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W. bailey. *f / \ w^Si m [Reprinted from Thk Canadian Recohd of Sciknce, July, 1888.1 W On the Acadian and St. Lawrence Water-shed ^B By L. W. Bailey. i^K Read before the Nat. Hut. Society of Nexo Rrunnoick, April, 1889. The tract of land which constitutes the great divide between the basin of the St. Lawrence on the one hand, and shore of the upper St. .John and Baie Chalcur on the other, is one of much interest for several reasons. Geographically it corresponds very nearly to the line separating the Provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec ; politically, it has had great significance in connection with the various inter- i national and inter-provincial boundary disputes, as it still marks in a general way the line of separation between races of different language, customs and descent ; physically. ' its character is such that, until a comparatively recent period, it has acted as a very serious barrier to intor-pro- vincial communication ; and finally, from a geological point of view, it is of interest as forming a portion of one of the great Cordilleras of the continent, the eastern extremity of K f the great Appalachian mountain-system. It is proposed in ■ ^ the present pape". to give a brief summary of some of its 1 characteristics, as viewed in the last two aspects. 1 ■ Acadian and St. Lawrence Wnter-shed. 399 Eegarding the Ganpd peninsula and its direct extension westward, as properly marking the limits of the area under discussion, this may be said to have the general form of a broadly curving belt convex to the northwai-d of which the sides are nearly parallel and at a distance from each other of about ninety miles, while its length from Cape GasptS to the Little St. Francis river, is 250 miles. While on the northern side it forms the south shore of the St. Lawrence, and is of very regular outline, it is on the southern side less clearly defined by the valley of the St. John river above Edmunston, and farther east by that of the Eestigouche river and the Bay Chaleur. Though everywhere hilly, the district in question can only at comparatively few points be properly described as mountainous. Its true character is rather that of an elevated plateau, having in the Gaspd peninsula an average elevation of 1000 feet, but declining to the westward, upon which are held up, along certain lines, somewhat more prominent ridges, while the sides have been broken up and made hilly by the effects of deep and irregular erosion. Of the ridges referred to, the most considei'able are those forming the Shickshock Mountains, included wholly within the Gaspd peninsula, and having a length of about sixty-five miles with a breadth of from two to six miles, at a distance of about twelve miles from the St. Lawrence. Their maxi- mum elevation is from three to four thousand feet, and the district which they form is one of an exceedingly rugged but picturesque character. From the summit of Mo'int Albert, nearly 4000 feet high, not less than (158) one \ - dred and fifty-eight distinct peaks were observed and trian- gulated by Mr. A. P. Low, who also describes the inter- vening valleys as having often the character of deep canons, traversed by narrow but deep streams with numerous rapids and falls. In addition to the main chain of the Shicksocks, a second range, of less elevation, but still including some lofty peaks, is found between the latter and the coast, while here and there, on either side of the axis, are isolated granite hills, such ae Table Top Mountain, rising fully 2000 feet above r 400 Canadian Record of Science. the general level of the surrounding country, and nearly bare of vegetation. Towards Lake Metapedia and the lino of the Intercolonial Kailway, the great ridges of the Gaspd peninsula become much loss prominent, but a little to the westward of the lake, another range, that of the Notre Dame Hills, rises Bomewhat abruptly from the surrounding plateau, and stretches away in the direction of the head-waters of the Grand Metis and Patapedia rivers. It does not, how- ever, quite reach these latter, and to the westward of these streams no ridges of a well defined or continuous character are to bo met with. The rivers which drain as well as owe their origin to the great belt of high land here described, present many in- teresting features. They are quite numerous, including, in the Gaspd peninsula proper, the St. Anne des Monts, the Dartmouth, York and St. John at the eastern end of the peninsula, with the Grand Pabos, Bonaventure, Big and Little Cascapedia, tributary to the Bay Chaleur. Farther west wo