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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming / II st/ peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmtes. Additional comments / Comnfx > ariainal e onii ara Wwad ba g ln n lng an firat pa«a wMi a printsd ar wWiaprimad Tha laat racardad Irama an aach "»««'«««Ja •hall ecntain tha avmbal -» <»T?*"« .SSK* TINUf O"!. w thm aymbol ▼ Imaanlng -fNO h whiahavac appliaa. Ktapa. plataa. charta. ate., may ba Hlmad at dWfaram laduetlan ratlaa. Thaaa taa torga ta ba •ntlralv Ineludad in ana aspaaufa ara fUmad bsglnning in tha uppar laft hand aoni«r. laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrama INuatrata tha par la dam dlmi plat« M oovnwro originaux dont la eauvartura an ••t Imprianto aont Wmda an eamman«ant tmlar plat at an tarmlnant aait par la paga gul eomporta una ampraima aM dliuatratian. aoH par la sacond la aaa. Tana laa autroa aaamplairaa aam mmda an aamman^ant par la I e omporta tnim amprainta au dlNuatratlon at it larminant par qui aomporta una talla Un daa aymbolaa aulvanta apparahra aur la dami«ra imaga da ehaqua mierofieha. salon lo aaa: la symbola -*> signHIa "A SUIVRE". la aymbolaValgnlfia''FIN''. Laa caftaa. planchaa. tablaaus. ate., pauvant «tra fUmte « daa taux da rdduetion diff«ranta. Lorsqua la doeumont oat trap grand pour *tra lapradutt an un aaul eNcha. M aat fUm* « partir da rangia aupdrlaur gaucha. da gaucha * droita. at da haut an baa. an pranant la nombra d'Imagaa ntaaaaaira. Laa diagrammaa auivanu illustrant la mathodo. 6 MWMCorr MMuinoN ran cnait (ANSI and SO TCST CHMT No. 2) i I.I y^ Itt IH 1?? u lii Ih ^i^ 1 |2jO S.r 1 11.8 1-25 11.4 1^1 1.6 A /ff^PLIED IIVMGE Ine 1«53 Eoit Moin SlfMt «oeh.»„. "* (71C) 28a - sgn - fo> GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA ROBERT BELL, LS.O., M.l).. D.Sc, (Cantab.) LL.D.. F.R.S., AtTiNo Dirictoh. Qe- ) IS' REPORT ci*^-? 1 '^6(^ ON THE PEEL RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES YUKON AND MACKENZIE ■T r C. CAMSELL OTTAWA PRINTED BY S. E. DAWSON, PRINTER TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 1906 Ntf. Ml T RoBUT fiiLL, Esq., Acting Director, Oeologicftl Survej of Canads. Dear Sir, — Herewith I beg to hand you my report and map of the Peel river and some of ita tributaries. The report is accompanied by a few illustration* showing the physical aspect of the rvgion traversed. I remain, sir. Your obedient servant, Ottawa, March, 1906. C CAMSELL. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Intnx.'iictioii 7 RouUm anrvojrfd H Prrviotu rxpbtntiuiu 9 Early Prm|i>>ctori) 10 Braint* Cnrk :— D«cri|>tH)n. It Tupo(ra|ihjr mu) Opokigy |ft NmH Cr«(!ologr 3i» Ueneral Ueology 41 Satan River ai Fort Mac|>henon an Huakie River 37 .jonomic Geology 4«i Oame and Fiah 47 FuniU . 48 T •THK PKEL |{|VKH AND TRIIUJTARIES INTHODUCTION. The field work )»»«ignetl to me for the i-enmin of I'jOft enibraoad a geologic and topographic reconnnimiiinco of th» Peel riv«»r in the extreme northweHtern portion of the I)<«nini.»n. Owing to the nhort- neon of the season in that part, and the ditHculty and length of time required to get in and out of the region, .in early ^tart froiu Ottawrt wa» very necessary. In acconlunce, therpforn, with fr-.tructionn receivetl from Dr. Bell, I left utuwa about the middle of .March for Winnipeg. Here some supplies were purchaned and Nhipped by the Hudson • Bay Company to meet me at Fort McPherson in August, and later I proceeded to Dawson, where 1 arriveute followed was that by the Rat river through McDougal pass and into the Bell and Porcupine rivers, the same a^ lad Ztalen by Mr.W.Ogilvie in 1887. A small portionof new work I CAM8ELL PEKL BIVER AND TBIBUTAHlEa 9 CC was here done in surveying the central and largest outlet of the Rat river, the «outh branch, which was done by Mr. Ogilvie, being inipas sible excepting in the spring. The Rat river empties by thl^e branches into Peel River waters, but the nmthern branch is an incon- siderable stream and only navigable in high water, so that no at- tempt was made to survey it. In the ascent of Rat river, we were particularly fortunate in having a g,«at deal of rain and snow, which, though making the travelling very disagreeable, raised the level of the water sufficieatly in the stream to allow of comparatively easy canoe- ing. The same conditions allowed us to get our canoes within six hundred yards of navigable waters on the other side of the divide so that a portage of that length was all that was necessary. Had 'we been a week or two earlier, or a few days later, we would probably have been compelled to make a portage of three or four miles in length. The Porcupine river was followed down to its junction with the Yukon at Fort Yukon, where we arrived on September 8, the actual travelling time from Fort Macpherson to Fort Yukon being twenty days. A track survey was carried all the way from Fort McPherson to the boundary line of Alaska just Wow Rampart House, where it was closed. After a delay of five days at Fort Yukon, we caught one of the Northern Commercial Company's fast steamers plying between Dawson and St. Michaels, and arrived in Dawson on the 17th of September. PKEVIOCS E.\PI,0RATI0X.S. The first mention we have of the Peel river is by Sir John Frank- Im in his second voyage to the Arctic sea 1825-1828. On returning from this expedition, and while ascending the Mackenzie river a short distance above its mouth, he was led into the stream which he at first mistook for a branch of the Mackenzie. He ascended it for some considerable distance under this impression before he found out that it was an entirely different stream. He called it the Peel river in honour of Sir Robert Peel, and the favourable account he gave of the stream, and more particularly of its fur-bearing animals, attracted the attention of the Hudson's Bay Company and shortly after induced them to send an exploration party under Mr. Bell to make an exam- ination of the river preparatory to establishing a trading post on it. In the summer of 1839, Mr. Bell explored the river to the head of the Snake R.ver branch, thinking this was the main stream, and the following year Fort McPherson was established at the head of the delta. During the winterof 1840-1841 Mr.A.K. Isbister, also an officer m the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, made a survey and 10 cc OEOLOOICAL 8URVKY OF CANADA sketch from bis own and Mr. Bell's observations of che stream. This he published, along with an account of the topography 'and geology of the region, in Volume XV, 1845, of the Royal Geographical Journal. In the summer of 1893, the late Count V.E. ih Sainville, who was then living at Fort ilcPherson, with one canoe and two Tndiaus made a very good survey and map of the stream as far as the mouth of the Wind river. As a rule the natives in going up to the Wind river, leave their canoes about 75 miles above the Fort and walk straight across country to the mouth of Wind river, thus avoiding the swift water in the river and cutting off the big bend that it makes. Count « P^- ^ »- 3,..00 feet About five years ago a couple of prospectors crossed the Peel- Yukon d.nde at the head of th. Twelve-mile or Chaudindu ri" and descended the whole length of the Peel river to Fort McPhe Jn were los . and strange to say, thought theraselve. on the Stewart they made no sketch of the river, and only discovered th r wher^ abouts when they landed at Fort McPherson. In December 1902, a small pat.ol of North-west Mounted Police of the Twelvem.le nver, got into Peel River waters at the Blackstone \^ nd r ver and decended that to the Big Wind. From here they followed our own route to Fort McPherson, except that they cu^ across the b.g bend in the Peel from the Bonnet Plume river t^Trail IJKT.\ILKI) DRSCRIITIOX oK RofTK.S. DESCRIPTION OF BltAIXE CKKEK. Braine creek is a typical mountain stream, never in any part navigab e for canoes Rising in .wo small mounUin glaciers on the flanks of one of the higl.est peaks in the region, it flows first in an easterly direction for two and a half miles, when it is joined bv " branch of almost equal volume from the west. The con.bined strei.m, then turn sharply to the southwest and, cutting almost direcUy ::i;rb:ior"'^°'^'^""'''^"'"'^ ^--^ ••'-' »^°- ^■--» The stream occupies in its lower portion a broad U-shaped valley heigh of 3,000 feet on either side. In the upper portion this width ~met.mes contracU to a quarter of a mile and its character s more V-hapod. The grade is always exceedingly steep, and the volume of water is never very great ; wherever it is confine^i to a single Ian nel the la ter is sutHciont to float a lightly-laden canoe, but as tTe the opportunities for real canoeing are rare. 12 cc OBOLOOICAL Bl'RVBY OP CASADA Two canons occur between the mouth and the fork* of the stream. The lower one, at a distance of two miles from the Beaver river, » deep, narrow, and about two-thirds of a mile in length, around which a portoge of half a mile has to be made. The stream here contracte to a width of twenty feet, and the walls are 160 feet high and almost verti- cal The caflon lies at the entrance of the creek to the valley of the Beaver river, and is cut in a bed of dark, massive limestone which strikes at right angles to the course of the stream, or parallel to the Beaver river. It is the result of former glacial conditions, and has been formed since the ice retreated from the valley of the Beaver river. Evidences of a terminal moraine occur at the cafton, and the valley of Braine creek approaches a hanging valley in character. The second cafion lies four and a half miles above the first This is caused by an eruptive mass of diabase, which cuts across and obstrucU the valley of the creek. Its length is about 300 yards and the drop in it about twenty-five feet. Immediately above each of these cafl ons the bed of the sU jam ex- pands to a width of two-thirds of a mile, and occupies a greater part of the valley. These expansions in the beginning of July were still almost entirely filled with sheets of ice, varying in thickness up to ten feet, and through these the water has cut narrow winding channels. As the course of the stream is continually shifting, the water melts and wears away the ice at th^ base of the ice sheet, until it overhangs to such an extent that i*. is not able to support its own weight, and it falls with a splash. The result is that the course of the stream is diverted to the opposite side, where the same action is repeated. Wherever the ice has melted away from the surface of the gravel, it has left on the pebbles a white deposit of carbonate, originally derived from the limestone bed over which the stream flows. This was first carried in solution in the water, then precipitated by freezing, and finally le(*. as a residue on the melting of the ice. These large ice sheets, which cover several acres and are sometimes a mile in length, are formed in the winter time by the constant overflowing of the water. A great many of the small tributaries of Braine creek are fed from springs in the limestone, and these probably maintain a continuous outflow throughout the year, so that even in the coldest weather there must be a certain quantity of water flowing down the creek, thus accounting for the formation of the ice sheets. These latter attain a considerable thickness, but whether the accumulation of ice during the winter is balanced by a proportionate thawing during the summer was not determined ; it is, however, probable that, except for a few isolated and shaded patches, the thawing action of the summer pre- dominates, and all or most of the ice disappears. CAMflKLf. PKEL RIVBR AND TR1BCTARIE8 13 CC TJie valley, where occupied by theae glr.cien., is