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BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
a branch of the Nacawic and of the Becaguimec (compare map 
with the next note), and even with the Presquile beyond the St. 
John, and it is possible that all of these lie in a single ancient 
valley. Certainly the curious course of the Becaguimec, which at 
present folds back so remarkably on itself, is in harmony with 
some such explanation as this, even though the present explana- 
tion may not be precisely correct in detail. If now we trace this 
Keswian river downward, it must have followed the present St. 
John valley to Jemseg, and possibly followed it to the Long 
Reach. There is, however, another possibility, suggested by the 
parallelism of this system of rivers (discussed in the next note), 
namely, that it originally continued from Jemseg across to Lewis 
Cove on the Washademoak, thence by Southwest Brook and 
Spraggs Brook to the Belleisle, thence across to Paticake Brook, 
Hammond River, Porter Brook and Quaco River to the sea at 
Quaco. If it really had this course, it would have been turned 
in very early times into its present course by the easterly erosion 
of branches from the lower Nerepisian and Rusiagonian valleys, 
as described in the preceding and in the following notes.* 
75. — The Origin of the Fundian System of Rivers. 
Read November 3, 1903. 
The rivers of New Brunswick belong to three great natural 
systems, — one sloping southeastward into the Bay of Fundy, 
another sloping northeastward into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 
the third sloping northward and eastward into Bay Chaleur. 
Upon the first of these, which we may designate the Fundian 
system, I wish here to record some observations, looking to an 
explanation of the origin of its remarkable features.** 
* Dr. Chalmers, in his latest Geological Report, has suggested that the St. John may 
once have flowed through the Nacawic and Keswick, but his explanation of the possible 
method differs much from that here given. 
** There are many references to peculiar features, and their explanation, in the rivers of 
this system in the writings of the geologists who have investigated New Brunswick geology, 
notably those of Bailey, Matthew, Ells and Chalmers. But no attempt has hitherto been 
made, so far as I know, to explain the features of these rivers collectively. All physio- 
graphic study must rest upon topographical and geological data, and such studies as those 
here attempted are only made possible by the previous labors of these geologists who have 
made accurately known in its outlines and in many of its details, the structural geology of 
New Brunswick. 