have, on the north or St. Lawrence side, the Little and grand Metis, the Eimouski, the Trois Pistoles, Eividre Verte and Riviere du Loup ; while on the southern side, besides the Metapedia, there are the Restigouche, with its tributaries the Patapedia and Quatawamkodgwick, the Madawaska, the St. Francis, the Big Black and Little Black rivers, with others of minor importance. As might bo expected, the streams flowing northward into the St. Lawrence are, as a rule, much smaller than those flowing in the opposite direction, but if we include the entire distance of the latter to the sea, the contrast is in some instances quite remarkable. Thus while few cf the streams tributary to the St. Lawrence show a greater length than thirty miles, the length of the Metapedia, including the lake, is nearly sixty miles, that of the liestigouche from the source of the Kedgewick nearly ninety miles, and the St. John, measured in the direct line from Temiscouata to the Bay of Fundy, 260 miles, or from the sou* ce of the St. Francis, over 300 miles. The streams on the north shore also differ m being usually more irregular in course, with more Acadian and St. Lawrence Water-shed. 401 numorouH and larger falls and rapidH, being hometimeH in- acceHsible for conniderablo distanceH. A more curious and more interesting feature is the fact that many of the streams, on either side of the general water-shed seem to have been but little affected by the position of the latter, having their source upon one side of this and their discharge upon the other. Thus in the Gaspd peninsula, as described by Kichardson and others, tho Matane, the Ste. Anne des Monts and the Chatio all take their sources south of the general height of land, and have cut deep gorges through the latter on their way to the St. Lawrence, while one branch of the Matane, rising north of the axis, flows across the latter to its junction with the main stream, and thus has its waters twice intersect the principal range of elevations. On the other hand the St. Francis, rising in a lake of the same name, is only twelve miles distant from the St. Lawrence, and several miles north of the sources of the Trois Pistoles, and yet flows southward across the range to its junction with the St. John. Another noticeable feature is the number, size and depth of the lakes connected with the streams draining the southern side of the water-shed. Of these. Lake Temis- couata is the largest, being about thirty miles in length, with a breadth vai-ying from one to two miles, and a depth (which is nearly uniform through a lai-ge part of its length) of 220 feet, its elevation above the Hca being 467 feet. Lake Metapedia has an area of twelve square miles, about half that of Temiscouata, and an elevation of 480 feet, but haa much less depth. Near Temiscouata, and in connection with it, are the Squatook Lake and Cabano Lake, both remarkable for their depth, while farther west, on the line of the St. Francis, are Pohenagamook or Boundary Lake, Glazier's and Beau Lake. It is noticeable that most of these lakes occupy long narrow troughs having a nearly north and south course, or transverse to the trend of the hills in which they lie, and that this course is extended in nearly the same direction by the streams to which they give origin. The valleys of these streams, as in the case of the Metapedia 402 Canadian Record of Science. and tho Madawanka, are now largely filled with drift, and there can be but little doubt that all of them mark old channels of sub aerial eronion, the partial damming of which has originated the lako-baHlns which now characterize them. The climatic featui'CH of the region under review may bo readily inferred from its poHition and jjhywical aspects. While its comparatively high latitude determines great inequality in the length of the Heasonn, a long winter and a very short summer, iti? altitude further tends to reduce the mean temperature of the latter. The temperature of tho coastal waters, these being a part of the great southward flow from the Arctics, being also very low, leads to a further chilling in the air above them, and tho effects of this are readily recognizable in the prevailing winds. Fogs are not uncommon, even over the higher portions of the district, and the rain and snow fall both excesHive, Ice sometimes remains in Lake Metapedia as late as the 24th of May, and upon the adjacent hill tops, as well as in ravines and gui'ies, great banks of snow often linger far into June. Frosts come early in autumn, and may come, even with severity, at any time of the year. Long continued and excessive heats are of rare occurrence. The