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LRTTKR
.1^ '^ '■■■
TO
^t mot of " C§c f aUfe Citiien;
IN ANSWER TO
MB. E. GILPIN'S TAMPHLET.
UPON THE CARB0NIFE30US DISTRICT OF
I ST. OEOBGE'S BAY. NEWFOUNDLAND.
■•■
BT
ALEX. MUBBAT,
Pkotincul Gsoiooiw.
X
t
f ""i
't
J- 0. VThbib*, QMen'i Plrin4t^
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St. John'h, NEWFOfNCLASD, I
January 18th, 1875.)
Letter uddreKsed to the Ediior of the Hali/ud- Citixen.
Sib,—
I don't know to wliom I am indebted lor ti little pam-
phlet, entitled — " Sketch of the Curboniferous District
of St. George's Bay, Newfoundland ;" but whoever it may
be. I am very thankful for it, as it gives me an opportunity
of correcting some rather grave errors, into which the
author, Mr. Edwin Gilpin, has, doubtless inadvertently,
fallen : —
First of all, allow me to say, that I disclaim all pre-
tensions to the proud title of Professor, which Mr. Gilmn
confers upon me. I never was, am not, and probably
never shall be, entitled to jQU the dignified position of a
Professor's chair ; and only claim to be heard fairly as ti
•working Geologist of now well on for forty years' standing.
Secondly, it appears to me that either Mr. Gilmn haa
never read my reports, or, if he has, he ignores much that
is said in them ; but there is reason to suppose that he
must have at least seen my report for 1878, as he at ono
part refers to certain sections contained therein. Now, I
feel it to be just possible that some of the statements made
in the said pamphlet may lead to misapprehension on the
part of some of its more enlightened readers, as to the
correctness of my publications upon a kindred subject ;
and therefore think it onlj right to remind Mr. Gilpin that
my Maps and Bepcrts are the result of actual surrey of the
ground ; that the coast and rivers have all been carefully
\
1 °-^^ clue oTe'^f r^^^-^-ff over t'e ! fo^^ ^^^^'^^^■-'-.
pressed view. ""'^"-^^-"Ws ^ee„l,"'> *.« ad,.it I
'^«rnined the coast I ^^"^^"«an. h^/°°'^ ^^f soz^s for
*^««e of the r , .^'^' "^^^-^y to Z ""'' ^^'^ extend
Cape Aneuij]. a ^^ ^ ^^J^^t to ,•« fu
^ '' ^"' ^^« ^aage Of il^ij; t^f*«*««^•^-* that
... .^^_
'^«'fm of tvi.
f^^ ends have
*« «'e topo-
"^s Were col-
o^ogica] ex.
fieid on a
'^'' J think
'°^J' stated,
derate me
* admit I
'^ '"y ex-
'«. 1st;
•h termi-
itute by
Lower
01J3 re-
'^8 for
and I
con-
assea
tend,
ex-
con -
evr-
lUC-
lat
ns
5
ridge of intrusive rock running obliquely towards tlif
plateau." I bog to assure Mr. Gilpin in reply, that I founrl
carboniferous rocks with fossils, and limestone with snowy
yypsum, right under the very Cape ; and further I musi,
beg him to understand, that with the exception of that
part of the coast which lies between Cape Anguille and the
HighlandH, every bit of the Southern shore of St. George';^
Bay haw been actually surveyed and closely examined ;
and notwithstanding the fact that we have made clos(!v
examination than usual for the purpose of ascertaining
by what egency the great disturbances of the region havo
been affected, we have failed as yet to find the slightest
indications of igneous intrusion ; nay, we have not met with
an instance of a trap dyke cutting the Carboniferous strata.
As we have likewise crossed o'.er and examined the ranj/f
of hills from St. George's Bay to the Codroy liiver, wo can
now state with more confidence than ever, that the rocks
cif the whole range are chicjii/ if not entirely of Lower Car-
boniferous ; — being brought into their present position "n
the axis of an anticlinal.
