Hog Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Sea incurs/on in to 
     
     wood/and. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Black Banks' 
     
     at Cascumpec. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Bedeque Bay. 
     
    
   
   
    
     West of 
     
     Fifteen Point. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Cedar. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Egmont Ba y. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Crapaud. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Submerged 
     
     forests. 
     
    
   
   
    
     excellent; still. at a short distance from the shore, the surface is covered by a dense 
     
     wilderness. [p. 11] 
     
    
   
   
    
     The sandhills extend from Hog Island to Indian Island, and thence to Holland Harbour, 
     
     or Cascumpec, the whole distance being upwards of twenty miles. Between this 
     
     barrier of sand and the main shore, there is a beautiful lagoon, averaging a quarter of 
     
     a mile wide, and with sufficient water to allow boats and canoes to pass. A few 
     
     families are settled on the side of the lagoon, but the surface of the country generally, 
     
     is an unbroken wilderness. At one situation the hardwood forest is seen standing 
     
     upon the very margin of the salt water. The sea has flowed in among the beech, 
     
     birches and maples, by which they have been killed, and large pieces of drifted wood 
     
     were observed among the decaying groves of the upland. A similar fact was 
     
     observed at Panmure Island. [pp. 1142] 
     
    
   
   
    
     One of the most remarkable circumstances in regard to the geology of the Island, was 
     
     observed at Cascumpec harbour. On the south side of the Bay there is a peat bog 
     
     called the ”black bank", reaching three miles along the shore, and containing nearly 
     
     2000 square acres. It reposes directly upon the red sandstone and marly clay, and 
     
     is from ten to twenty feet in thickness. This bog, with all its decayed spagneous 
     
     plants, is of fresh water origin. Two groves of spruce and fir were observed to be 
     
     buried in it at different levels, and their trunks and roots may be seen projecting from 
     
     the bank. The peat is of excellent quality, and will, in the course of time, be valuable. 
     
    
   
   
    
     lp. 12] 
     
    
   
   
    
     Halifax, or Bedeque Bay... is separated from Richmond Bay by a narrow peninsula 
     
     from which the fine forests of hardwood have been chiefly cleared, and where the 
     
     land is not cultivated the birch and maple have been succeeded by groves of spruce 
     
     and fir. The whole district is well populated, and many of the farms are in a high state 
     
     of cultivation. [pp. 12-13l 
     
    
   
   
    
     There are only a few families residing on the shore westward of Fifteen Point. The 
     
     low tracts and swamps are covered by spruce, fir, and cedar; yet, wherever the land 
     
     is dry. there are fine groves of hardwood. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The main road passes through the Miscouche Settlement, A similar tract of country 
     
     extends to Egmont Bay and West Cape. The quantity of cedar increases towards the 
     
     north, and a good supply of that valuable timber may be collected for exportation. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Egmont Bay is a shallow indentation that affords no safe harbour for large vessels. 
     
     The shores and all the adjacent lands are elevated only a few feet above the sea, 
     
     and, from being imperfectly drained, the surface abounds in swamps of ash and 
     
     cedar—the soil, in general, is light and sandy. the whole interior of this part of the 
     
     Island is in a wilderness state. lp. 13l 
     
    
   
   
    
     At Westmoreland, or Crapaud there is a very pretty bay and river: A ridge of high 
     
     ground extends from this part of the shore across the country to New London. It 
     
     bears thick forests of hardwood, and the soil is remarkably fertile. [p. 14] 
     
    
   
   
    
     SUBMARINE FORESTS. 
     
    

    
     The remains of ancient forest, now submerged beneath the sea, are not uncommon 
     
     on the coasts of North America. At different localities in Nova Scotia there appears 
     
     to have been a subsidence of the land. At Prince Edward Island this remarkable fact 
     
     may be seen at Gallow's Point. but more especially at Cascumpec, where, with a 
     
     forest, a large peat bog is now beneath the level of the sea. (p. 14] 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     149