42 THE RIVER ST JOHN. 



alive ? In such circumstances of doubtful anxiety, the 

 political condition of the province must, on the whole, 

 have been satisfactory to have given rise to the very 

 small measure of excitement which it was my fortune to 

 meet with during nearly four months that I spent in the 

 province. 



The river St John empties itself into the harbour 

 through a narrow passage between high opposing cliffs 

 of metamorphic-slate and limestone rocks. At low tide, 

 a long rapid and a considerable fall exists at the mouth 

 of the river ; but the tide rises twenty-six feet, which is 

 sufficient to equalise the level of the outer and inner 

 waters, so as, for a brief space before and after high water, 

 to allow vessels of considerable tonnage to ascend and 

 descend with safety. Well-appointed steamer's ply upon 

 the river between St John and Fredericton, the seat of 

 Government — a distance by land of sixty-five miles, and 

 by water, I believe, of about ninety. In spring and 

 autumn, when the water is deep, they ascend to Wood- 

 stock, which is sixty-two miles higher; and when the 

 contemplated improvements are made in the river, small 

 steamers are expected to mount as high as the grand falls, 

 wdiich are seventy-three miles above Woodstock. This 

 extensive natural inland navigation — nearly equal in 

 length to that possessed by the state of New York — will 

 every year become more valuable to the colony. 



14th August. — At one P.M. I embarked on board the 

 steamer for Fredericton, where I arrived at 8J P.M., 

 being at the rate of about twelve miles an hour. The 

 day was fine, and the sail very beautiful. For tlie first 

 thirty miles the river is wide, and has rocky banks of 

 varying height and form, covered with a natural forest 

 growth, except where the hand of man has been busy in 

 partially clearing and establishing farms. The rocks, at 

 the outset, consisted of mixed limestone and slate, then, 

 for a considerable distance, of trap and metamorphic 



