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6

OBSERVATIONS

ON THI

GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

By Moses H. Perlet, Esq., President of the Natural History
Society of New Brunswick, &c, &c.

(Extracted from the Canadian Naturalist for October, 1862.)

This well-known Island lies on the north-east side of the entrance
into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from jpanada by the
Gulf; its South West point, Cape Ray, approaches Cape Breton ;
to the North and North East, are the shores of Labrador, from
which it is divided by the Straits of Belleisle ; and its eastern co^st
is washed by the North Atlantic.

Its form is somewhat triangular, but, without any approach to
regularity, each of its sides being broken by numerous bays, har-
bours, creeks, and estuaries. In straight lines, as the sea-gull would
wing its flight, its circuit is not much less than 1000 miles.

Its width at the widest part, between Cape Ray and Cape
Bonavista, is about 300 miles. Its extreme length from Cape
Race to Quirpen, at its north-east extremity, is about 419 miles,
measured on a curve through the centre of the island. Its area
is estimated at 36,000 square miles, equal to 23,040,000 acres.

Newfoundland is the nearest part of America to Europe, the
distance from St. John's, the capital, to Valentia in Ireland, being
only 1656 miles.

i:.

From the sea, Newfoundland has a wild and rugged appear-
ance, which is anything but inviting. Of its interior, very liitle
is known, as it has been but very partially explored. Such parts
as have been visited by persons capable of giving a satisfactory
description, were found much broken up with water ; lakes, and
marshes, rocks and scrubby trees, forming its chief features.

The prevailing character of Newfoundland is that of a rugged,
and, for the most part, a barren country. Ilills and valleys con-
tinually succeed each other ; the former, but seldom rising into
mountains, and the latter, rarely expanding into plains.

The hills, more or less lofty, are greatly varied in character.
Sometimes they form long flat-topped ridges : occasionally, they
become round and isolated, with sharp peaks and craggy pisci-
picesk

The valleys also vary greatly. Sometimes they present deep
mountain gorges, and the wildest of ravines ; while in others,
they form depressions with gentle slopes toward the water, which
is ever found flowing at theii jreatest depth.

Thesea-clifi's of Newfoundland, — especially on the coast, between
St. John's and Cape Race, thence westwardly, between Cape
Race and Cape Ray, and thence northerly along the western
coast and Bonne Bay, — are almost everywhere bold and lofty,
vith deep water close at their foot.

Loose rocks of all sizes, and with them huge boulders, are
scattered all over the country. They increase the general rough-
ness of its appearance, and give it a repulsive character.

This rough and rugged surface is covered by three differett
kinds of vegetation, which form three distinct districts.

The people of Newfoundland assign to these several districts,
the names of, " "Woods, Marshes, and Barrens."

The woods are in general found on the sides cf hills, or the
slopes of valleys, wherever there is natural drainage for the sur-
plus water. Fcr this reason, the forests, if they can be so called,
occur most frequently, and the trees are of the greatest size, near
the sea-coast, or near lakes and rivers, when tae soil and other cir-
cumstances are favourable.

Newfoundland has been frequently described as % thickly wooded
country, but such is not the case. The trees consist chiefly of
Bpruc3, (^Abies nigra,) — white fir, {Abies alba,) — yellow birch
(Betula excelsa,) — white birch, {Betulapopulifolia,) — and hackma-
tack or larch, (ZaWx Americana.) But what are considered largQ

8

trees in Newfoundland, and were pointed out to the writer as
timber tretja, would be laughed at by a New Brunswick lumber-
man, and not deemed worthy of his axe.

On the eastern or Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, there is
but little wood of any value, except for fuel, and the' building
of fishing boats.

In the northern part of the ish-.nd, on the limestone formation,
it is said that formerly extensive forests existed, but that great
ires destroyed the largest trees, and these ha"e been succeeded hj
others of an inferior and much smaller species.

