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1 
 
 V 
 
 ISLAxND OF ANTICOSTI. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC EEPOETS 
 
 MADE 33Y 
 
 A. R. ROCHE, Esq., 
 
 ^cforc % fikXiiq mtb Iktotkal Sorietj; of Qmkt, 
 
 AN0 
 
 JAMES RICHARDSON, 
 
 Assistant Geological Survcjor uudcr Sir Wlllinin E. Logan, ProTinoial Surveyor. 
 
 -♦♦♦■ 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PRINTED A.T THE COJIMEKCIAL ADVERTISER OFFICE, 
 No. 4G PINE STEEET. 
 
 18 6 5. 
 
/i7^^^' 
 
NOTES ON THE 
 
 EESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ISLAND OF ANTICOSTL 
 
 By a. R. ROCHE, Esquire. 
 
 [Read before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, 4tli October, 1853.] 
 
 -♦♦♦- 
 
 lu the midst of the progress which is going on throughout 
 British North America in reclaiming the wilderness and in 
 seeking out and developing new sources of wealth, it is a matter 
 of astonishment to those who observe that progress with a 
 view to increase it where it already exists, or to introduce it 
 where it lias not begun, that no account has been taken of a 
 valuable island, large enough to become a province of itself, 
 lying nearly in the centre of our North American colonies, and 
 at the threshold of the most important colony of the whole; 
 that, while all is life and healthy activity about and beyond it, 
 and a commerce, second hardly to the commerce of any one 
 channel in the world, is carried past its shores, the seasons roll 
 on without Ijringing to the latter any change in that state of 
 desolation which invests it with frightful yet imaginary terrors, 
 and which has done more to injure the reputation of the St. 
 Lawrence navigation than all those real dangers upon the 
 main shores of the river and gulf, where so many gallant ves- 
 
 7 
 
BoU have ted wrecked and bo many valuable lives have I.ecn 
 
 'tlrious cii-c«mstanoes have combined to give the worst 
 ehavaeter for the dangers of its eoas,s and for • - ."h..,,, al.ty 
 of its soil and climate to Anticost., the island ^'"d'. „ ,! ° 
 obieet of the writer of this eoranmnieation to rescue Iron, tte 
 s te of neglect in which it has existed up to the present n.o- 
 1 ,t-a state which not onlv makes it useless to its ,,ropneto|^ 
 ",d to the Province of Canada, of which .t forms a part, but 
 'hid, renders it injurious, and to a certain extent, destruetxve 
 to the l)est interests of the latter. 
 
 Among the eiveumstances which have repelled all P>oper 
 inquiry and all enterprise from Anticosti, and «lneh have done 
 much I ininre the province by giving a worse eharaeter to . 
 great outiet than it really deserves, are the >l'^»f - ™™ 
 famine, which occurred there before provision posts were caic- 
 fully kept up, and the opinion which has hitherto prevailed 
 tha[ a greater proportion of vessels have been w/-koa "P"° 
 the islamlthan have been lost in any other part of the rner o 
 ,.ulf Thus the mariner has been taught to regard his approach 
 to Antieosti with intense dread, the island having having been 
 described as presenting the greatest dangers o him ^^hen 
 afloat, and as'affording no sustenance for him ,1 cast upon its 
 shores. But, whatever unfavorable conclusions have been 
 drawn from a reeoUeetion of the deaths fro.n fannne winch 
 Ik place there many years ago, and however far the opinion 
 of the dangers of its coasts may have been received as a faithlal 
 on those conclusions and that opinion have been based upon 
 unsinnd foundations and been supported by erroneous eom- 
 pariLis, and have equally borne unjustly upon the condition 
 and ru'ospccts of the island. 
 
 Those who, from a consideration of the former disasters, and 
 of the few and superficial examinations which have been made 
 along the beach, have pronounced the soil and climate of Anti- 
 eotti to be unsuited to the growth of any of the fnns of th 
 earth, have lost sight of the fact that persons east ashore on 
 Z ;,ninhabited place, (-t ^Hua.ed within the tro,„es, or, a^ 
 least not abounding with wild and nourishing Iruits,) would 
 starve to death if left without supplies, and without the means 
 
 si 
 
 ^ ^»Ksmm>.^ » 
 
vc l)ccn 
 
 3 worst 
 -pitality 
 ri is the 
 ["rom tlic 
 ■jcnt mo- 
 prictors 
 lart, but 
 •jtructive 
 
 I proper 
 ave done 
 tcr to its 
 ers from 
 ^erc carc- 
 irevailcd, 
 kcd upon 
 3 river or 
 approach 
 ving l)cen 
 l\im when 
 t ujiou its 
 lave been 
 line which 
 ic opinion 
 ; a faithful 
 )ascd upon 
 icons com- 
 > condition 
 
 asters, and 
 been made 
 te of Anti- 
 Tuits of the 
 t ashore on 
 )pics, or, at 
 lits,) would 
 t tlie means 
 
 " 
 
 of removal to where they could l)e procured, and that, in an 
 equal state of neglect and solitude, even England \vould be 
 found as inliospitable in regard to food as Anticosti has proved 
 to be upon one or two occasions. That the latter should be 
 condemned upon the result of the exploration of two or three 
 spots along the beach, is also as unjust and al)surd, as if the 
 whole of England had been declared barren and useless from 
 an examination of a great portion of the shores of Cornwall, or 
 from the ai)pcarance of the bleak and tree-less country in the 
 neighborhood of Brighton. Assuming, however, that all were 
 true Nv'hicli has been said of Anticosti, that its soil is incapable 
 of producing anything in the shape of food, still, if it can be 
 shown to contain other resources, which may be employed in 
 industrial and commercial pursuits, and wliich may be ex- 
 changed, not only for food and raiment, but for all the neces- 
 saries, and even for the luxuries of civilized life, sufficient will 
 remain to convince every intelligent and unprejudiced person, 
 that it can 1)0 made to support, and that it will, (at the present 
 rate of progress of British North America), probably contain, 
 at no distant pei iod, a considerable population. That it is not 
 only capable of yielding food, but that it possesses natural prod- 
 ucts and resources, which may be turned to account, and be 
 exchanged for all that can be required to sustain a population, 
 will be presently shown, as soon as the other bugbear, the 
 reputed dangers of its coasts, shall have been disposed of. 
 
 To those who have drawn conclusions unfavorable to the 
 island, from the number of wrecks which have been reported 
 to have taken place upon it, it is necessary to point out, that 
 the wrecks, which in returns appear so formidable in the aggre- 
 gate, under the head of " Anticosti,'' have not occurred at one 
 spot, but at many spots widely separated, extending over a dis- 
 tance of 320 miles, that being the circumference of the island, 
 and consequently the extent of coast front, not taking into 
 account the indentations caused by bays, creeks, &c. Take the 
 same Icnth of coast upon any part of the main shores of the 
 river or gulf, and it will be found, upon proper inquiry, that 
 six times as many wrecks have occurred within it each year, as 
 have for the same period taken place upon Anticosti. Instead 
 of the wrecks upon the latter having been compared with the 
 
6 
 
 
 number of wrecks spread over the same extent of coast on tho 
 former, they have been generally regarded as having occurred 
 at one spot, and have been compared with those only which 
 have happened at some one place on the main shore of the 
 river or gulf, of a few miles, or of less than a mile in extent, 
 lying in the course of fewer vessels, yet wrecking annually 
 nearly as many. From an estimate made ^y/te writer of this 
 communication, of disasters in the River and G"lf ot bt. Law- 
 rence during the ten years ending November, 1849, it appears 
 that half as many wrecks occurred upon the Manicoiiagaii 
 shoals as took place upon the island in that period, and that 
 Cape Rosier, Matane and Green Island each wrecked upwards 
 of a third of the number of vessels wh^ A were stranded during 
 the same period upon the whole of the 320 miles of the much 
 libelled coasts of Anticosti. The Manicouagan shoals. Capo 
 Rosier Capo Chat, and other si>ots upon the main shores ot the 
 river aU gulf, are places not only much more to be dreaded by 
 the mariner than Anticosti, on account of the number of wrecks 
 which occur upon them, but in consequence of the great loss of 
 life which sometimes accompanies those wrecks, while, Irora 
 the shelving nature of the beach at Anticosti, there are few 
 instances recorded of wrecks upon the latter having been 
 attended with loss of life. While the circumstantially related 
 and carefully preserved account of the fate of the crew of the 
 Granicus, wrecked in 1828, near Fox Bay, (who, in the course 
 of a long winter, died from f^imine,) has creat3d in the mmds 
 of many, who adopt, without reflection, any popular fallacy 
 placed before them, a belief that every poverty' of soil every 
 drawback of climate, and every danger of coast must belong to 
 Anticosti, those greater dangers and those more numerous 
 disasters upon the main shores of the St. Lawrence, attended 
 with greater loss of life, have been almost entirely lost sight 
 of or if thought of in connection with the former, have been 
 Bet down as unimportant, when compared with the unfairly 
 estimated disasters and the imaginary dangers of Anticosti. 
 
 The evil reputation which still hangs over the island became 
 attached to it many years ago, before its coasts were thorouglily 
 surveyed when it was laid down in the chart as being many 
 miles' shorter than it actually is, in consequence of which many 
 
t on tlio 
 )ccuvr(Hl 
 ly which 
 i-e of the 
 I extent, 
 [innually 
 31- of this 
 St. Law- 
 t appears 
 icouagan 
 and that 
 upwards 
 }d during 
 the much 
 als, Capo 
 ires of the 
 i-cadcd by 
 of wrcckfi 
 ;at loss of 
 lilc, from 
 ■e are few 
 ring been 
 ly related 
 •cw of the 
 the course 
 the minds 
 lar fallacy 
 ?oil, every 
 -J belong to 
 numerous 
 3, attended 
 ' lost sight 
 have been 
 tie unfairly 
 aticosti. 
 md became 
 thorouglily 
 eing many 
 vhich many 
 
 vessels ran upon it in places where deep water was supposed 
 to exist, and before lighthourfes were placed there, since the 
 erection of which and the lute survey of its coasts^, wrecks 
 upon the island have become less frequent. Most of those 
 which now occur there, are caused by the neglect of using the 
 lead in foggy weather, many of them through the incapacity or 
 drunkenness of masters, who, generally, are shamefully under- 
 paid, and some of them through design, for the purpose of 
 cheating the underwriters. Of these latter cases the insurance 
 offices are perfectly aware; but, instead of endeavoring to meet 
 them by preventive measures, they increase the rates of in- 
 surance so as to cover such losses, by estimating for them in a 
 certain proportion to the whole; thus making the entire trade 
 pay for the dishonest acts of the rogue. This having the ef- 
 fect to increase the price of freight, by which t'le public are 
 the sufferers, in having to pay a proportionably increased price 
 for all articles imported, the government should in future in- 
 stitute a strict inquiry into the loss of every sliip in the river 
 or gulf, by means of a naval police, and be empowered to in- 
 flict punishment where criminal design, or even gross careless- 
 ness or drunkenness, may be proved to have attended such loss. 
 Those masters who desire to lose their ships, generally select An- 
 ticosti for the purpose, because they can always manage to run 
 them ashore tliere without any danger to life, and without much 
 risk of the circumstances attending the act being witnessed 
 or understood by persons on shore; and the provision posts 
 being now well supplied, there is no danger, as there was 
 formerly, of their suffering from the want of food. Thus many 
 of the wrecks which take place there are produced in conse- 
 quence of the ease with which a vessel may be beached, with 
 safety to life, on many parts of the island, and not through its 
 dangers of coast. In regard to the latter, those masters who 
 know the coasts of the island well, generally make free with 
 them, (unless there happen to be a fog,) in perfect confidence 
 and safety, by which they gain headway much faster than by 
 keeping in the centre of the channel, or along the south shore 
 of the mainland. To whatever extent plausible reasons may 
 have once given a bad name to Anticosti, there is no just reason 
 for that name being perpetuated; and those who yet view the 
 
i ^ 
 
 island as it wn, rcs«rae,l shortly aftcv tl.o wreck of the Ornni. 
 cTean neither co^proheml the unjust f-ronn.ls u,«n u-h.eh >t 
 ;:; th ncouaemned nor appreeinto the importanee to ev^y 
 rountry bordering ni>ou the St. Lawrence, ol n.any reeen 
 oven attending the rapid progre,. of the trade and general 
 
 IZnJt. of British North America. That the . , land should 
 
 mrtic pato in that progress, it is necessary to dtvest o tie 
 
 ! notation thro'uglr which it >u,s been hitherto Id.gl, ted, 
 
 and this will he bet accomplished by malung Unown m ^ d,- 
 
 tion to what has been already advanced in lis belulf,«hat 
 
 r as yielded to the trining labors of agrieulturc wine havo 
 
 been attcnpted upon it, what its eliu.ate has been found to o 
 
 by those who have resided there for many years, and what its 
 
 mtural resonrecs and its important advatitages of posUiou 
 
 '""^lie island lies W. N. W. by K S. E., '-t-en tl,e 4flth and 
 60 parallels of North latitude, and the 01st and >^'«< d^S'^" «« 
 West loncritudcatontfour hun.lred and twenty mdes be ov 
 Q„:ie three pirts of it being in the gulf, through w .c > t 
 stretches out towards the south-west coast of Newfoundland, 
 a"remaining part in the river, the waters at the en ranee 
 ofwhich it divides into two channels. It contains nearly wo 
 mimons of acres, being upwar,ls of one-fonrth larger ha 
 ? ■ nee Edward's Island, which is a pro, .nee of itself, with its 
 Lieutenant-Governor, its legislature and a population o eighty 
 ti on and souls. It is about one hundred and thirty miles hmg 
 Styiive broad in its widest part, which is at the South- 
 West Point, nearly in the centre, whence it gradua ly narrows 
 I^ both end , the one terminating in Heath Point, with Fox 
 Bay lying a tew miles round the point upon its northern shore, 
 IZ L :ther end terminating in West Pomt, -tU E « B y 
 a few miles short of it, looking towards the south. Ihu. heie 
 iX harbor upon each side and at each extremity of the island; 
 but Ellis Bay is better situated for the general shipinng of the 
 sl Lawreuee, has greater idepth of water, and is nnie i more 
 snacions than the other, being about two miles wide and 
 four de P, with good anchorage. The cecUent position of the 
 island in regard to ships, commerce, &e., becomes at once 
 
 -K\,««»««»(*,i' 
 
e Granl- 
 which it 
 to every 
 y recent 
 I ^(!neral 
 ^oiiig on 
 id sliould 
 it of the 
 blighted; 
 , in addi- 
 irtlf, Avhat 
 liich havo 
 und to 1)0 
 . what its 
 [ position 
 
 ! 49th and 
 degrees of 
 lies })elow 
 li which it 
 foundhind, 
 e entrance 
 nearly two 
 jrger than 
 ;lf, with its 
 >n of eighty 
 
 miles h)ng 
 ; the South- 
 lly narrows 
 ;, with Fox 
 ihern shore, 
 1 Ellis Bay 
 
 Thus there 
 fthe island; 
 )ping of the 
 
 nnich more 
 5 wide and 
 •sition of the 
 nes at once 
 
 I 
 
 apparent, wh(^n we consider that every vessel must take either 
 of thi! channels formed by Anticosti, upon entering or leaving 
 the river whether having passed from the Atlantic, or intend- 
 in.^ to i.ass t,) that ocean, through tho.Strails of Belleisle (now 
 coming much into use, and about to be lighted,) through the 
 more frequented passages between Newfoundland and tape 
 Breton, or through the Gut of Canso, or whether rnnning 
 between Quebec and those portions of Canada, and oi the . 
 lower Provinces, lying upon the Gulf of St, Lawrence. In 
 taking cither of the channels formed by Vnticosti, vessels pass 
 clo^e to the island, inconsequence of the moderate breadth ot 
 the northern one, and of the strong south-east current which 
 always runs along the southern channel, to avoid which and 
 the risk of being driven upon the truly dangerous coast ot the 
 south shore of the gulf and river, where, for several hundred 
 miles, there is no harbor or place of shelter for any cratt 
 lar-er than a schooner, and where, for long distances, there is 
 not^ono foot of beach outside the perpendicular cliifs to land 
 upon vessels generally stand out till they make the West l oiut 
 of Anticosti, close to which is situated the convenient harbor 
 of Ellis Bay, occupying a spot nearly mid-distance bctweer the 
 northern and southern banks of the St. Lawrence, and of easy 
 access from both channels of the river. Considering that 
 about two thousand vessels from Europe alone will have made 
 this point in the course of the present season, some slight idea 
 may be conceived of the capabilities of position attached to 
 the island, and in particular to Ellis Bay. The inner anchor- 
 age of this bay has a depth of from three to four fathoms at low 
 water, with excellent holding ground, (gravel and mud,) is of 
 as large capacity as the harbor of Montreal, and has been 
 found, by experience, to afford perfect shelter, in all winds, to 
 vessels of upwards of 500 tons; while the outer portion of the 
 anchorage could be materially improved at a trifling expense, 
 80 as to be able to contain in safety, during all winds, almost 
 any number of vessels of the largest size. Docks, with a patent 
 slip, &c., could also be easily constructed there, which would 
 be adinirablv situated for the repair of vessels, stranded or 
 receiving other damage throughout the lower St. Lawrence, 
 most of them becoming broken up by the action of thc,> sea, and,, 
 
10 
 
 in some cases, dismantled by wreckers, before they can obtain 
 assistance from Quebec, or the intelligence of tlieir condition can 
 f be conveyed there; which port, strange to say, is the only 
 place from the Atlantic to Montreal, (a distance of upwards of 
 eight hundred miles,) where vessels can be properly overhauled, 
 or be supplied with the commonest stores, such as anchors, 
 chains, sails, &c. For steam tugs, employed for the relief of 
 » vessels in distress, Ellis Bay might also be made an excellent 
 station. With the facilities there for procuring shelter for our 
 shipping in a portion of the St. Lawrence, where a spacious 
 and deep harbor is more wanted than in any other part of the 
 river or gulf, it is astonishing that no attention has yet been 
 directed to that spot. This neglect, however, cannot long 
 continue. It could be made, not only a fine commercial 
 harbor, but also an excellent naval station, in the most con- 
 venient and central spot for commanding, with a few steam 
 vessels or gunboats, the two entrances of the river, and for 
 sending out cruisers up the latter, or to any part of the gulf. 
 And it is not impossible that the want of such an armament in 
 our waters may be felt before the termination of the present 
 difficulties in Europe. For the good order of those engaged 
 in our fisheries, (whether foreigners or our own fishermen,) 
 which, under the reciprocity treaty, will be much resorted to by 
 the Americans, some of the most valuable of the fisheries being 
 in the vicinity of Anticosii, the presence there of such a force 
 would be very useful. Its influence as a check upon " wreck- 
 ers," (who swarm in the St. LaAvrejj.ce more than is generally 
 supposed,) might also be enlarged upon. For these objects of 
 commerce, of defence and of police, the fine Imrbor of 
 Gaspci Basin, (situated twenty-five miles from the gulf,) is too 
 much out of the way; besides which a fair wind for taking a 
 ship out of it, and of its outlet Gasp6 Bay, becomes a head 
 wind, as soon as it becomes necessary to tack to come up the 
 St. Lawrence. For the same objects, the harbors of Mingan 
 and Seven Islands, upon the north shore of the river, are as 
 much out of the way, and are too long closed by the ice. As 
 for the improvements of Ellis Bay, it appears that they need 
 be very slight to make it one of the finest harbors in British 
 America; merely the erection of piers upon the flat limestone 
 
 •■^;«•f1«r»^..■*^^ 
 
11 
 
 m obtain 
 lition can 
 
 the only 
 )Ward3 of 
 crhauled, 
 
 anchors, 
 
 relief of 
 excellent 
 er for our 
 
 spacious 
 rt of the 
 yet heen 
 not long 
 mmercial 
 nost con- 
 3w steam 
 , and for 
 
 the gulf, 
 ament in 
 e present 
 
 engaged 
 shcrmen,) 
 i-ted to by 
 ries being 
 li a force 
 1 " wreck- 
 generally 
 objects of 
 arbor of 
 If,) is too 
 
 taking a 
 )s a head 
 le up the 
 •f Mhigan 
 er, are as 
 i ice. As 
 tliey need 
 in British 
 limestone 
 
 reefs running out from Cape Henry and Cape Eagle, -which 
 form the entrance, these reefs being uncovered at low water, 
 and already affording a considerable shelter to the outer 
 anchorage of the bay. In magnitude and coast, these improve- 
 ments could not be compared to what has been recently accom- 
 plished in the harbors of the Bahamas and Bermuda, by labor 
 and science combined. Besides the advantages which have 
 been glanced at as belonging to Ellis Bay, some of the best 
 soil and some natural meadows, producing excellent grasses, 
 six feet high, are found upon its shores, where the resident in 
 charge of the provision post grows every description of vege- 
 tables; but wheat, or any other grain, has never been tried in 
 that part of the island. It is also stated, that, within a few 
 miles of the bay, Avild hay could be cut sufficient to feed a 
 thousand head of cattle during the winter. Nor is this spot 
 barren in scenery; for, upon approaching it, a most pleasing 
 view is obtained of the spacious bay, having in all parts a fine 
 beach, which at each side is bounded by wooded cliffs, those 
 on the east side showing tableland and other heights beyond, 
 and at the head of the bay the beach gently rises and expands 
 into a slight rolling country, containing forest and meadow 
 land; the whole being relieved in the distance by two hills of 
 moderate height, covered with trees. Near the centre of the 
 bay, a few yards from the beach, stand the buildings, the garden 
 and fields of the resident, close to a picturesque trout stream. 
 When Anticosti shall be properly known and occupied, this 
 spot will probably become the resort of many of those who 
 now seek health or recreation at the less bracing and less in- 
 teresting watering places upon the main shores of the river; 
 and of the salubrity of tlie climate there can be no doubt, for 
 all who have resided there describe it as being the most 
 healthy place in tlie world. The first seigneur, (to whom it was 
 granted in 1680 for services rendered to the crown of France,) 
 used to reside every summer upon the island, and it is supposed 
 that he was buried there. At this spot there are many sub- 
 stantial elements for the growing up of a large and flourishing 
 town, some of wliich are alluded to in other parts of this com- 
 munication. 
 For large schooners there is excellent shelter at Fox Bay, 
 
12 
 
 at the north-east end of the island, and also at the South-West 
 Point, where it is quite practicable to make a harbor of refuge 
 for the lar.iest ships; which would be of great use to homeward- 
 bound vessels in the Autumn, whenever south-east winds set in, 
 to run into and anchor, instead of being driven back for 
 several hundred miles, and having to encounter again, under 
 the worst circumstances, the most dangerous part of the whole 
 navigation between the Atlantic and Quebec. There are also 
 several good roadsteads, such as Bear Bay, situated on the 
 north side of the island, sheltered from most winds, with good 
 holding-ground; and there is shelter for schooners at the en- 
 trances of many of the rivers, some of which are navigable 
 for small boats, or canoes, a considerable distance. Obser- 
 vation Kiver, lying five miles west of South-West Point, has 
 sometimes six feet of water at the entrance; and there is 
 hardly a mile of coast on any part of the island without its 
 stream of fresh and delicious water, many of them proceeding 
 from lakes, one of which, at tiie head of Observation llivcr, is 
 supposed to be nearly twenty miles long and several broad. 
 Some of the rivers have very high banks, with very beautiful 
 falls, and excellent mill sites, and these falls have a good sup- 
 ply of water during the whole summer. The island on the 
 south side generally rises from about twenty to sixty feet 
 above the beach, (but at the entrance of Observation River it 
 is between 200 and 300 feet high,) and is nearly level to the 
 centre, where a range of moderate sized hills appear to run 
 its entire length, and upon the nortli side to terminate in steep 
 cliffs. It is mostly covered with a thick forest of trees, stunted 
 near the shore, (like those upon a great part of the coasts of 
 England and of other countries.) but which become gradually 
 larger as they approach the interior, and are less exposed to 
 the influence of the wind and sea. This is very remarkable 
 upon some of the bays, wnere, at the exposed points, they are 
 very small, and gradually increase in size from each side to 
 the centre; those nearest the sea being sometimes quite white 
 in appearance, from the salt which is thrown and crjstalizes 
 upon them. It is the stunted growth of the wood upon the 
 sea shore which has given a coloring to the reports of those 
 persons, who, having landed upon the beach for a few hours 
 
 : <f.. 
 
 i 
 
13 
 
 )utli-West 
 of refuge 
 omcward- 
 nds set in, 
 back for 
 ain, under 
 the -svliole 
 3 are also 
 ed on the 
 with good 
 at the en- 
 navigable 
 3. Obscr- 
 Point, has 
 i there is 
 vithoiit its 
 )rocecdiug 
 1 lliver, is 
 iral Ijroad. 
 f beautiful 
 good sup- 
 nd on the 
 sixty feet 
 1 River it 
 vol to the 
 ear to run 
 ite in steep 
 les, stunted 
 ) coasts of 
 I gradually- 
 exposed to 
 emarkable 
 ;s, they are 
 icli side to 
 [uite white 
 crystalizes 
 I upon the 
 :s of those 
 L few hours 
 
 only, have pronounced judgment upon the whole island from 
 what they saw there. Tlie trees are spruce, fir, red and white 
 birch, ash, quantities of very fine tamarack, and, upon the 
 north side of the island, some good sized pine. With the 
 tamarack and pine growing there, and the immense quantities 
 of valuable timber drifted upon the island from Quebec and 
 other places after every easterly pale, many ships might be 
 built every year. Like the valuable meadows for cattle and 
 sheep, which have recently been discovered in Minnesota, in 
 the "Far West," there are here many very fine natural 
 meadows, producing rich grasses, five and six feet high; and 
 in some parts there are alternate ranges of wood and open 
 plain. On the south side of the island there are several peat 
 boo-s of some extent, and some salt marshes, caused by the 
 overflowing of tUe sea at certain periods, which must tend to 
 fertilize rather than to impoverish the land, and, near the 
 South-West Point, there are some large salt ponds, which, 
 were labor plentiful there, might be turned to account in the 
 manufacture of salt : a manufacture which would become^ of 
 some value to a great part of our North American fisheries, 
 which, as well as the whole of Canada, are now supplied with 
 salt from England or the United States, and, for ci ring fish 
 and provisions, bay salt, formed from the sea and from salt 
 ponds, is the most valuable. In consequence of there not 
 having been a sufficient supply of salt upon the island, an 
 immense quantity of fish, caught at Anticosti last year, had to 
 be thrown away; and, during the present season, the fishermen 
 at Arichat, Cape Breton, were forced to sell mackerel at from 
 six pence to ten pence a hundred, or to see them rot upon the 
 beach, through not having enough salt to cure them with. 
 This latter circumstance occurred at a time when mackerel was 
 selling at Boston for nineteen dollai a barrel. Some of the 
 Bahama islands are retained merely on account of the salt 
 ponds which they contain ; and at Ceylon a large revenue is 
 derived from the salt works carried on in that island. The 
 •i!i]^ortance of the trade in this useful article may also be 
 understood, from the fiict that two-thirds of the vessels, lately 
 captured by England from Russia, were laden with salt. For 
 the manufacture of this article, and for other pursuits, almost 
 
14 
 
 any amount of cheap labor could bo procured from Metis, and 
 other populous places, situated upon the south shore of the St. 
 Lawrence; but if industrial pursuits were opened out there, 
 and land offered for sale, settlers would soon be attracted to 
 the island. Several persons, who have been engaged there for 
 many years in fishing and hunting, or in charge of the light- 
 houses and provision posts, have already expressed to the 
 writer their desire to purchase land upon it, and to combine 
 agriculture with their present occupations; but, without any 
 permanent interest in the soil, they have little inducement to 
 use much exertion in clearing and cultivating it, or in attempt- 
 ing to improve the island in any way. It is from personal 
 inquiry of many of these parties, as well as of others, who 
 have resided there for many years at former periods, and from 
 an examination of every authority relating l^o the island, that 
 ihe writer is enabled to bring forward so many facts, in sup- 
 port of the views which ho has adopted, in regard to its 
 resources and capabilities. 
 
