in his "Logbook of a Fisherman and Geologist," has a paper on the subject; he also constructed a wooden model of the devil fish for his museum.

Since 1873 several specimens of this creature have come ashore, generally after heavy storms. The largest heard of was one cast ashore in Thimble Tickle, Notre Dame Bay, the body of which was reported, on good authority, to have been twenty feet in length, the tentacles forty feet. Another was found at Three Arms, Notre Dame Bay, with a body of fifteen feet long. A perfect specimen was obtained at Catalina, in 1877, nine feet two inches in length of body; circumference of body, seven feet; tentacles, thirty feet; short arms, eleven feet. This specimen is now in the New York Aquarium. In 1881 another specimen with a body eleven feet in length was obtained at Portugal Cove. It is now in Worth's Museum, New York. All these instances prove that in the seas around Newfoundland these gigantic cephalopods are abundant. They seldom approach the shore, so that the depths of the ocean in certain places may contain shoals of them. Mr. Saville Kent says, in the article previously referred to: "Summing up the whole, we are forced to admit that this group of cephalopodous mollusks contains representatives of enormous dimensions distributed in the seas throughout the globe, and embracing in all probability many distinct genera and species. Such is the formidable size of these giant calamaries that they vie even with the cetacea in magnitude, and in this respect yield to no other animals now existing. It further appears obvious that the numerous tales and traditions that have been current from the earliest times, concerning the existence of colossal species of this race, though in some instances unscrupulously exaggerated, had, in all probability, in the main a background work of fact, and can be no longer passed over as the mere fabrications of a disordered mind, as we have hitherto been inclined to accept them."

Professor Verrill says: "The pen of our Architeuthis Harveyi seems to resemble that of the ancient genus Tendopsis, found fossil in the jurassic formations, and contemporaneous with the huge marine saurians, ichthyosaurus and plesioraurus, etc., the sea-serpent of those ancient seas. May there not also be huge marine saurians still living in the North Atlantic, in company with the giant squids, but not yet known to naturalists? Such a belief seems quite reasonable when we consider how many species of great marine animals, both among cephalopods and cetaceans, are still known only from single specimens, or even mere fragments generally obtained only by chance."

Should this eminent naturalist's opinion be well founded, then our Newfoundland devil fish may prove to be first cousin to the sea-serpent, and perhaps may introduce one day this relative who has tantalised and eluded the grasp of so many mariners, and may yet prove to be no more a myth than the devil fish which has now an acknowledged place in the halls of science.

Herr T. A. Verkruzen, the German naturalist, already mentioned in these pages as the introducer of the Leonberg dog, spent a portion of two summers in dredging and collecting mollusca around the shores of the island. He also visited the Banks, in a fishing vessel, for the same purpose. The result was a collection of the mollusca of Newfoundland of great value to science, by an able and accomplished naturalist, who is a master in conchology. He very kindly presented to the Geological Museum of St. John's a collection embracing specimens of ninety-two different species of mollusca, which he had collected and identified. He also printed a small pamphlet containing a complete list of his discoveries. His collection cost him much time, labour, and money, and his is the only account of the mollusca of Newfoundland yet published.

CHAPTER X.

VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

Forest trees-Evergreens-The Labrador tea-plant-Wild berries— Flowering plants and ferns-Wild flowers and vegetables.

IN the chapter on "Forest Timber," an account will be given of the more valuable trees of the country, and the extent of the forest growths. It will be there shown that in the valleys of the interior are magnificent forests of great extent of pine, spruce, birch, juniper, larch, etc., furnishing ample materials for a large timber trade, as well as for shipbuilding purposes. The white pine is often found from seventy to eighty feet in height, and over three feet in diameter. The spruces and larches are of the best quality for shipbuilding purposes, while the yellow birch is pronounced equal in durability to the English oak. The latter, especially on the western side of the island, frequently attains a great size both in girth and height. The oak, beech, maple, chestnut, and walnut are not found in Newfoundland. A kind of dwarf maple is found in the interior. The American mountain ash grows to a large size, and is very abundant, the aspen, the balsam poplar, the dogwood thrive well, and the willow family is well represented and attains a large size. The recumbent or ground juniper and the recumbent Canadian yew are plentiful. The alders attain but a stunted growth. The English hawthorn has

been introduced and thrives well, but is not extensively cultivated.

The evergreens are in considerable variety. The most remarkable is the Labrador tea-plant, growing in swamps to the height of three feet, the leaves of which are used by Indians and hunters in place of tea. The ground laurel is a low running shrub, with leaves nearly two inches in length, on long stalks, rough, leathery, and shining. Its white fragrant flowers grow at the ends of the branches. There is a great variety of recumbent trailing evergreens. The Kalmia family abounds in the swampy grounds, its beautiful clusters of red and pale rose-coloured flowers being very agreeable to the eye.

One of the most characteristic features of the country is the immense variety and abundance of berry-bearing plants. These cover every swamp and open rocky tract, and furnish excellent fruit for preserves. Over many thousands of uncultivated acres they carpet the soil. The principal varieties are the hurtleberry-called in the vernacular "hurts"-the whortleberry in several kinds, the cranberry, partridgeberry bake-apple berry. The wild strawberry and raspberry are most abundant, and make a delicious preserve. The maidenhair, or capillaire, is a little trailing plant belonging to the family of the felices or ferns. It bears a little fruit, white, and like an ant's egg, which contains so much saccharine matter as to be lusciously sweet when made into a jam or preserve. Berry-picking is quite an industry at a certain season, and might be indefinitely expanded.

Of the wild cherries, the choke-cherry is most abundant, and often forms an ornamental tree in gardens. The fruit is pendulous and grape-like, the flowers of a yellowish white colour. There is also a kind of wild prickly gooseberry.

The flowering plants and ferns are in such variety that

a small volume would be required for their description. Henry Reeks, F.L.S., F.Z.S., in a paper read before the Linnean Society in 1869, enumerated three hundred and seventy-one species, besides varieties of flowering plants and ferns, in Newfoundland, and he only visited the western side of the island. He says, of these, six, besides Calluna vulgaris and Batrychium Lunaria, are new to the flora of North America, while three of them, to which I have provisionally given names, appear not to have been previously described. He enumerated fifteen species of ferns in this paper, and thirty-eight species of Gramineæ, or

grasses.

Only a few of the wild flowers can be mentioned here by their popular names. The tribe of lilies are developed in great beauty and magnificence. The iris dots every marsh with its rich blue flowers, and the blue-eyed grass assists the rich display. The dog's tooth, heartsease, lily of the valley, Solomon's seal, Jacob's ladder, columbine, wild lupine, bell-flowers, etc., are abundant. The pitcher plant is one of the most remarkable productions of the swampy grounds. Its leaves are tubular, or pitcher-shaped, and filled with about a wine-glassful of pure water. The flower is purple, large, and handsome, shaped like a lady's saddle, and surrounded with a number of pitchers, the lids of which expand or shut, according to the necessities of the plant. The pitchers are lined with inverted hairs, bending downward, permitting insects to enter readily enough, but preventing their escape. The pitcher plant is one of the carnivorous order, and digests the flies which enter its leaves.

The grasses are very rich and abundant, some magnificent specimens being found. The red and white natural clover is found in great abundance, also near the sea, the vetch grows in vast quantities.