42 HAMILTON— ON TIDES OF TilE BAY OF FUN^DT. 



of way, and for reasons which will be obvious from what ha^ 

 been already stated. 



I have endeavoured to point out the principal causes which 

 direct the courses and regulate the velocity of tidal currents in 

 the Bay of Fundy, and have briefly described some of their 

 effects. The comparative height to which the tides rise in 

 various parts of the Bay and its inlets, may, in a great measure, 

 be accounted for by the same causes, but not wholly so. A vast 

 deal depends upon the conformation of the channel in which the 

 tide runs. Where the retaining shores converge in such a way 

 as to form a prolonged, straight, and funnel-shaped channel, the 

 flood, rushing up such a channel, acquires an enormous mo- 

 mentum, which piles up its waters, we may say, towards the 

 termination of the funnel, to an extent that could not be possible 

 under other circumstances. We find this formation in a marked 

 degree in Cobequid bay. Again in Shepody bay with its 

 prolongation of Petitcodiac river ; and again, but in a much less 

 degree, at the head of Cumberland basin. These localities, 

 but more especially the first named, are noted for the extraordi- 

 nary height of their tides in comjiarison with other parts of the 

 Bay of Fundy and its branches. 



As to what really is the maximum rise of tide at any one 

 point in this Bay, that is a matter upon which authorities dififer. 

 Indeed scarcely any two of the Admiralty hj'dographers agree 

 upon it. The results of all my enquiries and examinations amount 

 to about this : In St. John harbour and Digby gut, ordinaiy spring 

 tides do not exceed from twenty-seven to thirty feet. As a rule, 

 the vertical rise and fall of the tide increases as we proceed from 

 the mouth of the Bay eastward, towards its head ; but the ratio 

 according to which it increases is irregular, being much afiected 

 by the width and formation of the channel. From what has 

 been already said, it will appear obvious that in the Bay of 

 Fundy proper, from the mouth up to the point of its bifurcation 

 at cape Chieguecto, the height of the tide will increase in a 

 more regular, but much less rapid ratio, than we shall find it to 

 do as we proceed up Cobequid, Cumberland, or Shepody bay. It 

 is admitted on every hand that the point Avhere the greatest rise 

 of tide takes place in the whole Bay of Fundy, is at the mouth 



