have been thus particular to speak of the Acadian settlers of Madawaska, because little is generally known of their manners and customs, many people having the idea that they are demi-savages, because, like the aboriginal inhabitants, they live principally by hunting."[24] [24] Dr. Jackson's Geological Reports. There are several important tributaries to the St. John's, and among them mention may be made of the Aroostook, which, from its historical associations with the boundary question between the States and Great Britain, has become familiar to all. "This river is a broad and beautiful stream, having a gradual descent, free from obstructions, so that a raft may run to the falls at its confluence with the St. John's," a distance of over one hundred miles. "Its bottom is composed of pebbles for the principal part of its course, and there are a few low islands in its midst." The soil varies on different sections of the river as you pass down, sometimes being of a "chocolate brown" or "yellow loam," the latter being in some places covered with "a black vegetable mold several inches deep." The country around is covered with a majestic grove, composed of towering Pines, Rock-maple, and the various Birches, Spruce, Fir, &c. Where the attempt has been made, the soil is found to be exceedingly productive. Its principal products are square timber, hewn from the giant Pines found upon its borders, and sugar, produced from the sap of the Rock-maple, magnificent groves of which grow upon its banks. Beds of iron ore are found in its vicinity, and in some places limestone abounds; 'and, from indications, it is highly probable that beds of anthracite coal will, when necessity shall prompt investigation, be found in its vicinity.' In an agricultural point of view, it has been remarked, by competent judges, that "there were never greater natural advantages offered to the farmer than are to be found upon this river," and that it "will" in time "become, as it is destined by nature to be, the granary of the North." [Illustration: AROOSTOOK FALLS, ON AROOSTOOK RIVER.] Among the most interesting objects to be met are the Ox-bow and Aroostook Falls. The former consists of a crook in the river, which "forms a curvature of one mile, while the neck of land included between the two portions of the curve is but twenty rods across, so that it is customary for the Indians to carry their canoes over this portage." The falls occur near its junction with the St. John's. "The water is very rapid, and rushes over ledges of slate and limestone rocks for three fourths of a mile." "Then the river precipitates itself over a steep and broken ledge fifteen feet into a wide basin below." In the rocks there are "pot-holes," "five feet in diameter and four feet deep," "worn in the limestone by the grinding motion of rounded stones moved by the impetuous current."