GIBB — ON CANADIAN CAVERNS. 



171 



Montreal, mentions that tlie sliore for some distance is excavated into 

 many small caverns and ravines by tlie waves acting on the tufa and 

 mineral veins. Some of these excavations are stated to be at a 

 higher level than that of the waters of the Lake at the present 

 time.* 



15. — The Steinhauee Cavern. 



The mountains of Torngarsnit, or the Evil Spirit, which are situated 

 in latitude sixty degrees immediately south of Cape Chudleigh, the 

 extreme northern point of the eastern coast of Labrador, have been 

 described as rugged, barren, and black, and containing a huge 

 cavern which the Eskimos declare to be the habitation of the devil. 

 The only reference to this cavern which has come under my notice is 

 that by the Rev. Mr. Steinhauer, whose notes on the geology of the 

 Labrador coast are published in the second volume of the Transac- 

 tions of the Greological Society (p. 488). However little is known 

 about it in relation to its extent and the formation in which it exists, 

 which is most probably Laurentian from the description of the rocks 

 on the east coast of Labrador, it seems appropriate to call it after the 

 name of him who first drew attention to it. This cavern is most 

 likely developed in the crystalline limestone belonging to the 

 Laurentian rocks. 



16. — The Basaltic Caverns of Henley Island. 



On the southern coast of Labrador, in the Gulf of St. La^vrence, is 

 Chateau Bay, recognised from a vessel in the ofl&ng by the high land 

 in the rear of it, and more especially by the two wall sided and 

 flat topped hills, composed of basaltic columns, which cap the sum- 

 mit of Castle and Henley islands, two hundred feet above the sea. 

 They somewhat resemble fortifications in the distance, and present 

 a picturesque appearance when approached nearer ; they shelter to 

 the south and east Henley, Antelope, and Pitt's harbours, whilst 

 Whale Island and York Point do so to the westward. Admiral 

 Bayfield describes the two last named harbours as perfectly secure, 

 and fit for the largest ships. 



The geological formation of all the rocks and islands of the coast 

 of Labrador belongs to the Laurentian system of Sir William Logan, 

 and are the most ancient yet known on the continent of America. 

 They extend from the north side of the Saint Lawrence from 

 Labrador to Lake Superior, and occupy by far the larger share of 

 Canada. They consist of gneiss, with interstratified bands of crys- 

 talline limestone, associated with layers of micaceous and hornblendic 

 schists and quartzite. The colours of the rocks of this part of the 

 coast vary from red to grey, and were formerly described as 

 granite. 



* Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, vol. ii., p. 4. 



