This winter we’ve been looking at PEI’s natural history – the story our landscape tells about itself. So far, we’ve read chapters written in sandstone, fossils, glacial deposits, ancient pollen, and early Indigenous sites. Today, let’s look at reports from European explorers, starting with Jacques Cartier in 1534.
On June 29, 1534, Cartier spotted the north shore of PEI and, over the next two days, sailed west around what is today called North Cape, continuing along our western shore. He described the Island as “…the fairest land it’s possible to see, full of beautiful trees and meadows…”. At that time, PEI would have been about 98% forested, the only exceptions being open water ponds, peat bogs, salt marshes, and sand dunes. The next written record was nearly a century later (Samuel de Champlain in 1632). These first records, along with those of Europeans who followed over the next 150 years, give insight into our pre-settlement landscape.
Western PEI was home to extensive tracts of Eastern White Cedar, some as much as four feet (more than 120 cm) in diameter! They were described variously as fine, valuable and durable, reflecting the utilitarian view of the time. Cedar is still common in Prince County, and while trees of that size are rare, it’s exciting to come across a remnant (Photo 1).
American Elm was found west and east, their size inspiring adjectives such as graceful, magnificent, excellent, and towering. The ‘Big Elm’ off the Glen Road near Souris harkened back to that time until it blew down in 2013 (Photo 2, taken earlier that same year).
Early explorers wrote of “great huge spruces”, “the finest groves of pine”, and Eastern Hemlock three-and-a-half feet across and more than 80 feet tall (more than 100 cm diameter and 24 metres high). White Pine with diameters of two feet (more than 60 cm) were common and individual trees as much as five feet (more than 150 cm) across were known. We have less information about Fir and Larch, trees that were not as valuable as the other conifers (although Larch was used in shipbuilding and both trees were used for building fences).
The Island no longer has large tracts of huge spruce, pine, or hemlock but there are some impressive trees in Central and Eastern PEI (Photos 3 and 4).
The written records tell of “all kinds of hardwoods” and describe Yellow Birch six feet (more than 180 cm) across and Sugar Maples 60 feet (more than 18 metres) tall. Red Oak were said to be “of considerable size” (a modern ‘teenage’ remnant, Photo 5). Western PEI had “extensive ash swamps” that included large, superior trees. Beechwoods were reported across the Island, with individual Beech three feet (90 cm) in diameter and of “majestic” heights.
Taken together, these descriptions paint a picture of PEI covered in large, old growth forest with a mix of deciduous and coniferous species. This early forest may sound idyllic, but to the settlers it was viewed only as a source of timber, and the soil under it future farmland. In contrast to Cartier’s “fairest land” and “beautiful trees”, later Europeans described the landscape with phrases like “gloomy wilderness” and recounted the “horror” of their first impressions of this new place.
The landscape encountered by Europeans was very different than the one we know today, but we can still find glimpses of this past grandeur in parts of PEI Untamed!
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