les, which, by the way, lie in exactly the same latitudes. And the
Gulf is far clearer than New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Banks. The
climate is exceptionally healthy, the air a most invigorating tonic,
and the cold no greater than in many a civilized northern land.
Besides, there is a considerable range of temperatures in a country
whose extreme north and south lie 1,000 miles apart, one in the
latitude of Greenland, the other in that of Paris. Taking the Labrador
peninsula geographically, as including the whole area east of a line
run up the Saguenay and on from lake St. John to James bay, it
comprises 560,000 square miles--eleven Englands! The actual residents
hardly number 20,000. About twice as many outsiders appear off the
coasts at certain seasons. So it would take a tenfold increase, afloat
and ashore, to make one human being to each square mile of land. But,
all the same, wild life needs conservation there, and needs it badly,
as we shall presently see.

Most of Labrador is a rocky tableland, still rising from the depths,
with some old beaches as much as 1,500 feet above the present level of
the sea. The St. Lawrence seaboard is famous for its rivers and
forests. The Atlantic seaboard has the same myriads of islands, is
magnificently bold, is pierced by fiords unexcelled in Norway, and
crowned by mountains higher than any others east of the Rockies.
Hamilton inlet runs in 150 miles. At Ramah the cliffs rise sheer three
thousand five hundred feet and more. The Four peaks, still untrodden
by the foot of man, rise more than twice as high again. And the
colouration, of every splendid hue, adds beauty to the grandeur of the
scene. Inland, there are lakes up to 100 miles long, big rivers by the
score, deep canyons and foaming rapids--to say nothing of the
countless waterfalls, of which the greatest equals two Niagaras. This
vast country is accessible by sea on three sides, and will soon be
accessible by land on the fourth. It lies directly half-way between
Great Britain and our own North West and is 1,000 miles nearer London
than New York is. Its timber, mines and water-power will be
increasingly exploited. It should also become increasingly attractive
to the best type of tourist, naturalist and sportsman. But supposing
all this does happen. The mines, water-powers and lumbering will only
create small towns and villages. There will surely be some
conservation to have the forests used and not abused especially by