80 PAST AND PRESENT OF

Some of these dykes have been cut through to make roads to the shore, within them being found the charred remains of wood. A number of theories have been advanced as to their origin, all of which present diffi— culties. One is that the Indians, in early days, built these to enable them’to get within shooting distance of the black duck and ' other water-fowl, which resorted to the shallow creeks for feeding purposes. But why the aborigines would raise these along the low-lying lands, instead of on the banks, is unexplained. These people are not con- sidered oVerfond of working, therefore, why should they tire themselves piling up clay to form the dykes, when the bushes along the banks, even down to the water’s edge would afford sufficient shelter? Then again, some have surmised that the early Acadians built them, possibly with the same end in view as is attributed to the Mic-macs, as a hiding place from the vigilant eye of the water-fowl. Others say that it was to save the low-lying grounds from being overflowed during high tides, that they might cut the abundant grass that grew there. Again some claim that natural causes account for these dykes. They argue that during the winter, when the ice thickens, as the tide rises the cracks between that frozen to the shore and the center body of ice invariably open owing to the rise, the water between freezes and thus there is continually during the winter a small amount of solid water inserted between, then as the tide falls, the great Weight of the center ice presses the shore ice outward and thus a ridge gradually rises. But this pushing away of the shore ice will only take place where there is none or only slight resistance behind. Where there are banks the resist- ance of these will prevent this natural action, and possibly as the dykes would rise in height, their own resistance to the influence

of the tide and ice would increase until the heaping up of these ridges would cease.

Another feature of Prince county is its peat bogs, so called, for they are not similar to the peat bogs of Ireland, for instance. They are found, one in the northern portion of townShip II at the Black Bank, and another in Lot 10 in the vicinity of the lake. These bogs consist of a kind of mossy vege- tation, but, unlike ordinary moss, growing in very wet places. No one has ever at- tempted to make fuel of it——-indeed it is not at all adapted for that use—but attempts in a commercial way have been made to dry it by great pressure and so use it for the bed- ding of domestic animals, its chief use in this regard being, besides keeping the ani- mals clean, that the liquid manure may be saved as it is absorbed by this spongelike material.

“The Lake” which the western road just skirts as it traverses Lot 10 between Portage and West Devon, is a local natural curiosity, as it is the only body of inland water in the county. In extent it covers between four and five acres, although the older people say in early times it was much larger. It lies among the bog land thereabouts. The nat— ural tendency of the common people towards mystery, in the early days of all countries, led those of the western half of Prince county to look upon this water with, at times, a slight degree of awe, one of the beliefs being that “the lake” is bottomless. But that is untrue. It has been Sounded during the winter time when the surface is frozen, and the depth found to be 12 or 13 feet; but the mud at the botton is so im- palpable and light that it is difficult to tell just when the water ends and the mud be- gins. Another 12 feet, however, reaches solid ground. This water is surrounded by a bushy and mossy vegetation, its natural