 Rearing of cattle and sheep at Anticosti, for the supply of 
 those engaged in the fisheries, of shipping, and of the dear 
 markets of Quebec, would, no doubt, pay very handsomely. 
 While the natural grasses are as rich as any upon this conti- 
 nent, it appears that cattle can be left out to graze there longer 
 than they can be at Quebec : a circumstance which has just 
 been communicated to the writer by the present lessee of the 
 island, who has at this moment several head of fine cattle of 
 the Ayrshire breed, at the South-West Point. But if the 
 natural grasses should not be found sufficient for numerous 
 herds of cattle, the famous tussac grass of the Falkland 
 Islands, which delights in a salt atmosphere, and which has 
 been carried to the Orkney Islands, and been found to llourish 
 there, might be introduced. At the former it grows upon peat 
 similar to that which exists at Anticosti. The seed of this 
 grass has already become an article of profital)le export from 
 the Falkland Islands; and the grass is found upon many parts 
 of the coast of South America, where wild cattle abound. 
 When we consider that remote and inclement Iceland raises 
 her flocks and herds, her sheep numbering 500,000, her horses 
 60,000, and her horned cattle 40,000, and exports the finest 
 
15 
 
 letis, and 
 of the St. 
 out there, 
 tractcd to 
 I there for 
 the light- 
 ed to the 
 
 combine 
 thout any 
 cement to 
 Q attempt- 
 
 1 personal 
 hers, who 
 , and from 
 land, that 
 its, in sup- 
 iird to its 
 
 supply of 
 the dear 
 mdsomely. 
 this conti- 
 erc longer 
 h has just 
 see of the 
 e cattle of 
 »ut if the 
 numerous 
 Falkland 
 which has 
 to nourish 
 upon peat 
 ed of this 
 port from 
 lany parts 
 e abound, 
 and raises 
 ler horses 
 the finest 
 
 fleeces, also dairy and other produce, we have every reason to 
 hope that Anticosti, situated in the midst of the fisheries, 
 which employ many thousand men, of a vast tratfic carried on 
 by upwards of two thousand ships, and within easy approach 
 of many valuable markets, may be made as profitable a grazing 
 country as any portion of British North America. It was, 
 however, at one time condemned even in this respect. Because 
 some cows, which were taken down there some years ago, 
 happened to die in the course of the winter, a report was / 
 immediately spread and generally believed, that cattle could 
 not live upon the island; that there was some poisonous sub- 
 stance in the gras^, or in the air, which must prove fatal to all 
 cattle coming within its influence ; and this belief is even 
 entertained by many at the present moment ; yet, upon proper 
 inquiry, it appears that they died from neglect alone, having 
 been repeatedly left for several days together without food or 
 water. Since th?t period cattle have been taken down there, 
 and been found to thrive remarkably well. At the South-West 
 Point, both Mr. Corbet, the lessee of the island, and Mr. 
 Pope, the lighthouse keeper, have several head of cattle, as 
 well as pigs and poultry, all of which are in excellent con- 
 dition. Of the former, Mr. Corbet says, they look better in 
 the spring than cattle do at that season at any place upon the 
 St. Lawrence below Quebec. 
 
 Resting upon a substratum of limestone, the soil of Anticosti 
 should be a warm one, and if cleared to any extent, and there- 
 by exposed to the sun, and drained where it may require 
 drainage, it would no doubt become a productive one. For 
 the purpose, either of drainage or of irrigation, as the one or 
 the other may be desirable, every facility is offered by the 
 numerous rivers and rapid streams existing in all parts of the 
 island. The composition of the cliffs alone, some of which, 
 according to Capt. Bayfield, R. N., contain sand, clay, and 
 limestone, indicates that there must lie good soil of considerable 
 extent in many parts of the island, which only requires clearing 
 and cultivation to yield very ftiirly; for, with these substances, 
 and the fine mould of the vegetable deposits, which have been 
 accumulating in the woods for ages, what better fiirming lands 
 could be desired? In Prince Edward's Island, where the 
 
u 
 
 ground requires to be enriched, immense quantities of linicstono 
 are imported for that purpose from Nova Scotia. Mr. IM'Ewan. 
 who resif'cd upon Antico.sti for fourteen mouths, in the employ 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, (which Company, however, as 
 well as the late North-West Company, had no right to hunt 
 and fish there,) mentions that the cliffs rest upon a foundation 
 of limestone, that the second stratum is often composed of the 
 cream colored clay, and sometimes of sand and gravel, and 
 that the clay often reaches the top or surface, but at times is 
 covered Avith a thickness of peat; tlio land in the latter case 
 running iuio extensive plains. This peat, which produces ex- 
 cellent natural grasses, and also the lincst vegetables, where 
 they have been tried upon it, may be turned to many useful 
 purposes. In Ireland a large " Peat Company" is in active 
 operation, having a factory at Kilbcrry, where th'iy supply 
 their furnaces entirely with peat or turf, and also manufacture 
 from it the following articles: tar, oil, paraffine, naphtha, sul- 
 phate of ammonia, charcoal and gas. A substance from which 
 so many articles possessing powerful heating proi)erties can be 
 produced, it is to be hoped will some day be made to supply 
 one great want of the present age: cheap and compact fuel 
 for steam engines. Enough, however, has been shown to prove 
 that, instead of its presence at certain spots at Anticosti being 
 considered as any drawback, the peat which is found there 
 may be regarded as a valuable resource of the island; for what 
 is now being accomplished with it in Ireland, may at some 
 future period be attempted with it at the former. 
 
 Of the interior of Anticosti, Mr. Corl)et,who has resided at 
 the South-west Point for ten years, and who, in his various ex- 
 cursions, has seen more of the island than any other person, 
 describes the soil to consist generally of "black light soil, clay 
 and sand," and states that, " from the immense quantities of 
 sea-weed with which the shores abound, he believes the land 
 could be made to yield every description of farm produce. In 
 the same statement he refers to what ho and Mr. Pope have 
 accomplished at the South-west Point. The writer had, how- 
 ever, obtained a similar statement from the son of Mr. Pope 
 last autumn. At this spot, which Lieut. Baddeley, R. E., who 
 visited it in 1831, declared to be the most barren and uninvit- 
 
 W.W. 
 
17 
 
 linicstono 
 . M'Ewaii, 
 he employ 
 )wevcr, as 
 t to hunt 
 biiudation 
 ■:ecl of the 
 ravel, and 
 it times is 
 attor case 
 oduces ex- 
 leri, where 
 any useful 
 in active 
 "^j supply 
 anufacture 
 l)htlia, sul- 
 I'om which 
 ties can be 
 to supply 
 npact fuel 
 n to prove 
 josti being 
 3und there 
 ; for what 
 y at some 
 
 resided at 
 various ex- 
 ler person, 
 it soil, clay 
 antities of 
 3 the land 
 oduce. In 
 Pope have 
 had, how- 
 ■ Mr. Pope 
 R. E., who 
 id uninvit- 
 
 ina: in the whole island, Mr. Pope grew last yerr the finest 
 crop of oats, 300 bushels of the best potatoes, (the potato dis- 
 ease never having reached the island,) and .every other vege- 
 table in perfection wliich is grown in Canada; and this he 
 did upon a patch of land adjoining the bleak point where the 
 lightliouse stands, where the soil consists of a description of 
 black peat resting upon the limestone. Mr. Pope supposes, 
 though he has never tried it, that wheat might be successfully 
 cultivated in the interior, which has never been explored be- 
 yond ten or twelve miles from the beach, along the banks of 
 some of the rivers, and then generally by hunters or fishermen; 
 parties not likely to look for or to care about agricultural re- 
 sources. How much, therefore, must still remain to be explored 
 in an island 130 miles long by nearly 40 broad 1 But so long 
 as oats and other produce raised there can obtain the present 
 high prices in the Quebec and other markets, it will be of very 
 little consequence whether Avhoat, which can now bo purchased 
 in Canada for loss than an ccpial quantity of oats, will succeed 
 there or not. Yet there are many persons ready to condemn, 
 as utterly unfruitful and worthless, any place which could not 
 number wheat among its productions. Of vegetables, Mr. 
 Pope could have disi)osed of any quantity to ships bound to 
 Quebec, which arc often becalmed off South-west Point after a 
 month or six weeks' voyage, with a prospect of being nearly 
 another month in reaching their destination. The supplying 
 ships under these circumstances, especially when conveying 
 cal)in passengers and emigrants, may become a very profitable 
 occupation to the settler. Vegetables, meat, fish, soft bread, 
 &c., could be easily taken off to vessels in boats, as they are at 
 Portsmouth, Yarmouth, and a number of other ports in 
 England, under circumstances far less favorable, by bum-boats, 
 the owners of which realize immense profits. 
 
 The statements made by Mr. Corbet and Mr. Pope regarding 
 the island, have since been confirmed by accounts received 
 from several other parties, who have been engaged there in 
 hunting and fishing at various periods during the last fifteen 
 years, some of whom are still employed there. But not only 
 do the present and the recent residents speak well of the island 
 but the accounts of tliose Avho have passed considerable periods 
 
upon it many years ago arc equally favorable. Mr. Morrison, 
 a person well known in Quehec, who, (having been previously 
 employed at Anticosti by tlic Nortli-Wc^t Company,) was sent 
 there about fifty years since, to explore a portion of the inland 
 for the purpose of forming a settlement, after mentioning in his 
 report the excellency of the soil, and tlie timber which he found 
 there, including ash, large pine and tamarack, says: " I had a 
 house erected on the south side of the island, around whicli we 
 made a clearance, and sowed wheat, barley, and oats, all of 
 which grew very luxuriantly and ripened. Vegetables and 
 garden stuffs of every description grew remarkably well, and 
 came to as great perfection as any I have seen in Canada. 
 There is very good clay on the island, of which I made some 
 bricks, and built an oven, and whilst there I imported some 
 cattle from Nova Scotia, and found that tliey throve well." 
 Why the explorations and labors of Mr. Morrison led to no 
 result at that time is thus explained in his statement, made in 
 1842, to the present proprietors of the island: "After I re- 
 turned to Quebec and made my report, Mr. Grant, the then 
 proprietor of the largest portion of Anticosti, at once came to 
 the determination of settling it, and offered to me th(; superin- 
 tendence. During the winter of 1804, I engaged by his 
 directions eighteen men, intending to proceed with them to 
 Anticosti in the spring, and to immediately set about cutting a 
 road across the island; but, unfortunately, Mr. Grant died 
 about that time, and the intention which had been entertained 
 of colonizing the island was abandoned, a circumstance much 
 to be regretted." Many statements, equally favorable as to 
 the agricultural capabilities of the island, made by parties, 
 whose residence there for considerable periods should give 
 them some pretension to a real knowledge of its worth, in that 
 and in other respects, might be quoted; but sufficient has been 
 given, to convince every reasonable mind, that the island is 
 not the utterly barren and miserable place which so many, 
 who have merely touched there, or have sighted it at a distance, 
 have declared it to be. If it were what the latter would wish 
 to make it appear, those who have resided for any time upon 
 the island, would certainly not combine to speak well of it, and 
 
19 
 
 Morrison, 
 previously 
 ,) was sent 
 the inland 
 uing in liis 
 c\i he found 
 : " I had a 
 1 which we 
 )ats, all of 
 jtables and 
 y well, and 
 in Canada, 
 made some 
 )orted some 
 irovc well." 
 »n led to no 
 !nt, made in 
 ' After I re- 
 ,nt, the then 
 nee came to 
 the superin- 
 ged by his 
 ith Ihcm to 
 ut cutting a 
 Grant died 
 entertained 
 stance much 
 orable as to 
 ) by parties, 
 should give 
 orth, in that 
 cnt has been 
 the island is 
 ich so many, 
 it a distance, 
 p would wish 
 ny time upon 
 rell of it, and 
 
 express a desire to continue there; nor would many of them 
 have voluntarily made it their abode for ten or fifteen years. 
 
 AVhilc the accounts of these parties generally agree as to the 
 timber and the nature of the soil, they represent the climate to 
 be milder than that of Quebec. Mr. Wright, a surveyor, 
 who Avintcred there in 17G5, during what he then considered a 
 very severe season, shows, by his observations taken there, that 
 the thermometer only fell as low as 15 degrees below zero, and 
 both Mr. Corbet and Mr. Pope informed the writer, that the 
 winter before last there were only six weeks of sea ice in the 
 neighborhood of the island. This mildness of climate when 
 compared to that of Quebec, and of the opposite shores of the 
 St. Lawrence, is easily accounted for by its insular position; 
 the island being surrounded on all sides by a wide expanse of 
 salt water, the modifying effects of which upon climate in all 
 parts of the world, even where the width of sea may be less 
 than a mile, is well known to all who have ever considered the 
 many influences whicli will bear upon climate, irrespective of 
 latitude. The island lying nearly east and west, and having 
 highlands running its entire length along its northern shore, 
 nmch of its surface must be protected by the latter from the 
 coldest Avinds, and, even among the range of highlands, there 
 must 1)0 many green and sheltered valleys and slopes with a 
 southern and Avestcrn aspect. In regard to degree of heat and 
 cold, its climate is much like that of NcAvfoundland; but it is 
 not so subject to fogs. The navigation at the former is open 
 for about six Avecks or tAvo months longer than it is at Quebec, 
 and it is i)robable that, Avith properly constructed and properly 
 manned steamboats, or with Lieut. Halket's boats, (so favorably 
 spoken of by Lieut. Osborne, Captain M'Clure, and other 
 Arctic navigators,) a communication betAvecn the South-West 
 Point and the south shore of the St. LaAvrence could be effected 
 occasionally in the Avinter months, according to the Avcather 
 and the state of the ice, which never extends across or blocks 
 up the wliolc channel. The experience of recent, as well as of 
 former Arctic navigation, should convince us of the practicability 
 of the undertaking. A communication, during that ])eriod, 
 could certainly be often kept up from the island with Mingan 
 on the north shore of the river. When the island, shall ha-vsc; 
 
1?0 
 
 advanced so far as to raakc the establishment of a winter com- 
 municatiou with the main shore of importance, it would bo 
 advisable to employ Tor the purpose men who have served in 
 some of our Arctic searching ships, or have belonged to somo 
 of the Greenland or Davis' Straits' whalers, wlio could also be 
 employed in the valuable whale and seal iisheries, which exist 
 upon both sides of the island. In smooth Avcather a few of the 
 enterprising, skilful and industrious Esquinmux would easily 
 accomplish it in their oomial's, and they would at that season 
 be the best seal hunters which could be procured. And no 
 natives of this continent are so susceptible of being civilized 
 as these brave and estimable people. This is fully ])roved by 
 the accounts of the abilities displayed by, and the gallant and 
 devoted conduct of tliose who became interpreters to, our 
 several Arctic expeditions. ^lany men have obtair-^d a monu- 
 ment to their worth, who did not deserve one . rrt than 
 Augustus, the invaluable r]squimaux interpreter to rra...dinin 
 his iirst and second expeditions; who, in an attempt to reach 
 and assist Back in a third ex]iedition, gave up his life rather 
 tlian fail in his voluntary mission, after his companions, in 
 dismay at the dangers encountered, had turned back to Fort 
 Churchill, on Hudson's Bay. If a people, numbering many 
 such as Augustus among them, could be planted in a civilized 
 state upon tlie north shore of the St. Lawrence, whence many 
 of them were cruelly driven two centuries ago, and be employed 
 in connection with Anticosti, many humane as well as useful 
 ?,ud profitable objects would be accomplished by the settlement 
 oi^tjie island. To reairn, however, to the difficulties which ice 
 presents to the navigation of the St. Lawrence. AVere the 
 vessels in the Quebec trade constructed with a view to having 
 to navigate a sea occasionally encumbered with ice, and were 
 they commanded by men, who had made one or two voyages 
 in a northern whaler, we should seldom hear of a shipwreck in 
 the ice, consequent upon an early winter setting in, or upon an 
 unusually late arrival of the spring: two events which have 
 recently happened, and, together, have caused the loss of 
 upwards of one hundr':>d ships. Upon being beset by the ice 
 last November, many masters of vessels, finding themselves in 
 a difficultv wl'.ich was ouite novel to thoui. and for which thev 
 
 ^x., 
 
21 
 
 vintcr com- 
 t would bo 
 c served in 
 ^od to some 
 )uld alr^o be 
 which exist 
 I lew (»r the 
 ^ould easily 
 that season 
 d. And no 
 ig civilized 
 y ])roved by- 
 gallant and 
 er.s to, our 
 /^d a monu- 
 
 1 ^ iT than 
 rra...diu iu 
 [)t to reach 
 s life rather 
 ipanions, in 
 ack to Fort 
 ering many 
 a a civilized 
 hence many 
 be employed 
 ell as useful 
 e settlement 
 Ds which ice 
 AVerc the 
 w to having 
 je, and were 
 two voyages 
 hipwreck in 
 , or upon an 
 
 which have 
 the loss of 
 et by the ice 
 hemselves in 
 !" which thev 
 
 were entirely unprepared, became perfectly l)cwildcred, and 
 left their ships unnecessarily, wliile others immediately cast 
 anclior, which was the worst step they could, have taken under 
 the circumstances, the drifting ice cutting the resisting vessels 
 entirely through. Though the writer has made many inquiries, 
 he has not been able to discover more than a very small pro- 
 portion of officers or men, employed in this trade, who have 
 ever made a voyage in a northern whaler. 
 
 It is now time to notice those resources belonging to Anti- 
 costi, which, being wholly independent of soil and climate, may 
 be turned to immediate account. These resources principally 
 consist of its sea and river fisheries, which, although compara- 
 tively neglected by Canada, may be classed among the most 
 valuable iisherics of British North America. 
 
 In the recent report, published by the New Brunswick Gov- 
 ernment upon the fisheries of tluit province, mention is made of 
 the valuable whale and cod fisheries existing upon the coasts 
 ofAnticosti; and it is stated that the Jersey houses fit out 
 vessels to carry on the former upon both sides of the island, 
 and up the St. Lawrence as far as Bic, some of the whales, 
 (" hump backs,") being seventy feet long, and yielding eight 
 tons of oil; while tlie fishermen of Gasp6 frequently resort to 
 the east end of the island and take cod in great aoandance. 
 In his w^ork entitled " Newfoundland in 1842," Sir Richard 
 Bonnycastle states, that " the whale fishery is pursued along 
 the coast of Labrador, in and through the Straits of Belleisle" 
 (close to Anticosti,) *' and that whales of all sizes are taken, 
 from the smallest finner to the largest mysticetus, or great com- 
 mon oil whale of the Northern Ocean, which occasionally 
 visits these regions." It thus appears by these authorities, that 
 on every side of Anticosti valuable whales abound; the pursuit 
 of which, and of seals and cod, it is not improbable, could be 
 carried on in winter as well as in summer, were the attempt 
 to be properly made; but, without a trial, the undertaking may 
 ever remain unjustly condemned as impossible. Should such 
 an attempt be successful, it would not be tlie first instance of 
 that being accomplished upon trial which theory, timidity and 
 prejudice had long declared to be impracticable. Here, again, 
 the experience of our northern fishermen, and of the Esquimaux, 
 
who fearlessly encounter t .11 aifficultics and danger?, of the ico 
 and of the vjcather, and v.ho fish in winter and summer, might 
 bo successfully brought to bear. 
 
 Of cod, Mr. Corbet, in his statement made to the writer, 
 remarks that " one boat, with two good fishermen, could take 
 off South-Wcst Point, or at Fox Bay, eighteen hundred of these 
 fish in one day;" while Mr. Morrison states that cod, halibut, 
 and a variety of other fish, could bo caught all round the 
 island in incalculable quantities, and that no fir.or cod is 
 caught on any part of the coast of A.merica, or on the l>anks of 
 Newfoundland, than is to be met with there. To this may be 
 added the testimony of Captain Fair, R. N., of II. M. ship 
 Champion, who states tliat he met a few shallops from the 
 Magdalen Islands, at the east end of Anticosti, where they 
 found cod in great abundance and of excellent quality. 
 
 Of hardly less value than the former is the seal fishery, 
 which could certainly be carried on in winter as well as in 
 summer, many seals being seen on the ice during the former 
 season and in the spring, and thousands of them being observed 
 during tiie summer and autumn, at the entrances of all the bays 
 and rivers, where they remain almost entirely unmolested. 
 To show the value of this fishery in the gulf, tlic New Bruns- 
 wick official report, alread^: cited, brings forward an instance 
 of a schooner engaged in it from ?yi1ney, Cave Breton, having 
 cleared X14,000, within l!i,<c v;ce!^s of her having left that 
 port. Yet at Anticosti, where seals abound more tlian in most 
 parts of the gulf, this fishery is at present almost entirely 
 neglected; the Americans and others, who resort to its neigh- . 
 borhood, being principally engrossed with the still more profit- 
 able cod and mackerel fisheries. For the storing and preser- 
 vation of seal, whale and cod oil, the temperate degree of heat 
 at Anticosti during the summer is particularly favorable. 
 
 At the present moment the mackerel fishery is the r.ost 
 lucrative one in the St. Lawrence, and is the most extensively 
 pursued, mackerel now selling at Boston for nineteen dollars a 
 barrel, and at Halifax and Quebec for a few dollars less than 
 that sum. No part of the gulf abounds with this fish more 
 than the neighborhood of Anticosti. Many schooners visit the 
 coasts of the latter from the United States, the Lower Frov- 
 
 « 
 
 i**. 
 
23 
 
 of the ico 
 icr, might 
 
 the writer, 
 [■onld take 
 ed of these 
 )(1, hnlibnt, 
 round the 
 "ICY cod is 
 le ])anks of 
 lis may be 
 I. M. ship 
 3 from tlie 
 vhcre they 
 ity. 
 
 Dal fishery, 
 well as iii 
 the former 
 m observed 
 ill the bays 
 inmolcsted. 
 Slew Bruiis- 
 an instance 
 ton, having 
 ig left that 
 han inmost 
 )st entirely 
 its neigh- 
 more profit- 
 and preser- 
 ^ree of heat 
 rable. 
 
 is the nost 
 extensively 
 en dollars a 
 •s less than 
 is fish more 
 ers visit the 
 iower Frov- 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 inces, and a few from Claspe, to carry on this fishery, in which 
 tliey arc very successful; and Mr. Corbet states that the 
 mackerel he has seen in July and August come in shoals «o 
 thick and so close to the slioro, that as many as ono hundred 
 barrels could be taken in one haul of the net. A few iiours' 
 work will thus sometimes pay the whole expenses of a schooner 
 during the season. 
 
 Herrings as fine as any in the world, are as plentiful about 
 the island as mackerel; but from the wretched manner in which 
 they are cured, they obtain a much less price in the market, 
 and arc, therefore, comparatively neglected by the fishermen. 
 To make this fishery as valualdc as the former, a few of tlie 
 Dutch North Sea fishermen should be engaged, who would in- 
 troduce their mode of curing the fish, whioh has long obtained 
 for " Duich llci-rings," the highest price in every market in 
 Europe. By adopting that mode, the Scotch fishermen are be- 
 ginning to compete successfully with the former. 
 
 At the entrances of all the rivers and creeks immense quantities 
 of lobsters are thrown up 1)y the sea; the collection of which, 
 and the preserving them on the spot for distant markets, or 
 sending them fresh in vessels containing wells, to our home 
 markets, might render this fislicry a very profitable one. Eels 
 are also very numerous and very fine, and are often collected 
 by parties of Indians, who come over for the purpose from 
 Mingan, and who obtain a liigh price for them from the Ameri- 
 cans. Some of the halibut, which are found off the coast, attain 
 the Avcight of three or four hundred pounds. 
 
 The caplin, which are now merely used as bait for cod, arc 
 BO abundant around the island that they are sometimes thrown 
 up by the sea and cover the shore to the depth of two feet. 
 Were they properly cured and exported, they would find good 
 markets in Europe, or oil of an excellent quality coaldbe made 
 from them by the simple process of boiling. 
 
 The number of schooners Avhich resort to the shores of An- 
 ticosti from the United States, the Lower Provinces, and the 
 Magdalen Islands, in pursuit of the cod and mackerel, is so 
 great, that there are sometimes as many as one hundred vessels 
 fishing between the East Point and Fox Bay at one time, all 
 of which are generally very successful. If these fisheries can 
 
^ 
 
 24 
 
 be so profitable to expensively fitted out schooiierf!, (of from 
 40 to 160 tons,) some of which come a distance of fifteen hun- 
 dred miles, and have to bring every su})ply, including provi- 
 sions and salt with them, how much more profitable would they 
 become to parties residing upon the island, who would have 
 their supplies upon the spot, and who could carry on their 
 operations in boats. How important also to the latter would 
 become the trade which might be created with the former: the 
 supplying them with provisions, often with fit^hing gear, and 
 with every description of marine stores; and how soon would 
 such a trade lead to more extensive transactions, in regard to 
 the purchase of fish upon the spot, and the disposal of it in the 
 best markets, and to a further trade in West India, South 
 American and Mediterranean produce, obtained in exchange 
 for fish, and being in great demand in Canada. It might also 
 lead to the gradual rise, at different points of the island, of 
 good sized villages, and ultimately of towns. Many large 
 towns in various parts of the world, which arc now places of 
 great wealth, have risen from elements quite as slight as these. 
 Even the frozen shores of Spitzbergen may be pointed out, as 
 having been, for up>vards of a century, the site of a flourishing 
 settlement, supported by the Dutch *N\iiale fishery alone. Of 
 this settlement of Smcerinberg on the island of Amsterdam, 
 N. "W. coast of Spitzbergen, Scoresby, in his "Arctic Regions," 
 thus speaks: " Such, indeed, was the bustle produced by the 
 yearly visitation of 200 or 300 vessels, that the place had the 
 appearance of a commercial or manufacturing town; and of 
 such consideration was this village, that the incitement of an 
 advantageous traffic drew a number of annual settlers to the 
 place, for the purpose of vending such stores as brandy, wine, 
 tobacco and other commodities in constant demand. Not only 
 shopkeepers, but bakers and other artizans resorted thither. 
 Thus the naturally barren and desolate shores of Spitzbergen 
 were made to assume the appearance of a populous country; 
 and such was the flourishing state of Smeerinberg, that it was 
 compared by the Hollanders with their famous settlement of 
 Batavia, which was founded about the same time." But we 
 need not confine ourselves to the past for examples as to what 
 the enterprise and energy of man, properly directed, may ac- 
 
%$ 
 
 r?, (of from 
 fifteen Imn- 
 diiig provi- 
 would they 
 would have 
 ry on their 
 atter would 
 former: the 
 ^ gear, and 
 soon would 
 n regard to 
 
 of it in the 
 ndia, South 
 n exchange 
 t might also 
 16 island, of 
 Manv large 
 w places of 
 ^ht as these, 
 ntcd out, as 
 L flourishing 
 
 alone. Of 
 Amsterdam, 
 ic Regions," 
 iced by the 
 lace had the 
 3wn; and of 
 iment of an 
 tiers to the 
 •andy, wine, 
 . Not only 
 ted thither. 
 Spitzbcrgen 
 us country; 
 , that it was 
 3ttlement of 
 B." But we 
 I as to what 
 ted, mav ac- 
 
 complish in places the most inhospitable, or as to the advanta- 
 ges of carrying the fisheries on from stations planted in their 
 imnicdiato vicinity, the intelligence having this moment 
 • reached us of the extraordinary success which has already 
 attended the efforts of the gallant Arctic voyager, Capt. 
 Penny, to establish a permanent whale fishing settlement upon 
 the bleak shores of Davis' Straits. 
 