bordered on either side by benches of clay and gravel. A bench of this character extends from the lower oafion right up to the second calion, a distance of four anJ a half miles. It appears to be almost, if not absolutely level. At the lower caflon the top of the bench is 200 feet above the bed of the stream, and gradually approaching nearer to the level of the water as it ascends the valley, it disappears entirely at the sec d cailon If this bench is actually level, it makes the grade of this part of the stream about fifty feet to the mile, inclusive of the two caHons. At he second caHon there is an abrupt rise in the lloor of the val- ley, caused by the aforementioned dike of diabase. This rise is slightly increased by a heavy deposit on the dike of glacial detritus irregularly dUtributed, which is apparently another terminal moraine similar to that at the lower cafion. A faint outline of another bench similar to the well-defined one below, can be traced on the sides of the valley above the second caflon. Above the second cnfion, as below, expansions of the stream are occupied by sheets of ice ; but the valley soon contracts to a width of a quarter of a mile, in which the water in necessarily more confined allowing no room for the accumulation of ice. Here, rising abruptly from the water's edge, are steep Ulus slopes, on some of which banks of snow lie quite close to the stream. Two miles below the forks of the creek, to which point the canoes were dragged, the character of the valley suddenly changes. The stream is here confined to one channel, the grade is not so steep, while the valley, widening to ualf a mile, is occupied by several small,' marshy ponds. ThU portion is entirely devoid of any timber. Along the edge of the stream and ponds is a light growth of alders ami wil- low,., which is shortly replaced on the .sides of the valley by bare rocky slopes of limestone talus. Only at the forks again does any sp. uce occur. At the forks of Braine creek the valley divides, forming two passes, each of which brings one in a few miles into Peel Kiver waters. One pass runs off to the northwest, and the other to the east. Camp was pitched here for a few days while the two passes were thoroughly ex- plored, and the easier one selected for the portage. Though the east- ern pass is 200 feet lower than the northwestern, the latter was the one chosen, because it brought us into a much larger and more navigable stream than the other. The eastern pass is the more direct route to the Wind river, and is the one that travellers would be more likely to take, in the winter time. The summit of the eastern pass is 150 feet aVjove the level of the forks of Braine creek. The valley is very wide and open. A scrubby Ill m^Bsms^s. OKOLOOICAL 8UKVKY OF CANADA growth of willows and alders fills the bottom of the valley, and the sides are fringed with a scattered growth of black spruce which extends » very short distance up the slopes of the bordering mountains. The tops of the mountains are usually about •2,70«> feet above the bottom of the valley and consist of massive limestones, interlwnded with layers of black sUte and shaly limestone. The divide lies about two miles from the forks of Braine creek. Here a small creek heads, and after flowing for two miles through the bi.>ad flat valley, passing in its course through three or four small marshy lakes, joins a larger stream coming from the south ; the combined streams then flowing in an easterly direction, enter the valley of the Wind ri .er about five miles below. This stream, however, does not, on entering the Wind River valley, unite immediately with the Wind river ; but, run- ning parallel with it and in the same wido valley for several mile?, connecu at almost the same point as Nash creek. In factj some of the water of Nash creek flows into this creek before its junction with the Wind river. This stream, however, did not appear to be navigable for canoes, and for that reason the eastern pass was not selected. ' The floor of the valley is covered with a thick deposit of glacial detritus irregularly distributed throughout ite length and breadth This IS either piled up in scattered mounds, or else depressions have Ijeen left which are now filled with water. Numerous alluvial fans formed from the wash of the higher slopes project out from the base of the hills on either side. In the northwestern past the summit is 350 feet above the forks of Braine creek, and 400 feet above Nash creek, and is situated about half-way between the two points. The distance which the ca;.oes had to be carried was three and a half miles. This pass is a part of the same structural valley that the eastern pass occupies., and a straight line drawn at right angles to the course of the Braine valley below the forks would cut both passes. Like the eastern pass, the north western is wide and open, and by following caribou trails through the low scrub the necessity f cutting r. trail across was avoided until we got on to the lower flats of Nash creek, where a hea%T growth of spruce and poplar was encountered. On the lower irt of Braine creek a few indications of the former presence of travellers or hunters were noted, but, towards the head none at all. In the wooded flats of Nash creek I noticed several rot- ting tree stumps that had been cut probably forty or fifty years ago • but nowhere were there any recent signs of human presence. 8' > J e > v. 6 X i 3 ■ PBIL BIVIB AKD TRIBCTABIM TOPOGKAPHV AJJD OEOLOOY OF BHAIHK TBEKK. IS CC Topog«phiclly the country between the Beaver nver .nd TV in. riverToM of rather rugged relief. ThU U the Uck-bone of the Breat Rocky Mountain system, which here trend, northwest and .outh- east, swingin- slightly from iu almost north and south trend farther south Thi. particular 8ection is called the Ogilvie range. Few pro- minent peaks occur, and from the tops of any of them a general accord- ance of level can be noticed. The summit of Braine pass is estmiated at alK)Ut 3,400 feet, and the elevation of the highest peaks m the neighbourhood at 6,800. The general level of the whole range » somewhat lower than that farther south, thr .gh cons.der.bly h.gher than the elevation of the range to the west of tort McPher.on. The total discordance of vertical relief is about 3,000 feet. Few peak, exceed this. The great wide valleys are longitudinal valley, coinciding with the strike of the rocks, and these are joined by narrower and shorter trans- verse valleys The Beaver river occupies one of the former, as also tho upper parts of Nash creek and the Wind river. The.e .re roughly parallel to each other, though the lower part of the Wind H.ver valley lies at II shaip angle to them. The region during the glacial period was not covered ^y «» large co..^ tinental ice sheet, but the valhys alone were filled to a depth of 1,000 to 1 5CC icev v.?th valley glaciers, which apparently moved along tlie present grade of the stream. Evidence of glaciation can be traced to a height of about 4,^.00 feet above sea level, so that about 2 )00 to " .500 feet of the highest peaks rnotruded through the ice. Tho limit of glaciation corresponds fairiy closely to the tree line, and is vel shown by the rounded and graded appearance of the slopes and shoulders, above which the outline is more rugged and broken. In the gradual retreat of the glacier up the valley of Braine creek, it evidently halted at each of the caAons a sufficiently long time to allow of the formation of extensive terminal moraines. On the dis- appearance of- these glaciers, the valleys, both of Braine and Nash creeks, were filled to a depth of from fifty to a hundred and fafty feet with a heavy dei>08it of boulders, gravel and clay, the ground moraine of the vallev glaciers, which was later subjected to deep dissection by the present'str^ams, resulting in the region taking on its present topo- graphic form. At present only a few small cirque glaciers exist, and these only on the northern flanks of the mountains, whe. . they are protected from exposure to the rays of the sun. The small glaciers in the bed of Braine creek have been alre«ly referred to. None of these were seen on Nash creek, though several of them occur in the valley of the Wind ver. 16 CO OIOLOOICAL aURVBY OF CAMADA A section urou tiie rammit from Um Bmvot river to th* Wind •hows a scries of closely folded and soiuetimes f»alt«d iiBeetooes and slates with some quarttites and conglomerate. Catting these are some diabase dikes and intrusive rocks. The snocession in descending order is somewhat ai> firitows :— Massive dove coloured limestone beooming sbalj at the base ; bands of black slate ; massive granular limestone conuining fossils ; ferruginous slates weathering reJ, and Uaek weathering conglomerate at the base. Remnanu of a coarsely crystal- line quartzite at the top of the series sometimes form the peaks of the higher mountains. These strike as a rulq from went to northwest, and dip at various angles forming a succession of synclines and antic- lines. Many of the streams have cut out their valleys in the anticlines with the result that the sides of these valleys often present precipitous sirpes and cliffs to the streims. The great valley at the head of Braine creek, which forms the past across to the Wind river, is appearently a grrat line of weakness, which haf resulted in an overthrust fault, thus bringing up the underlying ferruginous slates to the surface. Along this line of weakneu the slate has been much folded and contorted, and the limestone shows evidence of metamorphism in being converted into a white marble, which cleaves easily into the large rhombs of calcite. Another fault also occurs a few miles above the mouth of Braine creek, but ita character is indeS nite, snd, unlike the other, is not marked by any great valley, though the metamorphic action reaultant on tue fault is plainly noticeable. As we approach the Wind river, the upper limettones are replaced by the ferruginous slates, being brought up to form the summits of the mountains by a wide anticline. These dip down again to form the wide structural valley of the Wind river. The appearance of the ferruginous slates is a noticeable feature in the topography of the region, for the slopes take on a dull reddish colour due to the oxidation of the iron in the siat«s. With the exception of some limonite in the rocks at the pass, no indications of economic minerals occur. While p few small colours of gold were obtained on the Beaver, these disappear entirely on Braine and Nash creeks. NA8H CREEK. Some fossil corals and brachiopods collected from the limestone at the summit and lower down Braine creek have been identified by Dr. Whiteaves as Devonian forms. Nash creek is considerably larger and longer than Braine creek. From the top of a mountain, 2,700 feet above the stream, a good view of the valley was obtained ; it has a length of about 26 miles, and rises in a large lake two or thn>e miles long. The general direction of this valley is almost true east and west in its lower part, bending slightly PIEL miT«« AUD TBIB»TA«IWi 17 CO CAMIIKI.L • to th. aorth abor, th. porUge. lu v.U.y U wid, .ml ^ .h.H -^ ino«M« in width near th. h«d o! th. c«ck. wh.rr --•» "^ occur b«id« th. Urg. on. in which th. -tr..-. ri.«. ^r.>J th. »orth •nd of the pottog. trail to th. junction with th. Wind nv.r U • dUul of t!X B.il«. It .nt.r. th. Wind vall.y. Jo^-r -t nm« Isul iL. th. Dortag. and flow. In It for thre. milM b.for. joining «t. ;Xrth t^rS^h. Wind r.v.r On. n.il. abov. th. portag. th. TtrlTI fork., th. .mall..- branch a!