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DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH 
 
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 OF THB 
 
 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 
 
 OF THB 
 
 DOMINION OF CANADA. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALFEED E. C. SELWYN, LL.D., F.E.S., F.G.S., 
 
 DIRECTOR OP THK UiJOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY OP CANADA i 
 
 '' ; 
 
 m 
 
 AND 
 
 G. M. DAWSON, D.S., F.G.S., F.E.S., Can. 
 
 AssociAii; ui Tiin royal school op mines. 
 
 m 
 
 MONTEEAL: 
 DAWSON" BEOTHEES 
 
 1884. 
 
'/ 
 
 lirtt nilfi-rSi 
 
 ?m^: 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 fy 
 
 In the following descrijitivo sketch of the physi(?al geography and 
 geology of Canada, Avhich has been prepared to accompany a new 
 geological map of the Dominion on a scale of forty milei!i to one inch, 
 the country is divided into an eastern and western section, lying respec- 
 tively east and west of the Eed Eiver valley. The areas may be 
 approximately stated as 2,500,000 square miles for the eastern and 
 1,(M)0,000 square miles for the western section. 
 
 The descri])tion of the Eastern Section, Part I., is by the writer and 
 ihtst of the Western Section, Part II., by Dr. G. M. Dawson. 
 
 ^e material is for the most ])art derived from the explorations and 
 published reports of the Greological Survey, trom its commencement in 
 1842 to the present date. Also, as regards the western division, from 
 the Eeport on the Geology and Eesources of the 49th parallel, by Dr. 
 G. M. Dawson (Boundary Commission Eeport 1875). 
 
 ALFEED E. C. SELWYN. 
 
 OTTAWA, June, 1884. 
 
"»•■ 
 
PART I. 
 
 (EASTERN SECTION.) 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 In considering the physical featufes of the eastern division of Canada, 
 from the Valley of the Bed River in longitudt^ 9*7° west to the Atlantic 
 sea board of Nova Scotia and Labrswlor, including the now geographic- 
 ally separated, but ])hysically and geologically connected, island of 
 Newfoundland, we find it comprises areas which present three very 
 •distinct aspects, both geographical and geological. Those areas may 
 ~be enumerated and described as follows. They are closejv con- 
 nected with the geological structure and are consequently indicated and 
 ■outlined approximately by the geological color on the accompanying 
 map. 
 
 1. The South-Eastern Area. 
 
 2. The Southern-and- Western Area. 
 
 3. The Northern Area. 
 
 ■ M 
 
 1. The So uth-E astern Area. 
 
 The South-Eastern area is bounded on the north-west by the river 
 &t. Lawrence from the Strait of Belle Isle to Quebec and thence by an 
 almost direct line to the foot of Lake Champlain on the Vermont 
 boundary. Within it are included the provinces of New BrunsAvick, 
 Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, also the somewhat larger 
 Ijriand of Anticosti, (the latter being, however, in its phj^sical character 
 #1 isolated portion of area number 2.), while Newfoundland constitntes 
 pi noi'th-eastern limit. The main orographical feature has a coiu-se 
 '^rallel to and only a short distance away from the St. Lawi-ence. It 
 •constitutes the north-eastern prolongation of that branch of the Appa- 
 lachian Mountains of which the Green Mountains of Vermont and the 
 ■pThite Mountains of New Hamphire form a part, and which in Canada 
 ikes the name of the Notre Dame Eange. 
 
 
6 [h 
 
 To the Houth-east this arou may bo described as occupied by asucti 
 sion ot'Kubordinato and aiij)roximately |tai'alU'l ridges. These bavi 
 general nortli-east and south-west course, and gi-adually diniiiil^h' 
 altitude across the pro"ince8 of New Brunswick and Nova Scot! 
 The most ))roiiiinent arc ; — 1. The granitic highlandK of Ni 
 Scotia, cxten<ling in a broad swccj* from Cajie Sable to Vu\ 
 Canso, nowhei-e, howevci-, attaiiung an elevation of 1200 feet. 2. Tl 
 Cobequid Range fi-om Cape Chiegnecto to Cape St. George, tlu-ti 
 extending through tli*' highlands of Cajtc Breton to Ca])e North, :ii 
 continued fi-om Cape Kay north-eastward through Newtounillani 
 3. The granitoid and tra]i])ean ridges of central New Brunswick o; 
 tending south-west from the Bay of Chaleui's ; 4. Tiie main axil 
 from Sutton Mountain (4000 feet high) on the Vermont boimilary ij 
 Cape Eosier in (Jaspe where in the Shickshocks and ncighboiirinj 
 mountains we again tlnd numerous peaks ranging from 2500 to 4(>iii| 
 feet in altitude. 
 
 I have elsewhere described the Gaspe-Peninsula as forming a blocll 
 of table lands about 150(» feet in height in which the river courses aiv 
 deeji and narrow excavations, llising from this, the Shickshork] 
 Mountains form a conspicuous range extending about sixty-five milt'^ 
 from the east side of the Ste. Anne ties Mouts to the Matano. b' 
 occupies a breadth of from two to six miles at a distance of about I 
 twelve miles from the St. Lawrence, and rises into ])eaks as ali'cadv 
 stated attaining heights of between 3000 and 4000 feet. But though 
 the liighest lantl. this range does not form any part of the watov 
 parting of the peninsula ; for the Ste. Anne des Monts, the Matane 
 and the Chatte, taking their sources in lower country to the south, 
 cut gorges thi'ough the range so deep that their channels wher^■ 
 crossing it arc not nu^re than 500 to 600 feet above the St. Law- 
 rence. The waters of one branch of the Matane have their source 
 on the lower land north of the range anil flow south through a 
 profountl gap to Join the main stream, thus ci'ossing the range twice 
 in their course to the great River, 
 
 On the northei-n slope to the St. Lawrence the rivers are compara- 
 tively short and rapid. The Etchemin, the Chaudiere, the St. Francis, 
 the Yamaska and the Richelieu are the only ones of any impor- 
 tance. The valleys of these streams do not attain a greater elevation 
 than from 500 to 1000 feet above the St. Lawi-ence, and like the streams 
 cutting the Shickshock Mountains, they gather much of their waters 
 from lands to the south, through valleys running with the strike of 
 the ridges. Connected with these streams are a number of consider- 
 able lakes; Megantic and Spider forn) the headwaters of the Chau- 
 diere, 1,100 feet above the sea, and together cover an area of about 
 
 r 
 
 > l.'KliiMUWmanil 
 
'n«oecupio(lhyasu,,,.. 
 el rid^a-M. Those Jiav. 
 nd gradually ilimi„i,|, 
 *wiek ana Nova Semi; 
 tic highlands of Nov 
 Caj.o Saldo to (';,, 
 on of 1200 feet. 2. Tli 
 -•'110 St. George, the,,,, 
 on f(, Ca])e J^orth, ;ii„ 
 lu-oiigh No\vj;,undl;„„i 
 ral New Brunswick ox 
 •«; 4. The niain axi> 
 ^' Voi-mont hoiuuhiry i, 
 >cks and neigh boui-iii^- 
 ,nM^' fi-oni 2500 to 401)^ 
 
 Ilia as forming a blod; 
 li the river courses aiv 
 thi^ the 8hicksh.)d> 
 sibout sixty-five mij^, 
 » to the Matane. Jr 
 t u distance of about 
 into poaks as ali-eadv 
 00 feet. But thouni, 
 y part of the water 
 ' M:onts, the Matane 
 •>"ntry to the south, 
 eii- eliannels where 
 above the St. Law- 
 le have their source 
 w south througli a 
 >iiig the range twice 
 
 rivers are compara- 
 ere, the St. Francis, 
 ones of any impor- 
 
 a greater elevation 
 ind like the streamH 
 ich of their waters 
 
 with the strike of 
 umber of consider- 
 ators of tlie Chau- 
 
 an area of about 
 
 tWtoty s(iuare miles; St. Francis. Aylmer, Memi)hremagog, Little 
 Milgog and Massawippi ar<^ tributary to the St. Francis, and staml at 
 eI«vation.s res])cctivcly of 890, 795, 034, 500 and about 600 feet, with 
 avtfts of 12, 9, ;n, 8 and 6 sijuarc miles. The extreme tlepth of Mem- 
 phremagog Lake is stated to be upwards of 000 feet; tlu- outlet is 
 over strata of Siluro- Devonian siiales and limestones, dipj)ing at high 
 angles, tiic strike being ])ai'allel with the length of the lake in its 
 northern half. Neither the depth nor the nature of the basins of the 
 other lakes named have as yet been fully ascertained. They all appear, 
 unlike the lakes of the Laurentides, to occupy long and nari'ow, or 
 ti'OUgh-like dejti-essions in the valleys, but whether they are rock- 
 basins oi- drift-daniM portions of the old valleys remains to be <lecided 
 by future investigation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the general hilly and sometimes mountainous and 
 thickly wooded character of Eastern Canada, there are many fine 
 stretches of agricultural and pastoral lands, most of Avbich ai-e due to 
 the modification the sui-face has iindeigone during \\\v foi-mation of 
 the glacial and later (le]»osits of P(tst-Tei"tiary Age, whicli have tilled 
 in and oblittM-ated many of the iri-egularities of the surface of the 
 ancient disturbed and corrugated rock formations. 
 
 These Post-Tertiary marine formations ajtpearin all parts of the area 
 in flats and terraced banks uj) to elevations of 500 feet above the sea, 
 while similar deposits of fresh-water origin occui- at elevations of more 
 than 2000 feet.'*^ They are fully described in chap. xxii. Geology of 
 Canada, 1863. 
 
 2. The Soutiiern-and-Western Area. 
 
 Adjoining the area to which the foregoing remarks a])ply, and 
 bounded on the east by its north-western limit, is that which has 
 been referreil to as the Southern-and-Western Ai-ea. Exce]>ting 
 the isolated trap hills at and in the vicinity of Montreal island, which 
 probably mark the sites of volcanic vents of the Siluro-Devonian 
 period, this area is absolutely devoid ot' mountains, or even of prominent 
 ttills. It presents a broatl, level or slightly undulating expanse of 
 g|0nei-ally fertile country, with occasional step-like ridges or rocky 
 Ciflcarpments, marking the outcropping edges of some of the gently 
 ipclined pabeozoic formations which — but in a totally different physi- 
 cal condition — likewise occupy the south-eastern area. One of these 
 «scai-[)ments occurs at the outlet of Lake Ontario, where the Birds-eye 
 
 ■ iji. • Thunder Cape, in Lalie Superior, is strewn witli pebbles derived from the palseozoic con- 
 -flomcriites of the region, and ii large boulder of Laurcntian gneiss was observed near the 
 itammit, of the Cape at a height of not less than 1800 feet above the sea level. 
 
 
 
i'IJf,IP!y"B»'H;»»^ 
 
 Wh'. 
 
 8 
 
 jilliclon,. /i.,-raa(i„„ ,„s,, „„ „, r ■ 
 
 h III.' La,„,.„lia„ -„..,«<.. nl'iiv' "'■■' "" '""""'' n 11,0 t 
 
 ™i>«'.i N-a. „■,.„,„„;, : ,^, ;\^";;;"-' a.™, i, ,„.,,„,,; 
 
 Qu.1.00 ,„ ,K. Mani.^ali,, ,;|f, « '"''''\-'->'-;''".li.« «u,,, ,1,.. vi,.,-,, 
 
 .;.-..a, ,,,.i.,K,o. .,.^„,, ;,:;.,„,I "^;/';;|;-;";-ir .■..-lu.,., 1„ „:'; 
 
 l«".«"i,. ,„,i„ ,,.,„ ^; ;."'«""■ 'If the intoHor, o,- ot n,„ .^e V 
 
 the ';,„"' '^'""")*"'"...<1 tl.0 Hudson Bi T '"' "'"«'■ L"" 
 
 The • ^ounaant ovidonce in 
 
 enzie, and then-northern and 
 
"■•■'" -'Xix of tlK. Tho,,.:, 
 
 '^(•ni'l'»H'n(, over whiol, , 
 '"••ivcrtic'iilrall of 1(17 I, 
 •WO (•,.(.( in Iho^ononil, 
 "'t' I'oinl.iiHMl outci'O),,,,, 
 "•l'<«iu.nrl C,„.ni(i.,.o,N , 
 wenfy.fo,,,. ,ni|,.s, |,ehv, 
 ^alveEno. ThoS..ull„, 
 1 as Ijoundod on (ho n,., 
 ^ ••*'''». I( occupies an ini, 
 
 '"''■"A'from tlu'vicinitv 
 palcJicM l.clon.,ring to tl, 
 Lak-c Sii|„>,.io,. an.l i„ ,1 
 mother Hiniihu-areaco, 
 ^!*"lI••''l"J!lol. hotwoonur 
 ' "h> Arctic Oci-an. |{, 
 "■ "''^^a'^ f>-'"U]' iicound il: 
 i< little is yet known wii 
 " on tJio ^^coloo-ical jd;., 
 ■""y include, in ncjirl 
 alicozoic Neries as ivc.,^ 
 liM-hlamls. Avliich divi-l 
 )win,ir to Hudson's E;.v 
 (^0 ureas rostifios to (1, 
 3' Jn the South-Eastcii. 
 I earlier ages, did no, 
 •ior, or of the arctic 
 M-actically limited i,, 
 "i.yJi of the St. Law 
 iilready refen-cd to .(. 
 • On these ,«,n-oun(l> 
 !,n"cal diversities con- 
 i^'iifh chai-actei-ize lli, 
 Areas. TJiese divei'- 
 .y enhanced hy lociil 
 >ration of which at 
 !ihundant evidence in 
 
 •n-and-Western Aren 
 water surface in the 
 50,000 square miles, 
 great River systems 
 d their northern and 
 
 MtWVN. 
 
 9 
 
 teri 
 
 r( 
 
 eastern shores are. with the oxce|)tion ot'Lakt> Ei-ie, lioundc*! l>y the 
 archicMii I'ocks of the Noi'tlieni Ai'ca, wliih* tlieir Itasjns have lieen exfa- 
 vated I'hietlv in strain ofpidii-ozoie ai;e. The lioltoni of Lake Huron i> 
 flaid to he in parts l.'iOtt teet,tliat of Lake Superior, OdO feet, and that of 
 Lake Ontario al»out .'{(!0 feet heneuth the level of the Atlantic, while 
 the comparatively t^hallow waters of Lake* I'lrie foreshadow ihe time 
 when this lake will hecomo a hroa<l river valley, and the cataract of 
 Niagara will then cither ho reduced to one half it> present height, or 
 entirely obliterated. 
 
 3. The Xoutiteiin Area. 
 
 It is not easy to state precisely the extent of this great Northern 
 Area. It cmhraces jirohahly two-thirds of the whole ai'oa of the 
 Dominion or more than two million s(|uare miles. 
 
 In the third chai»tcr of the (Jeology of Canada, l^Cui. Sir \V. Logan 
 describes the southern limit of the Laurentian System with wlii-li that 
 of the area now referred to may he said to coincide is follows: 
 "With the exception of a nari'ow border (k Silurian='= . irata on tl 
 Strait of Belle-isk. mother at the mouth of the .Mingan Rive Mnd a 
 thml near the Seven Islands vith the addition of twn nai:o\\ strips 
 running a tea miles up the Murray Bay lliver and the (routlVe. the 
 north shore of the St. Lawrence is the southern boui'dai-y of this 
 ancient series of deposits fi-om Labrador to Cape Tormentine. The 
 distance is about (!(I0 miles.'" . . . In the next 200 miles the 
 boundary turns ahout west-south-west, and is distant from the St. 
 Lawrence about thirty miles in the rear of .Montreal. Beyond this 
 for a hundred miles it follows the Ottawa in a bearing more nearlj' 
 west, with a narrow strijtof Silurian rocks between it an<l the margin 
 of the river for the ehiet part ot the distance. 
 
 Turning southwai'ds at the itppei- end of Lacdes Chats, f an expansion 
 of the Ottawa Eiver, it runs in a very irregular line between that lake 
 and the St. Lawrence wliich it again reaches at the Thousand Islands, 
 presenting in the interval several points projecting into the Lower Silu- 
 rian plain to the eastward. J The C'anadian partof the boundaiy runs in a 
 B>prctty straight line to Matchedash Bay, on Lake Huron, froiii the Thou- 
 .9^d Islands whence the Laurentian ex])ands into an area of 1000 square 
 aiiles in t he State of New York, fbi-ming the wild, rugy-ed and rocky region 
 of the Adirondack Mountains, which rise in some parts into elevations 
 <|if .5,000 feet above the sea. Mount Marcy, in F.ssex county, is said 
 ;;i^- 
 
 :^ • Now called Cainbrian and Cainbro-Silurian. 
 
 i:j t Near Arnprior. 
 
 i; t This is the Ottawa Valley P\lajozoic basin of the Southern -and- Western Area. 
 
 li 
 
 
10 
 
 [SELWYN. 
 
 to be 5,400 feet in height. Sir William continues : '' From Matchedasl 
 Bay the east and north shores of Lake Huron complete the southern 
 boimdary, which terminates : t Shobahahnahning." 
 
 At this point, now k^own rs Ivillai-noy, the site of a thriving fishing 
 industi-y and a port of call for the Lake Superior steamers, is the com- 
 mencement of the " Huronian Series," described page 52, chaptei' 
 iv, of the Geology o^^ Canada, 1863." 
 
 For the purpose of this desci-iption, however, the Huronian system i> 
 included in the Northern Area, and the southern boundary of the lattei' 
 must therefore be described as prolonged westward from Ivillarnoy along 
 the sli(M-e north of the Mauitoulin Islands, up the St. Mary Eiver, ani 
 around the whole of the eastei-n and northern shores of Lake Superior 
 to the vicinity of P«)rt Arthur on Thunder Bay, and thence in u 
 south-westerly direction to about tifty. miles east of Otter Tail Lake at 
 the source of the Rc"! River. Here the crystalline rocks pass beneath 
 the newer formations. The margin of these then forms the entii'c 
 western boundary. Thi^ follows the east side of the Red River valley, 
 keeping the east shore of Lake Winnipeg to its outlet, and thence in a 
 nearly dii-ect north-west course to the mouth of the Mackenzie in' the 
 Arctic Ocean. Much of this boumhuy is, howevei', deeply covered with 
 drift which for mrny miles conceals the junction of the subjacent forma- 
 tions. 
 
 Except some of the higher peaks of the Laurentides in proximity to 
 the shores of the Gulf, and pei'haps some othei-s in the Labrador Penin- 
 .sula there are few points in all this vast area which attain two 
 thousand feet in height, while the average elevation is probably less 
 than 1,000 feet above the sea. It is pre-eminently a region of Avater- 
 ways. Lakes and rivers, tributary to one or other of the four great 
 river systems of the Continent — the Mississippi, the Mackenzie, the 
 Nelson and the St. Lawrence — ibrni routes through every part of the 
 region. A traveller starting in a canoe from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
 can traverse the continent to the Arctic Ocean at the mouth of the 
 Mackenzie; ho can reach various points on Hudson's Bay; or, by the 
 Red River and the Mississippi he can paddle on the waters of the Gull' 
 of Mexico. 
 
 While in every part of this Eastern section of the Dominion the 
 surface of the country has been greatly modified and unified by the 
 superlicial agencies of the glacial and later periods, still, the characters 
 impressed on the ancient foundations of archroan and palaeozoic rocks, 
 by deep seated and long continued dynamic action are still apparent, 
 and it is these latter which have so plainly individualised the three 
 ai-eas of the Eastern section of Canada, of which the main physical 
 features have now i)een sketched. 
 
