Annual Field Day. 165 



The scenery along the route was varied and beautiful. 

 Passing over the great plain of central Canada which ex- 

 tends as far as St. Jerome, the party at this point entered 

 the Laurentian highlands, ascending the valley of the 

 North River. This is at first wide and fertile, but the country 

 rapidly rises, and at Ste. Adele and St.e Agathe becomes very 

 hill} 7 and rugged, the latter point being a little over thirteen 

 hundred feet above sea level. This portion of the country 

 and on to a point a short distance past St. Faustin is under- 

 lain by a great mass of intrusive rock which is known as the 

 Morin Anorthositc, and is, geologically, of the highest in- 

 terest. From this point the line of the Great Western Kail- 

 way continues to ascend until the height of land is reached 

 near St. Faustin ; this is 1520 feet above the St. Lawrence 

 at Montreal. The North River was here left behind, and 

 the train descended into the valley of the River Rouge, 

 which, flowing south, falls into the Ottawa, opposite the 

 village of L'Orignal. Running up the valley, Labelle was 

 soon reached, being situated on the river at a point where 

 the Rouge having cut its way through the sandy drift which 

 mantles the country, precipitates itself over a series of high 

 ledges of the underlying Laurentian gneiss, forming the pic- 

 turesque Chute aux Iroquois. This is at present the ter- 

 minus of the railroad. Tracks have, however, been laid 

 three miles beyond this station, and the promoters of the 

 railway look to the day when it will reach Lake Nomin- 

 ingue, and even the upper waters of river Lievre, thus 

 opening up a region said to be of great fertility and one 

 offering great inducement to the sportsman and tourist. 



The village of Labelle consists of a saw and grist mill, 

 a church, two stores, and two hotels, besides a dozen other 

 houses, and as has been mentioned is situated on the banks 

 of the Rouge. The volume of the river here is compara- 

 ively large and the falls could supply water power for 

 several mills. In the centre of the channel, at the head of 

 the falls, the water is parted by a large rock, which has 

 been utilized as a pier, for the erection of a bridge. From 

 this bridge an excellent view of the chute may be had as 



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