2o6 A SUMMERS CRUISE TO NORTHERN LABRADOR. 



August I St was spent in geologizing, as it was cold 

 and cloudv^ with an easterly wind. The island on which 

 Hopedale is situated is of the ordinary Laurentian gneiss, 

 which behind the mission house is curiously contorted ; 

 it is fine-grained, distinctly banded, with veins of quartz 

 and of granite ; at one point it dipped about 60° W. 

 with a N. W. and S. E. strike. There are a number 

 of trap dykes, in places like slightly winding stairs or 

 steps descending to the water's edge, justifying the 

 terra trap applied to this rock, which is from the Swedish 

 trappa, meaning a series of steps or stairs. 



The rocks are water-worn and terraced to the tops 

 of the hills. Behind the mission house is a raised beach 

 of large, loose, rounded sea-worn bowlders, generally two 

 feet in diameter, and mostly concealed by the growth of 

 Empetrum ; it is narrow and slopes down to a little 

 bight east of the Eskimo village, and its shores are formed 

 by what proved to be a raised sea-bottom. To our great 

 surprise and delight this beach above and between tide- 

 marks abounded in multitudes of deep-water shells with 

 other fossils ; and I spent half the da)' in picking them 

 up, renewing the search the next day. That it was an 

 old sea-bottom which had been raised at least from 75 

 to 100 feet, if not more, was proved by the habits of the 

 shells, now living at the depth of from 1 5 to 20 fathoms 

 off shore, and also by the quantities of nuUipores encrust- 

 ing the shells and pebbles, showing that the beach had 

 not been disturbed since its elevation. Indeed it struck 

 me, though I have no essential proof, that the coast of 

 Labrador is now slowly rising, and this is also the opinioo 

 of Campbell (Frost and Fire). 



Returning to the vessel towards night, an active trade 



