APPENDIX.. G85 



" Viewed from tlie interior, these mountains appear but little elevated 

 above the general level of the country, which in its main aspects appears 

 comparatively level, although cut by deep valleys and narrow defiles along 

 all its water-courses. 



" Wherever bottom-lands or intervale occurs in the valleys, the soil is 

 remarkably rich. This is evident from the heavy growth of healthy-looking 

 timber they produce, consisting principally of maple, birch, beech, and dm, 

 with occasional oak-trees of large size, and well adapted for staves or ship- 

 timber. 



" I observed some elm trees as much as four feet diameter, and as straight 

 and tall as any I ever saw in tlie forests of Canada or the South-western 

 States. 



" Most of the steep slopes are also heavily timbered ; but on the table- 

 lands the forest is much lighter, and chiefly composed of spruce, fir, and 

 hardwood mixed. The soil generally appears to be good, and compai-atively 

 free from stones. 



" Considerable tracts of the higher or table-lands are occupied by peat 

 bogs, which will, no doubt, some time hereafter, prove of great value, as 

 they ai-e capable of yielding an unlimited supply of that description of fuel, 

 of the finest quality. 



" The surface of these peat-bogs presents the appearance of gently-sloping 

 planes of elliptic form, having deep circular basins at their highest points, 

 full to their brim of clear, icy cold water. These basins are no doubt fed 

 by springs from below, and they appear indispensable to the accumulation 

 of any great depth of peat free from earthy matter. 



" The geology of this district bears a very close resemblance to that of the 

 Cobequid Mountains ; but the brown feldspar rock, or syenite, which is 

 here the predominant intrusive rock, differs from the syenite in the Cobequid 

 Mountains, in having much less quartz and hornblende in its composition, 

 and it is of a more crumbly and perishable nature. On this account the 

 soil of the district is chiefly composed of it. 



" The other intrusive rocks are occasional dikes of porphyry and trap ; true 

 granite being very scarce if at all present. The prevailing stratified rocks 

 are the newer clay-slate, or Upper Silurian rocks, and Devonian, or Lower 

 Cai'boniferous rocks — all metamorphosed to a higher degree, and much 

 more disturbed by igneous masses and dikes, than is observed in any other 

 section of the Province. 



" To make out the geological structure of the district on the large scale 

 is not, however, a very difficult task, because extensive sections of the 

 rocks are exposed along the seashore, and in the channels of some of the 

 rivers. The same general arrangement of the strata in parallel folds 

 appeal's to be the most important feature of its structure ; but the strike 

 of the rock inclines more to the northward and southward than 1 observed 

 anywhere else — being N. 20° E., S. 20° W. ; as a general rule the greatest 

 amount of incHnation 1 observed was, N. 15° E., S. 15° W. This brings 

 the strata obliquely to the Gulf Coast line, Avhich has a general course of 

 about N. 40° E., S. 40° W., aftbrding an excellent opportimity for observ 

 ing the phenomena presented by the different groups along their lines of 

 contact." 