[SELWYN. 
 
 " From Matchedash 
 amplete the southern 
 
 ) of a thriving fishing 
 steamers, is the corn- 
 ed page 52, chaptei' 
 
 Huronian system is 
 wundary of the hitter 
 
 from Kilhxrney along 
 J St. Mary Eiver, and 
 >res of Lake Superior 
 xy, and thence in ji 
 of Otter Tail Lake at 
 lie rooks pass beneath 
 hen forms the entire 
 the Red Rivei- valley, 
 utlet, and thence in a 
 the Mackenzie in' the 
 •, deeply covered with 
 f the subjacent foi-ma- 
 
 itides in proximity to 
 
 1 the Labrador Penin- 
 a which attain two 
 ition is probably less 
 y a region of Avater- 
 er of the four great 
 the Mackenzie, the 
 
 o-h every part of the 
 ulf of St. Lawrence, 
 at the mouth of the 
 )n's Bay; or, by the 
 le waters of the Gult 
 
 f the Dominion the 
 md unified by the 
 S still, the characters 
 md palaeozoic rocks, 
 n are still apparent, 
 idualised the three 
 1 the main physical 
 
 'OTIBVWYN.] 11 
 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 : GEOLOGY. 
 
 I shall now proceed to give a brief outline of the geological features 
 Ibf each section. They may be conveniently designated. 
 V 1. The South-Kastern PaUeozoic Basin. 
 
 2. T!ie Central-and-Western Paheozoic Basin. 
 
 3. The Archaean Nucleus. 
 
 They ai-e geographically cotei-minous with the physico-geographic 
 weas, though within the limits of eacli there arc included portions of 
 the others. Thus the northern ])eninsula of Nova Scotia (Cape Breton 
 Island) and some other axial ridges in the eastern Palaeozoic basin 
 belong to the Arcluean nucleus. The island of Anticosti, the basins of 
 Lakes St. John, Mistassini, Nipissing, Temiscamang and James' Bay, 
 and probably others not yet observed, nre geologically outliers of the 
 Oentral-and-Western Basin. While in the South-Kastern Basin we 
 have Carboniferous and Triassie toimations which, not having been 
 subjected to the action of those forces already referred to as having 
 given rise to the general jihysical aspect of the region, are com- 
 paratively undisturbed, and whei-e these occur, a level oi- gently 
 •undulating surfac(! re])laces the hills, ridges and mountains formed 
 of the disturbed lower palaeozoic and more ancient strata. 
 
 Except some doubtfully Triassie areas in Nova Scotia and Prince 
 Edward Island there are — apart from Post-Tertiary deposits — no foi-- 
 mations newer than the coal measures, in any pai't of the fvistern Sec- 
 tion of the Dominion. Below the Carboniferous, all the larger divisions 
 (systems) from Laurentian to Devonian are represented in the South- 
 Eastern Basin, including many of the formations and groups into 
 which these have been elsewhere locally divided. 
 
 On the geologically colored map of the Dominion, in explanation of 
 which this sk(*tch has been pi-epai-ed, the scale — foi-ty miies to one 
 inch — is not large enough for these subdivisions to be indicated, 
 though when possible to do so the supposed lower, middle or upper 
 portions of the system liave been shewn respectively by vertical, 
 '4iagonal and horizontal lines. 
 
 ( 1. The Sou th-Eastern PalvKozoic Basin. 
 
 In the geological map of Canada, ISfiG, the principal features of the 
 South Eastern Paheozoic Basin are : 1st. The so-called Quebec group, 
 ipccupying an area nowhoi-e exceeding thirty miles in width, but 
 Extending from the Vermont boundary to Cape Rosier in Gaspe. 
 
 f,-^S 
 
 i 
 
mmm 
 
 12 
 
 [SELWYK, 
 
 2nd. The broad Siluro-Dovonian basin, forming the hilly count it 
 about the sources of the St. John, the Eestigouchc and the Matapedia, 
 and extending fi-oni Ca] o Gasjio south-westerly into Maine and ]S\'\v 
 Hampshire. 
 
 3rd. The belt of Cambro-Silurian and older strata with associated 
 tra])pean rocks, and newer granites which constitutes the south-ea'^t- 
 ern margin of the Siluro-Devonian basin, from the vicinity of Bathursi 
 on the Baj^ of (')haleurs to the Atlantic coast of Maine. 
 
 4th. The central Carlmniferous area of New Brunswick and Nova 
 Scotia, cut by the shores of Northumberland Strait from Shippegat 
 Island on the north-west to New Glasgow on the south-east, and, 
 
 5th. The gold bearing Atlantic coast series of Nova Scotia, of lower 
 Cambrian age, with its associated belts of granitic and gneissic rocks, 
 which are due to agencies operating in periods up to the com- 
 mencement of the Carboniferous, and culminating at or about tli 
 close of the Devonian. 
 
 In 186.3, the Quebec group was, divided into three foi-mations, in 
 ascending order, called licvis. Lauzon and Sillery, and these arc repre- 
 sented on the map (18()(i) ])y thi'ee distinct colors, dai'k lilac, light lilui 
 and yellow. The light lilac tint being also used to denote other largo 
 ai-eas likewise sup})osed to belong to the same group, but in which the 
 sub-divisions had not been i-ecognized. In the report of 18()9 a considei'- 
 able portion of the Quebec group area east of the Chaudiere Elver ami 
 mapped as Lauzon and Sillery in 1806, was re-mapped in 1869 as Pots- 
 dam, and described as lying uncorformably benc.ith the lower or 
 Levis divison of the grouj). This, I have elsewhere pointed out, 
 was manifestly erroneous, and. that there are neither pahcontologicnl 
 nor stratigrajthical grounds for separating the rocks of the south 
 shore of the St. Lawrence between the Chaudi6re and Trois Pistole- 
 from those of the island of Orleans, where, along the south shore 
 pe-'fectl}' identical limestones, conglomei-ate.-*, slates, (piartzites ami 
 sandstones are well e.\])osed. The wliole of this red and black shale, 
 quartzite and limestone congiomei-ate series may, and })robably does, 
 occupy a position inferior to that of the conglomerates of Poin; 
 Levis and their inte"Stratitied gi-aptolite slates, l)ut if so, then these 
 inferior beds cannot be limited, to the south-west, by the Chaudiere 
 Valley. And they must be made to embrace the larger part of the 
 Quebec group from the Chaudiere to (he (Jaspe Peninsula on the one 
 hand, and also considerable areas between the Chaudiere valley ami 
 the Vermont boundary on the other. In the present state of our 
 knowledge, however, there appear no good grounds for any such dis- 
 tincti<ms, nor if made, would it be possible except theoi'etically to 
 depict them on a map. Our knowledge does, however, enable us U> 
 
[SELWVK 
 
 ing the hilly count iv 
 
 he and the Matapedia, 
 
 into Maine and Now 
 
 itrata Avith associated 
 ititiites the south-east, 
 e vicinity of Bathunst 
 [a inc. 
 
 Brunswick and Nova 
 A'iiit from Shippegati 
 south-east, and, 
 Nova Scotia, of lowor 
 c and gneissic rock.><. 
 ods up to the com- 
 ting at or about the 
 
 three formations, in 
 \ and these are repre- 
 
 dai'k lilac, light lihu 
 to denote other lariii^ 
 )up. hut in which thr 
 )rt of 18(;9 a considoi-- 
 ) Chaudiere Eiver ami 
 pped in 1869 as Pots 
 jnciith the lower or 
 ewhere pointed out. 
 ither palivontologicnl 
 
 rocks of the south 
 e and Trois Pistole- 
 ^^ng the south shore 
 lates, quartzites and 
 
 red and black shah', 
 ', and probably docs, 
 ^lomerates of Poin; 
 )ut if so, then theso 
 ^t, by the Chaudierc 
 e largei* part of the 
 \minsula on the one 
 ;:!haudi^re valley ami 
 H-esent state of our 
 uls for any such dis- 
 ■ept theoi'etically io 
 wever, enable us to 
 
 IkLWVN.] 
 
 13 
 
 iffirm, with a considerable degree of certainty, that within the limits 
 of the highly disturbed folded and faulted lower Paheozoic belt of 
 ^e St. Lawrence valley hitherto known and de])ictcd on the map 
 ftf 1866 as the Quebec G-roup, there are included areas of Hudson 
 Biver, Utica, Trenton, and Chazy, as well as others of the still older 
 Oambrian formations and that these lie uncomformably on or against 
 an axis of Pre-Cambrian sub-crystalline rocks, hydro-mica slates, quartz- 
 ites, crystalline dolomites, diabase, gabbro, olivinite, serpentine and 
 Volcanic agglomerates, the lowest beds of the axis being micaceous 
 and granitoid gneisses. Many of these volcanic agglomerates and 
 diabases are now serpentines of which large slabs can be seen in the 
 geological museum, as well as specimens of all the other rocks named. 
 This lower [)ortion of the Quebec group is defined on the present map 
 and colored as Pre-Cambrian. It extends from Sutton Mountain, on 
 the Vermont boundary, to a point some miles north of the latitude of 
 Quebec city where it becomes covei-ed by the unconformable junction 
 of the Levis formation with the Siluro-Devonian rocks of the Gaspe 
 series. 
 
 To the north-east it again appears in some of the prominent peaks 
 and ridges of the Shickshock Mountains, the northern Hanks of which 
 are occupied by the Cambrian and Cambro-Sili^rian formations of the 
 Quebec Gfroup, and the southern by those of the Siluro-Dovonian 
 system above refen-ed to, as being in contact with the former a short 
 distance to the south-west of the mountains. 
 
 Similar Pj e-Cambrian rocks form also several subordinate ridges to the 
 south-east, and as in the main axis, they are everywhere characterized 
 by the presence of sulphuretted copper ores ; also, hematites, magnetite, 
 chromic iron and oi-es of antimony. The magnetite is, for the 
 most part econoniically unavailable on account of the high pei-cent- 
 age of titanic acid. The soap-stone, pot-stone or mica-rock, serpentine 
 and asbestos, described in the Geology of Canada, also belong to the 
 Pre-Caiubrian belts. One of these belts crosses the St. Francis Eiver 
 Ibetween Sherbrooke and Lennoxville. It constitutes the high ridges 
 'known as the Stoke Mountains, between Lake Massawippi ami Little 
 Magog, and in it are the most extensively worked copper mines of 
 Canada. No fossils of any kind have yet been found in the rocks of 
 Ihese belta, and they are presumed to belong to the Iluronian System, 
 "i»ot only because of the geological position which they apparently 
 occupy, but also on account of theii' close cori-espondence with it in 
 physical aspect, and in mineral and lithological characters. 
 
 The north-western boundary of the Quebec Group of the map of 1886, 
 is likewise that of the Hastorn Paheozoic basin under consideration, and 
 is formed by the great break of the St. Lawrence valley, or the great 
 
 ft.; 
 
 fm 
 
14 
 
 [selwvnI 
 
 p'1 
 
 ^f^ 
 
 St. Lawrence and Champlain fault. The nature of this hreak oi| 
 physical boundary has been variously described. 
 Sir William Logan thu.s refers to it.* 
 
 '• The solid crystalline gneiss, in the case before us, offering moix 
 resistance than the newer strata, there resulted a break coinciding wit hi 
 the inclined plane at the junction of these with the gneiss. The lowei 
 Paiaiozoic .strata pushed aj) the slope would then raise and fracture tiu' 
 formations above, and be ultimately made to overlap the portion of thos 
 resting on the edge of the higher terrace ; after probably thrustini,' 
 over to an inverted dip the broken edge of the upper formations. Tin 
 shallow water sti-ata of the higher terrace, relieved from pressure, wouM 
 remain undisturbed, and then the limit of the more corrugated area 
 would coincide with the slope between the deep and shallow waters ot 
 the Potsdam period. The resistance offered by the buttress of gncis^ 
 would not only limit the main disturbance, but it would probably also 
 guide or motlify in some degi'eo the whole series of parallel corruga- 
 tions, and thus act as one of the causes giving a direction to the greut 
 Appalaehian chain of mountains. In Canada this is especially apparent 
 in those parts which lie to the south-east of the St. Lawrence valley.' 
 Whatever may be the nature of the origin of this break, there can 
 lie no doubt that the disturbances which have affected the whole region 
 to the south-east of it have been far more intense and have been con- 
 tinued into much later periods than any of those which have affected the 
 Southern-and-Western ai'ca. oi" intei-ior continental paUeozoic basin. 
 
 J^i'. T. Steny Iltmt does not admit the existence of the great break of 
 the St. Lawrence, Champlain and Hudson Kiver valleys, and ascribes 
 the observed relations and physical differences in the two areas to 
 original unconformity, together with some subsequent and subordinate 
 folding and faulting. Though the explanation gi^en l»y Sir W. Logan — 
 Geology of Canada 18(33, p. 21)-4-297 — may, as regards the perfect con- 
 foi'mity of the formations from the Potsdam to the Hudson River, bo 
 incorrect, it must be observed that while the evidence of the con.stanl 
 overlapping of these formations is everwhere abundant, that of any 
 great unconformit}' can no where be clearly seen, and even if existing, 
 would not suffice to ex])lain the phenomena which he sought to account 
 for. There is no need to suppose an enormous vertical displacement, 
 but that a great bi-eak does exist along the line indicated, probably 
 perfectly analogous to that along the eastern base of the Kocky Moun- 
 tains, can not be doubted by any one who has carefully examined the 
 structure from Cape Hosier to Lake Champlain. And not only so but 
 it is now equally certain that there are, as has been stated, *' a series 
 
 • Geology of Canada, 1863, Chapter is. , p. 297. 
 
 fmrmfm 
 
[SELWVN, 
 
 e of this break or 
 
 •0 us, offering more 
 :'eak coinciding with 
 gneiss. The lowei 
 ise and fracture tin, 
 the portion of thost 
 probabl}' thrustinir 
 •er formations. Tlio 
 rom pressure, would 
 ore corrugated area 
 1(1 shallow waters (;t 
 e buttress of gneiss 
 v\'ould proljably also 
 of parallel corruga- 
 irection to the gi-eut 
 i especially apparent 
 I. Lawrence valley.' 
 (lis break, thei'e can 
 ted the whole region 
 ( and have been con- 
 ich have affected the 
 pahi'ozoic basin, 
 f the great break of 
 alleys, and ascribes 
 II the two areas to 
 Mit and subordinate 
 by Sir W. Logan — 
 ds the perfect con- 
 Iludson Eiver, bo 
 ee of the constant 
 lant, that of any 
 d even if existing, 
 sought to account 
 ical displacement, 
 dicated, probably 
 the liocky Moun- 
 lly examined the 
 d not only so but 
 
 ■stated, 
 
 a series 
 
 
 
 5^ ■*^ 
 
 
 i^x 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 \iit. 
 
h 
 4 
 
IILWVN.] 
 
 15 
 
 * of such dislocations traversing eastern North America from Alabama 
 to Canada." These have doubtless caused considerable veitical dis- 
 placements, both of elevation and depression, but the pi-esent physical 
 condition of the rocks of the south-eastern area is not due to these 
 dislocations, but to the great lateral pressui-e, which must have pre- 
 ceded, accompanied and caused them. 
 
 Along the Avhole line of this great break from Lake Champlain to 
 Gasp(5, the newer formations apparently underlie the older, as on the 
 Island of Orleans, but it is not always clear whether this is due to a 
 series of more or less parallel and branching faults, or to a close and 
 repeated folding of the strata in overturned synclinal and anticlinal forms. 
 Probably both causes have contributed to proiluce the result referj-ed to. 
 
 Between MonLnorenci falls and the south side of West Point, 
 on the Island of Orleans, there are three distinct and well exposed 
 faults. The diagram opposite. Fig. 1, shows the supposed structure, 
 the distance is three miles. 
 
 There is really no conclusive evidence to show on which side of these 
 faults the movement has taken place. No, 1 is probably a dowji throw 
 to the south-east, while Nos. 2 and 3 are up throAvs on the same side. 
 No. 2 is the main fracture, while Nos. 1 antl 3 ai-e branches from it. 
 
 To the north-east of the Island of Orleans these faults apparently 
 pass beneath the watoi-s of the St. Lawrence, in their eastern prolon- 
 gation they curve in conformity with the outline of the north shore 
 and pass south of Anticosti Island, whei-e the sti-ata of the Cambro- 
 Silurian and Silurian are wholly undisturbed and confoi-raable, and 
 dip at a low angle towards the fault, while on the opposite shoi'e of 
 the Gaspe Peninsula we tind the same formations folded and faulted, 
 and, as at the Island of Orleans, apparently <li|)ping beneath the older 
 Levis formation or upper Cambrian of the (Quebec group. Of these 
 rocks Sir W. E. Logan thus writes in his report dated 1st May, 1845 : 
 " The elitf exposing them is bold and lofty, but the strata are most 
 violently twisted and broken ; the greatest confusion prevails, and it 
 is difficult to follow any individual bed for tifty yards, numerous cracks 
 result from the disturbances," and again, ' The coast from the Abour 
 to the Magdalen — about 30 miles — exhibits numerous instances of con- 
 torted strata, and at the mouth ot the chief valleys which terminate 
 in deep bays upoii the St. Lawrence. thei"e are displayeil several trans- 
 verse sections in the sides of the mountains, which come close upon the 
 shore and slope up to 800 and 1,000 feet. One of these instances is 
 seen on the east side of the River Pierre, where the summit of the 
 hill shews an overturn di[» and the strata in the whole section appear 
 to be arranged in the form of a very flat zn ." * 
 
 •Report of Progress, Geological Survey of Canada, 1844, p. 23. 
 
 
 
 ik 
 
16 
 
 [SELWVN. 
 
 Mnch more is given in tlio same report shewing the highly disturbed 
 condition of thes-^ rocks wliich sire, like those of the north shore of 
 Anticosti, of Ut oft and Hudson Eiver ago, a fact which had not, how- 
 ever, then been a.icertained. and the section irom the coast to the sum- 
 mit of the mourtains was considered to be, as indicated by the constant 
 south easterly di])s. an ascending one, and thus the Pi-e-Camhrian 
 chloritic and micaceous schists, diorites, fclsites and serpentines, which 
 form the axis of the mountains, are depicted on the geological map of 
 1866, as Sillery and Lauzon. or the upper members of the Quebec 
 group, a similar mistake having, as I have elsewhere pointed out, 
 been made throughout the entire range. 
 
 Eesting unconformably either on the rocks of the Levis formation, 
 or on the older schists of the axis are those of the Siluro-Devonian 
 basin, already referred to. Where unaltered they consist of dark-blue 
 clay shales, grey sandstones and limestones often dipping at high 
 angles and shewing, especially to the south-east, other evidence of 
 repeated disturbance. They are interrupted by large areas of grey and 
 white granite and in proximity to these the limestones are crystalline 
 and the argillites changed to micaceous and staurolitic schists. These 
 rocks are described in detail undei- the heading ''The Gaspe Series" in 
 the xvi chapter of the Geology of C'anada 1863, to which the reader is 
 referred for further information. The wooded, mountainous and gen- 
 ei-ally inaccesible character of a largo part of the area occupied by 
 these Siluro-Devonian rocks, has prevented much further or closer 
 investigation of the relations of the several members of the group, than 
 that made prior to 1863. liecent expli^rations in the Gaspe Peninsula 
 and northern New Brunswick have however shown tliat the upper or 
 Devonian members are somewhat more widely distributed than in. 
 dicated in the geological map puljlislied in 1866, and an abundant and 
 characteristic assemblage of fossil tishes, new to Canada, and plants 
 has been discovered around the shores of the Bay of Chaleurs in these 
 Devonian rocks. Man}' other smallej' trough-like areas of Siluro-De- 
 vonian strata occui* in southern New Bi-unswick and alonff the north- 
 western limits of N^ova Scotia, from the lieail of the Bay of Fundy to 
 the Strait of Canso. These are for the most part in contact either with 
 Lower Cambrian or with Pre-Cambrian rocks, while in sonae cases as 
 at Nictaux they are limited and altered by the granitic and dioritic 
 masses of Devonian age, which also form the central highlands of Nova 
 Scotia from Cape Sable to Cape Canso. 
 