The greater part of the wood is of small and stunted growth,
consisting ch'efly of fir trees, about 20 or 30 feet high, and not
more than 3 or 4 inches in diameter. In general, these insignifi.
cant trees grow so close together, that their twigs and branches
interlace from top to bottom. The endless quantity of decayed
trees, rotten stumps and branches, newly fallen trees, combined
with the young shoots, and tangled brushwood, form very fre-
quently a thicket that is almost impenetrable.

The trees are often covered with lichens, and tufts of white,
dry moss, are entangled about the branches. Other green and
softer mosses spread over the ground, concealing alike the gnarled
and twisted roots of the standing trees, the pointed ttumpa of
those that have fallen, the sharp edges and most slipjiery surfaces
of the numeroub rocks and boulders, and the holes and pit-falls
between them.

Every step in the woods and mids of Newfoundland is matter
of toil and anxiety, requiring constant vigilance to avoid fallino-,
and unremitting labour to find standing room. Climbing, cree^'
ing, and every other mode of progression, must be used to get on-
ward. The course has constantly to be changed, and new direc-
tions are taken, in order to find those places through which to
force a slow and tortuous way.

During the heat of summer, or what is called such in New-
foundland, the thickness of the low and stunted trees shuts out
every breath of air, while they are not sufficiently thick at top to
exclude the scalding rays of the sun. And this heated atmos-
phere is rendered more unple&sant by the strong smell of turpea-
tine which emanates from every pore of the scrubby spruces and
firs.

Such are the leading characteristics of what in Newfoundland
•re called ♦• the woods." Embosomed in theee woods, and oo?er-

V n

ing the valleys and lower lands, are found large open tracts which
are called " marshes."

Let it be understood that these marshes are not always
low-lying lands, or even very level. They are frequently found
at a considerable height above the sea, and often with an undu-
latinr surface.

Moss covers these marshes to the depth of several feet; it
is green, soft, and spongy, and is bound together by straggling
grass, and a variety of marsh plants. The surface is uneven,
abounding in holes and hillocks, the tops of the hillocks being
freciuently covered with a short, dry, crisp moss.

The various colours of the mosses on these marshes, give them
a peculiarly rich appearance, especially if seen from a distance,
clothing the slopes of a hill with tufts or thin skirts of wood,
scattered about. In such cases, a person not acquainted with
the country would bo led to believe it possessed great agricultural
capabilities, and might be highly cultivated.

Except m long continued droughts or hard frosts, these mar-
shes are always wet, and incapable of bearing the weight of a
person walking across them. A march of three or four miles
across a Newfoundland marsh, sinking into the moss at every
step, always as far as the ancle, but sometimes knee-deep, is a
most fatiguing operation, and most toilsome if a load has to be
carried on the shoulders.

This thick coating of moss is precisely like a great sponge
spread over the country. At the melting of the snow in spring,
it becomes thoroughly saturated with water, which it Ion . re-
tains and which every rain-fall continually ,-enews.

Numerous ponds of water are found everywnere in Newfound-
land; and it is scarcely possible to walk a mile, in any direction,
without encountering large pools, sometimes spreading out into
varv considerable lakes. In the lower parts small sluggish
brooks or gullies are met with everywhere.

The extreme wetness of the marfihes is due almost entirely
to the spongy nature of the moss, as the slope of the ground
is in almost every case quite sufficient for surface drainage.

Where the moss is stripped off these so-called marshes,
either dry, rounded gravel, or bare rock, ia generally found be-
neath.

Next we come to, —

The "barrens" of Newfoundland, which are extensive dii-

tricts occupying tkd summits of the hills and ridges, and other
elevated and exposed positions. They are covered partially with
A thin, scrubby vegetation, consisting of berry-bearing plants and
dwarf bushes.

Bare patches of gravel and boulderc, and crumbling fragments
of rock, are frequeitly met with in the barrens, and generally
they are altogether destitute of vegetable soil.

