■ I ( -200 ) 



THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 



Sylvia strijta, Lath. 



PLATE CXXXIII. Male and Female. 



No sooner had the Ripley come to an anchor in the curious harbour 

 of Labrador, known by the name of Little Macatina, than my party and 

 myself sought the shore ; — but before I proceed, let me describe this sin- 

 gular place. It was the middle of July, the weather was mild and plea- 

 sant, our vessel made her way under a smart breeze through a very nar- 

 row passage, beyond which we found ourselves in a small circular basin 

 of water, having an extent of seven or eight acres. It was so surround- 

 ed by high, abrupt, and rugged rocks, that, as I glanced around, I could 

 find no apter comparison for our situation than that of a nut-shell in the 

 bottom of a basin. The dark ' shadows that overspread the waters, and 

 the mournful silence of the surrounding desert, sombred our otherwise 

 glad feelings into a state of awe. The scenery was grand and melan- 

 choly. On one side, hung over our heads, in stupendous masses, a rock 

 several hundred feet high, the fissures of which might to some have look- 

 ed like the mouths of some huge undefined monster. Here and there a 

 few dwarf-pines were stuck as if by magic to this enormous mass of gra- 

 nite ; in a gap of the cliff the brood of a pair of grim Ravens shrunk 

 from our sight, and the Gulls, one after another, began to wend their 

 way overhead towards the middle of the quiet pool, as the furling of the 

 sails was accompanied by the glad cries of the sailors. The remarkable 

 land-beacons erected in that country to guide vessels into the harbour, 

 looked like so many figures of gigantic stature formed from the large 

 blocks that lay on every hill around. A low valley, in which meandered 

 a rivulet, opened at a distance to the view. The remains of a deserted 

 camp of seal-catchers was easily traced from our deck, and as easily could 

 we perceive the innate tendency of man to mischief, in the charred and 

 crumbling ruins of the dwarf-pine forests. But the harbour was so safe 

 and commodious, that, before we left it to find shelter in another, we had 

 cause to be thankful for its friendly protection. 



We were accoutred for the occasion, and, as I have said, instantly 

 made for the shore. Anxious to receive as much information as possible 



