HYDROGRAPHY OF NEW BRUNSWICK 
403 
This condition of things, at least as regards railways, will shortly 
disappear. 
The great New Brunswick or northern wilderness, soon to he 
divided by the railway from Campbellton, contains about 11,500 
square miles. The mean elevation is probably about 850 feet, 
with a maximum elevation of about 2,700 feet at Mount Garleton 
near Nictor Lake. It has suffered quite severely from fires, 
especially in the region about the middle Nepisiquit and upper 
Northwest Miramichi. Some thirty-two of its rivers are more or 
less navigable by canoe. There are fourteen salmon streams, 
salmon also ascending a few large brooks. 
The Cain’s River wilderness, area about 1,500 square miles, is 
remarkable as extending to within two miles of Fredericton. Its 
mean elevation will not exceed 250 feet. 
The purity of our rivers is affected by inequalities of flow, for 
where variations are extreme the high floods will cause much 
erosion and the feeble summer stream will be ineffective in carry- 
ing off accidental impurities. The normal impurities of New 
Brunswick streams may be considered under three heads : — 
First — Unseen impurities, only determinable by such chemical 
analysis as has recently been made of the St. John at Fredericton. 
Second — Such impurities as produce color-effects in the 
water. This subject has been considered by Dr. Ganong. See 
Bulletin No. XVI. of the Natural History Society. Here also 
chemical analysis is necessary to a full understanding. I may 
add that like contrasts between green and brown rivers draining 
almost parallel valleys are found to perfection in Gaspe PeninsuU, 
and throughout the Quebec wilderness, and extending at least as 
far west as Lake Superior. While the great lakes on the Sr. 
Lawrence and Richelieu rivers not only act as settling basins, 
but discharge greenish streams of wholly different appearance 
from the great majority of their feeders, we observe no such 
effect with our Fish, Allagash, St. Francis and Madawaska 
Rivers. We cannot even class these streams among our “dear- 
waters,” and Fish River, which has the greatest lake extent, is 
probably the darkest of the four. 