 Shore-whaling has been very successful at New Zealand, and 
 may be made so at Anticosti, around which whales are so nu- 
 merous that they arc sometimes found stranded upon the beach. 
 While the men engaged in the pursuit would be able to devote 
 the whole of their time, from the first opening to the latest 
 period of the season, to the capture of the whale, (towing each 
 one ashore as soon as caught,) their families could be employed 
 in cutting up the blubber, extracting and storing the oil, pre- 
 paring the whalebone, tfcc; so that no useful portion of the 
 animal would be lost, and the capture of the greatest number 
 of whales would be insured. The ])arties on shore could like- 
 wise be employed in making casks and other articles used in 
 the " try houses " for boiling the Idubber. Under the usual 
 system many opimrtunities of a capture are lost, in proceeding 
 to and returning from the fishery, and much time is wasted in 
 the extracting, stowing and disposal of the oil, while much 
 that would be valuable, were it preserved, is thrown over- 
 board, and a good deal of oil is lost by leakage. In regard to 
 the fisheries generr lly, the advantage of being able to cure the 
 fish upon shore, in proper houses, instead of curing them care- 
 lessly on board, must be apparent to every one. What add to 
 the value of Anticosti as a fishing station, are the numerous 
 creeks and rivers, affording perfect shelter for boats and 
 schooners, with a fine beach to land upon, which are found on 
 both sides of the island. 
 
 So long, however, as distant fisheries can be carried on with 
 a profit, there can be no reason why Canada should not parti- 
 cipate in the latter, as well as in the former, should she, with 
 her large and increasing resources for successfully embarking 
 in any undertaking, begin to evince that spirit of enterprise 
 which led the earlier colonists of the neighbouring States, to 
 fit out vessels for the pursuit of tlie most distant whale fish- 
 
26 
 
 •r 
 
 .4 
 
 eries, as well as to carr^ on in boats that which existed upon 
 their own shores. Anticosti, where there is excellent accom- 
 modation for any number of vessels of from 300 to 400 tons 
 burden, (the size mentioned by Scorcsby as best adapted for* 
 the Greenland and Davis Straits' fisheries,) might eventually be 
 made, in regard to the great southern, as well as to the great 
 northern fisheries, such a station for the fitting out of wlialers, 
 and for the exportation of their produce, as Nantucket and 
 New Bedford have long been for the fitting out, and the recep- 
 tion, of the whalers of the United States. 
 
 Of the river and lake fisheries of Anticosti, Mr. Corbet, who 
 leases thorn, as well as the right of hunting the whole island, 
 but who keeps up a very small establishment, and consequently 
 makes use of his privilege to a very slight extent, says: " I 
 have frequently, along with two Indians, taken in the month of 
 July, in one day, tAvelve Imndred salmon-trout, and upwards of 
 two hundred salmon, out of Observation River, near the South- 
 West Point, the majority of the salmon-trout weighing four 
 pounds, and the salmon from twelve to fifteen pounds;" and 
 Mr. Morrison states, that the first day he went up to Salmon 
 River, he caught, in a very short time, with a small net, from 
 two hundred to three hundred fine salmon; and that, too, by 
 confining his fisliing to only two or three of the numerous holes 
 to which salmon resort in that river. Even in winter, Mr. Cor- 
 bet has caught quantities of fine trout, by cutting a hole in the 
 ice, and fishing with a hook. This gentleman owns a schooner, 
 in which he sends the produce of the fisheries and of the chase, 
 obtained by him, to the Quebec market, where it commands a 
 high price. The master of this schooner is one of many par- 
 ties who arc desirous of purchasing land, and settling entirely 
 upon the island, with which he has been connected for fifteen 
 years. 
 
 Tliough all the rivers of Anticosti abound with the finest 
 salmon, few of them are fished to any extent, in consequence of 
 there being but a small number of persons residing upon the 
 island, and those who come there not being prepared, and not 
 having the right to fish in the rivers; which, with sufficient at- 
 tention and judicious management, might be made almost as 
 valuable as the best salmon rivers in i^cotland, for each of 
 
 i|'»- ! 
 
 1:^ 
 
27 
 
 existed upon 
 llcnt accom- 
 to 400 tons 
 adapted foi> 
 ivcntually be 
 to the great 
 t of -wlialers, 
 .ntucket and 
 tid the rccep- 
 
 Corbet, who 
 sv^hole island, 
 consequently 
 }nt, says: " I 
 the month of 
 d upwards of 
 ar the South- 
 cighing four 
 ounds;" and 
 p to Salmon 
 all net, from 
 that, too, by 
 imerous holes 
 iter, Mr. Cor- 
 a hole in the 
 IS a schooner, 
 of the chase, 
 commands a 
 of many par- 
 tling entirely 
 ?d for fifteen 
 
 th the finest 
 onsequence of 
 ing upon the 
 ired, and not 
 I sufficient at- 
 ide almost as 
 ., for each of 
 
 which a rent is obtained of from five to fifteen thousand pounds 
 sterling per annum. The markets for fish in the United States, 
 being about to be thrown open to Canada, under the Recipro- 
 city Treaty, will soon become quite as remunerative as any in 
 Europe, and will consequently raise the value of our river fish- 
 eries to what is obtained for the most valuable of the former. 
 
 The porpoise fishery, which is successfully conducted at Ta- 
 
 dousac, at the entrance of the Saguenay — each porpoise caught 
 
 A being wortli £25, in the leather and oil which it is made to 
 
 ' yield — might also be carried on at Anticosti at a considerable 
 
 profit, the latter being as well situated for the purpose as the 
 
 former. 
 
 The hunting upon the island is of considerable value, though 
 of far less importance than its fisheries. The animals consist 
 of black bears, martens, otters, and the silver grey, tlie red 
 the black, and sometimes the white fox; all of which are very 
 numerous, and for the skins of which Mr. Corbet realizes ex- 
 cellent prices in the Quebec market: those of the silver grey 
 and the l^lack fox fetching from £15 to X20 eacli. But Quebec 
 being principally a mart for other and dearer markets, much 
 higher prices would be obtained for the Anticosti furs, could 
 they be sent to the latter markets direct; and this would be 
 easily effected, were the settlements and establishments, con- 
 templated in this article, made upon the island, which would 
 create objects there of sufficient importance to attract vessels 
 from \ arious parts to its shores. The bears upon the island 
 are quite harmless, and, living upon the rich berries and wild 
 fruits, such as currants and gooseberries, which abound every- 
 where in the summer and autumn, are very good eating during 
 those seasons. Deer were formerly met with, but have not 
 been recently seen there. Fortunately, the island, like the 
 country immediately north of Quebec, (though they abound 
 still further nortli,) is entirely free from wolves. There are 
 mice, but neither rats nor frogs; nor are there snakes or rep- 
 tiles of any description. 
 
 Great quantities of ducks, geese, partridges, and othc r fowl 
 resort to the lakes upon the island, some of which are of a 
 species peculiar to England; and a duck, called the muniac, 
 remains about the shore all the winter. It is probable that 
 
28 
 
 
 the eider-duck, which frequents the main shore further north, 
 will be found there; in which case eider-down might be made 
 a profitable export from the island. 
 
 Thus, even in respect to food, Anticosti, in an uncultivated 
 state, is not so inhospitable as it is generally supposed to be; 
 for, with its fish, its bears' flesh, and its fowl in abundance, 
 what active sportsman is there who could not often obtain a 
 meal there, with his rod or with his gun? 
 
 Witli so many other resources, it is of little consequence 
 whether or not Anticosti will be found to possess valuable min- 
 erals. There is no account of its ever haviug been visited by 
 a geologist; but iron ore of great ricliness and quartz are fre- 
 quently met with on the island, and recently some substances 
 have been discovered resembling mineral paints. Plumbago 
 may also exist there, as it has been found among limestone of 
 a similar character to that of the island upon several parts of 
 this continent; and M^. M'Ewan mentions having found free- 
 stone there, some of it as fine as water of Ayr-stone, and some 
 as coarse as grindstone. The fossiliferous limestone, which 
 exists in great quantities upon the shores in thick horizontal 
 strata, is of so fine a grain and color, and so hard, that it is 
 most deservedly classed under the head of marble. Were this 
 marble quarried to any extent, large profits could be made by 
 disposing of it to builders in the chief towns of the province, 
 whose wealthy inhabitants are beginning to vie with each othor 
 in the beauty of their residences, and the style of their living. 
 Tq Quebec and Montreal it could easily be conveyed as ballast. 
 Being very durable, as well as very beautiful, there js little 
 doubt that, were it brought to those cities, in any quantities, it 
 would be selected for many })ublic buildings. The contem- 
 plated erections for the Government and the Parliament Houses 
 could not be made more imposing in appearance, so far as the 
 material is considered, than by the use of this marble in their 
 construction. It has already been used for several lighthouses 
 in the St. Lawrence besides those upon the island. Both Lieut. 
 Baddeley, R. E., who touched at several parts of the island in 
 1831, and Sir Richard Bonnycastle, R. E., who londcd at the 
 entrance of Jupiter river in 1841, speak of the value of this 
 marble. The former says, " its structure is crystalline, and its 
 
 I 
 
 \. 
 
further north, 
 ight ])e made 
 
 . uncultivated 
 pposcd to be; 
 II abundance, 
 ften obtain a 
 
 consoquonce 
 v^ahiable min- 
 len visited by 
 uartz are fre- 
 le substances 
 I. Plumbago 
 
 limestone of 
 ;^cral parts of 
 g found frce- 
 ine, and some 
 3stone, M'hich 
 ck horizontal 
 xd, that it is 
 . Were this 
 i be made by 
 the province, 
 ih each othor 
 their living, 
 ed as ballast, 
 lere js little 
 quantities, it 
 The contem- 
 ment Houses 
 so far as the 
 rble in their 
 1 lighthouses 
 
 Both Lieut, 
 the island in 
 i.ndcd at the 
 i^alue of this 
 lline, and its 
 
 consequent lustre upon fracture is high; it is sufficiently hard 
 to receive a good polish, and is sufficiently solid and massive 
 I to turn out some excellent ashlars, so that, Avhethcr it be de- 
 sired for the construction of a house or for its interior embel- 
 lishment, it is equally applicable." Sir llichard Bonnycastle 
 states, " the limestone cuts well, and looks very beautiful, being, 
 in fact, a sort of marble;" and adds, " I procured some large 
 and valuable encrinital remains, yellow blende, and some iine 
 white marble, and have no doubt that a rich treat would be 
 afforded to the collector who had leisure sufficient in this 
 vicinage."' A specimen of a stone, suitable to the purposes of 
 lithography, found upon the island some yoars ago, was placed 
 in the museum of this society, and many specimens of iron ore, 
 quartz, marljlc, and curious fossils, have been obtained there 
 upon various occasions. Anticosti having been evidently 
 formed at the same period as the rest of North America, and 
 not having been. created by the alluvial deposits of the St. 
 Lawrence, as, from its position, some might siqipose, there is no 
 reason, upon its being explored by a geologist, why some of 
 those minerals and ores should not be found there, which are 
 known to exist upon this continent. It is only very recently 
 that coal, silver, and cupper have been discovered upon the 
 western coast of Newfoundland, among a limestone formation 
 similar to that of Anticosti. 
 
 Taken separately, the resources of Anticosti, as they are yet 
 known, may not appear so important as those of countries more 
 favored by careful attention, by settlement, and by a fair ex- 
 penditure upon them of labor and science combined, under 
 which their resources have been partially developed; but, viewed 
 together, they cannot but be regarded, by any unprejudiced 
 observer, as of consideralde value, and as giving promise, 
 (upon the introduction there of those agencies which have been 
 successfully at Avork elsewhere,) of becoming a source of wealth 
 and prosperity to the whole province. No comprehensive view 
 of the resources and capabilities of the island having ever been 
 taken, is one reason why it has been so long neglected; and 
 why, throughout its tlireo thousand three hundred square miles 
 of territory, it yet gives shelter to no more than some fifteen 
 or twenty residents, distributed between the fishing stations of 
 
'^-g 
 
 ',■■■ f 
 
 the Ics.-i 0, the lighthouses and the provision posts, all of ^vhich 
 are situated uimu the south side of tlic island; the fishing sta- 
 tions being at the South-West Point, and the entrances of Ob- 
 servation and Becscie Rivers, the lighthouses at the East Point 
 and the South-West Point, and the provision posts being also 
 at the lighthouse stations, at Shallop Creek, about half way 
 between them, and at Ellis Buy. The state of desolation in 
 which tiie island remains, is shown by the necessity for keeping 
 up these provision posts for shipwrecked sailors, as, in former 
 days, wells were dug, shady trees planted, and caravansaries 
 maintained in the desert, for the relief of pilgrims and travel- 
 lers by the Arab and Indian princes; but, unlike the deserts 
 of the East, (though even there fertile spots have been often 
 discovered and been made to " bloom as a rose,") Anticosti has 
 hitherto been condemned to desolation, not on account of its 
 being incapable of being made to sustain a population, but be- 
 cause of the superficial examinations of its soil, bordering upon 
 the sea shore only, which have been made from time to time, 
 and of the reports and general rumors, based upon those exam- 
 inations, similar to those unjust popular rumors which have for 
 many years kept back many other countries, since become 
 known and now arrived at a flourisliing condition, and which, 
 Uiitil the last few years, condemned Newfoundland to be a mere 
 fishing stcition. Even Prince Edward's Island, now the garden 
 of our maritime provinces, was for a long period kept back by 
 prejudices as absurd and unjust as those Avhich long operated 
 against the progress of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and 
 which, up to the present time, have rendered Anticosti worse 
 than useless; a terror to the mariner, and an inhospitable wil- 
 derness at the threshhold of the i)rovince, frowing upon, and 
 depressing in spirit, all who seek Canada by the route of the 
 St. Lawrence.* • 
 
 * As there are few persona in England, or even in Canada, who do not still 
 regard Newfoundland as possessing no resources beyond its fisheries, and 
 who look upon Nova Scotia almost iu the same light, the following extract is 
 inserted here from the speech of Mr. Morrison, at the meeting of the Agri- 
 cultural Society, held at St. Johns, Newfoundland, in 184^2, and presided 
 over by Sir John Harvey, as bearing upon the past condition and the recent 
 progress of those countries, and upon the present state and what may be the 
 future progress of Anticosti : ' ' Travels, voyages, histories, geographies, even 
 
 i ■)> 
 
31 
 
 all of Avhicli 
 fishing" sta- 
 nces of Ob- 
 East Point 
 s being also 
 it half way 
 csolation in 
 for keeping 
 B, in former 
 iravansarics 
 and travel- 
 tlic deserts 
 been often 
 .nticosti has 
 30unt of its 
 ;ion, but be- 
 dering upon 
 me to time, 
 those exam- 
 ich have for 
 nee become 
 and which, 
 to be a mero 
 '■ the garden 
 ept back by 
 ng operated 
 ndland, and 
 icosti worse 
 ipitable wil- 
 ^ upon, and 
 route of the 
 
 ho do not still 
 I fisheries, and 
 wing extract is 
 ig of the Agri- 
 aud presided 
 and the recent 
 Liat may be the 
 graphics, even 
 
 Should properly conducted and sufficiently extended explo- 
 rations be made at Anticosti, and commensurate exertions bo 
 expended upon it, results will be produced there, similar to 
 those which have followed proper inquiry into and proper 
 efforts for developing the resources of Nova Scotia and New- 
 foundland; a fair proportion of good as well as bad land will 
 be discovered; the former will be made to yield every descrip- 
 tion of grain and vegetables which can bo successfully grown 
 in those countries, and to raise any number of cattle and slieep; 
 while the entire island will be made to export, in addition to 
 furs and fish, oil, tallow, tar, potash, dairy produce, and the 
 finest ice from its lakes and rivers, and to support a large and 
 a thriving population of fishermen, mechanics, traders and agri- 
 culturalists. But what the writer conceives to give more value 
 to xVnticosti, than its capabilities of soil and climate, or its 
 
 school books, in which the name of Newfoundland is introduced, represent 
 the soil so barren, the climate so severe, as if nature had raised an impassa- 
 ble barrier to its agricultural improvement. Little more than twentj'-five 
 years ago the same prejudice that had been the bane of Newfoundland pre- 
 vailed in Nova Scotia. The possibility of raising wheat, barley, and other 
 gTain for the subsistence of the inhabitants, was ridiculed and scouted aa 
 chimerical. Fortunately there was one among them of experience in the im- 
 proved system of Scottish agricultiire, who roused the people by his appeals, 
 led them to form agricultural societies, iinder the operations of which the 
 insane prejudice that had so long existed against the soil and climate of Nova 
 Scotia became dispelled; and in the history of no country has there ever 
 been recorded a more radical and instantaneous change than has been wit- 
 nessed in that country. So in Newfoundland, by following the example of 
 Nova Scotia, lands have already been cleared and cultivated in many parts, 
 north and south; a great portion of the sxibsistence of the inhabitants is now 
 raised from the soil, and at a moderate calculation made from the statistical 
 returns in the last census, the agricultural produce of the island is little short 
 of two himdred thousand pounds per annum. Some of the farms, at St. Ma- 
 ry's and riacentia ]lays, have thirty, forty and fifty head of horned cattle." 
 Besides many other authorities to the same effect, Sir Kichard Bonnycastle 
 may be quoted, who, in his work upon Newfoundland, says: "Wheat is 
 growing within a mile of the house I am writing in. It was sown in the fall 
 of the year, and in this month of April has survived all the severe alterations 
 of the winter. The i>oorest soil of Newfoundland is around St. Johns, yet 
 wheat grows there. On the western side of Newfoundland," [opposite to 
 Anticosti], "the climate is less severe; the land more rich in consequence of 
 limestone prevailing, and is now known to be quite as capable of cultivation 
 as Cape Breton, Prince Edward's Island, and Nova Scotia. Even the East 
 coast might be made to support its own population." 
 
82 
 
 many other regources, wliether belonging to flic sea, to tlie 
 rivers, or to the land, is its position at the entrance of tlie St. 
 Lawrence, in the direct and only channel of an immense traffic, 
 which, within a very short period, is certain to become vastly 
 increased, not only by the throwing open to the Americans, of 
 the navigation of the St. Lawrence, nnder the reciprocity 
 treaty, recently concluded, but also by the extension of the 
 trade of the province to all parts of the world. Whetlier 
 viewed witli regard to this future trade, or to the existing 
 maritime trade of the province, which is confined to England, 
 the United States, the Lower Provinces and the West Indies; 
 to tlie establishment of an entrepot in the direct channel of that 
 trade, and of a coaling station lor the three lines of steamships 
 about to run between England and Quebec; or viewed as 
 affording the most favorable points for establishing fishing 
 stations, and of ^settlements and villages for supplying the 
 fishermen belonging to the island, as well as those who will be 
 attracted to its coast fisheries from a distance, and who will bo 
 desirous to rent certain portions of the shore for the purpose 
 of drying their fish there; the position of Anticosti, is a most 
 admirable one, and if the island were composed of nothing but 
 rock, without soil sufficient to produce a blade of grass, its 
 position alone would render it capable of being made of more 
 value than the most favored island in point of soil and climate 
 not possessing the advantages of that position. In regard, 
 either to an entrepot, or a depot for coals, Ellis Bay offers a 
 most convenient site for every vessel, whether taking the north 
 or the south channel at the entrance of the river; and having a 
 depth of 21 feet at low water in its most sheltered part, (secure 
 in all winds,) and having no bar, the fine steamers employed in 
 running between England and Quebec, which only draw from 
 13 to n feet water, could enter and lay there at all times. 
 Depots for coals might also be established at the South- West 
 Point, where there is a depth of -1 and 5 fathoms of water close 
 to the shore; and at Bear Bay on the north-east side of the 
 island, which is an excellent roadstead, with good anchorage. 
 The latter points are nearly five hundred miles nearer to Eng- 
 land than Quebec is; Avhich is about the distance steamers have 
 to make when getting short of coals upon the voyage from 
 
1^ 
 
 sea, to tlie 
 3 of tlie St. 
 msc traffic, 
 onic vastly 
 Orleans, of 
 reciprocity 
 ion of tliG 
 Wlietlier 
 10 existing 
 ► England, 
 est Indies; 
 nel of that 
 steamships 
 vie\ved as 
 n^ fishing 
 plying the 
 ho will bo 
 lio will bo 
 16 purpose 
 
 is a most 
 othing ]jut 
 ' gras.s, its 
 :e of more 
 id climate 
 In regard, 
 ay offers a 
 : the north 
 :1 having a 
 irt, (secure 
 nployed in 
 draw from 
 
 all times, 
 on til- West 
 rater close 
 -ide of the 
 mchorage. 
 ■er to Eng- 
 imers have 
 rage from 
 
 Europe; and several instances liave already occurred of their 
 having to run a considerable distance out of their way to pro- 
 cure coals at a cost of two or three days' delay, when, could 
 they have obtained them at Anticosti, they need not have lost 
 more than a few hours. Fur these depots, coals could be easily 
 brought from Pictou and Cape Breton, or be purchased from 
 ships carrying them from England as part of their cargoes to 
 Quebec. Thus the furnishing coal for the steamers touching 
 at Anticosti would, of itself, create a considerable traffic with 
 the island. These steamers could also take some of the prod- 
 uce of the fisheries, «&e., obtained there. 
 
 By establishing an entrepot on the island, for the purpose of 
 carrying on some of the traffic between Canada and Euroi)e in 
 the early spring, when for several weeks an intercourse between 
 it and Quebec could be frequently kept up in small vessels, 
 before shi^is from sea can traverse the same space, and later in 
 the autumn, after every ship from the latter has left lor Europe, 
 six weeks or two months would be virtually added to the 
 period of open navigation at Quebec. While such an inter- 
 course by colonial schooners or small steamers, (for which there 
 is shelter almost evervwhere.) could be maintained at those 
 seascxis, ships from sea could arrive earlier at, and depart later 
 from Anticosti, than they can arrive at or depart from Quebec, 
 and those ships that might clioose to discharge and obtain their 
 cargoes at other periods at Anticosti, could easily make three 
 voyages instead of two. By doing so, they would avoid the 
 worst part of the present voyage, (from Cape Rosier to Quebec,) 
 Avould secure six weeks or two months more of open naviga- 
 tion, and, in the tlireo voyages, would save two thousand five 
 hundred miles. Vessels also, which, coming out late in the 
 autumn, are sometimes obliged, after reaching the gulf, to run 
 back to ports in the Lower Provinces, and winter there, hav- 
 ing to continue their voyage on to Quebec in the spring, would 
 avoid the loss of about six months, by being able to unload and 
 obtain a cargo at Anticosti. Although the Baltic can be navi- 
 gated by the largest ships, yet the trade of that sea is generally 
 carried on by small vessels, in consequence of the dangers 
 which exist there to the former; and, so in the gulf and river 
 St. Lawrence, there are an imncnse number of small craft 
 
84 
 
 employed in all parts, and at the earliest and latest periods, 
 among which "\ve seldom hear of a wreck occurring, ^hile, year 
 after year, numerous Quebec traders, (of from oUO to 2,000 
 tons burden,) are cast ashore in the river this side of Anticosti, 
 before reaching it, or after having passed it in safety, and an 
 immense amount of property is destroyed. The comparative 
 immunity from disaster of the former is to be attributed to the 
 intimate knowledge of the navigation of tlie gulf and river 
 possessed by masters of colonial vessels, constantly employed 
 in the same waters, in addition to their vessels being adapted 
 for taking shelter in the numerous rivers and creeks, which 
 exist along the coasts both of the river and gulf, where, for 
 long distances, large vessels can obtain no safe anchorage. 
 Only last summer a Liverpool vessel for Quebec was driven 
 from her anchors at Bic, which is considered to be about the 
 best anchorage in the river, and was stranded upon Rimouski. 
 It cannot, therefore, but be allowed, that it might be advan- 
 tageou,^ to employ, to some extent, small colonial craft within 
 the river for such commodities as tliey could conveniently 
 carry, ilmong the exports from the Province, they could easily 
 take deals and boards, staves, pot and peart ashes, flour and 
 grain of all descriptions, pork, lish and furs, &c., and, with the 
 exception of machinery and railroad iron, all articles of import 
 landed at Anticosti could be as easily brought by them to 
 Quebec. This would partly upset the present system, and 
 perhaps bo unpopular with the merchants of Quebec; but many 
 ship-owners and ship-masters, with several of whom tlie writer 
 has conversed upon the subject, would be higlily in favor of it, 
 and would never send a ship to Quebec whenever she could 
 obtain a cargo at Anticosti. And if underwriters and ship- 
 pers, here and in England, could be shown that goods con- 
 veyed in this manner would not be liable to one-tenth tlie 
 risks to which they are now exposed; that not one-tenth of the 
 present number of wrecks would occur, and tliat, at a moderate 
 cost, harbors fit for the largest trade could be made at Ellis 
 Bay and the South-West Point, they also would gladly lend 
 their aid to carry out such an arrangement. As for the pro- 
 prietors of the island, they, no doubt, would most readily give 
 their assistance to that vvhich would make their property worth 
 
u 
 
 est periods, 
 , A\liilo, year 
 DO to 2,000 
 )f Anticosti, 
 ctv, and an 
 loniparative 
 )utcd to the 
 
 and river 
 y employed 
 iig adapted 
 leks, -which 
 
 whore, for 
 anchorage, 
 was driven 
 ) about the 
 
 Rimouski. 
 i be advan- 
 raft within 
 Dnveniently 
 lould easily 
 5, flour and 
 id, with the 
 ;s of import 
 by them to 
 system, and 
 !; but many 
 i tlK) writer 
 favor of it, 
 • she could 
 s and ship- 
 goods con- 
 ic-tenth the 
 ;enth of the 
 a moderate 
 de at Ellis 
 gladly lend 
 or the pro- 
 -eadily give 
 perty worth 
 
 in the market twenty times its present value there. Thus by 
 combining the interests and the means of many, (who, as yet, 
 have no knowledge that their interests may benmde identical,) 
 towards'establisliing .such a system of commercial intercourse 
 as that whieh l:is been pointed out, the undertaking might be 
 accomidished, notwithstanding any difficulties which other 
 parties might oppose to it. It would not depend upon Avhethcr 
 the latter would favor it or not, but whether those, having an 
 interest in carrying it out, could, by organization, by economy 
 of management, and by steadiness of purpose, place and main- 
 tain a sufficient quantity of well selected articles upon the island, 
 and be al)lc to dispose of them at about the same rate as that at 
 which they Avould be sold in the markets to which they might 
 properly belong. For the intercolonial trade of the St. Law- 
 rence, the island might be made a convenient cenire, from 
 whence the whole of it could be easily carried on. 
 