 It must be observed that though for the purpose of the present sketch 
 theSiluiian and Devonian strata have been grouped together, there 
 exists between them almost everywhere a very distinct break and 
 unconformity, and they are further distinguished by a very character- 
 
 4'llli 
 
 pnpiiiil 
 
 MRiiiliiP 
 
ho highly disturbed 
 tho north shore of 
 Iilch had not, how- 
 coast to the sum- 
 etl by the constant 
 the Pj-e-Camhrian 
 Jorpontlnos, which 
 geological map of 
 '•H of the Quebec 
 icro pointed out, 
 
 > Levis formation, 
 
 Siluro-Devonian 
 isist of dark-blue 
 clipping at high 
 ther evidence of 
 ireas of grey and 
 s are crystalline 
 ! schists. These 
 Taspe Series " in 
 eh the reader is 
 siinous and gen- 
 'ca occupied by 
 I'ther or closer 
 the group, than 
 aspe Peninsula 
 t the upper or 
 Jutwl than in. 
 
 abundant and 
 lii, and plants 
 ileurs in these 
 
 of Siluro-De- 
 tho north- 
 
 of Fundy to 
 ct either with 
 ome cases as 
 • find dioritic 
 
 andsofNova 
 
 IwvN ] 
 
 If 
 
 ng 
 
 tic and abundant fossil fauna and flora as described* by Logan, Bil- 
 (ntrs, Dawson. Honoynum, Hartl, Bailey, Wbiteavcs and others, 
 'iietber the Gaspe limestones arc to be considered to belong to the 
 iso of tiie Devonian or tho tojt of the Silurian seems to be pala-on- 
 )l()gically uncertain. Stratigraphically they are conformable and 
 lei'cfore iioth arc now i-i'garded as Devonian and so colored on the 
 
 j|rescnt nuij). 
 The main Siluro-Devonian Area is limited lo the south-east by the 
 ^belt No. 3, already referred to, of Cambro-Silurian and older strata. 
 p'his area, 150 miles in length ami 30 to 50 miles wide, occupies the 
 l^enti-e of the province of New Brunswick, and is for the most part 
 densely wooded and difficult of access. Hence it has been impos- 
 ■|ible accurately to define the limits of the several grcnips of strata. 
 |fo very characteristic fossils have been found in it and none sufficiently 
 perfect for s})ecitic determination. Graptolites of Utica types are 
 abundant in some parts, also fragments of crinoids, brachiopods, ga«- 
 teropods, &c. The following notes by Mr. Ells from the recently pub- 
 lished geological map which embraces the north-western part of the 
 area, give a general idea of its structure and character, and for further 
 4etail the maps and re])orts must be consulted. f 
 
 The j'ocks of Cambro-Silurian age, as in the south-western portion of 
 ihe province, present great lithological ditt'erences. The great bulk of 
 them, however, though somewhat altered, lack the highly metamorphic 
 iCharactor so marked in those of the Pre-Cambrian system. Black 
 /.graptolitic and ferruginous shales and slates, with reddish and man- 
 ganese stained beds; also greenish-grey sandstone, with imperfect 
 remains of fossils, are intimately associated with hard and often schis- 
 ■ tose metaniorphic beds. The separation of these from the Pre-Cambrian 
 has been made both on lithological and strati graphical grounds, though 
 the boundaries are necessarily to some extent conjectural, because from 
 Ij^'the nature of the country they cannot be traced continuously. Indica- 
 Itions of copper ore were noted on the Nipisiguit and North- West Mira- 
 michi Eivers, but not in sufficient ([uantity to be of value. Galena and 
 manganese were observed in small (juantities at several points. Eidges 
 of good farming land occur between the principal rivers. 
 
 The Pro-Cambrian system in this area consists largely of very 
 sfelspathic schists and gneisses; they are all highly metamorphic, and 
 ■ apparently forn» two axes, running roughly parallel to each other in a 
 'i noi'th-eaaterly direction. These are separated by rocks of presumed 
 
 • Geology of Canada, 1863. Canadian Naturalist. Acadian Geology, 1868. Jourl. Inter. Q«o- 
 logioal Society. Transactions of the Nova Scotia Institute. Progress Reports of the Geologieal 
 Survey of Canada, etc., etc. 
 
 t Geological Survey of Canada 1879-80-81-82, Reports D. 
 
 
18 
 
 Cninbro-Silurian Ji^'o 
 
 Tho country (tccupied by the pre-Cambriai 
 I'OclcB is for the mo*t part uiiHiiitiMl for jigrioiiltiinil ijurposes, bcin. 
 very rouiih and lii'iy, eHi)eciully Jibout the head waters of the Nipi^l 
 guit and Miraniii'iii Rivers, ft is also subject to severe fi'osts, buiL 
 early and late The soil where not coni]»Ietely burnt off is genemlli 
 thin and scanty, and often strewed with larii'e boulders. 
 
 The <;fanites of this area resemble very elosely the granites of th 
 southern pai't of the province, and are probably of the same age. Tin v 
 are generally red and coarse-grained, often with crystals of felsi)ar fmn 
 an inch and a-half to two inches in length. They make an excelirn 
 building stone, and liavc been extensively used in the construction n 
 the immense bi'idgos on the Intercolonial railway. 
 
 We now come to the considei-ation of the gi-eat Cai-boniferons ba^il 
 of New Brunswick, and the associated and economically, far nioi-e im 
 portant coal basins of Spring Hill, the Joggins, New Glasgow uii, 
 Pictou, in Nova Scotia. The New Bi-unswick area forms a prominen; 
 foatui'e in the geological map. Tlie strata are everywhere nearly 
 horizontal, and while they occupy an area of not less than 
 square miles, their total thickness nowhere much exceeds 600 feot 
 included, in which there is only one workable seam of coal. This i> 
 near the summit and has an average thickness of only 20 inches. In 
 the other basins mentioned the superficial areas of which are so smiil! 
 as to be scarcely noticeable on the maj), the ex])Osed thickness of the 
 measures at the Joggins, oidy 30 miles distant, reaches, as measui'cM 
 by Sir W. K. Logan.* 14.500 feet with 81 coul seams, wdule intheothoi 
 basins there are numerous coal seams of thicknesses varying from ;i 
 few inches up to that of the main Albion Mines seam which reaclK'> 
 the enormous thickness of 36 feet. Full details of the Pictou-aml 
 New Grhisgow basin are given bj' Sir W. E. Logan and Mi\ Harlhy 
 in the Report of Progress, Geological Survey of Canada, 18GG-(i!i. 
 And the very rapid changes both in the thickness and in the charsic- 
 ters of the measures on their horizontal extension are there described 
 The Sydney and other Cape Bi-eton Carbon ifei-ous basins are desciibid 
 in detail by Messrs. Robb ami Fletcher in the annual Reports of the 
 Geological Sui-vey, from 1S72 to 1882. 
 
 A few remai'ks may iiow be made respecting the area No. 4 occupied 
 by the " Altanf ic Coast series of Nova Scotia." The greater part ol ii 
 wasi cursorily examined Ijy the writer in 18*71. And the marked similai- 
 ity of these rocks to the lower part of the auriferous Cambrian rocks of 
 Merionethshire, in North Wales, was then pointed out. Up to that dalo 
 except the doubtful fossil named Eospongia from Waverley, nothiiiL' 
 
 * Report of Progress, Geol. Survey of Canada, 1814. 
 
'■ tho pre-CaiuI)ii,ir 
 I'liI i)Ui'|)osos, bciii. 
 ator.s of (ho Nij.i., 
 ' Novere frosts, |),,il 
 •nt off is goneralh 
 tiers. 
 
 the ^'ranitos of n,, 
 ho same a^e. T)it.\ 
 'talsoffolspar fi-.,i, 
 make an excel Icn 
 the construction o 
 
 A'lrboniferous basin 
 {•ally, fiir nn^-o jm. . 
 New Glasg-ow am: 
 I'orms a prominon: 
 v'orywhero nearlv 
 ! than 
 
 exceeds 600 feci 
 1 of coal. This i. 
 ly 20 inches. In 
 iiiich are so smul, 
 1 thickness of the 
 hes, as measurci 
 while inthoothei' 
 »s varyin<,r from ;i 
 tn which reaclu'> 
 the Pictou-aiid 
 md Mr. Hai-t!.v 
 Canada, 18GG.(iii, 
 nd in the diaiiic 
 
 there described. 
 
 ns are descHbid 
 1 Keports of tlio 
 
 a iS'o. 4 occujnod 
 rreater part of ii 
 marked simijui'- 
 mbrian rocks nt' 
 Up tothatdau 
 verley, notbiii;: 
 
 llWVN.] 
 
 I» 
 
 semblini; an organic form had been found in this series. In the 
 ark slates .at th" Ovens in Lunenburg county, however, I detected 
 arkings which tho late Mr. Billings determined to be Eophyton 
 inneanum, clsewhero charactei'istic of the same low horizon. .Since 
 on nn advance has been niado in precisely detorniining tho position 
 { this series. But, as similar markings are quite common in the 
 iwer Canil)rian slates (Menevian) of St. .Tnbn, New Brunswick, 
 ^gwiere is every reason to sup[)ose that the position a.ssigned to this 
 f)Uj) in Nova Scotia is con-eet. About the centre of the south- 
 estern coast, howevei*, in the vicinity of Yarmouth, there are a set 
 if strata which differ considerably, in many resjjoets, from those of 
 !^the Atlantic coast series as developed in tho vicinity of Halifax and 
 SiWsewhere. and i-esemble very ck)sely some of the Pre-C'ambrian rocks 
 ,0f Cajio Breton and of the Eastern Townships; but the details of 
 Ihe geology of south-western Nova Scotia, have yet to be inves- 
 tigated, and in the meantime the whole of the slaty series .so well 
 exposed on the coast between Cape St. Mary and Ca])e Tusket has 
 been assigned to tho Lower Cambrian, instea<l of. as in the ma]) of 
 180(5, to the Silurian (Upper Silurian) system. 
 
 2. The Cbntral-and-Western Palaeozoic Basin. 
 
 Tho general geological features of this basin have boon referred to 
 in Chapter L They areas it includes are exclusively occupied by forma- 
 tion older than the Carboniferous and one or more of therecognized 
 American subdivisions of the Lower Pateozoic age are 'found in each 
 
 •of them, but there are often considerable gaps in tho series, arising 
 probably not from any actual interruption in sedimentation, but from 
 tho fact that the subdivisions themselves are really more or less local 
 And limited, and that they are subject to rapid changes on their 
 
 , horizontal extension, both as regards thickness, lithological characters 
 and palajontological contents. No formation is perhaps moi-c per- 
 sistent in this respect than the Trenton. Its distribution in Canada, 
 from tho Mingan Islands and Murray Bay on the Lower St. 
 Lawrence, to the islands of Lake Huron, as well as that of the 
 other closely associated Cambi-o-Silurian formations, Chazy, Black 
 Eiver, L^tica and Hudson River have been so fully described in chap- 
 ters VIII, IX and X Geology of Canada, 1863, that it is unnecessary 
 now to enter further into details respecting these formations. Strati- 
 graphically and palfeontologically they are intimately connected, and 
 though the upj)or members frequently overlap the lowei-, or parts of the 
 series are locall}- absent, and there are considerable local differences in 
 the grouping of the fauna, yet there does not appear to be any decided 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 H it 
 
 M 
 
 !' I 
 
 i' 
 
 1 
 
20 
 
 [itlWYN 
 
 biTiik or luu'onformity ami the stratiirniphy entirely lioars otit tin- 
 viewH of the lato Mr. Billings who savH-.— * •'From (ho top of ili,. 
 Ilndsoii Hivcr down lo llu' l>asi- oflho Cha/y thvvo is no hivak, hut all 
 is occupiod hy a sii\gh' immcns*', highly charactoristic and compart 
 
 fauna." "At the hasi> of the Chazy, in Caiuuhiand Xcw York, thoiv 
 
 occurs a groat break, the imp n-tancM of which has oidy hccomo appa- 
 rent during the last six yea -s. The Lower Silurian of America can 
 be divided into two principal grou])s. the one above the break at tlu' 
 base of t lie Cha/.y, the other lielow." 
 
 In the present sketch, the terms Cambrian and ( 'amlu'o-Silui'ian are 
 used to indicate this break, also distinct tints on the map, except in tliv 
 south-eastern disturlted area, where, owing to the folding and faulting' 
 to whieii, as already stated, this area htis been subjected, it has not yd 
 been possil»le to determine the respective limits of the two systems. 
 The Cambro-Silurian formations are, iiowever, represented, for the most 
 part, by those lieds whitdi are referred to by Logan as the lower oi' 
 underlying black slates, pp. 240 and 241 Geology of CuTiada, 186:5. 
 They are well developed on the St. Francis and Nicolet Rivers, also at 
 Farnliam and Bedford, and again on the Etcheniin River as well as at 
 vai'ious points on the south shore of the St. Lawrence below (Quebec. 
 Their distribution shows that they are quite unconformable on the 
 older red and green slates and sandstones, called Lauzon and Sillery, 
 while, in some cases, they occur as small outliers intimately associated, 
 by folding and faulting, with the Prc-Cambrian schists, as at Tingwick, 
 Melbourne Ridge, Danville, &c. ^ The most conspicuous geographical 
 divisions of the Southern and Western Basin are : — 1. The Islan'' 1 
 Anticosti. 2. The Ottawa and St. Lawrence Basin, extending from 
 Quebec to the Thousand Islands. 8. The region betAveen Lakes Erie, 
 Ontario and Huron, extending from Kingston south-westerly, 300 miles 
 to Lake St. Clair, and thence along the eastern and northern shores of 
 Lake Huron to Sault St. Mary. 4. The Cambrian basin of Lake Supe- 
 rior. 5. The basins of Lake Winnipeg and Hudsons Bay. Subordinate 
 to these are the outliers of Pala-ozoic rocks, which have been found in 
 various parts of the great Northern area such as those of Lakes St. 
 John, Xipissing, Abittibbe and Temiscamang. These are highly inter- 
 esting relics which show that the present limits of the PaUeozoic form- 
 ations do not even approximately indicate those of the Ocean in which 
 they were deposited. And it may yet be demonstrated, by the dis- 
 covery of more such outliers in the vast unexplored northern regions 
 of Canada, that the Avhole of the Archroan Continental Nucleus has, 
 more than once, been entirely submerged during the Palseozoic ages. 
 
 'Catalogue of the Silurian Fossils of tiie Island of Anticosti, 1866, p. 79. 
 
 |l- 
 
MIWVN.] 
 
 u 
 
 Olio to four of tho nhovo onumoratcil division^ of fhr soutluTii and 
 wcsU'i'ii iiroii Imvo liocii clo-'t'ly sludu'il and iii-t- fully doscrilied in tho 
 piihliciitioiis of till! (rcoloLjicnl Siii-vcy, more piii'ticidiu-ly in tli('(if()|()o;y 
 ut'(':iiiiida. ISO-}, and in siil>so(^iiont lii'ixjfts to iSlJIt. anionir wliich may 
 1)1' (v-nii'cially niontioiUMl, " (Jataloifiu's of tlu- Silui-ian Fossils of tlio 
 islandof Anticosti," 1800. by tho latf K. lUllin^'H, F.G.S. Kxcopiin 
 division 4, the Cuinl)i'ian hasin »d' Lukv Superior, i." furtlu-r iavostii;a- 
 tiiiMs havo boon inadi-, idthor by tho writer or by any nieinbid' ot'tho 
 (ii'()|ot>ieal corps, and thiM-e are therefore no new facts to adil lo those 
 ;ilready pul>iished respect ini^ the ilivisions I. 2 and ;{. 
 
 In the Gooloi^it'al Map of 18G(!. the rocks of division 4 aic assii,rned 
 lo the horizon of the Chazy and I ho Quebec Gi'oup. While in tho 
 Geology of Canachi, 18()3, Ciia)). V". after fully descrit)inic these rocks, 
 Sii- W. Ltii^an concludes with the f dlowinir remarks: — 'The alHnities 
 of the red sandstone of Sault St. ;^[ary would thus apjiear to brini^ it 
 into the ]tosition of the Chazy rather than the I'otsdam formation; 
 and if this were establisliod. th<' eopperd)earin!j; portion of tho Lake 
 Superior rocks might reasonably ' o considered to boloni!; to the Calci- 
 fci-ous and tho Potsdam formations." Eecontly these uppi-r copper- 
 bearing rocks of Logan havo been divided by Dr. Hunt into three series, 
 named by him Aniinikie. Nij)igon and Kcweenian* with certain sug 
 gestions as to tlieir relative position which are wliolly untenabb!. viz.. 
 to the ottoct th; tho Koweonian series is Pro-Cambrian ami tho 
 Nipigon and Am ».vio post-Cambrian and perhaps Mesozoic." After 
 a somewhat careful though still incomplete o.Kamination of those rocks 
 there is in the, opinion of the writer, no reasonable doubt of the age of 
 the whole being Lower Cambrian, as sujjposed by some of the earlier 
 investigators — Wiiitney, Foster and others. Hetween Thunder Bay 
 and the east end of Nipigon the three series follow each other without 
 a]»parent unconformity and dip at a generally low angle towards the 
 lake. Up to the summit of tho Xi])igon series, which extends around 
 and parti}- fills the basin of Lake Nipigon. there are many largo iiitor- 
 stnititiod bods of columnar diabase, then follows the Koweonian series, 
 consisting of red and white sandstones, coarse couiidomerates and a 
 groat thickness of amygdaloidal lava (melaphyro) and othei- volcanic 
 ojectamenta, tho whole, from the bas^e of the Animikie to the sum- 
 mit of the Iveweenian, being cut by trap dykes, masses of diabase- 
 porphyry, dolorite, &c. Tho dykes sometimes ])resont a very per- 
 fect columnar structure at right angles to their dip. 
 
 This great volcanic series of Lake Superior bears a precisely similar 
 relation, to tho Archa\an systetn — Huronian and Laui'ontian — on the 
 
 I-;- H 
 
 ,->■ 
 
 > <l 
 
 f 'I 
 
 ■n. 
 
