COUNTRY AND HISTORY 155 



dark blue shadows, and he will give a sigh of relief as he 

 thinks of the sweltering heat he has just left behind him in 

 the big cities. The richly-coloured marshes and the many 

 ponds are a splendid foreground for the rugged mountains ; 

 and the stranger looks astonished and remarks that he 

 never knew that the island was anything but flat. Many 

 surprises are in store for him as the train carries him along 

 over numerous beautiful rivers in whose clear waters the 

 salmon are working their way up to the spawning beds. 

 Lakes of all sizes are passed in rapid succession, some 

 surrounded by marshes and bogs, others nestled away 

 between heavily-timbered mountains. The train goes slower, 

 and snorts and puffs as it winds its way over the high hills, 

 reaching an elevation of between one and two thousand feet. 

 On reaching Bay of Islands, the stranger is again surprised, 

 for here is a harbour of immense size with many prosperous 

 villages along its shores, under the shadow of the protecting 

 ranges of lofty hills. The whole scene recalls the flords of 

 Norway. Then comes the Humber River, probably the most 

 beautiful of the larger rivers. Rocky mountains rise like 

 giant walls from the deep, dark waters ; glittering cascades 

 drop hundreds of feet among the rich vegetation ; and yet 

 this is Newfoundland, not as our geography describes it, but 

 as it really is. The stranger is astonished and wonders, as 

 so many have done, why he never heard of the scenery of 

 the island, but only of its rocks and fogs. As he crosses the 

 path of the Caribou migration, should it be the right time of 

 year, he will, if he be lucky, see herds of the wandering 

 animals making their way southward. They will line up 

 and stare at the noisy thing that passes them, belching such 

 a dense column of black smoke as it goes along in its 

 haste. The conductor pulls the signal cord three times, the 

 engine blows in reply, and the train slows down to let 



