RAISED BEACHES. 309 



fathoms lower on to another syenitic shelf ; such a suc- 

 cession of rocky terraces we have no doubt extended 

 much farther below the point sounded by our ship's 

 lead. 



Again, dredging was carried on off Henley Harbor on 

 a pebbly bottom three hundred feet below the surface 

 which formed the continuation of the same beaches 

 which rose some two hundred feet above the sea-level. 

 It follows from this that as both the jagged rocks and 

 submerged beach must have formerly formed a coast-line, 

 the land once stood at least three hundred feet higher 

 than at present, and it is more than probable, much 

 higher. Such an elevation would have produced the 

 most important modifications of climate, lowering it 

 greatly, bringing the snow line farther down towards the 

 coast, and must have led to a great accumulation of the 

 snow and land-ice. 



At the settlement in Chateau Bay is a remarkably 

 steep beach, which ascends half-way up the side of the 

 hill, which is about five hundred feet high. It is com- 

 posed of large bowlders very closely packed in layers, 

 without any gravel to fill up the interstices, and slopes 

 to the level of the water at an angle of at least 40°, being 

 the steepest beach I saw on the coast. It consisted of 

 two terraces, the lowest almost precipitous in its descent. 

 This beach, when below the level of the sea, was evi- 

 dently exposed to the action of the powerful Labrador 

 current which piled these huge water-worn rocks into a 

 compact mass which served to resist the waves, while the 

 coarse gravel and sand were borne rapidly away farther 

 out to sea on to lower levels. It is a general rule that 

 all beaches on this coast with a northerly and easterly 