 'Azoic Rocks, part 1, 2nd (ieol- Survey of Pennsylvania, Report E- 
 
HP^Wi 
 
 22 
 
 [SEIWYN. 
 
 
 ono hand and to the overlying Trenton group on the other, to that 
 which the upper and lower Potsdam and the still older Menevian forma- 
 tions of St. John, &c., do 'n the eastern provinces. And, apart from 
 tho almost total absence of contemporaneous igneous rocks in the one 
 area and their great pvoponilerance in the other, together with the 
 comparatively undisturbetl condition, chai-actoristic of all the Western 
 Pala?ozoic areas, the succession of the Lake Superior Lower Cambrian 
 series corresponds even more closely with the eastern series than it might 
 be expected to do, in areas more than GOO miles apart. The absence of 
 pala?ontological evidence of age may perhaps be in a great measure 
 accounted for by the great and repeated manifestation of volcanic 
 activity over the whole region tluring the accumulation of the 
 serliments, producing conditions highly unfavorable for the exist- 
 ence of animal life. While, as ah-eady stated, there is no marked 
 unconformity, there is here, as in the St. Lawrence and Ottawa 
 basins, a constant overlap[)ing of the upper members, giving rise 
 to the statement that east of Black Bay the Animikie series ot' 
 daik argillites is wanting. This, however, is not the case, as is clearly 
 proved by the fact that these argillites have been sunk through in the 
 Silver Islet mine to a depth of nearly 1,000 feet below the waters of the 
 lake. And there can be little doubt that the great dark argillite 
 silver-bearing series of Lake Superior underlies the greater part of 
 Black Bay, and the peninsula between it and Nipigon Bay, as well as St. 
 Ignace, Simpson and other islands to the eastward, in some of which 
 it is exposed in tine sections, associated as at Thuntler Cape with mas- 
 sive columnar diabase, and ct)nlormably overlaid by red and white 
 dolomitic sandstones and rather coarse pebble conglomerates. 
 
 On the east shores of Hudson's Bay there appears to be an almost 
 similar series of traps, dolomites, ai-gillites, sandstones and amygda- 
 loidal lavas, resting in almost undisturbed attitude on the Pre-Cam- 
 brian -h.usses. A similar series occurs also in the Eocky Mountains 
 — though, so far as known, without the volcanic associations — which 
 I have elsewhere predicted, will eventually be proved to occupy the 
 same Lower Cambrian horizon. 
 
 The Pted River and Lake Winnipeg Palaozoic area is described on a 
 subsequent page, and referred to as forming the eastern margin of the 
 great interior contint'utal basin, Physically, the rocks of this area are 
 closely connected with the Central-and-Western Paheozoic Basin.and it is 
 not impossible that they are also geographically connected beneath the 
 overlying Cretaceous rocks of Dakota with those of the extreme western 
 extension of the Cambro-Silurian and Devonian .systems of southern 
 Minnesota. Their supposed distribution northward is shown on the ac- 
 companying map, and also that they constitute the western limit of the 
 
[SELWYN. 
 
 le other, to that 
 Mencvian forma- 
 And, apart fi-oin 
 rocks in the one 
 ii:ethei- with tJio 
 ''all the Western 
 Lower Cambrian 
 riesthan itmighi 
 The absence 0/ 
 I groat measure 
 tion of volcanic 
 nidation of the 
 for the exist- 
 is no marked 
 ee and Ottawa 
 ei's, giving rise 
 mikie series of 
 ase, as is clearly 
 f through in the 
 he waters of the 
 t dark argillite 
 gi-eater part of 
 ly, as well as St. 
 some of which 
 Cape with mas- 
 red and white 
 ei-ates. 
 
 ) be an almost 
 ^ and amygda- 
 tho Pre-Cam- 
 eky Mountains 
 iations— which 
 to occupy the 
 
 described on a 
 
 margin of the 
 f this area are 
 
 Basin.and it is 
 3d beneath the 
 treme western 
 ^ of southern 
 wn on the ac- 
 n limit of the 
 
 SELWYN.] 
 
 23 
 
 great Archroan Nucleus. Of their former noi-th-eastern extension we 
 have at present no evidence, but as a similar Palaeozoic group occurs 
 around the shores of Hudson's Bay, it seems not iiujii-obable that the 
 present geographical separation of the Winnipeg, Lake Superior and 
 Hudson's Bay Pakcozoic areas is the result of denudaiion in Post- 
 Paheozoic ages. The very considerable outliers already known in the 
 as yet little explored region, lying north of the St. Lawrence and 
 Ottawa Eiver and south of Hudson's Bay, lend support to this sup- 
 position, and to the view that the larger part of the great Arehsuan 
 Xucleus wjw more than once entirely submerged during Pakcozoic 
 time. 
 
 8. TfiE Arcii.ean Nucleus. 
 
 The enormous area, probably, as already stated, ovei- 2,000,000 
 square miles, underlaid by the ancient crystalline rocks which consti- 
 tute the continental nucleus, extends through about eighty-two degrees 
 of longitude from Demarcation Point, on the Arctic Ocean, west of the 
 mouth of the Mackenzie Eiver, to the Straits of Belle Isle, on the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 It will be readily understood that the area over which the r( cks 
 constituting this great Archaean crystalline series, known as the 
 Laurentian and Huronian Systems, have been examined in detail must be 
 comparatively small, and thai we have }'et much to learn respecting 
 them. 
 
 In Chapter II. G-eology of Canada, 1S().3. they are very fully described 
 by Sir W. E. Logan. Recent investigation has added nothing of 
 importance to what is there given respecting these rocks. But it has 
 greatly enlarged the area over which they were then known to extend, 
 though it has not yet aiforded any more satisfactory evidence of the 
 relations of the Huronian rocks to the Laurentian. In all cases the 
 supposed junction of the strata of the tvv^o systems either shews them 
 vertically side by side or theHuronia.i strata apparently dippi;.g under 
 the Laurentian, while both present a very constant northeasterly 
 strike. Notwithstanding these facts, their exceedingly different 
 mineralogical characters and general a[)pearance, broadly viewed, 
 render it almost impossible to suppose that the su[)erposition, as indi- 
 cated by these dips, is the true one, or that the Huronian is not newer 
 than the Laurentian. If so, then we must admit that both systems are 
 presented in a constant succession of euormously thick overturned 
 folds, with perha])s many dislocations and slips on the lines of the anti- 
 clinal axes. And as such a character would correspond with that of 
 the Eastern Pahcozoic Basin, already described, it is probably the 
 
 i 
 
 f-; Oil 
 
 ^JUE 
 
24 
 
 [SELWYN. 
 
 J 
 
 
 explanation that must be adopted. No better or more continuous; 
 section of those Ai-chivan rocks — Laurentian and Huronian — could 
 be seen anywhere than that recently exjiosed by the cuttings on the 
 Canada Pacitic l^iailway fom Pembroke northwest to the Spanish 
 Eiver north of Lake Huron. These exposures are most interesting. 
 The Laurentian rocks, which occupy the whole of the country from 
 Pembroke to the oast bank of the Wahnalipitao Eiver, are for the 
 most part highly characteristic red, '^rej and dark banded gneisses 
 felspathic and hornblcndic, and frequently garnotiferous and micace- 
 ous. There are also some large bands of grey and white crystalline 
 limestone, but none of these are exposed along the line of the railway 
 west of Mattawa, where it loaves the valley of the Ottawa Eiver. 
 
 After passing the Wahnahpitae Eiver Itridge the Huronian rocks 
 commence with a series of Hiiiiy felsites or folsitic quartzites, succeedoii 
 by dark grey quaitzosc conglomeratic beds; also massive crystalline 
 diorites, red, tine-grained syenites and a great variety of highly 
 altered volcanic agglomerates, felspathic and diorilic. At the Vermi- 
 lion Eiver la-idge, 285 miles west of Ottawa, there are good exposures of 
 a sei'ies of dark grey, almost black, felspathic quartz gi-it or sanilstone, 
 with thin bands of tlark argillite. These ai-e regularly bedded and not 
 more altered than the Lower Cambrian rocks of the Atlantic coast of 
 Nova Scotia, which they very closely resemble, as they also do the 
 coarse grit and sandstone Avhich underlie the lidvis formation of the 
 Quebec group, or the so-called Sillery sandstone. It may be that they 
 represent the up])ermost part of the Huronian system, though here we 
 again tind an almost constant easterly dip, and the present attitude of 
 the strata, on the above supposition, must be the result of an over- 
 turned folding, as already referred to. The jiresent sketch does not 
 admit of much detail, even if the facts were available, but the following 
 succession nnxy be given as the general result of recent observations 
 along the line of the Pacitic Eaihvay from Ottawa westward : — 
 
 Laurentian. 
 
 1. Eed, grey, and white orthuclasegneiss in great vo'-ioty, distinctly 
 banded, the bands often curiously twisted and contorted. 
 
 2. Black hornblende and mica gneiss often garnetiferous and cut by 
 veins of red and white oligoclase. 
 
 3. Pyroxenic gneiss, banded, like eozoon. 
 
 4. Lai'ge bands of crystalline limestone. ' 
 
 Such rocks occui- in constant alternations for 260 miles, or from 
 Ottawa to ihe "\V ihnah))itae Eiver bridge. They may be regarded as 
 the typ'cal rocks constituting the great Laurentian sj'stem. They are 
 
3ELWVN.] 
 
 25 
 
 m 
 
 very distinctly stratified, and dip generally easterly at all angles from 
 almost horizontal to vertical. Ci-ossing the Wahnahpitae Rivei- l)ridge 
 a very marked change occurs. The dip, however, still continues 
 easterly, and the general succession is as tblloAvs : — 
 
 1 ,1 
 
 IIURONIAN. 
 
 1. Fclsitcs or felsitic (juartzites, I'ed and white, weathering, and at a 
 distance scarcely dlstinguishal)le irom the Lam-entian, but on examina- 
 tion these shew no gncssic- structure. 
 
 2. Thick and thin bedded, dark, sometimes almost black ({uartzites ; 
 if not repeated b}- Iblding these must be of great thickness. Thej' are 
 followed in descending section — accordijig to dip — by dark to grey or 
 black siliceous beds, holding angular fragment and pebble of white 
 granite oi- gneiss. 
 
 3. Diorite and diabase with u series of coarse and fine fragmentary 
 beds, sometimes felspathic, sometimes chloritic or hornblendic in char- 
 acter, and varying in textui-e from a tine luminated ash to a coarse 
 agglomerate; following these ai'c massive beds of diorite ov diabase 
 .dtei-nating with red, fine-grained syenite. After an interval of about 
 five miles jf fiat drift-covered country, the Vermilion River sand- 
 stones commence, and beyond tliese again a somewhat similar succes- 
 sion recurs of felsite, quartzite. conglomerate, diorite, agglomerate and 
 syenite, with some bands of ai-gillite. One of these is well exposed a 
 short distance south-east of Bannerman station. 
 
 The entire breaath of the belt in a west north-westerly dii'ection 
 is about eighty miles, after which the typical Laurentian gneiss 
 again makes its appearance. Further west, along the noi-th shore of 
 Lake Sui)erior, and again on the Lake of the Woods, the Laurentian 
 gneiss is interrupted by belts of similar lEuronian strata, and connected 
 with these are large ai-oas of granite and syenite which seem to be of 
 later origin than the atljacent schistose and fragmentary lluronian 
 rocks. Some of these are indicated on the present map, but there are 
 probably many more not yet recognized. 
 
 As regards the so-called Norian or Upper Laurentian formation, T 
 have no hesitation in asserting that it has, as such, no existence in 
 Canada, its theoretical birth-place. Wherever these Norian rocks have 
 l)een observed, they are either intimately and conformably associated 
 with the ordinary orthoclase or pyroxenic gneisses, or they occur as 
 intrusive masses when they present no gneissic or bedded structtire. 
 They clearly cut the surrounding gneiss, and are probably due to vol- 
 canic or other igneous agency in the Laurentian Age. Such masse 
 
26 
 
 [« 
 
 may not unrea ionahly be supposed to mark the sites of the Laurentiau 
 volcanoes, \yh Je the bedded labradoritic gneisses and other associated 
 strata may with equal probability represent the eruptive rocks — lava- 
 flows, etc, — wdich emanated from them, and were locally intorbedded 
 with the ordinary sediments of the period, as rocks of similar origin 
 and composition certainly were in the Iluronian and in all later geo- 
 logical ages, a fact which has been singularly overlooked or ignored by 
 most writers on American geology. 
 
 At present we have in Canada no evidence which would warrant us 
 in making more than two great divisions in the Archfcan crystalline 
 rocks. In many parts, especially in the eastern provinces, it has been 
 found impossible to tlerine even these clearly. Rocks of typical Lauren- 
 tian character are there so intimately associated with others of equally 
 typical Huronian characters, and in such constant alternations, that in 
 mapping them they could not be separated, and are therefore all 
 classed as Archaean or Pre-Cambrian/'- 
 
 * For details respecting thef^e Pre-Cambrian rocks, see Reports Geological Survey of Cauaua, 
 1879-80 and 1882-83, wliere they have been fully ilescribed by Mr. Fletcher. 
 
 % 
 
ill later e-eo- 
 
 PART II. 
 
 (WESTERN SECTION.) 
 
 m 
 
 rvey of Cauaua> 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. . 
 
 Note. — The foots for the following sketch of the physical geo- 
 graphy and geology of the western portion of the Dominion of Canada, 
 are lai-gely derived from the Reports of the Geological Survey. In 
 compiling these notes, I have, hi»\vever. quoted at length from summa- 
 ries previously published by me, of which the most important are in 
 Geology and Resources 49th parallel. (Boundary Commission Report) 
 and Geology of British Columbia, Geol. mag. vol. viii. 
 
 The northern part of the North American continent is geologically, 
 and to a great extent also physically divisible into two great portions. 
 In the tirst, extending from the Atlantic coasts to the soutli-eautern 
 edge of the Laurentian axis. — which is marked by a chain of great 
 lakes stretching from the Lake of the Woods to the Arctic Ocean, — 
 the Archaean plateau is the dominant feature, the succeeding forma- 
 tions arranging themselves about its edges or overlapi)ing it to a 
 greater or less extent in the form of bays or inlets, but. — with the 
 single exception of limited tracts of Triassie I'ocks, — no mesozoic or 
 tertiary strata arc represented in it. In the second, stretching westward 
 to the shores of the Pacific, the Arclucan rocks play a very subordinate 
 part, and Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks are al)undantly represented and 
 alone characterize the whole area of the great plains. Correlated with 
 the difference of age in the formations represented, is the fact that at a 
 date when the flexure and disturbance of the eastern region had 
 practically ceased, and it was set and tirra, the western Cordillera belt 
 continued to be the theatre of uplift and folding on a gigantic scale. 
 
 Where the great region of plain and prairie which occupies the whole 
 central part of Mexico and of the United States passes the forty-ninth 
 parallel of latitude, which constitutes the political boundary between 
 the lasi named country and the Dominion of Canada, it is included in 
 longitude between the 96th and the 114th meridians. It narrows pretty 
 rapidly northwards, by the encroachment on it of its eastern border, 
 but continues as a great physical feature even to the shore of the 
 Arctic Ocean, Avhere it ai)pears to have a breadth of between 300 and 
 
 I-' 
 
 
 
 
 ill 
 
• / 
 
 [dawson. 
 
 W' ^ ^' 
 
 1 
 
 400 mil OS. Beyoi d the Noi'th Saskatchewan Eiver, however, it loses 
 its esfcientially prairie character, and, with the increasing moisture of 
 the climate, becomes, with limited exceptions, thickly covered with 
 coniferous forest. 
 
 The north-eastern boundaiy of this interior continental plateau, 
 north of latitude forty-nine, is tbrmed, as above stated, by the south- 
 westei-n slope of that old crystalline nucleus of the continent which 
 extends north of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes from Labrador to 
 the Lake of the Woods; with a general east and west course, and then, 
 turning suddenly at an angle of (!()^ to its former general direction, 
 runs with a north-north-west course to the Arctic Sea. The eastern 
 barrier is rather a rocky plateau than a mountain region. It presents 
 no well defined height ot' land, and the watershed-line follows a very 
 sinuous course among the countless lakes, small and great, which 
 cover its surface. Northward from the Lake of the Woods, it divides 
 the waters tiowing into Hudson's Bay from those draining directly 
 into the Arctic Ocean, with one im])ortant exception. The Nelson 
 Eiver, carrying the accumulated waters of the Saskatchewan, the Eed 
 Eiver and innumerable smaller streams, breaks thi'ough the Lauren- 
 tian plateau at the north end of Lake Winnipeg, and emi)ties into 
 Hudson's Bay at York Factory. The Churchill or English Eiver, a not 
 inconsiderable stream, passes through the same gap. 
 
 Neai- the -tiHh i)arallel, the Eockv Mountains on the west rise 
 abru])tly from the elevated plain at their base, and often present to the 
 east almo3t perpendicular walls of rock. A short distance farther 
 north, however, they become bordered by an important zone of foot- 
 hills composed of crumpled Mesozoic rocks, and these continue with 
 varying breadth at least as far north as the Peace Eiver region. 
 Between the tifty-first and tift3"-second parallels the Eocky Mountain 
 range a])pears to culminate, and to the north gradually decreases ih 
 elevation till on the boi-ders of the Arctic Ocean it is rejM-esented by 
 com])aratively low hills only. With this decrease in height the moun- 
 tains become a less complete barrier, and the streams flowing eastward 
 acros^^ the plains rise further back till in the cases of the Peace and 
 Liard Elvers the waters fi-om the central plateau of British Columbia 
 com])letely traverse its range. 
 
 The whole interior region of the Continent slopes gradually east- 
 ward from the elevated plains lying near the base of the Eocky Moun- 
 tah. to the tcot of the Laurentian highlands, and though the inclina- 
 ' 1 !'iureal)rupt in approaching the mountains, it is not so much so 
 lit rati s|)ecial attention. Between the fifty-fourtii and forty-ninth 
 uogi'rieM of laiitude, however, along the lines which are in a general 
 way puniUe! und hold a north-west and south-east course across the 
 
[oAWSON. 
 
 er, it loses 
 iioistiu'o of 
 vei-ed with 
 
 al plateau, 
 the 80uth- 
 lent which 
 abrador to 
 , and then, 
 
 direction, 
 he eastern 
 [t pi'csents 
 >ws a very 
 !at, which 
 
 it divides 
 ig directly 
 le Nelson 
 1, the Red 
 le Lauren- 
 pties into 
 ver, a not 
 
 west rise 
 ent to the 
 e fiirther 
 :ie of foot- 
 inue with 
 r region. 
 Mountain 
 reases ih 
 lentod by 
 he moun- 
 eastward 
 eace and 
 Columbia 
 
 ally east- 
 :y Moun- 
 3 inclina- 
 much so 
 'ty-ninth 
 I general 
 iross the 
 
 DAWSON.] 
 
 29 
 
 plains, very remarkable step-like rises occur. These escarpments lorni 
 the eastern boun I'ies of the two higher prairie plateaus, and the most 
 eastern of them overlooks the lowest prairie level or that of the Red 
 River valley. The three pi'airie stopiies thus outlined ditfei- much in 
 age and character, and have been impressed on the soft formations of 
 the plains by the action ot sub-aerial denudation of former great lakes 
 and probably also of the sea. They may be considered as of primary 
 importance among the features of the country and were first (dearly 
 described by Dr. Hector. 
 
 The actual increase of elevation accounted for in the two escarp- 
 ments, however, is slight com])are(l with that due to the uniform east- 
 ward slope of the plains. The direction of greatest inclination is) to- 
 ward the north-east, and a line drawn from the intersei'tion of the 49th 
 parallel and the mountains to a ])oint on the first prairie-level north of 
 Lake Winnipeg, will be found to cross the escarpments nearly at right 
 angles, and to have an average slope of 5.38 feet to the mile. From 
 the same initial point, in a due east line to the lowest part of the valley 
 of the Red River — a distance of 750 miles — the plains have an average 
 slope of 4.48 feet per mile. 
 
