COAST OF NOVA SCOTIA- — PREST. 145 



it is seen the usual accompaniment of tree roots, some of which are 

 in a perfect state of preservation. One layer of roots is seen below 

 low water mark. A section of this bog twelve feet high is ex- 

 posed on a point, and, even at that height, the waves during 

 storms reach its very top. The decrease in size of this bog must 

 already have been considerable, as it is well known that the 

 deposits are thin at the edges. 



A like deposit, but of far less extent, is seen at Lennox or 

 Indian Island in Richmond Bay. It is supposed to have an 

 average depth of seven feet, and the tide reaches within three 

 feet of the top. At low tide stumps and roots are seen here as 

 elsewhere. 



At Gallas Point and other places in Orwell Bay, tree stumps 

 apparently rooted in the marshes in which they grew, are seen 

 five feet below high water mark. Those accumulations, once, 

 undoubtedly, on a much higher level have been recently sub- 

 merged, so that the sea is continually working upon them. 



The above details are, I believe, entered in a published report 

 on the Geology of Prince Edward Island. I mention this to show 

 that in the neighbouring Provinces also a gradual subsidence is 

 now going on. There are, undoul)tedly, numerous other places 

 along our coasts where it is apparent that peat bogs and forests 

 are being slowly engulfed hy the ever-advancing sea. A sum- 

 mary of this class of evidence seems to show that there has been 

 a very recent (geologically speaking) subsidence of the Maritime 

 Provinces. This subsidence must have been at least eight or ten 

 feet, for in order to protect and promote the growth of vegeta- 

 tion, the surface must not only be above the highest tides, l)ut 

 must be beyond the reach of the sand and stones thrown up by 

 storms, especially in an exposed situation like Black Point. 

 Unfortunately we have no means of determining the time in the 

 case of subsidence as we have in the case of elevation, all evi- 

 <lence being swallowed by the ever-restless sea. 



At Musquodoboit Harbor, Halifax Co. when the tide is low and 

 the water placid, is seen a deep and narrow channel extending- 

 through the surrounding flats to the sea. This channel is 

 walled with clifls of solid rock in some places almost perpen- 



