South of the line given as the northern limit of trees the growth slowly attains greater size and extension of area. The timber north of the Height of Land is comparatively small, the spruce and larch rarely attaining a size greater than 12 to 15 inches at the ground and rapidly tapering up for 2 feet or so above the surface. Above the height of 2 feet the stems slowly taper and, in a few instances, produce symmetrical stems for more than 15 feet. The trees growing within 40 miles of Fort Chimo seldom exceed 10 inches in diameter, and of the larger trunks the logs are selected to form the material from which the walls of all the buildings at that place are constructed. The alders, willows, and a few other bushes attain a greater or less size, depending upon the situation and amount of protection afforded. I have seen as large stems of these shrubs growing within a mile of Fort Chimo as I have seen at either Davis inlet or Rigolet. The flowering plants are sparsely scattered over the northern areas, and then only in most suitable soils. The ground remains frozen from the last of October--earlier some seasons--to the last of May, or even into the middle of June. The appearance of the annuals is sudden, and they rapidly attain their full size and quickly fall before the chilling winds of autumn. ANIMAL LIFE. MAMMALS. The marine mammals alone appear to be well known, but the number of cetaceans can certainly be increased above the number usually reported inhabiting the waters immediately bordering upon the region. The phocids are best known for the reason that off the shores of southeast Labrador the pursuit of species of this family is carried on each spring to an extent probably surpassing that anywhere else on the face of the globe. At the mouth of Little Whale river, the white whale is taken to the number of 500 each year, although the capture is steadily decreasing. The Indians here do the greater part of the labor of driving, killing, flaying, and preserving them. At Fort Chimo another station for the pursuit of white whales is carried on. Here the Eskimo do the driving and killing, while the Indians perform the labor of removing the blubber and rendering it fit for the oil tanks into which it is placed to put it beyond the action of the weather. The skin of the white whale is tanned and converted into a leather of remarkably good quality, especially noted for being nearly waterproof. Of the land mammals, the reindeer is probably the most abundant of all. It is found in immense numbers in certain localities, and forms for many of the inhabitants the principal source of subsistence, while to nearly all the residents its skins are absolutely necessary to protect them from the severity of the winter.