Ai:i;i(ri,Tri;Ai. itKsoiKcKs. 90 



j'esoiii-ci's, coiiiliiin'il witli ilif ui'<'all.v >u])ci'i(ii- eliaracter of llie 

 -ioil, must in time ri-inlcr the ilistrict of St. (icorge's Bay oin- of 

 llif most tloiirisliiui;- au'l |ii-iis]iciims in the i.-laml of Xcwfoiiiul- 

 Jand." 



.lIONSKiNOK SKAllS' OPIXIOX. 



Till' latr Very ]\v\. ]^Joiisigiinr Si-ars, \vlio s]K'iit many yi^ars in 

 ^t. Ck'orgi'"s Bay, wrote (if it as follows : — "As tlic snil here is 

 .surpassingly piodurtivi-, c.sjje.-ially in tlic growth of various 

 grasses, 1 lielievc tlirrc is no country in our latitude to .surijas^s it 

 for grazing .sliui-p or lattlc \Micrc'Vcr tlio tn-cs are I'eiuoved by 

 tire, wind or other lauscs, a sjiontaneous growth of grass S2)rings 

 u]).' He ti'lls of nie.nldw.- wliirh he has known giving hay for 

 llie last nineteen vears, and "the nineteenth erop better than the 

 first." "The wood is almndant and of e.xcellent (piality, especi- 

 jiUy the hircli foi fuel and s]iipl)uildiug. 



UK. JOHN IJKLI. ON ST. GEOK<ifS. 



So fai' hack as ]87(), ])r. John Bell, M. A., M. I)., of Montreal, 

 s]ient ])art of a suunner on tin- "West Coast, and afterwards ]>uli- 

 lished an account of liis visit in tlie Canailian Xdtii.ralist. The 

 following is an extraet from one of his papers : — "Along the river 

 Hats, in the valleys and oji the 'barrens' when these are draine<l 

 au'l the country is a little more i leared, there "will be room for 

 thousands of fainis, and tlie hills will afford walks for iiumensc 

 flocks of sheeji, and pasture for countless herds of cattle, the. 

 surplus of which will hud a ready market at the ports and fishing 

 stations, at the lumljering, manufacturing and mining establish- 

 nients, which ere long will inake this oLl and neglected colony 

 j)ne vast scene of active and pi'ofitaljle industry. The climate of 

 the island is favoural)le to tlie develojjments of its agricultural 

 resources of every kind. Instead of the cold foggy atmosphere 

 which is generally supposed to hang over the island, quite the 

 revei'se ivS the case. The air is (dear and warm, and the temjiera- 

 ture iluring the year remarkably erpiable, the mercury iu winter 

 siddom falling below zero of Fahrenheit's scale, or in summer 

 rising above 80 degrees. I never saw finer Aveather than duriu'' 