« ri«ng in a lak. about flv. »il~ HTdTh. two branch- ««:h occupy, for "v.rd, n.U« a pan of Sr^l wld. Tall.y. and ar.only «.parat«l from -^^ oth.r by a long. n.:row. i«>lat«i ridg. 1.500 f«t alK.v. th. .t^« at lU h^h^ p. t^ Th. upp^r part of th. Na.h vall.y li« parallel wUh the B^^^"' ^"'y ind lik.thV Utter, coincide with th. .trike of th. t«ck.. A.traight ;;t*diwn through th. upper part of the Na.h vai;.y -<> --J*^, «,uthea.t would run dir«,tly through th. two pa**, at th. head of Bmin. creek. «. that Brain. pa« i. practically th. con Unuatton of th. NMh valLy/whil. th. Na.h v.ll.y below thi. « tnbuUry t« .t^ Th. g^. of Naah creek i. very .teep. and though only on. -hort caflon L^rt, th. r«t of th. stream i. exceedingly .wift, -h-""- "^J."" «»' Tvri bar.. It i. often bordered by cut bank, of «>n«.hdated clay SgraveTof glacial origin, which have a height of 100 feet and mo.* Jftwo or thti place, great .nowsllde. had occnrnKl. "J - -^J the« the water h«l cut a narrow channel betw«,n wall, of .now twenty-five feet high. Though ou the northern slop, of the div.d.. the water of Nash crwk l. about four degrees wanner than that ot Brame creek, due, no Z^ to r. large laSTin which Na.h creek rise.. The vegetat.on J^U slightly dSrent in character. Balsam poplar grows m abid- ance on the flato of Nash creek, while none was seen on J^"" ^^^ J' Arotic popple, in gn»at profusion wero seen on the northern slope of the divide. THB WIND RIVKR. On information obtained from some of the prospector, who crossed by the Bonnet Plume pas. In 1899, I estimated ^hat we r«.h^ the Wind river at a point about twenty-five miles below that pass. According to estimates made with a cyclometer In winter ime by fh^ p Jpectors, the dlsUnce from Peel river to the Bonnet Plume pji' laV miles. My own estimate of the dlsUnce from Nash creek to the Peel river Is about 100 miles. The Wind river Is so called by th. Indians of that region because of the furious gales that a« consUntly blowing down its valley. The valley occupied by the Wind river is broad and U-shaped, tlmtre^t 'some JSlrts b/spr-- «d POP^"' ^-' ^^^ "" '::;\^:;, In this the Wind river flow. In a broad, shallow bed sometime, half 14 CO oROLooioAb ivRvir or oarada •mlltwld.. Whtr,c«,HD«l to oo. eh,nn.l the br.«Jth of the .ti».« Wot, U Junction with N.U. cr^k. U 100 f-t. «d I w.^ U btautlfally citnr and blue. " Looking up the Wind riv.r trom th. mouth of N«h creek th. ing mounUin. h«v. mow gentl. .lop,, ^d «« reUtlvW lower It :r^::xr •'"^••^ •-• '"---^-^ "--' '^^ «' •« thJ'wT? ■^^'" ""u ""'"'' ''^ ^'"'' '•"*'' •' »»«^ »ribntarT join. b«m-.h«ped hollow « th. foot of «,m« high, jagg«l .„owJp3 moun...n«. which ri. to « height of over :..5o5 f Jt !Kv. the „" r"^ the^Z l"** "'*^*" "•""* '•'* ^'"'^ ""•' »«»»k. abruptly through cour^ of the river i. almost true north. The .tre.n, ocoupie, » .jnclu..! valley 3.000 feet deep, over which the w.ter .^ri^ numerou. channel- mctly too .hallow to float . cnoe ^ In wver.1 .xpan.ion. of the river bed large sheeU of ice were .till .ndTtr.u" J'r "• ''''"'''• ^"""^ •" '^-^^- '-« ^'o- the Where confined to one channel, the wat«r is deep, and run. at a rate of frou, our to eight u,ile« an hour. The timb; he e cl' t! ^mcet e„t..ly of a .^all and .tunted variety of .pruce wll 7^1 tern 7 It. Y' *'"' "'"•*• -""^ "'""«''• • ^- hundred t^^Z iTiaUa"' " "'k"""'""* '•"*^' -""^ Kravel, are common and MluMal fans occur at the entrance of nearly all the .sn,all tributaries , The only stream of any importance entering the Wind river in its a.>uatam .ect.on is the Bear river. This ent.r. f,«m th el „ a .o.„t about twenty.hve miles below Nash cr«,k. It d.bo 2 .nto h. ^ .nd by several channel, which spread over a delta pla n h^ Ju„rte.of an,.,ewide,^that it is dithcult to e.timate'its "o ^ It IS not easily navigable for canoes, though according to Indln trCe%r^^""^"^ "-^."^ ""^ natives' as a routl an t: iiie lionnet rlume nver «ith wk.vt. ■•*..• ., •■""! nil . wnich It IS connected by a numliei- of helrir"" T *"""^ ^°''*"*' ••> the „,.u.tains toward, Z plateau wh.ch extends northward practically'^ the^eltl oTV, r»L RIVH AXD TRIBVTAIlin 19 CC MMkmii* rivtr. To the right th* mounUin* •itmd a.wmy far to the «Mt, prwenting a nther «brapt face to h« lower eountr/, and un- brokra b; any great valley* eioapt that >( the Bonnet Plume river. Wcetward they itretch awaj to be Little Wind river, beyond which tbey iwinfT round to the north, and croM the Peel river near the nouth of the Hart river, thu* forn t point of which rises 2,600 above the river, here crosses the river diagonally striking a few degrees west of north. The Little Wind river wa» not explored, though from the top< of two of the hills of the Tlltyd range its course was sketchetl in for ii ilii- tance of twenty miles. It joins the Wind river ti>>iii the wpst, emptying a vclume of water about two-thirds as large as tho iiiiiin stream. Its water is much dirtier, and the temperature one degree lower (49°). It emerges from the mountains twenty nnles al>ove its mouth, and flows with a swift current in a wide valley cut into the rollinj,' plateau. The banks are from fifty loa hundred feet high, and the stream is divided by gravel bars into several channels. It forks just at »,he etlge of the mountains, and it was down the west branch that the North-west Mounted Police patrol travelled in .January, ll'O.', on their way to Fort McPhersun. Shortly below its junction with the Little Wind river the bed of the main stream again expands, and down to within a mile of its junction with the Peel river it keeps an averoge width of half a mile. This, however, is uken up largely with willow islands and gravel bars, through which the stream has cut numerous small channels. 20 cc OKOLOGIOAL 8CBVIT OF CANADA The valley here is incised to a depth of sixty feet in the plateau, and the bed-rock is only rarely exposed where the water outs into the banks of the valley. The adjoining country is thickly wooded with spruce and tamarack and some birch, and the prevailing feature is the typical northern muskeg. BUNUUT CBEEK. The only stream of any consequence entering below the Little Wind river is Hungry creek. This enters from the west at a point twenty- five miles above the Peel river. It debouches by several channels over a flood plain a quarter of a mile wide'. Its bed is filled with gravel bars, and its banks are low and composed of clay and gravel. It rises in a large lake about fifteen miles up, and flows from this with an easy grade through the low rolling country. Its water has a brownish colour suggesting its origin in muskeg lakes. During the autumn and winter of 1898 Hungry creek was explored and prospected by some prospectors on their way to the Klondike. They are said to have found hot mineral springs on one of the small tributaries which join it from the south. They also report the find- ing of colours of coarse gold on the stream. Sufficient time, however, was not allowed for us to verify either of these reports. Mount Deception, 1,400 hundred feet in height, stands in the angle between Hungry creek and the Wind river. Below Hungry creek, the Wind river flows with a slightly acceler- ated current in the same wide valley. To the east is a level wooded country, probably muskeg, with numerous small lakes on its surface ; wtiile to the west is a rolling country which gradually becomes more mountainous farther westward. As it approaches the Peel river, the valley of the Wind becomes narrower, and the stream is more often confined to one channel. Cut banks appear on either side. These at firet consist essentially of clay and gravel, but underiying them farther on are beds of lignite associ- ated with clay and soft sandstone. Within two miles of the Peel river the valley takes on a caflon-like appearance, bounded on either side by steep walls of sandstone or shales a hundred feet high, and the water rushes between these at a greatly increased speed, so that when it joins the Peel in the cailon, it cuts almost directly across that stream to the opposite wall of rock! CAMSBLL PIIL KIVBR AHD TRIBCTA8IB8 21 CC TOPOORAPHV AND OIOLOOV OV THE MOUNTAIN 8KCTI0N OF WIND RIVKH. The topography of the mounUin section of the Wind river is very siniiUr to that already given for the section at the summit. The verti- cal relief at the mouth of Nash creek averages about 3,000 feet, but thb gradually decreases to 2,000 at the northern border of the moun- tains. The general outline of the mountains varies, depending on the char- acter and structure of the rock formations. In the upper part of the Wind river, where the rock formations are principally limestone, the summits are broader and more rounded, and the slopes more gentle • and subdued. Near the mouth of the Bear river, where sandstone and quartzites replace the limestone, many high jagged peaks occur, and steep cliffs and precipices b9rder the stream on either side. Exten sive slopes of heavy talus and many alluvial fans characterize the region in the vicinity of Bear river. North of this again is a limestone area, which continues to the edge of the mountains, and the character of the topography reverts to the same conditions that hold in the other limestone area. Though marked cliffs and precipices do occur, the side slopes of the valley can generally be ascended without difficulty. They are wooded only for about two hundred feet above the stream, where steeper slopes of barren rocks and talus begin. Though the summits of the range show a gradual decrease in eleva- tion from Nash creek, northward, of about a thousand feet, yet at a certain point they break off very abruptly without any foothills, and dip suddenly down to the broad Peel plateau. This scarp-like appear- ance is only shown from the mouth of the Wind river eastward or on the northern face of the range; but west of the Wind river, where the range swings around in a curve to the north, it loses this feature entirely and, instead of breaking off abruptly, is flanked by rounded foothills, which slope gently down to the plateau below. All data collected with regard to the glaciation of the mountain sec- tion of the Wind river point to the conclusion, that the region was not completely covered by a great ice sheet during the glacial period ; but that the valleys alone were occupied by glaciers. The valley of the Wind river was occupied by a large glacier, which filled it to a depth of a thousand feet or more. This had the effect of giving to the valley ite present U-shape and of filling tl>e bottom of the valley with a heavy deposit of glacial gravel and clay. Into this deposit the present stream has cut its bed to a depth of fiftvfeet, leav- ing only a narrow bench at the base of either slope to mark the level of the old valley. 23 CO OKOI-OOICAL SURVEY OF CAKADA That the movenient of thw v.Uey glacier was northw«rd-or down . th. present grade of the streao—i, shown l,y n.e .|,ift, «.,,i,,, ,„„,j only have been derived from the rocks to the «>uth. Existing glaciers were seen only on the (1 .nksof ,he high .nouutains directly oppos te the n.outh of Nash creek. Th.t mountain 72rl have exited along other parts of the Wind River valley, how^v" fhTw t ' TTr '' ""~' ^^--^P^ cirques. Aticular^'on whi h the streams occupying them plunge quickly from their own al- leys into t e vaHey of the Wind river some hundred, of feet below Five m.les below Nash creek stratified s.