396 LABRADOR 



wealth in accessible timber is considerable, and already 

 large mills have been established near the head of Hamil- 

 ton Inlet. 



The coastal region, with which all the rest of this chapter 

 will be concerned, presents a vegetation of a decidedly 

 Arctic type. A cold ocean current from the north bathes 

 its shores, bringing with it ice-floes until the last of July, 

 and icebergs throughout the rest of the summer. Innu- 

 merable snow-drifts linger from winter back again to winter 

 in favourable places on the land. Yet for two months of 

 summer, at least, the days are long, and the temperature 

 does not fall to the freezing-point even at night. Pictur- 

 esque hills in the south, and in the north towering, untrodden 

 mountains rise directly out of the sea and expose their 

 flanks and summits to the unbroken force of the winds. 

 The soil is thin, and through it the bare rock frequently 

 protrudes. There is usually no lack of moisture in soil or 

 air, and many places, especially in the relatively lower 

 elevations of the south, are decidedly boggy. 



The characteristic features of an Arctic flora are usually 

 attributed to the need it has for struggle and protection 

 against severe cold. Schimper has shown that this factor 

 itself has almost no direct influence. The greatest cold 

 known anywhere is in Siberia, in a region where forests 

 still flourish. No special protective devices against cold 

 are known ; if any exist, they consist probably in the internal 

 structure of the protoplasm itself, not in any observable 

 external modifications. The observable peculiarities of 



and the more recent ones of Hubbard, Wallace, and Mrs. Hubbard, 

 while adding largely to knowledge of the country, have contributed 

 little to botanical information. 



