Notes on the Geology of Murray Bay, 143 



and covering more and more of it with the spoils of the sea. In 

 such a place the geologist longs to find some indication of the in- 

 habitants of that early land. What trees rustled in the breezes 

 that blew over that ancient sea? What animals roamed along 

 the coast to feed on the dead cuttle-fishes as they were thrown 

 on shore ? No fragment of leaf or bone has yet told any tale of 

 them. To find such remains would be a strange and startling 

 discovery. Not to find them, is in some sense stranger still, for 

 with so long a range of Lower Silurian shore as exists in Canada, 

 it almost implies that the old Lauren tian land was void and deso- 

 late, that in penetrating backward into geological time, we have 

 reached a land and a period in which no creative fiat had gone 

 forth to people the dry land. But we must not yet believe this 

 on merely negative evidence, and must still search for the remains 

 of such primeval life. 



But to return to Murray Bay, the Silurian rocks are well seen 

 at L'Ecorch^, the section at which place has been given in some 

 detail by Sir W. E. Logan. They are repeated on the coast east 

 of Cape Heu, and are also seen on the west side of the bay inside 

 the pier, near Little Mai Bay, and in various places on the hill 

 sides, and on the Murray Bay River. From all these exposures, 

 the following series of beds may be ascertained. The names of 

 the fossils are given as determined by Mr. Billings, who has kind- 

 ly examined them, and the series is descending. 



L Black bituminous flaggy limestone and shale, not rich in 

 fossils. This is best seen at the cove east of Pt. Heu, and in 

 places on the west side of the bay. The following fossils were 

 collected, principally at the former place, Orthis testudinariaj 

 Conularia trentonensis, Discina, n. s., SerpiiUtes, n. s., GraptoU- 

 thus, Straparollus, Orihoceras. 



n. Gray and black limestone in thin uneven layers, and often 

 coarse and sandy. It abounds in fossils and is well exposed some 

 distance east of Cape Heu, also in the cliff at L'Ecorche, and in 

 various places on the west side of the bay. The following fossils 

 were collected. They are mostly species characteristic of the 

 Trenton limestone. 



Stenopora Jibrosa. BelleropJion hilohatus. 



EeceptacuUtes JSFeptuni. Murchisonia. 



Glyptocrinus, Orthoceras Murrayi. 



Cyrtoceras ? 

 Orthis pectinella . 



