176 BELL ON THE GEOLOGY OF GASPE. 



the shores of the bay between these points. Gaspe" Bay remains- 

 covered with fixed ice till late in the spring, and thus icebergs 

 from the north are prevented from entering it. This want of 

 far-transported boulders over such a large area, is a fact of great 

 importance ; for when we find loose fragments of useful minerals 

 in this region we may be sure their source is not far off. 



In the Gaspe country the geologist is not aided by artificial 

 excavations ; but the superficial strata may be studied in the natural 

 sections afforded by land slides, and by the wearing away of the 

 banks along the rivers and coast. Excepting the patches close to 

 the shore, there is an entire absence of the flat-lying clay and re- 

 gularly bedded sand so widely spread in the St. Lawrence valley 

 to the westward. Along the river valleys, great accumulations of 

 loose gravel are spread over the unmodified drift, or boulder forma- 

 tion, and on the lower levels the gravel is covered with loam or silt. 

 In passing through the intervals, the streams in many places eat 

 away their banks, first on one side and then at the next bend below r 

 on the opposite side, depositing the material on the banks alternately 

 opposite, and in this way the minor courses of a river are changed 

 in a few years. At one time a small portion of the York River, 

 at high water, flowed through a narrow channel, north of the 

 main one, for a distance of about two miles, just before reaching 

 the head of tide water. About twenty years ago, some obstruc- 

 tions were removed from this channel to allow timber to pass 

 down it; and since that time it -has become gradually enlarged, 

 until now the whole river passes through it, except during freshets,, 

 when a part is forced through the old channel. 



A vast amount of material must be transported every year from 

 the land into the sea by the action of these streams. The greater 

 portion of it is carried out from the shore by the currents and 

 deposited on the bottom of the sea. Alluvial islands and mud 

 flats are formed at the mouths of some of the rivers which enter 

 the sea in sheltered situations. The most conspicuous of these 

 are found in Gaspe Bay, at the mouths of the Dartmouth and 

 Tork Rivers, where the meadow islands, comprising hundreds of 

 acres, furnish pasture and hay for the horses and cattle of the 

 settlers in the neighbourhood. Natural dykes are thrown up 

 along the borders of these islands, and upon them long rows of 

 trees and bushes venture out beyond the outline of the woods upon 

 the upper islands. 



Along the rivers, the silt is from one lo six feet and even more 



