62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



3rd, 1897, the S. 8. Laurentian had reached this cold current. The temperature 

 of the water, which is taken every two liours, fell suddenly, it became unpleasant 

 on deck, and on the afternoon of the 4th the first icebergs came in sight. Three 

 peaks arose from the waves like a mountain chain on the horizon. They shone 

 with dazzling Avhiteness over the gloomy sea. Then a new one hove in sight 

 further back. We came considerably closer to it and so it made a moi'e imposing 

 effect. Finally in the evening a magnificent white pyramid was sighted. The day 

 after the cold current made itself felt by a thick fog, Avhich lay heavy over the 

 sea. The Laurentian had to stop frequently to avoid collisions with icebergs ; 

 several floes drove past close by. By noon the observation showed us to be near 

 Belle Isle, but no land in sight. The steamer stoi)ped again and sounded the fog- 

 horn every twenty minutes. Finally in the evening, when the fog lifted a little, 

 Ave saw the light of Belle Isle, after the cannon shots which we heard from time to 

 time had made known to us already the nearness of this dreaded island. The 

 captain, however, Avould not risk a night entrance into the cliff'-bound straits, and 

 we lay to again. The next day, fog again, the Laurentian advanced at " stand-by," 

 in order to stop again presently. Then all at once a light streak became visible in 

 the fog, and in a feAV minutes it was certain that the land was just in front of us. A 

 dark mass of rock rose from the sea, the beach still spotted with snow, although it 

 Avas only August 5th. Such is Belle Isle. 



For a time we continued our Avay past ice-floes and icebergs, gloomy land in 

 the distance and an oppressive fog over it all. So the first impression of America 

 at this point, where it is bathed by the waters from the Pole, Avas exceedingly un- 

 friendly. Soon, hoAvever, upon entering warmer water, the Aveather cleared and 

 the rest of the passage through the Gulf of St. Lawrence Avas very beautiful. 



We seldom lost sight of laud. In the north Ave saw the round humped moun- 

 tains of Labrador, and of the northern part of the Province of Quebec. In the 

 south the forms Avere quite different — long extended ranges with few diA^isions 

 and high level plateaus on top. Such was the north coast of Newfoundland 

 as Ave saAV it during the rest of August 5th, and such too as seen on August 6th, 

 Avere the mountains of St. Anne. 1200 meters high, on the peninsula of Gaspe, 

 forming the southern shore of the long funnel shaped inlet Avhich already at 

 this point usually receives the name of the St. LaAvrence river. On the northern 

 shore rounded mountains about equal in height still prevail. We are here much 

 impressed Avith the fact that Ave are travelling along one of the most important 

 lines of disturbance in the geological formation of eastern North America. This is 

 the St. LaAvrence and Champlain line, AAdiich separates the primeval Laurentian 

 land in the north, the protaxis of the American continent or the Laurentian shield, 

 Avith its occasional coA^ering of irregularly deposited palaeozoic strata, from an old 

 much-folded mountain chain composed of palaeozoic rocks. By this contrast in 

 form the journey up the St. LaAvrence (whose AA'^aters are salt as far as Quebec) 

 acquires a picturesque quality which is very attractive. The forest, Avhich aA^oids 

 the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, now comes doAVU close to the sea in 

 thick groves, only here and there destroyed by forest fires. Another feature of the 

 landscape impresses itself at once on the attentive observer ; parallel lines extend 

 along the shore at varying distances from the Avater. Sometimes they appear as 

 indentations in the declivity, sometimes as terraces in the openings of the little A'al- 

 •leys of the precipitous Gaspe, as well as of the northern coast. These are the shore 

 lines of an earlier sea, indented by the force of the waves, or heaped up by the 

 rivers, after the great ice age when the land lay one or tAvo hundred meters loAA^er 

 than to-day, and gradually but unsteadily rose with frequent interruptions. To 

 every period of rest in its rise corresponds one of those terrace-like levels on Avhich 

 the Canadian French are so fond of building their little white houses. 



BeloAV Quebec at Grosse Isle is the real mouth of the RiA^er St. Lawrence, that 

 is the place where the fresh water is severed from the salt. From here to Montreal 

 the landscape is more monotonous, the mountains retreat on both sides and the 

 shores become lower as Ave go further inland. The river itself often diA^ides into 

 numerous branches. Yet the journey is not uninteresting. Only Ave must not lose 

 sight of the fact that Ave have travelled almost 300 kilometers up the river into the 

 country on a great ocean steamer, and that the river has only by artificial means 

 become the magnificent waterway that it is to-day. In various places canals have 

 been made. 