 The first or lowest prairie-level is that of which the southern part 
 lies along Red River, and which northward embraces Lake Winnipeg 
 and associated lakes and the flat land sm-rounding them. A great part 
 of its eastern border is conterminous with that of Lake Winnipeg, and 
 formed by the rocky front of the Laurentian. while east of Red River 
 it is bounded by the high-lying drift terraces surrounding the Lake of 
 the Woods and forming a part of the drift plateau of northern 
 Minnesota. To the west it is limited by the more or less abrupt edge 
 of the second prairie level, forming an escarpment, which, though 
 very irregular in some ]ilace8, is scarcely perceptible where the broad 
 valley of the Assineboine breaks through it. The escarpment whei-e 
 it crosses the 49th parallel is known as Pembina Mountain, and is con- 
 tinued northward by the Riding, Duck, Porcttpine and Basquia Hills. 
 The average height above the sea of this lowest level of the interior 
 continental region is about 800 feet, the lowest part being that includ- 
 ing the Wirmipeg group of lakes which have an elevation of about TOO 
 feet. From this it slopes up southward, and attains its greatest eleva- 
 tion — 9G0 feet — at its termination about 200 miles south of the inter- 
 national boundary. The edges of this plain are also, notwithstanding 
 its apparent horizontality, considerably more elevated than its axis 
 where this is occupied by the Red River. Its width on the 49th 
 parallel is fifty-two miles only. Its area north of the same line may be 
 estimated at 55,000 square miles, of which the great system of lakes in 
 its northern part occupies about 13,900 square miles. A great part of 
 
 111 
 
 
 ;!• 
 
 .Hi 
 
■^W^^l 
 
 f 
 
 ao 
 
 [OAWSON. 
 
 m::si 
 
 A" 
 
 fc 
 
 [iff 
 Mi, 
 
 !■:;- 
 
 this prairie-lev ol is wooded more or less densely, particularly Lhat por- 
 tion adjacent to the lakes. The southern part, extending southward 
 from Lake Winni])eg, includes the prairie of the Red River valley with 
 an area north of the 41tth parallel of about 6,900 square miles. 
 
 The superticial deposits of this area are chiefly those of a former 
 great lake, which has been named by Mr. Wurren Upham Lake 
 Agassiz, and which occupied it toward the clos*. the glacial period. 
 In Minnesota the shoi-e-lines and beaches of this lake have been care- 
 fully ti'aced out by Mi-. Upham, and it has been shewn bj'- General 
 Warren, the writer and the first named gentleman, that its outflow was 
 southward to the Mississip])i. The fine silty material now flooring the 
 Rod River i)lain and constituting its soil of unsurpassed fertility was 
 laid down in its deeper waters. The Red and Assiniboine Rivers 
 have not yet cut very deeply into these suporflcial deposits, having 
 already nearly rcacheil a base level of erosion, and the surface of the 
 ]»lnin is level and little furrowed by denutlation. 
 
 The second stoppc of Ihe plains is bounded to the west by the Missouri 
 Ooteau, and its northern continuation constitutes the edge of the third 
 steppe. Its width on the 49th parallel is two hundred and fifty miles, 
 and on the 54th iibout two hundred miles, though it cannot there be 
 so strictly detined. Its total area between those two parallels is about 
 105.000 .s(i[unre miles, and includes the whole eastern portion of the 
 groat plains, properly so called, with an a])proximate aj-ea of 71,000 
 squaro miles. These occupy its southern and western portion, and are 
 continuous westward with those of the third steppe. To the south, the 
 boundaries of this region appear to be more indefinite, and in the 
 southern part of Dakota the three primary levels of the country, so 
 well marked north of the line, are ])robably scarcely separable. The 
 present rivers have acted on this region for a much longer time than on 
 the last, and with the advantage of a greater height above base level, 
 and now flow with uniform though often swift currents, in wide 
 trough-like valleys excavated in the soft matei'ial of the plains, and 
 frequently dejiressed from one hundred to three hundi-ed feet below 
 the general surface. In these valleys the comparatively insignificant 
 streams wander from side to side in tortuous channel , which they k^ave 
 only at times of flood. The surface of this steppe is also more diversi- 
 fied than the last, being broken into gentle levels and undulations, partly 
 due to the present denuding agencies, but in part also to original 
 inequalities in the deposition of the drift material which constitutes the 
 supei'ficial formation. The average altitude of this region may be stated 
 at 1,(jOO feet, and the character of its soil and adaptability for agricul- 
 ture diifer considerably in its diffei-cnt portions. 
 
 The third or highest steppe of the plains may be said to have a gen- 
 
[dawson. 
 
 i Lhat por- 
 southward 
 alley with 
 s. 
 
 a former 
 lani Lake 
 ial period. 
 )oon care- 
 s'' General 
 itflow was 
 )oring the 
 ■tility was 
 no Rivers 
 8, having 
 ace of the 
 
 3 Missouri 
 
 the third 
 fty miles, 
 
 there be 
 s is about 
 on of the 
 of 71,000 
 I, and are 
 outh, the 
 id in the 
 untry, so 
 )le. The 
 3 than on 
 ase level, 
 
 in wide 
 ains, and 
 et below 
 L^nilicant 
 ley 1-eave 
 ' diversi- 
 is, partly 
 
 oi'iginal 
 tutes the 
 36 stated 
 
 agricul- 
 
 e a gen- 
 
 DAW80N.] 
 
 31 
 
 ei-al normal altitude of about 3000 feet, though its eastei-n edge is gen- 
 erally little over 2000 feet, and it attains an elevation of over 4000 feet 
 at the foot of the EoeUy Mountains. Its area between the parallels 
 above defined, and including the high land and foot hills along the base 
 of the mountains, is about 134,000 square miles. an(] of this by far the 
 greater i>iirt, or about lir),000 si^uai-e miles, is almost cntir. /devoid of 
 forest, the wooded region being confined to a smai! area of its northern 
 and north-western extension near the North Saskatchewan Eiver and its 
 tributaries. Its breadth on the 49th parallel is four hundred and sixty- 
 five miles, and its eastern boundary is there well-marked, being the 
 broken hilly country knnM'n as the Cotmu de Missouri, or (iw^ixi Coteau, 
 which crosses the International boundary neai- the 104th meridian, and 
 thence runs east of the Old Wive> Lakes to the South Saskatchewan. 
 It is then continued to the north by a range of high lands, of Avhich the 
 Eagle Hills constitute a part, to the ellx)W(jf the North Saskatchewan, 
 and l)e)^ond that river prohably to the Thickwood Hills. 
 
 This portion of the great plains is much more diversified than either 
 of those before described. It has been elevated to a ffi'eater heiirht 
 above the sea level, and acted on to a much greater extent by the ero- 
 ding forces, both in later Tertiary time and subse(|uent to the glacial 
 period. Those portions of its surface which still remain but little 
 modified, form table-lands such as those of the Cy})ress Hills and Wood 
 Mountain. The universal denudation which has taken place is evidenced 
 by the size and (le])th of the valleys of rivers and streams, l)0th of pre- 
 glacial and post-glacial age. the great ravines and '• couldes" which have 
 been cut and are still extending themselves among the soft sandstones 
 and clays of the Cretaceous and Laramie formations, and the isolated 
 plateaus and buttes which now stand far out on the ]»lains of lower level, 
 seamed witli newer systems of gcu-gcs. Deposits belonging to the glacial 
 period, with transported boulders and gravel, are found over almost tlie 
 entire area of the highest ste[)pe, but are spread loss imiformly than 
 on the lower levels, and the surface is often based almost immediately 
 on the Cretaceous and Laramie beds. There is ample jn-oof that pre- 
 vious to the glacial period the surface was much more rugged and 
 worn than it now ajipears : the glacial <]eposits have since filled numy 
 of the deeper hollows and given rounded antl fiowmg outlines to the 
 whole. In the foot-hills of the Eot'ky Mountains the ]U'eviou8ly nearly 
 horizontal beds of the plains are thrown into wave-like flexures and 
 compressed folds, which the surface participates in to a lesser degree, 
 assuming the form of crest-like parallel ridges which frequently pos- 
 sess considerable uniformity. The nature of the soil and [)rospective 
 agi'icultural value of this great district are too varied to allow of gene- 
 ralization. Though it nmst be regarded rather as a grazing than a 
 
 I 
 
 
32 
 
 b 
 
 \ 
 
 hwminji logion, it pi'oscnts fro(|Uontly an excoUcnt soil, aiifl whun the 
 rainfall is surticioiit and tlu' allitudo not too i^ivat, consitionibk' con- 
 nuctod tracts inay yet lie hrotiitht xnuicv cultivation. 
 
 North of the North Saskatchewan no extensive treeless [)lains occur 
 in tlie I'cntnil ref^ion of the continent, and the forest country of the oast 
 forms a wide unhroken connection with that of the northern part of 
 IJritish Columbia, and thoui^h [trairies of very attractive character are 
 found near the Peace River, tliey are limited in area and isolated by 
 bolts of woodland. Tin' width (»f the ^fesozoii' and Tertiary* jdain u^ra- 
 duallv diminishes to the north, heini^; less than 400 miles near the 5(5th 
 itarallel, and it is possibly completely interru])te(l north of the 62nd 
 parallel by the inosculation of the palieozoic rocks of the east and west. 
 The three steppes of the southern plains caimot be defined in this 
 northern retcion, biit its features are yet little known. In the basin of 
 the Peace, the lower areas are covered superticially by fine silty dejx)- 
 sits rcsenibliiii^- tliose of tlie Eed Kiver valley, and doubtless indicating 
 a former great lake or extension of the sea in the time immediately 
 succeeding the glacial period. 
 
 Though thus so remarkably simple and definite in its grand features 
 the interior region of the continent shows many irregularities in detail. 
 The second steppe has some elevations on its surface as high as the 
 edge of the third plateau, and that part surrounding the Assiniboine 
 Elver and its tributaries is abnormally depressed, causing some por- 
 tions of the eastern edge of this prairie-tevol which overlook Manitoba 
 Lake, more to resenxble outliers than integral parts of it. 
 
 The transverse v/ater-sheds which bound the drainage area of the 
 Saskatchewan and Eed Rivers to the south and north, though compa- 
 ratively low and diffuse, and insignificant as geological boundaries, are 
 iniDortaut geographically. Taken as a whole, however, the central 
 portion of the Dominion may be regarded as a great sbjdlow trough, 
 of which the western edge is formed by the Rocky Mountains, the 
 eastern by the Laurentian axis, but in which the western pcjrtion of 
 the floor is now, (probably as the result of Post Tertiary elevation,) 
 higher than its eastern rim. Of the area as at first defined, extending 
 from the 54th to the 49th parallels, the great Saskatchewan River and 
 its tributaries drain by far the largest part, or about 139,000 square 
 miles. The Red River and its tributary the Assiniboine drain 70,500 
 square miles, and the valleys of the numerous small streams flowing 
 into the Winnipeg group of lakes, including the area of the lakes them- 
 selves, drain 52,800 square miles. The upper branches of the Missouri, 
 and especially those of its tributary the Milk River, drain a consider- 
 able area to the south, embracing about 22,800 square miles, while to 
 the south of the first named parallel the tributaries of the Mackenzie 
 
OAWaON.] 
 
 S3 
 
 i/jr 
 
 id feature* 
 
 drain an area of about 10,000 milcH only. The total an^a of prairio 
 country between the .sjune limits, inclinliiiir thjit of ufl three steppes, 
 may be estimated at 192.000 siiuare miles. Thou<;h much of this vast 
 area is not absolutely treeless like its suuth-western \niv\, the a^'gro- 
 gato ti-eoclad area is quite insigniticunt as compared with that of the 
 open plains. 
 
 From the western alge of the gi-eat plains to the Pacific, between 
 the 40th and SOth parallels, the Conlilleru helt of the west coast has 
 an average breadth of about 400 miles. Geologically, it may he con- 
 sidered through(nit as a region of flexuro and turmoil, and orogi-aphic- 
 ally, as one of mountains. As compared with its development in the 
 Western States, the Cordillera belt may here be considered as con- 
 stricteil and narrow. To the north of the 56th parallel it is very 
 imperfectly known topographically and almost completely unex- 
 plored geologically. It aj)peai's ])r()L>al)lo, however, that a wide bay of 
 comparative!}'^ undisturbed Cretaceous rocks may penetrate it in the 
 region of the uppei- Liard Eiver, which the eschelon range bordering 
 the lower part, of this stream and the Mackenzie may bound to the 
 east. A southern prolongation of such a range, beneath the newer 
 rocks, may probably be ii\dicated by the remarkable parallel tlexurcs 
 of the great rivers of the northern plains, the Liard, I'eace, Athabasca 
 and Saskatchewan. 
 
 Between tbe 49th and 56th degrees of latitude the Cordillera belt is 
 composed of four great ranges, the llocky, the Gold, tlu! (\»asi and the 
 Vancouver Mountains, which are in the main neai-ly parallel and run 
 in north-west and south-east bearings. 
 
 In its southern ])ai't, the Eocky Mountain range has, an average 
 breadth of about sixty miles, which deci-eases near the Peace Eiver to 
 forty miles or less. Near the 49th parallel several summits occur with 
 elevations exceeding 10,000 feet, but Jiorthward few attain this eleva- 
 tion till the vicinii; oi the Bow River and Kicking Horse is reached. 
 About the head watei-s of the North Saskatchewan the range appears 
 to culminate, and Mount Murchison is credited with an altitude of 
 13,500 feet, though this has not been accurately determined. Near 
 the Peace few summits exceed 6,000, so far as known, though more or 
 less extensive snow-fields occur in many places, true glaciers appear 
 only about the head waters of the Bow, North Saskatchewan and Atha- 
 basca. Wherever the line of junction has been closely examined, great 
 faults with eastward downthrow separate the Mesozoic rocks of the 
 eastern foot-hills from the paleozoic of the mountains, and other similar 
 dislocations occur in the heart of the range parallel to its general 
 course. With the exception of a single small area above Jasper House, 
 reported by Dr. Hector, no crystalUne schists have been found in this 
 
 o 
 
r 
 
 y 
 
 34 
 
 [OAWION. 
 
 range, whidi consinta in great part of Devonian and Carboniferous 
 limestones. A few Cretacoous basins, resembling in tbeir cbaractor 
 isoliited features of the eastern foot-hills, are included in the southern 
 part of the range. Home of t lie valleys penetrating the range on the 
 east are lightly timbered or in part prairie-liko in character, but, as u 
 rule, these mountains are thickly wooded wherever sufticient soil exists 
 for the support of trees, and, owing to the greater rainfall on the 
 western slopes, the forests are there often very dense and additional 
 species of trees are repi*esentod. 
 
 From the boundary line northward, the principal passes are as fol- 
 lows : — South Kootanie Pass, elevation, 7,100 feet; North Kootanio 
 Pass, eantern or main summit, 0,750 feet ; Western summit, G,800feet; 
 Crow Nest Pass, summit, 5,500 feet ; Kanaskis Pass, 5,700 feet ; Bow 
 Eiver and Kicking Hor.ne Pass, 5,800; Howso Pass, 5,210 feet; Atha- 
 basca Pass, elevation unknown ; Yellow Head Pass, 3,733 feet ; Smoky 
 Eiver Pass, feet ; Pine Piver Pass, 2,850 feet ; Peace Kiver Val- 
 ley, 2,000 feet. With the exception of the routo selected for the Cana- 
 dian Paeitic Railway, these passes are traversed only by rough moun- 
 tain trails, practicable for pack animals. 
 
 The western edge of the Rocky Mountain range is defined by a very 
 remarkable straight and wide vallc}', which can be traced uninterrupt- 
 edly from the 4!)th parallel to the head waters of tho Peace — a dis- 
 tance of 700 miles — and may eventually be found to extend much 
 further. This valley is occupied by tho upper portions of several of 
 the largest rivers, the Kootanie, Columbia, Fraser, Parsnip and 
 Find ley. 
 
 The Gold Ranges,, which name may be applied as a general one to 
 the next mountain region, is composed of a number of more or less 
 deaily detined subsidiary ranges, the Selkirk, Purcell, Columbia and 
 Cariboo Mountains. Crystalline schists, including gneisses and tra- 
 versed by intrusive granitic masses, enter largely into the composition 
 of these mountains, and there is ground for the belief that this is geolo- 
 gically the oldest of the ranges of this part of the Co.- lillera. It is 
 probable that many of its summits exceed 8,000 feet, bui their outlines 
 are generally more rounded and flowing than iiiore of the Rocky 
 Mountains, and owing to its dense and tangled forests it is extremely 
 difficidt to penetrate and has been less explored than the others. Its 
 width may be stated as about eighty miles, but north of the Cariboo 
 district, al)Out the head waters of the Peace, it dies away completely, 
 though pi'obably again resuming in tho Omenica district still further 
 to the north-west. 
 
 Between this and the Coast Ranges, stretches a region which may 
 be called the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, with an average 
 
[OAWSON. 
 
 irboniforous 
 r character 
 ho southern 
 mgo on the 
 iv, but, as a 
 it Hoil exists 
 ifall on the 
 1 additional 
 
 are as fol- 
 h Kootanie 
 ,0,800 feet; 
 
 feet ; Bow 
 feet ; Atha- 
 set; Smoky 
 Kiver Val- 
 r the Cana- 
 )ugh moun- 
 
 d by a very 
 ninterrupt- 
 ace — a dis- 
 tend much 
 f several of 
 irsnip and 
 
 3ral one to 
 lore or less 
 umbia and 
 !s and tra- 
 omposition 
 lis is geolo- 
 lera. It is 
 eir outlines 
 the Eocky 
 extremely 
 )thers. Its 
 tie Cariboo 
 jompletely, 
 itill further 
 
 s^hich may 
 in average 
 
 DAWtON.] 
 
 35 
 
 width of one hundred milos,oand moan elevation of about 3.500 feet. 
 Its height, on the whole, increases to the south, while northward, it 
 falls gradually towards the group of largo lakes, and the low country 
 about the head waters of the Peace. It has over a great part of its 
 area been covered by widesj)read flows of basalt and other volcanic 
 rocks in the later Tertiary })eriod, bui is now dissected hy deep and 
 trough-liko river valleys into most of which water standing at an 
 elevation of 3,000 feet above the prenentsea level would flow, dividing 
 its surface into a number of islands. In some places the plateau is 
 pretty level and uniform ; but usually it is only when broadly viewed 
 that its character is ap])aront. It is practically closed to the north 
 about latitude 55° 30' by the ends of several intei-calatcd mountain 
 ranges of which some of the summits attain 8,000 foot. Nearly coin- 
 ciding with the 49th parallel is a second transverse mountains zone, 
 formed in a similar way, which may bo considered as limiting it to the 
 south, though traversed by several river valleys, of which that of the 
 Okanagan in longitude 119° 30' is thu lowest. The southern part of 
 the plateau includes muoh open country, constitutes the best grazing 
 region of British Columbia and otfers bcHidu some good agricultural 
 land, though the rainfall is so deticient as to -gnder irrigation gener- 
 ally necessary. To the north, with increasing moisture, it becomes 
 generally forested. 
 