^nds and gravels are ex- posed .n the cut banks on both sides of the stream, xl.e.e are pr b- alTon L th 1' '^ '^'' ^"^ ^^" ^"^^ away by the later action of he stream, but one or two remnants still stand in the centre of the valley ns.ng to a height of 1.50 feet. These are composed of a very fine dark-cobured sand, with less gr,vel and clay, ither smaller rounded knobs of glacial material occupy the v.dley below t J W-T'""* '""" '"'r'^ '""'^ '° '^' ^«« ^' '^' "«"•»*-«« along the Wind river gives the following succession cf rocks from the b-.s! ri?V~ T^'T' "''*'"' ""'^ *'-"'"^''' ' '''"«^'«»«^ o^ten weather- ing red from the ox.dation of iron ; sand.nones with some limestonel t^lT '" '"""'" "' "^^'*"'"^ '""^^'^"^^ ' ^^^-^ -^'»*'' -- At the mouth of Nash creek the valley is incised in a series of closely folded black slates, with which occur only remnan sot th overlying limestones, lying in steeply inclined .ynclines. These ZZ east and west almost directly across the valley of the river and are inclined at high angles, or are vertical. Some of the slates cleave readily along tl. laminae into broad thin plates, others are more Z fit . . r '. '^ I ""^ ^'"■''''*"^ '^'y ^'"•" «'«eedingly steep s'opes Northward, the limestone, by replacing and overiapping the slates gradually occupies larger area., and the underlying sla^s only appeT; when brought up by an anticline. ^ ^^ Fifteen miles below Vash creek, at our camp of July 8, a coarse- slates. The limestone is here reduced a few feet in thickne.s.s and appears to rest unconformably on the slatos. Th. sandstone li.s hor- .zont.lly, or dips at a low angle to the north. It forms some of the h.«her peaks ,n this neighbourhood, and shows the characteristic weathcnng of th,s kind of rock in l.ing ercKlod into all sort« of ^^. CAUtMLL PUL UTIB AXO TUBmABin 23 00 Uo ■haiM*. Slwrp pimiMlM and oolamna ol rook mn notioMble faat- uraa wfaflnver thu MuubtoM ocean. Some of thoM pedu riae to « height of 4,000 feet above the river. In pUoee the undetone ia metemorphoMd to m white and ooanely cryi»»lline oaloueou qaertate, which forma ateep clifla and pnci- pioea, pMticalarly oppoaite the month of Bear river. But bejond thia again, where the dipa are more gende and the metamorphic action leaa, the alopea are eaaier and nanaUy covered with much talua. Alio- vial fana are common along the aandatone area. From Bear river to the edge of the monntoina only aandstonea and hmeatonea appear in a ancceaaion of gentle anticlinea and aynclinea, and overlying theae on the edge of the alope is a small remnant of the dark reddish conglomerate. Fossils are rare in the rocks of the Wind river. Few indications of economic minerals occur in the rocka of the Wind river, and with ;he possible exception of iron ore, it is hardly probable that any wUl ever be found. Quantities of float of a banded, jaspery iron ore were found at the mouth of the Bear river, and I am informed by Mr. C. M. Merritt, of Vancouver, who waa up .ae Bear river in the winter of 1898 and 1899, that the float ore becomes more common higher up the stream, and on the portage to the Bonnet Plume river forms a large proportion of the drift. The ore is hematite, whinh weathers to a bright red, and is associated with red jasper. The same float also occurs in great quantities on the Bonnet Plume river and also on the Snake. Near the northern border of the mountains the variation of the compass is about eight degrees (8') greater than anywhere else, and it IS very probable that the local attraction is due to a body of iron ore in the neighbourhood. Only very fine colours of gold were found in the gravels of this part of the Wind river. TOPOOEAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF THE PLATEAU SECTION OP WIND RIVEB. Immediately on emerging from the mountains, the Wind river enters the broad Peel plateau. This is a wide, level, or gently undulating table-land, standing here at an elevation of about 1,700 feet above sea level. Its southern boundary is the range of hills which stretches away eastward in almost a straight line towards the Mackenzie river at the Sans Sault rapid. On the west it impinges against the base of the same range, which swings northward from the Little Wind and continuee in that direction to the Arctic ocean. In the great bay U 00 OWMOICAL airiTIT OF CAITADA « broken bv wwml short r.n«. «# ^^ ^ " *•» pl»te»n foothill, of ih. mS; *;;^ '^ '^ """"^^ ^'>'«»' •« «Jiy th, -«tLToSJ2.rbo::th";rLr r'^ ••"" -''•- ^-^^ n-eirorlginuduetoth: Utt^pw'r''"'*'"'-'**^ '•«>« c^t which «.„,»«, inth,Tph3o5 thrZ"" " *•" ^•'*'''' t«ns. Th. majority of then. Z^Jl 7* ^'^^ ""«* "^ °'«»"'- «»duetof.ulUng^«"'''"«' «<« «« between Peel river ««,e fifty muLiL; ".*"« «>uthwanl trom the bed of the Peel rivTr^ oerfL^,'"!" ? "*"'"' '" ^""^ "*"« "hove the -u,kegUke. Zi^lSer.^^" 'V'"^ ^''"^ — » b«^en.ri i.,,..^^^^^^ the^erit.ttuZ'kiirtr:^^^^ appear to obstruct the view LTrr^ ^ Mackenzie river. No hill, to the horizon with a ZL"v7el ."'' f"***" "'"**'''«' "''^"J everywhere covered lith1^\t Zt ""'*'""''•' '"'y^''^- ^t il tamarack, and hold, a ftwZk^Jr'tr "r ^^"''^ "'^ ba« of the range of mountain, aStw °*""*'' '' '*'"'"''' the tion to the Mackenzie a^T^l ^'^T "^^"^^'^^y '«» thi, direc- a. the Mackenzie riyJ^l^rJlb^^.^'rT^''^ "''*'' '*«^^''*«^. disappear altogether a fel'^L" tth 7t\T ' ^ ^^ *« stream ,kirt8 the baw of the hill,. "'''"" '"''«»* the l".h« during u,.dLr„,^ '« "fall, «,„™i b,.l^ nUL «Vn AWD TBIBOTABIU 29 00 h^htot 1.800 ieet above the ttreMna. They have the appeanmoe of being in a sUte ot matara dutection, oat by nnmeroui smaU creeks and having many badn shaped hollows, which are fnqnenUy fillKi with water. Few of the peaks of the foothUls exceed 2,200 feet in height, and those with a greater elevation are widely different in their contour from those with a lower altitude. The highest peak of the Illtyde range, which lies east of the month ot Little Wind river has an elevation of 2,600 feet above the stream. Its summit is shaq) and its highest slopes steep and covered with Ulns, showing no indication of ever having undergone glacial erosion, and bearing a sharp contrast to the outline of the hills seven or eight hundred feet below. Rounded pebbles and drift of foreign material were found on the slopes of Illtyd range up to a height of 1,700 feet above the Wind river, and beyond that the surface was covered with broken and angular fragraenU of the country rock. The range to the east of the Snake nver, whose highest point8 are only about 2,000 feet above the river has apparently been completely submerged. No sharp peaks appear and water-worn pebbles were found up to a height of 1,600 feet. The.vi oonsist of limestone, quartzite, granite and some conglomerate most of which appears to have been derived from the main ranse U> the south. Some sections, which have been exposed in the valley of the Wind nver, show boulder clay and gravel overlying the harder rocks, but as a rule the glacial drift is very thin or is seen only in patches. East. ward to the Snake river it becomes much thicker, but thins again northward to the Mackenzie delta. The timber on this plateau consists almost entirely of spruce. Birch and tamarack which are toUlly absent in the mountain section, appear for the first tine on the plateau near the mouth of the Little Wind river. Banksian pine was never seen anywhere, and poplar of two variel h, only on the islands and lower flats of the river. The height of the timber line on the hills near the Little x river is 1,400 feet above the bottom of the valley, or about 3,000 feet above sea level. Relative to the bottom of the valley, the ilu:ber line 18 at about the same elevation down to Fort MoPherson ; but its absolute elevation gradually decreases northward. The geology of the foothills section of the plateau region is in marked contrast to that of the mounUin section. Three miles from the base of the main range, cliffs 150 feet high, composod of slightly inclined sandstone, appear on the banks of the stream. These cliffs show the following succession from the base upwards :— A fine con- 16— c— IJ 36 00 OBOIOOICAL MVrn 09 CAJIABA ill yrging into . «rft g^T^S^L^^T^ «di«» .U». »od.l«. depodt of boalder cky. ThJ L? ^u ^ O-th* top of .11 i, . ^u- rook, in other p^tiitS*"^ "«»bl«,o. to Cre- '«g-.~t. of wood, wer, fouadt IT ^^ ""^ '°-*"' «-P' »- i^^rrTi-s^-s:^^ the bordering mounUin «nge «d h!^. !? '^"J" °°'^'» P-'^W *« orographic mov.„enU. whicf^*^ J^l ? "*:' '^ •®^»«' ^y th« I^e, almost CO.P,.:,, .urrTun^tt iS^:* '''•'''">-' ^^eplaLu. from the m«n mnge to the wutj ^ ""'^ *'**' "P*"'** it THE IttTYD RANOB. «d«of the Bonnet Pl„„e riJTr il T '""'" ''"«•' ««> ">« ea,t dolomitic limestones, and wher« ii fmpowd of mweive, grey like valley bordered by oliffk of ,h ^ ^""^ "^"^ ««"« in a gorge- -uthof the I^tt.eXtl^VetTbr.'^T"''''*'^^^^'-^-^^^ -^« again t.e level p).dnt7; o T'' ''' ""'«^' """^ Ultyd range has a very gentle .10^5;^." "" ''*""'''^™ <"de the low angle beneath the ovSyL c^'t^ ""^ "'"~**"'«' ^'P *' » ver, Po-oftherangeisat«nt'a^:;X;:r;r^ ^^ ^'■^^- ^^-rier it cuts into the r^te^ u'^ " '''*"^'^- ""^^ ^'"unt «-y -dston, 100 feet thick"rrla^,t; IZ'Z' ""^''" ''^ "^^^ Mount Deslaurier itself • from the water's edge to a herghT^f ttf '*"'' ""''P' ""'"« abruptly on the opposite side!^ It stril Var^LVr'' t"' '''^^'''^ ^'^''y "-J -h.ch it follows for four or t7r!^\''. *'' """■«' «^ »»>« «W OAimu. „g^ „^g^ ^y^ T1IB0TA«IIII 27 CO fortign frmgmenU. At the waUr'a edge is tome iMidatone. The Utter WM probebljr »t lint »lao inoladed in the (knit, but leter eroaire Mtion hM worn it all away, leering now only the oooglomerate on the rarface. In the angle between Hungry creek and the Wind river standa Mount Deception, an outlier of the main range to the south. Thia is a steep anticlinal hill, riiing to a height of fourteen hundred feet above the river. It strikes northwest and dips at a very high angle. It is composed of a masaive crystalline limeatone, which varies in colour from pure white through a mottled, to a dirty gray, with earthy and black streaks. Below Mount Deception the river enters a low level country under- laid by almost undisturbed Tertiary rocks. The stream occupies a shallow valley bounded bj sloping wooded banks so that the contact between the rocks of the Tertiary ba»in and the older rocks was not seen, except at the mouth of the Wind river. COAL. About twelve miles below Mount Deception, however, cut banks sixty feet in height appear on either side. These at first consist entirely of boulder clay overiaid by gravels, but, farther down, a section of the Tertiary rocks is exposed. This shows six feet of lignite, asso- ciated with beds of clay and sandstone, overlaid by glacial drift. The lignite is still in a primary stage of development, and shows the twigs and leaves of which it is composed, and even some blebs of resin. This seam of lignite is again exposed two miles below, overiaid by six feet of rusty gravels, and resting on a bed of clay. At the base of all is a soft and very fine-grained sandstone, which is also very porous. The lignite when dry burns fairiy readily, giving off the odour of burn- ing resin and leaving a great deal of ash. Another section of Tertiary rocks about four miles above the Peel river, and on the right hand side, where the stream cuts directly into the beds, shows the following successsion of rocks ; — Gravel and boulder clay 40 fget Unconformity. Sandstone with 8 seams of lignite from J to four inches thick 50 „ Unconformity. Rusty black slates 5 „ Water's edge 95 feet One mile above the Peel river, the contact between the Tertiary rocks and the underiying slates U well shown in a steep cut bank on ! U tiM Mat rid* ' the period,. The Tertiaiy r !« !^1 «•?» of time betweeu the two • dutance of .bout7«r, ^u^, '^^ ""/'^ ''*' ""' '^•• For the laat mile the W d "^ *° '•*•••• deep cut ir upturned bl^^kllatTlLd^e^"'"*'' * ""'*'' '^ '"* th:^>ruj r; J^lr^rr .T^'.r r "• -^ • •>-' '- •rgiUite. The o«ek L . wJ f ^ i~"«'* *'~^J' »«d8 of black Wtyfeet. The.rgilb^'.„'~,l^i;;''^'t*"-th . .beer drop^oj th. ..uthweat. while at the con^tTitb 1' t "''"' '*'" '"'«'• to mJe awaj they are almoat veSoT -^ . ' ^*'*^'7 '^^ •«»''t a exceedingly &n..gr.in^ and £• i*""*"" °' "^^ "^i'"**- i- err.ta!.of pyrite. which mine J.' j'^' r*'"'" '» the rock a« v~n,. Theae reck, are also ^^Tort^rp" .'"