climatic features of the region aro reflected in its vegetation and animal life, although the former is also largely influenced by the character of tho soils and drain- age, as these in turn are by the nature and structure of the rocks beneath. The larger portion of the district is forest- clad, the clearings being for the most part confined to a narrow belt, five to fifteen miles wide, skirting the St, Lawrence, to isolated settlements around the shores of the Uaspd peninsula, to the immediate neighbourhood of tho Teniiscouata Portage lload, and to the more recently opened line of the Intercolonial Eailvvay. The trees most commonly met with are spruce, fir, hackmatac and white birch, but in favorable situations and on lands of moderate elevation yellow birch and sugar-maple are also not uncommon, and along the river valleys, groves of black ash and poplar. Acadian and St. Lawrence Water-shed. 403 Tho immodiate bankw of Htioams aro bordorod by the ubiquitous aldor, amid which in autumn glow the rich bejTies of tho mountain ash. On the higher HummitH the vegation is of coui'so more Hcanty, and in tho HhickHhockH, AH already described, tlieso are often quite bare ol" trecH. Of herbaceouH plants there is, of courHO, in the district as a whole, a considerable variety, but little has yet been done in working out the details of their distribution. Of those occurring in the vicinity of Lake Temisconata a pretty full list has been published by Mr. J. J. Northrop (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Kov., 1887), and supplomontod by another pre- pared by Mr. Ami of the Geological staff. With few ex- ceptions the species named are the same as those found in the valley of the St. John river, but many forms, both of trees and herbs, common in the latter have not yet been noted in the hilly district to the north. The following list embraces a few forms observed by the author on the banks of tho upper St. John, near Fort Kent, Pamassia Garoliniana Tanacetum Iluronense, O.ci/tropus Campestris, Veratrwn viride Hedysarum boreale, Allium Shoenoprasum, Ileracleum tanatum, Rosa blanda, Lilium Canadense, Potent ilia f rut icosa, Anemone Pennsyioanica, Thalictrum dioicum, Castilleia pallida, Silene inflata, Diervilla trifida, Lysimachia siricta, Brunella vulgaris, Pyrola secunda, P. elliptica. As to animal life, the same forms are found as occur in the less inhabited parts of our own province. Bears are very common, and red-deer and caribou but little less so, while moose are comparatively rare. Both birds and insects present considerable variety, but as yet have been but little studied. The remarkable clearness and coolness of the streams, and the depth of tho lakes, are especially favorable for the development of fishes, and few regions in the world can excel in attractions for the sportsman, those aflbrded by the waters of the Eestigouclie and its tributaries, the Cascapedia, the Matane and the Grand Metis. In the larger lakes, in addition to trout, aro found tho white fish, tho toque and the tuladi. Turtles, sometimes of large size, were often seen basking on the muddy banks of sti'oams. 1 404 Canadian Record tf Science. and at Bome points, specimens of c ray-fish wore also obHcrved. Tho Hoilw of the region under diHcussion t-an be best considered in connection with the geological formations which have determined them. The oldest rocks of the Gaspd Peninsula proper, are, according to Mr. Ells, those which make up the mass of the Shiekshock Mountains, and consist chiefly of epidosito, garnetiferous gneiss, horneblondic, chloritic and micaceous schists, together with hirge masses of serpentine, portions of which are distinctly stratified, while others suggest an eruptive origin. These rocks were described in the Geology of Canada, by Richardson and Logan, as being an altered portion of the Quebec group (Sillery), but are referred by Ells, chiefly upon lithological grounds, to the Pre-Cambrian. The only point where the belt of rocks so referred has been observed by the present writer is on the eastern shore of Lake Metapedia. They here consist of heavy masses of grey, greenish and purplish amygdaloid, holding considerable quantities of epidote, and bear some resemblance to the Huronian of southern Now Brunswick, but not more than they also do to similar masses occurring in connection both with tho Cambro-Silurian and Silurian formations. To the north of these volcanic rocks, upon the same lake, the rocks are chiefly hard massive sandstones of a greenish (or rarely purplish) color and distinctly bedded, but with these, at two points, are beds in which the sand- stones, by