317 ? 
ARTICLE I 
NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIO- 
GRAPHY OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 
By W. F. Ganong. 
i 13. — The Physiographic Characteristics of the Upper 
Main Southwest Miramichi River. 
Read in abstract November 3, 1908 ; completed October, 1909. 
Among New Brunswick Rivers the Main Southwest 
Miramichi is second in size and importance only to the Saint 
John. One of its most striking features is the sharpness with 
which it is divided at Boiestown into two very dissimilar parts, 
as unlike in history and conditions of settlement as in origin, 
geography and geology. Below Boiestown it is a smooth, wide, 
well-settled river of very uniform characters and obvious origin, 
cutting in a remarkably straight course through the Carbonifer- 
ous rocks of a plateau which slopes evenly to the east, while it 
and its several long branches, after running parallel through 
their entire courses, are finally brought together by short right- 
angled bends. Above Boiestown it is mostly a rough narrow 
unsettled stream of devious course through an elevated and 
broken country, complex and puzzling in origin, character, and 
geological correlations, while its principal branches come in at 
an abrupt angle from the north. In previous notes (Nos. 50 
and 93) I attempted an explanation of the physiographic origin 
of the river, but was able to speak with assurance only of the 
comparatively simple part below Boiestown. Now, however, 
as a result of studies during the past three summers,* I can 
give some account of the complicated and puzzling upper portion 
with its great branches, which may best be considered separately. 
* The observations here recorded were made during canoe and packing trips, 
which, like all of my New Brunswick voyages, were undertaken in company with 
a single friend, and without guides or other helpers. In addition to an earlier 
85 
