460 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
Below twenty-seven miles, and down to Devil’s Brook, the river 
runs swiftly with continuous drop, but with no falls nor bad rapids. 
Throughout all this part, however, the valley is very narrow and the- 
walls steep, at times forming almost true cliffs. The edge between 
the valley and the peneplain into which it has cut is very sharp and 
level, and apparently somewhat under 200 feet above the bed. This 
part of the river in places recalls that part of the Nepisiguit between 
Nine ]Nlile Brook and the Narrows, although on the geological map it 
is given as of a different formation. Despite its narrowness, however, 
it is probably a part of the ancient valley, for its bed is drift-filled. 
Probably its narrowness and the steepness of the banks is a character- 
istic determined by the hardness of the rocks. 
From Devils Brook to Catamaran Brook the valley is more open, 
the peneplain lower, the river bed broader and drift-filled, and terraces 
appear, of a height estimated from thirty to forty feet. Higher up the 
river low terraces of coarse materials had been seen at the mouth of 
the Lower North Branch, and at twenty-six miles. Below Catamaran 
Brook the river bed becomes yet broader and more shallow, the walls 
of the valley farther back and the peneplain yet lower, and terraces 
become more frequent and higher, and of finer materials. At Otter 
Brook the first settlement is met with, and soon after the river breaks 
up among many islands and flows through a broad, well-matured and 
charming valley until it reaches the head of tide, a mile or two above 
the junction with the Northwest Miramichi. 
In summary, the chief characteristic of the Little Southwest 
Miramichi River, from the physiographic point of view, consists in the 
many changes in its course due to the Glacial period. In this respect 
no other of our rivers, excepting the lower twenty-two miles of the 
Nepisiguit, can compare with it. As to why this river in particular 
shows this character in so marked a degree, I can only suggest that 
there may be some connection between this fact and the position of 
the river on the southeast, and therefore in the lee, of the Glacial 
movement over the highest land in New Brunswick. The leward 
position would be that in which glacial debris would most accumulate, 
and glacial debris is the indirect cause of the roughness of this river. 
