supplies of the Dominion, supplies which with a little husbanding on the part of the government could be made to afford a bountiful supply of timber for all future generations. The country also contains valuable mineral deposits, and is the great home of the fur-bearing animals of the Dominion. While, however, along the southern border it supports a considerable agricultural population, the Laurentian country cannot be considered as one which in respect to its agricultural capabilities can ever take rank with the southern portions of eastern Canada or with the great plains and British Columbia which lie to the west.
(2) That portion of the lowlands of the St Lawrence valley which belongs to the province of Quebec forms a wedge-shaped area extending along the river from a short distance below the city of Quebec to the western border of the province. It is throughout a practically level plain of very fertile land, on which are situated the chief towns and cities of the province, and on it also are settled the majority of the rural population. These lowlands are bounded on the north by the Laurentian plateau, and on the south by the Notre Dame Mountains, which physical features gradually converge, the latter mountains reaching the shore of the river St Lawrence a short distance to the east of the city of Quebec. The plain in this way gradually narrows on going to the north-east, and is finally closed off in that direction. It was a portion of this plain that was first occupied by the early French settlers. Much of its surface, as has been said, is absolutely level, and it nowhere exceeds an elevation of a few hundred feet. Its uniform expanse, however, is broken by a line of eight isolated hills composed of rocks of igneous origin, being a series of eroded remnants of ancient volcanoes which now rise abruptly from the lain and constitute the most striking features of the landscape. They are known as the Monteregian Hills and rise to elevations of 560 ft. to 1600 ft. above sea-level. From the summit of Mount Royal, at the foot of which lies the city of Montreal, all the other Monteregian Hills are plainly visible, and the margin of the Laurentian Highlands may be seen bounding the horizon some 30 m. to the north, while southward the Green Mountains, and the Adirondacks in the state of New York, are distinctly visible on a clear day.
(3) The Notre Dame Mountains and the Eastern Townships. The Appalachian Mountain range, passing out of the state of Vermont, where it is known as the Green Mountains, crosses into the province of Quebec between Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog, and becoming lower and less rugged continues in a north-easterly direction to a point about 30 m. south of the city of Quebec. Thence it pursues its course, following the general trend of the river St Lawrence at a varying distance from its southern margin, and reaches the latter river near Metis. From the border to this point the range is known as the Notre Dame Mountains. The highest peak in the Notre Dame Mountains is Sutton Mountain—3100 ft. Continuing on to the north-east it develops into the high land of the Gaspé Peninsula, of which the most elevated portion constitutes the Shickshock Mountains, the higher summits of which rise to elevations of 3000 to 4000 ft. above sea-level. The whole central area of the Gaspé Peninsula is a forest-clad wilderness.
To the south-east of the Notre Dame Mountains is an undulating country known as the “Eastern Townships.” These hills, as mentioned above, are lower and less rugged than the Green Mountains, the general elevation of the country being from 500 to 1000 ft. above sea-level. There are a number of large and fine lakes in this district, among which may be mentioned lakes Metapedia, Temiscouata, Memphremagog, Aylmer, St Francis and Megantic. In the belt of the Notre Dame Mountains the country is not in the strict sense of the term a mountainous one, but rather a rolling country containing much good farming and pasture land, while the Eastern Townships is a fine agricultural country, embracing some of the best farming and grazing land in the Dominion. This latter district was originally settled by Loyalists from the United States at the time of the revolt of the colonies, but is now being gradually occupied by French Canadians from the more northern portions of the province, the younger generation of English-speaking Canadians preferring/Ito take up land and settle in Ontario or the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
