THE ARCTIC LANDS. 



21 



When the soil is moderately dry, the surface is covered by a dense carpet of 

 lichens {Cornicularioe)^ mixed in damper spots with Icelandic moss. In more 

 tenacious soils, other plants flourish, not however to the exclusion of lichens, ex- 

 cept in tracts of meadow ground, wliich occur in sheltered situations, or in the 



COAST OF LABRADOR. 



aUuvial inundated flats where tall reed-grasses or dwarf w^illows frequently 

 grow as closely as they can stand. 



It may easily be supposed that the boundary-Une which separates the tun- 

 dri from the forest zone is both indistinct and irregular. In some parts where 

 the cold sea-winds have a wdder range, the barren grounds encroach consider- 



