366 Life and Nature in Southern Labrador. [April, 
dredge in arctic waters, and we were not a little delighted with 
the result of finding so near shore and in such shallow water, 
forms which off the coast of Maine, in deep water, were rare and 
usually but half grown. 
July 25th a party of us rowed up Salmon bay and went a mile 
up the river. The tide was out and we looked for the fresh- 
water mussel (Alasmodon arcuata), which is our northernmost 
species, and inhabits the rivers of Southern Newfoundland. We 
could find none, although the settlers told us that mussels, clams 
and “ oysters” were common enough in the river. But some- 
thing better was discovered. We found traces of genuine Quat- 
ernary marine sands and clays containing fossils. There were 
several banks of sand and clay along the edges of the river. In 
the latter I found Aphrodite groenlandica and Aporrhais occiden- 
talis, with Buccinum undatum. They had been washed out of the 
clay into the bed of the river, and were collected at low water. I 
also dug several inches into the clay bank and found the disinte- 
grated shells of the Aphrodite, so as to leave no doubt but that 
the shells were fossils. Down at the mouth of the stream at the 
head of the bay, on the flats, I found several Buccinum undatum, 
and quite a number of Aporrhais, young and old, broken and 
entire. On each side of the river was a terrace of sand and clay, 
with a thick growth of alders and willows, with the fire-weed 
(Epilobium angustifolium), the golden rod and a large cruciferous 
plant common in the mountainous parts of New England; also 
Comarum palustre, and a Thalictrum. Farther back and mostly 
lining the banks was a dense growth, impossible to penetrate 
Save occasionally where there was a break in the thicket of spruce 
and a birch, perhaps Betula populifolia. Still farther up and 
away back stretched the bare moss-covered hill tops, the summer 
resort of deer and caribou. Here we saw a ptarmigan. But this 
was one of our halcyon days, of which there were few, as the 
last two weeks of July were stormy and wet. The clear fair- 
weather winds were from the south-west; the south-east winds 
brought in the fog and rain, while the northerly winds brought a 
few curlew, the advance guard of the hosts which were to arrive 
early in August. 
_ The 3d of August was a fine day. A party of us went up the 
Esquimaux river to Mrs. Chevalier’s, whose husband, now dead, 
entertained Audubon when visiting this coast. The sail up the 