 The Coast Ranges, with an average width of one hundred miles, are 
 frequently named the Cascade Mountains, l)ut this term is a misleading 
 one, as they are both geologically and orographically distinct from the 
 well-known Cascade range of Washington Territory and Oregon. 
 These mountains are largely composed of gnoissic and granitic rocks 
 and crystalline schists. The average altituto of their higher peaks is 
 between 6,000 and 7,000. while some exceed 9,000 feet. Glaciers are of 
 frequent occurrence and large size in their northern part, and on the 
 Alaskan coast are known in several instances to descend to the sea 
 level. These mountains are, as a rule, densely. forested and extremely 
 rugged, the flora of their seaward slopes being that characteristic of 
 the west coast and co-ordinated with its excessive humidity, while on 
 their northern and eastern flanks it resembles that of the inland ranges. 
 The name, Vancouver Range, may be applied to ,.he fourth great 
 mountain axis, which, in a partially submerged, condition constitutes 
 Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte islands, is continued to the south 
 in the Olympic Mountains, and to the north in the peninsular portion 
 and Islands of Alaska. The highest mountain of Vancouver Island 
 reaches an elevation of 7,484 feet, while there is a considerable moun- 
 tainous area in the centre of the island which surpasses 2,000 feet in 
 average altitude. Several summits in the Queen Charlotte Islands 
 
B9 
 
 [dawson. 
 
 exceed 4,000 feet. This range, while still to a considerable extent 
 formed of crystalline loeks like those of the Coast Range, includes 
 notable areas of newer beds, of which the most important are those of 
 the Cretaceous coal measures. 
 
 The most remarkable feature of the coast are its fjords and passages 
 which, while luite analogous to those of Scotland, Norway and Green- 
 land, probably surpass those of any part of the world, (unless it be the 
 kibt named country), in dimensions and complexity. The great height 
 of the rugged mountain walls which border them also gives them a 
 grandeur quite their own. The long river-like lakes of the interior of 
 the Province reproduce the features of ihese fjords in a smaller scale^ 
 and hold a homologous position to the inland ranges. 
 
 VV 
 
[dawson. 
 
 •able extent 
 ge, includoB 
 are those of 
 
 ■nd passages 
 and Grcen- 
 ss it be the 
 jreat height 
 ives them a 
 i interior of 
 laller scale^ 
 
 w 
 
 3t 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GEOLOGY. 
 
 The main geological features of the central and western portion of 
 the Dominion having already been alluded to in connection with itb 
 physical structure, it remains now merely to present in such synop- 
 tical form as may serve to explain the accompanying map, a sys- 
 tematic outline of its component formations. 
 
 The eastern margin of the great interior continental basin is com- 
 posed of Silurian and Devonian rocks, which, resting almost horizon- 
 tally on the upturned edges of the Laurentian and Huronian, form a 
 belt of varying width which appears to extend from Minnes(jta to the 
 shores of the Arctic Sea. Prof Hind has recognized the Chazy forma- 
 tion on Lake Winnipeg, while in Manitoba and Winnepegosis Lakes 
 Devonian rocks occur, and it is pivbablc that the intervening form- 
 ations will be found to be extensively developed in the Lake Winni- 
 peg region as it is more fully examined. Fossils obtained at I5ast 
 Selkirk, on the Red Eiver, have enabled Mi-. Whiteaves to fix the 
 horizon of the rocks at that place as that of the Galena limestones of 
 the west, equivalent to the Utica shales. Similar beds are found in 
 Stony Mountain, near Winnipeg, but appear there to pass up into the 
 Hudson River formation. 
 
 The Cambro-Silurian and Devonian rocks of the Red Eiver and Win- 
 nipeg Lake region, are for the most part pale gr-ey or buff-coloured 
 magnesian liinestoaes. From Methy Portage northv/ard, according to 
 Sir J. Richardson's observations and from collections made by Mr. 
 Kennicott, it would appear that Devonian rocks constitute almopt the 
 entire width of the Palaeozoic belt. They appear on the Clear^vater 
 and Athabasca Rivers as bituminous limestones and shales, which are 
 referred by Meek, front their fOssiis, to the Hamilton and Genesee 
 formations. In this region these locks yield largo quantities of petro- 
 leum, which, exuding from them, ."-aturates the overlying suporhL-'l 
 materials and gives rise to " tar spriags" along the tracks of the ri\ -ii . 
 Salt spiings also occur, and these are found to characterize the Devo- 
 nian rocks southward to Rod River, though no indications of petro- 
 leum have yet been observed south of Methy Portage. 
 
 The limits of the present sketch will not permit any detailed 
 description of the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks which characterize 
 the entire breadth of the interior continental region from the bolt of 
 Cambro-Silurian and Devonian limestones last noticed, to tbe isastern 
 odge of the Cordillera belt. These rocks, howevei',. corre. i)o .d in their 
 
 I ■ I 
 
 it: 
 
 
 t--'-,. 
 
 •III 
 
 ii! 
 
I 38 [OAWSON. 
 
 ■widespread, and homcgeneous general character, to the uniformity of 
 the great plains which they underlie, and may be characterized in 
 a few words. 
 
 North of the 49th parallel, the Systems represented — so far as at 
 present known — are the Cretaceous and Tertiary, with the interven- 
 ing Cretaceo-Tertiary Laramie series, Laramie and Miocene. In the 
 eastern portion of the region, the Cretaceous — owing to the mantle of 
 glacial deposits, is generally poorly exposed, but appears to resemble 
 very closely the strata of the same age, studied by Messrs. Meek and 
 Hayden on the Missouri in the corresponding portion of the Western 
 States. The following is Messrs. Meek and Hayden's general section, 
 the series being an'anged in descending order : — 
 
 FEFT. 
 
 No. 5. Fox Hill Beds. — Grey, ferruginous and yellowish snndstones 
 
 and arenaceous clays. Marine SJiells- . . . 500 
 
 No. 4. Fort Pierre Group. — Dark-grey and bluish plastic clays. 
 
 Marine shells, gypsum and fish remains. . . . 700 
 
 No. 3. Niobrara Group. — Calcareous marls. Marine shells, fish re- 
 mains, foraminifera, &c 200 
 
 No. 2. Fort Benton Group. — Dark-grey laminated clays, with some 
 
 limestone. Marine shells 800 
 
 No. 1. Dakota Group. — Yellowish, reddish and whitish sandstones 
 
 and clay, with occasional lignites. Marine 
 and mme fresh-water shells and angio- 
 sperrn is leaves 400 
 
 Of the lowest or Dakota group, no rocks have yet been clearly re- 
 cognised in our region. The Benton group is stated by Prof Hind to 
 occur on the Saskatchewan near Fort k la Corne, but this is the only 
 locality in the eastern portion of the region where it is supposed to 
 occur. Shales, probably of this age, occur at the base of the section 
 in the vicinity of the Upper Milk River, and they are pretty exten- 
 sively developed on the Peace River, whore they have been called the 
 Fort St. John group. They also come to the surface in the disturbed, 
 foot-hill country at the base of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Beds of the age of the Niobrara or third division of the Crotaceous of 
 Messrs. Meek and Hayden, occur in the escarpment of Pembina Moun- 
 tain, west of the Red River Valley, on the Boyne River. They are 
 also probably shown on the Assiniboine, and have again been recog- 
 nized on Swan River, west of Manit<jba Lake. Their characier in these 
 places closely conesponds with that found in the typical section above 
 referred to, the beds being largely calcareous and marly, and repeating 
 to some extent tbe character of the chalk of the old world. Further 
 west no beds have been distinctly recognised as referable to the Nio- 
 brara, though it is probable that the Belly River and Dunvegan series, 
 subsequently referred to, are nearly on this hovizon. 
 
 * - »>. 
 
[dawson. 
 
 pDriiiity of 
 terized in 
 
 far as at 
 interven- 
 In the 
 [mantle of 
 resemble 
 [eek and 
 Western 
 |I section, 
 
 FEOT. 
 
 . 500 
 i. 
 
 . 700 
 ■ 200 
 800 
 
 n 
 
 DAV/SON.] 
 
 39 
 
 e 
 
 iS 
 le 
 
 400 
 
 I early re- 
 Hind to 
 the only 
 posed to 
 ' section 
 y exten- 
 lled the 
 isturbed 
 
 ceous of 
 a Moun- 
 fiey are 
 I recog- 
 n these 
 above 
 )eating 
 ui'ther 
 le Nio- 
 sories. 
 
 The Pierre or next overlying group is in point of extent the most 
 important of the subdivisions of the Cretaceous in the North-West, 
 its ^.'haractcristic (hirk shales or shaly-elayH underlying a great part of 
 the prairie country. The shales frequently contain ironstone nodules, 
 and in some places arenaceous layers also appear and are generally 
 found to become more important in approaching the mountains. The 
 lithological character of this group is, however, on the whole remark- 
 ably uniform and beds are occasionally found in it which are highly 
 fossiliferous. The highest beds of the Cretacous system proper, the 
 xox Hill, are closely rclatef' to the Pierre, and form in many places a 
 series of passage beds between the Cretaceous and the overlying Lara- 
 mie formation. "When most characteristically developed they consist 
 of sandstune and yellowish sandy shales. 
 
 Overiying the Cretaceous ]n-oper in perfect conformity is a great 
 series of estuarine and fresh-water beds which may collectively be re- 
 ferred to the Laramie formation. I^o question in western geology has 
 given rise to so nmch discussion as that of the Cretaceous or Eocene 
 age oT those beds. It is one which depends almost entii-ely on the ap- 
 paroiviy conflicting evidence of the vertebrate, moUuscun and vege- 
 table fossils which they contain, and one which cannot hero be entered 
 into. On the »ccompanyiiig nuq) this formation is indicated by a 
 separate colour, because of its lithological difference from the under- 
 Ving Cretaceous, its influence a.s a cause of plateaus and other features, 
 and its importance in connection with the fuel supply of the country. 
 
 The most eastern locality of these beds is Turtle Mountain, on 
 the 49th parallel, where they forni an extensive outlier. On the 
 Souris Eiver they are largely developed, and constitute the superficial 
 formation of the whole country. The Laramie of this region is, how- 
 ever, an extetision of that special development of the forination on the 
 Missouri whi/h has long been known as the Fort Union series. The 
 rocks a- e f;:,-..'ner!d)y 8oft i^andy clays and sandstones, of pale colours, and 
 on the o-ncis boid ironstone and many seams of lignite of fair quality. 
 Further west tbu typical Laramie covers a vast area and becomes a 
 distinctly estiiari . f.rmation at the base, and the connection between 
 this and tiiat of the Souris beds yet remains to be clearly established. 
 The western Laramie, particul'.irly in the vicinity of the mountains, is 
 largely composed of sandstones which are frequently (juite hard. This 
 formation has a thickness of several thousand feet in the country about 
 the Bow and Belly Eivers, where it has been sub-divided into three 
 gi'cup > vhich are enumerated in tabular form on a subsequent page. 
 
 A si'f...d area of Miocene Tertiary rocks was discovered in 1883 in 
 the Cy|> Hills, where it overlies Cretaceous and ^.^ssibly, in some 
 places, Laramie beds. The rocks are chiefly pebblo-beds, or conglome- 
 
 III 
 
 m 
 
i 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 [dawson. 
 
 rates composed of coarse rolled shingle which has had its oiigin in the 
 Eocky Mountains. These are associated with soft sandstones and 
 sandy clays, and have yielded a few vertebrate remains which seem 
 sufficient to fix the age of the formation. 
 
 It has already been stated that the Cretaceous rocks of the extreme 
 west differ from those of the typical section first quoted. In the 
 region of the Bow or Belly Eivcrs, the Pierre is underlaid by an 
 extensive fresh-and-brackish-water series, consisting of sandy argillites 
 and sandstones; the upper portion is characteristically pale in tint, 
 the lower generally darker and yellowish or brownish. This has been 
 called the Belly Eiver series, and appears to correspond precisely to 
 that occupying a similar stratigraphical position on the Peace Eiver, 
 and there designated the Dunvegan series. These indicate the exist- 
 ence of a prolonged interval in the western Cretaceous area, during 
 which the sea was more or less exclud ^ ^rom the region, and its place 
 occupied for long periods by lagoons or . tter Irkes. Below these, 
 
 both in the region of the Bow and Belly tw. .11 the Pea:e Elvers, is a 
 second series of dark shales which may probably rej^resent the Benton 
 group of the Missouri sections. 
 
 The subjoined table shows more clearly the relations of the Creta- 
 ceous and Laramie beds, so far as they are at present known : — 
 
 Missouri Section. 
 Meek and Hayden. 
 
 District of Bow and 
 Belly Rivers. 
 
 Peace River District- 
 
 Laramie and Fort Union. 
 
 .2J 
 
 H.5 
 
 Porcupine Hill beds. 
 Willow Creek beds. 
 St. Mary River beds. 
 
 Wapiti River group. 
 
 Fox Hill beds. 
 
 Fox Hill (inconstant). 
 
 
 Pierre group. 
 
 Pierre group. 
 
 3moky River group. 
 
 Niobrara group. 
 
 Belly River group. 
 
 Dunvegan group. 
 
 Benton group. 
 
 Benton group? 
 
 Fort St. John group. 
 
 Dakota group. 
 
 
 
 The Cretaceous and Laramie beds of the whole eastern portion of the 
 interior Continental region are almost absolutely horizontal, or affected 
 
 i •! 
 
m\ 
 
 [dawson. 
 
 in in the 
 )no8 and 
 ich seem 
 
 extreme 
 In the 
 i by an 
 irgiUites 
 in tint, 
 las been 
 :;i8ely to 
 3 Eiver, 
 le exist- 
 , during 
 ts place 
 V these, 
 ere, is a 
 Benton 
 
 ) Creta- 
 
 N.] 
 
 41 
 
 riucT. 
 
 )up. 
 
 anp, 
 
 p. 
 
 )up. 
 
 •f the 
 'ected 
 
 
 by snch slight inclinations that no dip is observable in individual sec- 
 tions. The beds of both series have, how(3ver. participated in the 
 western uplift of this part of the Centinent, and arc found at ever 
 increasing levels on approaching the Eocky Mountains. Near the 
 base of the range they are also found io show more pronounced 
 undulations, and in a narrow l)elt along the toot of the mountains ai'o 
 sharply folded and contorted. Isolated areas of these newer rocks 
 have also been found in the Eocky Moimtains themselves, and in one 
 of these the anthracite of Cascade Eiver, in the Bow Pass, occurs. 
 
 The most important question depending on the study of the Creta- 
 ceous and Laramie i-ocks of the North-West, is that of the fuel sup])ly. 
 In the eastern region, lignites of fair ([uality and workable thickness 
 occur in the Laramie rocks of the Souris district, but have so far not 
 been found in the underlying Cretaceous. Furthei- west the Creta- 
 ceous also becomes a coal-beai-ing formation, and in the vicinity of the 
 Bow and Belly important lignites oi- coals have now been found in the 
 Belly Eiver series (Medicine Hat, etc) : base of the Pierre (Coal 
 Banks, etc.) : top of the Pierre (Bow Eiver) and in the lower subdivi- 
 sion of the Lai'amie (Blackfoot Crossing, etc.). In the Peace Eiver 
 disti'ict seams which may prove to be of a workable character have 
 been found only in the Dunvegan sei-ies. The precise horizon of many 
 of the lignites and coals of the Avestern part of the plains and foot-hills 
 has not yet been fixed. The fuels found in the area of the plains may 
 be characterized generally as lignites, but on ap])roaching the moun- 
 tains these are found to contain a decreasing percentage of water, and 
 eventually, in the foot-hills and areas included within the first limestone 
 range frequently become true coking bituminous coals, and in one 
 instance, as above stated, have actually been converted into an anthra- 
 cite which contains 86 per cent, of fixed carbon. 
 
 In treating of the rock structure of the Cordillera belt, it will be 
 most convenient to outline that of each of its great component regions, 
 in so far as the older formations are concerned. The Cretaceous and 
 Tertiary of the entire belt, wliich rest upon these in a comparatively 
 little disturbed or altered state, nuiy then be considered. 
 
 In the Eockj" Mountains we have the broken western margin of the 
 imdisturbed pateozoic strata which underlie the great plains. These 
 are here sometimes sharply flexed and lying at high angles, but very 
 generally elevated in block-like and nearly horizcmtal masses. In 
 British America our geological knowledge of the ranges is confined to 
 the observations of its extreme northern part by Sir J. Eichardson, of 
 its southern portion by Dr. Her*^o-t, a traverse on the Peace Eiver by 
 Dr. Selwyn aud the observations of the writer in the last nanied locality 
 and in the region between the Bow Eiver Pass and the 49th parallel. 
 
 
// 
 
 42 
 
 [OAWSON. 
 
 M^ 
 
 The most complete section so far examined is that in the vicinity of 
 the South Kootanie Pass and Watorton Lake. This may therefore be 
 briefly referred to and some reference then made to such points of dif- 
 ference ^s occur between it and those in t'ie north-western continua- 
 tion of the ran^e. The total thickness of the beds here seen, or of that 
 part of them which was measured or estimated, is about 4,500 feet, the 
 section bein^ as follows in descending order : — (*) 
 
 H. Fawn-colored, flaggy beds, chiefly composed of 
 
 magneeian sandstones and limestones 100 feet. 
 
 G. Beds characterized by a predominent red colour, 
 and chiefly red sandstone, but including 
 some thin greyish beds, and magnesian 
 sandstone. The whole generally thin-bed- 
 ded though sometimes rather massive. . . • 300 feet 
 
 F. Fawn-(;oloured, flaggy beds of magnesian sand- 
 stone and limestone. Some red sandstones 
 occur throughout, but are especially abund- 
 ant toward the top. Apparently a continua- 
 tion upward of the limestone D., and separ- 
 ated from it only by tht' t ip overflow 200 feet 
 
 E. Amygdaloidal trap, dark coloured and hard 50 to 100 feet. 
 
 D. Compact bluish and ffrey limestone, often some- 
 what magnesian and weathering brownish. 
 This forms some of the boldest crags and 
 peaks of the mountains, and rests uncon- 
 formably on series C 1,000 feet 
 
 C. Sandstones, quartzites and slaty rocks of various 
 tints, but chiefly reddish and greenish-grey. 
 The individual beds seldom of great thick- 
 ness, and the colour and texture of approxi- 
 mate beds often rapidly alternating. In 
 this series occurs a band of bright-red rocks 
 of inconstant thickness, also occasional 
 zones of coarse magnesian grit 2,000 feet or more. 
 
 B. Limestone, pale-grey, cherty and highly magne- 
 sian, hard, much altered, and weathering 
 white. It includes at least one band of 
 coarse magnesian grit like that found in 
 the last series 200 feet 
 
 A. Impure dolomites and fine dolomitic quartzites, 
 dark purplish and grey, but weathering 
 bright brown of various shades 700 feet or more. 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Qeology and Resources, 49th parallel, p. 67- 
 
w 
 
 DAWSON.] 
 
 43 
 
 i 
 
 Of tho foregoinf^ section the HubdiviHions G and H, doubtless repro- 
 sent the Trias or Jura-TriaH which with similar lithological characters 
 is very extensively developed in the Eocky Mountain region further 
 south. The conditions indicated are those of an inland lake, and the 
 occurrence of mud-cracks, ripple-marks, and the impressions of salt 
 crystals show that considerable surfaces Avere at times dry, or but 
 lightly covered by water. These beds have not been found further 
 north in the range than the North Kootanie Pass, and it would 
 appear probable that ihis is about the ancient limit of the Triassic 
 inland sea. About the Peace Eivor, Triassic beds have been found, but 
 they are dark shales and sandstones quite ditt'orent in character, and 
 hold marine fossils of the age of the ' Alpine Trias ' of tho Western 
 States. The Permian is not certainly known, though subdivision P 
 may represent it. The trap E is evidently a contemporaneous flow, 
 and has not been found further north than the Triassic beds. The 
 massive limestones, D., are the most characteristic beds of this range 
 and appear to be persistently so throughout its whole extent. From 
 fossils elsewhere found they are known to be Devonian or Devoiuv 
 Carboniferous. They must vary much in thickness, as on the Orow 
 Nest Lake, forty miles to the north-west, they have a volume of 9,600 
 feet. 
 
