Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/403

NEWFOUNDLAND 383 Bonavista Bay is of great extent, contains numerous groups of islands, and presents some of the finest scenery in the island. Conception Bay is the most populous and com mercially important, having on its shores towns and villages containing a population of 42,000. The harbour of St John s is spacious and well sheltered. Geology. 1 All the great ancient rock systems, between the Lower Laurentian and the Coal-measures, are more or less represented at one part or another of Newfoundland. The Laurentian system has an immense spread in the island. It constitutes the principal mountain ranges, coming to the surface through the more recent deposits, on the axes of anticlinal lines, or brought up by great disloca tions, most of which trend nearly parallel with each other in a general bearing of about north-north-east and south- south-west. The Laurentian gneiss of the Long Range, on the western side, extends in a nearly straight course from Cape Ray to the headwaters of the Castor in the great northern peninsula. On the south-western extremity of the island these rocks occupy the coast from Cape Ray to La Poile. They are largely exhibited on the Grand Lake, running in a spur from the Long Range between it and the Red Indian Lake, and bearing for the south-eastern shores of Hall s Bay. The central portion of the northern peninsula is Laurentian, which also spreads over a wide expanse of country between Grand Lake and the Humber and Exploits rivers, and shows itself on the coast between Canada Bay and White Bay. Another range of Laurentian comes up in the district of Ferryland, and shows itself occasionally on the coast of Conception Bay. Thus more than half the island is Laurentian. Three-fourths of the peninsula of Avalon are Huronian, a formation which does not extend west of Fortune Bay. The town of St John s and, in fact, nearly all the settle ments between Fortune Bay and Bonavista Bay are built upon it. Signal Hill, overlooking the harbour of St John s, is capped with the sandstone of this formation. The whole Huronian system is not less than 10,000 feet thick, and has been cut through by denudation to the Laurentian floor. The rocks of the Primordial Silurian age are spread unconformably over the area thus ground down. These evidences of denudation and reconstruction are very clear in Conception Bay, where the rocks of the intermediary system have been ground down to the Laurentian gneiss, and, subsequently, the submarine valley thus formed has been filled up with a new set of sediments, the remains of which are still to be found skirting the shores of the bay and forming the islands in it. Rocks of the Silurian age are most extensive on the peninsula of Cape St Mary, and around the head of Trinity Bay. These belong to the Primordial Silurian group. The Lower Silurian rocks have a large development, and in them the metallic ores occur which seem destined to render the island a great mining centre. The Lauzon division of the Quebec group, which is the true metalli ferous zone of North America, has an immense spread in the island. It consists of serpentine rocks associated with dolomites, diorites, &c., and is well known throughout North America to be usually more or less metalliferous. The Newfoundland rocks are no exception, but give evidence of being rich in metallic ores. The Middle Silurian division of rocks is also widely spread ; and the most fertile belts of land and the most valuable forests are nearly all situated on the country occupied by this formation. The great valley of the Exploits and Victoria rivers, the valley of the Gander, and several smaller tracts belong to it. 1 The geological survey of the island was commenced in 1864, and has been prosecuted steadily since ; the results are embodied in The Geological Survey of Newfoundland, by A. Murray, C.M.G., 1881. The Carboniferous series occupies a large area on the western side of the island, in the neighbourhood of St George s Bay and Grand Lake. There is also a wider spread of the same series along the valley of the Humber and round the shores of Deer Lake and the eastern half of Grand Lake, and as far as Sandy Lake. " Coal," says Mr Howley, "is known to exist at several places in this series; and seams, apparently of workable thickness, judging from their out-crops, occur on the Middle Barachois and Robinson s Brook, in St George s Bay." It will thus be seen that the Carboniferous series is confined to the western side, while the middle, eastern, and southern portions are occupied by Silurian, Huronian, and Laurentian formations. From the extent to which the Lauzon division of the Quebec group, the true metalliferous zone of North America, prevails in the island, its yet un developed mineral wealth must be very great, while it is fitted to sustain a large agricultural population. Climate. The climate is more temperate than that of most portions of the neighbouring continent. It is but rarely, and then only for a few hours, that the thermometer sinks below zero in winter, while the summer range rarely exceeds 80 Fahr., and for the most part does not rise above 70. The Arctic current exerts a chilling influence along the eastern coast, but as a compensation it brings with it the enormous wealth of commercial fishes and seals which has rendered the fisheries the most productive in the world. The Gulf Stream, while it creates fogs, modifies the cold. The salubrity of the climate is evidenced by the robust healthy appearance of the inhabitants. Open fireplaces are sufficient to warm the houses, and free exercise in the open air is attainable at all seasons. The average mean temperature at St John s for eight years ending 1864 was 41 2 Fahr., the maximum being 83 and the minimum 7 ; the average height of the barometer was 29 37 inches. 2 The average rainfall is 58 30 inches. Winter sets in, as a rule, in the beginning of December, and lasts until the middle of April. Generally the snow lies during this period, and the frost rarely penetrates the ground to a greater depth than a few inches. Spring is sometimes late in arriving, but once vegetation sets in it advances with marvellous rapidity. The autumn is usually very fine, and is often prolonged till November. There is nothing in the climate to interfere with agriculture. Tornadoes are unknown, and thunderstorms are very rare. Fogs, of which so much is said in connexion with the country, are confined to the shores and bays of the south eastern and southern coasts. Fauna. Among the well-known wild animals indigenous to the country the caribou or reindeer hold a conspicuous place. They migrate regularly between the south-eastern and north-western portions of the island. The winter months are passed in the south, where "browse" is plentiful, and the snow is not too deep to prevent them from reaching the lichens on the lower grounds. In March they begin their spring migration to the barrens and mountains of the north-west. In May or June they bring forth their young. As soon as the frosts of October begin to nip the vegetation they turn south. September and October are the best months for stalk ing. In addition to the caribou, the wolf and black bear are found in the interior ; the fox (black, silver, grey, and red), beaver, otter, arctic hare, North-American hare, weasel, bat, rat, mouse, and musquash or musk-rat are numerous. The famous Newfoundland dog is still to be met with, but good specimens are rare, and he appears to thrive better elsewhere. The common dogs are a degene rate mongrel race. It is estimated that there are three hundred species of birds in the island, most of them being migratory. Among them may be enumerated the eagle, hawk, owl, wood pecker, swallow, kingfisher, six species of fly-catchers and the same number of thrushes, warblers and swallows in great variety, finches, ravens, jays. The ptarmigan or willow grouse is very abundant, and is the finest game-bird in the island. The rock ptarmigan is found in the highest and barest mountain ridges. The American 2 See Tables of Aqueous Precipitation for Series of Years, collected by the Smithsonian Institution, United States, 1872.