CHAPTER VI.
The Geographical Conditions of the Canadian Dominion Before we continue to follow the adventures of the pioneers of British North America, I think--even if it seems wearisome and discursive--my readers would better understand this story if I placed before them a general description of what is now the Dominion of Canada, more particularly as it was seen and discovered by the earliest European explorers.
The most prominent feature on the east, and that which was nearest to Europe, was the large island of NEWFOUNDLAND, 42,000 square miles in extent, that is to say, nearly as large as England without Wales.

It seems to bar the way of the direct sea access by the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to the very heart of North America; and, until the Straits of Belle Isle and of Cabot were discovered, did certainly arrest the voyages of the earliest pioneers.

Newfoundland, as you can see on the map, has been cut into and carved by the forces of nature until it has a most fantastic outline.

Long peninsulas of hills alternate with deep, narrow gulfs, and about the south-east and east coasts there are innumerable islets, most of which in the days of the early discoverers were the haunt of millions of sea birds who resorted there for breeding purposes.

The heart of Newfoundland, so to speak, is an elevated country with hills and mountains rising to a little over 2000 feet.