200 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 



These striae, if produced by a continental glacier, would show its 

 normal course in this part of New Brunswick unaffected by in- 

 equalities of surface, as there are no elevations within many miles 

 on either side by which it might be swerved. From their posi 

 tion on the flat lediies, it was impossible to tell from a hurried 

 examination, in which direction the ice moved, whether north- 

 ward or southward. It is probable, however, that these strise 

 have been made by a local glacier, and that its motion from this 

 point at least, was southward or southwestward, perhaps along 

 the Salmon River valley towards Grand Lake. But I would 

 not be surprised if indications of ice having moved in a con- 

 trary direction are found in the northeastern part of the Pro- 

 vince as at Bathurst. One thing appears certain, at all events, 

 viz., that the striae at Weldford have been produced by a different 

 body of ice from that which occupied the Bale de Chaleur valley. 



In concluding this part of my subject it may be stated that so 

 far as my ob.servations have extended in the northern part of the 

 Province I find no evidence of the passage of a continental sheet 

 of ice over that rr^ion from north to south. There is evidence 

 that the l^^nd was covered down to the present sea level by a 

 glacial mantle of considerable thickness, exceeding in narrow 

 valleys 1000 feet, but, in general, much less on level surfaces. 

 This covering probably existed as snow and ice and not as one solid 

 masssive ice-sheet, the ice, when formed, becoming local glaciers. 

 These glaciers de~cended the nearest slopes, seeking the lowest 

 levels, till they debouched into the sea, or formed one large local 

 glacier in the Bay of Chaleur basin. The courses followed by 

 these loc il ice sheets conformed almost invariably in detail to 

 the present surf ice features of the district, not varying far from 

 those of the river valleys. Glacier action of this kind seems to 

 be sufficient to account for all the ob.served glacial phenomena, if 

 we except the transportition of some foreign boulders which may 

 have been earried about by floating ice. 



During the occupation of this region by an ice covering it 

 probably stood somewhat above its present level, 



STRATIFIED MARINE CLAYS {Leda Ctays). 



Stratified clays holding marine fossils in abundance are met 

 with all around the Bale de Chaleur, forming a considerable por- 

 tion of the soil of the area skirting its waters, especially near 

 the mouths of rivers, and they have also been traced along the 



