[s. E. DAWSON] THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS 153 



It will not do, however, to allow the case for Cape Breton to rest upon 

 that argument, for it is founded upon a misunderstanding of the con- 

 ditions of the problem. The disputants in this controversy are not nearly 

 so ignorant of ancient and mediaeval cartography as the archbishop sup- 

 poses, and while essaying to bar the main entrance of the fortress, he is 

 letting his opponents in by the postern. To avoid confusion I have re- 

 ferred to Appendix E the consideration of this point, and would merely 

 observe that if the archbishop's hypothesis were sound it would inexor- 

 ably exclude not Labrador and Newfoundland, but Cape Breton and 

 Newfoundland, and the theory he has laboured to construct would be de- 

 stro3"ed b}^ striking away its fundamental proposition. 



Although Bishop Ilowley advocates a landfall at Cape St. John, he 

 has a kindly feeling for both Bonavista and Labrador. It is only Cape 

 Breton — the first recorded landfall — which he cannot abide. Thus he 

 writes : " As a matter of fact there are immense forests on Labrador, 

 " where timber is found much larger than anything of the kind in New- 

 ^' foundland or Cape Breton." If this really be intended to apply to the 

 coast of Labrador, one can only wonder and pass on. It is no doubt tbe 

 fact that at the heads of such deep inlets as Sandvvich bay and Hamilton 

 inlet, in sheltered places, large firs may be found, and recent explorations 

 have revealed in the valleys of the interior the spruce and poplar of the 

 sub-arctic forest ; but at 58° is the northern limit of the growth of trees, 

 and throughout the peninsula north of 54° reindeer moss rej^laces the 

 scanty and dwarfed tree growth on all open situations where there may 

 be soil over the rock. In both my previous papers I have given the 

 testimony of sailors, from the time of Jacques Cartier to the present day, 

 as to what the coast of Labrador really is, and must from the very nature 

 of things ever be; and I would especially ask the reader to consider the 

 evidence in Appendix A to my paper of 1896 (R. S. C, Vol. II., New 

 Series). The coast in question is the Atlantic coast from 53° north to 

 Cape Chidley, against which the Arctic current pours the whole ice- 

 discharge of the Polar ocean. Here is a description, from the Sailing 

 Directions of the British Admiralty, from Cape St. Lewis, at 52°, south- 

 ward : -'The coast is composed of bare granite hills * * * that navigation 

 " is difficult is due to the frequent fogs, the heavy easterly swell rolled in 

 " from the Atlantic, and the icebergs which are almost always drifting 

 " along with the current from the northward." ^ Farther on we read : 

 " The climate on this coast is extremely severe, the mean temperature of 

 " the year being below freezing point ;" and at page 16 : " Field ice remains 

 " in the vicinity of Greedy harbour until about the middle of July, soon 

 " after which the fishing fleet are enabled to sail northward." '" Greedy 

 island is at 53° 40'. Of the coast northwards we read again (p. 381) : 

 " Icebergs may be encountered all the year round, but are most numer- 

 " ous from June till August, when occasionally they are found in iui- 



