savanna n Cp DAE ~ 1; DC (1849-). Uninhabited treeless stretches of wasteland in the interior of the island of Newfoundland, supporting low shrubs, berries, mosses and grass; BARRENS, DOWNS. Also attrib.
[1822] 1856 CORMACK 18-19 The plains which shone so brilliantly are steppes or savannas... They are in the form of extensive gently undulating beds stretching northward and southward... The savannas are continually moist or wet on the surface, even in the middle of summer, but hard underneath. 1846 TOCQUE 123 All the rest of the country through which we passed was one vast savanna. 1866 WILSON 37 Passing these ravines and belts of woods, we arrive at an open country, called The Barrens, which are an immense waste, consisting of barren rock, or rock covered with moss. Also extensive marshes or savannas, and ponds of all sizes and figures, around which patches of woods vary the scene. 1868 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 34 To the west only, beyond the head of the steady we caught glimpses of a level prairie land of vast green tracts like cultivated fields. This is the Savanna country so enthusiastically described by W E Cormack in his itinerary of 1822.