**" ""^ "«" ^'"-'d above the north of the WiS'^^'d "!/""'" ••^•'"^ »"•• of the Peel ia out. "^'"'' ""^ "> them the upper caflon On the bars of the Wind „• Little Wind river, a great de^^^f T\ ""~ •»'°^« the mouth of the probably derived tro^l Cretlo! ^^ "^ «^'""- ^hia i! flow, for some mile, above thk^" r ^ •*'"""«'• '''»>«'' *»>• ^ver the mouth of the Wind river ha, a^v7 '" '"^ '"''^'^'•y ««''' •t er na, already been mentioned. GOLD. Some coarw colour, of - ^-on ^^ mouth of Tr«I creek 130 n,U«i Wow ' *•** "^* "* »•>• DireoUj opposite the mouth of Mountain creek .«. .i. u • l«gnit. beds noted bv Conn* rf- a • ... °**'° <"«•* •«* the bumiuff i-.IH-dbleto4^boCkn7thlt^?'i:°'»^'"^^ - IMS- It iJ 17 . mile along fhe bank the ,"Ltta.In^° ^T'^'' '"' *»' ~- nndern,i„«l the orerlying glacW drifTlT^ T^' "^ ^^' «> One had onl, r^nP^^^Jtly^^ ^I'T '"'"•'•"• :rtoihrt::^'ri-L':tr r^^^^^^^^ --^- «a.ale.indicatep,.:.ri^K«-rrri'2 nJ!-»r!!!I!l''^*"'**'''*«'^'^tth. burning away of th. „ ugmte beds in thia section an<) ♦!.- ^ "*• numerous waahing awaj of the^mlyj^ ^l.~r?"'°' ""^« '^'^'^ •«» "H-awfbrtigJtwidlhX^ »«tena) ,. accounUble in •>„« «« great wrfth of the vaUey, which i, wider here than in "•>u>« "*^ '^•v„ „, e.,,„. V".xvr...,„^^^^^ ^' '^'•T. II. CA nML RIVU AlID TBIBtrrAHin SI 00 •ajf^rioliu oouim ImIov. TIm aula tftrMB foltom pntty oIomIj Um out bMks on Um mmUi liib oIUm rai]»j, «bm the ligniu btda m MpoMd and barniag, mkI whmrw kndalklM oeevr tb* alidden in»l«rUI b Ttrj loon diaw>lT«d or ottrM hwmj by ih* water. Boimirr nvmu tiviir. Tbo BoDiMt PlnnM rirer joiiw the Ptoel from th« aoutb, twelve ■il« bolow tbo Wind rlrer. It ent«n tb« Pe«l hj a number of obaunob, forming a delU Mm* tbree nUta wide. Ai a mnit of tbii, it U praetieallj impowibl* to aaUmate iu diMbarge, but it ie probably larger than the Wind river. It occupiee a broad, diallow valley, filled with gravel bare and out into numerous obannek, very similar to that of the lower part of the Wind river. It is said to rise in a large lake in the mounUins, and iu course is roughly parallel to that of the Wind river. It emeiges from the mounUins some dzty miles above iu junction with the P»el, and flows for that disUnce through a flat wooded plain, unbroken by any mountains or hills, and underlain probably to some extent at least by Tertiary rocks. As a result its water » very muddy, and it discolours the Peel for some distance below. It was aMsended by Count de Sainville for a distance of about twenty miles, but apart from ihe natives of the country, no other man has ever been far up it.* A sheet of ice occupies a large area at the mouth of Bonnet Flume river and hot »prings are said to exut near here. The ice sheet is probably due to the constent flooding and freezing during the winter of the water from these hot springs. A diligent search for the hot springs on the east side of the river led to no discovery, but I after- wards learned that they were situated in the angle on the west side of the stream. Below the Bonnet Plume river the valley g-adually contracte in width, and from a distance appears to close altogether, until the entrance to the lower oaflon is reached. Here the stream has cut a deep and narrow defile through the low range of hills which borders the low Tertiary basin on the east side. The banks of the valley quickly rise from a height of a hundred feet to five hundred feet, and from this point down to within thirty miles of Tort McPherson, a distence of 158 miles, the river flows through the high Peel plateau, cutting a deeper and deeper valley northv ard, until the banks attain a maximum height of 1,000 feet. ThU lower cafion is about two miles long Iu average width is 600 feet, bordered by almost verUcal walls of thick bedded black slates. At ordinary stag^ of water it is not at all dangerous to navi- gation. Except at the entrance to the csflon, where a little rough- f"?** 32 CO «0L0O.0At .0,T„ o, CAnAOA w»ter and heavy iwelk o*™. »u ~wwi. ine |,y,| ^ g <«oaga twife ii perfectly w«,d .traded « »»y «d .wteH^' '";^'' '' ''^^ <''«^ the ordinwy level of the w.ter ^^ ^^ "- *'>''*7 feet above 0' the river, .hich a^'SSt"^' 1"° T'"^^ "^ -^i- ^ -•tor U high. On the l«th J^^hl^^K"? ^ '^«'~" -"«« the A few .„^, ^h bei^ln ? u •" "'*'''" '^'o'*' the eurC SHARK RIVKR. ^.":^trrf:?itr,t'i.""- '•»'• "-. "^ »" originally enppo«xi to h! tT ^^ *''*' *•»• '«tter makelT vlley below, it .„ ukent^ttLe °" ' ''"^'•' «"« o* thTp^, J-harge. however, p^ve, 1 P^rri!." I'^. ^"^ -'--•*• of S The fig.a,« obtained for the dLl ^ *'""" 'o" time* as l.«« -bic feet per «Hx.nd. a ootJel^r '' ''* ^""^ "^- -'" ^Z ;;;;^«di«ob^i,^«,C'trS^V''"";K'^" the 4?L' P«««J to have been explored bj Mr ^JJ ofi- ">• "-« » .«p- 7 «r. Bell of the Hadeon'. Baj Co.^ CAMHLL PBIL RIVBB AMD TRIBVTARIK8 33 CO pauy in 1839, ud he ipMks of the Snake river m the main straem ; bnt hit sketch and dew^ption of the lower part of the Peel are so inaocnrate, that it is difficult to say how much faith to pot in his ac- count of the Snake river. At ito junction with the Peel, the Snake river, on July 21, had a width of 360 feet, with a maximum depth of nine feet. The water is a dirty gray colour, flowing at the rate of four miles an hour, and it occupies a valley seT*>' Lunurc;? feet deep and about half a mile wide. The Snake river was explored for a di Kanxj of tws^nt; -five miles, and except that there was a slightly aa >.'ar.ited curren and many islands, the general character of the streaoi wa« .li.- thonged. From one of the neighbouring hills its course through the plateau could be traced for about fifty miles above the Peel, flowing in a northwest- erly direction from near the eastern border of the Ogilvie range of mounUins. The valley has a cafionlike appearance, bounded by steep banks of foesiliferous soft gray and reddish sandstones, which lie horizontally or are only slightly inclined. The angle between the Snake river and the upper part of the Peel is occupied by a wide timbered flat. On this spruce trees, tall and straight, with a diameter of 24 inches were common. Birch is also fairly abundant, but few specimens attain a greater diameter than six inches. The other trees are tamarack and balsam poplar with alders and willows. PKL BivBB (Continued). On mingling its waters with those of the Snake river, the Peel river turns off sharply at a right angle to its former course, and down to Fort McPherson trends a few degrees west of north. From the Snake river to the Fort is a distance of 147 miles, and in this section there is little variation in the general character of the valley. The valley itself has an average width of one mile, the greater part of which is usually taken up with gravel bars or wooded flats, and it is bounded by banks of clay, sandstone or shale, which vary in height from 600 to 1,000 feet. The average velocity of the current gradually decreases, and though it frequently attains a speed of eight it often drops to about two miles per hour. For thirty-five miles below Snake river it has an absolutely straight course of almost true north, when it bends gradually towards the west, and flows in a general northwesterly direction as far as Satah river, being joined on the way by George creek from the east, and Cariboo and Trail creeks from the west. Oeorge creek is an insignificant stream only about forty feet wide and a few inches deep, having a brownish water probably drawn from musk^ lakes to the east. OWtOOIOAt ,nHv„ 0, ^^^^^ 'or ■ooM n,y^ i :S'"'';»«««..riS3w1!?' ^ "'- «•" .!«. 2jr ^^'^"«r£^:",.'ir^' "- -^ -^v, «»known name, .boat . hu^r^ LtT **^ /^ ""^- ^ "^^^ oJ •bout „,„. „a„ .^^^ ^^.j -^;^^feet ,n w,dtb. enter, f„„ ehe eJt ^ndwns «ce„d in n,.ku,, their V ^* '" ^^i, stream that the 8ATAH SIVIK. CAinau. PBIL RIVM AKD TMBUTABIU 35 00 rtpUced by othen of Mnd ud oUy. Deposiu of lilt and mad hare ««mmul.t«i in p\Mc^ «d the* are ooo«k>n.lly oat into by the .tre«n.«podiig«oticnaoonUining rootm •tump, of tree. «m1 other material imbedded in frown mu k. Bed. of peat too aw common. Pour mile, above Satah river a .mall .tream enter, from the west and directly oppodte are the first recent .ign. of human occupation "; . ''*. **" •'•"" ^"^^"^ ^'" "''•'• The* are fi.h .tase.. and low huu buiJt of b«-k. log. and cUy. looking very much liki« many dog kennel& At Satah river the Peel emerge, from the high plateau, and enter, what is probably the coastal plain, of the Mackenrie river The trM«t,on from theone to the other i« very abrupt, and the escarpment ofthe plateau ..about 600 feet high. The northern face of thi. escarp- ment^ where the Peel river cute through it, form, a «mi-circle which w abou ten m.l« acro« the ba«s and the .tream after i«uing f«.m it skirt, along the h^ of the weatem arm of the arc. Thi. .ide of the ejwarpment ha. a maximum elevation of one thou«u,d feet above the river, while on the ea.t side thi. level decreaw. gradually, until about ten mile, away it i. only four hundred feet. Enelo«rf in this arc i. a level lake oountty, underlaid by soft wndstones, and dotted every- where with lake, of all rise, up to five mile, in length. Satah river which 18 a duggi.h .tream about 120 feet wide, draius this lake country, entering the Peel a. it emerge, from the plate i. Directly we.t of Satah river, and at a distance of about twenty- five mUe. is a range of high snow-cov-rnl peak, which McConnel' height to the south, becoming the low range that crosses the Peel at the upper cafion. The plateau ...nds up to the base of thi. range, the evenness of its surface being broken by sevei^l low north and south ndges lymg parallel with the range of mountains. Below Satah river the stream makes a wide bend to the west, to avoid which a short cut across country is made in the winter time U^e stream flow, with an even current of about two miles an hour between low bank, of clay. BluflT. of «ndsto„e occur here and there. .?aZl ^7:^' *''' """"^ ""^ '''' ^'^™' *•'<' ""^ ''-«'^«« width IS about SIX hundred yards. The stream skirts along the easLn face JJlo^^T'^'T'"'' ~""'"""" cutting through the projecting . ^.nts or outRersof it un'il a. we approach the Fort, itgraduaHy leave, it altogether neve. ^ touch it again. ^ th^''froTrhV°"f%K"V''*'" '~'"''' '"" '""- '"^^ «•* "d turee from the west ; the largest of the«,. which is also the largest 0-OlOO,OA^ «„V„ or OA^AW 96 00 — "' CAITAOA tnbuury bdow th. Snake rir.r ^*- , i W yard* "•• • "idtli at iti mouth of about creak. These ao^A ♦k '^^ "" ""» •*«> •inoe leavin. j'^T^ »OBT HCPBMraOH. detachment of North-weatMoant^p!^! being oocopied hj . ,„^, H'en und.ri„p^^^^ 3^ «"^P«^ce consisting of half a do J h" lately .Urted in b»sine«. " *'~ -"«»»""• '« tnuler who FortS;'""''^'**""'«*«hargeoftheP«,l • feet briow the le^ej ^he„ tl^^^,? ' """* '''" ^^ree or four obtained for the discha,,ie tereJ^^'^r..'"' '•''''°- ^he figur^ .^^rage velocity i, abouTtwr^ii^Vn . " " '^ ^^^ "«»'''• ^ fiteen feet. ""•« « hour, and the gneateet depth and tW, «the^t Ctrron'*tt'"'°'^*''''*'*^^« '^^ -ater flood pjain of the grJt M^n^e d^T; T ^ ^'^^ *•>" » ^e the land « submerged in the spring fl^^'' "JS"'' * V "^'''^ •"• "^ bv 1 ", r '™"" '""» ^he Fo^ to^oint^" *"'*''*™ ^«« »' this by several W rfdge, similar to Vhe on! ^^"''^^'^ "d marked F^m Point Separation the trend of t^e hT U^^'f *'" ^°'' ''•"d"- "dtfmiiil'rnTi'f "' ^-- --vrtht Cer 8 the e«tem face of the high «L«^L ''" ""«'•> of the delta t«nds slightly ^est of north fronjrM T''^"'^ '«'°«. -hich nver below the mouth of Lonl^lu !i?