IS8 A summer's cruise to northern LABRADOR. 



pyramid stranded near an island, and looked like a gla- 

 cier descending its precipitous sides. 



As we go on through the watery lane huge floes swing 

 off shore and are borne down past us by the strong 

 Labrador current ; the bays are still choked with ice 

 which the southwest wind is forcing to the seaward. 

 The ice is remarkably hummocky; worn into the most 

 fantastic shapes. The coast has the same rude, broken, 

 tossed, and disquieted appearance as about Square Island, 

 but with more of the high conical sugar-loaf islands of 

 Labradorite rock, such as we were now to see all the 

 way to Hopedale. 



At Seal Island the "Domino gneiss" of Lieber ap- 

 pears, protected seaward by high islands mtermixed 

 with low gneiss "skiers," and as we press on the shore 

 becomes much lower, the coast -line straight and but 

 little broken ; but as we approach the Isle of Ponds 

 the shore seaward becomes high and bold, perhaps 300 

 to 400 feet, with lofty sea-cliffs. These are formed by 

 the dolerite or trap rock which has penetrated and over- 

 flown the gneiss. The scenery of these trap overflows 

 is quite novel. The seaward side of Spotted Island is 

 of trap rock, and on the west the gneiss rock is low and 

 very slowly slopes towards the channel which separates it 

 from the Isle of Ponds ; there are also two or three trap 

 islets which rise out of the water. Going ashore and as- 

 cending one of the trap hills, perhaps the remnants of 

 some old volcanic crater which rises out of the sur- 

 rounding gneiss, I can take a view of the whole island, 

 see other trap hills rising out of the gneiss plain, which 

 is studded thickly with shallow pools and lakes sunk in 

 the peat, and is low and flat compared with the coast ten 



