12 



general elevation is however, considerably less than 1,000 

 feet (300 m.). 



In New Brunswick, the plateau area is bordered on the 

 southwest by a much more rugged area with numerous 

 peaks rising above 2,000 feet (600 m.). This broken, 

 semi-mountainous tract occupies the central portion of 

 the province. It is bounded on the southwest by a lowland 

 area of about 10,000 square miles (26,000 sq. km.) over 

 which the general elevation is less than 500 feet (150 m.). 

 This lowland reaches on the east, to the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence, forms the whole of Prince Edward Island, and 

 extends easterly into Nova Scotia along the north side 

 of the Cobequid hills. In New Brunswick, the lowland 

 is bordered on the south by Caledonia mountain, a wide 

 ridge rising steeply from the northwestern shores of the 

 Bay of Fundy and having over a considerable area, a 

 general altitude of about 1,200 feet (360 m.). In Nova 

 Scotia, the upland area of the Cobequid hills forms the 

 southern boundary of the extensive lowland. The Cobe- 

 quid hills run in an easterly direction from the head of 

 the Bay of Fundy. They have a general elevation in 

 the neighbourhood of 600 to 900 feet (180 to 270 m), and 

 on their south side slope down to Minas Basin, an easterly 

 prolongation of the Bay of Fundy. 



The peninsula of Nova Scotia is formed mainly of an 

 upland area extending in a general northeasterly direction 

 and having along its axial line a general elevation of about 

 1,000 feet (300 m.). On the southeastern side it falls 

 gradually to the ocean, on the northwestern side its slopes 

 are steeper and it is in part, bounded by a lowland area 

 surrounding the Cobequid hills and extending westward 

 into New Brunswick. The island of Cape Breton forms 

 the northeastern extension of the main upland of Nova 

 Scotia, and on this island the upland area, though broken 

 into isolated ridges, attains a maximum altitude of above 

 1,500 feet (450 m.). 



The wide channel of the St. Lawrence on the northwest 

 forms the natural boundary of the region in this direction. 

 To the northwest of the river valley stretches the vast 

 Pre-Cambrian area of the "Canadian Shield" which 

 abruptly rises from the St. Lawrence shores to heights 

 of 1,000 feet (300 m.) and more. At widely separated 

 intervals along the northwest shore, and on Anticosti 

 island and on some of the smaller islands, are displayed 



