CHAPTER II 



NORTH EASTERN NORTH AMERICA 



CROSSING Davis Strait from southern Greenland to 

 Labrador, we land in a country whose barren headlands look 

 just as stern and uninviting as those on the opposite side of 

 the Strait. But whereas the west coast of Greenland pre- 

 sents a shore-line varying between rugged precipices and 

 undulating plains, the whole sea-front of Labrador, for over 

 a thousand miles, rises abruptly from sea-level to a height 

 of about 1,000 feet or more. Labrador presents an irregular 

 plateau with a general elevation of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet 

 above ,sea-level (see Fig. 1). It forms part of the oldest 

 known land on the continent of North America, and, so far 

 as we know, it has never been entirely covered by the sea 

 since very remote geological times. The rocks are largely 

 metamorphic with ancient igneous intrusions greatly resem- 

 bling those of Greenland, which, like Labrador, is a fragment 

 of that ancient continent to which Professor Suess applied 

 the name " Laurentia." * 



A cold current of water loaded with icebergs from the 

 Arctic Ocean sweeps down the east coast of Labrador. Off 

 the coast of Newfoundland it meets a branch of the Gulf 

 Stream, thus producing the dense fogs so characteristic of 

 the Grand Banks. This arctic current is mainly responsible 

 for the inhospitable nature of the Labrador coast. 



The vegetation is mostly stunted in character. The dwarf 

 birch (Betula nana), the mountain-ash, alder and some 

 willows here and there form small woods, while many of the 

 familiar Greenland flowers reappear. Yet the flora is dis- 

 tinctly richer than that of Greenland. Even close to the coast, 

 in sheltered ravines, occasional specimens of the white spruce, 

 which is more hardy than the black spruce, are noticeable. 



* Suess, E., " Antlitz der Erde," Vol. III.2, p. 284. 



