George Warburton - The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1

The Valley of the St. Lawrence, lying between these two ranges of heights, is marked by great diversities of hill, plain, and valley. Both from the north and south numerous rivers pour their tributary flood into the great waters of Canada; of those eastward of the Saguenay little is known beyond their entrance; they flow through cliffs of light-colored sand, rocky, wooded knolls, or, in some places, deep, swampy moss-beds nearly three feet in depth. From the Saguenay to Quebec the mountain ridge along the shore of the St. Lawrence is unbroken, save where streams find their way to the Great River, but beyond this coast-border the country is in some places level, in others undulating, with hills of moderate height, and well-watered valleys. From Quebec westward to the St. Maurice, which joins the St. Lawrence at Three Rivers, the land rises in a gentle ascent from the banks of the Great River, and presents a rich tract of fertile plains and slopes: in the distance, a lofty chain of mountains protects this favored district from the bitter northern blast. Along the north bank of the St. Lawrence, from the St. Maurice, the country toward the Ottawa is slightly elevated into table ridges, with occasional abrupt declivities and some extensive plains. In this portion of Canada are included the islands of Montreal, Jesus, and Perrot, formed by the various branches of the Great River and the Ottawa, where their waters unite. Montreal is the largest and most fertile of these islands; its length is thirty-two miles and breadth ten; the general shape is triangular. Isle Jesus is twenty-one miles by six in extent, and also very rich; there are, besides, several other smaller islands of considerable fertility. Isle Perrot is poor and sandy. The remote country to the north of the Ottawa is but little known.

On the south shore of the St. Lawrence, the peninsula of Gaspé is the most eastern district; this large tract of country has been very little explored: so far as it has been examined, it is uneven, mountainous, and intersected with deep ravines; but the forests, rivers, and lakes are very fine, and the valleys fertile. The sea-beach is low and hard, 141answering the purposes of a road; at the Cape of Gaspé, however, there are some bold and lofty cliffs. Behind the beach the land rises into high, round hills, well wooded; sheltered from the Gaspé district to the Chaudière River, the country is not so stern as on the northern side of the St. Lawrence; though somewhat hilly, it abounds in large and fertile valleys. The immediate shores of the river are flat; thence irregular ridges arise, till they reach an elevated table-land fifteen or twenty miles from the beach. From the Chaudière River westward extends that rich and valuable country now known by the name of the Eastern Townships. At the mouth of the Chaudière the banks of the St. Lawrence are bold and lofty, but they gradually lower to the westward till they sink into the flats of Baye du Febre, and form the marshy shores of Lake St. Peter, whence a rich plain extends to a great distance. This district contains several high, isolated mountains, and is abundantly watered by lakes and rivers. To the south lies the territory of the United States.

Upon the surface of Canada are found manifest indications of that tremendous deluge, the effects of which are so plainly visible in the Old World. Huge bowlder stones 142abound in almost every part of the province; sometimes they are seen rounded, piled in high heaps on extensive horizontal beds of limestone, swept together by the force of some vast flood. Masses of various kinds of shells lie in great quantities in hollows and valleys, some of them hundreds of feet above the level of Lake Ontario. Near to great rivers, and often where now no waters are at hand, undulations of rocks are seen like those found in the beds of rapids where the channels are waved. These have evidently, at some remote period, been the courses of floods now no longer existing. On the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence detached bowlder stones appear, some of enormous size, many tons in weight; they must have come from a great distance, for nowhere in that region is there any rock of similar material. In the upper strata of the country are abundant fossil remains of distinct animal existences now unknown; they are blended with the limestone in which they lie.

It seems certain that the whole of Canada has been violently convulsed by some effort of nature since the floods of the deluge passed away; the mountains are abrupt and irregular in outline, and in some places cleft with immense chasms; the rivers also show singular contortions. North of Quebec and in St. Paul's Bay are many traces of volcanic eruptions, and vast masses of alluvial rocks, bearing marks of vitrification, frequently appear on the surface of the earth. There is, besides, strong evidence that the American Continent has lain for unknown ages beneath the great deep, or that it is of later formation than Europe or Asia.

As far as it has been explored, the general geological structure of Canada exhibits a granite country, with some calcareous rocks of a soft texture in horizontal strata. The lower islands in the St. Lawrence are merely inequalities of the vast granite strata which occasionally stand above the level of the waters; the whole neighboring country appears as if the Great River had at one time covered it. The banks of the St. Lawrence are in many places formed of a schistus substance in a decaying state, but still granite is every where found in strata, inclined, but never parallel to the horizon. In the Gaspé District, many beautiful quartz, and a great variety of cornelians, agates, copals, and jaspers have been found, and traces of coal have also been observed. 143

The north shore of the St. Lawrence, from thirty miles below Quebec eastward, and along the coast of Labrador, is generally of the primitive formations. Except in the marshes and swamps, rocks obtrude upon the surface in all quarters; in many places, deep fissures of from six inches to two feet wide are seen bearing witness to volcanic violence; the Indians describe some of these rents as several miles long, and forty or fifty deep; when covered with the thick underwood, they are, at times, very dangerous to the traveler. These chasms are probably owing to some great subterranean action; there is a manuscript in the Jesuits' College at Quebec which records the occurrence of an earthquake on the 5th of February, 1663, at about half past 5 P.M., felt through the whole extent of Canada: trees in the forests were torn up and dashed against each other with inconceivable violence; mountains were raised from their foundations and thrown into valleys, leaving awful chasms behind; from the openings issued dense clouds of smoke, dust, and sand; many rivers disappeared, others were diverted from their course, and the great St. Lawrence became suddenly white as far down as the mouth of the Saguenay. The first shock lasted for more than half an hour, but the greatest violence was only for fifteen minutes. At Tadoussac, a shower of volcanic ashes descended upon the rivers, agitating the waters like a tempest. This tremendous earthquake extended simultaneously over 180,000 square miles of country, and lasted for nearly six months almost without intermission. 144

In the neighborhood of Quebec, a dark clay slate generally appears, and forms the bed of the St. Lawrence as far as Lake Ontario, and even at Niagara; bowlders and other large masses of rock, however, of various kinds, occur in detached portions at many different places. The great elevated ridge of broken country running toward the Ottawa River, at the distance of from fifty to one hundred miles from the north shore of Lake Ontario, and the course of the St. Lawrence, is rich in silver, lead, copper, and iron. On the north shore of the Saguenay, the rugged mountains abound in iron to such an extent as to influence the mariner's compass. The iron mines of St. Maurice 145have been long known, and found abundantly productive of an admirable metal, inferior to none in the world; it is remarkably pliant and malleable, and little subject to oxydation. In 1667, Colbert sent M. de la Potardière, an experienced mineralogist, to examine these mines; he reported the iron very abundant, and of excellent quality, but it was not till 1737 that the forges were established by the French: they failed to pay the expenses of the speculation; the superintendent and fourteen clerks, however, gained fortunes by the losses of their employers.