SOUTH CHETICAMP, CAPE BRETON ISLAND. GRANDIN. 349 



The drainage system of the district corresponds in its 

 principal lines with the general slopes of the surface, which are 

 from south-east to north-west. The main artery is the Cheti- 

 camp river, which enters it from the east a few miles north of 

 the middle, runs south-westerly towards the centre for about 

 2h miles and thence north-westerly for nine miles througii a 

 deep, dangerous and almost impassable canyon to its beautiful 

 .salmon pools where the gorge widens. From thence it con- 

 tinues approximately the same course for three miles, when 

 after cutting through Black mountains it debouches on tiie 

 Cheticamp plain and flows northerly to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

 The river is, like mountain streams, rapid and shaliow, and is 

 nowhere navigable, except for small boats near its mouth, It 

 receives many large brooks from the north and south. One of 

 its most important southern tributaries is the L'Abime brook, 

 in the drainage basin of which the principal metalliferous 

 deposits of the district are situated. This brook has its origin 

 in some ponds and swamps about five miles in a south-easterly 

 direction from its junction with the Cheticamp river. For 2i 

 miles from its source it flows quietly across the plateau, after 

 which it descends wildly through a deep ravine for the remainder 

 of its course. One of the principal feeders of the L'Abime is 

 the McLeod, which joins it from the west, a mile above its 

 mouth. About three-quarters of a mile above its junction 

 with the L'Abime and shortly after commencing to deeply 

 trench the plateau, the McLeod brook receives the Grandin 

 brook from the south and then descends in a north -easterlj^ 

 direction in a series of cascades through a deep wide gorge- 

 The Grandin brook is a very small stream and flows northerlj' 

 through a narrow ravine. 



The plain is mostly cleared and under-cultivation. The 

 slopes of the gorges and ravines of the plateau are clothed with 

 many kinds of woods, conspicuous among which are the birch, 

 maple, beech, spruce and fir ; but on the higher and more level 

 surfaces of the tableland the prevailing vegetation is stunted 