 The unconformably underlying divisions C. B. and A. may now 
 be provisionally classed as Cambrian, on the evidence of a few fossils 
 found in the Columbia vallev, and from analoi^v with beds described in 
 the Western States since this section was first published, though it is 
 quite possible that Silurian beds may also be included. In some places, 
 west of the Flathead River, the red beds included with these are char- 
 acterized by sun-cracks, ripple-marks and prints of salt crystals ])re- 
 cisely resembling those of the Trias and indicating similar conditions 
 of deposit, though of vastly greater antiquity. Contemporaneous flows 
 of diorite or diabase are also found at some horizons, and in tracing this 
 series of rocks, which must in the aggregate be of great thickness, 
 fi'om point to point in the range, its lithological character is found to 
 be very varied, and the subdivisions worked out in the neighbourhood 
 of Waterton Lake, would appear to be inconstant. 
 
 In the Peace River district, on the 55th and 56th parallel, the axial 
 mountains of the range are composed of massive limestones of Devo- 
 nian and probably also of Carboniferous age, associated with saccha- 
 roidal quartzites. On the west side 'these were believed to underlie a 
 series of argillites which occasionally becomes micaceous schists and 
 slates, and also includes quartzites. These are known to occupy a 
 long trough east of the Parsnip river, and cross the Misinchinca with 
 considerable width. The Triassic shales, with Monotis, &c., being 
 
r^ 
 
 I 
 
 u 
 
 [OAWSON. 
 
 developed on the oastei'n slopes of the raii^^e at this place, it was 
 8U])posed that the beds above alluded to mi^ht represent them in a 
 more altered state. From the knowledge now gained of the Cambrian 
 in the southern part of the mountains it is not impi-obable that they 
 may eventually be relegated to this systems. 
 
 As hefoi-e observed, the geological structure of the Gold Ranges, or 
 second mountain axis, is little known. Cambrian rocks like those 
 of the Rocky Mountains characterize its eastern portion near the 49th 
 parallel, while its western portion is largely composed of highly 
 crystalline rocks, including gneiss, and intrusions of a granitic char- 
 acter are abundant. These are complicated, where they have been 
 observed, by the occurrence of areas of much altered rocks resembling 
 those of the interior plateau region, next to the west. Among these 
 is a series of dark slates or schists which are the auriferous rocks in 
 the Cariboo district and elsewhere. The age of these has not been 
 determined, but there is reason to suppose that a portion at least arc 
 Triassic. 
 
 The district coloured as Archfcan on the accompanying map. while 
 therefore ])robably in large part composed of rocks of this period, is 
 much more heterogeneous in character than can be indicated with our 
 present information. The thickness of the crystalline rocks displayed 
 on Shuswap Lake, has been estimated at about 32,300 feet. An 
 isolated area of gneissic rocks doubtless belonging to a contraction of 
 the main axis, as shown on the map, occurs at Carp Lake, west of 
 McLeod Lake. 
 
 The Carboniferous rocks of the interior plateau region are very 
 varied in lithological character. They belong for the most part to the 
 upper and lower Cache Creek groups of the original classification, and 
 may be said as a whole to consist of massive limestone and compact or 
 shaly quartzites. They also include, however, a great projyortion of 
 diorites or diabases, felspathic rocks and agglomerates, and some ser- 
 pentines. The last named material occurs in association with the con- 
 temporaneous volcanic materials, and doubtless represents the alteration 
 product of olivine rocks. It is in beds of considerable thickness, and 
 wide-sjiread, and is of interest as being of a period so recent as the 
 Carboniferous. The limestones are not unfrequently converted to 
 coarse-grained marbles, and together with the quartzites, appear in 
 greatest force on the south-western side of the area they occupy. They 
 have now been traced, maintaining their character pretty uniformly 
 throughout, from the 49th to the 53rd parallel. Schistose or shaly 
 argillite rocks, which may re])resent those folded with the Gold Range 
 series, also occur, and a portion of these probably belongs to the over- . 
 lying Triassic or Jurassic division. 
 
[OAWSON. 
 
 ace, it was 
 
 them in a 
 
 Cambrian 
 
 » that they 
 
 Ranges, or 
 like those 
 w the 49th 
 of highly 
 initio char- 
 have been 
 resembling 
 nong these 
 IS rocks in 
 8 not been 
 t least are 
 
 nap. while 
 period, is 
 i with our 
 displayed 
 feet. An 
 raction of 
 e, west of 
 
 are very 
 )art to the 
 ation, and 
 ompact or 
 [Portion of 
 
 some ser- 
 h the con- 
 alteration 
 cness, and 
 nt as the 
 verted to 
 appear in 
 py. They 
 miformly 
 
 or shaly 
 Id Range 
 the over- . 
 
 DAWSON.] 
 
 45 
 
 In regard to the evidence of the age of the great mass of these rocks, 
 forming the so-called upper and lower Cache Creek grou])s, the follow- 
 ing points may be stated. A portion at least of these nx-ks was, in 
 18V 1, shown, by fossils collected by Dr. Sclwyn, to belong to a horizon 
 between the base of the Devonian and siimniit of the Pei-mian ; addi- 
 tional fossils have since been procured, of which the most character- 
 istic is the ])eculiurly Carboniferous foraminifer Fusulina, which has 
 now been tound in several localities scattered ovei- a wide area. 
 While it is ihoreforecpiite possible that distinctively Devonian, or even 
 Silurian or Cambrian rocks may yet be identitied in the interior 
 plateau, there is as yet no proof chat any of a date earlier than ihe 
 Carboniferous occur, and the association of the other beils with the 
 fossiliferous limestones is such as to show that a great part of them 
 must be approximately of this age. 
 
 In the southern ])()rtion at least of the Interior Plateau region, there 
 exist besides the Pahcozoic rocks above desei-ibed, and in addition to 
 the probably in part Triassic argilliies extensive, but as yet undetined 
 areas of Triassic rocks of another charactei-. These are largely of vol- 
 canic origin and have been designated the Nicola series. They have 
 generally a characteristically green colour, but are occasionally pur- 
 plish and C(msist chiefly of felsjiathic rocks and diorites, the latter 
 often more or less decomposed. These I'ocks are in some cases (juite 
 evidently amygdaloidal or fragmer.tal, and hold towards tlic base beds 
 of grey sub-crystalline limestt)ne intermingled in some places with 
 volcanic material and containing occasicjnal layers of water-round de- 
 tritus. The distinctly unconformable junction of this series with the 
 Cache Creek rocks is seen on the South Thompson, a i'ow miles above 
 Kam loops. 
 
 The older rocks of the Coast and Vancouver Island ranges may, in 
 the present state of our knowletlge, be treated of together, those of 
 Vancouver Island being first described, as being the best known. 
 
 In 1872 the late Mr. J. Richardson described a section across the 
 centre of Vancouver Island,* comprising a great thickness of beds 
 which have been closely folded together and overturned. These con- 
 sist of limestones, generally crystalline, but varying in texture and 
 colour, interbedded with compact amygdaloidal and slaty volcanic 
 rocks of contemporaneous origin. These are classed generally as 
 " diori+os" in the report cited, but admit of separation into several dif- 
 ferent jpecies of igneous rocks, not here necessary to detail. Argillites 
 also occur, but are appai-ently not ])rominent in the section. Fo&sils 
 are found abundantly in some of the limestones, and though invariably 
 
 * Report of Progress, Geol. Survey of Canada, 1872-73, pp. 52-56. 
 
/ 
 
 46 
 
 foMMON. 
 
 ¥'f- 
 
 -''M' 
 
 i i 
 
 in a poor Htnto cf preservjition, the lato Mr. Billingn wah able to dis- 
 tini^uiah, besidow criiioidul remains, a Zaphrentis, a Diphiphyllum, a 
 Productus, and a Spirifer, and pronounced the beds to bo probably Car- 
 boniferf)UH in atco. 
 
 Rockis belonging to the older series, unconformably underlying the 
 Cretaceous, have now been examined in many iulditional localities on 
 Vancouver Island, and, while no pahoontological tacts have been 
 obtained to prove that they are older than those of the section above 
 described, much cii-cumstantial evidence has been collected to show 
 that rocks even much more highly crystalline than those of the above 
 section, and which, judged by standards locally adopted in Eastern 
 Amei'ica, would be supposed to be of groat antiquity, represent approx- 
 imately, at least the same horizon. 
 
 At the south-eastern extremity of the island, in the vicinity of Vic- 
 toria, a series of rocks occurs which was placed by Mr. Selwyn, in his 
 provisional dassitication of the rocks of British Columbia, under the 
 title of the Vancouver Island and Cascade Crystalline Series."^ Dr. Sel- 
 wyn, in speaking of these, remarks on their lithological similarity to 
 the Iluronian rocks, or those of the altered Quebec group of Eastern 
 Canada. A somewhat detailed examination of this series has since 
 been made, and shows it to be built up in great part of dioritic and 
 felspathic mateiials, which in places become well characterized mica- 
 schists, or even gneisses, while still elsewhere distinctly maintaining 
 the character of volcanic ash-beds and agglomerates. With these are 
 interbcded limestones, and occasionally ordinary blackish argillites. 
 No more certain pala?ontological evidence of the age of these beds than 
 that afforded by some large crinoidal columns which occur in the lime- 
 stones has yet been obtained. These, however, suffice to show that 
 they cannot be referred to a pi'e-Silurian date, and it is highly probable 
 that they are actually a moj-e altered portion of the series represented 
 in the tirst described section, from which their greatest point of differ- 
 ence is found in the smaller pi-oportionate importance of limestoues. 
 They occui' in the continuation of the same axis of elevation at no very 
 great distance, and the greater disturbance which they have suffered 
 would serve to account for the higher degi'ee of alteration in materials 
 so susceptible of crystallization as those of volcanic origin. 
 
 Elsewhere, in the vicinity of Vancouver Island, rocks holding fossils, 
 which seem to be Carboniferous, and formed in part of volcanic mate- 
 rials, occur; and on Texada Island beds probably of the same age are 
 found, consisting of interstratified limestone or marble, magnetic iron 
 ore, epidotic rock, diorite and serpentine. 
 
 Report of ProgresB, Qeol. Survey of Canada, 1871-2, p. 52. 
 
m 
 
 [OAWSON. 
 
 uhlo to (lis- 
 hiphyllum, u 
 'ohably Car- 
 
 lorlyinfif tho 
 ocalitios on 
 
 have boon 
 )ction abovo 
 tod to hKow 
 )f tbo abovo 
 
 in EaHtorn 
 ent approx- 
 
 lity of Vic" 
 wyn, in his 
 ,, under the 
 * Dr. Sel- 
 imilarity to 
 of Eastern 
 has since 
 ioritic and 
 irized mica- 
 aaintaining 
 h these are 
 I argillitos. 
 Q beds than 
 n the lime- 
 show that 
 ly probable 
 •epresented 
 it of diff'er- 
 limestoues. 
 at no very 
 ve suifered 
 1 matei'ials 
 
 ing fossils, 
 anic mate- 
 Qe age are 
 jnetic iron 
 
 0AW8<-/N.] 
 
 47 
 
 Puysing northwentward, aloni^ the s:in»e inountuinouK axis, to tho 
 Queen Charlotte Islands, we find tho roiks there un<ierlying tlio Cretu- 
 coous Coal series to present, in the main, featuroH not dissimiliir to 
 those of Vancouver Island. Massive liniostonos, ^'oncrally tine-j^rainod 
 grey, and often cherty, are folded togcihur with felspathic and dicn-itic 
 rocks, sr metimos so much altered as to have lost the evidence as to 
 whether they were originally fragmontal or molten. In other places 
 they are still well-nuirkcd rough agglomerates, or amygdaloids. 
 
 No characteristic fossils have been obtained from these rocks, but 
 at the summit of this part of the series, and adhering closely to a 
 limestone which appai-ently iorms its u|)per member, occurs a groat 
 thickness of regularly-bedded blackish calcareous argillite, generally 
 quite hard and much fractured, but holding numerous well-preserved 
 fossils, including Monotis subcircularis and other characteristic forms of 
 the so-called "Alpine Trias ' of California and the 40th parallel region, 
 which represents the UoUstadt und St. Cassian beds of Euro[>e. The 
 resemblance of the lower unfossiliferous rocks first described to tho 
 pr<jbably Carboniferous beds of Vancouver, loads to the belief that these 
 may also be of the same age, while any slight uncontbrmity between 
 these and the Triassic may be masked by subsecj^uent tblding and 
 disturbance. 
 
 In tho extreme northwestern part of Vancouver Island Triassic rocks 
 like those of the Queen Charlotte Islands occupy extensive but yet unde- 
 fined areas, while the slaty auriferous rocks of Leach Elver, near Vic- 
 toria, may also represent the Triassic argillites in a more altered state.* 
 
 As already mentioned, Dr. SelwxTi, in his provisional classification, 
 unites under one title the older rucks ot' Vancouver Island, above 
 described, and those whicii form tho greater part of the Cascade or 
 Coast Ranges. The progress in the investigation of the country seems 
 to favor the correctness of this view, and to show a blending and inter- 
 locking of such characters of ditference as the typical or originally 
 examined localities of the two series present. Tracing the rocks east- 
 ward from the shores of Vancouver Island, we find them becoming 
 more disturbed and altered, the limestones always in the condition of 
 marbles, and seldom or never showing organic ti-aces, the other rocks 
 represented chiefly by grey or green diorites, gneisses — generally horn- 
 blendic — and various species of felspathic rocks, such as may well be 
 supposed to have resulted from the more complete crystallization of 
 the volcanic members of the series. Eecurring in a number of places, 
 and folded with these rocks, is a zone of micaceous schists or argillites. 
 
 The rocks classed as the Anderson Eiver and Boston Bar seriesf in 
 
 i 
 
 • Reports of Progress, Geol. Survey of Canada, 1878-79, p. 46 B ; 1876-77, p. 95. 
 t Reports of Progress, Gool. Survey of Canada, 1871-72, p. 62. 
 

 
 48 [OAWSON. 
 
 the proviHioniil cliisHitifution represent one fold of these schiHtH, which 
 may l>e supposed to )0 more or less oxuctly equivalent to the Triassic 
 flaggy iirjjjillites of t it) first mountain axis. 
 
 The Coast range ronstitutos an uplift on a much greater scale than 
 that of Vancouver i.nd the (^ueoii (Charlotte Islands ^) the southwest of 
 it. a circumstance wliich appears to iiave resulted in a more complete 
 crystallization of its strata, and lias also led to the inti'oductiori of 
 great masses of hornblendic granite. These may in man}' pUu^es 
 represent ])ortions of the strata which have undergone incipient or 
 complete fusion, in place. There is every evidence that in the 
 Appalachian-like folding of this region the same rocks are many times 
 repeated. Kast of the lower part of the Fraser River, the folds have 
 heen completely overturned to the eastward. 
 
 These rocks of the Coast Range have with other features of the 
 country a great extension in a north-east and south-east bearing, 
 stretching, with an average width of 1(J0 miles at least, from the 49th 
 parallel to Alaska, a distance of 500 or (iOO miles. The exact relations 
 of the rocks of the Coast Range to those of the Interior Plateau yet 
 remain to be detei-mined, but there is reason to believe that the latter 
 are represented, in a highly metamorphosed state, quite extensively in 
 this range. Older rocks may also probably occur locally, but no 
 extensive areas of gneissic rocks lithoh^gically resembling those of the 
 Gold Ranges have been found. 
 
 Lying everywhere quite unconformably upon the older beds so far 
 described ai-e the Ci-etaceous rocks, which i-onstitute on the coast the 
 true Coal-bearing horizon of British Columbia. These rocks probably 
 at one time spread much more widely along the coast than they now 
 do, but have since been folded and disturbed during the continuation 
 of the jirocess of mountain elevation, and have been much reduced by 
 denudation. Their most important area, including the coal-mining 
 regions of Nanaimo and Comox, may be described as forming a nari'ow 
 trough along the north-east border of Vancouver Island, 136 miles ia 
 length. The rocks are sandstones, conglomerates and shales. They 
 hold abundance of fossil plants ami marine shells in some places, and 
 in appearance and degree of induration much resemble the true Car- 
 boniferous rocks of some parts of Eastern America. In the Nanaimo 
 area the formation has been divided by Mi*. J. Richardson as follows, 
 in descending order : — 
 
 Sandstones, conglomerates and shales 3290 feet. 
 
 Shales 660 " 
 
 Productive Coal-measures 1316 " 
 
 ' 5266 " 
 
 i«i 
 
 <; 
 
schiHtH, which 
 <> the Ti'iasHic 
 
 ter scale than 
 ) southwest of 
 lore comploto 
 trod net ion oi' 
 many phuies 
 incipient or 
 tliat in the 
 
 many times 
 16 folds have 
 
 itures of the 
 liast bearing, 
 i'om the 49th 
 <act relations 
 ' E*lateau yet 
 hat the latter 
 xtensively in 
 ally, but no 
 ^ those of the 
 
 r beds so far 
 ;he coast the 
 eks probably 
 an they now 
 continuation 
 
 1 reduced by 
 coal-mining 
 
 ng a nari'ow 
 136 miles ia 
 lales. They 
 s places, and 
 he true Car- 
 he Nanaimo 
 a as follows, 
 
 ) feet, 
 
 ) " 
 
 40 
 
 The last named consists of sandstones and shales, an<l holds valuable 
 coal-seams neai- its base. In the Oomox area Hcvon well-marked 
 sulxlivisions occur, constituting a total thickness of 4!U1 feet. 
 
 Upper conglomerate "20 fo»t. 
 
 Upi»t»r .shales 77t) " 
 
 Middle connlomerate 110(» " 
 
 Middle shale,'- 7(i " 
 
 Lower cou^jlomerate 000 " 
 
 I^iwer sliales 1(K)0 " 
 
 Productive Coal-measures 7:i!» " 
 
 4911 feet. 
 
 The fuel obtained trom these measures is a true bituminous coal, 
 with — according to the analysis of Dr. Flarringtou — an average of 
 6-29 per cent, of ash and 147 per cent, of water. It is admirably 
 suited for most ortlinary purposes, and is largely exported, chiefly to 
 San Francisco, where, notwithstanding a heavN' duty, it competes suc- 
 cessfully with coals from the west coast of the United States, owing to 
 its .superior quality. The output of 1883 amounted to •213,000 tons, 
 and is yearly increasing. 
 
 In addition to the main area of Cretaceous rocks above deseribed, 
 there are numerous smaller ])atches, holding more or less coal, it dilfer- 
 en< rtsof Vancouver Island, some of which may yet prove important. 
 'C Queen Charlotte Islands, Cretaceous rocks cover a consider- 
 able, area on the east coast, near Cumshewa and Skidegate Inlets. At 
 Skidegate they hold true anthracite coal, which, besides being a cir- 
 cumstance of considerable geological interest, would become, if a really 
 workable bed could be proved, a matter of groat economic imjjortance 
 to the Pacific coast. 
 
