80 TUENBR ON THE PHYSICAL AND 



s^^rfaces indicate but the faintest trace of weathering. The parts exposed to the south 

 are the opposite of those to the north, for here the jagged, roughened surfaces shew 

 plainly that the glacial mass moved from S. S. E. to N. N. W., or toward the north-west 

 point of land ; but that there encountering high elevations, it was deflected to the right and 

 left, deepening the channel that still shews as the low swampy land between 58° and 

 60° N. latitude, and from Ungava Bay to the west. This area is so low that it has been 

 but recently lifted above the sea-level and is doubtless referred to, in several publications, 

 as the traditional strait or passage connecting Hudson Strait with Hudson Bay. 



That the weight and power of the glacial mass was accompanied with comparatively 

 rapid movement is evidenced by the small amount of soil in many of the depressions, 

 even at this day. The detritus consists of coarse fragments of rock, occurring in the 

 larger valley as rounded boulders, some of enormous size. These boulder beds are of 

 great depth, as shewn at the mouth of Larch River (a tributary of the Koksoak), where 

 the banks are more than a hundred feet high, composed of boulders of every size, mixed 

 with clay and earth. Each winter causes these banks to crumble into the river below. 

 The top of these beds is quite flat, and on it are perched angailar rocks of prodigious size, 

 imbedded in the superincumbent soil, scarcely a foot in depth and surrounded by fair- 

 sized spruce and larch. Near the mouth of George River, the higher hillsides and val- 

 leys indicate the successive stages of recession of the mass of ice and water as plainly as 

 though it had taken place but yesterday ; and so little life-giving soil has become mingled 

 with the quartz sands left on the terraces, that the lichens and mosses never grow more 

 than an inch in height. 



Within the region thus defined there are several rivers. The most easterly and the 

 second in size, is George River, lying near the foothills of the Labrador coast range. 

 This stream is navigable for twelve miles by a vessel drawing not more than fifteen feet. 

 The upper course is tortuous, over a bed of variable character consisting mostly of basins 

 alternating with shoals or rapids. A high fall of water occurs about one hundred miles 

 from the mouth. The second and third streams are unimportant and lie between the two 

 largest rivers of the region, nearer, however, to George River. The next is "Whale River, 

 a wide stream for the lower forty miles and a mere creek above that point. The lower 

 part consists of a narrow, rocky channel with a wide overflow at high tide. Whale River 

 is not navigable. The next is False River, a mere ciil de sac of thirty miles in length. The 

 most important stream is the Koksoak. It alone has tributaries to be dignified with the 

 name of rivers, the largest of these afiiuents being Larch River, falling into it about one 

 hundred and ten miles from the mouth of the main stream. The next largest afliuent is 

 named Deer River, a swift stream draining a large lake on the eastern side of the Koksoak 

 and only about twenty-five miles above the mouth of the Larch. About eight miles 

 above the mouth of Deer River there is a fall of forty-six feet on the Koksoak. The main 

 stream is navigable as far as Fort Chimo, or less than thirty miles from its mouth. West- 

 ward there occur numerous short and unimportant streams that drain the waters from 

 various portions of the swampy tract referred to. 



Climate.— The climate is rigorous for eight months in the year, or from October to 

 June — the temperature falling to 50°, and for a period of over five months, the thermometer 

 does not indicate a temperature above the freezing point. The transition from winter to 