 Besides the main trade of the province, conducted from 
 Quebec, the trade of the flourishing settlements up the Saguenay 
 towards Lake St. John, which arc rapidly extending, may be 
 made to contribute to the importance of Anticosti; the whole 
 of those settlements being then supplied by the latter, as well 
 as many of the extensive and populous set+lements along the 
 main shores of the lower St. Lawrence, xit a future period a 
 further trade by the Saguenay may be looked for, coming 
 across from the St. Maurice, from the Upper Ottawa and from 
 Lake Huron, through a magnificent country, which will rapidly 
 become occupied, whose commerce will seek the nearest outlet 
 to Europe; and, whenever a railroad shall be constructed, to 
 connect the Saguenay with Lake Huron, much of the trade of 
 the '• Far West " will come the same route. Ultimately such 
 a road will become a branch of the great railway which is at 
 no distant period to cross this continent to the Pacific. Instead 
 of assisting to divert the trade of Canada to channels passing 
 througli the United States, by which we lose the value of one. 
 half the traffic before it reaches the ocean, and our ships lose 
 the whole of the freight to Europe, it would be much more 
 beneficial to the province, if our leading merchants would en- 
 courage the use of routes passing through our own territory to 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 
36 
 
 Anticosti may filao grow into importance as an emporium for 
 a portion of that commerce which Canada is now in a ])Osition to 
 open out with all parts of the world; for, to large vesj-els coming 
 long voyages from the East Indies, China, &c., it would be of 
 some consequence to avoid the delay and the dangers of 
 coming up the St. Lawrence. Tlic island may then almost 
 become such a mart as the ancient Taprobana, (the Ceylon of 
 the present day,) was in regard to the trade between China, 
 India, the Persian Gulf, Arabia and Africa, when " she received 
 and dismissed the fleets of the East and of the West;" her 
 position alone enabling her to extract more wealth from that 
 trade than was derived from it by the countries to which it 
 properly belonged. 
 
 Since the foregoing was written, the writer has visited the 
 island which he has endeavored to represent as it appeared to 
 him, after an examination and a comparison of every authority 
 bearing upon it, and an inquiry into its present condition, of 
 nearly every person now residing, or who has lately resided 
 there. He will now, therefore, add the result of his own obser- 
 vations, made upon the spot. 
 
 Having taken passage at Quebec about the middle of July in 
 the steamer " Wilmington," which was sent to Anticosti with 
 the object of assisting a ship, wrecked last November about 
 twelve miles from Ellis Bay, (which had remained there ever 
 since, almost uninjured by the ice or storms of an unusually 
 severe winter,) he visited that Bay as well as the South-West 
 Poi'^<" three times, and was upon the south side of the island for 
 about three weeks. He also twice visited Gaspe Basin. At 
 Ellis Bay the steamer ran in for shelter upon each occasion, 
 and upon the last remained there for three days. She anchored 
 about two miles up the harbor in 3^ fathoms at low water, 
 about a mile distant from the shore upon either side, and a 
 mile and a half from the head of the bay, which appeared to be, 
 from point to point, (Cape Henry to Cape Eagle,) from eight 
 to nine miles roimd. Upon looking out from this position 
 towards the sea, every appearance of the most complete security 
 was presented, the limestone reefs from the two points stretching 
 out south-east and south-west towards each other, the one a 
 
 
\\ 
 
 lorium for 
 ])Osition to 
 els coming 
 ould be of 
 angers of 
 en almost 
 
 Ceylon of 
 2cn China, 
 ic received 
 Vest;" her 
 
 from that 
 which it 
 
 visited the 
 ppearod to 
 ' authority 
 ndition, of 
 ;ly resided 
 3wn obser- 
 
 I of July in 
 icosti with 
 iber about 
 there ever 
 . unusually 
 outh-West 
 3 island for 
 3asin. At 
 I occasion, 
 B anchored 
 low Avatcr, 
 side, and a 
 ared to be, 
 from eight 
 is po?;ition 
 te security 
 stretching 
 , the one a 
 
 I 
 
 mile, the other throe quarters of a mile in length, and forming 
 complete hrciikwator-', quite uncovered at low water, and 
 which, being covered to only a very slight depth at any time, 
 stop the force of the sea even at high water, as was indicated 
 by the surf which they then caused, as the waves broke upon 
 Ihem, and which clearly directs ships to the channel between 
 them, of six hundred fathoms wide. This channel, too, is much 
 protected by the water shoaling immediately outside to six 
 fathoms, which, although deep enough to admit the largest 
 vessels, tends to break the force of the sea. This was expe- 
 rienced upon one occasion, when, in a heavy southerly gale, 
 the steamer ran in from a tremendous sea outside, in which she 
 pitched nearly bowsi)rit under, and anchored in water almost 
 as smooth as a mill pond. To all on board the almost sudden 
 cessation of violent motion appeared as extraordinary as it 
 proved agreealjle. The same afternoon a large American 
 schooner ran into the bay for shelter, and anchored nearly a 
 mile outside the Wilmington in perfect safety, where she re- 
 mained till the gale abated the following morning. During 
 the several periods the steamer lay in this harbor, heavy winds 
 were experienced from every quarter, yet she rode through all 
 as calmly as if she had been moored in front of Quebec; and in 
 the spot where she was ancliored, nothing less than such a hur- 
 ricane as would cast vessels adrift and sink them, either in the 
 harbor of Quebec, or in the Liverpool docks, could effect a 
 vessel there. Mr. Gamachc, who has resided for twenty-five 
 years at the provision post at this bay, informed the writer 
 that the harbor was perfectly secure in all winds, and at all 
 periods, that, besides other vessels, the " Sir Richard Jackson," 
 of about 600 tons burthen, had twice lain there for several 
 months each time, and that her Captain had said it was as safe 
 a harbor as any he had ever entered. Mr. Gamache has, 
 himself, built two vessels there of a considerable si^.e. A gen- 
 tleman on board the Wilmington, a member of Lloyds, who 
 bad come out from England, and had chartered the steamer to 
 proceed to the wreck at the island, and who had been three 
 times round the world as Captain of an East India Company's 
 ship, declared that he considered the harbor " a most excellent 
 one j'"' so much so, that he should on his return to England make 
 
 ^1 
 
m 
 
 it specially known at Lloyds. But, as some persons, who liavc 
 never Lcen in Ellis Bay, or have not been there when there 
 were heavy seas outside, imagine that it must be exposed to 
 southerly winds, the following extract is given from the log of 
 the Wilmington, which should convince them of their conclusion 
 in this respect being an erroneous one: " Monday, 2d August, 
 1854. It looking very Avild and bleak to south-west, with 
 heavy rain and quick flashing lightning and thunder, proceeded 
 direct to Ellis Bay. It then blowing strong from south-south- 
 east with rain and sea rolling in with a thick fog, kept the 
 lead going, and went along the coast in sight of breakers, 
 seeing them when we could not see the land. Made out Cape 
 Eagle by 9 A.M., rounded its armed, (protecting,) reef, sounded 
 up the bay, and came to with both anchors by 9.40 A. M. — 
 3 P. M., wind south, blowing strong and about right up the 
 bay. We ride smoothly and safe. Coming in between the 
 reefs there is a swell, which might make a stranger fear the 
 safety of his ship, but as you run up the bay, it becomes less, 
 and at anchorage smooth riding and good holding ground." 
 This, and the fact of a sailing vessel having run in for shelter 
 the same afternoon, when the wind had increased in violence, 
 not only show the safety of the harbor during the worst winds 
 (and as the steamer made for it upon tliis occasion, Captain 
 Rudolph and his officers exclaimed that its security would be 
 well tested in such weather,) but they also prove how easy it is 
 of access under the worst circumstances: a strong southerly 
 wind blowing directly in, a heavy sea outside, and a thick fog. 
 Though, the latter apparently continued out at sea, when once 
 in the bay, there was only a slight haze perceived. The thickest 
 fog, however, encountered during the cruise, was in coming up 
 the river, from Metis to Green Island. At Anticosti, although 
 there were occasional fogs, it was often clear enough to see 
 across to the south shore, a distance of forty miles. Much 
 might be added here, in favor of Ellis Bay, as a harbor, but the 
 fact of such vessels as the " Sir Richard Jackson " having been 
 repeatedly there in all weathers, without any of them having 
 been cast ashore, or having dragged their anchors, should be 
 sufficient. No instance has ever occurred of a craft of any 
 description having dragged her anchors, or been injured there 
 
 l\. 
 
m 
 
 who liaTC 
 hen there 
 xposed to 
 the log of 
 lopclusion 
 1 August, 
 -est, with 
 proceeded 
 uth-south- 
 , kept the 
 breakers, 
 out Cape 
 ', sounded 
 } A. M.— 
 ^ht up the 
 iween the 
 r fear the 
 omcs less, 
 
 ground." 
 or shelter 
 
 violence, 
 rst windSj 
 1, Captain 
 
 would be 
 ' easy it is 
 southerly 
 thick fog. 
 rhen once 
 e thickest 
 loming up 
 , although 
 igh to see 
 IS. Much 
 »r, but the 
 ving been 
 im having 
 should be 
 ift of any 
 ;rcd there 
 
 in anyway; and Captain Rudolph stated that the Wilmington 
 Avould have ridden just as safely with a single anchor as with 
 two. As the underwriter on board, belonging to Lloyds, 
 remarked, there are many places in England, and other coun- 
 tries, carrying on a large maritime commerce, which have not 
 so spacious, so deep, or so safe a harbor as Ellis Bay. 
 
 The appearance of the shores of this bay has been already 
 pretty accurately described. They are generally thickly 
 wooded with spruce trees, of a better growth than those near 
 the sea upon other parts of the island, and on the higher ground 
 in the distance, a good many hard Avood trees were seen of a 
 still larger size. A conspicuous and picturesque clump of birch 
 trees stood out from the spruce close to the shore, one of wliicli 
 the waiter measured live feet from the ground, where he found 
 it to be five feet in circumference, its height appearing to tlie 
 eye to be almost sixty feet. The five substantial buildings of 
 the resident are very prettily placed near one of the three or 
 four fine trout streams, which flow into the bay, where he has 
 several acres cleared and divided by excellent fences, and 
 where he had growing, and looking remarkably healthy, every 
 description of vegetables, and some fine timothy grass. The 
 potatoes there were looking more advanced than they were at 
 Quebec, Avhen the steamer left the latter place a few days pre- 
 viously. The soil, though not very deep, appeared to bo very 
 good, consisting of a dark loam, with sand and gravel below; 
 and there is little doubt that it could easily be made to produce 
 some of the hardier grains; to ripen which, or even wheati 
 there must be quite sufficient heat, the thermometer upon one 
 or two occasions during the Wilmington's stay there being as 
 high as SP in the shade, and lOS*^ in the sun, and at no time 
 going lower than between 50° and GO*-^ during the three weeks 
 the steamer continued in the neighborhood of the island. Round 
 the bay many beautiful Avild flowers were seen; also the sarsa- 
 parilla i»lant and the sweet pea; and on the beach, the Avriter 
 picked up a piece of sponge, which had been detached from 
 the bottom by the action of the sea. The salmon-trout in the 
 river, near the resident's house, were so numerous that they 
 might almost have been caught by the hand as they moved in 
 shoals from one part to another, i.pon being disturbed by 
 
 pr^ 
 
40 
 
 the sailors, who attempted to take them with buckets. Quan- 
 tities were obtained and found to bo delicious eating. A 
 number of very fine salmon were also purchased of the resi- 
 dent, whose assistant happened to enter the bay with fifty ho 
 had just caught in the Beescie River, in the course of about 
 an hour; and several large lobsters were taken in the bay, and 
 sent on board. But what appeared of extraordinary interest 
 to those in the steamer, was the sight every day, when the tide 
 was out, of some three or four hundred seals sleeping or playing 
 round the bay, generally entirely out of, l)ut near the water, 
 and some of them occasionally swimming close to the vessel, 
 whose round heads looked very much like those of a human 
 being. One of them, th^i resident mentioned, he had killed, a 
 short time previously, upon the step of his door. The bay 
 must therefore be a favorite resort of theirs. A great many 
 whales, at least fifty, wore also seen between the island and 
 Gasp6, and several between the former and Bic, each of which 
 must have been worth from £200 to £400; yet only one vessel 
 was met with, or heard of, in pursuit of them: a large schooner 
 from Gaspt'. Both the whale and seal fisheries could be car- 
 ried on much more conveniently from Ellis Bay than from the 
 former or from any other place within the gulf. With this shel- 
 tered spot everybody on board the steamer was much pleased: 
 from the excellency of its harbor, the inviting appearance of the 
 country around it, and the objects of interest which were met 
 there; and even the sailors expressed a desire to take up their 
 abode upon its shores. One sailor, who had belongec^ to a 
 vessel wrecked upon the island last November, and who had 
 wintered there, became so charmed with the place, that he had 
 already become a permanent resident, employing himself in 
 fishing and hunting; and the captain and the whole crew of <i 
 ship, that went ashore in a fog about eight miles from Ellis 
 Bay, when the steamer was in the harltor, informed the writer 
 that if they could obtain land there they would send to Hull, 
 whence they had sailed, for their families, and settle on the 
 island in a body. 
 
 A'- bb .^M-nh-west Point, where the steamer could have run 
 clos ;(p to the shore, and been moored to the flat limestone 
 rocl-.s, ' '^ form complete natural wharves, the five or six 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 «'x 
 
3. Quan- 
 iting. A 
 
 the resi- 
 h fifty he 
 ( of about 
 ) bay, and 
 y interest 
 a the tide 
 ir playing 
 he water, 
 ;he vessel, 
 ' a human 
 I killed, a 
 
 The bay 
 •cat many 
 "land and 
 
 of which 
 one vebsel 
 3 schooner 
 Id be car- 
 1 from the 
 li this shel- 
 h pleased: 
 mce of tlie 
 I were met 
 [e up their 
 ngc(i to a 
 i who had 
 lat he had 
 himself in 
 
 crew of a 
 from Ellis 
 the writer 
 d to Hull, 
 ;tlo on the 
 
 1 have run 
 ; limestone 
 five or six 
 
 buildings, including a very large stage and store-house for fish, 
 were so disposed near the magnificent lighthouse, which towers 
 above all, as to present quite the appearance of a villiage. 
 Upon landing, this appearance was rather heightened than 
 diminished, as a number of fine fields, neatly divided by straight 
 fences, in which were growing very luxuriantly many vegetables 
 and grasses, came in view, and a horse and four fine coavs, all 
 in excellent condition, were seen feeding upon a common close 
 by. Added to these indications of civilized life, were a number 
 of fowls in all directions among the houses, and several fat 
 pigs venturing further back to rob the bears of the rich lierries 
 and wild fruits which al)Ounded there. Near to the landing place 
 two persons were employed in cutting up a huge shark, which 
 had just been caught, having, no doubt, been enticed out of his 
 usual latitude by the shoals of fish which proceed from the 
 Atlantic towards the island. The same day immense quantities 
 of mackerel were seen close under the point upon which the 
 lighthouse stands. By their praiseworthy exertions, Mr. Pope 
 and his son have shown what may be accomplished by well di- 
 rected industry in places apparently the most unpromising; for 
 this spot must be about the bleakest upon the whole island, 
 being completely exposed to the north-west winds. Last year 
 they grew most excellent oats, and next year they purpose to 
 grow both oats and barley, seed for the latter of which the 
 writer has just sent to them. Some of their potatoes of last 
 year, of the few they had remaining, which the writer brought 
 to Quebec, weighed three to the pound, and some of this year's 
 growth, taken out of the ground on the 5th September, and 
 sent to the writer, arc of a still larger size, and of an equally 
 fine description. If there were a few more industrious and in- 
 telligent settlers upon the island, like Mr. Pope and his family, 
 who are the most deserving people that could be met with, it 
 would soon obtain a very different character, in regard both to 
 climate and soil, than has hitherto been accorded to it. Tho 
 first frost which appeared this year at the South-west Point, 
 Mr. Pope, in a letter to the writer, says, took place on the 27th 
 August, but was not sufficient to do the slightest injury to his 
 potatoes: at Quebec the tops of the potatoes were blackened 
 by frost about the same time. The soil at tho South-west Point 
 
 
 m 
 
42 
 
 i ♦■;■ ■ .s 
 
 has been already described; but tlic writer penetrated about 
 two miles into the woods there, where he found the soil very 
 similar to that in many parts of Canada in the original forest, 
 deep Avith vegetable deposits, without stones or a particle of 
 rock to be perceived. At Gaspe, with a less genial soil and 
 climate, the writer saw several fields of excellent wheat. The 
 trees which, near the sea at the point, were about a foot high 
 and spread out their tops like mushrooms, improved gradually, 
 but rapidly, as he entered the woods, and at a distance of a 
 mile back were sixty or seventy feet high. This alone would 
 indicate the existence of large and valuable timber in the 
 interior; but he was informed by all whom he saw on the 
 island that quantities of such timber were to be met with in 
 many parts. A number of pieces of particularly line grained 
 tamarack he saw piled up with some other Avood near the light- 
 house; and the firewood which the steamer procured both ac 
 the South-west Point and at Ellis Bay, proved to be much 
 better than that obtained at Gaspd, or at any part of the south 
 shore of the St. Lawrence where the steamer took in fuel. 
 After being three times in the bay at the South-west Point, and 
 examining the greater portion of it, and after having been 
 caught in a north-west gale there, which obliged the steamer to 
 run out to sea, the Captain of the Wilmington, Avho has a good 
 knowledge of the construction of harbors of refuge, and who 
 proved himself to be a thorough seaman upon several trying 
 occasions, declared that, at an expense of .£2,000, he could 
 build a breakwater upon the reefs running out from the point, 
 which would render the bay a secure shelter in all winds for 
 the largest vessels. A harbor could also, probably, be made 
 at Salt Lake Bay, about eight miles further to the east. As at 
 Ellis Bay, many wild flowers and fruits and the sarsaparilla 
 plant were met with at the South-west Point; also a plant re- 
 sembling the cotton plant, and the reindeer moss. The cran- 
 berries, which are very numerous in certain parts of the island, 
 might be made profitable exports, as they are at the Magdalen 
 Islands, and Prince Edward's Island, whence many barrels are 
 sent to the United States, where they arc eagerly purchased. 
 At the present time cranberries are selling in Montreal for 12s. 
 a bushel. Mr. Pope mentioned that Admiral Coffin touched at 
 
 \ \ 
 

 43 
 
 ed about 
 soil very 
 il forest, 
 irticle of 
 soil and 
 It. The 
 'oot high 
 •adually, 
 nee of a 
 le would 
 T in the 
 '■ on the 
 with in 
 grained 
 he light- 
 both ac 
 be much 
 he south 
 in fuel. 
 3int, and 
 ng been 
 ianier to 
 3 a good 
 md who 
 1 trying 
 le could 
 ic point, 
 inds for 
 )e made 
 As at 
 aparilla 
 »lant re- 
 lic cran- 
 i island, 
 agdalen 
 rels are 
 'chased, 
 for 12s. 
 ichcd at 
 
 the Soutli-wcst Point in tlio early part of the summer, and 
 after making many inquiries about the island, said that it could 
 be made to produce anything which can be grown in Canada. 
 The finest clay soil, however, appears to be found upon the 
 banks of Observation River, (the scenery at the entrance of 
 which was very beautiful, as viewed from the steamer as she 
 passed,) and alt^o on the north side of the island, where there 
 are many spots among the hills, sheltered entirely from easterly 
 and north-west winds; those parts having been pointed out to 
 the writer by persons acquainted with them, as containing the 
 richest soil of that description on the island, so far as it is yet 
 known. But it is very evident that net one-tenth of the island 
 has ever been explored, or even traversed, the hunters and 
 fishermen, and others who have ever been upon it having con- 
 fined their excursions to the sea shore and the principal rivers, 
 hardly ever venturing any distance back from the latter. Like 
 all countries, Anticosti must contain much bad land as well as 
 good, and the former might be supposed to prevail along the 
 shore, where, in some parts, there are quaking bogs, like those 
 of Ireland, (which, however, may be drained and be turned into 
 the richest soil,) and a good deal of rock; but, whether the 
 good or the bad land predominate to any extent throughout 
 the island, there can be no means of ascertaining, without a 
 thorough survey of the interior. That much good land, besides 
 those fertile spots which have been pointed out, by the various 
 parties referred to in this communication, is likely to be dis- 
 covered by such a survey, the vrriter is now enabled to show 
 upon one of the highest authorities existing upon this continent, 
 namely, that of Professor J. Hall, Pala3ontologist of the New 
 York State geological survey, and author of the " Palasontology 
 of New York," who, having examined a number of fossils 
 brought from Anticosti by the writer, among which he dis- 
 covered a new species, described them in writing, and added 
 the following lines as to the conclusions which may be drawn 
 in regard to the island from their presence there: *' The speci- 
 mens indicate the occurrence of limestone beds with alterna- 
 tions of shale, and the decomposition of these will furnish a 
 productive soil in consequence of the abundance of calcareous 
 matter." These specimens, and some others, which they had 
 
 !''<<l 
 
 n 
 
 ■iiiiMjiiiyi r" 
 
not time to properly examine at tlic moment, both Professor 
 Hall, and our own talented and indefatigable geologist, Mr. 
 Logan, considered so interesting, that they expressed them- 
 selves strongly to the writer upon the importance of the 
 Government undertaking a thorough geological survey of the 
 island, with the object of making discoveries there which 
 would give it an economic value. A specimen of the marble 
 brought from the island obtained the first prize at the recent 
 Provincial exhibition held at Quebec. 
 
 As Anticosti belongs to a number of persons, some of them 
 residing in Canada and others in England, who are not likely 
 to combine in any comprehensive plan for developing its re- 
 sources, but who would no doubt be prepared to dispose of their 
 interest in it at a reasonable price, it is to be desired that, eithci 
 the Goverinnent, or some public company in Canada, or Eng- 
 land, or one belonging to both countries, should purchase the 
 island, and expend sufficient means, which the present proprie- 
 tors could not aflbrd, in turning its resources to account. Of 
 the two, a company, which could enter into the several under- 
 takings glanced at in this communication, would bo tlic more 
 suitable for the purpose; but the field may be made to embrace 
 so many and such varied objects, that it could well give em- 
 ployment to several distinct companies. There might then be 
 a colonization company, a fishing company, and a commercial 
 company; the first purchasing the whole island, and selling, 
 or leasing to the others, those portions of the coast at which the 
 operations of the latter could be most conveniently carried on. 
 A thorough survey, however, of the whole island might be well 
 undertaken by the Government in the meantime; for, although 
 it belongs to private individuals, it is of the highest pul)lic im- 
 portance, for many reasons, which must suggest themselves in 
 the course of this connnunication, that the island should not be 
 allowed to continue in its present state of desolation; besides 
 which, every large addition made to the inhabited seaboard of 
 the St. Lawrence, must materially increase the commerce, the 
 shipping, and the wealth of the province. 
 
 h 
 
^^rofessor 
 gist, Mr. 
 ed tliem- 
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 erce, the 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
 
 REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1856, 
 
 OB" 
 
 ME. JAMES ItlCHAEDSON, EXPLOEEll, 
 
 ADDKESHEU TO 
 
 SIR WILLIAM E. LOGAN, PROVINCIAL GEOLOGIST. 
 
 Montreal, 1st 3Iarch, 1857. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Agreeably to the instructions received from you in June 
 last to proceed to the Island of Anticosti, the Mingan Islands, 
 and the Magdalen River, for tlie purpose of oljtainiug infor- 
 mation regarding their geology, I left Montreal on the last 
 day of the month, and embarked with my assistant, provisions 
 and field equipment, the following day at Quebec, on board of 
 a schooner which reached the west -ad of Anticosti on the 6th 
 
 of July. 
 
 Through the prompt attention of Mr. Larue, who kindly 
 supplied me with horses and carts, I was at once enabled to 
 land our materials, which without his aid it would have been 
 necessary to carry in single pieces from the boats to the shore, 
 for a quarter of a mile through the surf, with much loss of 
 time and risk of injury; and I may take this opportunity of 
 stating that I was on several subsequent occasions indebted to 
 him for his attention and assistance. 
 
 Not being able to induce the captain of the schooner which 
 carried me to the island to convey me to Mingan, where it 
 was my intention to procure men, I was obliged to remain 
 
 **f r 
 
 ^1 
 
 y 
 
Id 
 
 where I had landed for a few days, until another scliooncr for 
 passage over and back Avas procured. While instituting 
 inquiries at Mingan about men, 1 luid an opportunity of making 
 a partial examination of ilarbonr island, Large island, and 
 one point of Mingan Island; and having obtained a boat and 
 two men, Avith little prospect of obtaining more, the Indians 
 having left for the interior previous to my arrival, Ave left 
 Mingan on the IGth, and got back to the Avest end of Anticosti 
 tAvo days after. 
 
 While the men Avcre preparing our lioat, and re-arranging 
 our provisions for an excursion round the island, I commenced 
 the work of the season by a careful record of the rocks in the 
 neighborhood, ascertaining the thickness by actual measure- 
 ment Avhere exposed, and by computation Avhcre concealed. 
 When practicable, collections of fossils Avere nmde, and their 
 stratagraphical and geographical positions recorded. 
 
 On the 23d July I left the west end, the men proceeding 
 with the boat and provisions to Gamache or Ellis Bay, while 
 I folloAved on foot; at Gamache Bay I Avas able to procure a 
 small boat, Avhich Avas of great advantage in facilitating my 
 work, and by means of it I Avas enabled to examine the coast 
 and collect specimens all the way to South-Avest Point, Avhile 
 I Avas obliged to alloAv the men to bring on the larger boat 
 with provisions as best they could. 
 
 At South-west Point, finding the tAvo men I had engaged at 
 Mingan not suitable for our work, I freed them from their 
 engagement, and hired four others Avho had tAVO boats of their 
 own, Avhich I also hired, leaving our OAvn boat at South-west 
 Point; I was induced to do this iroin the consideration that in 
 case of danger the men Avould be likely to malr.e a greater 
 effort to saA'e their own boats than mine, and in consequence 
 save what was in them. One of these boats Avas devoted to 
 the carriage of specimens, and the other of provisions and 
 camp equipage. 
 