At page 5, Mr. Gilpin says, in speaking of the Cod-
roy Kiver, " no systematic exploration has yet been madf. '
As I in 1866 not only dialled that river, and measured tl
whole series of Carboniferous strata upon it, but also raadf
careful sections of the coast exposures from Cape Anguilb'
to the Little Codroy River, all of which have been publisli-
ed, I can hardly understand how it happens that an m-
quirer like Mr. Gilpin, should have made such au asser-
tion.
As the section exposed from Cape Auguillo to Cnpf
Frior, and for some distance further East, has not yet be<^n
surveyed, I shall not take upon myself to say, whether or
not, any older strata than Carboniferous make their nji-
pearance, although my opijiion at present is, they do not.
The dislocations of which Mr. Gilpin treats, however. 1
•m quite a^are 0/ ho«
from the deck ofl' "^ '"*'" ^faem on r,,.
bute to mni * ''"'''^^ '• I>"t these I .^ ■ f "^' °««a6ions
'•ous preset! f^ ' '^ '' «*"*«^J that Zt " '"^'»«-^*«-
-J' or upon wh'!:;lrt ^ ''^^^^^^^^--o^Cr
^-'- ''.^- entangled int the sTrief ? " — ^-"^
remaris unon fK ""J^'^* ^onsecutivelv • «« .
"">. I have rea.o" r« ,.^° """J' -^""slan, 7 ™! T"
i..ppin's or domains Bro4 l^''^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^eij as at'
examined thp Po * -"^opk- Moreover ?,« j i>r *'
-^ "'"JO evidence to sinmn,.t *i ', *"® ®an»e time
'" ^'""<"'' "i'on one hori.
-yare not
tletached
tlieir pro-
structure,
^t if Mr.
ii of i\^Q
"e, I can
t beg to
'Us hori.
mineral
ighlands
^f St.
W as at
>ser he
5 there
' trap,
eneral
iarge-
it in
Cairn
time
lid I
I next observe that Mr. Gii.pim '•/oioul uhutulatit indi-
cutioui of petroleum upon Shoal Point." That there w«
inJication.t of this mineral there, ia perfectly true, but bj
what contrivance he finds an analogy between the rocki
of that point, which are Silurian, and those of New York
and Ohio, where a similar substance occurs, which art D#-
voniun, I am quite at a loss to understand. As it happeni
that I worked out tlieae Hamilton f aalea with then: aaso-
ciated Devonian rocks in Western Canada many year*
ago, it may perhaps be admitted that I ought to know
something about them. If Mr. Gilpin doubts the age of
those bituminous rocks, let him procure some fossils from
the spot, and be guided by the expressed opinion of Pro-
fessor James H\ll, or any Palreontologist of reputation.
At page 11, Mr. Gilpin gives hia summary of thy
geological structure of the region, and very short work h»
makes of it ; but, let us look a little at certain facts, before
jumping at conclusions. If I read Mr. Gilpin's words
aright, I understand him to assert that Long Point, and
the whole peninsula of Port-auPort, are of Carboniferous
age ; that Long Point constitutes the base of the series,
and that my river sections are all above the horizon of
the gypsum. Mr. Gilpin will, perhaps, be a little surpri-
sed when I tell himthn , far the greater part of Long
Point, and nearly the /hole of Port-au-Port peninsula,
are not only not Carboniferous rocks at all, but Lower
Silurian, displayed in the clearest and most unmistakeable
section of some thousands of feet thickness, from which I
have a collection of beautiful and highly typical fossils.
The Carboniferous rocks in Port-a-Port Bay are merely
patches let down among rocks of Silurian age, which Mr.
Gilpin might have seen for himself at several of the Coves
in East Bay, where nothing can be clearer than the un-
conformity ; and he might have seen that the Limestones
in front of these patches, as well as the Limestone iu rear,
8
4
«•« fuU of typical foasiJs of tlio Calc^ous On T
upon saoZLT-^alT'll'^' *""^' """-«
ramlt of most oarrfai a^T" ^ , '^^- '^'' "« «"«
upon the one o/ iLfv^, k .t .^ ^^'"'' "^ '» -""is
P.«« VWd. TriU n.xi""^!'"'"'""^ coatoed, ia tt.
vJi£e,-
'•ffw I
, i ' -'"^Ilini, Sir,
xourjnoit obedient Servaiit «
i isei } . . . .;4LjEX. MUBiU Y.
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