58 THE FORMATION OF FJORDS. 



8. On the Formation of Fjobds. 1 



Intersecting the sea-coasts of various portions of the world, more 

 particularly in northern latitudes, are deep, narrow inlets of the 

 sea, surrounded generally by high precirjitous cliffs, and varying 

 in length from 2 or 3 miles to 100 or more, variously known as 

 " inlets," " canals," " fjords," and even, on the western shores of 

 Scotland, as "lochs." The nature of these inlets is everywhere 

 identical, even though existing in widely-distant parts of the 

 world, so much so as to suggest a common origin. On the extreme 

 north-west coast of America they intersect the sea-line of British 

 Columbia to a depth, in some cases of upwards of 100 miles, the 

 soundings in them showing a great depth of water, high precipitous 

 walls on either side, and generally with a valley towards the head. 

 On the eastern shore of the opposite Island of Vancouver no such 

 inlets are found, but on the western coast of the same island they 

 are again found in perfection ; shewing that, in all probability, 

 Vancouver Island was isolated from the mainland by some throe of 

 Nature prior to the formation of the present " canals " on the 

 British Columbia shore, but that the present inlets on the western 

 shore of Vancouver Island formed, at a former period, the sea-board 

 termination of the mainland, and were dug out under conditions 

 identical with those which subsequently formed the fjords now 

 intersecting the coast. 



Jervis Inlet may be taken as the type of nearly all of these inlets 

 here, as well as in other portions of the world. It extends in a 

 northerly direction for more than 40 miles, while its width rarely 

 exceeds 1^ mile, and in some places is even less. It is hemmed in 

 on all sides by mountains of the most rugged and stupendous 

 character, rising from its almost perpendicular shores to a height of 

 from 5000 and 6000 feet. The hardy pine, where no other tree can 

 find soil to sustain life, holds but a feeble and uncertain tenure 

 here ; and it is not uncommon to see whole mountain sides denuded 

 by the blasts of winter or the still more certain destruction of the 

 avalanche which accompanies the thaw of summer. Strikingly 

 grand and magnificent, there is a solemnity in the silence and utter 

 desolation which prevails here during the months of winter, not a 

 native, not a living thing to disturb the solitude ; and though in 

 the summer a few miserable Indians may occasionally be met with, 

 and the reverberating echoes of a hundred cataracts disturb the 



1 Abridged, with additions and corrections, from the ' Journal of the Royal 

 Geographical Society,' I860 and 1871. 