 On the 14tii August we left South-Avcst Point, and I con" 
 tinned my examination to the east end of the island, and then 
 along the north coast, keeping always in company with the 
 larger boats, AA'ith the exception of ten days at Chaloupe 
 River, where the larger boats were detained from head winds 
 
 
 i\ 
 
m 
 
 r 
 
 and storms; while with the small boat and two men I examined 
 the east end of the island, a distance of nearly fifty miles. 
 
 Considering on our arrival at Charleton Point, on the 12th 
 September, that the larger boats would no longer be so much 
 reijuirod, 1 sent them on to the west end, where they arrived 
 on the 14th, while I followed and examined the coast with the 
 small one, getting to the same place eight days later. A few 
 days were spent in examining the rocks in that neiglil)orhood, 
 and making measurements with llochon's micrometer tele- 
 scope, so as to determine more minutely the thicknesses of the 
 strata. 
 
 But few excursions were made into the interior of the island; 
 they consisted of one at Otter River, for about two miles up; 
 another in the neighborhood of South-west Point, to the dis- 
 tance of a mile and a half; a third at Salmon River, for five 
 miles inland; another at Nugg River; and a fifth by Mr. 
 Easton, my assistant, to Marl Lake, three-quarters of a mile. 
 
 On the 30th September we left the island in the steamer 
 Doris, for Quebec, with forty boxes and barrels of fossils, and 
 the provisions intended for the survey of the ^Magdalen River, 
 as well as our camp equipage, making sixty parcels in all, in 
 addition to our small boat. We reached Quebec on the 4th 
 October, and on my arrival at Montreal, on the 7th, on account 
 of the lateness of the season, you reconnnended the postpone- 
 ment of the survey of the Magdalen River. 
 
 On my tour of the coast of Anticosti, I met with much at- 
 tention and personal kindness from all the officers in charge 
 of the government lighthouses and provision stations. I have 
 groat pleasure in having an opportunity of expressing liow 
 much I am obliged to Mr. Pope, in charge of South-west Point 
 lighthouse, and to his son, Mr. E. Pope, for the interest they 
 evinced in forwarding the objects of my investigation, and in 
 supplying me with information respecting my excursion round 
 the island, as well as the care his whole family displayed in 
 supplying me with comforts, at the time otherwise Ijcyond my 
 reach. I am indebted to Mr. Corbet, the lessee of the island, 
 and to Mr. Braddley, of Clialoiupo River, for their attention; 
 as well as to Mr. E. Julyan and his family, of Heath Point, in 
 supplying my wants on my arrival there without provisions, 
 
 .H«.| 
 
 
 K.l 
 
 
 r:'fi 
 
 m 
 
48 
 
 my boat having been detained for nearly a week after my arri- 
 val, by contrary Aviiids and s^torm.-'. 
 
 In searching for hands to aid mo in ray work, some difficulty 
 was experienced to procure men acciuainted with the coast, not- 
 withstanding that considerable wages were ottered; 1 found 
 none that had been round any considerable portion of the north 
 side, and an opinion appeared to prevail among such as had 
 been for years on the island, in regard to that part, that was 
 anything but encouraging. They seemed to be under the same 
 delusion respecting the north-east coast of Anticosti, that those 
 at a greater distance arc in respect to the whole of it. 
 
 Since my return I have had an opportunity of readhig an 
 article on the resources and capabilities of the island, l)y ^[r. 
 llochc, published in the Transactions of the Literary and lEis- 
 torical Society of Quebec, in 1855; and in so far as I am 
 enabled to judge, find it a correct and unexaggerated state- 
 ment of facts. 
 
 Character of the Country and Coast. 
 
 A great part of the coast has a belt of reefs that are dry at 
 low water, while they are covered according to the state of 
 the tide at various depths at liigli water. The outer edge of 
 these reefs forms a precipice, according to Baytield, of twenty, 
 fifty and even a hundred feet; they occa^nonally slielve a lit.lo, 
 but generally so little that vessels approaching tlic coast have 
 but small intimation of danger from soundings. 
 
 These reefs are composed of the argillaceous limestone of 
 the island, and extend out froni the shore usually from a quar- 
 ter of a mile to a mile; and in one or two instances to about 
 a mile and a half. They conform to the bends of the coast, 
 and where bays occur, deep water may be expected to within 
 a quarter or half a mile of the head of the bay, in a line u)) the 
 centre, usually at about right angles to the general run of the 
 coast. 
 
 From tlie west end, the reefs are continuous on the south 
 side to St. Mary's River, for about six miles to the east of 
 wliich deep water prevails close in shore; from tliis the reefs 
 again extend to South-west Point, with the exception of a mile 
 
 I 
 
40 
 
 beforo reacliinj]^ it, and a mile on each sido of Jupiter Ilivor. 
 From South-west I'oint they run about four miles to tlio east, 
 beyond whieh, to Iron lliver, only a few points were observed 
 where r-cfs existed; but IVom Iron lliver to HeatJi Point, and 
 for two miles north-east of it, they are very general. On the 
 north side, deep water prevails close in towards the beacli, as 
 far as Observation ]Jay; but from Observation Bay to the west 
 end, reefs are well marked, with the exception of about a mile, 
 rounding North Point. 
 
 On the reefs it is not uncommon to meet with l)()ulders, but 
 great distances may be seen without them; where they occur 
 it is generally in considerable numl)ers, covering patches of 
 from one or two acres up to half a mile; they are oftener seen 
 in the bays than in less siieltered places; but North Point 
 would 1)0 an excepti(.n to tiiis; they are there closely packed 
 together for about half a mile, and some of them are of a large 
 size; tliey l)elong to the Laurentian series of rocks. 
 
 The south side of the island, in its general aspect, is low; 
 the most elevated i)oints close on this coast are at the mouth 
 of Jupiter Kiver, where cliils rise on the east side to the heiu-ht 
 of fi-oin eighty to a hundred feet; and on the west side to a 
 hundred and fifty feet. On no other part of the south coast 
 were tliey observed to rise more than from thirty to sixty feet, 
 but tlie general height al)ove tlie sea is from ten to twenty 
 feet. 
 
 From South-west Point to the west end, the hills iidand are 
 more elevated than they are to the eastward; in general they 
 rise gradually and more continuously from the shore, attaining 
 the height of from a hundred andiifty to two hundred and fifty 
 feet, at about the distance of from one to three miles. From 
 this however are to be excepted certain localities on the coast, 
 where plains are met with having a superficial area of from a 
 hundred to a thousand acres underlaid by peat, partly bare of 
 vegetation, Imt over considerable spaces, supporting a heavy 
 growth of wild grass from four to five feet high. 
 
 From a po.-ition a few nules east of South-west Point to 
 Wreck Bay, which is at the east end of the island, between 
 Heath Point and East Point, the elevation of the coast above 
 high water is from seven to fifteen feet, with the exception of 
 
 
 
 ^> 
 
so 
 
 
 j^l)» 
 
 the nci^lilioi'liood of South Point and Cormorant Point, which 
 rise to the hci<i,ht of from twenty to thirty feet on the shore; 
 but very little rise takes place inland for from one to three 
 miles, and tliis flat surface is Ixmnded to the north by afjradual 
 slope, risin<i- to theheiglit of from one hundred to two Inindred 
 feet, i»rol)ably becomin<>: more elevated still furthei- inland. 
 The low country is a succession of i)eat plains, occasionally 
 bare, but often covered with Avild grass; the whole being 
 varied with strips and clumjis of trees, as well as dotted with 
 small lakes, on which ducks, geese, and other wild fowl breed 
 in considerable numbers. 
 
 The whole of the north side of the island is a succession of 
 ridge-like elevations of from 200 to oOO feet above the sea, 
 separated l)y depressions. From Engli.-h Head, three miles 
 east from the west end to West Cliff, a distance of lifty-eight 
 miles in a straight line, each successive ridge and valley occu- 
 pies a l)readth of from four to six miles; the ridges form a 
 somewhat rounded end, facing the sea on the north: their rise 
 is first well marked at from a quarter of a nule to a mile from 
 the shore, and in about a mile more inland they attain their 
 greatest elevati(m; continuing this elevation to the south and 
 widening, they narrow the intermediate valley, until, as far as 
 known, the country becomes in appearance of a gently undu- 
 latir x character. The run of the valleys with some exceptions 
 is from S. 10^ W. to S. 30^ W. 
 
 Macastey Ilidge or Mountain, eleven miles cast from the-west 
 end, rises upwards of four hundred feet at about a mile inland. 
 High Cliff, eighteen miles further cast, is probably 500 feet, 
 one quarter of a mile from the shore; these arc in some 
 respects the most conspicuous ridges. High Cliff is a bold 
 head-land, while Macastey Mountain is separated by a bfoader 
 valley than usual from its neighbor to the east, and is uigher 
 than any other to the west. Macastey ^lou itaiii is a conspicu- 
 ous object when viewed even from the south side of the 
 island, in the neighborhood of Ellis, or Gamache Bay; sailing 
 up this natural harbor, it is observed in front, a little to the 
 right, about five or six miles distant. 
 
m 
 
 Tho snoco-jainn of lidiio and valley, from English Head all 
 tlio way to West Cliff, is rcqular and charactoristic, and pro- 
 duces a plcasino; and beautiful effect, l^'rom ' West Cliff to 
 Observation Bay, ;i distance of about twenty miles, there is a 
 similar succession, l)ut on this part the ridfj^es rise to their full 
 elevation nearer to the shore. W'- 4 Cliff rises immediately 
 over the sea to an elevation of i»<t\vccn 200 and 400 feet. 
 Charleton Point has an el<;vation of 100 feet over the sea, and 
 a quarter of a mile inland rises to between 300 and 400 feet: 
 from Charleton Point to 01)servatiou Bay tiie coast is some- 
 what lower. Observation Bay forniinf^ an indentation on the 
 coast of a mile and a (piarter deep, and five miles across; from 
 the head of this l)ay a well marked valley bcxrs S. 10° W. 
 
 From Oljservation Bay to Gull Cape, a distance of iifty-three 
 miles, the cliffs become more prominent on the coast, risini^ 
 almost perpendicularly at the points to the height of from 
 100 to :H)0 feet; and the indentations are more numerous, 
 producing- more sharply defined valleys. 
 
 Between Bear Head and Cape Hobcrt, a distance of five 
 miles and a half, the greatest indentation from a straight lino 
 is about a mile and a half; but this is subdivided into Eastou 
 Bay, Tower Bay, and W!:ito Bay, the last being the largest. 
 
 f^almon lliver Bay, East from Cape Henry, is five miles 
 wide, and its greatest depth is one mile. Salmon River runs 
 tlirough a well marked valley, of Avhicli the general bearing 
 ui> stream is S. 0")'^ W. for nearly six miles, where a transverse 
 valley, in the bearing N. 77'-" W. and S. 77° E. (al)out parallel 
 with the coast) meets it. and gives it two streams running from 
 opposite directions. From the middle of the valley the land 
 gradually rises on each side to the height of from 400 to 450 
 feet, and the bed of the valley must rise pretty fast; for 
 though the current of the stream is without leaps, it is rather 
 ra})id. 
 
 Prinsta Bay, further east, is an indentation of about one mile 
 in depth, with a width of a mile and a half; perpendicular 
 cliffs surround this bay to the height of from 100 to 150 feet, 
 except at the very head, where two creeks cut through the 
 rock. On the west side of Prinsta Bay is Cape James. 150 
 feet in height; and on the east is Table Head. Table Head 
 
 1 - 
 
 u 
 
 i 
 
 i, , 
 
52 
 
 
 !■ ■ H 
 
 11 ■ 'A- 
 
 ■»i I? 
 
 Las a iacc of from loO to IGO feet perpendicular, and gains 
 almost at once an additional height, from the summit of ■wiiieh 
 there is a gradual descent on the opposite side, the surface 
 forming on that side a rough outline to the valley through 
 which Fox liiver passes to Fox Bay, -which affords the secoud 
 important harhor on the island. The upward course of the 
 valley of the Fox River is N. 72^ AV. 
 
 From Fox Point on the west side of the bay to Gull Cape, 
 upwards of a mile on the east side, there is a distance of six 
 miles, in which the coast is low — Fox Point, the highest part 
 of this, not being more than from thirty to forty feet above the 
 sea. 
 
 From Gull Cape to Wreck Bay, a distance of eleven miles, 
 the cliffs are in general perpendicular, and from 100 to 130 
 feet high, gaining but little elevation inland, probably not 
 over 100 feet, while the surface liack from them gives, as far 
 as observed, a slightly rolling co try. 
 
 Excepting the valley of Ju})., r River, there are no well 
 defined valleys on the south side of the island. 
 
 In respect to the soil of the island, the plains on the south 
 side, as has been stated, arc composed of peat, but the g-cncral 
 vegetation of the country is supported by a drift composed 
 for the most part of a calcareous clay, and a light grey or 
 brown colored sand. The elements of the soil would lead to 
 the conclusion of its being a good one; but the ojdnion of most 
 persons, guided by the rules derived from the description of 
 timber which grows on it, would not Ijc favorable, as tlierc 
 is almost a complete absence, as far as my observation went, 
 of the hard-wood trees, supposed to be the sure indication of a 
 good settling country. 
 
 The most abundant tree is spruce, in size varying from eiglit 
 to eighteen inches in diameter, and from forty to eighty feet 
 in length. On the north coast, end in some parts of the south, 
 it is found of good size in the open woods close by the beach, 
 witliout any intervening space of stunted growth; the stunted 
 growth was occasionally met with on the north side, but it is 
 only on the tops of cliffs, and other places exposed to the 
 sweep of the heavy coast winds, where spruce, or any other 
 tree on the island, is stunted. In these situations there is 
 
 V^fc= 
 
I;- 
 
 oftentimes a low, dense, and almost impenetrable barrier of 
 stunted spruce, of from ten to twenty feet across,'and rarely 
 exceeding a hundred feet; beyond wliicli open woods and good, 
 comparatively large, timber prevails. 
 
 Pine was observed in the valley of the Salmon River, about 
 four miles inland, where ten or twelve trees that were measured 
 gave from twelve to twenty inches in diameter at the base, 
 with heights varying from sixty to eighty feet. White and 
 yellow birch are common in sizes from a few inches to two feet 
 in diameter at the base, and from twenty to fifty feet high. 
 Balsam-lir was seen, but it was small and not abundant. 
 Tamarack was observed, but it was likewise small and scarce. 
 One of our men, however, Avho is a hunter on the island, in- 
 formed me he liad seen groves of this timber north from Ellis 
 or Gamache Bay, of which some of the trees were three feet 
 in diameter, and over a hundred feet in height. Poplar was 
 met with in groves, close to the beach, on the north side of the 
 island. 
 
 Of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, the mountain-ash, or 
 rowan, was the largest; it was most abundant in the interior, 
 but ai^jjeared to l)c of the largest size close on the beach, 
 especially on the north side, where it attains the height of 
 forty feet, witli long extending and somewhat slender branches, 
 covered with clusters of fruit. The liigli cranberry ( Vlhuymmi 
 opuluH) produces a large and juicy fruit, and is abundant. A 
 species of gooseberry bush of frc m two to three feet higli is 
 met witli in the woods, but ap[)ears to thrive best close to the 
 shingle, on the beach, where strips of two or three yards 
 across and half a mile long were occasionally covered with it; 
 the fruit is very good and resembles in taste the garden berry; 
 it is smooth and black colored, and about the size of a common 
 marble; the shrub appeared to be very prolific. Red and 
 black currants are likewise al^undant; there appear to be two 
 kinds of each, in one of which the berry ib smooth, resembling 
 l)oth in taste and appearance that of the garden, the other 
 rough and prickly, with a bitter taste. 
 
 Strawberries are found near the beach; in size and flavor 
 they are but little inferior to the garden fruit; they are most 
 abundant among tlie grass in the openings, and their season is 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^2i». 
 
 m^xasB^mmusmmSS^ mKMma&^umt 
 
54 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 ' f 
 
 from the middle of July to the end of August. Five or six 
 other kinds of fruit-bearing- plants were obscrvad, some of 
 which miglit be found of value. The low cranberry was seen 
 in one or two places in some al)undance, but I was informed 
 that it was loss abundant than in many other past seasons. 
 The raspberry was rarely met with. 
 
 The most surprising part of the natural vegetation was a 
 species of pea which was found on the beach, and in open 
 spaces in tiie woods; on the beach the plant, like the ordinary 
 cultivated field-pea, often covered spaces from a quarter of an 
 acre to an acre in extent; the stem and the leaf were large, 
 and the pea sufficiently so to bo gatliered for use; the straw, 
 when required, is cut and cured for feed for cattle and horses 
 during the winter. 
 
 But little is yet known of the agricultural capabilities of the 
 island; the only attempts at cultivation that have been made 
 are at Gamache Bay, J^outh-wcst Point and Heath Point. 
 South-west Point and Heath Point are two of the most ex- 
 posed places in the island; and Gamache Bay, thougli a 
 sheltered position, has a peat soil; the whole tliree are thus 
 unfavoralde. 
 
 On the 2 2d July potatoes were well advanced and in 
 healthy condition at Gamache Bay; but a field under hay, 
 consisting of timothy, clover and natural grass, did not show a 
 heavy crop. At South-west Point, Mr. Pope had about three 
 acres of potatoes planted in rows three feet apart; lie informed 
 me he expected a yield of 600 bushels, and at the time of uiy 
 arrival on the 5th of August, the })lants were in full blossom, 
 and covered the ground thoroughly; judging from the appear- 
 ance they seemed the finest patch of potatoes 1 had ever seen. 
 About half an acre of barley was at the time commencing to 
 ripen; it stood about four feet high, with strong stalk and well 
 filled ear. I observed oats in an adjoining ])atch; those had 
 been late sown, being intended for winter feed for cattle; their 
 appearance indicated a largo yield. 
 
 On the day of my arrival at Heath Point, the 23d August, 
 I accompanied Mr. Julyan al)out a uiile from the lighthouse, 
 to a piece of ground composed of yellowish-brown loam, which 
 he had cleared in the wood, and planted about the middle of 
 
55 
 
 June with potatoes and peas; oftlie potatoes he procured 
 a bucket-full of good size and middling good quality, The 
 peas were in blossom, vet a few pods Averc found to l>e lit 
 for use. In this patch I discovered three ears of l)ahl wheat, 
 the seed of which had been among the peas when sown; they 
 were jurft getting into blossom, and probably woukl ripen; the 
 ear was an average size, and the straw about three and a half 
 feet high. 
 
 I observed frost only once; it was on tholSth September, 
 but not sufliciently severe to do injury to growing crops; and I 
 was informed by Mr. Jnlyan that the hjwcst tcmiieraturoof the 
 previous winter was only seven degrees of Fahrenheit below 
 zero. On the coast, as might be expected, the atmosphere is 
 dami)cr, and the temperature from ten to fifteen degrees below 
 that of the interior, during June, July, August, and Septcmljer, 
 and proljably May and Octoi)er. 
 
 During the three months of my stay on the island, fogs pre- 
 vailed for ten days, six of which were the 31st July and the 
 2d, 8d. 4th, and 5th of August, while we were at South- 
 west Point: Mr. Pope told me it was an unusual occurrence. 
 I observed that frequent openings in the fog were seen towards 
 the land, leading to the idea that it was less dense in the 
 interior, 
 
 I observed some cattle at South-west Point, belonging to Mr. 
 Poi)e and Mr. Corbet; they appeared to l)e in good condition 
 although they had been left to provide for themselves in the 
 wood openings, or along the shore. A horse belonging to 
 Mr. Pope was in equally good condition. 
 
 Harhors. 
 
 Gamache or Ellis Bay and Fox Bay are the only two 
 harbors on the island that are comi)arativcly safe in all Avinds; 
 the former is eight and a half miles from West-end Lighthouse, 
 on the south side; the latter is liftccn miles from Heath Point 
 Lighthouse, on the north side. From Cone Eagle to Cape 
 Henry, across the mouth of Gamache Bay, the distance is two 
 miles, Avith a breadth of deep water of three quarters of a iuile, 
 extending up the bay a mile and a half, wjiile the depth of the 
 
56 
 
 indentation is two miles and a half. Fox Bay is smaller, and 
 lias less depth of water than Gamache Bay. The distance 
 across its mouth is a mile and a half, with half a mile of deep 
 water in the centre, extending up the bay nine-tenths of a mile; 
 the Avhole depth of the indentation being one mile and two- 
 tenths. These two harbors occur in the same geological forma- 
 tion, while the rock presents a very .regular and comparatively 
 level surface, over which a road could be easily constructed 
 from one harbor^ to the other, the distance being 120 miles; 
 by such means the whole island would be brought to within 
 a moderate distance of a road having a natural harbor at 
 each end. 
 
 it belongs to an engineer to say how far these natural harbors 
 might be capable of artificial improvement. The belt of reef 
 about a mile wide, that lines the shore within them, is com- 
 posed ofargillaceous limestone, in nearly horizontal beds, which 
 are dry at low water of spring tides. Possibly one mode of 
 improvement might be to make excavations in tiie limestone to 
 tlie depth required, and to use the materials thus obtained 
 partly to raise the sides of the excavations high enough for 
 piers, and partly for the construction of break-waters outside. 
 The depth of water on tlie reefs at spring tides is about six 
 feet, and the strength of the break-water might be made ac- 
 cordingly. I have been informed that a vessel of 500 tons has 
 been loaded with a cargo of timber in Gamache Bay. 
 
 During a heavy wind from the east, while I was at Fox Bay, 
 a schooner ran in for shelter, and appeared to be quite safe. 
 On account of the safeness of this harbor, a provision ])ost was 
 established in it; but since the erection of Heath Point Light- 
 liouse, seventeen or eighteen years ago, it has been discon- 
 tinued. Not a single house now remains, although tliey ap- 
 pear to have been numerous at one time. I mention this 
 more particularly as on all the charts I have seen Provision 
 Post still remains indicated there; and it happened in one in- 
 stance, at least, that a vessel was wrecked wiiliin sight of Heath 
 Point, but the crew, instead of going to the lighthouse, went 
 straight to Fox Bay, where they confidently expected to find 
 shelter; the consequence was that several of them perished with 
 cold and hunger (the time being the beginning of December) 
 
57 
 
 before they could reach the liglithouse at Heath Point. The 
 indication cannot he erased from old charts that may he in the 
 hands of mariners, but I aui not aware what moans have been 
 taken to make navigators acquainted with the change. 
 
 I do not know of any other harbors on the Island tliat are 
 sheltered from all winds, and it appears to me that from every 
 other position on the coast, any vessel near the shore, down to 
 the size of a schooner, during the existence of one Avind or 
 other would be immediately obliged to put to sea; for small 
 boats of from three to ten tons burtlicn, there are scarcely ten 
 miles of the coast where shelter could not be found by passing 
 up the small rivers at high water; and there are many bays 
 that might perhaps be made safe by excavations similar to 
 those to which allusion has been made. 
 
 iSS*'"! 
 
 Rivers and Lakes. 
 
 The streams that are met with along the coast are, consider- 
 ing the breadth of the island, very numerous. There is scarcely 
 a mile that is not supplied with its clear stream of water, and 
 every six or nine miles show one of a size sufficiently large, 
 and witli a flow sufficientb constant, to keep machinery going. 
 Waterfalls near the coast often pres( at excellent sites for the 
 purpose. The water of these streams is always more or less 
 calcareous. On the south side the largest rivers are the Bec- 
 scie, the Otter, the Jupiter, (which is the largest on the island,) 
 the Pavilion, and Chaloupe; on the north, the Fox and Salmon 
 Rivers are the largest. 
 
 On the south shore numerous ponds and small lakes were 
 seen just inside the shingle beach; towards the east end of the 
 island they occur in the low swampy flat that there runs along 
 the shore. None were met with further back, and none were 
 observed on the north side of the island, except a few small 
 ponds close to the beach. 
 
 Great Salt Lake, Little Salt Lake, Chaloupe Lake, and Lake 
 Lacroix on the south side, and Fox Lake on the north side arc 
 in reality lagoons of salt water, the tide flowing in and out 
 and mingling with the fresh water of the rivers. 
 
 Most of the streams and lakes swarm with the finest brook 
 
58 
 
 '■ji 
 
 1 A 
 
 
 
 
 trout and salmon trout, and hiriic shoals of mackerel were 
 almost daily observed all around the island. But in my tour I 
 saw no appcaranee of schooners employed in fishing, with the 
 exception of one at South Point. The only operations 1 heard 
 of connected with the trade, were carried on at the mouth of a 
 few of the larger streams on the south side and at that of Sal- 
 mon River on the north by men under Mr. Corbet, the lessee 
 of the island, and they were entirely confined to the taking of 
 salmon and salmon trout. Seals were extremely abundant, 
 and but for a few Indians who come over from Mingan in July 
 and August, and take a few of them on the north side of the 
 island, they would be wholly undisturbed. In the bays and 
 more sheltered places round the island these creatui'cs are met 
 with by thousands. It was not unconmion to stumble across 
 one asleep on the beach, when generally it was despatched 
 with a blow or two of our hammers. 
 
 Several species of whale were observed to be abundant to- 
 wards the west end of the island. This must bo a favorite 
 resort, as they were either seen ^ r heard at irregular intervals 
 day and night. One of them, about sixty feet in length, and 
 about fifteen feet above the water's edge, was found grounded 
 on the reef in Trinsta Bay when we passed on the 3d Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 The only fishing schooners I saw, with the exception of the 
 one mentioned, were at the Mingan Islands, where twelve or 
 thirteen came to the harbor for shelter during a storm. I was 
 informed by Mr. Henderson, the gentleman in charge of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's post at Mingan, that they were all 
 from American ports. 
 
 ■ Wild Animals. 
 
 The wild animals met with on the island, as far as I am 
 aware, are the common black bear, the red, the black, and the 
 silver fox, and the marten. Bears are said to be very numerous 
 and hunlers talk of their being met with by dozens at a time; 
 but on my excursion I only observed one at Ellis Bay, 
 two near Cormorant Point, and one in the neighborhood of 
 Observation Cape. I came upon the last one on a narrow strip 
 
 
 il 
 
 yL. 
 
m 
 
 of Ijcacli at the foot of a high and nearly vertical cliff. ^ Seen 
 from a distance I took the animal for a burnt log, and it ^vas 
 only when within fifty yards of him that I perceived my mistake. 
 He appeared to be too Ijusily engaged in making his morning 
 meal, on the remains of a seal, to pay any attention to me. 
 for, although with a view of giving him notice to qnit, I struck 
 my hammer upon a boulder that was near, and made other 
 noises which I conceived might alarm him, he never raised his 
 head to show that he was aware of my presence, but fed on 
 until he had finished the carcase, obliging me, having no rillc, 
 to remain a looker-on for half an hour. When nothing of the 
 seal remained but the bones, the bear climl)cd in a leisurely 
 way up the face of the naked cliff, which could not be many 
 degrees out of the perpendicular, tlirowing down as he passed 
 coiisideraljle blocks of rock, and disappeared over the summit 
 which was not less than a hundred feet above the sea. 
 
