No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 223 



mostly of Laurentian gneisses. The country for four miles south 

 of Gait is of similar character, formins; a broad valley, in which 

 the present river flows. At this distance from Gait the river 

 takes a turn to the south-westwnrd ; but at the same place, the 

 old valley appears to pass in a nearly direct line with the course 

 of the present bed (before the modern turn is made to the west- 

 ward). As this portion of the valley now entered has not to 

 any extent been cleaned out by modern streams, it forms a broad 

 shallow depression in the country extending for a few miles in 

 width. Yet, it is often occupied with hills composed of stratified 

 coarse gravel belonging to that belt, which extends from Owen 

 Sound to the county of Brant, and called by the Canadian Geo- 

 logical Survey " Artemesia gravel." 



It is through a portion of this valley that the Fairchild's creek 

 flows. Many streams derive their supplies of water from the 

 Beverly swamps, and feed the Lindsay creek, which empties 

 over Webster falls and flows down Glen Spencer through the 

 Dundas valley to Jjake Ontario. 



The G. VV. Railway at four miles south of Gait enters the Grand 

 river valley and continues in it or its branches as far as Harrisburg, 

 though the deeper depression is near St. George (a short distance 

 west of Harrisburg). After leaving what I consider its more 

 ancient bed, south of Gait (unless the country between the pres- 

 ent bed and Fairchild's creek was an island), the Grand river 

 flows southward to Paris and Brantford, having a deep broad 

 valley. At Paris, Nith's creek enters the Grand river from the 

 west, and has a valley almost comparable in size with that of the 

 latter at this town. At Paris, the Grand river cuts through 

 the plaster bearing Onondaga formation. Similar locks appear 

 at various places along tl)c river. Vv'liere tiie stream has cleaned 

 out a portion of one side or other of its ancient valley. 



Between the elevated plateau (of nc.trly 100 feet close to 

 Jjake Ouiario) south of Brantford and that rolling country of 

 equal height near Harrisburg, the alluvial-covered plain of from 

 400 to 460 feet above lake Ontario, more than ten miles wide, 

 may be considered as a portion of an ancient enlargement of the 

 irreat river basin. 



At the Great Western Railway crossing east of Paris, the bed 

 of the river has an altitude of 495 feet above Lake Ontario, 

 whilst at Brantford it is 398 feet above the same datum. From 

 Brantford the river winds through a broad valley, with a general 