 At Skidegate, where these rocks are most ty])ically developed, they 
 admit of subdivi;3ion as follows, the order being, as before, descending : 
 
 A. Upper shales and sandstones 1500 feet. 
 
 B. Coarse conglomerates 2000 
 
 C. Lower shales with coal and clay ironstone 5000 " 
 
 D. Agglomerates 1^500 
 
 E. Lower sandstones 1000 " 
 
 13,000 feet. 
 
 The total thickness is thus estimated at about 13,000 feet. With the 
 exception of the agglomerates, the rocks in their general appearance 
 and degi-ee of indui-ation compare closely with those of Vancouver 
 Island. The agglomerates represent an important intercalation of 
 volcanic material, which varies in texture, from beds holding angular 
 
 I; 
 
 '-■ 
 
50 
 
 
 masses a yard in diamete ;, to fine ash rocks, and appears at the junction 
 to blend completely wit i the next overlying subdivision. These beds 
 are generally felspathic. and often more or (ess distinctly porphyritic. 
 
 At the eastern margin of the formation the rocks lie at low angles, 
 but become mure disturbed as they approach the mountainous axis 
 of the Islands, showing eventually in (some cases overturned dips. It 
 is in this disturbed region that the anthracite coal has been found, and 
 from the condition of included woody fragments in the eastern portion 
 of the area it is probable that any coal seams discovered there would 
 be bituminous, like those of Vancouver Island. 
 
 Though it was originally supposed that the anthracite occurred in 
 sevei-al beds, it has, 1 believe, now been shown* that this appearance 
 is due to the folding of a single .seam which ini mediately overlies the 
 agglomerate beils of subdivision D. The coid is associated with ear- 
 bonaceous shales holding a species of Unio, but is succeeded, in ascend- 
 ing order, by beds charged with marine fossils, and fresh-water condi- 
 tions are not known to have recurred at otlier horizons. It was where 
 opened nearly vertical, and after about 800 tons of anthracite had been 
 obtained the mine was abandoned; the locality, however, still appears 
 worthy of further and closer examination. + 
 
 In regard to the geological horizon of the differetit Cretaceous areas 
 above described, the most complete infoi-mation has been obtained for 
 the Nanaimo and Comox basins. Large collections made by Mr. Eich- 
 ardson, in connection with tlie work of the Geological Survey, have 
 been desci'ibed by Mr. J. F. Wiiileaves.J 
 
 These fossils are all from the lower portion of the foi'ination, which 
 is conclusively shown to represent the (*hico group of the Oaiifornian 
 geologists, which, with t lie locally develo}>ed Martinez group, is con- 
 sidered to be eouivalent to the Lower and Upper Chalk of Eui'ope. 
 The highest subdivision of the Californian ('-etaeeous, the Tejon group, 
 is supposed to represent the Maesti-ieht, and in the absence of fossils 
 from the up[)er portion of the Vancouver Island tbrmutitm, it is pos- 
 sible I has it may !»e equally young. The flora of the V ancouver Creta- 
 ceous consists largely of modern angiospermous an<i gymviospermous 
 genera, such as QuereuS; Platanus, Populus and Sequoia : several of the 
 genera and a few of the species being common to it and to the Dakota 
 grou}) of the Middle Cretaceous of the interioi' region of the continent. 
 
 * Report of Progrcsi<, Oeoloftieal Survey •.)( Canada, lS78-7(t, p. 72 B. 
 
 t For furtlier iiiforniiiiiun ot. t)io CrotiU'oous rcjks of the cwi^t, occ 'Jr. Hcclnr's report in Pal- 
 liser's Exploriition in North America, luul Quart, .lonrn. Geol. Soc, vol. xvii., p. 428. Rerorta of 
 ProftrpRs. (ieoloKioal huvrvoy 'if Canada, lS71-7'2, p. 75; 1871' -73, p. 32; 1873-74, p. 94 ; 1874-75, p. 
 82: 1876-77, p. M) ; the liust rrrorcnoo being Mr. Richardson .■; coinpletn report on the Nanaimo 
 an(i Conio.\ Baj-ing,— also pp. 1U» and li4, 1878-71), p. tx^a, a detailed report i>n Queen Charlotte 
 IsIandR by the writer. 
 
 } Mepozoic Fossils, vol i., part iU 
 
mm^m^mmtmmvm 
 
 ^-^^—•^^•^m^mmmm 
 
 • the junction 
 These beds 
 
 porphyritic. 
 ; low angles, 
 itainous axis 
 ned dips. It 
 n found, and 
 ;tern portion 
 
 there would 
 
 occurred in 
 appearance 
 overlies the 
 cd with far- 
 d, in ascend- 
 tvater condi- 
 t Avas where 
 ite had been 
 still appears 
 
 aceous areas 
 obtained for 
 )y Mr. Eich- 
 urvcy, have 
 
 ition, which 
 Caiifornian 
 oup, is con- 
 of Europe, 
 rcjon group, 
 CO of fossils 
 Q, it is pos- 
 juver Creta- 
 uospormous 
 voral of the 
 the Dakota 
 e continent. 
 
 's report in Pal- 
 428. Rer()rt:iof 
 •. 94 ; 1874-75, p. 
 on the Naniiimo 
 Juocn Charlotte 
 
 61 
 
 The botanical evidence, while yet imporfect, is therefore by no nutans 
 in contiadiction to that aliorded by the animals and the stratigraphy. 
 A number of fossils from the (iueen Charlotte Ishuids have also been 
 described and figui-ed from Mv. iiiclmrdsoii's collcH-tioiis made dui-ing a 
 visit to the islands in 1872. Additional eollections made by tlie writer 
 in 187H have since considerably increased the faiJua.-l= There are few 
 cases of specific identity between the forms in the Vancouver Cretace- 
 oiiH, previously described, and those of the Queen Charlotte Islands, 
 the latter representing a lower stage in the Cretaceous formation. The 
 plants found in these rocks, -'mbra(;ing imnurous coniferous trees and 
 a species of Cycail, also inilicate a greater age than those of Van- 
 convei'. 
 
 The coal-beai-ng beds at Quatsino Sound, on the west coast of Van- 
 couver Island, have also yietded a few fossils. These consist chiefly of 
 well-charactei'ized sj)et imens of .Iwa'to Fioch'd, which occurs but spa- 
 ringly in the Queen Charlotte Islands, and brings Ihe rocks into close 
 relations with the A ucel la beds of the mainland of Hritish Columbia, 
 ami in Mr. Whiteaves' opinion probably inuicate an " I'ppor Neoco- 
 mian " age. The rocks of the (^ueen Charlotte Islands and (Quatsino 
 may therefore be taken together as representating the ui)|)er and 
 lower portions of the no-called Shasta group of California, which in 
 British Colundjia can now be readil}' dihlingui.died by their fossils. 
 
 On the nniinland, dev'eloped most characteristically along the north- 
 eastern border of the C(»ast range, is a massive series of rocks tirst 
 referred to by Dr. Sehvyii, in the provisional classification ado])ted by 
 him in 1871, as the Jackass Mountain group, from the name ot the 
 locality in which they are best displayed on the main waggon-road. 
 The age of these rocks was not known at this time, but fossils have 
 since been discovered in the locality above mentioned, and in several 
 others, the most characteristic forms being Aucdla Piochii and Bekm- 
 nites impressus.'f The rocks are genei-ally hiu-d sandstones or ([uarl- 
 zites, with occasional argillites, and very thick beds of coarse 
 conglomerate. A measured section on the Skagit JRiver includes over 
 4,400 leet, without comprising the entire thickness of the foimation. 
 Behind Boston Bai-, on the Fraser lliver, (he tbrmation is represented 
 by nearly 5,000 feet of rocks, while on Tatlayoco Lake it probably 
 does not fall short of 7,000 feet. At the last-named ]ilace these beds 
 are found to rest on a series of felspathic rocks, evidently volcanic in 
 origin, and often more or less distinctly porphyritic. On the Iltas- 
 youce River, near the 51st parallel, and in similar i-elation to the 
 
 • Mesozoic Fossils. Vol. i, parts i and ii. 
 
 t See on this ami other older Cretaceous rocks. J. F. Whiteaves, Trans'. Roy. Stic Canada, 
 1882, Heotion iv, p. 81. 
 
f^m 
 
 CoaBt Range, an extensive formation characterized by rocks of vol- 
 f'unic origin, and often ]V)rphyritic, has also been found. Its thick.iess 
 must be very great, and has l)een rouglily estimated at one 'ocality at 
 10,000 feet. It has been supposed, on litliological grounds, to repre- 
 sent tlie porphyritie formation of the vicinity of Tatlayoco Lake, and 
 fossils found in it have been described as Jurassic. From analogy 
 since developetl with the Queen Charlotte Island fauna, however, Mr. 
 VV hi? eaves now believes that the Iltasj-ouco beds are also Cretaceous. 
 
 Still further north the Cretaceous formation is not contined to the 
 vicinity of the Coast Eangc, but spreads more videly eastward, being 
 in all probability- rejiresented by the argillites and felspathic and cal- 
 careous sr- Istones of the Lower Nechacco ; and, as the exploration'- '' 
 18T9 hav' shown, occu])ying a gi-eat extent of country on the 55th 
 parallel about the upper part of the Skeena and Babine L.dve. The}^ 
 here include felspathic rocks of volcanic origin similar to those of the 
 Iltasyouco, which ai-e most abundant on the eastern flanks of the 
 Coast Range, and probably form the lower portion the gi'oup. Besides 
 these volcanic rocks, there is, however, a great thickness of compara- 
 tively soft sandstones and argillites, with beds of impure coal. The 
 stnita are arranged in a series of folds more or less abrupt, and have a 
 general northwest and south-east strike. It is not impossible, from 
 the general paUvontological identity of the rocks of the interior with 
 the older of those of the coast, that the Skeena region may eventually 
 be found to contain valuable coal-seams, but this part of the country 
 is at present very difficult of access, and there is no indticement to 
 explore it. 
 
 The Tertiary rocks do not form any wide or continuous belt on the 
 coast of British Columbia, as is the case farther south. They are found 
 near Sooke. at the southein extremity of Vancouver's Island, in the 
 form of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales, which are sometimes 
 carbonaceous. * Tertiary rocks a^-^o probably occu])} a considerable 
 area about the mouth of the Fraser River; extending southward from 
 Burrard Inlet, across the International boundary formed by the 4lUh 
 parallel, to Bellingham Bay and beyond. Thin seams of lignite occur 
 at Ihiirard Inlet. Sections of the Tertiaiy rocks at Bellingham Bay 
 are given in Dr. Hector's official report. Lignite beds were extensively 
 worked here some years ago, but the mine has been abandoned owing 
 to the suj)erioi' qiuUity of the fuels now obtained from Nanaimo and 
 Seattle. About the estuary of the Fraser the Tertiary beds are much 
 covei-ed hy drift and alluvial deposits, and arc consequently not well 
 known. Lignites, and even true coals, have been found in connection 
 
 • Keport of ProRresf, (j eol. Surrey of Canada, 1878-9, p. 84 B. 
 
53 
 
 .' 
 
 ) 
 
 k8 of vol- 
 thick.iess 
 ocality at 
 , to rejjre- 
 Lake, and 
 I analogy 
 vever, Mr. 
 Btaceous. 
 ned to tlie 
 ard, being 
 ic and cal- 
 i-ation" *" 
 the 55tli 
 ve. They 
 ose of the 
 C8 of the 
 13esides 
 comiiara- 
 oal. The 
 nd have a 
 ible, fi-om 
 Bi-ior with 
 iventually 
 e country 
 •enient to 
 
 jIt on the 
 are found 
 id, in the 
 ionietinie.s 
 isiderable 
 ^ard from 
 the 49th 
 ito occur 
 ham Ba}' 
 tensively 
 ed owing 
 aimo and 
 re much 
 not well 
 nnection 
 
 with them, but so far in beds t<w thin to be of value. Fossil plants 
 from Burrard Inlet and Bellingham Bay have been described by New- 
 beny and Les(|uereux, and those are supjtosed to indicate a Miocene 
 age for the deposits. * 
 
 Much farther north, in the Qiicon Cliurlotto Islands, the whole north- 
 eastern portion of Graham Island has now i>een shown to be undei-laid 
 by Tertiary rocks, which produce a flat or gently undulating country, 
 markedly different from that found on most parts of the coast. The 
 prominent locks are of volcanic origin, including basalts, dolerites. 
 trachytic rocks, and in one localiiy obsidian. Numerous examples of 
 fragmental volcanic rocks are also found. Below these, but seen in a 
 few places only, are ordinary sedimentary deposits, consisting ot sand- 
 stones Or shales, and hai-d clays with lignites. At a single locality on 
 the north end of Graham Island, beds with numerous marine fossils 
 occur. These, in so far as they admit of specific determination, i-epre- 
 sent shells found in the later Tertiary deposits of California, and some 
 of which are still living on the north-west coast; and the assemblage 
 is not such as to indicate any marked ditference of climate from that 
 now obtaining, f 
 
 The Tertiary rocks of the coast are not anywhere much disturbed 
 or altered. The relative level of sea and land must have been nearly 
 as at present when they were formed, and it is probable that they 
 originally spi-ead much more widely, the jii-eservation ot such an area 
 as that of Graham Island being due to the protective capping of vol- 
 canic rocks. Tlie beds belong evidently to the more recent Tertiary, 
 and though the pala'ontological evidence is scanty, it appears probable 
 from this, and by comparison with other parts of the west coast, that 
 they should be called Miocene. 
 
 To the east of the Coast or Cascade Range, Tertiary rocks are very 
 extensively developed. They have not, however, yielded any marine 
 fossils, and appear to have been formed in an extensive l.U<e, (tr series 
 of lakes, which ma}' at (me time have submerged nearly the entire area 
 of the region described as the interior plateau. The Tertiaiy lake or 
 lakes mny not improbably have been produced by the interruption of 
 the drainage of the region ly a renewed elevation of the coast moun- 
 tains proceeding in advance of the power of the rivers of the period to 
 lower their beds ; the movement culminating in a profound disturbance 
 leading to a very extensive volcanic action. The lower beds are sand- 
 
 1 
 
 * Report of Progress, Geol. Survey of Canada, 187t)-77, p, 19(). 
 
 t In ,hegeology of the U. S. exploring expedition, Prof. JJana<le!'cTibes floiuo Tertiary i)laut!( 
 from Birch Bay. These were afterwards reported on by Newberry, Boston .Journal of Natural 
 Hist )ry, vol. vii., No. 4. See also Ameriean Journal of Science and Arts, 2nd series, vol. xxvii.. 
 p. 859, and vol. xxviii., p. H5. Report on the Yellow.'fone and Niusain expedition, 1869. p. 166 
 Annals Lyceum of , 'ural History of N. Y., vol, ix., April 1868. 
 
54 
 
 stones, clays, and shales, generally pale-greyish or yellowish in colour, 
 except whei-e darkened by carbonaceous matter. They frequently hold 
 lignite, coal, and in sonje even true bituminous coal occurs. These 
 sedimentary beds rest generally on a vei-y irregular surface, and conse- 
 quently vary much in thickness and character in ditterent parts of the 
 extensive region over Avhich they occui-. The lignites appeal' in some 
 places to rest on true " undej'ciays," representing the soil on which the 
 vegetation pi-oducing them has grown, while in others — as at Quesnel 
 — they seem to be composed of di'itt-wood, and show much cUiy and 
 sand interlaminated with the coaly matter. 
 
 In the northern portion of the interior the upper volcanic part of the 
 Tertiaiy covers gi-eut areas, and is usually in beds nearly horizontal, 
 or at least not extensively or shai'ply folded. Basalts, dolei-ites, and 
 allied rocks of modern aspects occur in sheets, broken only here and 
 there by valleys of denudation ; and acidic rocks are seldom met with 
 except in the immediate vicinity of the ancient volcanic vents. On 
 the Lower Nechacco, and on the Parsnip Jtiver, the lower sedimentary 
 rocks appear to be somewhat extensively developed without the over- 
 lying volcanic materials. 
 
 The southern part of the interior plateau is more irregular and moun- 
 tainous. The Tertiary rocks here cover less extensive areas, and are 
 much more disturbed, and sometimes over wide districts — as on the 
 Nicola — are found dipping at an average angle of about thirty degi ees. 
 The volcanic materials are occasionally of great thickness, and the 
 little disturbed basalts of the north are, for the most part, i-eplaced by 
 agglomerates and tufas, with trachytes, porphyrites, and other fclspa- 
 thic rocks. It ma}' indeed be questioned wdiether the character of 
 these rocks docs not indicate that they are of earlier date than those 
 to the north, but, as no direct palffiontologicsl evidence of this has been 
 obtained, it is presumed that theii- ditierent composition and appear- 
 ance is due to unlike conditions of deposition and greater subsequent 
 disturbance. 
 
 No volcanic rocks or lava flows of Post-glacial age have been met 
 with, though 1 believe that still farther to the north-west the rocks 
 are of yet more recent origin than any of these here described, and 1 
 have even heard a tradition of the Indians of the Nasse Eiver which 
 relates that, at some time very remote in their history, an eruption 
 covering a wide tract of country with lava was witnessed. 
 
 The organic remains so far obtained fro?n tiiese Tertiary rocks of 
 the interior consist of plants, insects, and a few fresh-water molluscs 
 and tish scales, the last being the only indication of the vertebrate 
 fauna of the period. The plants have been collected at a number of 
 localities. They have been subjected to a preliminary examination by 
 
 \ 
 
|n colour, 
 »tly hold 
 TJiewo 
 |'<1 conse- 
 ftH oftho 
 i» some 
 ''lieh the 
 Quosnel 
 Miiy and 
 
 lu'tofthe 
 li'izontal, 
 pt^'H, and 
 ero and 
 let with 
 >ts. On 
 
 [nentuiy 
 
 l»e ovor- 
 
 [d moun- 
 
 and are 
 
 on the 
 iiigt eeM. 
 ind the 
 iced by 
 
 fel. spa- 
 tter of 
 » those 
 IS been 
 ppear- 
 'quent ^ 
 
 55 
 
 Principal Dawson, and several lists of species published. While they 
 are certainly Tertiary, and represent a temperate flora like (hat else- 
 where attributed to the Miocene, they do not afford a very derinite 
 criterion of age, being derived from places which must have ditfered 
 much in their physical surroundings at the time of the deposition of 
 the beds. Insect remains have been obtained in four localities. They 
 have been examined by Mr, S. H. Scudder, who has contributed three 
 papers on them to the Geological Eeporty, in which he describes forty 
 species, all of which are considered new. None of the insects have 
 been found to occur in more than a single locality, which causes Mr. 
 Scudder to observe that the deposits from which they came may 
 either differ considerably in age. oi", with the fact that duplicates have 
 seldom been found even in the same locality, evidence the existence of 
 different surroundings, and an exceedingly rich insect fauna. 
 
 Though the interior plateau may at one time have been pi'etty 
 uniformly covered with Tertiary rocks, it is evident that some i-egions 
 have never been overspread by them, while, owing to denudation, they 
 have since been almost altogether removed from other districts, and 
 the modern river valleys often cut completely through them to the 
 older rocks. The outlines of the Tertiary ai-eas are therefore now 
 irregular and complicated.* 
 
 * l""or additioiml information on the Tertiary rocks of the interior, see the following Reports 
 of Progress, 1871-2, p. 56; 1875-6, pp. 70 and 225; 1876-7, pp. 75 and 112, B. 
 
 1 met 
 I'ocks 
 ind I 
 i^hieh 
 ption 
 
 Icsof 
 
 'U,SC8 
 
 rate 
 U'of 
 I by