144 NEWFOUNDLAND.

growth. Mountain ashes, “ few and far between,” occur.

Whortleberry bushes, and wiska-capuca, (Indian tea,) predominate on the high unwooded grounds. Mr Cormack considers the best soil to be along the rivers, and at the heads of the bays ; and he regards both the soil and climate as unfavourable to the raising of grain, but well adapted for grazing, and the culti- vation of potatoes and other green crops. Eight miles up Great Barrisois river, St George’s Bay, he diggvered excellentcoal, some salt springs, and a sulphurous spring. He found there, also, gypsum and red ochre in abundance.

In the interior, he observed vast herds of deer of the carriboo kind, which resort to the woods in Winter, and in summer come out into the plains and barren grounds. Their flesh forms nearly the whole food of the Mic-mac and Red Indians. Beavers are now much more scarce than formerly. Foxes are still numerous along the rivers and sea-coast. The Mic-mac Indians proceed by different routes into the interior; they go by East Bay river, in their birch- bark canoes, as far as Serpentine Lake; and from thence proceed from lake to lake in their small basket, or wicker-work canoes, covered with skins. These resemble those said to have been used by the ancient Britons. When hunting beaver, the Mic-mac Indians allow a periodical term of three years to intervene from the time of disturbing a particular rendezvous until they again visit it. Mr Cormack thinks that paths might, without much difficulty, be made across