THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE LABRADOR 

 PENINSULA. 



A. H.D. Ross, M.A., Yale Forest School. 



The Labrador Peninsula has an approximate area of 560,000 

 square miles — two and a third times that of the Province of Ont- 

 ario, or 65% of that part of the United States lying east of the 

 Mississippi River. The interior of this vast territory has always 

 been beyond the line of accurate knowledge, and previous to the 

 explorations of Mr. A. P. Low, B.Ap.Sc, of the Geological Sur- 

 vey of Canada, not one-tenth of it had ever been properly mapped. 



In 1892 it was my good fortune to accompany Mr. Low, as 

 botanist and assistant surveyor, in his exploration of the East 

 Main River, which rises near the centre of the peninsula and flows 

 west into James Bay. In four months we journeyed more than 

 thirteen miles in canoes, and did 368 miles of geological and micro- 

 meter survey work. 



The peninsula is roughly pentagonal in form, being bounded 

 on the south by the Saguenay, Chamouchuan, Waswanipi and 

 Nottoway Rivers; on the west by James Bay and Hudson Bay; 

 on the north by Hudson Strait ; on the north-east by the Atlantic 

 Ocean; and on the south-east by the St. Lawrence. The size of 

 this immense peninsula may be judged from the fact that the 

 air line distance between Cape Wolstenholme at the extreme 

 north and the mouth of the Saguenay River is 1,040 miles, whilst 

 Belle Isle is a trifle over a thousand miles from the mouth of 

 the Nottoway River. From the mouth of the Nottoway to 

 Ungava Bay is as far as from Ottawa to Port Arthur; and from 

 Ungava Bay to the nearest point on the St. Lawrence is as far 

 as from Ottawa to Halifax. 



In 1893 Mr. Low and his assistants explored the Kaniapiskau 

 and Koksoak Rivers flowing north into Ungava Bay; in 1894, the 

 Hamilton River, flowing east into Hamilton Inlet; in 1895, the 

 Manikuegan River, from Summit Lake southward to the St. Law- 

 rence; and in 1896, the line was carried across from Richmond 

 Gulf to Ungava Bay by way of the Clearwater, Stillwater, Larch 

 and Koksoak Rivers. Mr. Low's reports upon the geology, cli- 

 mate, fauna and flora of the regions traversed show that the penin- 

 sula is not b}^ any means the barren, worthless country it was 

 once supposed to be. Its resources in the way of minerals, tim- 

 ber and fish are simply enormous, and if properly protected from 

 exploitation will be a source of great wealth to the nation. This 

 explains why the Province of Quebec lost no time in having its 



