ANIMALS OF LABRADOR 27 



To some of those who landed on the coast and explored the 

 nooks and valleys, the country seemed full of beauty, of 

 attractiveness, and even of a rich and appealing fertility. At 

 certain times it presents an amazing wealth of strikingly 

 coloured flowers. So thickly sown are they that at certain 

 seasons they remind one of a cultivated garden.* 



Once we leave the coast region and enter the interior of 

 Labrador, the climate becomes less arctic in character and 

 timber increases in quantity. In fact there are two distinct 

 climates in Labrador, the arctic on the coast, the north tem- 

 perate in the interior. 



According to Dr. Packard,f the Greenland and arctic forms 

 of animal and plant life occurring on the coast are 'the 

 remnants of the glacial or arctic fauna and flora which, being 

 formerly spread over the entire territory of British America 

 and the north-eastern United States, still retain their hold 

 on the treeless and exposed islands and headlands of 

 Labrador. In many respects the Labrador fauna and flora 

 resemble those of the far distant White Mountains in New 

 Hampshire, as we shall learn later on (p. 35). 



When we survey the fauna of the coast of Labrador more 

 closely we find that, besides the Greenland or arctic element, 

 another much richer one has apparently invaded the territory 

 previously .occupied by the former. This new fauna becomes 

 more and more abundant as we proceed westward and south- 

 ward. Thus the existence of the barren-ground caribou of 

 Labrador which resembles the reindeer of Greenland, is 

 threatened by enemies such as the glutton or wolverine (Gulo 

 luscus), and these do not penetrate farther north. Occa- 

 sionally the Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus) has 

 been noticed in the coastal territory. Besides the lemming 

 (Dicrostonyx hudsonius), which is probably identical with 

 the Greenland form, quite an assembly of distinct ground 

 rodents make their appearance, among them Synaptomys 

 innuitus, Microtus enixus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Evo- 

 tomys ungava, Evotomys proteus, Zapus hudsonius, and 

 Peromyscus maniculatus, also the arctic fox, red fox, several 



* Grenfell, W. T., " Labrador," pp. 393395. 

 t Packard, A. S., " The Labrador Coast," p. 194. 