 ■foxes and martens are very abundant; the marten was fre- 
 quently heard during the night in the neigldiorliood of our 
 camp, and foxes were seen on several occasions. Of the silver- 
 grey fox, the skin of which frequently sells for from twenty- 
 five to thirty ])Ounds currency, from four to twelve have been 
 obtained by the hunters every winter. Ish. Corbet, the lessee 
 of the island, employs several men during that season to hunt 
 these animals for their fur, and I understand he makes some 
 profit by the trade. 
 
 I heard of no animals of any other description, with the 
 exception of wild fowl, and I saw no frogs nor reptiles of any 
 descrii)tion, and I was informed by the hunters that there were 
 none. 
 
 Distribution of the Bocks. 
 
 The rocks of the island were found on examination to be in 
 great part somewhat different in their general lithological 
 character, as well as in their fossil contents, from any that had 
 previously come under my notice. I therefore resolved to 
 separate them into certain stratagraphical groups. Icavingt he 
 determination of their geological age to future investigation. 
 These divisions in ascending order I shall therefore call— 
 
 
60 
 
 1. Division A. 
 
 2. Division B. 
 
 3. Division C. 
 
 4. Division D. 
 
 5. Division E. 
 
 6. Division F. 
 
 1 
 
 Division A. 
 
 This division of the strata, which was the lowest met with, 
 is, in its general character, an argillaceous limestone; tlie hest 
 section of it occurs in the neighborhood of English Head, at 
 the west end of the island, and the following is a sequence of 
 the beds in ascending order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Grey limestone beds of two and three indies thick, interstrntificd with 
 greenish colored shale; the limestone beds are in places tilled with 
 fossils in patches of from two to three feet in diameter, while no 
 fossils would be observed in the same bed for considerable intervals. 
 These fossils consisted of univalve and bivalve shells, and the sur- 
 faces of the shale were covered with fucoids. The beds of lime- 
 ptono are hard and compact, and the fossils are in consequence 
 with difficulty got out 2C 
 
 Grey limestones and shales of a similar character 2'i 
 
 Grey limestones and shales of a similar character, with the addition of 
 interstratified layers of conglomerate limestone of two or three 
 inches thick, in which the pebbles consist of grey limestone and 
 greenish shale, and measure more in the plain of the beds than 
 transversely to them; the diameter of the largest is about three 
 inches; the pebbles lie in a grey argillaceous matrix 13 
 
 Grey limestones, shales and conglomerates similar to the preceding beds, 12 G 
 
 Grey limestones, shales and conglomerates as before; this part is very 
 
 fossiliferous 10 
 
 Grey argillaceous limestone, interstratified with greenish argillaceous 
 
 shale (13 
 
 Grey argillaceous limestone, and greenish argillaceous shale similar to 
 the last, interstratified with beds of pure limestone, and of lime- 
 stone conglomerate 8G 
 
 Bluish-grey, hard, brittle, argillo-calcareous bed, smooth on the surface, 
 with remarkable impressions like the track of some animal, consist- 
 ing of two parallel rows of semi-circular pits, each pit of about half 
 an inch in diameter and separated from the succeeding one about 
 a quarter of an inch, the one row separated from the other about 
 half an inch, and so arranged that the curves of the pits are on the 
 outside, while the centre of each pit is opposite the interrupted cir- 
 cumference of two pits oa the other side; the bottoms of the pits on 
 
01 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 opposite sidos slopo away from one another, leaving a species of ridgo 
 between them; llasc double rows of alternate pits ore usnnlly from 
 about ten to about eighteen inches lon^', and are more deeply im- 
 pressed at one extremity than at the other; the impressions are so 
 numerous on some parts of the surface that scarcely a square yard 
 was without them " ^ 
 
 229 
 
 th, 
 33t 
 
 at 
 of 
 
 in. 
 
 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 
 
 
 
 The thickness al)Ove given is well exposed in tlic noighbor- 
 liood referred to, either on the reef or in the clilf. The strata 
 occui)y a breadth of nearly a mile at English Head. Their 
 dip is S.; and the slope 231 feet in a mile. The lower beds 
 arc in tlie reef (dry at low water), which is about half a mile 
 on the outside of the head; the highest beds are at Otter 
 or Indian Cove, where the streani from Marl Lake empties 
 itself into the sea over the bed holding in such abundance the 
 imprer^sions that have been described. 
 
 Following the coast in an easterly direction, the measures 
 appear to coincide with it in a general way for nine miles to 
 the point corresponding with Macastey Mountain; for here tho 
 Indian Cove track-bed conies out on the shore with a strike 
 N. 55" E., and is traceable to the cast side of Macastey Bay, 
 where, after showing a sinuosity rudely conforming to the 
 shape of the bay, it enters upon the land with a strike S. 84* 
 E., showing a dip S. 0« W.Z2.^^ 
 
 Between this and White Cliff, which is the next point ex- 
 amined on the coast, there is an interval of fourteen miles, 
 along which it is probable the measures nearly coincide with 
 the o-'cncral trend of the shore; for while there is a uniformity 
 in the physical aspect of the country facing the sea the whole 
 way, the fossils of the cliff in a hundred feet of thickness 
 resemble those of English Head, and the dip of the strata is 
 
 S. 10 W.Zl^toir- 
 
 The same uniformity of geographical aspect is preserved to 
 High Cliff, six miles further, and judging from the identity of 
 some fossils, the higher beds of this division are brought to the 
 shore on the west side of tlie next bay, thougli the track-bed 
 was not seen. The dip is here S. 15° W., with tho augmented 
 slope of 800 feet in a mile. This increased inclination, how- 
 

 :■ ■<■■■■> 
 
 t 
 
 ever, is maintained but for a very short distance, and following 
 a bed of siuile for a couple of miles, from the west to the cast 
 side of the bay, the dip gradually becomes S. 4" W., with a 
 slope of 100 feet in a mile; and while the lower beds were 
 observed to follow the bend of the coast for at least a milo 
 further, the liigher ones gained the land, and were observed 
 about half a mile from the shore up Nugg River, tlie position 
 of whicli is live miles still further on, where they display a dip 
 S. 14* W.< from2» to 2i'-\ 
 
 From Nugg River to West Cliff the distance is nineteen 
 miles; tlie coast is nearly straight and presents no new gco- 
 grai)hical feature. About five miles before reaeliing the cliff 
 there is a lower one, exposing about eighty feet, the fossils 
 of which resemble those on the coast of English Head. 'J'he 
 strata were seen presenting lines along the face of the cliff 
 about parallel with high water mark, with a slope of one or 
 two degrees inland. Approaching West Cliff from this, two 
 trap dykes were observed on the beach; one of tliem about 
 half a mile west of the cliff, with a l^readth of about twenty 
 yards, was visible for 120 yards in a bearing N. 62'' W.; the 
 other close by the base of the cliff, with a In-cadth of fifty 
 yards, was seen for about twenty yards in the bearing N. 47° W. 
 Both dykes were composed of fine-grained greenstone, with 
 whitish feldspar and black hornl)lende, and neitlier of tliem 
 appeared to produce any disturbance of the l)eds; but at tlie 
 time of observation the sea was close upon them, and it was 
 not easy to determine much with accuracy. The fossils of the 
 cliff in Avhich there are 130 feet of strata supposed to belong to 
 this division, resemble those of English Head in species and in 
 grouping, and on the east side of the cliff the dip was deter- 
 mined to be S. 17° W. Zl'' or 1.^°. 
 
 Three miles further east, beds of the same general charnctor 
 become exposed in cliffs of from twenty to forty feet hiuh, and 
 in their associated reefs, and were several times repeated with 
 no observed deviation between the strike and the general trend 
 of the coast, to Charleton Point, a, distance of six miles more, 
 where the dip was ascertained to be S. IS*-' W. Z P. 
 
 At (;harleton Point some of the beds are crowded with fos- 
 sils standing out in bold relief on the weathered surfaces, and 
 
 m' 
 
 K 
 
03 
 
 well defmod forma nlso wore obtained from tlio debris of iho 
 clilT. Of these, six or seven si)eeies arc the same as species 
 obtained at Englisii Head, but there arc many that are difl'er- 
 cut. The same l)cds are repeated at Spruce Point, about tlireo 
 miles further east, and twice more at points in the six succeed- 
 ing? miles, in which there appears to be little or no chan<r<' of 
 the dii). This is to the west horn of 01)Servation Bay, and 
 crossing tliis bay to the east horn, which is Observation Clifif, 
 we find at the very base of it a bed of exactly the same litho- 
 logical character, and presenting on its surface the same 
 peculiar impressions as those at Otter or Indian Cove. The 
 dip at this spot is S. 13- W. Z 1', and the strike from it west- 
 ward would Ijring the bed a little within the western horn, the 
 distance being six miles, but the track-bed was not there 
 
 detected. 
 
 The distance from Indian Cove to Observation Cliff is 
 eighty-two miles, and the bearing in a straight line S. 81" E. 
 At every point examined in the whole distance, the beds vary 
 but little in their lithological cliaraeters from those given in 
 the detailed section at English Head. This fact, however, is 
 not of much value in estal)Hshing the stratagraphical equiva- 
 lence, as beds not much differing from these arc met within in 
 the succeeding division. Nor for the same reason can the gen- 
 eral resemblance of the fossils be insisted on, for although 
 there are five or six well known Lower Silurian species at all 
 the points, there are other well known Lower Silurian species 
 that arc present at some points and absent at others, while 
 there are nmny species which I have for the first time seen, 
 some belonging to the whole distance, and some, as far as yet 
 known, peculiar to different ])oints, and nearly all the species 
 ascend to the succeeding division. The whole means of estab- 
 lishing the eciuivalence of the strata are thus reduced to the 
 strike and the track-bed, which 1 conceive to be one and the 
 same bed at both extremes of the line; for while it comes upon 
 the coast in three places, just about where it ought to do in 
 order to be in conformity with the strike, it is accompanied in 
 each case by a bed immediately below containing Atryjoa 
 erratlea of Hall, and a new species of Cypricardia, about 
 eif-hty or ninety feet above, which was found nowhere else. I 
 
64 
 
 have, thoroforo, ventured to make the bed a stratairraphical 
 station in the superposition of the beds, ami to consider that 
 the western eighty-two miles of the north coast of the island 
 belong to Division A. 
 
 ■ ¥^ 
 
 i 
 
 Division B. 
 
 The rocks which succeed the traek-bcd at Indian Cove, and 
 extend to what I have previously called Junction Cliff, situated 
 three miles and a half west of Ellis Bay, compose the next 
 division. They are in ascending order as follows: 
 
 ft. in» 
 Bluish-grey somewhat argillaceous limestone in hard and compact 
 iK'ds of from three to six inches thick, intorstrutifit d with parting's 
 of greenish shale; towards the top there arc thii. bands of li^ht 
 reddish-grey limestone, rather purer than those b°low; some of 
 the beds contain fragments of trilobitcs and other fossils of wlii eh 
 it is ditHcult to procure good specimens from the hardness of the 
 
 rock; the surfaces of some of the beds show fucoids 50 
 
 Grey limestf^ne beds of from three to six inches with shale partings 
 between, much like the preceding in character; the top bed con- 
 tains numerous beautiful specimens of corals of a pure yellowish- 
 white color standing out in relief on the surface 5 
 
 Reddish-grey limestone in thin beds, holding at the top a character- 
 istic fossil, wliich appears to ba a now species of (!ijpy'u"it'iVi'( 20 
 
 Reddish-grey liaiestone beds with thin greenish shale partings, inter- 
 stratitied at intervals of from three to ten feet with beds of from 
 three to six inches, consisting of conglomerate, the pebbles of 
 which are composed of grey limestone, and are of various sizes 
 up to three inches in diameter, lying flat in the bed in a matrix of 
 grey limestone; many fragments of trilobitcs are met with in the 
 
 deposit with other fossils 2-') 
 
 Reddish-grey limestones, conglomerates and shale partings as before. Ki 
 Reddish-grey limestones, conglomerates and shale partings as before. 72 
 Reddish-grey limestones in beds of from six to ten inches, interstrati- 
 fied with conglomerates as before; among other organic remains 
 these beds contain in some abundance a tree-like species of fossil 
 ■with a rough, wrinkled, or nodular exterior resembling some kinds 
 of bark, and an irregularly chambered tube in the centre with 
 curved septa; around the tube, the chambers of which are empty, 
 there are arranged numerous concentric layers; the whole of 
 the fossil, including the septa, is composed of a yellowish-white 
 carbonate of lime, crystals, of M'hich, in the form of dog-tooth 
 spar, stand out from the walls of some of the chambers; the 
 concentric layers are in some cases partially separated, and the 
 exterior sometimes shows that into such spaces the exterior coat- 
 ing of the fossil has been squeezed down, after being broken; 
 
 ■-, I 
 
05 
 
 fl. in. 
 tlioKc fo^;'•:^3 are of vnrloiiH sizt's from tlirrc to seven inches in di- 
 ameter, iind one of tbcin of about six indies in (liiinieter Hhowed 
 a lens^tli of five feet; they all lie prostmto in the beds. In addition 
 to these tree-like fossils there are corals of tlio same yellowish- 
 white color in considerable abundance, with other fo>Kils 102 (' 
 
 Grey limestones, conglomerates and shale partings wilh similar 
 fossils; a bed at the top contains heads of eucrinites in some 
 abundance 82 
 
 Grey limestones, conglomerates and shale partings with fossils as be- 
 fore o'3 
 
 Grey limestones, conKlomerati's and shale partings as V)efore, and in 
 addition to the tree-like lossil, corals and other organic remains, 
 a considerable number of orthoceratites are present, but the hard 
 nature of the beds in which they generally occur makes it difficult 
 to got them out in a good state of ])reservation 01 
 
 Grey limestones, conglomerates and shale partings; in addition to 
 the fossils previously mentioned, there is a greater abundance of 
 spiral shells, chiefly Jhi)rliis(»u((, than in any of the beds lower 
 down Kl.j 
 
 Measures concealed: the shingle on the beach is largely made up of 
 aruillo-arenuceoTis shale of a greenish tinge mingled with worn 
 friigments of grey limestone; from the fact that this arenaceous 
 shale did not occur at other parts of the beach, and from its easily 
 destructible character, it is probable that the beds from which it 
 was derived constitute a considerable part of the measures con- 
 cealed DG 
 
 730 
 
 The distance wliicli litis division occupies Letween Indian 
 Cove and Jiniction Clitl" at the west end of the island is very 
 nearly seven miles. At the cove tlie dip is S. G*^ "W., at West 
 EndLighthou.~e, S. 10*^ W., half-way between this and Junction 
 Cliff S. lU'^ W.; the average is about 8. 11» W., and the 
 breadth across the division in this direction is three miles 
 and four-fifths, which would give an average slope of 190 feet 
 in a mile. 
 
 From the position of the track-bed in Macastey Bay, the 
 whole height of Macastey Mountain, 400 feet, would l)elong to 
 this division, as would probably all the inland elevations visi. 
 bio from the sea as far as Charleton Point. The first coast 
 cliff belonging to it in this direction is Observation Cliff, 
 where 350 feet of the base of the division rise at once from 
 the sea. 
 
 , 5 . 
 
4 
 
 
 The dip at the base of ObserVcation Cliff, as has already been 
 stated, is S. 13° W.<P; at the second cliff beyond, it is S. 23=' 
 W.<ir; and at the third S. IB* W.<U°; the distance of the 
 last from Observation Cliff bcnng about four miles, and the 
 strike of the measures along the coast, as deduced from the 
 above, would carry the track-bed out in front of the third cliff 
 a little more than a mile, while the average slope would place 
 it about 100 feet below its base. In the third cliff there is a 
 height of 250 feet; so that its summit would probably not show 
 any beds higher than those of Observation Cliff. The distance 
 to the next point is about two miles and a half, and the strike 
 bears very nearly for it; as the measures gradually diminish in 
 inclination towards Guy Point, which is about the same dis- 
 tance further on, and then become quite flat, it is probable that 
 the base of this cliff is not over twenty feet further in vertical 
 height from the track-bed than the base of the cliff mentioned 
 before. 
 
 Guy Point has a height of about 200 feet; its summit there- 
 fore will scarcely reach so high in the stratification as that of 
 Observation Cliff. The horizontality of the stratification in 
 Guy Point may extend about half a mile at right angles to the 
 general strike further west, and would carry the ?amc beds 
 that are at its base to the base of the next cliff eastward, and this 
 would not bring in a greater amount of additional strata than 
 perhaps tbirt\ eet in the bight of Bear Bay beyond. The base 
 of the cliff leading to Bear Ilead would thus be about 150 feet 
 over the track-bed. 
 
 From Bear Head the coast takes a turn more across the 
 stratification. The dip at the head is S. H'' W., and the in- 
 clination, as determined by tracing a bed round into the suc- 
 ceeding cove, is seventy feet in a mile, which would be the 
 amount gained upon the strata at the base of the next point. 
 It would require another mile across the strata to reach the 
 l)ase of the next cliff, which is ToAver Point, and about half a 
 mile to reach a position in White Bay beyond, Avhich would be 
 in the strike of the most northern point of Cape Robert; but in 
 this mile and a half the inclination increases to probably 100 
 foet in a mile, so that the base of Cape Rol)ert would be about 
 370 feet above the track-bed. 
 
m 
 
 The dip at Cape Robert is S. Vi^ WXlj-^, while that ol 
 Capo Henry, about three miles and a half further on, is S. 23" 
 W.<1;[®, and the base of Cape Henry would prol)ably bo 
 thirty feet higher, making o,bout 400 feet above the track-bed. 
 At the base of Cape Henry were met with the first oljserved 
 examples going eastward along the coast of the tree-like fossil? 
 occurring 188 feet above the track-bed at ' o west end of the 
 island; but as tl "- vertical distance at Capo Henry would 
 thus be more than tv 3e as great, it is not improbaljle that ex- 
 amples of the fossil L.uiy yet be found further west. 
 
 Cape Henry has a vertical f;:^o of about 300 feet, tiie whole 
 of which apj)eared to be calcareous; the summit of the cliff 
 would thus be about 700 feet above the track-bed. Crossing 
 the moutli of Salmon River to Battery Point, the next in suc- 
 cession to Cape Henry, a vertical cliff of about sixty feet in 
 height i>resents itself, in which the prostrate forms of the tree- 
 like fossil protrude Irom the cliff in tiers, each fossil presoutiDg 
 a circular extremity, with an orilice in the centre, giving to 
 the cliff the aspect of a battery of guns, which has led to 
 its name. 
 
 In the bight of a cove, about two miles east of Battery Point, 
 the limestones are followed by arenaceous shales, and the next 
 point, Ca})e Joseph, whicli presents a clilT of 180 feet in height 
 is probaldy crowned with them, as in the bight of tlio cove be» 
 yond some sandstones, which 1 could not approach the coast to 
 visit, give to a cliff the name of Grindstone Ga])e. Tliese sand- 
 stones must run along the coast for about live milcs^, composing 
 part of the face of Cape James in their course, and coming to 
 the level of the water in Prinsta Bay; they then strike across 
 this bay and run round the lower part of Table Head, where 
 they exhibit a thickness of about fifty feet. The sandstones 
 then sink beneath the level of the water with a dip S. 10° 
 W.<2", presenting the following section in ascending order: 
 
 >". 
 
 Qreeuisli-grey, thiu bedded, fine grained saudstone, with black and 
 brown mica between the laj'ers; the rock is slightly calcai-o&us. . 
 
 Greouish-grey, tine grained, slightly calcareous sandstone in thin 
 beds 
 
 Greeuish-groy, tine grained, slightly calcareous sandslouo, with brown 
 liud black mica between the laj'ers , which are from three to ten 
 
 ft. in 
 7 C 
 G 
 
68 
 
 •I 
 
 ft. in, 
 inches in thickness; one bed of from seven to ten inches thick, is 
 fres grained, wonhl make a good building stone, and might 
 probably be fit for grindstones • ^ ^ 
 
 Greenish-^rev, fine grained, thin bedded and slightly calcareom sand- 
 stone,"iuterstratified with layers of from three to six inches thick, 
 more calcareoiis from the presence of fossils, chietly convoluted 
 shells which are mixed up with small pebbles of white and green 
 
 . quartz, some as large as beans, as well as a few grains of blood- 
 
 red jasper; mica is present between the layers 2^ 
 
 Greenish-grey, fine grained sandstone, with fossiliferous coarse grained ^ 
 layers as before • ■.■*"■,■■'■ 
 
 Greenish-grey, fine grained, slightly calcareous sandstone m beds ot 
 one and two feet, which in some parts run into thm slabs, showing 
 
 fossils on their surface 
 
 53 3 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 The last of these beds would Ijc about 750 feet above the 
 track-bed, and the ^vhole of them probably correspond with the 
 supposed arenaceous beds of the west end section. Division B 
 would thus appear to occupy about forty miles of the coast, 
 with the exception of about two miles in the biglit of Prinsta 
 Bay, which is comprehended iu the succeeding one. 
 
 
 ];, 
 
 Division C. 
 
 Continuing the sequence of the beds at the west end, where 
 the previous division ended near Junction Clift", the following 
 constitutes the succeeding division in ascending order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Greenish argillo-arenaceous shale 1 
 
 Greenish urgillo-arenaceous shale, interstratified with beds of grey 
 limestone of from one to three inches thick; in a two inch bed, a 
 new species of Ziof/w^f was observed in abundance; in another 
 
 encrinites were numerous, with other organic remains 1 6 
 
 Yellowish-grey, compact, argillaceous limestone, with few observed 
 
 fossils". ^^ ^ 
 
 Yellowish-grey, compact argillaceous limestone, interstratified with 
 light reddish-grey limestone beds of from one to three inches 
 thick, the surfaces of which are covered with a new species of 
 Orlhi's, (0. Lmiraniim) and other fossils; among the debris of 
 these beds many beautiful detached brnchiopoda ( Orihls suh- 
 qnadvala and others) are met with, with spiral univalves 
 (Mnrchisonia); these are the upper beds of Junction Cliff 20 
 
69 
 
 
 G 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 ft. in. 
 Measures partly concealed, but supposed to be of the same cliar- 
 actcr as the preceding, both lithologically aud pakeoutologi- 
 
 cally • 25 
 
 Ash-grey argillaceous limestone, in beds of from one to three inches 
 thick, alternating with calcareo-argillaceous shale beds of from 
 five to seven inches; and these two descriptions of beds again in- 
 terstratified with light-groy pure limestone beds of one or two 
 
 inches; no fossils were observed in this part G 
 
 Aeh-grey argillaceous limestones and shales, interstratifiod as before 
 with purer limestones; these beds contain a new species of reala- 
 merus (F. reversus ), with, several gasteropoda and brachiopoda, 
 some of which are new, aud Jllri/pa marcjinuUs, for the first time, 
 I believe, met with on this continent; all the species are found 
 preserved in the debris and quite detached, as well as standing 
 ou^ in good relief on small slabs, about one mile east of Junction 
 
 Cliff 20 
 
 Ash-grey argillaceous limestones and shales, with purer limestones as 
 before, but the fossils noi, so well preserved, from the beds being 
 
 exposed to the action of the sea 10 
 
 Measures concealed ' " 
 
 Ash-grey argillaceous limestones and sliales, with purer limestones as 
 before, the fossils not so well preserved in consequence of the ac- 
 tion of the sea; this is a mile and a half east of Junction Cliff. . 24 
 
 Measures concealed "^0 U 
 
 Light yellowish-grey even bedded limestone, in beds of half an inch 
 aud two inches, characterized by Lepioma suhplana in abundance, 
 and one or two instances of a small Ati-ypa probably undescribed, 
 
 all occuring principally between the layers 3 G 
 
 Grey argillaceous limestone - 5 
 
 Yellowish-white coral limestone, the corals of which consist chiefly of 
 four genera: Clurkies, FavosUes, HdioUles, and Caleniporei, and they 
 are aggregated in hummocky masses, often composing one-half or 
 three-quarters of the thickness, being from one to three feet, both 
 horizontally and vertically, and in some instances six feet 
 horizontally. They are surrounded ydth an ash-grey argil- 
 laceous limestone, and cause the overlying bed, conforming to 
 the hummocks, to have the appearance of slightly undulating 
 
 strata ^ ^ 
 
 The last bed occurs at Point Laframboise, and the overlying 
 strata being less extensively developed there than to the eastward, 
 the coral bed was searched for in Ellis bay, and found nearly two 
 miles to the east on the strike, at Cape Henry, which is the west 
 liorn of Ellis Bay, and again at Cape Eagle, the east horn, two 
 miles still further on the strike. The measures below in ascend- 
 ing order, being the e<piivalenls of a part of those at Point La- 
 framboise, are as follows: 
 Grey limestone, interstratified with grey calcareo-argillaceous 
 shale, sometimes of a greenish color, the lowest bed 
 
 
70 
 
 
 /;. in. 
 
 cbaracterizeU by a new species of Jlnrchisonla (M. maosa). 
 and tlie tree-like fossil which hns been described as ex- 
 isting ill the previous ilivisioii. This fossil is here of larger 
 size than before observed; one specimen now in the mu- 
 seum of the Survey is ten and a half feet long, six inches 
 in diameter at the larger end. and but an inch or so less at 
 the other. Some of the fragments of others obtained were 
 found to be ten and even fifteen inches in diameter, and if 
 the length were proportionate must, when whole, have 
 been probably over thirty feet i.' length 12 
 
 Light yellowish-grey limestone, in beds of from half an inch 
 to two inches thick, with occivsional partings of calcju-eo- 
 argillaccous shale and abundance of Leptanui suhplana, 
 and two small species of Alrifpci 5 
 
 YeDowish coral limestone bed, as before 5 
 
 22 
 The measures above the coral bed, in continuation of the section, 
 are as follows: 
 
 Grey limestone, with argillaceous partings; these beds were not con- 
 tinuously examined, but the fossils of some of the beds were 
 Strophomena deprensa, Lcptcvna subjdanu, AmbonycMa radkdn, and 
 some undescrlbed species C2 
 
 Grey compact argillo-calcareous beds, slightly bituminous, interstrat- 
 ified with ixi'gillaceous shales; but few fossils were observed, and 
 such as -were seen were obsciu-e; these beds form Beai* Head 42 
 
 Measures supposed to bo similar to the last, but not thoroughly exam- 
 ined ^ ^ 
 
 30G 6 
 
 The dip of these beds at Junction Cliff is S. 13° W.; one 
 mile to tlic east of it, S. 10'^ W.; at White Cliff, Ellis Bay, S. 
 40 W.; at Cape Eagle, S. 18° W.; at Bear Point, 8. 21^ W. 
 The average of these would be about S. 13** W.; the inclina- 
 tion is a little over 100 feet in a mile, and the dii-ect distance 
 across the strata is three miles. The distance along the coast 
 occupied by the division extending from Junction Cliff to Long 
 Point is about eight miles and a quarter. 
 