It is only by means of th'-se ba'-rens, these stony sterile
tracts, that any large portion of the inteiioi of N)wfound!and can
be visited or explored. Tliough frequently broken, rugged, and
precipitous, they are delightful to tread upon after traversing the
heavy marshes or toiling through the tangled and annoying
woods.

Sometimes, in the hollows ot t!ia barrens, and in other places,
where the disinteg ation of tho rocka has created a little Roil, a
bed of dwarf hackmatack or larch is mot with. These stunted
trees are called in Newfoundland " tucking bushes ;" they grow
about breast-high, with strong branches at right angles to the
stem, all stiffly interlaced, the tops being aa flat and levei as if
they had been hewn off. Tiiese " tucking bushes " are so stiff
that in some places one can almost walk upon them ; but as this
is not quite possible, the labour of pushing and thrusting th.ough
them can scarcely be conceived by those who have not made the
attempt.

These different tracts, " woods, marshes, and barrens," are
none of them of any great extent at an^' particular place ; but
they are continually alternating with each other in the course of
a day's journey.

The most remarkable feature of Newfoundland is the immense
and scarcely to be credited abundance of lakes of all size°, all of
which are called indiscriminately " ponds."

These are found universally over the whole country, not only
on the valleys but on the highest lands, even on the hollows of
the summits of the ridges, and on the very tops of the highest
hills.

These ponds vary in size from pools of 50 yards in diame-
ter to lakes upwards of 30 miles long, and 4 or 5 miles in width.
The number of ponds which exceed a couph of miles in ex-
tent, must on the whole amount to several hundreds; those of
smaller size are absolutely countless.

It has been estimated, that in Newfoundland the quantity of

ground corcred by fresh water is fully one third of the inland,
sod in this estimate I quite concur, bcliefing it, if any thing, rather
below the mar!:.

Taken in connection with this remarkable abundance of lake*
and ponds, the scarcity of navigable rivers is almost anoraalons.
The broken and undulating character of the country with its
craggy hills and deep ravines, is doubtless one cause of the ab-
sence of large rivers ; while small rocky rattling streams aie
found in countless profusion.

Each lake, or small set of ponds, communicates with the sea by
a valley of its own, of greater or less extent. Down this valley
they serd their superfluous waters, in what may be considered a
mere brook. The general scantiness of these brooks, and the
vast abundance of the ponds, are accounted for by the sraall-
ness of each system of drainage and the vast coating of moss found
all over the country.

Upon every great accession of moisture, either from rain or
melted snow, the chief ptition is absorbed by this huge sponge;
tie residue fills the numerous ponds to the brink, and these dis-
charge themselves gradually by the brooks.

Great periodical floods which would sweep out and deepen the
channels of the rivers, are quite impossible, from the almost infi-
nite number of small streams falling singly into the sea. These
strtams have not the power, at any time, of breaking down or
overcoming the barriers which separate them, and so uniting their
waters.

In dry weaiher, when the ponds begin to shrink, they are sup-
plied by the slow and gradual drainage of the marshes, where
the water has been kept as in a reservoir, to be given ofi' when
required. In this way, many ponds that have no great depth,
and would otherwise be exhausted, are kept full of water in the
driest seasons, and it is only in the greatest and most long con-
tinued droughts, when the marshes themselves begin to dry up,
that the ponds are found to shrink much below their usual level.

CLIMATE.
As there are nearly five degrees of latitude between the south-
ern and northern extremities of Newfoundland, there is of course
a considerable difference in the severity and duration of winter.
The climate of Conception Bay, which is in the south coast, and
to the eastward of St. John's, the capital of the colony, is consi-

dered to afford what raay ba deemed the mean temperature of tlie
island.

The weather there, although severe, is less fierce than in Lower
Canada, and during winter, the extraordinary brilliancy of the
Aurora Boreal is, and the spiondid lustre of the moon and stars,
give a rare and peculiar beauty to the atmosphere.

