50 LABRADOR 



Dr. A. P. Low, now Deputy Minister of Mines in Canada, 

 is the chief authority on the geography of the interior. 

 He alone has published much on that greater part of the 

 peninsula. His truly wonderful trips through the length 

 and breadth of Labrador were signalized as much by the 

 success attained as by the absence of mishaps on his long 

 and hazardous journeys. To see the interior one must 

 understand travelling. Mr. Low's trips show that much 

 good work can be done with little fuss, and that no ob- 

 stacles to exploration exist which foresight will not over- 

 come. Using his simple but effective and essential rules 

 of outfitting and living on the way, other men will repeat 

 his traverses and add many new ones, until finally Labra- 

 dor is really and thoroughly known. Meantime, I am 

 glad to be able to supply from Mr. Low's own pen a short 

 account of his findings in the interior. He writes : 



"The peninsula of Labrador has an area of more than 

 five hundred thousand square miles. It is an ancient 

 plateau formed of crystalline rocks which were folded up 

 and elevated above the sea in a very early period in geo- 

 logical history. The plateau rises abruptly from the sea 

 along the Atlantic and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while 

 the northern and western slopes are much more gentle. 

 The main watershed of southern Labrador is about two 

 hundred miles north of the St. Lawrence, where the general 

 level is about two thousand feet above the sea. As con- 

 trolled by the southern position of the watershed and by 

 the range of mountains along the Atlantic coast, the greater 

 part of the drainage is to the north and west, into Hudson 

 Bay and Hudson Strait, and the largest rivers flow in those 

 directions. 



"The surface of the interior is comparatively level, 

 being broken by low, rounded ridges of crystalline rocks, 



