THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF LABRADOR 51 
which seldom rise three hundred feet above the general 
level, and are usually much lower. These ridges lie roughly 
parallel; some of them being many miles in length, but 
as a rule, they die out in less than ten miles, so that the low 
land between forms a network of connected, shallow valleys. 
The general surface is further modified by low ridges of 
glacial drift, whose direction corresponds with the general 
slope of the country. These ridges have resulted from the 
transportation and movement of the loose surface material 
by the glacier, which once covered almost the entire surface 
of the peninsula. They have largely obliterated the ancient 
drainage systems of the central area, where the present 
watercourses are all of recent origin. The valleys separat- 
ing the ridges are occupied by innumerable irregularly 
shaped lakes, which vary in size from ponds to lakes hun- 
dreds of square miles in extent. The lakes of each valley 
are connected by a stream, usually with a rapid current 
and without definite banks, following the lowest levels of 
the surface between lake and lake. As the streams be- 
come larger they are often split into numerous channels by 
large islands; many of the lakes discharge by two or more 
outlets flowing into the next lake below. There results 
a bewildering network of waterways hard to follow or map. 
These streams are seldom broken by falls; and as an ex- 
ample of the uniformity of the grade, it may be mentioned 
that the Hamilton River above the Grand Falls can be 
ascended to the heads of both its main branches without 
a portage. The rivers as they approach the coast fall into 
ancient valleys which have been sculptured deep into the 
hard rocks forming the general surface of the plateau. 
The Hamilton Valley is the finest example; cut a thousand 
feet into the plateau, it extends three hundred miles inland, 
and greatly exceeds the Saguenay Valley in length and 
grandeur. 
“The peninsula, extending northward through ten 
degrees of latitude, differs greatly in climate, and passes 