the enclosure of limestone pebbles, become a coarse, gritty conglomei-ate. These rocks have also been referred to the Quebec group (Sillery) but they have at yet yielded no fossils, and further investigation of their re- lations is required. At the extreme northern end of the lake, the rocks are undoubtedly those of this latter group, and from near Sayabec Station on the Intercolonial Rail- way to St. Flavie, are exposed in a very remarkable and almost continuous section, showing repealed alternations of bright red, green, grey and black slates, with beds of massive grey or whitish sandstone. The former resemble the strata which at other points along the south shore of Acadian and St. Lawrence Watershed. 405 1* jr the St, Lawrence l»ave been described under the name of the Levis rocks, and the latter bear a simihir resemblance to the so-called Sillery, but it may well be doubted how for these and the numerous other subdivisions adopted by Richardson in his report on the geology of southeastei-n Quebec, arc capable of being sustained by actual facts. A new and good opportunity for the study of these rocks has recently been furnished by the line of the newly opened Temiscouata railway, and was availed of by the writer and Mr. W. Mclnnes during the past summer; but with the result of showing that along this line at least no good reasons exist for the adoption of such sub-divisions. It has been supposed by Eichardson that in addition to the several members of the Quebec group proper (Siller}', Lauzon and Levis) a portion of the sandstones found at St. Antolne and Frazerville (Riviere du Loup) are of Potsdam age, but it is impossible to .ue in what respects the rocks thus referred to differ either in character or relations, from those elsewhei-e refeiTod to the Sillery sandstone. The topography of the country undei-laid by these Quebec rocks is exceedingly broken and rugged, the repeated alternations of hard and soft strata, together with excessive folding, having been especially favorable to the formation of steep and bold ridges 80])arated by narrow and deep valleys. The massive sandstones, from their peculiar whiteness and absence of vegetation, are especially conspicuous, but are exceeded in elevation, as well as in the craggy character of the sceneiy which they determine, by the hard and glossy slates which at various points rise from beneath them. Near the axis of the divide the land is, as has been stated, somewhat flatter, but here large tracts are so thickly strewed with blocks of the dark grey Sillery sandstones that little else is visible. In all pai-ts, except where intervales occur, the soils are of the most meagre character, and the settlements, chiefly French, of the poorest description. The transition from the Quebec or Cambro-Silurian rocks to those of the Silurian system, is everywhere well marked, being seen alike in the chai-acter and attitude of the beds. r I 1 I * » 406 Canadian Record of Science. f I 1 I The contrast in the latter re8pect[i8 especially noticeable, for while the strata of the older series are everywhere highly inclined and sharply folded, those of the younger, along the lino of contact, are very generally nearly flat. While, too, the former are largely made up of slates, often brilliantly or variously colored, and without conspicuous fossils, the latter are usually grey or dai k grey in colour, consist largely of limestones, and abound in corals and other oi'ganic remains, often of large size. The contrast in many places has been made still more striking by the effects of erosion. Thus along a large part of its northern edge, the Silurian presents the appearance of a bold or even precipi- tous escarpment, separated only b}' a deep and narrow valley from the irregular and usually lower tract to the noi'th occupied by the inferior group. This feature is very strongly marked between the Grand Mdtis livci- and the Himouski, determining in part the eminence of Mount Commis and wholly that of the Bois Bruld, and though to the westward of the Eiraouski it becomes less evident, it re-appears with special prominence at TemiMouata Lake, here originating the remarkable eminence known as Mount Wissit'k, Mount Lennox or the Big Mountain. The order of succession and the equivalency of different members of the Silurian system in northern New Bruns- wick and adjacent portions of Quebec and Maine, have long been wrapped in much obscurity, the difficulty of their determination arising partly from the great sameness of the formation over large areas, the excessive folding and strong slaty cleavage by which it is generally characterized, and finally