°^''«"«»' ""-"ng the R.J "appears at the base of Mount Oonri- l *"' ""• '•nge and deita nonh of this i. then the CoTt'^V"' '^""'^••^^''e we mountain range. CAMMLL PUL RITRR A»D TRIBUTARIU 37 00 Bdow Port MoPherson the PmI rirsr flows in m stnught line north- ward for twelve miW It then divide* the eHtern channel which is a traveUed ronte and has been sanreyed by Messrs. McConnell and Ogih .. ^ the Mackenzie river by two months another twelve miles beyond. The western channel, which locally goes by the name of the Hoskie nver, follows along the western edge of the delta and only joins the Mackenzie waters ninety miles below. There are two large channels of the Peel river between the extreme eastern and western ones and several smaller ones, all of which would have taken more time than was at our disposal to survey, so that a survey was only carried down the Huskie river and up one of the middle channels. HU8KIE RIVER. The Huskie river or western branch of the Peel, has a variable width of from 75 to 200 yards, due to the fact that it is constantly sending off and receiving tributaries f^m either side. Its current is about one mile per hour, and it is bordered by banks twenty-five feet in height compoeed of alluvial clays and sands. It is exceedingly crooked meandenng m an exasperating manner over the level floor of the delta' The banks are wooded with wUlow and alders, with some spruce! which latter gradually decreases in quantity northward until 1 25 miles below McPherson it disappears altogether. The south branch of the Rat river, which Ogilvie mapped in 1887 flows into the Huskie river thirteen miles below Fort McPherson and It was this stream which all the prospectors followed in 1898 on their way across to the Poreupine river. The central branch of the Rat river joins the Huskie river twenty- one miles below the south branch, and a smaller branch comes in four miles below this. A survey of this central branch was made to connect with Ogdvie's of the south branch, but the northern branch was not explored. Sixty-three miles below Fort McPherson, the Huskie river approaches within two miles of the base of the Rocky mountains, and here an Indian hunting trail leads into the mountains. An excursion was made to the summit of Mount Ooodenough (3,000'), from which a good view of the delta was obtained. Under good conditions one is able to see the Arctic ocean from here, but, owing to the hazy condition of the atmosphere, this was impossible at that time. Through the delta several channels of the Peel and Mackenzie can be seen meandering in a very crooked manner ; but the most striking feature is the count- lees number of lak«, large a«.. small, that cover vhe sur&ce of the delta everywhere. The whole delta is flooded with water in the spring oaoLooioAi, nmriT or cavada l.nd k uU^lj d.^'3 ^i^,^ J'J- *^ r^tiy for™ older l«ul .taii. »«wT.l£IT °'i«»« ^"'o^-. whil. tl Ud<« « well « .pZ^^^J ' Jr" «~:* "* l«»«r willow, „ TOPOOBAPHT or TH. P,«. „v„ DISTRICT. probably „ AbeXn £.ut if * . •"■ ****»" "<* " '" "P • number of rt>nnd top^ ?;??! ^ ^^'- ^""'"^ '«> »»•«« b.«n •„ either to f.„,ted bi'» '••ve a tains against which the plateau abn^ ^ *u ^* ""«" <^ "O""- a long gentle .lope to thrLrth^. . JI""^ ^*'* P'**^*" ^as Mackenzie river. Thile to the "£Tao^: the valley of the forming a steep escarpment oveTcoLin/tT" *: .""T^ -« '^^rply, nver b"«kB th«,„gh%he e^^ro^nt ft t "T'^ '''""• '^'"' P-' aacKensie nvers ramify in ^i CAMKLL >>IL RIVKR AND "RIBCTARIBS 39 00 null ttrwuna kUtuda 68* den nouin. intlj foroMd iMMWlud d fonnad in ■i while the billows and M reokooed Peel rirer n pravjotu M fu up voit oom- basin are igin ia doe eteraedge large area ited in an ^hoae ont- direotions. The delteoovera an area of about 100 miles from north to south, with a width of from twenty-five miles acroMi the south end to sixty or seventy miles across the north. Overlooking the delta from the * est side is the northen extremity of the Rocky Mountain system, which extends down to the Arctic coast. Although interrup- ted in its course northward from the United States boundary line by several deep valleys and streams, and called by different names in different parts of the country, the continuity of this range is practically unbroken, and these mountains west of the d -lU are really the northern extension of the same range which era «s our southern boundary line. At the delta they nse abruptly to a height of 2,000 feet, and in many parts of the eastern face are inaccessible. Their summits here have the appearance of mature dissection in being well rounded and graded. The highest points are little more than 3,000 feet in height, and this elevation gradually decreases towards the OLACIATION IN THE PEBL RIVER DISTRICT. Reference has already been made to the glaciation in the section of the Peel River watershed enclosed by the foothill ranges. On the plateau to the north and west of this, that is, below the lower caHon of the river, apart from the fact that there has been glaciation to a certain point northward, very little information to supplement McConnell's deductions as to the glaciation on the lower part of the Mackenzie valley was obtained. Heavy deposits of boulder clay occur in what are probably pre- glacial depressions near the mouth of Snake river. One section exposed shows 150 feet of dark boulder clay containing boulders of limestone, quartzite, conglomerate and sandstone, ail of which were undoubtedly derived from the ranges to the south and south-vast. Below Snake river boulder clay lies on the underlying rocks only here and there in patches, and always very thin, scarcely ever exceed- ing ten feet in thickness. Sections of the Peel valley often show liedt of peat occupying the surface, and lying directly on the Cre- taceous sandstones without any intervening glacial drift. Other sections show five or six feet of rusty gravel separating the peat from the sandstone. On the slopes of the high plateau west of SaUh river are numerous landslides exposing a dark clay which carries rolled gravel and boulders. This slope is also broken by two benches, one at a level of 50 feet above the river, and the other at 500 feet. On each of these is the same dark clay holding rounded pebbles. On the top of the plateau, which is entirely devoid of timber for some distance inland^ ^hite cky appears lying in round open spaces three or four 40 00 0«OLOO,OiL .U,v„ „ „^,^^^ '"" "» awmoter Md friawd with « open day .pou.r.qu^eC^'' »"«;'«««.. ^^-tf red over tb «m. octor^nce. on the ljl„ , !! ' '*'''''-• ' have noted ( *'r '' "'"•' "^'-" '^ t^" j;:^;:^ ^^-^ ^- -^o jr j In the moantuns ammr ♦!.- . ;- found .t . hei^htTf tmZi:L^:'T-r'' -I'^d pebbl o" Mount Ooodenoagh, w«t 71^^ ^ '•'*' *»' *''• «r«m • b 3.000 ft«t high. The .un.Sn, th!.™! ° •°° "" """''»• -^'ch P^bble^ ,„d on iu «uth .idett a^ ^T" " '''•'""3' •^""'n wit I««n-tone and gnei«,. Thi. resta? t,*'*""'^ """^ »«"'der. both o fl-^ which conetitutethetn^'^^r^ on the b«,ken iu.rt'i: Evidence of & ■m.n Ooodenough wa.rn inTd^e^V^Jtr ^L""' «"* '^ «>' ^on. K-e«. however, were seen ^h Z^rn 'iT'': '"•^'" "° -»*''^« eroeion, though part, of it overlooking Tl ^ •PP**"""* of mature P-nt ^teep and in«ce«ib,. ^.t'l^ttet^^r '' '"^^'^ ^^ Jm few facts oh«erv«#l ^- X . from the mountain ran^e. to thl u ^"^ *"•■« "^Wently drawn ^ McConneli., theor,. Te i^ f^l ^ 1 T ""*'"^«'*- ^-^ the e«t of the Mackenzie river p^^,^' ^rch-n g^ehering ground t! •n the mountain on the east ,Se^f ,k '^ ^'"■0"«h the ga,«, "r- Efficient toVotL: ttuZt r r t*"' ^^^^ ^^^^ - On account of the softness of th. u *" o' -oes. glaeia, striae are ne er , 'n oT^ "l" ''^ "'"--' «>vering o'de of Mount Goode«o„„h at 7n , ' P'***""* 't«e]f. Ou the sZl ^courings which ma, Jfit ' ? """•"• "^ '''"^ '^^^ grcTeTanH SLt " '"*"'"**'° «'»«V or bv thl; u' ^"**''^ther caused Macken^evalley,itisdiffie„,t^ J the ,ce sheet which fJJJed the to be m favour of the former cau^ ""'''' **' «^''^'»'«» "PPear! "ed over tbaw 'e noted the ^o been men- »lled pebbles •tream ; but Wrtter worn lit, which is itrewn with >* w a very '«r, both of » quartzite 'ot Mount »o existing i summits of mature larplj and CAMSSU, PML RlVm ARO miBUTAUn 41 cc Between the bue of Mount Ooodenoagb and the Huskic river, and at a distance of about a mile from the river, remnant s of an old beach occur. This appears as an abrupt rise of twenty feet above the floor of the delta plain, or forty-five feet above the level of the water, and probably marks a former shore line of the Arctic sea. OBOLOOT OF TDI PMBL RIVIR. The upper caAon of the Peel river is cut in a series of tilted black slates, often dipping up stream. The strata of which it is composed, are alternately thick and thin bedded containing concretionary nodules with cry.sUls and veinleU of pyrite and some bituminous matter dissemioHtod through the rotxs. ThU formation extends for a distance of three-quarters of a mile below the mouth of the Wind river, where it is replaced and overlaid by Tertiary clays and sandstones. The contact is not so well shown on the Peel river as it is on the Wind, though the unconformity between the two is plainly evident. These slates outcrop again fifteen miles below in the lower caiion of the Peel river, so that they border the Tertiary rocks both to the east and to the west. A small outcrop of bitumin- ous limestone, overlaid by the red clay and sandstone of the Tertiary, is exposed one mile below the cafton on the south bank of the river.' When cut through by the Peel river, the Tertiary basin is thirteen miles in width. The rocks of this basin consist of thick beds of soft sandstone, with some thin seams of lignite, overlaid by more sandstone containing pebbles, with clay and some very thick beds of lignite. The whole series has been gently folded into a number of anticlines and synclines. One lignite bed near the top of the series is thirty feet in thickness and fairly persistent, appearing in two exposures four miles apari with a shallow syndine between. This bed rises in an anticline, the top of which has been truncated by later erosion, and beyond, it dips again and disappears beneatu the bed of the Bonnet Plume river. Where it appears in the anticline it has been ignited by some cause or other and is now burning. It has been burnt for some distance along the bank of the river, and even across to the east side of the Bonnet Plume river, and has so undermined the overlying glacial drift as to cause extensive landslides. The large seam of lig- nite contains a fair quality of brown coal, which when dry bums readily, leaving a great deal of ash. The upper Uyers are separated by thm seams of clay, but the lower part is very pure. The heat 01- the burning lignite has baked the layers of clay to a bright brick red, which softens and dissolves in the water. Some of it turns a pure white or pinkish colour and is very hard. Underneath the thirty foot lignite seam, and separated from it by a thick bed of sandstone, is Another seam eight feet in thick- OeOLOruC^L HtHVKT Or CAKADA •PP«ar. while the ^ckit^elfZ.^ T"'"'*'"'' '""^ """y 'aull - thin vein« ra.uifying allThtir ,h "'•°"'"'*'' *"' ""'^ "PP-' rock i« exce«li„g,/fi4,,j3"»'' ^^« -"^^ The texture ofu, «- cJi..tingui,hed even wfth Tig" ^ l^'^'r "' "^'"^*'^ "--' percentage of iron in the for« TS ^rj' . ""'"•'" » '-«* niattor. The series have a banded an^ "nd 'I^o «ome bituminou, of .ome >«.,, white and otherb^ek '"^ "" '"'' *" *'"' ''•«»'«'rin« •n a steop anticline, and forms anarmwU.?"^''* "^ ^ *'»' '"^'"^e -.ne limestone i, again ex^o" J at tZl '^'f ^ '*"' '" "'^'''- ^he the overlying .slates'have b^ t r^'" 'r' f"'' "^ '»>« -«"«. whe,^ eroded awa,. They appear Tg „ ^h 'oPtt ^^ " ""^'^ "' ''° """^ at a lower angle and showing less the offl , *"'°"''' ^"* '^•PP«« » probably a fault hero, ot.ef w I flfZ "''^"-P*'"-- The4 -t^c.i.bew.they-:;— -:^^^^ placed in the Devonian mcr^flontl '^Z"".' '^'»'' *•>«- rocks are ro.ks on the Mackenzie rive wh h ha 'e T ''"' "-"^-^'-^ to Th„ . . . ^" ''**"''^ *« that period The slates of the lower o«n .