AND GEOLOGY OF THE COLUMBIA. 99 



exposed aloug the railway cuttings following the Beaver valley up the Roger's Pass into 

 the Selkirks. 



(3.) From Beaver to Surprise Eapids. — Below Beaver the Columbia Hows twenty 

 or twenty-five miles uninterrupted by rapids, though sometimes split into numerous 

 channels by low islands of alluvium. Old channels, dammed at the upper end by masses 

 of driftwood and silt, have the character of bayous, and were Ibrmerly greatly frequented 

 by beavers, as shown by the numbers of trees cut by these animals. Some cottonwood 

 stumps displaying the marks of their teeth were more than two feet in diameter. Their 

 numbers are at present much diminished by the work of trappers. 



For some distance above Surprise Rapids, the riA^er, which here receives a considerable 

 stream from each side, forms narrow, lake-like expansions. In this part of its course there 

 is only a comparatively low, wooded ridge separating the Columbia from a wider valley 

 to the north-east, occupied by a tributary flowing in the opposite direction and joining 

 the Columbia just below Donald. This is perhaps another hint that the upper Columbia 

 once flowed south-east, before it had dug its way through the walls of slate above 

 Beaver. 



In this region, rock was observed by the writer only once, and was found to be slate 

 like that near Beaver. 



(4.) Surprise Rapids. — These rapids are well named, since they are almost unseen 

 until one is just upon them, though their roar may be heard a mile or two above. The 

 valley is much narrowed here, and the rapids are caused by barriers of steeply inclined 

 mica schist. 



A comparison of barometer readings with those at Donald gives a fall to the head of 

 the rapids of 138 feet ; while in the four or five miles of the Surprise Rapids, we found a 

 fall of about 140 feet,' of which 55 or 60 belong to the first mile. The first fall will some 

 day afford a magnificent water-power, since a canal of about half a mile through a low, 

 wooded point would render nearly the whole of it available. The engineering difficulties 

 would probably not be serious, and suitable steamers could ply up the river to Beaver, 

 the nearest point on the railway. There is a vast supply of forest within reach, 

 chiefly black and white spruce, with a considerable amount of giant cedar and some 

 white pine. 



Mountains norlh-easl of Ihe Rapids. — The nearest summit of the Rockies, four or five 

 miles from the rapids, was ascended, and named Lookout Point. Its height, determined 

 barometrically, is t,*754 feet. A very rugged, triple-peaked mountain, a few miles north of 

 this, bears several glaciers, and was estimated to be 12,000 feet at least in height. It was 

 judged to be Sullivan's Peak or possibly Mount Forbes, and is the highest point in the 

 neighborhood. 



Rocks Observed. — Soft, greenish slates and quartzites make the exposed portions of 

 Lookout Point. The cjuartzites are evidently metamorphosed sandstones, since some of 

 them show traces of ebb and flow stru.cture. The beds dip slightly away from the 



' Travel along shore is much obstructed, hence the readings of the barometer were often some hours apart, 

 rendering the results less certain than could be wished, tliough probably not much astray. 



