[GANONG] BOUNDARIES OF NEW BRUNSWICK 261 
between the two branches in this respect ; the Chiputneticook 
extends over twice as far into the country and in a northerly 
line, while the Scoodic not only extends a lesser distance but 
bends out of the direct line at right angles. Can we doubt from a topo- 
graphical point of view, if the authors of the charter of 1621, of the 
later documents, and of the treaty of 1783 had had correct maps before 
them, which branch they would have selected? The topographical argu- 
ment, it is interesting to note, has strong support also from a British 
source. Among the Boundary Ms. is a paper by Charles Morris, Sur- 
veyor-General of Nova Scotia, entitled “ Observations on the Western 
Limits of that part of Nova Scotia which is now called New Brunswick, 
&e.,” of about 1796, in the course of which he says, “I should imagine 
that river to be the River St. Croix intended [by the Treaty] whose 
source should be found furtherest into the country westward and north- 
ward towards the highlands mentioned in the Treaty.” Moreover, the 
Chiputneticook appears to me to be the main river. I am familiar with 
the appearance of the rivers and the country at their junction, and the 
Scoodic certainly comes in there, as the map shows, as a side branch,* 
while the Chiputneticook keeps the main direction of the river valley. 
T have endeavoured to compare the respective sizes of their basins, and 
have made exact measurements of the areas of their basins from Wilkin- 
son’s map (the best now existent), with a result that they are so nearly 
equal that [ cannot say which is largest. Taking the topography all 
in all, however, I think the Chiputneticook is the main river, and the 
one most natural to be selected as a boundary of the kind desired in this 
region. I believe, therefore, that the British agent was not justified, 
upon historical or topographical grounds in claiming the western branch, 
though he supposed he was, and, from the point of view of the advocate, 
he was. That the Chiputneticook was chosen, even though as a com- 
promise and not upon logical grounds, that is, as it were, by luck, seems 
to me most fortunate, and both nations should agree that this question at 
least was settled happily. 
We pass next to consider the question as to the identity of the River 
St. Croix of Mitchell’s map, not because this question has any real bear- 
ing upon the decision of the commissioners, but because it is of some 
interest in itself as a local question, and also because partizan writers 
still assert, despite the findings of the commission, that the St. Croix 
of Mitchell’s map should have been chosen. At a first glance the ques- 

2 It is a fact that is not without interest in this connection that from a 
physiographic point of view, the Chiputneticook is without question the main 
river, the Scoodic branch having been turned into it in comparatively recent 
times. 
