14 



FOREST LIFE IN ACADIB. 



In winter time* tlm ])r()|»in([uity of the (iulf Stream pro- 

 duces frequent modenitions of temperature. Deep falls 

 of snow arc peqx'tually melting under its warm currents 

 of air when borne inland, though sucli phases are quickly 

 succccdeil hy a rcaaseition of true North American cold, 

 with a return of the north-west wind, arresting the thaw, 

 and enchasing the steaming snow with a film of glace ice. 



During th(! spring months ag?»in, the Arctic currents, 

 acconqtanied by easterly or nor' li-eastcrly winds, exercise 

 a cliillinji: influence on the climate of the Atlantic coast 

 of the Lower Provincjcs. Immense areas of ficdd ice float 

 past the Nova-Scotian shores from the mouth of the St. 

 Lawrence and harbours of the Gulf, often working round 

 into Halifax harbour and obstnicting navigation, whilst 

 vegetation is thereby greatly retarded. 



The mirage observed on apprt)aching these floating ice 

 plains at sea is very striking — mountains appear to grow 

 out of them, with waterfalls ; towns, castles, and spires, 

 ever fleeting and varying in form. I have observed very 

 similar effects produced in summer, off the coast, on a 

 clear day, on a distant wall of sea fog, by evaporation. 

 As might be reasonably expected, the commingling of 

 two great currents emanating from such far distant 

 sources as do the Gulf and the Polar streams, must be 

 productive at their point of junction, of phenomena inte- 

 resting to the ichthyologist. To the student of this 

 branch of natural history Halifax is an excellent position 

 for observation, and from the recorded memoranda of 

 Mr. J. M. Jones we find many curious meetings of 

 northern and southern types in the same waters — for 

 instance that of the albicore and the Greenland shark 

 (Thynnus vulgaris and Scymnus borealis) — the former a 