„ P'noa. and ...re noted on the h irtl:.!?' \'^!' ^'""^ '^^ '»"- -^^^ formation is probably cl::Z:tZ^^V'''''''7 ^"^ "-« stretches northward for .any miles frrltr'^ ^^ '"'^' '''••^'' A section of the bank fivet^'t;"' T^''^^^ ^' Cretaceous age' feet of yellow and red .uirll^Z h" T'' ^''^'^^ '^•-"' ^00 with layers of sandstone, relZ'^ ^^' '''•' '""^ '^'^ mterbedded thickness. Underneath'is a^ lloZZ ''T''' '''' '^' '" very hs«ile. Overlying all is the IZ' TI -f '■'"'^' P^"'*'"^ "''ales, forty feet. Farther down iestLat Thl tl "''' * '^P"*«' '''-"* — e, With thin bed. of -h.^ter^^^t r ^^Z^- OioLOOicAL 8CRTIT or Cakaiu. Vol. XVI., Pa«t CC, PiATi I. Stbuctibk ok Rocks, Lower CiSTos, P«gi, Rivu. CAMMMX PKIL HIVBK AMU TRIBUTAKIU 43 CO In iwrtH th« MMulntoae oooUiiM concratioiu, UMiiy of which are t«n fMt in (UauMtar. Appftrantly the river in thia portion ouU through » low »nticUn«, for in the upper part the dip* are all up st-eam and weaterly, while near HoHlie river the dipH are in tlie oppiMite directiun. To- warde»the centre of thin anticline tlus Ntntta vhow a good deal of evi- dence of presture. A few iiiinur folds occur, and there an> wvt-ral faults. TheM latter are usually thruiit faults, due to contraction and premura rather than tension. The Hnake river ha* a deep and narrow valley cut into soft, grey, argilluceouii sandstones, which lie horizuntiilly or dip at a low unxlo to the east. The sandstone is massive, but the beds are sepiirated fniiu each other liy thin seams of a harder red wcath)*ring NandHtone which contains many fi^sils of Ammonites. Two miles above the mouth of the river a small creek enters from the west. This has cut a deep cafion in the soft xandatono, affording a good section. One-thinl of a mile up the creek are some mineral springs, the water of which gives off a strong oiiour of Kulphuretted hydrogen, while the logs and boulders in the stream are coated with the white substance which is usually found with all sulphurous springs. South of the mouth of Snake river is a rnnge of hills, whose highest points are about 2,000 feet above the river. This range is built up of hard grey sandstone very similar to the sand^tone of the Snoke River valley, only a little more indurated and approaching to a quartzite. The fossils collected in the sandstone of the Snake river have been referred by Dr. Whiieaves to the Cretaceous period. (See page 49.) Below Snake .'ver the Peel river bends sharply to the north, and down the Satah river, in it-s course through the plateau, flows parallel with the strike of the gentle undulations in the plateau. In conse. qucnce there is little variation in the character of the rocks. Argil- laceous sandstones, with interstratified beds of clay in the upper part of the river, merge gradually into sections in which the clay occupies a large portion or changes to shale. In parts the sandstone contains large concretions. In others it exhibits that peculiar structure due to pressure known as "cone-in-cone." Some of these pressure figures have a diameter of fifteen inches, and are either cone-shaped or Ixittle. shaped. On breaking them open the centre is seen to contain crystals of pyrite and marcasite. The surface of the cone peeh off in layers like the layers of an onion, and the different layers are longitudinally striateti and slickensided. The structure is supposed to be due to pressure upon concretions in the course of formation. i ** OC OEOLOaiCAL BURVBT OF CANADA Th« clay beds gradually increase in thickness northward, until they predominate over the aandstoues, when, they too, become shaly. As already mentioned, these beds at the Hnake river are coated with a white crust of epsomite and above the mouth of the George river this coating becomes more pronounced. Six miles above Cariboo creek is a small exposure of reddeited clay shale, which, however, does not appear to be continuous, and immedi- ately below this some lignite float was found on a bar, though the lied from which it was derived was not noticed. Hoft shales, often pyritous, occupy a larger section of the lunks below Trail creek, and are associiited with a sandstone which carries many fragments of Ammonites. The strata aro entirely undisturbed, and the water frecjuently cuts steep bank* which are 600 feet in height. Landslides have frequently broken the banks of the valley into a succession of irregular steps, giving the appearance often assumed in banks formed of the Pierre shales. On leaving the plateau region at Satah river, the river enters a low lying level country, underlaid by soft sandstones and some conglom- erate. Ten miles below Satah river clifiFs of this sandstone one hun- dred feet in height appear on the east bank of the stream, and opposite our camp of July 26, the following section was measured : Foot. Soil and peat 20 Rusty consolidated gravels 5 Soft grey sandstone, massive oO Fossiliferous green sandstone 20 Soft grey sandstone with concretions, also fossiliferous . . 25 130 The rusty gravels of this section rest uncomfortably on the soft grey sandstone beneath. Three miles below, the gravels disappear, and the peat rests on the sandstone. The green sandstone consists of some layers which are made up entirely of fossils of a variety of TMinidae, and are the same as appear in the sandstone of Rat lUnv below the mouth of Long-Stick river. Opposite the mouth of Road river a fine-grained conglomerate underlies the sandstone. The conglomerate is made up of a large percentage of sandstone blocks with smaller waterworn pebbles and some lignite fragments in a matrix of white siliceous sand. At the top it passes gradually into sandstone. A pillar of rock, called by the natives " Shiltee," eleven miles above Fort McPherson consists of coarse siliceous sandstone which weathers CAMMCU. PIKL RITKR AWD TBIBTrTARIU 45 CC to a rusty brown and breaks down into a coarse sand. It is twenty feet in height, standing on a hill .300 feet alx>ve the river. An inter- esting Loucheux legend is connected with the history of this pillar. There were originally three piiiara, standing as a warning to the Indians as a result of the disobedience of three giants who were turned to stone. Two of these pillars have fallen through the action of atmos- pheric agencies, and serve to illustrate the rapidity with which such chan,'];(>q take place in a country where there are such extremes of temperature As far as Fort McPherson a few isolated hills appear on either side of the bank, exposing the same sandstone as appears at " Shiltee," but at theFort this changes to a soft, dark and rusty shale Tha sand- stone is apparently the same as occurs in the Lower Ramparts of the Mackenzie river, and by the description the conglomerate of the Ram- parts is also identical with that of the Peel river. The bluff on which the Fort stands, like many others in that section, is quite isolated and completely surrounded by the alluvial deposits of the delta foniiatiou. Below Fort ^IcPherson only alluvial sands and clays are exposed in the river banks, which are now scarcely twenty feet in height. Cut banks are very common, and these show the sands and clays overlaid by muck and vegetable matter, all of which is frozen. Cracks and fissures in this have become filled with ice, and wherever the sun's rays Ijeat on them for a while the whole is constantly thawing and breaking down. As the upper layers of this alluvial deposit contain many roots and trunks of trees which serve to bind tliem together, they do not fall until the underlying beds have been washed away.or until they over- hang far enough to be unable to support their own weight. These alluvial deposits are being built up year by year, at the time when the streams are in flood, and inundate the whole delta, and they deposit their load of sediment on the submerged surface. The small streams too, flowing in from the mountains to the west, carry down and deposit annually, a great deal of sediment on the liorders of the delta. MOUNT OOODENOUfiH. An excursion was made into the mountains to the west of the delta, and up to the summit of Mount Goodenough. Afterwards in ascend- ing the Rat river, a section of the mountains through McDougal pass was also obtained. The base of Mount Goodenough lies two mile.s back from the river. Its eastern face is exceedingly steep, so that a long detour up one of the creeks is necessary to make the a.scent from the south side. The mountain range here is mode up of horizontal or only OMLOOIOAb IDRTIT Of OAKADA slightly folded strAU, and charaoterized by flat or gently rounded tops. Mount Ooodenough is 3,000 feet in height ; but some elevations to the west of it may slightly exceed this. To the north and northwest there is a gradual decrease in elevation, until the range dips down to the Arctic ocean west of the month of the Mackenzie. .,' The geology of the range is not complicated. At the base is a thick series of black shales, which towards the top contain beds of very hard clay ironstone. These weather red, and the ontcrop can be traced by its colour for miles along the eastern face of the mountains. These red beds contain remains of Ammonites, while the underlying and enclosing black shales are also fossiliferous. The shales are gradually replaced upwards by argillaceous sandstones, and these again by siliceous sandstones. These latter become metamorphosed to quartzites and constitute the upper members of the series. Though the mountains rise abruptly from the floor of the delta, the strata have only a very low dip to the east Farther to the west they have been more closely folded and frequently faulted. These strata are persistent up the Rat river and across to the Bell river, and have been folded into a series of anticlines and synclines, the whole section being an anticlinorium. *■■ ECONOMIC GIOLOOT. The rocks of the Peel river below the Wind river are not likely ever to be productive in minerals of economic interest other than coal and lignite. In panning for gold on a bar on the Peol river above the mouth of the Wind half a dozen fine colours were obtained, showing that this stream contains more of that metal than the Wind river. Gold is reported to have been found by the Indians in the gravels of the Bon- net Flume river, and some specimens were exhibited ; time, however, did not permit us to substantiate this report. This stream certainly carries a great deal of magnetic sand in its gravels, and for that reason it goes by the name of the Black Sand river among the Indians. A report is current that a certain prospector picked up a pebble of quartz, which showed some free gold, on a bar in the Peel river about thirty miles below the mouth of the Snake river ; but if this is true, the specimen must have been carried there from beyond any part of the river that we were on, and was certoinly not derived from any rocks near there. Iron ore occurs merely as float in the wash of both the Bonnet Plume and Snake rivers. The ore is magnetite and hematite asso- ciated wiiu red jasper. The float is widely spread over a great part of the Peel River basin. Mr. Keele found it in large blocks on the P»t, RIVIB AND TniBUTARIBI 47 CO Rackia river on the Yukon aide of the divide, and it occurs in the wash of Bear river, so that a very extensive deposit of the ore must be situated in the mountain range towards tlie heads of these streams. Mineral springn, containing sulphor, occur on a small tributary of the Snake rivnr tiro miles above the Peel, imd small quantities of this mineral are deposited on the boulders in the bed of the stream. Seams of lignite occupy extensive areas in the rocks of the Tertiary basin at the Bonnet Plume river. The largest seam not«d was thirty feet in thickness, another