242 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



to be oretncoous. Evorvwhore the strata named form a charac- 

 teristic accompaniment of the coal (especially this coarse conglom- 

 erate), and nearly everywhere it is underlaid by one or more 

 seams of coal cropping out at some point of the circuit named, 

 though it may rea>onal)ly be supposed yet to be found on the 

 opposite siiores of British C()luml)ia. Outcrops are seen on some 

 of tlie coast-lying islands, etc. ; but it is only at Nanaimo where 

 it is wrought to an)' extent, this being the only mine in Vancouver 

 Island (or in the British North Pacific territories) exporting coal. 

 Here is a village of 600 inhabitants, and some 50 miners. Last 

 year, the company exported 43,778 tons, and declared a dividend 

 of 15 per cent. The coal is bright, tolerably hard, and not unlike 

 some of the best qualities of English coal. It is used all over the 

 coast for steaming and domestic purposes. It brings 11 dol- 

 lars per ton in Victoria, and 13 in San Francisco. An anal- 

 ysis gives carbon, GG.93 ; hydrogen, 5.32 ; nitrogen, 1.02 ; sulphur, 

 2.20; oxygen, 8.70; ash, 15.83. "The fossil remains were then 

 described. North of Nanaimo, on Brown's River, immense seams 

 of coal have been discovered by myself and party ; on Salmon 

 Kiver, the Indians report coal ; at Sukwash, near Fort Rupert, 

 coal appears ; and at Koskeemo Sound, on the western shore, are 

 extensive undeveloped fields of what will ultimately, no doubt, 

 prove the best coal in Vancouver Island, both from its quality and 

 eas}'^ shipment. The latter, on analysis, gave carbon, 6G.15; 

 hydrogen, 4.70; nitrogen, 1.25; sulphur, 0.80; oxygen, 13.59; 

 ash, 13.60. Other coal-lields will no doubt be discovered as ex- 

 ploration proceeds; but the country is so covered with dense for- 

 ests and undergrowth as to render exploration very diiVicult. 

 The anthracite is found on the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the 

 north coast of British Columbia. The beds are much broken up 

 by faults, felspathic trap dykes, and other disturl)ing inlluences, 

 so that to work it will always be expensive and troublesome. 

 Still, the value of the discovery is of the highest importance to 

 the coast. The coal is associated with conglomerates, a line hard 

 slate, out of which the Hydah Indians carve the pipes and other 

 ornaments so common in the European museums, and metamor- 

 phosed sandstones. On tirst sight, I was inclined to believe it 

 only debituminized cretaceous coal ; but, from the fossils recently 

 discovered, I am induced to change that opinion, and to believe 

 it of palaeozoic age. An analysis gave, carbon, 71.20; moisture, 

 5.10 ; volatile combustible matter, 7.27 ; ash, 6.43. The only good 

 or extensive coal-fields in the North Pacilic are, therefore, within 

 the English colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia; 

 and in the possession of these coal-fields, these States, at present 

 so depressed, have a mine of wealth, which, if judiciously man- 

 aged, will ultimately render them the seat of l)usy industry. — 

 Abstract of a Paper read by Jlobert Brown^ Esq., FJi.G.S.j be/ore 

 the Edinburgh Geological Society. 



