صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

is an abrupt termination of a branch of the Green Mountains, and divides the waters of Lake Champlain from the sources of the rivers St. Francis and Yamaska. The mountain to which Montreal owes its name, the rocks of which appear to be principally of the trap family, accompanied by limestone, is another exception. Whenever rapids occur, we find the elevation of the country increasing, and limestone generally accompanying the prevailing rocks. The step of country formed by the calcareous ridge, which commences at Queenston Height, and which rests on a bluish clay slate, is elevated about 350 feet above the shores of Lake Ontario; and the upper country, the base of which is limestone, is generally level, until we approach the high lands between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. This calcareous region abounds in organic remains, some of which, particularly the serpents in nests, are very rare and beautiful*; and

* Various names applied to local appearances or peculiarities are current in the common parlance of the Americans, and introduced, sometimes, without explanation, into books; for instance: Vaults, which are deep glens or valleys in the forests. Carraboo Plains are lands formerly laid waste by fire, or that from some natural cause produce little wood. They are also called barrens; and are frequented by the Moose and Carraboo.

Cedar Swamps are deep mossy bogs, soft and spongy below, with a coating sufficiently firm to uphold small cedar or fir trees, or shrubs. Such lands are difficult, almost incapable, of culture.

Buffalo or Deer Licks are marshes on low level grounds, over which salt springs flow, and to which buffalo and deer resort, to lick the salt that adheres to shrubs or small trees.

Prairies are lands on which, from being overflowed during spring and fall, the growth of trees is prevented.

Intervales, or Bottoms, are alluvial lands, along the rivers or lakes.

in many places petrified horns and bones of wild animals, shells, trees, &c. have been frequently dug up. The limestone rocks of the Manitoulin Islands, in Lake Huron, contain similar organic remains to those that occur abundantly in the limestone rocks which prevail as the base of the island of Anticosti. Along the north coasts of Lake Huron and Lake Superior granite predominates. Some distance back from the lakes and rivers, steps, or ramps, which are abrupt elevations, occur. They seem to have formed, at some period, the banks or beaches along which the waters flowed. Behind the first of these steps table land generally extends for some distance, or until a second step and flat land occur, sometimes followed by a third and fourth ramp. These appear at Malbay, Lake St. Peter, Lake Huron, and at many other places. Indications of volcanic eruptions appear at St. Paul's Bay, and on the mountains north of Quebec. The great earthquake of 1663 is said to have overturned a chain of freestone mountains 300 miles long, north of the St. Lawrence, and levelled them with the plains. We cannot, however, consider the

Mammoth Caves are Dens in which skeletons of the mammoth have been found.

Rattlesnake Dens are caverns, in the basins of the Ohio and Mississippi, in which myriads of living rattlesnakes are said to abound, tangled among each other. Of this circumstance I know nothing, but the common report; although I have heard the backwoodsmen swear that it is true.

Blazes are marks on the sides of trees, by chipping a small slice off with an axe, and continued in a line through a forest, for the guidance of travellers where there are no roads.

Sugarie is a plot of forest lands in which maple trees abound, and where sugar is made from the sap.

authority we find in the journals of the Jesuits as sufficient to establish this circumstance, when the configuration of the adjoining country has not apparently been disturbed.

Canada is considered rich in minerals. Iron of the best quality has been found in great abundance; silver has been picked up in small quantities; lead, tin, and copper have been discovered in several places. Coal has not yet been discovered. We are, however, still ignorant of the mineral riches, and even of the geology, of these regions. The researches of the Montreal Natural History Society lead us to expect important discoveries. The following extract enumerates most of the minerals that have been discovered: :- "The mineralogy of the Canadas has hitherto been almost altogether neglected; but the imperfect researches which have been made prove it to be rich in the scarcer kinds of minerals, and not deficient in those applicable to economical purposes. Petalite, one of the rarest substances in the world, and remarkable for containing the newly discovered fourth alkali, lithia, was sent from York, in Upper Canada, in 1820, by Dr. Lyon, surgeon to the forces. Beryl is found at Lake of the Woods; Labrador felspar (Lake Huron); axinite (Hawkesbury Ottawa, the only place in North America); aventurine (Lake Huron); amethyst (Lakes Superior and Huron); apatite, a phosphate of lime (Fort Wellington), may be added among others; Aragonite (Laclina); strontian, in magnificent forms, (Erie, Ontario, &c.); schorl (St. Lawrence); and manganese, garnet (River Moira, Ontario, &c.); carnelian, agate, zeolite, prehnite, barytes, and fluor spar (Lake Superior); brown and green coccolite

(Montreal and Hall Ottawa); olivine, augite (Montreal); staurotide (Rainy Lake); and the very rare anthophyllite (Fort Wellington). Marbles and serpentine are quite common. Plumbago, ores of antimony, lead, iron, and copper, are frequently met with. The northern and western shores of Lake Ontario abound in salt springs, some of which (Stony Creek and St. Catherine's) are very productive, even with the employment of small capital. The north shore of Lake Erie exhibits immense beds of gypsum, which are quarried for the purpose of agriculture."

The region between Lakes Michigan and Superior and the Rocky Mountains is generally flat; and in this territory are situated the largest savannahs in the world. The lands separating the rivers which fall into the lakes of Canada, and those of the Mississippi and Missouri, are generally low, and sufficiently overflowed in spring to allow a communication with canoes.

The Rocky Mountains are vast chains, extending north and south from Mexico to the arctic regions, and dividing the waters that fall into the Atlantic rivers from those of the Pacific. These mountains are from 9000 to 11,000 feet high; and, where crossed between the latitudes of 44° and 48° N., covered for from forty to sixty miles over with eternal snow. They may be considered a continuation of the Andes.

The western regions are but imperfectly explored. It would appear, from the outlines of some of the old French maps, that the remote parts of Canada were better known before the conquest of Quebec than since that period. Scientific men were employed to explore Canada by the French authorities; but their journals and maps were removed from the colony, and lodged in the "Bureau de la Marine" at Paris.

The forests and wild animals of Canada I have already described in a former book.*

The temperature of the climate of Canada is much colder at Quebec, and along the River St. Lawrence to the eastward, than at Montreal or Upper Canada. The duration of winter is frequently two months longer. Severe frosts commence in November, and ice seldom disappears until the last week of April. In summer the heat is as intensely oppressive as in the southern States; but when the wind shifts to the north, the temperature, particularly below Quebec, changes sometimes from 120° Fahr. to 60° or under. The average summer heat in the shade is about 82°; it is sometimes 120°. Snow falls in great quantities at one time, but long periods of clear frosty weather intervene between snow storms. In 1790, mercury froze at Quebec. It is often 60° Fahr. below the freezing point; 20° is about the average. Some years ago, an officer of the royal artillery tried several experiments at Quebec with bomb-shells, in order to ascertain the expansion and consequent power of freezing water. The shells were nearly filled with water, and an iron plug was driven into the fuse hole by a sledge-hammer; the temperature was 51° Fahr. below the freezing point. When the water froze, the plug was forced out with great velocity and a loud report. When a plug was used

* Vol. I. Book II.

« السابقةمتابعة »