PENCILINGS IN NEWFOUNDLAND 



485 



ing a letter between points on the island 

 requires a three-cent stamp, but a two- 

 cent one if the letter is directed to Eng- 

 land or Canada — off the island. But all 

 letters must have an additional two- 

 cent stamp it posted on Sunday! It is 

 all so queer. The tourist is surprised, 

 fascinated, even hypnotized. 



What oceans of rhapsody have been 



which the topsails dominate — strange 

 sugar-loaf formations rising like knobs 

 from the barrenness as if to get away. 

 And on the horizons, ten, fifteen, thir- 

 ty miles away, visible dreams of green- 

 est hills! Beauty 'and barrenness min- 

 gle as if that world had been left un- 

 finished. No wonder that it remains so 

 vivid in recollection, and, somehow, 



WHERE LAND AND OCEAN MEET 



written of the "beauty of nature." Yet 

 her mysterious presence often charms 

 most when she frowns — hides a smil- 

 ing face and grows stern. One who be- 

 holds her in such moods will under- 

 stand and marvel as he camps and 

 fishes for great trout where Kitty's 

 Brook, right beside the railroad, 

 traverses leagues on leagues of country 

 that is merely splintered rock or gyp- 

 sum fashioned into fantastic columns 

 by the water flowing hundreds of feet 

 below an almost treeless region over 



leaves the heart its captive with a fond- 

 ness that is sometimes almost pain. 



Yet more attractive are the trips on 

 the staunch little steamers among more 

 worlds of bays and islands. The steam- 

 ers ply around nearly all Newfound- 

 land, among the rock-fangs and fogs, 

 but have never injured a passenger, al- 

 though much of the service has been 

 established over fifty years. Space for- 

 bids mention of St. John's, historic Pla- 

 centia, the codfishing fleet with red 

 sails, the queer smells in all the huddles 



