Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh - Undertaken to Explore the Coast, and Visit the Esquimaux in That Unknown Region by Benjamin Kohlmeister;George Kmoch
page 25 of 92 (27%)
page 25 of 92 (27%)
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the uppermost part, choosing the shallowest possible spot to anchor in.
The bay itself is about two miles in breadth, and only in the middle deep enough to admit the larger fields of drift ice to float into it. The strand is broad, and slopes off gently. It is covered with large tables of slate. The mountains on each side are high, and seem to consist of ferruginous slate, the lamina or plates of which are of such immense size, that they might serve for entire walls. Towards the sea, there exudes from these rocks, a yellowish white substance, which has a strong sulphureous smell. It was so powerful, that if a drop fell on a piece of tinned iron, it removed the tin in a few minutes. The vallies in the neighbourhood were green and full of flowers. Not far from the spot where we had pitched our tents, (which rested upon a carpet of _potentilla aurea_, in full bloom, bringing to our minds the European meadows, full of butter-cups), the river, which is of considerable breadth, falls into the bay. It abounds with fine salmon-trout. Farther to the westward, two other rivers flow into it, one of which is much broader than the other, and has a large cataract at some distance from its mouth. The upper parts of the mountains are covered partly with moss, and partly with low brush-wood, birch, and alder, and many berry-bearing shrubs and plants, but no high trees. We found here both arnica and colts-foot in great plenty. Brother Kohlmeister gathered and dried a quantity of each, as they are used in medical cases, and the former cannot be procured from England. The slate is extremely shivery, and is found in slabs, either lying or standing upright from four to eight feet square, most easily splitting into thin plates. Ascending the mountain, they are soon dislodged, by the tread of a man's foot, and glide down towards the beach with a |
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