402 



followed the course of the pre-Glacial river bed was aban- 

 doned shortly after the waters fell below the 507-foot 

 level. 



The original, pre-Glacial channel passes just east of 

 the railway and its course is now marked by a depression 

 crossed by a bridge at the western continuation of the 

 main street of Grand Falls. At the bridge crossing, the 

 elevation of the bottom of the depression is about 495 feet 

 (150-8 m.). To the south, the bottom of the depression is 

 nearly level, perhaps even falls a little in that direction, 

 but farther south the bottom of the depression distinctly 

 rises. In the opposite direction, to the north, a small 

 stream enters the depression and flows northward with 

 a constantly increasing gradient. This depression was 

 perhaps outlined by the former western channel of the 

 St. John river just before the final abandonment of this 

 western passage. The bottom of the depression, however, 

 rises to the south that is, downstream. This slight rise 

 in the bed in the direction of the flow of the water may 

 possibly only represent slight inequalities in the former 

 river bed. The shape of the depression, on the other 

 hand, has been obviously modified by streams tributary 

 to the main river and perhaps it is to the action of such 

 streams that the depression is largely or even wholly due. 



Across the depression, to the east on the main street of 

 Grand Falls, a slight rise leads to a terrace floor of the same 

 elevation (507 feet or 154 • 5 m.) as that on which the railway 

 runs. Farther on, the street rises to a higher terrace 

 floor; beyond this the road descends to the 507-foot 

 terrace floor whose scarp is plainly visible to the south of 

 the road. Still farther to the east, approaching the canyon 

 of the St. John, the road crosses other, lower terraces. 



From the bridge over the St. John a splendid view is 

 obtained of the falls at the head of the rock-walled gorge. 

 The water enters the gorge by a vertical drop of about 60 

 feet (18-3 m.) and below this descends between vertical 

 walls in a continuous series of cascades and rapids that 

 continue down stream for a distance of i ,000 yards (900 m.), 

 beyond which quiet water is reached. Looking westward 

 up the river, a stream of considerable magnitude — Little 

 river — may be seen joining the St. John just above the 

 brink of the Falls. From the eastern end of the bridge a 

 view may be obtained of the sharp bend of the St. John 

 river where it leaves the course of the original channel. 



