184 SOME NOVA SCOTIAN ILLUSTRATIONS 
boulders of granite completely hide from view the under- 
lying ledges, and attain immense size. One, north of Pescowess, 
according to observations by Mr. W. H. Prest, was 35 feet in 
height above the debris in which it was imbedded, while another 
in the same vicinity, was 47 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 15 feet 
high, or 15,000 eubic feet, and would weigh over 1000 tons. Only 
those, who, like Mr. Prest, have traversed this district, can form 
any idea of the extreme difficulty involved in so doing, or of the 
wild, weird and indescribably desolate aspect which it every- 
where presents. 
A boulder of somewhat smaller dimensions, but still a giant, 
and one which is more accessible, occurs upon the Liverpool 
River, about four miles above Milton. It is composed of grey 
micaceous sandstone, with slaty layers, and is 30 feet long, 15 
feet wide, and 20 feet high. 
In the vicinity of Shelburne there are also many large 
boulders, particularly on the west side of the harbor, towards its 
head, where they have, in many instances, been the basis of the 
quarrying and stone-cutting operations carried on here. 
Finally, on the west side of Petite Passage, between Digby 
Neck and Briar Island, and overlooking the village of Tiverton, 
is a very remarkable assemblage of detached blocks of rock. 
Like the beds on which they rest they are composed of trap, but 
in what way they acquired their present position and character 
is by no means obvious. They are of immense size, and both 
individually and in their grouping, exhibit features which border 
upon the grotesque. Were they at the base of a cliff they might 
well be the fragments detached from its brow and piled one 
upon another, but here they are at the top, not the base, of the 
cliff, and most numerous near its edge, where they stand like 
sentinels, 100 feet or more above the swirling waters which they 
overlook. Are they the remains of a lateral moraine, formed in 
connection with a glacier which once traversed and perhaps 
made the Petite Passage? The occurrence of glacial strive along 
this passage and at the water's edge, as seen at Israel Cove, lends 
some countenance to this supposition. 
