i6o NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



the rivers, so that the eye is dazzled by the splendour of 

 the colour. On the barrens the curious pitcher -plant 

 {Sarracejiia purpurea) is conspicuous. Its strange, deep 

 crimson flowers stand guard over the pools nestled among 

 the many-coloured mosses. Of the flowering shrubs, the 

 most common are the viburnums, dog-wood, pigeon- 

 wood, kalmia and mountain ash. Of the shrubs whose 

 flowers are not noticeable, the alder is by far the most 

 equally distributed. It chokes every small waterway 

 and forms a serious obstruction to travel through much 

 of the marshy ground. Edible fruits, as mentioned in 

 Chapter VII., comprise the " bake apple," blueberry and 

 raspberry, all of which are remarkably plentiful. Wild 

 cranberries are found on most of the marshy ground, and 

 flourish so well that one is surprised that their cultivation 

 is not extensively carried on. 



There is a prevailing idea that the trees of Newfound- 

 land are all of stunted growth, and that large timber 

 does not exist on the island. That there is a great 

 amount of small growth is true enough, for practically 

 every marsh is fringed with forests of short, close-grow- 

 ing fir and spruce. Nearly every pond, too, is sheltered 

 by these small trees, but in the hilly country and pro- 

 tected valleys there is a vast amount of really good 

 timber, which is attracting the lumber companies from 

 many parts of the world, and some of the largest and 

 most modern pulp mills have been, and still are being, 

 established in various parts of the country. Along the 

 more accessible waterways, both rivers and lakes, the 

 larger trees are mostly a thing of the past. It is this 

 that has given rise to the popular notion that large trees 

 do not exist. The most important soft wood trees are 

 the fir, spruce, white pine and tamarack ; the latter goes 



