CHAP. XXIV. THE WINDS OF THE GULF. 57 



tlie Sliick-Shock Mountains, whose western extremities 

 come upon the St. Lawrence on the Matan Eiver, sixty 

 miles below Bic Island, are everywhere grand and im- 

 posing. The breadth of the range here is not more than 

 two miles, while their summits rise on an average 2,000 

 feet above the sea-level. The range runs near due east 

 and west, increasmg in width and elevation as it advances 

 eastward, until at the Chat Eiver, near the Cape of the 

 same name, it has a breadth of six miles, with peaks 

 rising to upwards of 3,500 feet, after which it sphts into 

 two ranges, running parallel to one another. 



The prevaihng winds during the season of navigation 

 are directly up or du^ectly down the estuary, following 

 the course of the high lands on either side of the great 

 valley of the St. Lawrence. A SE. wind in the Gulf be- 

 comes ESE. between Anticosti and the south shore, EJSTE. 

 above Point des Monts, and NE. above Green Island. 



The westerly winds are almost always accompanied 

 with fine, dry, clear, and sunny weather ; the easterly 

 winds are cold, wet, and foggy, and in the spring fi'e- 

 quently blow for several weeks in succession. As the 

 summer advances the westerly winds become more fre- 

 quent, and the SW. wind may be said to be the prevailing 

 summer wind in all parts of the river and gulf* 



Admiral Bayfield places great reliance upon the indi- 

 cations of the barometer in the estuary and gulf He 

 draws attention to the remarkable circumstance that a 

 high barometer may be considered as the forerunner of 

 wet and foggy weather, whilst a low barometer renders it 



* Bayfield. 



