372 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. ix. 



fined trough lies in the middle of the Bay between Quaco and 

 Margaretville, where there is a depression outlined by the 40 

 fathom contour line, nine miles long and three miles wide. In 

 Chigiiecto Channel off Cape Enrage there is a trough scooped out 

 by the tide to the depth of 30 fathoms, and further up the same 

 arm of the bay in Cumberland Channel another, through which 

 the tide runs at the rate of four miles an hour. 



But it is in the eastern arm of the Bay of Fundy — Minas 

 Channel and Basin — that the scouring action of the tide is most 

 conspicuous. The curve of this arm of the bay to the eastward 

 throws the weight of the current on the northern shore, where 

 under Cape D'Or lies a trough scooped out to a depth equal to 

 that of the deepest part of the Bay of Fundy between Saint 

 John and Digby. Passing Cape D'Or and going further up, 

 the bottom again rises to within 25 fathoms of the surface, but 

 soon sinks into another trough 40 fathoms deep. 



This extends to Cape Split where another sharp barrier reef 

 comes to within 25 fathoms of the surface. Over this the tide 

 runs swiftly, plunging down on the opposite side into a trench 

 50 fathoms deep, and rushes through the Parrsboro' Passage at 

 the great velocity of 10 miles an hour. Beyond this the trough 

 becomes shallower and branches off toward the Cornwallis, Avon 

 and Shubenacadie Rivers. 



A sudden elevation of the sea-bottom in the region of the Bay 

 of Fundy to the extent of 250 feet would therefore now expose 

 to view a chain of lakes varying from 50 to 150 feet deep, besides 

 others of less extent and depth, all due to tidal erosion. If such 

 a movement were continued till the whole of the basin, of the 

 Bay of Fundy were raised above the sea, there would then be, in 

 addition, at the mouth of the Bay, a large lake, partly, but 

 not entirely, the result of tidal wear. With, such palpable re^ 

 suits before us, of the cutting power of the tides, we cannot 

 refuse to give weight to the similar action of deep-seated and 

 powerful ocean currents as factors in modifying the surface of 

 the earth in Post Pliocene times. 



Wherever in the upper part of the Bay of Fundy the current 

 has been confined by projecting headlands, or concealed sub- 

 marine ridges, and hindered in its semi-diurnal impulse to enter 

 the remotest creek at the head of the Bay, there it began like a 

 wild beast to chafe and sur^e and roar ao-ainst the obstacles in 

 its path. Century after century the tide has thus been gnawing 