The eastern coast of Newfoundlcid is much more humid than
the western, owing to the heavy fogs which are driven in from
the Grand Bank; and it is also more subject to violent gales and
storms, owing to its exposed position. On the west coast, from
Cape Ray to the north, and in the interior, the atmosphere is
generally clear, and the climate is much the same as that of the
district of Gaspe, in Lower Canada.

THE GEOLOGY OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

In the years 1839 and 1840, Mr. .T. B. Jukes, a fellow of the
Geological Society, who has since greatly distinguished himself in
South Australia,was employed by the Governmentof Newfoundland
to make a geological survey of the Island. The means placed
at the disposal of Mr. Jukes by the Legislature, were exceedingly
small, and it was only an ardent love of science, and a desire
to do all that man could do, in an interesting but most difficult
country, that induced Mr. Jukes to persevere as long as he did.
Because Mr. Jukes, at the outset of his explorations, did not en-
counter anythi.ig of very groat value, the Legislature declined to
assist him in further researches, at the very point where those
reseprches were beginning to be interesting, and becoming of
practical value.

The only authentic account, therefore, of the Geology of New-
foundland, is that of Mr. Jukes, but to that has been added within
a few years, the observations of other scientific men, who have
been employed to explore certain sections of the island, with a
view to discover its mineral wealth.

Mr. Jukes divides Newfoundland, geologically, into two sections,
whith are shown on the map by a line drawn from Cape Ray,
the south-western angle of the island, to Quirpen, very nearly
through the centre of the island.

To the south-westward of this line, the geological character
of the country is such as to indicate a broken and sterile country,
with but slight liDpe of mineral wealth ; while to the Northward
and eastward of the line, the country is composed of rocks of

VtH^lj^iS .

8

much moffi recflnt character, including xw extensive coal forma*
tion, with various indications of other minerals.

The acjiieous or stratified rocks of Newfoundland consist of the
following formations : —

The upper, and the lower, or red portion of the coal formation.
Next in the descending order, magnesian limestone. Then, an
upper slate formation, consisting of shale and gritstone, and
variegated shales.

Below these, a lower slate formation — and then the gneissi
and mica slate.

The unstratificd, or igneous rocks, consist of various kinds of
trap, greenstone, serpentine, hypersthene, porphyry, syenite, and
granite.

The upper part of the coal formation consists principally of dark
shales, with brown or yellow sandstones, or gritstones, in thin
beds.

The lower part of this formation is characterised by beds of red
sandstone, red and green marls, and gypsum.

These two portions of the coal formation pass by insersible
gradations into each other.

Yellow, brown, and whiti;^h flags and sandstones, dark blue
clay, with an occasional bed of black shale, occir througliout the
whole of the coal fonnation. Some of the lighter colored sand-
stones contain carbonate of lime, red and green marl, and large
masses of gypsum in thick beds.

The total thickness of the coal formation is considerable, and
the portion examined by Mr. Jukes had a thickness of 1000 to
1500 feet.

The magnesian limestone whicii was seen, was generally of a
yellow colour, about 50 feet thick, in beds of 2 or 3 feet each, fre-
quently splitting into flags.

One bed of carbonate of lime was found of a grey colour, about
2 feet thick, with a band of brown chert.

The upper slate formation is supposed to be below the coal
formation in the series.

The superior portion consist? of dark micaceous shale splitting
into thin lamina), with interstratified beds of a very fine grained
grey gritstone, which increase in number, thickness and coarse-
ness of grain, with the increasing depth, until the shale disappears
altogether. The thickness of the two portions seen is estimated
at several hundred feet.

9

r ,

The lower slate series is deemed by Mr. Jukes to belong o aa
older formation and to be composed of two groups.

Ist. A mass of grey and red sandstone, wliitli at the entranceto
the harbour of St. John's, has a thickness of 800 feet.

