184 SOME NOVA SCOTIAN ILLUSTRATIONS 



boulders of granite completely hide from view the under- 

 lying ledges, and attain immense size. One, north of Pescowess, 

 according to observations by Mr. W. H. Prest, was 35 feet in 

 height above the debris in which it was imbedded, while another 

 in the same vicinity, was 47 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 15 feet 

 high, or 15,000 cubic feet, and would weigh over 1000 tons. Only 

 those, who, like Mr. Prest, have traversed this district, can form 

 any idea of the extreme difficulty involved in so doing, or of the 

 wild, weird and indescribably desolate aspect which it every- 

 where presents. 



A boulder of somewhat smaller dimensions, but still a giant, 

 and one which is more accessible, occurs upon the Liverpool 

 River, about four miles above Milton. It is composed of grey 

 micaceous sandstone, with slaty layers, and is 30 feet long, 15 

 feet wide, and 20 feet high. 



In the vicinity of Shelburne there are also many large 

 boulders, particularly on the west side of the harbor, towards its 

 head, where they have, in many instances, been the basis of the 

 quarrying and stone-cutting operations carried on here. 



Finally, on the west side of Petite Passage, between Digby 

 Neck and Briar Island, and overlooking the village of Tiverton, 

 is a very remarkable assemblage of detached blocks of rock. 

 Like the beds on which they rest they are composed of trap, but 

 in what way they acquired their present position and character 

 is by no means obvious. They are of immense size, and both 

 individually and in their grouping, exhibit features which border 

 upon the grotesque. Were they at the base of a cliff they might 

 well be the fragments detached from its brow and piled one 

 upon another, but here they are at the top, not the base, of the 

 cliff, and most numerous near its edge, where they stand like 

 sentinels, 100 feet or more above the swirling waters which they 

 overlook. Are they the remains of a lateral moraine, formed in 

 connection with a glacier which once traversed and perhaps 

 made the Petite Passage ? The occurrence of glacial striae along 

 this passage and at the waters edge, as seen at Israel Cove, lends 

 some countenance to this supposition. 



