146 POST-GLACIAL EXTENSION OF SOUTHERN 



<licular, and may be seen at various places throuochout the Har- 

 bour. At the head of the Harbour where the Musquodoboit 

 River enters, the channel is extended by a like depression and 

 steeply escarped rocks. This last is seemingly a simple continu- 

 ation of the defile below, and a glance at the steep parapets a 

 short distance above tells the story of its formation. Like 

 Niagara, it has been apparently for many thousands of years 

 subject to the undermining and eroding influences of the swiftly 

 flowing river. Ages ago after the last recession of the continen- 

 tal ice fields it probabl}^ began its work, which resulted in the 

 present almost perpendicular clifls, and ages hence should the 

 same influences be still at work, time, if not man, will witness 

 the retreat of the steep rapids and their present position occupied 

 by a deep defile resembling the one below. 



The formation of this river gorge, I have ascribed to what 

 seems to me the most efficient and probable cause, supported by 

 similar evidence on the LaHave, East, Sutherland and numerous 

 other rivers. That it was formed since the p'lacial ap'e, the cliff" 

 tops glaciated to the edges which are yet angular and unworn, 

 seem to pro\'e. That it was not formed by the sea is evinced by 

 its tortuous course through the surrounding hills, preventing the 

 possibility of powerful action at the foot of the cliff's. That it is 

 not an eidarged fissure is demonstrated by the undisturbed state of 

 the slate and quartzite strata through which it is cut. Thus we 

 are left to accept the formative influences first detailed as the 

 most reasonable and effective cause of its conformation. 



Now to apply this argument where it rightfully belongs I may 

 say that the Harbour channel is an exact counterpart in almost 

 ■every particular of the river channel. Its surroundings, tortuous 

 course, conformation and geological structure are the same, 

 but while the harbour channel is fringed with water- 

 covered mud and sand flats, the river flows through dry 

 land. However, the inference forced upon us seems to be the 

 same, viz., that the harbour channel was excavated by the river 

 at a time when the land was at least thirty feet higher, and the 

 mouth of the river seven miles farther south than it is at present. 

 To pursue the subject still further some credence may perhaps 



