i86 The Ottawa Naturalist. (January 



and was described, in some detail, by Sir William Logan.* 

 The point at which the landslip occurred is nine miles from 

 the granite hills, and where the river is lo — 20 yards wide and 

 changes its direction from south to west for 700 yards. The 

 movement commenced about 8 o'clock on the morning of 

 the 4th April, 1840, when the snow was still on the ground. 

 The marly clay first detached was about 200 yards in breadth, 

 and 700 yards in length ; it was followed at intervals of a 

 few minutes by four other movements. The whole of the area 

 thus affected amounted to about 84 acres, and the total length was 

 1,300 yards. The breadth varied, the narrowest part being nearest 

 to the river and the widest, equalling 600 yards, a considerable way 

 from it. The moving mass hrst crossed the stream and then 

 splitting against the opposite bank, where it averaged a thickness 

 of 75 feet, one-half turned up the valley for about three-quarters 

 of a mile and the other half down it for an equal distance, forming 

 a dam half a league in extent. "The whole operation was com- 

 pleted in about three hours. No lives were lost, but two farms 

 were destroyed, while cattle and other live stock perished with the 

 falling buildings. 



The St Albans landslip, described by Mgr. Laflammef of Laval 

 University, occurred on the 27th of April, 1894, on the west bank 

 of the Ste. Anne de la Parade, about four miles above the village 

 of St. Albans, or seven miles distant from the Riviere Blanche. 

 Here the surface deposits, made up of Leda clay and Saxicava sand, 

 slid down into the valley of the river for the space of three miles 

 and a half. The landslip was in three parts, the first movement 

 being at the northern end where it was about ten feet deep. This 

 was followed after some hours by another which took place 

 immediately to the south and finally a third descended just 

 below the second, leaving a pit 175 feet deep. The average 

 depth ot the whole chasm was not less than 100 feet below the 

 general surface of the ground and its width about a mile. The 

 mass of material thrown into the valley of the Ste. Anne per- 

 manently changed the course of the river. The Riviere Blanche 



* Proc. Geo). Soc. Lon., Vol. Ill, 1838-1842, pp. 767-769. 



t Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., Vol. XII., '894, Sect. IV., pp. 63-70. 



