388 LAKE METAPEDIAC. 



All, however, is covered with wood, with the exception 

 of some of the drier parts at the one end, which Brechut 

 has cleared and brought into cultivation. Blocks of 

 limestone are scattered about the shores of the lake ; and 

 the same rock, resting upon a white sandstone, occurs 

 in situ along its south-western border. This limestone 

 contains fossils, and is considered, by Mr Murray of the 

 Canadian Geological Survey, to be an extension of the 

 limestone formation which, with intermixed, often green- 

 ish calcareous shales, forms stupendous sea-cliffs, 700 

 feet in height, at Gaspe Promontory, and, altogether, 

 attains a thickness of 2000 feet. I had not an oppor- 

 tunity of ascertaining whether the age of this limestone 

 had been exactly made out by Mr Murray, but the 

 fossils he mentions indicate that this extensive calca- 

 reous formation of Gaspe is closely related to the Hel- 

 derberg series of the New York geologists. 



If such be the age of this limestone, a belt of very 

 good land ought to extend in a north-east and south- 

 westerly direction, from Gaspe Promontory, through 

 this part of Lower Canada. From what I saw of the 

 borders of the lake, it appeared to me certain that, wild 

 as it now looks, and remotely as it is situated, the time 

 will yet arrive when drainage and the use of lime will 

 make fertile wheat-land of the flat country which 

 fringes this extensive sheet of water. A natural outlet 

 for its produce exists down the Metapediac River, to the 

 Restigouche on the south ; and should the road be im- 

 proved towards the north, by following the course of 

 the streams instead of crossing all the ridges, as the 

 Kempt Eoad does, the access to the St Lawrence will 

 be made at least equally easy. A grant of 50,000 

 selected acres here now, would be a fine fortune for a 

 family some three generations hence. 



About nine in the morning we arrived at Brechut's, 

 and, after breakfasting, and resting our horse for an 



