[Alexander Forbes—home movies] Reel 10, Accession 2533

Date1935

AbstractCan notes: "Labrador 1935 Reel 1" In 1935, Alexander Forbes returned to Labrador by plane, as a relief pilot and photographer, with only a pilot-mechanic as a companion. After 11 days they completed their task of photographing the region near Cape Chidley on the northern tip of Labrador as part of the first aerial mapping survey. To the south of Cape Chidley is McLelan Strait, the western entrance to which was names "Forbes Sound" after Alexander Forbes by the Geographical Board of Canada. Intertitle: "FLIGHT OVER NORTHERN LABRADOR AUGUST, 1935" Intertitle: "Flying north from St. Mary's river to Hopedale and Nain, August 5." Views from airplane flying over open water, showing shoreline, small islands and small icebergs below, and in one brief shot, a three-masted schooner. It is all raw, unsettled land. Water-level shots from a sailing vessel showing rocky coastline, and a small fishing village beyond. This may be Nain (compare with Holbrook collection footage of schooner Bowdoin in Nain). Intertitle: "The flight from Nain to Hebron; locating shoals at Port Manvers." High aerials over mountainous islands in northern Labrador. Intertitle: "Over the Kiglapait Mountains." Very high aerial shots over rugged partially snow-covered mountains. Very little vegetation is seen. The Kiglapait Mountains lie east of Nain, in northern Labrador but south of the Torngat and Kaumajet Mountains. Not as high as those ranges, they still boast very rugged terrain and many peaks with high prominence values. Intertitle: "The Kaumajet Mountains of Cape Mugford" Views from an airplane of rugged partially snow-covered mountains along the coast. A little vegetation is seen on some of the mountains. The Kaumajet Mountains are a dramatic compact range rising directly out of the sea on the northern Labrador coast. The range boasts one 4,000-foot peak, the highest island peak on the east coast of North America between the Caribbean and Hudson Strait, and several peaks with very high prominence. The highest mountain in the Kaumajet Mountains is Brave Mountain at 1,300 m (4,265 ft). Intertitle: "Arrival at Hebron, August 6." Views from the plane which is taxiing along the water of a small village hugging the shoreline, with a few small icebergs in the harbor. Views of the small plane tied up to the dock, where a man rolls a fuel barrel down the dock toward the plane.