No. 8.] MATTHEW — GEOLOGV 01* NEW BRUNSWICK. 451 



there is a shoal corresponding to the ''centre-shoal" described 

 on a previous page, as produced by the ocean current of a former 

 period. And along the straight reach of the. northern shore of 

 Deer Island, a channel has been made by the tide, such as the 

 Arctic current produced in Syrtensian times, at many points in 

 the southern counties, where a similar obstacle opposed its on- 

 ward course. 



At Saint John, like results have been produced by the flux 

 and reflux of the tide in the narrow passage by which that river 

 debouches into the Bay of Fundy. Although there is only six 

 fathoms at low water on the reef which causes the rapid ("F^lls") 

 at the mouth of the river, such is the force of the current that 

 trenches of 25 fathoms deep below the " Falls," and 33 fathoms 

 deep above it, have been produced. 



In the open parts of the Bay of Fundy, especially in its 

 upper half, there are ridges and hollows seemingly produced by 

 tidal erosion. Thus in the centre of the bay, between Quaco, 

 New Brunswick, and Margaretville, Nova Scotia, there is a de- 

 pression outlined by the 40-fathom contour line, nine miles long 

 and three wide : it lies just between the points of two ridges 

 (outlined by the 30-fathom line) which extend out from either 

 shore. Up in Chignecto Passage also, ofi" Cape Enrag^, there 

 is a trough scooped out by the tide, which is outlined by the 

 30, 25, and 20 fathom contour lines. And furher up the same 

 arm, another, lying in the Cumberland channel, between Peck's 

 Point and Boss Point ; this trough is bounded by the 10-fa thorn 

 line, and through it the tide runs at the rate of four knots 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 to the east has thrown the 

 weight of the current on the eastern shore ; and there, under 

 Cape D'Or, lies a trough outlined by the 50, 40 and 30 fathom 

 lines, scooped out to a depth equal to that of the deepest part 

 of the bay between St. John, N. B., and Digby, N. S. : yet in 

 the intervening space between St. John and Cape D'or, the 

 soundings shoal to 25 fathoms. 



Passing Cape D'or and going further up, the bottom again 

 rises to 25 fathoms, but soon sinks into another trough 40 

 fathoms deep. This extends to Cape Split, where a sharp 

 barrier reef, rising to within 25 fathoms of the surface, again 



