Physical Features.— The shores of Newfoundland present generally a rock-bound aspect when seen from the ocean, but. the line of cliffs (200 to 300 feet in height) is broken by numerous magnificent bays, running in some instances 80 to 90 miles inland, and throwing out smaller arms in all directions, so that, though the circumference of the island, measuring from headland to headland, is about 1000 miles, the actual length of coast-line is more than twice as great. The bays frequently present scenes of much beauty, being studded with islands, and having their shores clad in dark green forests to the water’s edge.

The part of the island nearest the sea consists of a hilly country with eminences of no great elevation. The interior proper consists of an elevated undulating plateau, traversed here and there by ranges of low hills, the surface being diversified with valleys, woods, lakes, ponds, and marshes. Much of this is a savanna country, sustaining vast herds of reindeer. All the great hill ranges take a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, the highest land occurring along the western and southern shores. The principal mountain chain, the Long Range, extends along the western side of the island for nearly its entire length, and has peaks more than 2000 feet high, and parallel to this, but nearer the coast, is the Cape Anguille range. The peninsula of Avalon is very hilly; but the highest summits do not exceed 1500 feet. The country is remarkable for a number of isolated sharply-peaked summits which rise abruptly here and there from the level plain, and bear the local name of “toits.”

The largest river is the Exploits, 200 miles in length, and having a drainage area of between 3000 and 4000 square miles. It rises in the extreme south-western angle of the island, and flows in a north-easterly direction through Red Indian Lake, terminating in the Bay of Exploits, Notre Dame Bay. The valley through which it flows contains large areas of fertile land, capable of yielding crops of all kinds, and in many places is covered with pine forests containing timber of large growth. The next largest river is the Humber, which rises 20 miles inland from Bonne Bay, and after a circuitous course empties itself into Deer Lake, thence flowing into the Bay of Islands. It drains an area of 2000 square miles. The Gander, which rises near the southern coast, and, flowing through Gander Lake, falls into Gander Bay on the east, has a drainage area of 2500 square miles.

One of the most remarkable of the physical features of the island is the immense number of lakes and ponds, which occupy nearly a third of the whole surface. The largest is Grand Lake, 56 miles in length, and covering an area of 192 square miles. It contains an island 22 miles in length and 5 in breadth. Red Indian Lake is 37 miles long and 64 square miles in area; Gander Lake and Deer Lake occupy 33 and 24 square miles respectively; Sandy Lake, Victoria, Hind’s, Terra Nova, and George IV. Lakes range next in size. The shores of these great lakes, and the fertile valleys through which their rivers flow, are as yet absolute solitudes, the very existence of which was until recently all but unknown.

Of the bays already alluded to, special mention may be made of St Mary’s Bay (25 miles wide at the mouth and 35 miles long, with two arms—Salmonier and Colinet— which stretch still farther into the interior), Placentia Bay (55 milec wide at the entrance and 90 miles long), Fortune Bay (25 miles wide and 70 in length, with numerous arms, the chief of which are Bay D’Espoir, Hermitage Bay, and Connaigre Bay). At the entrance of Fortune Bay are the two islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, ceded by treaty to France for the shelter of its fishermen, and now all that remains to France of the vast possessions it once held in North America. Around Bay St George, on the western coast (40 miles wide at the mouth and with a good harbour at its head), are some of the most fertile valleys in the island, with fine forests of timber, and a coal-field of large extent. Bay of Islands has three fine arms running 20 miles inland. It is the seat of a valuable herring fishery. Notre Dame Bay is 50 miles wide at its mouth, and runs inland 70 or 80 miles. On its shores are the now famous copper mines, which are worked with great success.

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 commercially 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. — 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 dislocations, most of which trend nearly parallel with each other in a general bearing of about north-north-east and southsouth-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 settlements 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 metalliferous 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.

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 undeveloped 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. 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 southeastern 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 stalking. 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 degenerate 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, woodpecker, 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 golden plover, various species of sandpipers and curlews, the brent goose, ducks, petrels, gulls, and the great northern diver are met with everywhere. The great auk, now extinct, was once found in myriads around the island. The little auk, guillemot, and the razor-billed auk are abundant. No venomous reptiles, toads, or frogs occur. Of molluscous animals the common squid, a cephalopod about 6 or 7 inches in length, visits the coasts in immense shoals in August and September, and supplies a valuable bait. A gigantic species of cephalopod was discovered in 1873, which excited much interest among naturalists: the body varies from 7 to 15 feet in length, with a circumference of 5 or 6 feet; from the head ten arms radiate, the two longest (tentacles) being from 24 to 40 feet in length, and covered with suckers at their extremities; the other eight arms vary from 6 to 11 feet, and on one side are entirely covered with suckers. Professor Verrill, of Yale College, has distinguished two species—one he named Architeιdhis Harυeyi, after the discoverer, and the other Architeuthis monachus. Flora.— The pine, spruce, birch, juniper, and larch of the forests of the interior furnish ample materials for a large timber trade as well as for shipbuilding purposes. The white pine grows to the height of 70 or 80 feet in some places, and is 3 or 4 feet in diameter. The mountain ash, balsam poplar, and aspen thrive well. Evergreens are in great variety. The berry-bearing plants cover large areas of the island. The maidenhair or capillaire yields a saccharine matter which is lusciously sweet. Flowering plants and ferns are in vast varieties, and wild grasses and clover grow luxuriantly. Garden vegetables of all kinds, and strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, &c., thrive well.

