BLANC SABLON 



and Viola Selkirkii, though at the present time 

 only shrubs or dwarf, straggling trees, as de- 

 scribed by Cartier, thrive on the bleak and 

 wind-swept shores of the Straits of Belle Isle; 

 and that the forest was an extensive one and 

 presumably once fringed the entire length of 

 the Straits we are safe in assuming from the 

 presence at Bonne Esp6rance, L'Anse au Clair, 

 Forteau, Red Bay, and Chateau (as shown by 

 the collections of John A. Allen and others) of a 

 relict forest vegetation (sometimes further aug- 

 mented by Onoclea sensibilis, Osmorhiza obtusa, 

 Pyrola secunda, etc.) such as abounds on the 

 terraces of Blanc Sablon." 



The name of the island near at hand, " lie au 

 Bois," hints at the former presence of a forest, 

 yet if forests existed in C artier 's time we should 

 expect a different account from him. Our 

 knowledge of the history of the Labrador Pen- 

 insula since the glaciers melted a few thou- 

 sand years ago would negative the possibility 

 of a climate or topography that could support 

 a forest such as these stumps and woodland 

 plants suggest. Moreover, the stumps them- 

 selves can hardly date back to Cartier, who 

 found "the land that God gave to Cain." 

 255 



