*6 Ko.MANCK OF GEOLOGY 



Cambrian abso- C. Sand-stones and slaty rocks. 



lutely devoid Bands of bright red rocks tooo feet. 



ot fossils B. Pale grey limestone, weather- 



ing white 200 ,, 



A. Impure dolomites, and fine 



dolomitic quartzites 700 ,, 



But the chief interest to me has been in the Cretaceous strata 

 ot the North-West Territory. All the great prairie country, com- 

 jjrising thousands .of square miles, was once overflowed by the 

 great Cretaceous sea, which must indeed have stretched to the 

 extreme Western portion of the Continent, before the upheaval of 

 the Rockies. In the North-West, as in the corresponding portion 

 ot the United States Territory, the rocks of Cretaceous age may 

 be studied in perfection. In England, a great break occurs 

 between the Cretaceous sea and the Eocene. This is supplied in 

 the United States and N.W. Canada by that most interesting fresh- 

 water formation, known as the Laramie. Of so transitional a 

 nature are the fossils of the Laramie, that it was long known as 

 the " Lignite Tertiary," and supposed to belong to the earHest 

 Eocene. But near the Eoot Hills, of the Rockies, the Laramie is 

 found lying conformably upon the Fox Hills strata of the Creta- 

 ceous, and it is " often difficult to determine the exact point at 

 which one is replaced by the other." " I have usually," says Mr. 

 McConnell, " drawn the line of separation near the base of a thick 

 band of greyish sandstone, containing no ammonites, baculites, or 

 calcareous nodules, like those of the Fox Hills." The best 

 exposures of the Laramie occur in the valley of the White Mud 

 River, near the Cypress Hills, in the province of Assiniboia. 

 Tliis country lies so far from the mountains that its strata are 

 hardly disturbed : some are horizontal, some with easy dips. All 

 the plains are underlaid by Cretaceous rocks, seldom appearing at 

 the SLirflice, being concealed by a covering of drift, 200 feet thick. 

 The central plateau of the Cypress Hills is full of interest to 

 the botanist. In the ui)per slopes of the hills, the vegetation is 

 of the Rocky Mountain type, with plants of alpine and boreal, 

 intermingled with prairie species, and in the deep valleys (known 

 locally as coulees) are numerous Eastern forest species. In the 

 more elevated regions, Lupins and Potentillas cover miles of 

 country, growing eighteen inches high, and making the whole 



