of the Eastern States. 221 



which are shown along the sides of the Bay of Fundy, have, 

 therefore, each an inclination towards the longer axis of the 

 bay. This, as we hope to show farther on, is a matter of con- 

 siderable significance. The eastern shore of the Bay of Fundy 

 is composed of hard igneous rocks, sloping down to the water 

 at an angle, as we have mentioned, of about sixteen degrees? 

 and forming thus an inclined plane, against which the waves 

 break with but little effect. This great ridge of trap, over a 

 hundred and twenty miles in length, acts like a break- water, 

 and has taken no inconsiderable part in protecting Acadia 

 from the inroads of the sea. Where the waves have found a 

 point of attack, on the sedimentaiw beds eastward of the trap, 

 these have been rapidly eaten away. This may be seen at 

 either end of the trap ridge, where the Basin of Minas has 

 been formed at the northern extremity, and St. Mary's Bay at 

 the southern. At Digby Girt, the break-water has been 

 breached, and the sea, gaining access, has hollowed out the 

 Annapolis Basin. This trap ridge is nowhere more than four 

 or five miles in width, and seems to be the outcropping edge of 

 an immense sheet of trap, conformable with the associated 

 beds of sandstone and shale. Basing with a gentle slope from 

 beneath the waters of the great bay, it attains in some places 

 an elevation of four hundred feet, and usually presents a bold 

 mural escarpment, facing the east. At its northern extremity 

 it forms the picturesque promontory of Blomidon, which is 

 surrounded by the finest coast scenery in Acadia. 



To the eastward, the trap ridge is bordered by a narrow belt of 

 Triassic beds, which form a fruitful and beautiful valley. The 

 rocks underlying this valley are the usual red shales and sand- 

 stones of the Trias, which rest unconformably on the Carbon- 

 iferous and crystalline rocks beneath. 



In the Connecticut valley, rocks of this age extend north- 

 ward from New Haven for a distance of one hundred and 

 twenty-five miles, reaching entirely across the state of Connec- 

 ticut and nearly to the northern boundary of Massachusetts, 

 with a varying width of from five to twenty-five miles. 

 Throughout this whole area the rocks present their usual 



