38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 



flowing into it, and is really nothing more than a shallow valley 

 of erosion, the softer Lower Carboniferous rocks which once prob- 

 ably occupied nearly the entire area of the depression having 

 been, to a large extent, removed by denudation. Its waters are 

 comparatively shallow, the deepest parts being rather nearer the 

 northern coast throuo-hout its whole leno'th. Commencinsr at the 



O o C* 



western end, we find the soundings in six different places between 

 that and Point Miscou to be as follows : — At the mouth of the 

 Restigouche, ten fathoms ; north of Heron Island, twelve to 

 fourteen fathoms ; between Belledune and Black Cape, sixteen 

 to nineteen fathoms ; across from Nepisiguit Bay to Bonavcn- 

 ture Point, twenty-six to thirty fathoms ; between Grand Anse 

 and Paspebiac, forty to forty-six fathoms ; and between Point 

 Miscou and Point Maquereau, which is really the mouth of the 

 Bay, forty-five to fifty fathoms ; while beyond its mouth, just 

 south of Bonaventure Island, the depth is about sixty fathoms. 

 It thus appears that there is a gradual descent in the contour 

 lines of its bottom from the mouth of the Restigouche eastward 

 and northeastward into the Gulf, for beyond the Orphan Bank 

 (a small shallow area lying opposite its mouth) the lead goes 

 down, according to the charts, to a depth of seventy-five fathoms 

 or more. It will be seen in the sequel how the slope and 

 configuration of this depression have controlled the course of 

 the ice-sheet whose markings are found on the rocks along its 

 southern shores. 



This beautiful expanse of water is without rock or shoal, and 

 has only one solitary isle — Heron Island — lying off the coast of 

 Restigouche County. 



The estuary of the Restigouche is a sheltered lake-like sheet 

 of water lying nearly east and west, about twenty one miles in 

 length, reaching from Dalhousie to Tide Head, six miles above 

 Campbellton, and having an average width of two to three miles. 

 It is enclosed by hills varying in height from 500 to 1000 feet. 



The general appearance of the country on either side of the 

 Bay Chaleur is quite different. In the Gasp^ peninsula the 

 Shickshock mountains and some minor ridges give to that region 

 an elevated and rugged character, although to the south of these 

 mountains a great portion of the surface resembles a plateau in- 

 tersected by numerous deep river gorges and ravines. This is 

 especially the case with the district lying between the Metapedia 

 and Cascapedia rivers which is elevated to a height of nearly 1000 



