Field book, 1870, Dantzic Cove, August 10: “Here, all is confusion…”

August 10, I completed the journey to Little Dantzic Cove on the Burin Peninsula and was not disappointed in the formations found according to Howley’s description.

 The gravel road down to the shore south of Little Dantzic Cove wasn’t too bad, we drove part way down and found a spot where we were able to get off the road.  We were about a quarter mile walk from the water where we picked up an ATV trail which hugged the coast, this took us to Little Dantzic Cove.

 My mother, son and loyal dog, Jake were with me.  I read in some of his field books that Howley did take his older sons Richard and William on some of his west coast surveys and one of his dogs, Flockko, accompanied him on some excursions in the interior but I don’t think he ever took his mother!!

We had to hike to the far end of the beach because the formation I was looking for was on the cliffs north of the beach.  I went to look for the formations alone, it was a hot day and all hands were pretty much done in by the time we got to the cove.  I was too nervous about having the dog up on the cliffs so he had to stay behind too.

The white quartzite that “runs underneath the cove” wasn’t hard to spot.  It was snow white on top, with some yellow-brownish weathering and it was everywhere on the north end of the cove. 

  I kept walking northwards along the edge until I spotted what looked like many colours and types of rock in a cliff face below me. Howley opens his description of the area as “here all was confusion”.  I had to climb down a small gully in order to get down to the shoreline.  It wasn’t easy, the rocks were slippery but I felt I had found a “great deal of disturbance”. 

His words were leaping out of the rocks here, I seen what he described as “rocks that appear to be burnt” and the “bed of limestone that is thrown up and folded over sharply in one place”.

The whole atmosphere there also seemed to be one of confusion for me.  I felt it was a lot to take in, this massive, contorted mess of colour and texture.  Huge black rain clouds began to form in the sky and I didn’t want to get into any precarious spots, there was no beach, only chunks of rock at the water’s edge.  I did a sketch, took plenty of pictures and left satisfied that I was in Howley's footsteps once again.