The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-12-21

IL u all very We'll Tor MIR. WaterhouSe
Hawkins to reconstruct" q pre-adamite
monster from one solitary jawbone or frag-
mental vertebrm, and to tell Us with the cool
assurance Of an eyewitness how the ichthyo-
saur n the deinosaur, the pleiosaur and the
enaliosaur swan and fished and fought and
died, and were succeeded by the oreodon and
tho %glyptodon, the mylodon, the %iguanodon
and all the rest Of the dona. But il we must
believe such Reconstruction" possible, we
want at least to be dead sure of the rib or the
jawbone or the fossil footprint, whichever it
Is. No manufactured fossils, If you please.
II we are to re-translate Moses on the testi-
mony Of the rocks, let US not have the track
Of an Alabama niger showed on us as the
trail Of a NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. or the petri-
fed ear of a Chicago detective exposed as the
gill Zap Of An Elasmosaurian. Such, I am
sure, though imperfectly expressed. Is the
feeling Of the average man; SO let us give
Nova Scotia fossils the 60 by and deal with
her rocks and minerals.
The tourist with only an elementary knowl-
edge Of geology is at first confused in Nova
Scotia The whole rock system appears to
be without plan or order. At Halifax, let
US say, he finds himself on a ridge Of bowl.
ders resting on the hard old archsean; a few
miles north he finds a sudden and surprising
change; schistose rocks appear; there are in
dications Of gold. and from there to the
northwestern shore oil is apparent confusion.
There are forests in which heavy powders
stand among the trees, from the size Of the
ordinary ''niggerhead" to that OF a country
church, and valleys where the rich black
earth conceals all signs Of rock. One side Of
such a valley il crystalline limestone or slate,
and on tue other q softer rock; here and
there reefs Of splitting rock" come In, and
the observer IL assured that this Is a rich
mineral region-it only lacks development"
And as a matter of statistical fact Nova SEQ
tia did last year produce $4,000 In gold. the
average being 81. 70 for each days work. OF
course, ali those locally interested insist that
thisi is only a proof Of what can be and ought
to be done: 1.-The mines would yield splendid
returns to capital il they were worked to-
gether and systematically"
When, however, the observer has crossed
tho peninsula at two or three points he finds
that under the apparent disorder there Is q
charming order; It may bestbe expressed in
tho popular local phrase: THE strata are set
on edge" In crossing tho province from
southeast to northwest one travels over the
outcrop Of all the formations from archnan
granite and fire distilled flint to the latest
drift TO map this out let the reader take Q
jelly cake Of many layers as a representative
Of the strata in their original order; then
oend it till it breaks along the center, throw
away the n half and let the other half
NEARLY perpendicular represent the strata
Of tho province. And II it were not 20
there would be no Nova Scotia; for II the
strata had remained nearly horizontal the
top would have gone long ago and the ocean
would have rolled hundreds Of feet above
what Is now the very crest Of the peninsula.
A it is, the unyielding archaan OF the south
west coast stands out against the Atlantic at
q slopes Of perhaps ten or twenty degrees from
the perpendicular-just the slops for most
effective resistance. On this the waves have
hammered and gnawed for uncounted mil
hnniums till all the soft parts are eaten away;
and all that shore consists Of bold, rocky
headlands and capacious harbors with narrow
inlets. And some local savants maintain
that the ocean but lately flowed through
some passages across the peninsula which are
now fertile valleya
Going across tho peninsula, northwest, one
crosses rapidly all the geologic ages, and the
northwest shore has a comparatively moder.
ate slope. There the rich pastures incline
gently to the very edge Of the bay; at high
tide the green sward actually seems to hang
over into the salt water, and from the deck
of a vessel the view Il indeed enchanting.
Where the hills recede and inclose q low
tract, which high tide would submerge, are
the noted dyke landA The low embankments
shut out the sea, but at stated times the
foodgates are opened. tho salt water spreads
over the land, carrying fertility, - u 20
charmingly described in "Evangelins," and
the soil Il renewed But II one would rec the
section Of Nova Scotia whsrs nature has
done her perfect work hs must 60 to Cape
Breton Island. There all possible elements
Of interest are combined. The sea has torn
away all tho yielding rocks and left a coast
of bold sublimity. Only the best protected
coal seams remain, and they are scientifically
perfect. The shore is all deep harbor and
bold headland. The topography Is a~lternater
ly rugged and picturesque, while the people
are quite a. primitive 40 the land and lar
more Interesting.
New York. J. H.~BEAp1R