The Osceola times., 1884-12-20
MyA sC0TIA'S SEA.
About ~. Great Waves of the Bay OF
Fundy.

Ab,ut III Great Waves of the Bay Of
Fundy.
The tides of Fundy are, perhaps, fam
liar to almost everyone, and, though
they are remarkable, like the maelstrom
and other marvels. they are greatly ex-
aggerated. writes a correspondent from
Falmouth, n. S. To thoroughly under
stand the phenomenon the shape OF
Fundy bay must be considered, and it
will be seen that the great daily tida
waves that sweep over the Atlantic, caus-
ed by the attraction of the sun and
moon, strike the New England coast and
tend ncrthward until the great body of
water is squeezed into the narrow limits
of the Bay of Fundy, Just as we see a
great wave from a steamer entering a
brook from lake. The effect is to i'm
mediately raise the water level, and so
in Fundy the tidal wave rushes in and
suddenly compressed with the narrow
bounds Immediately rises, and the wat
er forms a wave and rushes rapidly on
ward, filling up rivers and bays along its
passage.
A famous place to observe the phe
nomenon is in what is called the Minas
basin, branch of the bay of Fundy,
that extends into the country of Evange-
line and cuts it up in curious manner.
Especially at the smaller towns along
the Avon river is the sight to be seen
that has been wondered at by so many.
Windsor is little town of about 5000
inhabitants, on the ele walton at the in
tersection of the Avon and St. Croix riv-
ers, and is very lively place for so small
one. Here the Avon rlver is about a
mile in width, and if you happened to
stlike the river from the interior you
would wonder what the inhabitants and
farmers lived upon the borders of such
gulch for. You stand upon the edge
of an enormous mud crevasse half a mile
wide and extended as far as the eye can
reach, and as some one refers to the riv.
er you put on your glasses and discover
in the centre of this slough Of despond a
narrow, trickling stream, about two feet
wide.
Can this be the river, you ask? 1t
must be, as here are bridges, two ofthem
but so wofully long and shaky on Their
pins and high above the stream that
they appear like the very ghosts of
bridges on stills. From above, the
chasm appears shelved and cavernous in
its aspect. The sides seem to grade of
into terraces of red and grey mud, un.
til finally the pan of bottom rock is
reached along which the pseudo-rivel
flows. Something is expected, as here
are expensive dikes that are reared tC
keep the water from the farms in the
| back country then again vessels lie al
| the docks of this inland town, high and
dry, miles and miles from water deer
enough to float them. Do we wait an
hour or so, and all this will be changed
We first notice the silvery thread Of
water stop in its course then the water
is seen to flow up stream, and if you
turn your head for a few minutes, you
| find upon again looking that the silvery
| thread has grown to a stream fifty feet
wide Twenty minutes later it is rag
ing flood, as wide as the Schuylkill
foaming. rushing, and boiling, rising in
waves and breaking against each other
ever pushing on, as if propelled by some
mysterious force.
In this sudden rush of the waters ami
mails are often caught pigs that have
wandered out into the mud are overcome
by the onward rollers, and fowl have
been seen surrounded and fioated away
on the waves, to be rescued, perhaps, fal
uptne stream; thirty feet higher than the
spot where they were taken up. Flocks
of birds freque ltly follow the tidal wave
or bore, as It is called, feeding on the fish
that are east ashore, and catching them
as the tide goes out.
Why the wave should be so high In
coming in is explained in different ways
One theory is that it is formed by the
tidal current rushing against the current
of the river and passing over Ohstruct.
ions of more than ordinary height that
tend to push the water up. In the
Hoogry river the wave rises to heigh,
of twenty feet; in the Amazon thirty
and in the Tsentage, China, about the
same. The wave in Fundy, however, is
not to be compared to these in any re.
spect. As to rapidity, the tide comes in
about as fast as an ordinary horse can
trot, and man would have to exert all
his speed to escape.
The height to which the water actual.
" rises differs in different places, and
depends upon circumstances. Thus, il
the sun and moon could pull together
so to speak, and a strong wind set IN al
the same time, an exceedingly high tide
would he the result. 1t is claimed that
it has risen 60 feet at Moncton; at Sack
vile a 50-foot falls and rise is common
at Quaco, "a feet, and at Parrisboro, op.
poslte Cape Blomidon, about As feet
These are remarkable figures, and the
sight of vessels that, say in the morning
have b en- along side the dock. now 40
feet below and no water in sight, is still
more remarkable. Toronto Mail.