And 2nd. The St. John slates, in which beds of red, green
and prey stone alternate near the junction of the sandstone and
the slate rocks, forming the transition beds between the two. The
thickness of this formation is estimated at between 2000 and
3000 feet.

The cleavage of the slate is frequently parallel to the line of
stratification, and in these cases produces excellent roofing slate.

Veins of white quartz and masses of porphyry are found asso-
ciated with these slates. «— -'

Descending lower in the Geological scale, there is found the
mica slate and gneiss and also the igneous rocks, which do not
difier from those usually found in other parts of the globe ; the
mica and the gneiss however alternate with and pass into each
other.

Except in some indistinct vegetable impressions in the coal
formation, no organic remains have yet been found in Newfound-
land ;* but it must be remembered that its rocks have not yet
been subjected to the careful examination of modern geologists, nor
yet to the keen scrutiny of some of the younger members of this
society, whose well directed exertions have enabled them to disr
cover evidences that animal life had existed in formations which
were supposed to be far below the existence of any living thing.

The strike throughout the island rarely varies from a true
N. N. E., and S. S. AV. course.

Hence, all the other prominent features of the country run in
the same direction, not only as regards the ranges of hills, but
also the principal lakes ; all the deep bays and the numerous
valleys lie in the same line of bearing.

The strike of the cleavage is not invariably parallel to the
strike of the beds ; but the cleavage is much more constant as
regards the strike and dip in relation to the points of the compass

* Trilobites of the Genus Paradoxides have been found in the older
slate formation of Mr. Jukes, and several lower Silurian fossils have been
ebtained by Mr. Richardson, of the Geological Survey of Canada, in the
limestone formation of the North of the Island, described in the con-
cluding part of this paper.

10

than it is in relation to the strike and dip of the beds, or than
those latter are to the horizon, and points of the compass.

As regards the relative age of the igneous rocks, Mr. Jukes sup-
poses that the granites are generally newer than the mica slate
«nd the gneiss, which repose upon them.

The coal formation seems to be contemporaneous with those of
western Europe, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New Brunswick,
and with the most modern group of stratified rocks in Newfound-
land.

On the west coast of Newfoundland, as might have been pro-
phesied by the most casual geological observer of the formations of
Cape Breton and the adjacent shores of the mainland, there exists
the continuation of the coal formation of New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia and Cape Breton, the great coal basin of the St. Law-
rence, probably the largest in the world, extending from the Bay
cf Chaleur to the profoimd solitudes, vast morasses, tangled
forests and innumerabu lakes, ponds, and brooks, which cover and
intersect so great a portion of Newfoundland.

The province of Avalon is nearly separated from the
rest of Newfoundland by the Bays of PlacenlR and Trinity, a
narrow isthmus only between 3 or 4 miles in width, existing be-
tween those two deep and spacious bays, and thus connecting
Avalon with the main body of Newfoundland.

In Avalon there are two principal ranges of hills, which form
regular watersheds.

The most easterly range is that which rises from the back of
Reneuse to Holyrood in Conception Bay. Though not lofty,
this range is very rugged, the faces of the hills being abrupt and
precipitious. Along this range are some remarkable hummocky
hills called the "butter-pots," of which the passing voyager
between Cape Race and St. John's has a capital view in fine
weather. Each of these "butter-pots'* has about the same
height above the sea, probably rather more than 1000 feet.

Tiie southern coast of Newfoundland has very lofty cliffs, and
the high lands contiguous to the sea exclude all view of the in-
terior from that quarter. Mr. Jukes declares his belief that the
country is composed chiefly, if not entirely, of granite.

Three varieties of granite were observed ; one white, rather
fine grained, with abundance of mica ; another of a coarse grain,
with less mica and of a reddish colour ; and the third, by far the
most abundant, a somewhat coarse red granite with large im-
bedded crystals of flesh-coloured feldspar.

u

The country, from the Dead Islands to Port aux Basques and
Cape Ray, is conaposed entirely of mica slate and gneiss ; and
these rocks continue around Cape Ray for some distance to the
little Cadroy river where they terminate.