from the compaiative paucity of fossils. An examination however of the section afforded by LakeTemis- couata and its vicinity has recently done much to remove this obscurity and to afford a key whereby the geology of the districts named may be more satisfactorily correlated not only with each other, but with more distant parts of the continent. It will not be possible in this ])lace to dwell at length on the details of this section (which will he fully described in Acadian and St. Lawrence Water-shed. 407 ■t » a forthcoming report, by the writer and Mr. Wm. Mclnnes, to the Director of the Geological Survey), but the following brief summary embodying the more important results, will probably be of interest. The Htratf' in question naturally fall into three groups. Of these, the first are those which directly constitute the eminence of Mount Wiasick. At their base they exhibit a considerable thickness of a pure and nearly white highly vitreous sandstone, with thin beds of conglomerate, followed by a mass of shales partly grey and partly bright green and red, above which, forming the principal mass of the mountain, are thick beds of grey limestone, the whole having a thickness of about 600 — 1000 feet. Their dip is for the most part at a low angle and at the northern base of the mountain, where it rises precipitously from the lake, their unconformity to the Quebec group, consisting here of black and green slates which are highly disturbed and altered, may bo readily witnessed. In the shales and limestones the fossils are abundant and large collections recently made show that with the possible exception of the sandstones at the base, the sti-ata are newer than the Niagara foi-mation, the lowest fossiliferous shales being about the equivalent of the Guelph formation of Ontario, above the Wenlock, but below the Ludlow g oup of England, vvhile the higher range through this last named giou]) to and possibly through the Lower Helderbeig. A similar but less complete succession has been ob^^erved by the writer on the Ilimouski river, in Bois Brul^ Mountain at St. Blondine, in the valley of the Neigette, on Tachd Road at St. Gabriel, on the Grand Metis, and finally on Lake Metapedia, and from each of these, fossils of .similar character have been collected. On Lake Metapedia, the basal sand- stones were also found to be fossiliferous, including among other forms that of Pentamerus oblongus, a Murchisonia and Oriostoma. The second series of rocks shown in the Temiscouata section is separated from the last by an interval of about 800 yards without exposures, and differs greatly both in i 408 Canadian Record of Science. r V i character and attitude. The lowest beds are conglomerates of very coarse character, and attain a thicknesH of not less than 1000 feet, with a nearly uniform, south-easterly dip of 50^ The pebbles in the conglomerates include many of limestone, and have apparently been derived from the disintegration of the slates and limestones of the Quebec group, but are not at present known to contain any fossils. Above the conglomerates is a considerable breadth of slates, also usually inclined southwards at high angles and includ- ing some beds of limestone, above which we finally have a great body of sandstone rock, peculiar, in addition to its hard and massive character, in being often of greenish or purplish color, with veins and blotches of epidote and bands of purple jasper. These rooks which form upon the lake the promontory of Point aux Trembles, and thence extend up the Tuladi river to Squatook Peak, which is composed of them, have been in earlier publications sup- posed to bo younger than those of Mount Wissick and to be possibly Devonian. But collections of fossils recently made from both the slates and sandstones, and examined by Mr. Ami of the Geological Survey, would seem to show that they are really the older of the two, representing pro- bably the lower part of the Niagara formation, and per- haps the Medina or Clinton gioup. Fiom this it would also follow that we have here a great physical break in the Silurian system, its upper members being not only uncon- formable to the lower, but spreading beyond the limits of the latter, and thus made to rest directly upon the rocks ol the inferior Quebec group. The third and last group of rocks found at Temiscouata Lake consists of fine grained slates, with .some sandstones of grey and dark gj-ey colors, all of which are more or less calcareous, and are further noticeable for their lepeated and complicated corrugations and the general presence of a very strong slaty cleavage. The direct contact of the slates with