10 THE DAWN OF LIFE. 



who knows that they have endured the battles and 

 the storms of time longer than any other mountains, 

 invests them with a dignity which their mere ele- 

 vation would fail to give. (Fig. 2.) In the isolated 

 mass of the Adirondacks_, south of the Canadian 

 frontier, they rise to a still greater elevation, and 

 form an imposing mountain group, almost equal in 

 height to their somewhat more modern rivals, the 

 White Mountains, which face them on the opposite 

 side of Lake Champlain. 



The grandeur of the old Laurentian ranges is, how- 

 ever, best displayed where they have been cut across 

 by the great transverse gorge of the Saguenay, and 

 where the magnificent precipices, known as Capes 

 Trinity and Eternity, look down from their elevation 

 of 1500 feet on a fiord, which at their base is more 

 than 100 fathoms deep (see frontispiece). The name 

 Eternity applied to such a mass is geologically 

 scarcely a misnomer, for it dates back to the very 

 dawn of geological time, and is of hoar antiquity in 

 comparison with such upstart ranges as the Andes 

 and the Alps. 



On a nearer acquaintance, the Laurentian country 

 appears as a broken and hilly upland and highland 

 district, clad in its pristine state with magnificent 

 forests, but affording few attractions to the agri- 

 culturist, except in the valleys, which follow the 

 lines of its softer beds, while it is a favourite region 

 for the angler, the hunter, and the lumberman- 

 Many of the Laurentian townships of Canada 