A cbain of hills, called the Long Range, composed almost
entirely of this gneiss and mica slate, runs into the country from
Cape Ray and is believed to intersect and divide the whole Is-
land.

The south side of St. George's Bay, between this Long Range
and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is occupied by the coal formation.

The cliffs on the sea-shore and a band of country a few miles
wide, lying parallel to it, exhibit the lower beds of the coal forma-
tion, namely the red sandstones and marls, with gypsum.

In the cliffs, near Cadroy Island, (where the writer first landed
in Nev.'foundland) there is much red and green marl, with bands
of white flag-stone.

Th« white flag-stone, and the greenish marl, contain many
veins of white fibrous gypsum, and interstratified with these and
the red marls are some thirty beds of white and grey gypsum, of
a singular character.

The Micmac Indians of this coast report a bed of coal, of
two feet in thickness, some distance up the Cadroy river; but
Mr. Jukes was unable to procure a guide to it. The bed is said
to be of very considerable extent

Mr. Jukes, however, penetrated the coal formation from Crabb's
River, which is about ha'f way up the south side of St. (ieorge'o
Bay. He found that at least six miles of the (tountry, formed of
the lower beds of this formation, must be crossed directly from
the coast, before arriving at the higher beds, in which the coal is
situated.

Having passed over the lower beds, Mr. Jukes at length ar-
rived at a bed of coal, three feet in thickness, resting on soft brown
sandstone, with ferruginous stains. Whether this seam of coal
was the whole, or only the lower portion of a bed, could not be
determined ; but the quality was i'.and to be good, as it proved a
bright, caking coal.

The distance from the sea shore, where this coal was
found, is about 8 miles ; but the nearest and only harbour is
that of Si. George's, distant about 20 miles. From the best ob-
servations Mr Jukes was able to make, he concluded that the
tract in which coal might bo found, would be an oval, some 20

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12

or 30 miles long, by 10 miles in width, bounded by the sea coast
on the north, and the range of primary hills on the south.

Mr. .Jukes penetrated the interior raoie to the north east, by
the Grind Pond, and near its eastern extremity, on the banks of a
small brock, discovered a seam of coal, part of it resembling
cannel coal — and in the bed of the brook itself, which israjnd and
rocky, large pieces of coal were found, clearly showing that more
beds existed higher up the stream.

There is here a large district, throughout the whole extent of
which it is probable coal may be found.

The north side ofSt. George's Bay is occupied by matrnesian
limestone, lying above the shale of the coal measures, in which
shale it is alleged coal has been found at Port-aux-Ports.

The country between Port-aux-Ports and Bay of Islands, and
thence northerly to Bonne Bay, and Cow Head— is lofty and un-
broken, (the write- 'low speaks from his own observations) and is
occupied chiefly b neous rocks.

Around Lark Uail.our, the rocks are high, pointed and precip-
itous, consisting of igneous rocks of the most varied character,
the scenery is wild, pictures.pe, and in the elevated portions,
sterile to the last degree. Down the deep and narrow ravines,
the winds rush with fearful violence, and the suddenness of the
gusts are such as to render the operation of beating into Lark
Harbrur very exciting.

From the neighbourhood of Lark Harbour, nearly to the head
of Huinber Sound (a magnificent piece of water, by the way, in-
terspersed with numerous island^ having broad ami deep chan-
nels between them, forming altogether wonderfully striking scen-
ery of unusual character) the rocks consist of dark brown and
red schist or shale, grey gritstones, and black, grey, and red slate.
Beyond this commences the great calcareous formation, which is
supposed to form almost the entire north eastern extremity of
Newfoundland.