Fisheries.— These constitute the grand staple industry of the country. The most important is that of the cod, which is the most extensive of the kind in the world. During six years from 1877 to 1882 the average annual export of codfish from Newfoundland amounted to 1,326,259 quintals (cwts.). (For earlier statistics see Fisheries, vol. ix. p. 266.) The cod are taken on the shores of the island, on the Banks, and along the coast of Labrador. The Bank fishery is now prosecuted chiefly by the French and by Americans, Newfoundlanders occupying themselves with the shore and Labrador fishery. The aggregate annual catch of cod at present in the North-American waters is estimated at 3,700,000 quintals, say 150,000,000 fish. The value at $4 a quintal would be $14,800,000. Nearly four-fifths of the entire returns of the Newfoundland fisheries arise from the cod fishery.

While the cod fishery does not show any marked advance in the quantities taken during the last thirty years, the market value of dried codfish has risen more than 50 per cent., and the average value of the exported products of the fishery may be fairly reckoned at $5,500,000 per annum. Adding to this the local consumption, we must place the entire annual value at $6,364,000, or £1,325,834 sterling.

The last census (1874) showed that there were 26,377 able-bodied fishermen in the colony, and 45,845 persons engaged in catching and curing fish out of a population of 161,374, 1197 vessels of a tonnage of 61,551 tons, 8902 fishing rooms in actual use, and 18,611 boats employed in the shore fishery. There are now (1883) about 53,000 persons engaged in catching and curing fish out of a population exceeding 180,000. The French Newfoundland fisheries on the Banks and along the shores average from 400,000 to 500,000 quintals,—the number of men employed being 5000 to 6000.

The cod fishery has been prosecuted for about 380 years, but, notwithstanding the enormous drafts every year, to all appearance the cod are as abundant as ever. They begin to appear on the coasts of the island about the first of June, at which time they move from the deep waters of the coast to the shallower and warmer waters near the shore, for spawning purposes. Their approach is heralded by the caplin, a beautiful little fish about 7 inches in length, vast shoals of which arrive, filling every bay and harbour. The cod follow in their wake, feasting greedily upon the caplin, which supply the best bait. In six weeks the caplin disappear, and their place is taken by the squid about the 1st of August. These also supply a valuable bait, and are followed by the herring, which continue till the middle or end of October, when the cod fishery closes. The cod are taken by the hook-and-line, the seine, the cod-net or gill-net, the cod-trap, and the bultow. Newfoundland exports cod to Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Great Britain, the West Indies, and the United States. Brazil and Spain are the largest consumers.

Next to the cod fishery in value comes that of the seal, which is not more than eighty years old. At present the average annual value of the seal fishery is about $1,100,000, being an eighth part of the entire exports. The number of men employed is from 8000 to 10,000. Steamers were first used in 1863, and now there are about 25 engaged, some of them from 400 to 500 tons burthen; sailing vessels are rapidly diminishing in numbers. According to law, no sailing vessel can clear for the seal fishery before the 1st of March, and no steamer before the 10th. The young seals are born on the ice from the 15th to the 25th of February, and increase in bulk so rapidly that they are in perfect condition by the 20th March.

The seals frequenting the coasts of Newfoundland have regular migratory movements. They are found on the ice from the middle of February till May, when they commence their northerly movement. In June they are seen in enormous numbers on the Greenland coast, where they spend two or three months. As the early winter sets in they begin their southern migration, keeping ahead of the ice as it forms, and moving towards the coast of Labrador, feeding in its fiords and bays. Beaching the Great Banks by the close of the year, they feed there till the beginning of February, when their northern migration begins, to meet the ice on which their young are to be brought forth and cradled. For more than sixty years they have borne an annual draft of from a quarter to half a million without showing any sensible diminution in their numbers, but the introduction of steam has given increased facilities for following the old seals at a later period of the season, and for shooting them on the ice,—a practice which may ultimately lead to their extermination.

There are no finer salmon streams than those of Newfoundland, but no proper measures have been taken for their preservation, and in consequence such practices as closing the mouths of the rivers with nets at a time when the fish are ascending to spawn, and constructing weirs, traps, and dams, have been followed to such an extent that in many of the rivers salmon are almost exterminated. The average value of the pickled and fresh salmon exported, during the last ten years, has been...