ROADS AND KAIIAVAYS. Ity 



proiluctive. It is also the nearest point on llu- i-ailway to tlie 

 Port-au-Port A.sbestos mines. Tlie great tlrawbaek hitherto in 

 Avorking thi.sand other asbestos mines lias been the -want of roads 

 for the conveyance of supplies for the workers and the transmis- 

 sion of the mineral to the place of shi]iment. The railwax meets 

 all such ditticidties. 



THE GARDEN OF NEWrOUNDLANlJ. 



At St. GeoT'ge's Bay the laihvay enters the finest region in the 

 whole island, all its natural capabilities being taken into account. 

 Here are numerous valleys of fertile land opeiung on the bay, 

 well wooiled with i)ine, jnnii)er or tamarack, fine yellow and 

 white bii'ch, spruce and balsams, the soil capal)le when cleared 

 of yielding excellent crojis. It is found to In- es]>ecially jn'oduc- 

 tiA'e of the richest grasses of \arious kinds, while the climate is 

 very fine. Gypsum of the l)est quality is abundant. Asbestos 

 has been recently discovered at several ])oints, and nunes arc 

 opened at Port-au-Port and elsewhere. Clay tit for lirick-making' 

 has also been found. As a farming, fund )ering ami nuning region 

 its capabilities are very great. Above all, hen- is the great coal- 

 field of NeA\foundland, which the eminent geologi!^t Jukes esti- 

 mated to l)e twenty-five miles Avide and ten in length. Coal 

 seams three and four feet in thickness at the out-ci-op have been 

 found here. It is yet untouched but will not long remain su 

 after the lailway has reached it. At St. George's Bay, opposite 

 Sandy Point, the principal settlement, there is a fine site at the 

 Seal Eocks for a town to grow u[) and to become an inqiortant 

 industrial centre. At the neighliouring Port-au-Port there ai-e 

 large deposits of lead containing a pro]>ortion of silver ore. Iron 

 ore is also rei)orted to be found in the neigliboiirhood of ijie coal 

 seams. 



CULTIVABLE LAXD. 



According to the reports of the Geological survey there are 

 around the shores of St. George's Bay and the valleys Avhich open 

 into the interior, and are traversed by rivei's flowing from the 

 highlands, 1(;4,")06 scprare acres of reclaimalde land tit for sittle- 

 raeut, a large portion of it containing exci'lleut soil. 