The whole country is exceptionally well watered and abounds in numerous large rivers, bays and lakes. The principal river is the St Lawrence, which flows through the entire length of the province. A short distance above Montreal it receives from the north-west the Ottawa, a large and beautiful river over 600 m. in length with many tributaries, among which the most important are the Gatineau, the Lievre, the North, the Rouge and the Kinojevis. The St Lawrence is navigable for large ocean steamships as far as Montreal, beyond which place navigation is interrupted by rapids. The St Maurice rises in Lake Oskelaneo, flowing into the St Lawrence at Three Rivers, and is over 400 m. long. It has many tributaries, and drains an area of 21,000 sq. m. Twenty-four miles above Three Rivers on the St Maurice are the falls of Shawinigan, 150 ft. high, from which a large amount of electrical power is obtained, a portion of which is used in the production of aluminium, while several thousand horse-power are transmitted to the city of Montreal. The Batiscan river enters the St Lawrence at Batiscan. The Jacques Cartier, the Ste Anne and the Montmorency are northern tributaries of the St Lawrence. The Montmorency is famous for its falls, situated about 8 m. from Quebec city, and 250 ft. high. These beautiful falls, however, have in recent years been greatly reduced in volume, the Water being largely employed for the development of electricity, and also for the supply of power to a large cotton-mill in the vicinity. Near these falls is Haldimand House, once the residence of the duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria. The Saguenay rises in Lake St John and discharges into the St Lawrence at Tadousac after a course of 100 m. On the south side of the St Lawrence is the Richelieu river, which rises in Lake Champlain and enters the St Lawrence at Sorel on Lake St Peter. Champlain sailed up this river in 1609. Other important streams are the St Francis, rising in Lake Memphremagog; the Chaudiere, rising in Lake Megantic, with its beautiful falls 125 ft. high about 10 m. above Quebec; the Chateauguay, Yamaska, Etchemin, du Loup, Assomption and Bécancour. Among the largest lakes in the province are Lake St John, which has an area of 360 sq. m.; Lake Temiscaming, having an area of 126 sq. m.; Lake Matapedia, Lake Megantic and Lake Memphremagog.
The largest islands in the province of Quebec are: Anticosti, now used as a game preserve; Bonaventure, an important fishing station to the east of Gaspé; and the Magdalen Islands, situated in the gulf of St Lawrence about 50 m. north of Prince Edward Island.
Geology and Minerals.—Beginning with the oldest rocks, the more northern part of the province of Quebec is underlain by the Laurentian system of Sir William Logan. This includes a great series of very highly altered sediments, largely limestones, known as the Grenville series, which is penetrated by great intrusions of anorthosite, &c., and is invaded by and rests upon enormous bathyliths of granite, which are sometimes referred to as the “Fundamental Gneiss.” The Grenville series is best developed along the southern margin of the Laurentian Highlands between Three Rivers and the Georgian Bay. Two of the great anorthosite intrusions occur on the margin of the Laurentian country to the north of Montreal and about Lake St John. The Laurentian system is succeeded to the south by the Potsdam sandstone, probably equivalent to. the Upper Cambrian of Britain. On this rests a dolomitic limestone—the Calciferous formation—and on this the great and highly fossiliferous limestones known as the Chazy and Trenton formations. These limestones afford the best building stone of the province, while the Potsdam sandstone is also frequently employed for building purposes. Above the Trenton is the Utica shale, rich in graptolites and trilobites. This is succeeded by the Hudson River group composed largely of sandstones and calcareous beds. These constitute the complete Ordovician succession. Upper Silurian and Devonian beds, the latter holding fossil plants and fishes, occur in the south-east portion of the province, while on the shore of Chaleur Bay these are succeeded by the lowest beds of the Carboniferous. No coal occurs in the province of Quebec. In the region of the Notre Dame Mountains and the Eastern Townships there are great intercalations of ancient volcanic rocks and many important mineral deposits. Among these may be mentioned gold, copper, asbestos and chromic iron ore; also serpentine, marble and roofing slates. The asbestos deposits are the most extensive and most productive in the world, the chief centre of asbestos mining being at Thetford Mines. A large part of the country, more especially on the lower levels, is covered with Pleistocene deposits of the so-called Glacial age. Till or boulder clay is usually at the base of these deposits. On this rests a finer stratified blue clay, in some places rich in fossil shells and known as the Leda clay. It affords a good material for the manufacture of bricks and tiles. Above the Leda clay are sands and gravels known as the Saxicava sand. This is also stratified and frequently contains an abundance of fossils. These stratified clays and sands are due to a re-sorting of the boulder clay by the action of water, and imply a submergence at the close of the Glacial period with a subsequent elevation. In certain alluvial deposits in the vicinity of the St Maurice river there occur deposits of bog iron ore which have been worked for many years.
Climate.—The climate of Quebec is variable. In the winter the cold is generally steady and the atmosphere clear and bracing.
About Montreal snow lies on the ground from the end of November
