NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOGRAPHY OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 439 
in low cliffs; the river gradually becomes broader, swifter, 
shoal, and stony, with almost incessant rips and considerable 
drop, constituting by far the most troublesome part of the 
entire river for the canoeman. The country is here higher, 
and the banks, while often stony, are commonly low sand 
terraces, — evidently the cut edges of the very extensive sand 
plains which form a characteristic feature of this part of New 
Brunswick and give it an unfortunate sterility. This character 
continues down to within three miles of Little Forks, when the 
river gradually becomes quieter, smoother and deeper, slipping 
along through stillwaters separated by smooth slides, into the 
very attractive basin of Little Forks. 
This part of the river, while obviously a portion of the great 
trough valley above mentioned, has the characters which indicate 
that it is cutting across an anticlinal ridge, — the same which to 
the southeast separates upper Salmon River from Lake Stream, 
and is probably identical to the northwest with the one that 
turns the lower course of Cains River. These northwest-southeast 
ridges are a characteristic feature of the Carboniferous Plain, 
as I have already stated in the Notes on Cains River and Gas- 
pereau ; and the fact that in most cases the rivers in their courses 
across them are shoal and stony with considerable fall, seems 
to show that the ridges are now in process of elevation. 
Little Forks Stream I have not seen above its very attractive 
lowermost course, but Mr. Welch informs me that it is through- 
out a rather shallow stream, with mostly low banks which 
occasionally rise in low swells, but without any of the cliffs which 
distinguish the branches farther west. It has clearer water 
than the main stream, and abounds in fine trout, while some 
salmon run up it late in the season. Mr. Welch has given me 
a sketch map of the entire stream, which I have incorporated, 
the best that I could, upon the accompanying map. 
Below Little Forks, the river is a long series of stillwaters 
and deadwaters, separated by gentle slides or occasional mild 
rips, the easiest and pleasantest canoe stream imaginable. The 
banks are mostly intervales or sandy terraces, though occasional 
low sandstone cliffs occur, not over twelve or fifteen feet in 
