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exception. The base of Prince Edward Island, which, is sandstone, appears to extend under the bed of Northumberland Strait, into the northern part of Nova Scotia, and into the eastern division of New Brunswick, until it is lost in its line of contact with the granite base of the Alleghanies, about the river Nipisighit.

" On some of the bogs, or swamps, of this island, there is scarcely any thing but shrubs and moss grow- ing; these are rather dry, and resemble the turf bogs in Ireland. Others again are wet, spongy, and deep, producing dwarf species of alder, long grass, and a variety of shrubs. Cattle are frequently, in the spring of the year, lost in these swamps. Such por- tions of these lands as have been drained, form ex- cellent meadows.

There are other tracts called barrens, some of which, in a natural state, produce nothing but dry moss, or a few shrubs. The soil of these spots is a light brown, or whitish sand. Some of the lands formerly covered with pine forests, now incline to this character. Both swamps and barrens, however, bear but a small proportion to the whole surface of the island; and as they all may, with judicious Ina- nagement, be improved advantageously, it cannot be said that there is an acre of the whole incapable of cultivation. The marshes, which are overflowed by the tide, rear a strong nutritious grass, and, when dyked, yield heavy crops of wheat or hay.

Large tracts of the original pine forests have been

destroyed by fires, which have raged over the island at