 This division as a whole appears to be softer than the pre- 
 ceding ones; it offers no very remarkable cliffs along the coast 
 on the south side, while Ellis or Gamache Bay is worn out of 
 it as well as a depression holding Gamache Lake and the creek 
 which empties it at the head of the bay. 
 
71 
 
 On the north coaf^t the rocks of the division are met Avith in 
 the cast part of Cape James, and in the bight of Prinsta Bay, 
 Avhoro they succeed tlie sandstones which have been mentioned, 
 and occupy nearly two miles of the coast. In their outcro]) 
 further eastward they crown Table Head and come to l.ic level 
 of the water on the cast side of it. 
 
 The following is a section of the base of the division at this 
 spot in ascending order, as it rests upon the sandstones of which 
 a section was given in the preceding division: 
 
 Grey limestone in even beds G D 
 
 Grey limestone filled with several genera of corals of a yellowish-white 
 
 color ^ ^ 
 
 Grey shale and limestone in patches, interlocking in such a manner 
 
 as to make the bedding obscure; no fossils were observed i'< 
 
 Grey thiu-bodded fo?siliferons limestone, with interstratified sliale.. 8 
 
 Grey limestone, with yellowish- white corals 2 (! 
 
 Grey yellow-weathering limestone, with yellowish- white corals 1 
 
 Grey limestone in thin beds, with thin beds of argillo-arenaceous 
 
 shale slightly calcareous 9 
 
 Grey arenaceous limestone, with small scales of brown mica dissemi- 
 nated through it; at the base it has a mamillated hnmmocky 
 character, the layers in succession getting thicker and thicker in 
 the centre or the hummocks, which are from three inches to three 
 feet in diameter: the whole bed thins down to a quarter of an inch 
 in about aquarter of a mile on the strike; and then thickens again 
 further on, and this appears to be repeated more than once in the 
 dip and rise as well as the strike; the layers split away from one 
 another in smooth curved forms, but the exterior of the hummocks 
 is rough, being marked with small parallel ridges for short dis- 
 tances, and studded with fossils 3 (5 
 
 Greenish-colored shale, interstratified witJi thin beds of grey lime- 
 stone ^^ '^ 
 
 Grey calcareo-argillaceous shale with limestone crowded with corals 
 and the tree-like fossils heretofore described. Both of these kinds 
 of organic remains are so numerous and so confusedly mixed as to 
 give to the whole mass at a little distance the aspect of a breccia, 
 and it can in consequence be traced easily by the eye in the face 
 of the cliff round Table Head, as well as round Cape James, for a 
 distance of six miles on the strike 14 
 
 Grey compact argillaceous limestone, interstratified with beds of purer 
 limestone of a lighter color, which are, however, in some parts 
 slightly arenaceous Numerous fossils were observed in the mass, 
 but they were for the most part obscure. At the base there were 
 Marchlsona; of eight or even ten inches long; C'atenipom occurred 
 and Atrypa naviformis was among the fossils; about the top of 
 
 
i 
 
 - .' :** 
 
 ft. in. 
 the mass Leptama suhplana was in some abundance. A fine col- 
 lection of fossils from this deposit was unfortimately left behind 
 by the boatmen 110 
 
 181 6 
 
 The rocks of this section roacli the position of tlio old provi- 
 sion post at Fox River; between the provision post and the 
 foot of an escarpment south of the lagoon at the mouth of the 
 river, the distance is about a furlong over a mile, across the 
 strata, and the dip of the measures is S. 18*^ W., with a slope 
 of 100 feet in a mile. This would add to the section about 1 15 
 feet, which are concealed under the river and lagoon, making 
 the whole thickness 296 feet. 
 
 As is the case in the neigh])orhood of Ellis Bay, the cliffs 
 composed of the rocks of this division at Fox Kiver are low, 
 not exceeding thirty or forty feet, and the deep excavation form- 
 ing the harl)or is another feature which the two extremities of 
 the deposit have in common. 
 
 The escarpment which limits the division south of the lagoon 
 comes out upon the coast about a mile and a quarter beyond 
 Reef Point, the eastern horn of Fox Bay, and tlie division would 
 thus occupy a distance along the coast from Table Head of up- 
 ward of seven miles. 
 
 Division D. 
 
 Immediately overlying the upper beds of the last division, 
 as given in the section in the neighborhood of Ellis Bay, there 
 occar at Long Point about twenty feet of light grey limestone, 
 in beds of from two to six inches, many of wliicli are crowded 
 with another new species of Fentamerus (F. Barrandi,) with 
 but few othc; fossils, and these beds aitornato with others 
 holding Lcptoina suhplana, but in less abundance, a few individ- 
 uals of Fentamerus being associated wilii Hiem. The di[) of 
 the moa-ures is here S. 21^' W., with an inclinjMiGU of 120 feet 
 in a mile. The strike of the base of the<-^c measures would 
 carry us to the mouth of Duck River, and we accordingly 
 have there a repetition of them in thickness and in average 
 dip. 
 
 \l 
 
 ' \ 
 
 . t: 
 
78 
 
 # 
 
 Similar beds aro tracealilo to Wall's Covo, and hero by 
 moans of the rcct', a thickness of fcjrty-fivc feet of the i^amc 
 character can be verified, resting upon strata com])08ing a low 
 clitr lininu' the bight of the bay; as they contained no observed 
 fossils, they were supjioscd to form the summit of the previous 
 division. In Wall's Covo, while the strata of Division D are 
 as much crowded as before with Fenlnnwrns, the specimens 
 obtained an- of a more perfect description, and a few corals 
 are mintr'^d with them. From Wall's Cove the strike and 
 strata coincide all the way to Becscie River, and here on the 
 reef the thickness oT similar strata that were examined amounts 
 to ninety-eight feet, resting, as in the case of Wall's Govt, upon 
 beds of the division C, occurring at the river's mouth. The 
 dip at Becscie Biver is H. 22" AV., with a slope of 120 feet in a 
 mile; the coast oast of the river is low, and coincides Avith the 
 strike corresponding with the dip given, as far as St. Mary's 
 River. Beyond this tliore are clifl's, but they are composed of 
 clay mixed with limestone gravel, and extend to St. Ann's 
 Cove, the margin of wliich is low and destitute of rocks as far 
 as the point west of Otter River. 
 
 At Otter River the iieniamenis beds are again scon, and as 
 the dip is there S. 40" W., with a e\o\)g much the same as 
 l)efore, it is probable the strike would nearly coincide with the 
 westward run of the coast to St. Mary's River. It is thus 
 probable that those beds are equivalent to a part of tlio Otter 
 River section; but between these beds and t!io next that arc 
 scon, loss than a mile to the eastward of Otter River, there 
 would bo an Interval of about a quarter of a mile across the 
 stratification, which would give room for thirty feet of strata; 
 but whether this is to 1)C considered a part of the ninety-eight 
 feet measured at Ottor River, or an addition to it, I am unable 
 to say. The examination on the reef at Otter River was inter- 
 rupted by the rise of the tide before we could ascertain the 
 character of all the strata wliich had been exposed at low 
 Avater, and as wo had not arrived at any beds limiting the up- 
 ward occurrence of the Pcntamerus, the whole thickness char- 
 acterized by its abundance may exceed what I have stateil. In 
 the ninety-eight feet, a few fee vere allowed for what was 
 seen in the rising water in front oi me; if, however, the whole 
 
 { s,a 
 
 ;•■' 
 
74 
 
 thickness bo called a hundred feet, and the beds in the first 
 exposure east of Otter River be added to it, the following will 
 
 be the section from the base, in ai^ccnding order: 
 
 ft. In, 
 
 Ash-grey and light reddish-grey limestones, in beds of from two to si:, 
 inches thick, interstratified in the upper part with conglomerate 
 beds of the same thickness, at intervals of from two to ten feet; 
 the pebbles of these are calcareous, with a diameter of from ono 
 to three inches, and lie Hat in the beds; a vast number of the beds 
 are crowded with renUimerus Burmndi; with this, however, in 
 some beds are associated two or three species of corals, and the 
 FentameniH layers are interstratified with others that show great 
 numbers of LepUvna /iuhplana, and other fossils 100 
 
 Dark ash-grey, slightly bituminous limestone, in beds oi from two to 
 six inches, with calcareo-argillaceous partings, weathering light 
 oranj,3-brown; conglomerate layers with limestone pebbles occur 
 at irregular intervals; the lowest six feet are characterized by the 
 occurrence in some abundo.nce of a new species of Atnipn, and 
 Strophomena aliernata is frequent in the cleposit. with Ortlds and 
 other fossils 20 G 
 
 Dark ash-grej', slightly bituminous limestone, with calcareo-argilla- 
 ceous partings, weathering light orange-brown, similar to the pre- 
 ceding ■'* " 
 
 Dark ash-grey slightly bituminous limestone, as before, witL but few 
 
 fossils 3G 
 
 Eeddish-grey limestone, in beds of from one quarter of an inch to 
 three inches, some of which weather to a reddish-brown, inter- 
 stratified with occasional conglomerate layers of from two to four 
 inches thick; some beds at the base of the deposit are character- 
 ized by a species of Syrbujopora, resembling N. hifarcaUi, and by 
 deep serpentining grooves of about a (quarter of an inch wide, with 
 raised edges, apparently marking the track of some species of 
 moUusk; other fossils occur in other parts, and the middle of the 
 deposit is marked by the presence of Slvophomena aliernata in con- 
 siderable numbers 43 
 
 Reddish-grey limestone, weathering reddish-brown, in beds of from 
 one to three inches, interstratified with occasional conglomerate 
 beds of from three to six inches thiclc. Among the fossils wliich 
 are met with are Strophomena and Favosites 30 
 
 2G1 
 
 
 The last 164 feet of the previous section arc ascertained by 
 actual measurement of the beds as they accumulate on one 
 ano titer, going east along the coast for about two miles, in a 
 direction oblique to the stratification. The dip at the com. 
 mencemcnt was S. SS'* W., and at the end S. 40^^ W., and the 
 
;r; 
 
 ! 
 
 f 
 
 75 
 
 inclination is estimated to be about 200 feet in a mile. 
 Carrying on the last dip to the next expOi<ure, which occurs at 
 the distance of a mile fiirtlier east, it is estimated that there is 
 a thickness of about twenty feet of strata -wanting between the 
 two. The cliff then presents thirty-four feet of grey limestone, 
 weathering yellowish, and containing but few fossils. The 
 surface of one bed towards the middle of the mass is cliarac- 
 terized by a peculiarity which is probably the result of weather- 
 ing. The Ijcd is about a couple of inches thick, and is worn 
 into a multitude of rather deep connected pits about an inch 
 across and two or three inches long, in each of which is per- 
 ceived a fragment of a shell standing with its edge up. There 
 is a general rude parallelism in the pits, but some of them 
 cross others, and some descend nearly through the bed. 
 
 In the exact strike of this cliff, as decided by the run of 
 single beds which can be seen for nearly a mile along this reef, 
 another cliff occurs at nearly twice that distance, with a litlio- 
 logical asjjcct similar to the last, but with a rather larger num- 
 ber of fossils. The base is marked by Atrypa congesta, and 
 some of the beds higher up by an Ortliis resembling 0. 
 Laurentina, and by a species of Favosites. The beds of this 
 cliff are supposed to be included in those of the previous one* 
 
 To the next exposure there is a distance of something less 
 than a mile, and from the strike of the strata it is computed 
 that in the intermediate parts there are concealed about seven- 
 teen feet, reaching to the base of the cliff in which the exposure 
 occurs. Tlie cliif, which is forty feet high, occupies about two 
 miles and a half of the coast, and for two-thirds of the distance 
 the strata appear to be horizontal, then turning down with a 
 gentle slope to give an addition of twenty-five feet in the re- 
 maining third. The following section gives the details of 
 these sixty-five feet in ascending order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Ligbt-grey bituminous limestone, in beds of from one quarter of an 
 inch to ten inches thick, weathering yellowish-brown in some 
 parts, and holding Alrypa reticularis (its first appearance) and 
 numerous remains of Crinoidea, and several species of turbinated 
 corals 10 
 
 light smoke-grey, slightly bituminous limestone, more argillaceous 
 than the last, weathering to a yellowish-brown, in beds of from 
 one to two inches, without observed fossils 5 
 
 *, 
 % 
 
ft. in. 
 
 Light-Krey bituminous limestone, similar to the lowest beds, with 
 
 Mitrrhisoma and "tlier fossils • • '* ^ 
 
 Reddish ash-grey iirgillaceous limestones, slightly bituminous, in 
 beds of from half an inch to ten inches, with abundance of 
 slender serpentining fueoids of a dull yollowish-whitc, very con- 
 spicuous from the contrast of color; Slutphonmui ullmwla also 
 occurs ; •; " "^ ^ 
 
 Light smoke-Krey limestone, in beds of from one to ten inches, with 
 the tree-like fossil and ascidians in the lower beds, and in others 
 Catenlpom escharoidt's, with the genera l-(trosih's, J'knrotoninrht, 
 Marchisonia, Orthis, LepUvna :ind Atn/im. Some of the beds at 
 the top are ash-grey in color ^^ ^ 
 
 G,j 
 
 J- 
 
 Between this cliff and what is considered tiie hase ofthe 
 succccdinj,^ division, the dip of the strata wouhl l)rinfr in about 
 twenty-seven feet, which are concealed. The total thickness of 
 the division would thus be: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Pentamerus beds and Otter River section 2(il 
 
 Measures concealed 
 
 Table River section '^'^ ^ 
 
 Measures concealed ^^ 
 
 Two-mile Clift" section ^'"^ ^ 
 
 Measures concealed - ' " 
 
 • 447 
 
 The rocks of the division reach to within about a mile of the 
 mouth of Jupiter River, and the total distance which they 
 occupy on the coast from Long Point is upwards of thirty-six 
 miles. 
 
 The rocks on the north side of the island at the east end, 
 which from their position in the succession there arc sui)posed 
 to represent this division, have been as yet too imperfectly 
 examined to enable me to speak with confidence in respect to 
 their volume; nor has anything very striking been observed to 
 establish their exact equivalence, so that it is from the relation 
 they bear to what is below and what is above, rather than from 
 what the north and south localities have in common, that the 
 strata are given as representatives of one another. On the 
 north coast they occupy ten miles, and deep water prevails 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 along the mIioIc of it; in most places tlio sea beats against tho 
 cliff at liigli water, and in sonic even at low water, and tliero 
 are but two or tliree coves at which a landing can be easily 
 made; it would ro(iuire very calm weather to ofTect a thorough 
 examination. With perfectly calm weather, however, every 
 bed in succession might bo Investigated, as none arc concealed 
 in the whole distance. At the time of my visit to the locality 
 there was a considerable stretch of the cliff which we durst not 
 allow our Ijoat to approach, and it was only at the two extrem- 
 ties that admeasurements were made. 
 
 Commencing at the base the iirst disappointment experienced 
 was to Und scarcely a trace of the pentamerus Ijcds, so conspic- 
 uous on the south side; for with tho exception of a single valve 
 of a Pentamerus, resembling P. Ihtrrandi, not a si)ecimen of the 
 species was met with; instead of it a species of Atryjw, resem- 
 bling A. rohiisfa of Hall, prevailed in great abundance, no 
 example of Avhich again was found on the south side. The fol- 
 lowing is the section obtained at Gull Cape, beginning at the 
 escarpment which has been mentioned as coming to the coast 
 south of Reef Point, where the previous division terminated; 
 the beds are dven in ascending order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 Lead-gioy limestone, in thin beils, intersti atified with greenish cal- 
 careo-argilliiceous shiiles, Mlightly arenaceous, and both limestone 
 and shalo slightly liituiiiiuons; the only fossil observed in it was 
 an Atrjipa, but not in great abundance 19 
 
 Lead-gvey limestone, with no observed fossils 9 
 
 Greenish arenaceo-argillaceous shale, slightly calcareous ns well as 
 slightly bituminous, crowded with an Atrypa (resembling .1. 
 rohuHia of Hall) ; the shale, on exposure to the weather, exfoliates 
 and crumbles, and the fossils, being hard limestone, are easily 
 obtained in a perfect condition 25 
 
 Greenish arenaceo-avgillaeeous shale of the same chiiracter as the 
 last, with a variety of the same Ainipd as the last, much larger in 
 size; one valve of a rentamerus was met with so much resembling 
 P. Barrandl as to leave little doubt that it is the same species, 
 though rather larger than any met with on the south side of the 
 island 5 
 
 Light yellowish-grey bituminous limestone, in beds of from half an 
 
 inch to two inches, holding Afri/pa 20 
 
 Dark-grey slightly bituminous lijuestone, in beds of from one to three 
 inches, and towards the top six inches, separated by partings of 
 greenish calcareo-argillaceous shale; fossils M'eather out in good 
 relief on the surface, the most prevalent being Ovlhii ?,S 
 
 
$ 
 
 n 
 
 
 ft 
 
 
 //. in. 
 Dark grey slightly bituminous limcHtone, iu betis of from tlmi' to 
 nine incheH, resembling the previous mass, but without observed 
 fossils i^O 
 
 127 9 
 
 This section was obtained by tlio raoasurcniont of aceiunulat- 
 ing strata in the cliff as far as Gull Cove, where the highest 
 bed was about sixty feet above high water mark, leaving sixty- 
 seven feet as the thickness that had been i»a>sod over at tlio 
 water's edge. TIic dip was S. 28« W., and the di-tance across 
 the measures was three-quarters of a mile, so that the inclina- 
 tion was about ninety feet in a mile; this iriclination would 
 carry the sixty feet that arc in the clitf to the level of the 
 water in a distance of fifty-three cliains in the direction of the 
 dip, and following the strike to the westward, it would come 
 out in Sand-top Bay, where the dip is S. 38" AV., at sucli a 
 distance from the bight of it as would give eighteen feet to the 
 foot of the cliff there. The following section obtained in the 
 cliff gives the details of the succeeding sixty feet in ascending 
 
 order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Yellowish-grey, compact, slightly bituminous limestone, in beds of 
 from two to four inches, with few observed fossils, with the ex- 
 ception of three inches at the top, which are a mass of Mnrchl- 
 soiua, resf mbling ,1/. (jmcU'ts, with a few instances of Orthoccrrifi, 
 and one jr two [examples of reniumfrua, resembling i'. lens 20 
 
 Ycllowlsh-grey slightly bituminous liuiestoiie. iu buls of from half au 
 inch to three inches in tbickuess, with occusional partings of yel- 
 lowish-grey calcareous shale; tlie surfaces of the beds are fossiliter- 
 ou?, and among the fossils are Calymene Bliimenbachii. Orfhis, 
 Murchisonia resembling M. gracilis, and C'rinoidea 15 
 
 Yellow ii-h-grey, interstratified with greyish-yellow slightly bitiiniinous 
 liineetone, in beds of from half an inch to two inches, with partings 
 of calcareous shale. The surfaces of the beds show fosi ils. among 
 which are Pcniamerus resembling P. lens, .Murc/iisonia resembling 
 gracilis, Lcptaina, resembling subplana, but rallier more convex, 
 with Crinoidea 15 
 
 Yellowish-grey and greyish-yellow limestone, as before, with the same 
 fossils as the last, with the addition of Calymene Bluemenhnchii, 
 Atrypa congesta, and other small species, with turbinated corals,.. 10 
 
 60 
 
 In Sand-top Bay the dip, as has been stated, appears to be S. 
 
79 
 
 38^ W., and in th.- uiroction the top of the preceding: section 
 would ))C Carrie I aljout fd'ty-tlirec chains before rcacliinfi- the 
 level of the sea; ioilowint^ tlie strike to tiie eastward, modified 
 by that of Sand-top Cape, tlie dip tliere being S. 28* W., tlic 
 to]* of the section would come upon tlic coast in a ])Osition 
 ■which would be just a mile across the measures, from tlie l)ifrlit 
 of the bay inside of J]ast Point. Tlie inclination ai>i)r()achinfr 
 the bight of the bay api)ear3 to increase considerably, and l)y 
 the impression made on tlio eye by the strata, as seen in tlie 
 cliff from the boat, I am inclined to think it would bo as much 
 as 200 feet in a mile, which would thus be the interval up to 
 the l)ase of the cliff where the next measurement was taken. 
 
 From a sudden change, however, which appears to occur in 
 the dip, which becomes S. 3^' E., it is not impossible that some 
 dislocation may occur to trouble the calculation. Leaving out 
 this consideration, the following would bo the remainder of the 
 beds belonging to the division in ascending order: 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Ash-grey limestone, in beds of from lialf an inch to three inches, with 
 calcareo-iirgillaceous partings, intorHtratitied with iron-grey lime- 
 stones of the same thiclviiesses. The condition of the weather was 
 sncli at the time of my visit that it allowed me to examine the 
 upper five feet only, in which there was displayed in considerable 
 abundance a Cijthere about half an inch long 
 
 Yellowish-grey slightly bituminous limestone, charged witli a multitude 
 of corals, consisting of the genera Catenipora, Faiosites, Htliolitts, 
 C/iirtete.i, Cynthnphijllum, and Orlhis; on the surface, the bed 
 assumed .i hummocky character, some patclies of the corals rising 
 from one to five feet high, with the diameter of from two to ten 
 fuet, the overlying l)ed conforming in some degree to the inequalities, 
 and giving the strata the aspect of having been disturljed 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 7) 
 
 i I 
 
 The coral bed was followed round the coast from the cove 
 to the eastern extremity of East Point, where it sinks beneath 
 the level of the sea, and w^as taken for the limit of the Division 
 D in that vicinity. 
 
 The whole thickness of the division on the north coast would 
 thus be as follows: 
 
80 
 
 :1 
 
 K 
 
 1 
 
 .1 
 
 i4 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Gull Cape section , 127 9 
 
 Measiirt'R not examined , IS 
 
 Sand-top Bay suction GO 
 
 Measnros not examined 200 
 
 East Toint section 7.') 
 
 480 
 
 Division E. 
 
 The rocks forming the next division commence where those 
 of the previous one terminated, rather more than a mile west- 
 ward of the month of Juinter River, and occupy the coast 
 between that position and South-west Point, the distance being 
 a little over seven miles, in a direction very nearly S.S.E. The 
 dip of the strata is very constant in its direction, not varying 
 more than about five degrees at any part, the average being 
 S. 7.^*^ W., while the inclination is sometimes 200 feet in a 
 mile, and at others is quite inap})reciablc. With the exception 
 of some concealment at the base, and more towards and at the 
 summit, the measures are visible all tlie way, forming clilTs of 
 from twenty to one hundred and fifty feet. 
 
 The following is the sequence, in ascending order, of the de- 
 posits, from a measurement of each bed in succession as it came 
 upon the one l)eneath, with the exception of the parts con- 
 cealed, which were determined by computation: 
 
 fi :n. 
 
 Measures concealed 27 
 
 Greeuisli-gicy and brown arenacco-arfjillaceous shales interstratified, 
 
 of a fine texture in thin beds, with no oiisorved fossils (10 
 
 Yellowish-grey and light-dr;ib argillaceous limestone, slightly bitu- 
 minous, in beds of from one to five inches, cut by parallel joints 
 running N. Hr)"^ W., with an occasional joint running obli(|uo to 
 that cour;;e; the jointed structure and the general soft nature of 
 the rock cause large masses to fall from the clilf by the action of 
 the sea, which is encroaching rapidly on the land. Among the 
 fossils which are generally in a good state of preservation, there 
 are OmpiiiVdhiis, within about twenty feet of the bottom, Farositefi, 
 Atrypa rdiCHluris, and another resembling jj, tunvda, J'vntainents, 
 like P. lens, Miiolhm, Cyl'mema, OrUtocems, Cyrtocer'ts, Cah/incne 
 lilnmeiihacliii and Bnmastes hamensis 80 
 
 Light-drab argillaceous limestone, siightly bituminous, weathering 
 white, interstiatified with yellowish limestone, weathering yel- 
 luwish-brovvi) both in beds of from two to three iuchts thick. 
 
 i-^ 
 
 li,-^ f'l 
 
m 
 
 ft. in. 
 The fossils are not numerous, but weatliercd surfaces present m-cU 
 preserved specimens of Atrijpa reiicuhirls, Lepfama suhplana, Caly- 
 mene BlamenbachU, Lychas, Phacops, Fentamerns lens, crinoidal 
 
 columns, iuul other species 22 G 
 
 Ash-grey ami light-clrab linrestoues interstratilied, both sligl 'lybitir- 
 miuous and in beds of from half an inch to two inches. The sar- 
 faces weather nearly white and show fossils of which a large 
 number are weathered nearly black, by contrast presenting dis- 
 tinct and well defined forms; among them are AInjpa reticularis, 
 Lcpiirna suhplana, Strophomena depressa, Peidamerus lens, Cahj- 
 
 mcne BhonvnharhU. ^-^ " 
 
 Ash-grey and light-drab limestones interstratified, both slightly bitu- 
 minous, in beds of from two to three inches, holding in the upper 
 
 part, in some abundance, Fentanvrus lens 10 3 
 
 Ash-grey and light-drab limestones interstratified, both slightly bitu- 
 minous and crowded with Fentamerus hjratus 2 G 
 
 The position of this bed is just west of the last brook but one, 
 approaching South-west Toiut. 
 
 Measures concealed -^ ^ 
 
 Light-drab argillaceous limestone, slightly bituminous 1 
 
 Measures concealed 2o 
 
 Light-drab argillaceous limestone, slightly bituminous, in beds of 
 from half an inch to three inches, containing numerous fossils, 
 of which weathered surfaces present excellent S) ,eeimens weath- 
 ered black, while the edges of the beds along the cliff yield others 
 quite free from the rock. Among the fossils are vrrnous corals, 
 with Alri/pa relieuktrls, A. cnmjosdi, A. hcmisphcrk^i, A . naviformis, 
 JSplrifer railialns, LepUrna suhplana, L. (ransccrsdis, fragments of 
 Orihoceras and Cyrtoceras, Cahjmene lilumenbachii Fhacops (a new 
 
 species) and an Encr'imirus 87 G 
 
 The position of this deposit is a little east of the last brook, ap- 
 proaching Kouth-west Point. 
 Measures concealed at the bight of the cove, north of South-west 
 
 Point ^^7 G 
 
 510 9 
 
 The rocks at the cast end of the island supposed to be equiv- 
 alent to those, arc seen in tlie section displayed there in con- 
 tinuation of what has already been given to the top of the 
 coral bed at East Point. They are i)i ascending order as fol- 
 
 lows: 
 
 Yellowiah-grey slightly bituminons limestone, without any well defin- 
 ed bedding, in some measure fiUin? up the Inequalities on the 
 top of th(>" coral bed. The rock breaks easily in the plane of the 
 beds with a conchoidal tVacturo, ami is crowded with well pre- 
 
 c 
 
 ft. in.. 
 
i'^ 
 
 Oi 
 
 ft. in. 
 served fossils, principally Jtnjpa hemispherka, and Lepknui suh- 
 
 plana; the thickuess of the mass is from two to six feet 4 
 
 Bluish-ttrev avRillo-calcareous shale, hohling iron pyrites in some 
 
 9 
 
 abuuclance ; • • " 
 
 Dull ash-grey argillo-calcareoiis shale, containing no observed fossils, 
 interstratified with patches of drab colored argillaceous limestone, 
 slightly bituminous, in beds of from one to two inches thick, 
 occurring at intervals of from one to four feet; on the surfaces of 
 these fossils in good preservation are met with, but not in large 
 numbers; among th<>m aveAtnipn rc^/cu/ai'/.s, with another species, 
 LerAoina, Cahnnene TiluiiienhachH, Oiihuceras, Murchisonia, and 
 
 various corals 
 
 Light smoke-grey limestone, slightly bituminous, interstratitied with 
 drab-colored soft argillaceous limestone, in beds of from half-an- 
 inch to two inches in thickness. The harder beds occasionally 
 weather to a somewhat brown color on the surfaces, and present 
 well-preserved fossils weathering blackish-grey, affording superior 
 specimens for the examination of structure. Among the fossils 
 are Atrtipa rcCmdaris, A. comjesia, Lephrm suhplana, L. imnscvr- 
 salis, L. pnfanda, f^pirifer nuidesins, Calijmene Blnmenharhn, 
 Enrrinnms, hjchas, Fuvosiks. small Bryo-oa, and crinoiaal 
 
 columns 
 
 Light smoke-grey slightly bituminous limestones, with drab-colored 
 soft argillaceous limestones, similar in litbological character and 
 
 in fossils to the last 
 
 The preceding part of the section is measured at high water 
 mark across the measures from East Point, the dip being S. 18° 
 W., with an ascertained inclination of a little over 100 feet in a 
 mile. 
 
