154 NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



rivers are rough and rocky, except near their outlet. They rise 

 in hilly country, and are therefore of very variable depth, rising 

 and falling to a marked degree according to the rains. In 

 point of beauty some of them would be hard to surpass. The 

 rich growth of trees along their banks and the boldness of the 

 hills combine to make scenery which I have seldom seen 

 equalled. The numberless waterfalls and cascades will cause 

 surprise to those who, for some reason, believe Newfoundland 

 to be a flat land of bogs and rocks. So little has the beauty of 

 the country been exploited, that people have not the slightest 

 idea of what wonderful scenery is hidden away in the 

 mountainous regions only waiting to be discovered. 



I have frequently been interested in watching strangers 

 coming in to Port-aux-Basques, a dreary, little, rocky harbour, 

 somewhat forbidding but beautiful withal, for the rich colour- 

 ing of the close-fitting carpet of mosses and grasses which 

 clothes the rocks is exceedingly fine. This is more or less 

 what the stranger expected to see ; but soon after the train 

 starts, he begins to open his eyes as the country changes. 

 Here the road runs along the delightful sea coast, where 

 stretches of gleaming sand receive the everlasting pounding of 

 the sea. Again it climbs along the rocky shore, on which the 

 force of the eternal winds is shown in the curious growth of 

 stunted trees, that rise from ground level, gradually getting 

 higher till they are, perhaps, six or seven feet tall. No 

 branch protruding, clipped by the cold wintry blasts, they are 

 like well-pruned hedges. From his comfortable seat, the 

 stranger looks down into the clearest, greenest water he has 

 ever seen. It is the harvest ground of Newfoundland. An 

 exclamation from the other side of the carriage makes him 

 look to the East, where wonderful ranges of mountains hide 

 their rocky summits in the morning mist. If it is early in 

 the summer, he will see patches of snow packed away in the 



