1864.] H. Y. HIND ON GLACIAL DRIFT. 303 



The entire absence of clay, and the extraordinary profusion of 

 both worn and rugged masses of rock piled one above the other in 

 the valley of the east branch of the Moisie, as we approach the 

 table-land, lead me to attribute their origin to local glacial action, 

 as well as the excavation of a large part of the great valley in 

 which the river flows. Its tributary, the Cold-water Eiver, flows 

 in the strike of the rocks through a gorge 2000 feet deep, excavated 

 in the comparatively soft labradorite of the Labrador series.^ 



The descriptions which have recently been published")" of differ- 

 ent parts of the Labrador Peninsula not visited by me, favor the 

 supposition that the origin of the surface-features of the areas 

 described may be due to glacial action, similar to that observed 

 in the valley of the Moisie River. 



The remainder of the paper treats of the " Forced x\rrangement 

 of Blocks of Limestone in Boulder Clay," " The Driftless Area in 

 Wisconsin," " Beaches and Terrace^," '^ Anchor-ice and Excava- 

 tion of Lake-basins," " Parallelism of Escarpments in America." 

 Many interesting facts are adduced in these subjects ; and the author 

 takes strong ground in advocacy of the action of glaciers rather than 

 of icebergs in the production of glacial stria). He claims this 

 view as suggested by him in 1859. His view in reference to 

 the excavation of lake-basins is stated in the following terms. It 

 suggests some new views ; though probably all geologists will not 

 accept the cause assigned, as the most important of those which 

 have acted in producing this effect : 



It has been frequently stated that a difficulty arises as to the 

 modus operandi by which a moving glacier can excavate lake- 

 basins. May not the manner in which stratified rocks, at least, over 

 which a glacier may be moving, can be involved in its mass in the 

 form of slabs or mud, constituting dirt-beds, be partially explained 

 by the phenomena attending the formation of anchor- ice ? It is 



* See Sir William Logan's " Geology of Canada" (1863), on the 

 • Division of the Laurentian Rocks into " two formations " : 



1st. The Labrador series. 

 2nd. The Laurentian. 

 The Labrador series, I have been recently informed by Sir "William 

 Logan, has been ascertained by him to rest unconformably upon the 

 older Laurentian, and will be distinguished by a separate color on his 

 new Map of Canada. See also Mr. Sterry Hunt on Chemistry of Meta- 

 morphic Rocks. 



t See my " Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula." 

 Longmans, 1863. 