At the north of the Humber, by far the largest river in New-
foundland, this formation consists of beds of limestone, containing
veins and flakes of mica, so entangled with quartz rocks, and in-
timately associated with the gneiss and mica slate, as to leave no
doubt of its being entitled to the denomination of a { rimary lime-
stone.

The highest beds of this limestone are of a hard dark o-rey
colour, with bro»vn concretions, th vt on a surface which had

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18

for some time been exposed to the weather, stood out in bold
relief.

Below these higher beds, are some thin beds of hard sub-crys-
talline lime&tone — some white, and some flesh coloured with white
veins.

These thin beds have a thickness of about 100 feet, and from
the thickness of the beds they are especially adapted for marble
slabs, as they would take a good polish, and be highly orna-
mental.

Below this formation lies a few feet of thin-bedded black mar-
ble, of similar qualities.

Still farther down come large masses of grey compact lime-
stone, having a thickness of 300 or 400 feet, passing into a per-
fectly white saccharine limestone, without any mark of stratifi-
cation, and but few joints, or division lines of anv kind.

Abo'it three miles up the Humber River, it forms lofty white
precipices, of pure marble, crowned and surrounded hv thick
woods, which, closing in upon the rapids, produce most pictur-
esque scenery.

Blocks of this magnificent -narble, of any size required, miirht
be procured here, and readily floated down the river into the
sound, where vessels of any size may find safe and excellent
anchorage.

From Cow Bay northward, along the west coast cf Newfound-
land, the coast is low, and altogether of primary limestone, which
appears to form a belt of two or three leagues in width, bounded
by a lofty ridge of mica slate, gneiss, and their associated rocks,
forming apparently a continuation of the Long Ranoe, and ex-
tending to Lake Quirpon, the extreme northern point of the island
of Ntwfoundland,

This country has not yet been examined by any geologist, and
the writer speaks of its general features from observations made
while passing to and fro through the straits r '' Belleisle.

Having thus briefly and imj^erfectly poinLed out the leading
geologi(;al features of Newfoundland, it only remains to say that
in addition to the gypsum which is found abundantly at Cadroy,
and the spkndid white marble of the Humber, ores of copper, in
different varieties, have been found in several districts, and ex-
plorations are being carried on by various parties, whose dis-
coveries have not yet been made public.

An extensive deposit of lead was found at La Manche in Pla-

14

centia Bay, on the southern coast, which was worked for a short
time by an American company, who carried away from it many
hundred tons of valuable ore.

The people of Newfoumlland are sanguine that gold will be
found in their island, whicli is quite possible; the geological char-
acter of the island, in some of its characteristics, might warrant
(he belief, and induce some exertions to explore it more thoroughly.

Any notice of Newfoundland would be imperfect without an
allusion to its fisheries, which furnish employment to its people,
and provide its staple export. Tht Arctic current which passes
swiftly and continuously along its eastarn coast, rendering that
side cold, damp, and cheerless — the dense fogs occasioned by this
icy current meeting the lighter and warmer waters of the Gulf
stream — the long, deep, and narrow arms of the sea, which pene-
trate far into the land, in every part of the island, and re-
semble very closely the "fiords" of Norway and Sv/eden, in all
their principal features, affording tbe best and safest of harbours,
— together with the fish and fishing of Newfoundland — will fur-
nish ample materials for other papers hereafter.

[While the above paper was iti the hands of the printer, intel-
ligence reached us of the untimely decease of its able and accom-
plished author. Mr. Perley was a man eminent for his powers of
observation, and possessed a vast store of informs !on on the
physical features and resources of the maritime provinces, which
he was ever ready to render useful to his countrymen. He is well
known in Ijritish America, and abroad, as the author of valuable
reports on the fisheries, on timber trees, on emigration, and other
subjects of public importance. The paper which we now publish
was read before the Natural History Society of New Brunswick,
not long before his departure on what was destined to be his last
journey, and was kindly sent by the Council of the Society for
publication in the Naturalist. — Editors.]