328 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



derick's Brook^ a branch of Weldon's Creek, emptying it- 

 self into the Petticodiac, is described ; the first indications 

 were observed near the confluence of this river with the 

 Memramcook, where the sides of the ravine through which 

 it flows, are composed of sandstone, shale, bituminous 

 shale, and coals frequently concealed beneath detritus and 

 the rubbish of the forest. The strata are here intersected 

 by the stream, and run nearly east and west, with a general 

 dip to the south. The coal was found most abundantly a 

 little higher up the river, existing in several strata, the 

 largest of which is about nine feet in thickness. Almost all 

 the shale, to a distance of a mile along the stream, is highly 

 charged with bitumen. The area of the New Red Sand- 

 stone formation may be stated as extending from the head 

 of Belle-isle Bay on the St. John, in a north-easterly di- 

 rection, along the division line between King's and Queen 

 Counties, to the Cocaigne and Shediac Harbours on the 

 Gulf of the St. Lawrence ; and in a southerly direction, to the 

 Kennebeckasis and Petticodiac Rivers. 



The fertility of this district of country in New- Brunswick, 

 is very remarkable, in a great measure owing to the character 

 of the sandstone rocks, which disintegrate rapidly when 

 exposed to the changes of the atmosphere, as well as on 

 account of the association of lime and gypsum with their 

 strata, which are of great utility in renovating less produc- 

 tive lands. 



Messrs. Jackson and Alger present us in their report, 

 (which, although published some time since, has been found 

 serviceable in our present comparison of the strata of the 

 two provinces,) with observations entirely coinciding with 

 those of Mr. Gesner, as to the character of the strata of 

 Nova Scotia, and their forming a continuation of those of 

 the Province of New Brunswick; we will not, therefore, 

 enter into the distinctive merits of their work, as this brief 

 summary is all that is required for our present purposes. 