the sandstones of Point aux Trembles has not been observed, but from their general position in relation to the latter and from such fossils as have elsewhere been Acadian and St. Laivrence Water-shed. 409 obtained in tliem, it Ih conjectui'ed that they are more recent than the latter. In this case they can not be far removed in age from the rocks of Mount Wissick, and are perhaps to be regarded as the equivalents of the latter, deposited under somewhat ditt'crent conditions. Applying now the key thus afforded, we find that the succession of rocks constituting the first of the above divisions, that of Mount Wissick, is but repeated, with eventually the same character and fossils, and with the same low dip .11 around the northern margin of the Silurian tract, from Rimouski to Lake Metapedia, and eastward into the interioi" of the Gasp^ peninsula. So, similarly, to the southward of these strata, we find the country drained by the Restigouche and its tributaries, the Quatawamkedge- wick, the Patapedia and the Metapedia, everywhere occu- pied by slates similar to those of the lower part BfLhko Temiscouata and the Madawaska. At no poiM^uS^ver, distant from the lake, has anything been o bs||vjM^K?r es- ponding to any portion of the intei-mediate division, which must accordingly either bo wholly ^v^||jal^l^^ or concealed fi'om view by the superposition of th^Tiigher and uncon- formable members of the system. In Ndw Brunswick the s'atos are also predominant, being the ])revailing rock through all the northern counties, though sometimes be- coming so calcareous as to constitute true limestones, but with these, at a few points, are also found beds which appear to represent the inferior group. Thus on the Siegas River, in Victoria county, whore the beds are nearly vertical, the slates are accompanied, first, by a coarse and very peculiar conglomerate (holding elongated, curved and dis- rupted pebbles of limest ne, mingled with others of serpen- tine), and, secondly, b^'^ beds of sandstone not unlike those of Point aux Trembles, and carrying fossils indicative of a similar horizon. Again, on the Beccaguimec River in Carleton county, on the extreme southern edge of the Silurian tract, the succession of beds bears much resem- blance to that observed near its northern edge, and again holds similar organic remains, while, finally, it is possible «r 410 Canadian Record of Science. 4 that still another such area exlHts near the mouth of the Shiktohawk. In the State of Maine, the three groups of strata described are still more clearly represented, for while there, as in the provitice, the slates are the most commonly occurring rocks, comprising all the country drained by the uj)per St. John, as well as large areas about Presquilo and Houlton, we have, in the Fish River Lakes, and again at Ashland, beds of liraest(mo, abounding in fossils which are nearly parallel with those of Mount Wissick, while finally, in the valley of the Aroostook and covering large aieas, are conglomerates and sandstones, which are the evident continuation of those of the Siegas River, presenting precisely similar characters and associations, and carrying the same fossils. In northern Maine, howevei-, there are with those undoubted Silurian strata, great masses of volcanic rock, felsites, quartz-porphyries and amygdaloids, as well- as fine silicious slates and purple micaceous and gneist^ic sandstones, the relations of which are not yet fully known. Beds of Devonian (Oriskany) ago also occur, as they do both in iNew Brunswick and in the Gaspd peninsula, but are much less widely distributed than has been previously supposed. Finally, the slates are at a few points unconformably covered by bright rod sandstones and con- glomerates similar to those of the Tobique valley in New Brunswick, and the Bonaventure district of Quebec, which are referable to the Lower Carboniferous formation. Thus the succession of events indicated by the rocks in the early history of the region under discussion would appear to be as follows. The great period of upheaval, mountain-making and metamorphism which brought Archaean time to a close, having served to determine and to some extent to limit the groat St. Lawrence or Acadian basin, by lifting above the sea the ridges which still border it, — the Laurentides north of the St. Lawrence valley, ridges of similar rock along the New England coast, some of our own southern hills and similarly some of those of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Newfoundland — we find in the Cambrian and Cambro-Silurian periods which succeed, »r Acadian and SL Lawrence Water-shed. 411 m VI < * m