was eight feet, and several varied from two inches to ten. The lignite is not of very good quality, and has been burnt in many places by the fires which have been in existence for many years. Lignite also occurs a few miles above ihe mouth of Cariboo river, and also in the caflon of the Rat river above the mouth of Barrier river. Many sections of the Peel plateau below Snake river sliow l>eds of peat resting on the clay or sandstone, sometimes as much as twelve feet in thickness. A fissure vein of bituminous coal three feet wide occurs on the right bank of the Peel river ten miles below the lower cafioii. It cuts directly across the beds of sandstone and slialo, standing verti- cally and striking 29.5°. It is very light and soft, burning readily with a red flame, and leaving very little ash. Its origin is probably the bitumen that occurs in the shales and some of the associated sand- stones across which it cuts. The slates and associated limestone occuringin the upper and lower caflons of the Peel river are more or less petroliferous, and afford indications of the presence of oil. Tur oozes out from these rocks in several places, and at the mouth of the Wind river the slates have been reddened, probably by the combustion of the oil which they contain. OA.ME AND FISH. Moose, though found over the whole region explored as far as the delta of the Mackenzie river, are never as abundant as they are on the Yukon side of the divide, and on the Peel river itself are rather scarce. Caribou are plentiful everywhere in the vicinity of the mountain ranges, some even being found on the plateau. Bears, both black and grizzly, are plentiful near the summit of the divide, and numbers of them were seen all the way down the Peel river, and particularly on the Mackenzie delta and in the mountains to the west of it. lG_c— 6 48 cc OROLOOICAL SDRTET OF CAXADA Numbert of white monntain nheep were seen on both Braine and Nash Creeks. In the monntain section of the Wind river several of them were encountered on the banks of the stream, as well as the slopes of the valley. A small band was seen on Mount Ooodi>nongb west of the Mackenzie delta, and they are said to be abundant in the mountain range to the west of this ; so that the range of this animal covers ihe whole district explored. Grayling in the monntain sections, and white-fish, inconnuand pike in (he lower parts of the district are the common fish of the country explored. The Poel River district is inhabited by the Louoheux tribe of Indians, who trade with the Huison'd Bay Company at Furt McPherson. These obtain their living entirely by fishing in the summer, and trapping and hunting caribou in the winter. They make no attempt to build houses, and the cultivation of the ground is impossible, as the surface only thaws out during the summer for a few inchas. iir NOTES ON FOSSILS BY DR. WHITEAVE8. A . A pparoUly of Devonian ag«. Favo:i/es. — Fragment of a missive corallum in which Mr. Lambe thinkii he can detect septal squamulae. No. 1, Braine creek. I'roductella. — Gibbons ventral valves of a small species of produo- tella, with coarse simple or bifurcating radiating ribs. No. 2. Summit of Braine pass ; and Braine pass Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8: Atrypa reticularis. — Braine pass, numlier not stated. Impressions or natural moulds of the exterior of portions of two specimens of a brachiopod that may be A. reticularis, are labelled Braine pass Na 6. S. Cretaceout spzciis. Imperfect specimen of the shell of a strongly convex and very in- equilateral lamellibranchiate bivalve, rather like Panopoea or Pleur- omt/a in shape, but with the valves apparently closed, not gaping> behind. Feel river No. 21. Thracia. — Three small and imperfect spec'""»ns that seem to be re- ferable to this genus. Tellina {?) A few tolerably good specimens of a compressed snbo- vate bivalve shell, with very thin test, which may be referable to the Tellinidae, or possibly to the Veneridae. But none of these specimens show the hinge dentition or muscular impressions. PIKL KIVBR AMD TBIBtTTARIU 49 00 Inoeeratnu: — The Bp«cimen labelled No. 10, though imperfeot ia large, but the other ■peoiir.ena are mere fragmentd. SaaLe river Noa. 9, 10, 11 and 12. Ammonite Ko. J.— Large crashed fragments of a smooth species with a narrow venter and umbilicus. Apparently a Demnoeerai and possibly most nearly related to smooth variety of D. affint from the Peace and Loon rivers. Peel river No. 22. Ammonite Ko, 2. — Cfr. Detmoceraa Liardonte, W , from the Liard river, which was first described by Dr. Whiteaves as Placentieereu (Perezianum f var. j Liardense, in contr. to Canad. Palaeont., vol. 1, p. 158, pi. XXI fig : 1, but which has since been doubtfully referred to the genus Detmocera*. A worn fragment of a cast of less than half a volution. Venter and umbilicus both apparently narrow ; radiating ribs low, broad and bifurcating or trifurcating. Peel river No. 16. A small and very badly preserved specimen perhaps of the same species as the preceding, is labelled Peel riier No. 17. Ammonite Xo. 3. Fragment consisting of a rough cast of the in- terior of one of the septal chambers. Quite indeterminable even gen- erically, but evidently different from No. 1 and 2. Peel river Noa. 18. i 'ill f I ' 1 SELECTED LIST OF REPORl'S (SINCE 1886) OF SPECIAL ECONOMIC INTEREST PTBLIHHKI) BT THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OK CANADA MINBRAL RBSOUROOS BULLBTINS 818. PUtinum «.")1. Coal. SVI. Aabntu*. K57. Infuaorial Earth. K.18. ManKanew. 85U. Salt. 800. Zinc. 8flg. Mica. 872. Molybdenum and Tungrten. 877. Graphite. 880. Peat. 881. Phoaphatca. 882. Copper. 913. Mineral Pigmants. 745. Altitudes of Canada, by J. White. 1890. (40c.) BRITI8H COLUMBIA. 212. 2;«. 2.3C. 26;). 272. 204. 573. 674. 743. 9,39. 940. The Rorky Mountains (between latitudes 40* and 1885. (25c.). Vancouver Island, by G. M. Dawson. 1886. (25c.). The Bocky Mountains, Geological Structure, by R. G. McConnell. 1860. (aOo » Cariboo mining district, by A. Bowman. 1887, (25c) v^"-/. Mineral Wealth, by G. M. Dawson. West Kootenay district, by O. M. Dawson. 188»-80. {35c.). Kamloops district, by O. H. Dawson. 1894. (35c ) Finlay and Omenica Rivers, bv R. G. HcConnell. 1894 .\tlin mining district, by J. C. Gwillim. 1800. (10c.) Rossland district, B.C., by R. W. Brock. Graham Island, B.C., by R. W. Ells, 1005. (10c.) YUKON AND MACKENZIE. 30'), by G. M. DawMw. (l«c.) 260. Yukon district, by O. M. Dawson. 1887. (30c.) ^T- Xl''"'J?..""* ^''??"« Basins, by R. G. McConnell. 1889. (26c.) 6S7. K ondike go d fie ds ^pejimina^^) by R. G. McConnell. 1900. (lOe.) 8H4. Klondike gold eelds, by R O. McConnell. 1901. (26c.) lM^ Sr™'i ^^ ^f^' ■?•• repon. by J. M. Bell. 1900. (lOc) W>8. Windy Arm, Tagish Lake, by R. G. McConnell. 1906. (10c.) ALBERTA. 231- ^™»™' portion, by J. B. TyrreU. 1886. (25c.) 7sJ" V ?f* "SJ* Athabaska Rivera district, by R. O. McConnell. 703. Yellow Head Pass route, by J. McEvoyf 1808. (16c.) 1890.91. (25c.) SASKATCHEWAN. 213. Cypress HilU and Wood Mountain, by R. G. McConnell. 1886. (28c ) 86S. Souris River coal fields, by D. B. Dowling. 1902. (lOo.) UANITOBA. 9M. Duek and Ridinii MouBtaim, by J. B. Tymll. IBS: SM. OlMlikl UlM AgMli, by W. Upluun. rsw. (3Se.l „ , _, ........ 1BS7-S. (lOe.) SM. OlMlikl UlM AgMli, by W. Upluun. rsw. (3Se.) S35. Northwaston portion, by J. B. Tyrrell, 1800-01. (2Sc.) 704. Lake Wlnalpac (wMt ihora), by D. B. DowUng ISM. l „ ,.„ . „.^,^ (•aatdiore),byJ.B. Tyrrell. 1808. (jfa.) /»"'"'* '"■«•>«. KEEWATIN AND FRANKLIN. 706. 317. Hudaon Bay and atrait, by R. Bril. 188A. (ISc.) 338. Hutfaon Bay, aouth of. by A. P. Low. 1886. (lOe.) 330. Attawapiakat and Albanv Rlv«r*, bjr R. B«U. 1886. (18c.) 344. Northam portion of the dominion, by O. M. Dawwn. 1886. 878. Barena Rivar Baain, by D. B. DowUnc. 1894. (ISe.) eiS. Northern Kcewatin, by J. B. TyrrcU. 1806. (Me.). (300.) 787. Qraaa River re^on, by J. B. Tynell and O. B. bowiing. 815. Ekwan River and Button Lakee. by D. B. Dowling. 1901 906. The Cruiae of the Ntptunt, by A. P. Low. IOCS. (83.00). 1900. (36e.) (l«o.) [ ONTARIO. 316. Lake of the Wooda region, by A. C. LawMm. 1886. (3Se.) 366. Rainy Lake region, by A. 0. Lawaon. 1887. (25c.) 366. Lake Superior, minea and mining, by E. D. IngiUl. 1888. (36o.) 836. Sudbury mining diatriet, by R. Bell. 1800-01. (30e.^ S37. Hunten ialand, by W. H. Smith. I8e&«0. (SOo.) S33. Natural Oaa and Petroleum, by U. P. H. Brumell. 180O41. (SOe.) 367. Victoria, Peterborough and Haatingi eountiv. 1001. (10c.) ' Bound together. igctber. W. BaOmy NEW BRUN8WTCK ANT> NOVA BOOTIA. aiS. WMtm N«w Brunwriok Mul EatUm Nov« Scotia, by R. W Bib. J8M. (SOe.) aw. CWrlMoa Mid VirtoTi* e<*. bv L. W. B«iley 188S. (aOo.) M3. VietorU. RMllgoueba and Northumberlaiid countlta. N.B., by L. •Dd W. Meliiiiw. 1888. (lOc) „ . ,..,., . „„ . 348. Ouyaborouch, Antiioniah, Ptptou, ColcliMl«r ami Halifax enuntiaa, N.8., by Rufh Ffetcher and E. R. Faribault. IMfl. (Me.) ,„,j. 300. NorttMin portion and adjacent araaa, by 1.. W. Bailey and W. Mclnnaa. 1K87-8S. (26e) 390. TemiaeouaU and Rimouaki oountim. by h. W. Haility and W. Mslnnm. l8W>-0t. 381. Ptetiwand Colch«rt*r counUc N.8., by H. i-letaher ,18»0*»v„ (»«),,- , 3«. SottthwcatOTB Nora Scotia (Preliminary), by L. W. Bailor. 1883-83. (lOo.) 838. SouthwMtmt Nova Bcotia, by L. W. Bailey. 1890. (2de.) 601. Mineial iwourrc, N.B., by L. W. Bailey. 1897. (10c.) New Bninawick aeology. by R. W. Elle. 1887. (10c.) 707. Cambrian rocka of Ckpe Breton, by Q. F. Hattiiew. 1900. (SOe. i 7«». Carboniferoue eyrtem In N.B., by i.. W. Bailey. 1900. (lO")! Bound to«ether. 808. Codpro»pe•) (15c.) 80c.) (2«c.) [ether. ^SSSSSi if'' if ;H f '' -• t la M A — -• --•— ^'----- '■- 1 >»— <■ I ' »*«• •• >^'-- 111 I .x^ / ll ■ p II— > o rf* t' 1 AIU..i^,_<>.AMi ' ■i K ll.l. n l.ll.^- .>•«> M.,i>. _ /.x •<.•. •MfOt MiV.M«,r«HMI.II>,ll ■••■'-11 ^.3« ialSlaM|ffCiiiuib;i »• IW na I wiTa^wtnipMail UPPER STEWART RIVER REGION YUKON TRRRrrOKY i <*t * *^£ t & stin^jisxr ."a.-! r .Litfcrf Kaifn I-' .r'y IVlrr Ul-1« ui K -> rv^ MKMCOrr MMXUnON TBT CMAIT (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) A i^PPUED ItVMGE In 1«53 toil Moin Strnl (7H) 4U - 0300 - PhotM (7ie) 28e - SM9 - Fmi MMtRt KU.Se.O..«to«*U.UI.M0 ra^lSA./l lo Uu sma.o Uiilani €«m** oratlh^ enUwA Ihrouiih \fliU pt»m *-A' '"ilnl.ili"^ "'"■In ilvirf f't»htr 1 V r rial ' s^ ^1 Nelnoii* Fishery ^ I I- kriffi fitrett t'ontints mttwiynf Iw fftrurr with fiHmr /Hfplnr, hirrh '.1am ■- linil nilhim >»' *' v:1 ^ ' )!>.<. ,w,,.„ .,^„,j mailh mlli'irUi Ji ~. I \)^ * '■ *'••'«. *l*ruhM havi otmMt diaua^fwtu/ fc'** M n i. ,'' » ** "•••-«»»*"^f<-«.^*«fc, ,OToV«U<^ «.,/'.;!*■ -•'■**'>"" •""•"umirous .ma'f ' S •?» ^ ««i .^ i # Willi .M- \\»\H'i' si' Ih lii.* vl-f f'Hl M' I'ftcrsoii y^/v" .\ ^ rufir -" I _(• ' pa-iMfr are Hun iilfM ftir h'lir r e^fftr*- r/j s^tti cr fn thm mm»h of ^w of me ■ Mnsht 't / IT* \ •-.^ B^.iriliw«-«t ■■ T»-r r T«rril<»r '"if!"""*'*" "'■'" '*•»'•*•*• *•« /^»»', VrW^ISA. ACTUM OIMCTM t (• ukt AMf « angin clay ten* I W Jif » Mf) Mac* >A«/«s ^9^^^ 99n4Btor9» with Isrge mmmon Soft th»lt$ 700 . Situs » mrgiiutms ^\>-, ff-^ kj /•> 8 U currtnt vfry swift ' I M- Micrmm*Ur murvi^t of Pitf.l tutd Huthit rivrr», otBrmne mnd Jfrnsh eteekt /Vwm Mcmvrr riv^r Im tnitd riviv mtd ir^eka aurr^ys 0f Win/d rwar Mul KASt ehanm^i at Peel rtrtr. *r C.CamacU./^Of. Miepmneisr saarrvy of MmehevtMie rirer mit4l trmek Burvgy of Mat rtvor *r Wm. Ufilvie./M^ I'ompdMiMim tv J. K«elp. A, ni6H PEAKS SOOO' TO TOOO' UBivtr MWift , ihalltfw and filU j,mtA ffnirrl hart Li« ^K ,',\'s^« .i?# , .MT WILLIAMS *»«« '(^v:::;::^^ I3#i* ■p. fr^rvauh (( I' ^: rf^ V--. >N PCARS >' TO rooo' Uew and fitUd \ ) V I v. \ V ^^ \ /• 1 \ 1 V / •^ ^ ^ / V \ 1 \ ! 1 »s< 1} >-^ ^«Wfen Yuk<»i, ^f irt»«*