29 
Botany of the Upper St. John. 
not adequately describe. The heavy storm cloud seemed almost to 
rest on the top of the perpendicular cliffs on each side of us, and 
gave an inky blackness to the rushing waters, through which we 
were gliding so rapidly ; peal after peal of thunder followed in such 
quick succession that the echoes seemed never to cease ; the light- 
ning only relieved the blackness of the gorge to make its blackness 
more sombre than ever. Suddenly, before the violence of the storm 
seemed to have abated, the sun shone out behind us and instantly 
a rainbow formed, extending from the sides of our boat up the cliffs, 
arching over the space of sky beyond. 
From our camping ground at Andover we made visits to Aroos- 
took Falls and the Narrows at the mouth of the Tobique. The 
Aroostook Falls are about two miles from the junction of that river 
with the St. John. For nearly a quarter of a mile the river confined 
within narrow walls of trappean rock rushes among huge boulders 
and chasms, presenting a scene of wild grandeur and confusion from 
the tops of the cliffs, nearly 200 feet above. At the lower extremity 
of the Falls, growing on the rocks, I found Woodsia glabella a rare 
fern in this Province, having been found only at one place by Prof. 
Fowler — at the Tunnel, Pestigouche. That station, I think, is now 
obliterated by railway excavations. It differs from Woodsia Ilvensis 
which grows in the neighborhood of Greenhead, St. John, and is in 
great abundance on Long Island, Kennebecasis, being smooth 
instead of chaffy, and having linear fronds, whereas the W. Ilvensis has 
lanceolate fronds. 
Growing on the cliffs, above the Falls was Polygala Senega, to which 
I have already referred as being new to New Brunswick and the 
North-eastern States. It is a perennial plant with alternate leaves 
throughout, with white flowers in a solitary spike. The stems, pro- 
ceeding from thick, knotty rootstocks, have lanceolate leaves. 
Near the Falls I observed Aquilegia vulgaris, which, though a garden 
plant, had long since ceased to have any fostering care, and was 
evidently thriving and enjoying its independent existence. Blitum 
capitatum, described in Prof. Fowler’s list as being found in gardens, 
was pointed out to me by Mr. Wetmore, growing in the woods at 
Andover, and evidently indigenous. This plant, which gets the 
name of Strawberry Elite from its bright red fruit, is very fre- 
quently seen in gardens in the country, but has not hitherto been 
