Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada. At Chatham, the Miramichi River is quite wide, the water salt and tidal. Just downstream from the town, the river begins to widen into a broad estuary, the Miramichi River gradually becoming Miramichi Bay. Because of its eastward facing location, ships coming from the British Isles in early times had easy access through the Strait of Belle Isle and across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was more accessible and safer to get to than Quebec City or Saint John, New Brunswick. In colonial times the surrounding lands were heavily forested, the stands of eastern white pine being especially valued for ships' masts. The River teemed with fish, atlantic salmon the most prized. Abundant game roamed the forests, and berries were a valuable food supplement. Scottish people arriving here found the area strangely familiar. The rocks in the Miramichi are similar to those of Scotland, being a part of the same formation before continental drift separated them. Seabirds and fish are often the same or similar. The atlantic salmon, the herring gull and the common tern were found in both areas. The Scots had the technology and know how to lumber, fish, farm and build ships in such an area. The Irish were somewhat less adapted, their forests long having been cut down, and fishing not being so well developed there. But they could pick up skills from their neighbours. The skills of the urban English were not so well adapted to this area and English farmers were accustomed to a gentler climate, so not many settled here. At Chatham, the river banks are low, but not subject to flooding, being very suited to wharves. A deep channel comes very close to the shore, enabling the largest ships in colonial times to come up to the wharves. Away from the shore the land gradually rises several hundred feet. Rainfall is quite adequate. The soil, while sandy and a bit acid, supports potatoes, root crops and apple trees. All these circumstances made Chatham an ideal location for a lumbering and fishing centre