408 LABRADOR 
are again found in protected valleys at the heads of 
the inner bays of the coast. At Davis Inlet, in latitude 
56°, trees grow on the coast and high up on the hills, the 
barren grounds being confined to the islands and head- 
lands, which remain treeless to the southward of the mouth 
of Hamilton Inlet. These barren islands and bare head- 
lands of the outer coast, along with the small size of the 
trees on the lowlands, have caused a false impression to be 
held regarding much of the Atlantic coast, which from 
Hamilton Inlet southward is well timbered about the 
heads of the larger bays and on lowlands of the small 
river-valleys. ... Picea migra is the most abundant 
tree of Labrador and probably constitutes over ninety 
per cent of the forest. . . . Larix Americana is probably 
the hardiest tree of the subarctic forest belt; it grows 
everywhere throughout the Labrador Peninsula, and is 
probably next in “abundance tothe black sprees 
Throughout the forest belt, the lowlands fringing the 
streams and lakes are covered with thickets of willows 
and alders. As the semi-barrens are approached, the 
areas covered by these shrubs become more extensive, 
and they not only form wide margins along the rivers and 
shores of the lakes, but with dwarf birches occupy much of 
the open glades. The willows and birches grow on the 
sides of the hills, above the tree line, where they form low 
thickets exceedingly difficult to pass through. Beyond 
the limits of the true forest, similar thickets of Arctic 
willows and birches are found on the low grounds, but on 
the more elevated lands they grow only a few inches above 
the surface. In the southern region, the undergrowth 
in the wooded areas is chiefly Labrador tea (Ledum latifo- 
lium) and laurel (Kalmia glauca), which grow in tangled 
masses, from two to four feet high, and are very difficult to 
travel through. In the semi-barrens this undergrowth 
dies out, and travel across country is much easier in conse- 
quence. In the southern regions the ground is usually 
