﻿134 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  fault." 
  It 
  is 
  beyond 
  doubt 
  the 
  determinant 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  existence 
  

   and 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  St 
  Lawrence 
  river. 
  " 
  Logan's 
  fault 
  " 
  gave 
  birth 
  

   to 
  the 
  river 
  by 
  setting 
  down 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  weakness 
  along 
  whose 
  crushed 
  

   and 
  broken 
  rock 
  masses 
  the 
  continental 
  waters 
  draining 
  to 
  the 
  

   sea 
  could 
  find 
  their 
  least 
  obstructed 
  passage; 
  and 
  thus 
  began 
  the 
  

   oldest 
  of 
  all 
  great 
  rivers 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  the 
  oldest 
  of 
  all 
  rivers 
  on 
  

   the 
  earth 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  any 
  definite 
  record. 
  

  

  The 
  Appalachians 
  of 
  the 
  Eastern 
  Townships 
  follow 
  the 
  normal 
  

   northeast-southwest 
  course, 
  but 
  in 
  Gaspe, 
  as 
  every 
  one 
  knows, 
  they 
  

   swing 
  about 
  into 
  a 
  curve 
  like 
  a 
  swan's 
  neck 
  or 
  the 
  upper 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  

   letter 
  S. 
  There 
  the 
  northern 
  mountains 
  end 
  at 
  Cape 
  Gaspe 
  on 
  the 
  

   land 
  but 
  their 
  vanishing 
  point 
  can 
  be 
  followed 
  some 
  fifteen 
  miles 
  

   off 
  to 
  sea 
  southeast, 
  to 
  the 
  rocky 
  shoal 
  known 
  on 
  the 
  charts 
  as 
  the 
  

   "American 
  bank." 
  This 
  mountain 
  ridge 
  or 
  orogenic 
  axis 
  at 
  the 
  

   north 
  is 
  unlike 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Appalachian 
  ranges 
  at 
  the 
  south. 
  The 
  

   ridges 
  of 
  these 
  ancient 
  mountains 
  cross 
  Nova 
  Scotia 
  in 
  the 
  normal 
  

   trend; 
  their 
  southwesterly 
  extension 
  off 
  New 
  England 
  is 
  largely 
  

   buried 
  beneath 
  the 
  sea, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  northeast 
  they 
  continue 
  on 
  

   their 
  course 
  across 
  Newfoundland. 
  Looking 
  at 
  the 
  sketch 
  map 
  

   adjoining, 
  one 
  sees 
  the 
  different 
  curves 
  of 
  these 
  mountain 
  axes 
  at 
  

   north 
  and 
  south 
  and 
  between 
  them 
  an 
  area 
  which 
  we 
  must 
  believe 
  

   was 
  less 
  involved 
  in 
  the 
  profounder 
  or 
  axial 
  movement 
  of 
  these 
  dis- 
  

   turbances 
  — 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  central 
  and 
  northern 
  New 
  Brunswick. 
  

   We 
  are 
  speaking 
  of 
  times 
  and 
  conditions 
  when 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  Gulf 
  

   of 
  St 
  Lawrence, 
  when 
  the 
  elevation 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  had 
  brought, 
  

   if 
  not 
  quite 
  all, 
  at 
  least 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  now 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  

   gulf, 
  above 
  the 
  water 
  line 
  and 
  the 
  continent 
  extended 
  without 
  break 
  

   from 
  the 
  present 
  eastern 
  shores 
  out 
  to 
  the 
  islands 
  and 
  across 
  to 
  

   Newfoundland. 
  For 
  long 
  this 
  ancient 
  coast 
  line 
  was 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  

   mountain 
  folds 
  between 
  which 
  the 
  ocean 
  waters 
  entered 
  in 
  broad 
  

   channels 
  southwestward, 
  laying 
  down 
  the 
  deposits 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  

   time 
  in 
  their 
  due 
  succession. 
  But 
  from 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  most 
  ancient 
  

   of 
  these 
  mountain 
  folds 
  were 
  made, 
  when 
  the 
  ridges 
  at 
  the 
  north 
  

   took 
  on 
  their 
  singular 
  curvature, 
  the 
  whole 
  area 
  between 
  their 
  end 
  

   and 
  the 
  mountain 
  axes 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  became 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  weakness 
  

   and 
  instability. 
  This 
  sigmoid 
  curve 
  at 
  the 
  north 
  is 
  a 
  factor 
  of 
  

   profound 
  meaning 
  in 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  the 
  gulf. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  due 
  to 
  

  

  village 
  of 
  Perce, 
  overlooked 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  by 
  towering 
  sea 
  cliffs 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  by 
  consecrated 
  mountains 
  over 
  which 
  Logan 
  labored 
  in 
  his 
  early 
  work, 
  

   and 
  here 
  might 
  well 
  be 
  placed 
  a 
  tablet 
  commemorative 
  of 
  the 
  lasting 
  achieve- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  his 
  great 
  career. 
  

  

  