116 RISE OF THE TIDE AT THE BEND. 



boatmen and shipmasters who are unacquainted with the 

 river is sometimes a source of danger. Dr Gesner states 

 that it is three hours' flood at the mouth of the river 

 before the tide reaches the Bend, that it flows in and 

 ebbs off in six hours, and, though the rise of the tide in 

 feet is not so great as at places near its mouth, yet that 

 the level of high water at the Bend is in reality several 

 feet higher than that of high water at the head of She- 

 pody Bay.* 



Thus, at Dorchester Island, in the open bay, and at the 

 Bend, the height of high water above the level of low 

 water at the former place is as follows : — 



At Dorchester Island. At the Bend. Difference. 



Common tides, . . 36 feet. 45 feet 4 in. ) qi f + 

 Highest tides, ... 48 feet. 57 feet 4 in. J ^ 



The level of the river at high water is therefore 9 feet 

 higher than it is at the mouth of the river. Above the 

 level of high water on the Atlantic coast, it is pi'obably 

 several feet higher still. Could the outfalls of the river be 

 improved, therefore, as has been the case in our north 

 of England river Wear, a much more perfect drainage 

 of the river-side intervale land might be effected, and 

 the level of high water so much reduced as to render 

 securely dry many tracts now liable to periodical 

 overflow. 



It is to the former prevalence of such phenomena as 

 this, and not to a real elevation of the land, that some of 

 the discoveries of animal remains embedded in alluvial 

 soils, now considerably above the existing level of adjoin- 

 ing waters, is to be ascribed. 



At high water, the river at the Bend is broad, deep, 

 and beautiful. Vessels of 100 tons can then come up to 

 the town, which is thus enabled to carry on a direct 

 trade with Boston in the United States. In the summer 

 months a steamer also plies between the town and the 

 * Dr Gesneb's Neio Brunswick, p. 90. 



