66 GEOLOGY COAL OF VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. 



true coal, and furnishes a better fuel than that of the upper Missouri, but this is doubtless, in 

 a great degree, due to the metamorphic action of erupted rocks which, as we have seen, have 

 in so many places disturbed the tertiary strata. The close affinity, and probable synchronism, 

 of the lignites of the upper Missouri and those of the Pacific coast is proved from the flora of 

 these deposits, and has already been referred to. Until further information shall be obtained 

 in reference to the relationship existing between the cretaceous rocks of Vancouver's island and 

 the coal found there, the age of that coal can only be conjectured. The character of this coal, 

 its resemblance to that of Bellingham bay, and the proximity of the two localities, give us 

 reason to suspect that they belong to the same age and are equivalents of each other. 



And it is at least presumable that the strata which enclose the coal overlie the cretaceous 

 rocks occupying the same relative positions as the chalk and lignite beds of the Missouri. 



In a preceding chapter of this report I had occasion to notice the existence of cretaceous rocks 

 near the upper end of the Sacramento valley, and, in the same connexion, referred to exposures 

 of carboniferous limestone in localities not far distant. When the connexion shall be traced 

 between these deposits, and the relations which they hold to the widely spread tertiary strata of 

 the Pacific coast ascertained, it seems not improbable that, having there at different points all 

 the principal elements which compose the geological structure of the eastern slope of the Eocky 

 mountains, we shall be able to combine them in such a way as to establish a much more com- 

 plete parallelism between the eastern and western sides of the continent than has been hitherto 

 suspected. Among the fossils brought from Vancouver's island there is a large number, 

 including many species, which are apparently not cretaceous, and which are very unlike any of 

 the many tertiary fossils which have been collected at various points on the western coast. 

 They are contained in a soft, greenish sandstone, and have been regarded by Mr. Meek, to 

 whom they have been submitted, as probably indicative of strata of Jurassic age. The genera 

 represented are, perhaps, not peculiar to that period, and the species are, without exception, 

 new ; but he regards them as presenting forms which are rather Oolitic or Jurassic, than 

 cretaceous or tertiary. If the strata from which they are derived should be found to occupy a 

 lower position than those yielding the cretaceous fossils, we should, perhaps, have then a 

 representative of the Jurassic strata which underlie the chalk on the Atlantic coast, and 

 probably throughout a large area in the interior of the continent. 



PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERS. 



The coal from the Island of Vancouver resembles in many respects, as has been stated, that 

 from Bellingham bay, and is more compact and crystalline than any of the tertiary lignites 

 I have seen. It is as hard and handsome as many of the coals derived from the basins of the 

 Mississippi valley, and, like many of the coals of the carboniferous period, exhibites scales of 

 carbonate of lime in its joints. Its chemical composition, however, shows that, although a 

 very well finished article, it is comparatively of recent date. 

 It is composed of — 



Fixed carbon 51.81 



Volatile matter 44.30 



Ashes 3.89 



Total 100.00 



I saw several cargoes of this coal in San Francisco, where it has been used for several years. 



