544 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



climate belonged to the early part of the human period, else the kitchen 

 rubbish has no significance. 



A similar colony is said to exist in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Their 

 continued existence in the Gulf and Casco bay may be explained in the 

 same way. Both these bodies of water are comparatively shallow. This 

 fact prevents the flow into them of the cold arctic current from the 

 north, and allows the heat of the sun in the summer to moderate the 

 temperature very considerably. The tides are not very powerful in these 

 tays, — certainly not like the enormous ebb and flow in the Bay of Fundy, 

 where the southern animals do not exist. The moderate tide prevents 

 the thorough mingling of the cold and warm waters, and this is favora- 

 ble to the continuance of the colonies. 



The changes in the temperature of the bays seem therefore to be local 

 in character, and to be readily accounted for by variations in the relative 

 level of land and water. The deepening of the bays and the influx of 

 the arctic current might kill off the more delicate animals, and thus 

 exterminate the colonies ; or, with the development of other contiguous 

 shallow areas, the inhabitants may migrate to more salubrious climes. 

 Could we become better acquainted with the present distribution of live 

 animals on the land and beneath the water off the coast of New Hamp- 

 shire, still other chapters might be added to our history. 



I have now given a brief outline of the physical history of New Hamp- 

 shire. Commencing with mere points of dry land, we have seen how the 

 territory has increased in size from age to age, and have appreciated the 

 fact that the state is quite ancient, — almost the oldest land in America. 

 For much of geological time the record has been meagre. Entire races 

 have peopled its surface, and left behind no evidence of their existence. 

 No doubt the wonderful birds, which left their footmarks along the Con- 

 necticut valley in Massachusetts, built their nests among the jungles of 

 New Hampshire, from whence they often emerged in search of food. 

 And in the Carboniferous period immense forests must have covered our 

 hillsides, even more luxuriant than the original growth which furnished 

 so many magnificent masts for the royal navy of England. The last is 

 the greatest of all the periods in our history. Man, the crowning mas- 

 ter-piece of creation, has been introduced. The silence of the forests is 

 broken with the axe ; the savage beasts and aboriginal men, their com- 



