Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/79

 LABEADOE LABEADOE TEA 73 and aspens grow in the hollows. The highest mountains extend along the E. coast from lat. 54 to 59. Mount Thoresby near the coast is 2,730 ft. high. The prevailing geological for- mation on the seaboard is granite, gneiss, or mica slate, above which in some places are beds of old red sandstone about 200 ft. thick, and a stratum of secondary limestone. Toward the interior the secondary rocks disappear. At Cape Chateau a series of basaltic columns pre- sents a remarkable resemblance to an ancient castle. Very little is known of the mineral resources, but iron ore, limestone, granite, hornblende, lapis olaris, hematite, and the beautiful shining spar called labradorite are found, the last being collected by the Esqui- maux on the seacoast and the shores of the lakes. In the south a stunted growth of poplars, pines, birch, and willow is found, and grass clothes the valleys for a few weeks in summer. Little vegetation exists in the north excepting mosses and lichens, though in some few favored spots the aspect is better. No kind of grain will ripen, but potatoes, Dutch turnips, cabbages, and other hardy vege- tables come to perfection. Much rain falls in summer near the sea. Sometimes on the coast the thermometer in July indicates 86, but a short distance inland it is at all times more temperate. The winters are extremely cold. From December to June the sea is frozen, while on land travelling becomes almost im- possible. The mean temperature of the re- spective months at the missionary stations of Okkak and Nam is : in January, 1*55 ; Febru- ary, 2-73 ; March, 7'88 ; April, 29-48 ; May, 27-24; June, 42-59; July, 50-91; August, 51-99; September, 44'7l; October, 32-56; November, 24-45; December, 27'84. The mean annual temperature at Nain is stated at 22-52; at Okkak, 27;86; at Hopedale, 27*82. The prevailing winds on the E. coast vary between W. S. W. and N. W. There is less fog than on the island of Newfoundland, and the strait of Belle Isle is never frozen. The aurora borealis is frequent and of extreme brilliancy. The rivers abound with salmon, and the lakes with pike, barbel, eels, and trout ; the wilds with reindeer, black and white bears, wolves, foxes, hares, mountain cats, martens, and otters, with a few ermines, porcupines, and beaver ; the birds are white grouse, ptarmigan, spruce game, gray plover, a great variety of water fowl, the white-tailed eagle, and several varieties of hawks. Mosquitoes are as abun- dant as in more southern climates. Dogs and reindeer are the only domesticated animals, both being used as beasts of draught. The main wealth of Labrador is in its fisheries, in which, besides the settlers on the coast, a large number of schooners from Newfoundland, the Canadian provinces, and the United States (citi- zens of which by treaty have the right to take and cure fish on the shore E. of Mount Joly, Ion. 61 40', near the mouth of the St. Lawrence river) are engaged, employing during the fish- ing season probably 30,000 men. According to official reports, the exports from the Labra- dor coast subject to Newfoundland in 1873 were valued at $1,132,935, the chief items being 303,208 quintals of codfish, 4,536 gal- lons of seal oil, 31,004 of cod oil, 1,467 tierces of salmon, and 43,413 barrels of herring. The value of the fisheries of the Quebec portion for the year ending June 30, 1873, was $518,140, the chief items of catch being 92,800 quintals of codfish, 8,146 barrels of herring, salmon to the value of $41,135, 7,225 seals, 26,975 gal- lons of seal oil, 400 of whale oil, and 23,283 of cod oil. These figures do not include large quantities of fish taken to St. John's, Harbor Grace, and other Newfoundland ports, and thence exported to foreign countries, nor the catch of American and Nova Scotian fishermen. It is estimated that the total annual value of the fisheries on the Labrador coast is more than $5,000,000. The shores and adjacent islets are also resorted to for sea-fowl eggs. Labrador was discovered by John Cabot in 1497. His son, Sebastian Cabot, who accom- panied him in that voyage, subsequently again visited the coast, and entered and partly survey- ed Hudson bay, giving names to several places. Henry Hudson explored the coast in 1610, after his discovery of the river which bears his name, passed through the strait now called Hudson strait, and entered the great bay, to which also he gave his name. The Portuguese called the country Terra Laborador, or culti- vable land, a misnomer equal to that of Green- land. About the middle of the last century a settlement was formed on the coast by Mr. Darby, an American, for the purpose of estab- lishing a whaling station and civilizing the Es- quimaux ; but the Indians made a descent on it, murdered many of his men, and broke it up. See "A Journal of Transactions and Events during a Eesidence of nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador," by G. Cartwright (3 vols., Newark, Eng., 1792) ; and " Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula," by Henry Youle Hind (2 vols., London, 1863). LABRADORITE. See FELDSPAR. LABRADOR TEA (ledum latifotiuni), an in- teresting low evergreen shrub belonging to the heath family, and to the same suborder with the kalmia, the rhododendron, and the azalea. It is found in moist places, from Pennsylva- nia northward, especially in cold sphagnum swamps, its much-branching stems spreading in every direction through the damp moss. Its alternate short-petioled leaves are light green above, revolute at the margin, and the under surface is clothed with a dense down or rather wool, which in the older leaves is of a rusty brown color, a character by which the plant may be readily recognized; the leaves when crushed are fragrant. The flowers are in crowded terminal corymbs, white with distinct petals, forming an exception to the rule in this family, in which the flowers are mostly mono- petalous. The common name has reference to