134 LABRADOR 



Where the glacial deposits had been unusually thick, still 

 bulkier accumulations of sand and gravel were built by 

 the waves in sheltered places. In the lee of many an island 

 between Ford Harbour and Nain is an elevated spit which 

 tails off from the island in beautifully even slopes from a 

 few hundred feet to more than a mile in length. Often such 

 a spit forms a continuous bar from one island to another. 

 Other plateau-like sand deposits, as at Port Manvers, tie 

 large islands to the mainland, or, in a unique case, underlie 

 a true coastal plain of large size, as north of Cape Porcupine. 

 The loose sands and clay of this plain have given foothold to 

 a relatively extensive growth of scrub timber which, else- 

 where, on the well- washed hills, finds little encouragement. 

 Indeed, there is generally not enough soil on the outer shore 

 to permit of the cultivation of vegetables ; at some of the 

 small ports in eastern Newfoundland, soil for the purpose has 

 actually been imported in the form of ballast from England. 

 So scarce is either soil or loose material of any kind that a 

 settlement on the Labrador has almost invariably had to 

 seek a raised beach, often composed simply of large boulders, 

 as the only available site for the graveyard. 



As an accurate, scientific description of scenery is neces- 

 sarily, founded on geology, so geological principles have 

 often been evolved or at least brought into clearer light by 

 the impressionistic influence of landscape. The extraordi- 

 nary proofs of the recent upheaval of the Labrador cannot 

 but force upon the visitor to the coast the question as to 

 whether the elevating process still continues. The answer 

 seems to be in the affirmative. "The almost universal 

 belief of the old settlers on these shores is that in no other 

 way can the changes in depth at familiar localities be ex- 



