﻿1848. EOCK BY THE RIVER'S SIDE. 181 



CHAP. VI. 



ROCK BY THE RIVEr's SIDE. SHALE FORMATION. — FORT NOR- 

 MAN. TERTIARY COAL FORMATION. — LIGNITE BEDS. FOSSIL 



LEAVES. EDIBLE CLAY. SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF THE 



RIVER BANK. — HILL AT BEAR LAKE RIVER. HILL AT THE 



RAPID ON THAT RIVER. FOREST. PLANTS. BIRDS. 



We drifted with the stream all night, and in the 

 morning of July the 25th, a thick fog preventing 

 us from pulling, we continued to drift, trusting 

 that the current would carry us clear of shoals and 

 low islands. The sky cleared at breakfast-time, 

 and by noon we were abreast of the " Rock by the 

 River's Side." In some places, where there are 

 islands, the river is two or three miles wide ; in 

 others, it does not appear to be more than a mile, 

 or a mile and a half. The small island, which lies 

 in the channel just above the Rock by the River's 

 Side, is composed of blackish-grey compact lime- 

 stone, dipping to the south-half- east, at an angle of 

 about twenty degrees ; the upper bed, which is 

 thinner and more slaty than the others, being 

 composed of irregularly oblong distinct concretions. 

 On the upper or south side of the Rock by the 

 River's Side the stone is a bituminous limestone, 

 yielding the smell of stinkstein when struck: the 



n3 



