THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF LABRADOR 51 



which seldom rise three hundred feet above the general 

 level, and are usually much lower. These ridges lie roughly 

 parallel; some of them being many miles in length, but 

 as a rule, they die out in less than ten miles, so that the low 

 land between forms a network of connected, shallow valleys. 

 The general surface is further modified by low ridges of 

 glacial drift, whose direction corresponds with the general 

 slope of the country. These ridges have resulted from the 

 transportation and movement of the loose surface material 

 by the glacier, which once covered almost the entire surface 

 of the peninsula. They have largely obliterated the ancient 

 drainage systems of the central area, where the present 

 watercourses are all of recent origin. The valleys separat- 

 ing the ridges are occupied by innumerable irregularly 

 shaped lakes, which vary in size from ponds to lakes hun- 

 dreds of square miles in extent. The lakes of each valley 

 are connected by a stream, usually with a rapid current 

 and without definite banks, following the lowest levels of 

 the surface between lake and lake. As the streams be- 

 come larger they are often split into numerous channels by 

 large islands ; many of the lakes discharge by two or more 

 outlets flowing into the next lake below. There results 

 a bewildering network of waterways hard to follow or map. 

 These streams are seldom broken by falls ; and as an ex- 

 ample of the uniformity of the grade, it may be mentioned 

 that the Hamilton River above the Grand Falls can be 

 ascended to the heads of both its main branches without 

 a portage. The rivers as they approach the coast fall into 

 ancient valleys which have been sculptured deep into the 

 hard rocks forming the general surface of the plateau. 

 The Hamilton Valley is the finest example ; cut a thousand 

 feet into the plateau, it extends three hundred miles inland, 

 and greatly exceeds the Saguenay Valley in length and 

 grandeur. 



"The peninsula, extending northward through ten 

 degrees of latitude, differs greatly in climate, and passes 



