21 



LAKE FITZGERALD, ST. JOHN, N. B. 



'^7^ HERE is no doubt of a fact that is becoming everyday 

 \^)) more patent to everybody, and that is that our Dominion 

 (New Brunswick in particukir) has not been half explor- 

 ed, and that we are walking over sources of wealth every day 

 of our lives. 



Lake Fitzgerald, within seven miles of St. John, is one ex- 

 ample of this fact. As nearly as I can learn the following are 

 the facts : 



This lake was drained off about twenty years ago by its pres- 

 ent owner, Wm. Murdt)ch, Esq., Engineer and Superintendent of 

 Water and Sewerage, St. John. It is situated near the summit 

 of the southern side of a valley, seventy feet deep and fully a 

 mile wide. There is no rock formation near this minor lake, but 

 around the summits of the elevation, which has evidently been 

 the border of quite a large post glacial lake, tilling the whole 

 valley fully a mile wide and extending its whole length, there 

 is rock deposit showing out. This valley is over seventy feet 

 in depth, so it has evidently at one time been a considerable 

 lake. 



This valley now drains down westward seven miles into Court- 

 ney Bay. 



In draining off the smaller lake (Lake Fitzgerald) there was 

 left an area (jfal)out fifty acres of a dark gray or brown deposit 

 which l)ecamc whiter on drying, and this deposit was of a max- 

 imum depth of thirty feet and extending over Its whole bed. 



Through the kindness of Mr. G. Stead, of the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment Engineer Staff", the writer received a sample of this de- 

 posit last September, and, examining it under the microscope, 

 found that it consisted almost entirely of diatoms, a list of which 

 is given below. On submitting it lo an expert in Philadelphia 

 he pronounced it to "be remarkably free from grit" and that "it 

 would make an excellent polishing powder." If in sufficient 

 quantity it has a commercial value for that purpose. In the 