 The distance at right angles to the strike is two-tilths of a mile. 
 Measures concealed by the shinr' of the beach,, which consists of 
 light smoke-grey limestone .dngled with light drab compact 
 argillaceous limestone, but slightly bituminous, pieces of which 
 show among other iossWsAlrypardlcularis, ddymene Blianenhnchn, 
 Pintavienis, resembling P. lens, with varions corals and broken 
 
 encrinites 
 
 Measures concealed 21 
 
 The top of thc-e measures readies a position a little over lialf-o- 
 mile from Heath Point lighthouse. 
 ■ Light smoky-Krey slightly bituminous limestone, interstratified with 
 reddish-drab argillaceous limestone, also slightly bituminous, both 
 In bcfls of from one to iwo inches, occasiomdly presenting HU'taces, 
 on wliich arc weathered out well dclined fossils; among them arc 
 Jlfrypa reticularis, Leptona suhplana. Pcutavienis resembling i'. 
 
 lyratus, vvith small turbinated corals '^■" 
 
 The top of the previous beds reaches the soulliern iiroinontory of 
 Heath Point upwards of balfa-mile S. S. W. Irom the lightliouse. 
 
 20 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 L 
 
 Al 
 
 t 
 P 
 
 , :. 
 
83 
 
 33 
 •J 
 
 ft. in 
 The (lip of the inoasiiros in this neighborhood is S. 18° W., and the 
 iiicliinition was ascertained to be eighty leet in a mile, which is the 
 rate allowed for the last throe measnrements; the distance which the 
 whole occupies at right angles to the strike being two miles and 
 twenty-four ciiains. 
 
 In the bight of the bay west of Heath Point some of the last beds 
 are repeated, but carrying tlie strilve from the eastern horn of the 
 bay to the coast on the opposite side, the following are the beds that 
 dccnr in continuation of the section : 
 Light smoke-grey limestone, sliglitly bituminous, intcrstratified with 
 light reddish-drab, similar to the last beds, with similar fossils. . . 
 
 Measures concealed 
 
 In the two preceding measurements the dip is S. .')3-' W., and the 
 inclination forty-five feet in a mile, as determined by the lirst ; the 
 distance across the measurer is seventy-si.x chains. 
 Light unoky-^rey and reddisli-dral) liuiestonos intcrstratified, similar ia 
 
 lithological character and fossils to the last beds described 15 
 
 Pale drab colored limestone, interstratifii'd w^ith limestone of a more 
 argillaceou ) character, and of a somewhat darker color, both in beds 
 of from half-an-incb to three inches thick ; tlie surfaces of these afford 
 beautiful and finely preserved foi-sils ; well weathered out, among 
 which are Atrypa re.imluris. A. htmiKpherica, Leptcpyia, Penta- 
 rntriis resembling P. lens, Calymcne Blumenbachii, Encrinurus, 
 
 tentaculites, crinoidal columns, and small Briozoa 1j U 
 
 Asli-grey limestone in beds of from one to six inches, with thin a:'„nl- 
 laceous partings ; some of the beds are crowded with Pentamerus 
 
 obhmgus, and Atrypa reticularis is common 30 n 
 
 The distance across the measures occupied by the last three 
 d'.posits i.s sixty chains, and the dip is S. 18 W., with an ascertained 
 inclination of eighty feet in a mile; the dip then changes, ap- 
 proacliing a dislocation which occurs at a projecting point, about 
 a mile and tin-ee-(iuarters north-eastward of Cormorant J'oint. 
 
 Tlie course of the fault is N. 37 E., and it produces an upthrow o;i 
 the *. '^st side of forty five feet, by which the last two measure- 
 ments ai-. vvucated. The sequence of the beds beyond these is as fol- 
 lows • 
 Ash-t'roy limestones lu beds of from one to nine inches, with thin ai-gil- 
 hi.ceous partings ; some of the beds are filled with Pentamerus 
 
 i,'j{oue;us, and Atrypa reticularis is very Crequmt 
 
 This deposit reaches to the north side of Cormorant Point ; the 
 dip of the measures is S. 20° V/., and the ascertained slope Is 1 10 feet 
 in a mile. 
 Ash-grey liraeftou'', i 1 1 edi o" from one to six inches tbii^k, intcsirati- 
 tled with greenish argillo-areiiacious .shale, slightly calcareous, in 
 beds of from ai>-eigbth to u-fourtli o( an inch thick ; in tlie three feet 
 at the ba>e, it is in patches of from sir ioth-s to oi g foot thici--. 
 Amofig the fossils are Zxph ertis bilateralii, Stromatoiwra turn- 
 
 
 
 -«eS*'' 
 
'% 
 
 84 
 
 cenlrira. Favonites, favosa, GrajituUlhus, Ort/ioccras antl Pentam- 
 
 crus oblon frits 
 
 This compoFi.'s a clilf of from twenty to thirty feet high round Cor- 
 morant Point, with a dip S. 18^ \V.. and an inclination ascertained to 
 be ei.nlity feet in a mile, for a bread.h acros.s the measures of forty- 
 five chains. 
 
 45 
 
 5r>0 11 
 
 Lie 
 
 
 Eastward from Cormorant Point, tlie measures arc concealed 
 for about three miles, and beyond this all the way to Chicotte 
 River, a distance of about lifty miles, there are occasional 
 exposures of limestone, with intervals of concealment, some of 
 which are very long. All the exposures arc supposed to belong 
 to this division, but tliougli the l)eds in no case show a great 
 inclination, and in several arc quite horizontal, the bearings of 
 the dips that are presented vary frequently and considerably, 
 cither through small faults or gentle undulations, and it has 
 been found impossible to say ^Yith precision to what parts of the 
 division these beds arc equivalent, or whether some of them 
 may not add a few feet to the thickness given. 
 
 Before describing the positions of these exposures, however, 
 it Avill be convenient to give a section of the succeeding divi- 
 sion. 
 
 Division F. 
 
 In immediate sequence to the concealed measures which con- 
 stitute the upper part of the Jupiter River section of the last 
 division, the following beds present themselves in ascending 
 order, and form the whole of the area of what is called South- 
 west Point. 
 
 Yel 
 
 m. 
 
 Light smoke-grey limestone, of a somewhat gi-amilar cliaracter, in 
 beds of from three to six inches thick, with thin partings of green 
 argillo-calcareoiis shale occurring in patches. Iron pyrites arc dis- 
 seminated through the beds, sometimes in single ciibes, and some- 
 times in aggregations of minute cubes forming nodules of from 
 one to two inches in diameter, discoloring the rock by their de- 
 composition. The ruins of crinoidal columns constitute the or- 
 ganic remains _• • 
 
 Light smoke-grey limestones, with iron pyrites in some abundance, in 
 nodules as before of from half an inch to an inch in diameter, and 
 occasionally on the surface of the bed in patches of from half an 
 inch to an inch and a half thick, and from six to eighteen inches 
 
 fi- 
 
 in. 
 
 3 9 
 
 Yeli 
 
 It- 
 
 Yell 
 
 Yell 
 
 Yell 
 
 m-^ 
 
1 
 
 in diameter. Fossils occur in fragments but thej' are too obscure 
 to be icVjntified 
 
 Light smoke-grey limestone of a granular character, in Iteds of from 
 two to six inches thick, with partings of green argillo-calcareous 
 shale, which also occurs in jiatches in the beds, giving them ii 
 greenish cast; among the fossils occur Z'lphventls, like Z.hUaterali: 
 of Hall; SlromdtojHmi ronr.entr'ict, ('i/'ithdphi/UKia, Atnipardh'nlans, 
 rentamenis ohlotigus, ]'. Ims, Oiihoc.cms and crinoidal columns . . 
 
 Yellowish or reddish-white graimlar limestone, with thin vein-like 
 patches of argillo-calcareous shale disseminated through it; the 
 beds are from three too seven inches thick. Among the organic 
 remains, saveral of which are similar to those of the preceding 
 deposit, rii/rliophyllum characterizes the present one, some of these 
 being a foot in diameter. Favosiles also occurs in tables of half 
 an inch thick, and sometimes three feet in diameter 
 
 Yellowish-whito granular limestone, in beds of from six to eighteen 
 inches thick, often separated by thin partings of green argillo- 
 calcareous shale, which is also disseminated in small patches 
 throu^'h the bed; The fossils are few in species, being cliiefly the 
 ruins of crinoidal columns, which in some cases form the entire 
 mass of a bed 
 
 Yellowish-white granular limestones, in beds of from six to twelve 
 inches thick, showing less green shale than before. The beds are 
 well stored with the fragmentsof crinoidal columns, which almost 
 
 entirely compose some of them 
 
 Shortly before reaching the upper part of the previous deposit 
 several small undulations occur in the strata, but the effect of 
 them being visible, allowance has been made for the repetitious 
 they occasion. 
 
 The remainder of the section being taken from a part where tdio 
 effect of the undulations is not so easily followed, the sequence is 
 not so certain. 
 
 Yellowish-white granular limestone, in heiU of from six to t^velve 
 inches thick, consisting of a mass of organic remains, of which 
 crinoidal columns constitute by far the larger part; but other fos- 
 sils are met with, among which are Caiinuporn cscharoh.ks, Eivosltes, 
 (histiphijllnm, Atnjpi reticulnris-, Ct/iiia, two species of Ci/donema, 
 Bumastes Barrienses, Sphercrochus 
 
 Yellowish-white limestones, in beds of from twelve to eighteen inches 
 thick; the surfaces of some of the beds show crinoidal columns 
 well weathered out, some of which are three quarters of an inch 
 iu diameter. Among the fossils are Fcivosiles, Cateiupora esuha- 
 
 roides; Atvypa reticidtiris, and two species of C(idon<'inu 
 
 South-west Point Lighthouse standi on the beds last given. 
 
 ft. in. 
 & 6 
 
 7 (! 
 
 •20 
 
 U 
 
 ■i fi 
 
 11 a 
 
 G9 3 
 
 
J-t, 
 
 '■-•■i 
 
 m 
 
 86 
 
 This is the highest series of strata met ^vith on the islaiul, 
 and its lithological character is so well marked that it is 
 scarcely possible to mistake it for any of those which preceded. 
 Proceeding eastward from South-west Point about three miles, 
 to a place called the Jumpers, a clilT of about thirty feet in 
 height presents itself, where it appears to me probable the 
 junction of the Divisions E and F is seen, the boso belonging to 
 'the one and the summit to the other. The beds in ascending 
 order are as follows: 
 
 ft. ni. 
 
 8 C 
 
 10 6 
 
 Liijlit grey argillaceoii:'^ limestone, f^lijrhtly bituminous in In ds of from 
 
 ^ lialf an inch to three inches thicl<, interstnitillod with <;rcenisb 
 
 colored shale; amung ti:e fossils observed Pentamerus vHowjus 
 
 and Atrypa Reticularis were the most abundant 
 
 Greeni.-h cal'eareo-argillaceons limestone, slightly bituminous, in beds of 
 from half an inch to two inelies thick; the shale constitutes about 
 two-thirds of the mass, and crumbling in the atmospliere, allows the 
 the exposure of weM defined fossils in high relief on the surn)ees 
 of the limestone beds. Among the fossils in addition to corals, 
 briozoa, crin^idal columns, and te i.aculites, are Atrypa reticularis. 
 J. hcmisphre'n, A. n<iviformis. Leptaim transvcisdls, l\niamenis 
 oUoihjUi. P. lyratiif. P. lni% Platyostoma hnni^pherica. Pleura- 
 tomaria, Mure'n.sonia subulata, Orthoceras. Beyriclmi and CaLr 
 
 menc BInmenhachii • 
 
 Dark ash-grey limestone, in some parts mixed witli yellowi^h-white and 
 in sudi parts of a granulur t.'Xture; the whole occurring in beds 
 of from one to three inches thick, interstratiUed with thin beds of 
 greenish shale. The deposit is characterized by an abundance of 
 corals and encrinites; among th-' corals are Cntenipora esr.haroides. 
 Favcsites favosa, F. <jothhmdica, F. mullipora. Zaplircntis, Stro- 
 mafopora concentrica; and among the other fossils are Pentamerm 
 oMorKjus and Atrypa reticularis 
 
 It is not improbable that tlie south is occupied by the rocks 
 of Division F, from South-west Point to the vicinity of 
 Chicotte lUver, a distance altogether of about thirty miles; 
 without further examination, however, it cannot be so stated 
 with certainty; for while there is an interval of seventeen miles 
 beyoiul the Jum])ers, in which only one exposure could be dis- 
 cerned from the l)oat, there was a further distance of seven 
 miles in which four exposures wore seen but remained unexam- 
 ined in conset]uence of our not being able to land at them from 
 
 1L 
 
87 
 
 tlic condition of the surf. A landing however was effected in 
 a cove under two miles west from Chicottc River, and tlio cliffs 
 which were examined on both sides of the cove exhibited the 
 yellowish-wliite granular crinoidal limestone of tliis division. 
 
 The rock there formed clilTs, exhibiting about thirty feet of 
 the strata, which appeared to be somewhat disturbed, as the 
 strike and dip wore very irregular, the inclination sometimes 
 amounting to so much as twelve degrees. 
 
 Tliesc l»eds extend to within about lialf-a-mile of Chicottc 
 River, and as no instance of tliem was observed between that 
 and Cormorant Point, and all the exposures met with pre- 
 sented strata resembling those of the immediately sul)jacont 
 division, it is concluded, as has already been stated, that this 
 stretch of tlie coast belongs to it. 
 
 Contiiniing eastward from Cliicotte River, the first of these 
 exposures occurs at tlic distance of about two miles and a-quar- 
 ter, tlic next connnences about seven and a-half miles farther on, 
 being al)out two miles beyond Pavillion River, where about 
 seven feet of drab-colored limestone in horizontal strata arc 
 seen, with an intei'val of conceahnent which continues for a 
 mile, reaching nearly to ^[artin Brook. Tlie next exposure is 
 on tlie east side of the cove receiving Iron River, the distance 
 from the last being about a mile and a-half. Here about ten 
 feet are dis])kyed in a low cliff", and the strata still horizontal 
 run along the coast for three-quarters of a mile. 
 
 Six miles lieyond this occurs Chaloupe River, where cliffs 
 are seen at each horn of the bay at its mouth, separated about 
 half-a-milc from one another. The cliffs expose from twelve 
 to liftecn feet of limestone in horizontal strata which, with an 
 interval of concealment, continue for a mile and a-quarter to 
 the eastward. A mile and a-half further, there is another cliff 
 of horizontal lim(>stone shewing ten feet, and three miles on 
 still another in w lilch twelve feet are seen. These run along 
 the coast for a mile and a-half, and after an interval at. the 
 mouth of a brook, they are repeated in a clift" of from twenty 
 to twenty-iive feet and continue for a mile. The next display 
 occurs about live and a-half miles further on, commencing 
 within thrce-quartrrs of a mile of the extremity of South Point, 
 
88 
 
 and continuing, with an interval at the point, for three-quarters 
 of a mile beyond it. The strata as before, are flat, and they 
 exhibit the following section in ascending order:— 
 
 ft. in. 
 
 Grey limcstoiio in ))ih1s of n-om two to lour inches thick, iaterstratifiod 
 with grey argillo-calcareous shiile ; among the fossils are .Itr/jpa 
 reticularis, Lrptana subplana, Calymene lilumenbachii and 0>- 
 
 C C 
 
 tlKiceras 
 
 Grey liniPPtone crowded with Ptnta7nerus oblomjm of large size, to the 
 excUiMon apparently of other fossils; nine-tenths of the hed av niude 
 up of tliem, and (=ome of the individuals measured nearly mx '"^^'I'S 
 
 in length 
 
 Gr. y limestone in beds of from one to six inches, with OrthisJlaheUulum 
 and Calymene Bhnnenbachii 
 
 Grey limeetonc holding Pentumirus vhlowjus in abundance, but of small 
 sizes, varying from a-quarler of an inch to an inch aud a-half in 
 lcn"tb; no other fossil was observed ^ "^ 
 
 Drab coU.red limestone in beds of from one to three inches, interstratified 
 with greenish-grey shale, constituting one-fourth of the mass; the 
 shale crumbles under the influence of the weather and yields verj'^ 
 perfect fossils; among them are a Favositeif with small tubes, F. 
 favo.'^a. Zaphraiiis bilaternlis. Jltiypa reticularis, J. hemispher- 
 ica. Orthis eleijantala, O. Jh.btllulum. Spirifcr radiatus. small 
 individnalii of I'etitnnHrusoblo7i(ju^, Leptana svbplana, Calymene 
 Blumenbachii, Eucrinurus pimciatm, Orthocerus and crinoidal 
 columns 
 
 28 8 
 
 A little under half-a-mile beyond this, another cliff of lime- 
 stone occurs, which runs along the coast for as much more, and 
 probably repeats a part of the section given, the height of the 
 cliff being twenty feet. 
 
 The strata in the exposures for twenty-four miles up to tins 
 point appear to be perfectlv horizontal, but tlie next exhibition 
 on the east side of a small cove, shows a gentle dip to the 
 south-east. The beds form a fifteen feet cliff of limestone, 
 runnino- for about half a-milc along the coast, and terminating 
 at the extremity of a point. At the next exposure, however, 
 which occurs after an interval of concealment of six miles, they 
 are once more horizontal, and compose a cliff t.gain fifteen feet 
 high, which occupies a mile of the coast; at a mile beyon<l_ this 
 the calcareous strata which present themselves show a dq) b. 
 25^ E.<3^, which after another mile becomes S. 47'' E.<1°; the 
 
 t^ 
 
 i 
 
89 
 
 bods in the last case being superior to those in the preceding 
 one. Tliis dip prevails lor about three-quarters of a mile, in 
 which the coast runs oblique to the strata, and then from a 
 dislocation or a twist in the stratification, it very suddenly 
 changes to S. 60« W., which is maintained for about a-quarter 
 of a mile across the measures, along a small cliff occupying 
 that distance. Another concealment of about a mile and a-half 
 brintrs us to the horizontal limestones Avhich have been 
 already mentioned as existing three miles west of Cormorant 
 Point. 
 
 ECONOMIC MATERIALS. 
 
 The substances fit for economic application met with on the 
 island are confined to building stones, grindstones, brick-clay, 
 peat, and shell-marl; metalliferous minerals, as far as my 
 ol)servations went, appear to be wanting. The only^ ore 
 observed appeared to be loose pieces of magnetic oxyd of iron, 
 most probably transported from the Laurentian series on the 
 north shore of the St. Lawrence; there is no reason, however, 
 for asserting that bog iron ore may not be hereafter found. 
 
 Buiklmg Stones.— 1\\ the immediate neighborhood of South- 
 west Point, coarse granular limestone for building purposes is 
 displayed in abundance among the strata belonging to Division 
 F. It occurs in beds of from six to eighteen inches in thick- 
 ness, is easily dressed, and yields good blocks of a yellowish- 
 white color. The lighthouse at the point is built of it, and so 
 is that at Heath Point, both of which, notwithstanding the 
 coarse and rather open texture of the stone, have stood for 
 upwards of seventeen years, I believe, without showing signs of 
 
 decaV" 
 
 The sandstone of Cape James and Table Head would afford 
 a fine material for building purposes; it has a good warm color, 
 being a greoni^h-gray approaching to drab, rather lighter than 
 the s'andstone of Craig Lcith quarry, near Edinburgh; it has a 
 free grain, and would therefore dress easily, while the angular 
 fragments on the beach show that it would retain its sharp 
 edgns. Blocks of every required size might be obtained with 
 thickness up to five and a-half feet. One solid mass of it which 
 had fallen from Cape James, lay on the beach, measuring forty 
 
1)0 
 
 by sixty feet, with a tliicknoss of five feet, and must have con- 
 tained upwards of 12,000 ciil)ic feet of good Avorkaldo stone. 
 In the two cliffs which have l)ecn niontioued, the bed occupies 
 seven miles of the coast, and its proximity to the sea offers a 
 very easy means of transport to the towns and cities of the St. 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Grindstones. — The same sandstone would very ]n-obably 
 yield very good grindstones; although slightly calcareous, it is 
 even grained, and there is a sufficient amount of clear sharp 
 grit in it to render it available, while there would be no diilU 
 culty in getting any sizes of grindstones that might be 
 required. 
 
 Brick Clai/. — Clay fit for common red brick exists in some 
 abundance; it Avas oljserved of a Iduisli-grey color, and about 
 ten feet in thickness, half-a-milo up the Otter llivcr, on the 
 south side; and I was iniormed of its existence up the Becscie 
 River. About five miles of coast in the vicinity of St. Mary's 
 River consists of clay cliffs of from sixty to seventy feet in 
 height, and no doubt much of it might be made avaihd)le for 
 bricks: some of it, however, is of a calcareous character, and 
 contains many ]»ebblc3 of limestone, fitting it probably for agri- 
 cultural rather tlmn manufacturing i^urposes. 
 
 Fresh-water Shell-marl. — This material appears to exist in 
 considerable abundance on the island; the bottoms of all the 
 ponds or small lakes that were examined, with the exception of 
 such as were surrounded by peat, were more or less covered 
 with it. Marl Lake is one of these; it has a superficies of al)Out 
 ninety acres, and although the depth of the deposit Avas not 
 carefully sounded, its thickness appeared to be considerable. 
 The brook Avhich empties the lake into Indian Cove at the west 
 end, carries down a large quantity of the nmrl as a sediment to 
 the sea, where it becomes si)read out for a considerable space 
 over the rocks of the vicinity. 
 
 About three miles west from Soutli-Avest Point, marl was ob- 
 served to occupy a position on the bank of a brook, and to ex- 
 tend for a-quarter of a mile inland, presenting a thickness of 
 about a foot covered with peat. 
 
 In a lake half-a-mile further inland, it covered the bottom 
 over an area of 200 acres; and on the east side of South Point 
 
 
n 
 
 ituas oLsorvcl roposinu on vook closo to the shore, oovered 
 over l>v IV.rai rour to Ion loot of peat. , 
 
 P,„;_\lou.' the low lands of the south coast ol the 
 i.hu.d.lVora llS>th r„int to within ciKhto,- nine n.ilos of fonth- 
 west I'oint, a con.inuons peat plain extends lor upward, 
 of ei"htv ndles, with an average hrcadth of two mdes, giving a 
 supe;-r,ei..s of npwards of If.O square miles, with 'yl''"'""';'; ™ 
 neat a< observed on the coast of from Ihrce to ten Icet. On the 
 average this ph>in n,ay l>o fifteen feet alcove Idgh-water marie; 
 J 1 ;,; elnvnnels eat through it eould be easily dramed .ni 
 faced 'iV-r working. As far as my knowledge goes, h,^ ^ e 
 largest peat Ihdd in Canada, and the general qi.ality ol the 
 
 material is excellent. , , ^ a ...,\. ,vn^' 
 
 There are manv isolated patches also between f;' 1-^^''- 
 point and the west end, varying in size from 1. . to 1 tOtl acres, 
 which wo,dd viold a considerable quantity o the ^"'^f'^\ 
 
 It was stated to n,e that peat existed also in some abnndai e 
 in the interior of the island, but this I au> disposed to dm id 
 for while all the streams flowing from the peat plain on lie 
 Ji side gave as is usual a brown colored water those in other 
 'ZvL w..re pure and colorless, leading to the opinion that the 
 intcii.n- was peculiarly free from peat swamps. 
 
 Anion..- the materials of the island wliieli may be considered 
 of an econoane nature though not of a mineral cliaracter, sea- 
 weed and diiftliiabor may be enumerated. 
 '"^;^,.,„,,,._ln all the bays, coves and sheltered places around 
 the whole i4and, with the exception of those between the cast 
 end and Southwest Point, there is a great aceumala tion of .ea- 
 weed ah,ug the high-water mark; in sack places patches of t 
 ^.le met with of IVmn a hundred yards to half-a-nnle in length 
 ml . Von, two ,0 six yards in width; the Jepth usua y vaned 
 from one to four feet, and in some instances was six fc t 1 
 benelicial effect of sea-weed as a manure is too - " '- »™ ' 
 require mentioning, but to what distance it would beai cai 
 h'"e for such an applioatioa is more than I am able to s at 
 On'the island, Mr. Pope, of South-west Point, makes use ol it 
 as a fertilizer for his lields, mixing itwith the peat which forms 
 
 *''y"^!(' r/micr.-The quantity of squared timber and saw-logs 
 
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 whicli are scattered along the south nhore of the island, is very 
 surprising; the abundance appears to be greater towards the 
 east end than the ^vest; but according to the calculation which 
 I have made, if the "whole of the logs were placed end to end 
 they would form a line equal to the whole length of the island, 
 or 140 miles; this would give about one million of cubic feet. 
 Some of the squared timber may have been derived from wrecks, 
 but the great number of saw-logs, which are not shipped as 
 cargo, fnduces me to suppose that the main source of this timber 
 is drift. 
 
 No doubt the whole of it may have once been private prop- 
 erty, and perhaps much of it could be identified as such by 
 private marks; perhaps, too, no one may have a right to touch 
 it but the owners of the island, to whom it may be a waif; but 
 it is to be regrett^'d that it should be allowed to remain on tlie 
 shore to rot, as much of it has no doubt done. Tiio captain of 
 a fishing schooner that had not been very successful in taking 
 fish, applied to me, when I was leoving Heath Point, to know 
 where the greater accumulation of it might be found, express- 
 ing an intention of cutting some of the squared timber into 
 convenient lengths, and loading his vessel with it for Nova 
 Scotia. More may, perhaps, be in the habit of pursuing a simi- 
 lar trade. 
 
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