The native American., 1840-09-26

cuous mountain range south OF the upper
waters OF the st. John. And can readily
conceive that an Englishman who thinks
nothing is wanting but highlands, and who
looks not beyond this Map, should consider
the case very clear one in favor Of Great
Britain.
When myself came to examine this map,
the thing which struck me as being most pc
culiar, was to see the river Roostuc and the
river Tobique, branches of the st. John,
which enter the main stream nearly opposite
| to one another, and which run, in opposite
directions, but in the same general line, one
southwest and the other northeast, both to-
gether, over space Of one hundred and fif-
/ ty mIles,-to see these rivers running right
along the back line of this nev range Of
mountains.-The boundary ''highlands" oc-
cupying the very bed of the Roostuc. the
St. John, and Tobique! This seemed to
be strange freak Of nature. Stranger than
the notion Of the King Of the Netherlands,
who, though he placed the boundary line in
the hal,0eg or bed Of the St. John, did not
pretend that the very highlands themselves
were there, along the line of the river bottom
This mighty natural aqueduct, OF some
hundred or two miles in length, with the
Roostuc and the Tobique flowing along its
summit, is few degrees grander than even
the grand Victor embankment Of the Erie
Canal. But how is this aqueduct carried a.
Cross the St. John And how do the Roos-
tue and the Tobque get down from their Pc
rlous elevation, to join the main stream of
the St. John!
| Solicitors to obtain some clue to the appa-
rent mysteries on the face Of this Map, re-
CURED to that part Of the Report entitled
Physical Geography Of the country" AS
| read along, came to this sentence "The
investigations Of individuals who have travell-
cd extensively in NorthAmerica, confirm what
is obvious, that at some remote period, the wa
tiers have every where retired from higher le-
vels." Here is previous scrape Of e'geolo-
gy." felt half disposed to stop at this mo-
ment, and enquire whether this observation was
universally true; whether, ifin some cases the
water had retired from the highlands, yet in
some instances these'' higher levels" on the
Continent Of North America might not, by
volcanic or other submarine action, have
been raised above the water. But | reflect
ed, this Northeastern Boundary is question
Of geography not Of geology. What mat
tiers it how the mountains were in the mio-
Gene or pleiocene age, with its icthysaurian
and pleoosaurian monsters sporting in the
vide waste of waters? We want to know
how they stood in the year 1888, and how
they stand in this our present year 1910.
And so proceeded to read. But presently
| reached paragraph beginning. TO the
geological eye,' &c. What?-said I:"Ecce
iteram C,aspinus ?" The United States
Geologist," again? And reading along a
few sentences further, fell on the secret of
the whole mystery of the new mountain
ridge Of the Map, in the following paragraphs
Of the Report:
'On advancing in a northwesterly direc-
ton into the interior, from the month Of the
Bay of Fundy, we find strong correspon-
dence with the physical geography Of the
more southern portion of the American Con-
tinent; here also the country rises in eleva-
ton, the strata follow the northeasterly and
southwesterly directions, the ridges hold the
same course, and usually parallel to each
other, but very much broken down and Sc
parated into detached parts by the action Of
powerful currents, which seem to have pass
ed across this part of the Continent, contem-
porancously with the formation Of the val
ley Of St. Lawrence,
"The remains of these abraded ridges are
found strewed and deposited in every part Of
the country, and the banks Of the river st.
John, and those Of its tributary, the Roostuc,
often consists of depth Of from twenty to
thirty feet of the comminued ruins Of the
olden rocks"
And again:
"There are various lines Of what haze
once been continuous ridges, traversing in a
northeasterly direction the disputed territory,
some Of which have been so BRAIDED anil
broken dorm that they are nearly obhtera-
ted, leaving only peaks at great distances
from each other, but in the same magnetic
direction"
The Report then proceeds to describe par
ticularly one Of these "abraded ridges" one
Of these 'once BEEN ridges, one Of these
ridges $50 abraded and broken down that
they are nearly obliterated," which it claims
as ''the true highlands" ofthe treaty Of Paris,
and which is the very range Of mountains so
conspicuously depicted on the Map accom-
panying the Report.
That is to say, this profound and learned
"geologist' has discovered, or imagines that
he has discovered, in the line of the Roostuc
and the Tobique, traces Of range Of noun
tains which existed there in the gear Of The
worM number one, Tor perhaps few years
before then, for | have not the same exact
personal recollection of the chronology oil
those early times as Mr. FeatherstonhauglI
may have,) but which are now "abraded,"
"broken down" and 'sobliterated y and this
supposed antediluvan range of mountains is
projected on the map just as If they noao
eaisfea and is presented to US as 'lhe true
highlands" Of the Treaty Of Paris He would