due almost entirely 

 to the spongy nature of the moss, as the slope of the ground 

 is in almost every case quite sufficient for surface drainage. 



Where the moss is stripped off these so-called marshes, 

 either dry, rounded gravel, or bare rock, is generally found be- 

 neath. 



Next we come to, — 



The " barrens " of Newfoundland, which are extensive dis- 



