372 ON THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF 



What an Esker Is. — The esker is a narrow ridge of strati- 

 fied sand and gravel with occasional boulders. These ridges 

 with small interruptions often extend for manj- miles, resemb- 

 ling in some places a well-built highway or railway embank- 

 ment. The kaine is also composed of the same material 

 as the esker but resembles a mound rather than an embank- 

 ment. The kame properly belongs to a system of modified 

 drift; but the esker has a system of kames altogether separate 

 from the kames formed by other aqueous and erosive agencies. 

 These are known locally as horse-backs, hogs-backs, turn- 

 pikes, Indian roads, etc. Kames are very common, while 

 eskeis are very rare. 



The Eskers of Nova Scotia. — The number of eskers in 

 western Nova Scotia is quite considerable, but may be 

 lessened by exploration, when detached sections will probably 

 be found to be only portions of longer eskers. Some of these 

 attain a perfection of form not excelled elsewhere. The 

 majority of these run across the drainage system of the 

 province. The longest and most prominent eskers run across 

 the highlands of the interior, crossing minor elevations and 

 depressions on the way. The shorter ones are usually found 

 where a plateau breaks off into a sloping surface, or where a 

 vallej^ bounded by high hills runs either across or parallel 

 to the course of ice movement. 



The Great Central Esker. — The longest esker in Nova 

 Scotia is one that runs with few interruptions from south-west 

 of Hectanooga in Digby County, north-easterly towards 

 the source of Bear River. This is said by hunters to be th© 

 same one that runs from the source of Bear River easterly 

 to the western side of Kejimkujik in south-western 

 Annapolis County. It crosses the valleys and watersheds 

 of all the streams running south into Yarmouth County 

 and north into Digby County. It borders on or crosses 

 lakes as broken gravel ridges instead of being spread out 

 as deltas or flood plains, as wc have been taught that they 



