Down North and Up Along 
Three tidal rivers traverse the length of the 
Cornwallis Valley, — the Habitant, which was 
the nearest to us, and was seen here and there 
like a ribbon of silver ; the Canard, of which 
we could catch glimpses ; and the Cornwallis, 
farthest away and largest of all, from which 
the whole valley gets its name. 
These rivers empty into a wide bay or lagoon 
that encroaches upon the northern border of 
the Cornwallis Valley. At high tide this bay 
is a sheet of water ; at low tide the red sands 
are bare half-way to Minas, and are interspersed 
with blue pools and interrupted by the shining 
mouths of the three rivers that wind down to 
the sea. 
The channels of the rivers are deep and nar- 
row, and wherever they go through the fertile 
valley the patient dikes accompany them, 
winding and turning with the winding and 
turning of the rivers, unbroken banks of green 
grass, frail enough to look at when one thinks 
of their mission, yet trusted sentinels to keep 
back the water until even Fundy's mighty rush 
has been conquered, and the diked rivers are 
slowly being silted full and themselves help to 
form a barrier against the incoming tides. 
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