GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. 317 



of gneiss and porphyritic rocks, with large frag- 

 ments and boulders on them, as Dr. Richardson* 

 describes as presenting themselves in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Fort Enterprise and Point Lake. 

 Many of these rocks were broken into cliffs and 

 precipices, which faced to the east. Numerous 

 regular gullies, or what might once have served 

 for tributary channels, cut the river with con- 

 siderable uniformity east and west. The beds of 

 most of them were half filled with earth, stones, 

 and moss, together with some few willows, whose 

 small and tardy leaves were just beginning to 

 look green. A wide and deep channel that was 

 passed terminated in a rapid, which having first 

 carefully examined, was run with a full cargo, 

 and brought us to a small lake perfectly free 

 from ice. This lake is remarkable, as forming 

 the northern boundary of the Heywood chain 

 of mountains, which here slope off into incon- 

 siderable and regular hills, so thickly strewed 

 with grey rocks and stones as to have the ap- 

 pearance of an immense quarry with loose 

 rubbish about it. The river now became con- 

 tracted, and formed an easy rapid, upon the 

 northern bank of which I made our first cache 

 of pemmican, nearly opposite to a little sand-hill. 

 The stream soon became wider, and opened into 

 a lake so completely blocked up with ice as to 

 arrest our progress, and at 6 p.m. we encamped. 



* Appx., Franklin. 



