328 REVIEWS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Iq respect to the soil of the Island, the plains on the south side, as has been 

 stated, are composed of peat, but the general vegetation of the country is supported 

 by a drift composed for the most part of a calcareous clay, and a light grey or 

 brown colored sand. The elements of the soil would lead to the conclusion of its 

 being a good one, but the opinion of most persons, guided by the rules derived 

 from the description of timber which grows on it, would not be favorable, as there 

 is almost a complete absence, as far as my observation went, of the hard-wood 

 trees supposed to be the sure indication of a good settling country. 



The most abundant tree is spruce, in size varying from eight to eighteen inches 

 in diameter, and from forty to eighty feet in length. On the north coast, and ia 

 some parts of the south, it is found of good size in the woods close by the beach, 

 without any intervening space of stiyited growth ; the stunted growth was occa- 

 sionally met with on the north side, but it is only on the tops of cliffs, and other 

 places exposed to the sweep of the heavy coast winds, where spruce, or any other 

 tree on the island is stunted. In these situations there is often times a low, dense, 

 and almost impenetrable barrier of stunted spruce, of from ten to twenty feet 

 across, and rarely exceeding a hundred feet ; beyond which open woods and good 

 comparatively large timber prevail. 



Pine was observed in the valley of the Salmon River, about four miles inland, 

 where ten or twelve trees that were measured gave from twelve to twenty inches 

 in diameter at the base, with heights varying from sixty to eighty feet. White 

 and yellow birch are common in sizes from a few inches to two feet in diameter at 

 the base, and from tn^enty to Sfty feet high. Balsam-fir was seen, but it was small 

 and not abundant. Tamarack was observed, but it was likewise small and scarce. 

 One of our men, liowever, who is a hunter on the island, informed me he had seen 

 groves of this timber north from Ellis, or Gamache Bay, of which some of the trees 

 were three feet in diameter, and over a hundred feet in height. Poplar was met 

 with in grove^, close to the beach, on the north side of the island. 



Of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, the mountain-ash, or rowan, was the largest ; 

 it was most abundant in the interior, bnt appeared to be of the largest size close on 

 the beach, especially on the north side, where it attains the height of forty feet, 

 with long extending and somewhat slender branches, covered with clusters of fruit. 

 The high cranberry ( Viburnwn opulus) produces a large and juicy fruit, and is 

 abundant. A species of gooseberry bush of from two to three feet high is met 

 with in the woods, but appears to thrive best close to the shingle, on the beach, 

 where strips of two or three yards across and half-a-mile long were occasionnally 

 covered with it; the fruit is very good, and resembles in taste the garden berry; 

 it is smooth and black colored, and about the size of a common marble ; the shrub 

 appeared to be very prolific. Red and black currants are likewise abundant ; 

 there appear to be two kinds of each, in one of which the berry is smooth, resem- 

 bling both in taste and appearance that of the garden, the other rough and prickly, 

 with a bitter taste. 



Strawberries are found near the beach ; in size and flavor they are but little 

 inferior to the garden fruit ; they are most abundant among the grass in the open- 

 ings, and their season is from the middle of July to the end of August. Five or 

 six other kinds of fruit-bearing plants were observed, some of which might be 

 found of value. The low cranberry was seen in one or two places in some abun- 



