204 Tertiary. 



the Ottawa, to the east of the meridian of Kingston, are occupied bj' 

 stratified clays, which, unlike those of western Canada, contain 

 abundance of marine shells, for the most part identical with species 

 now living in the lower St. Lawrence and the gulf. The cla3^s are in 

 many cases overlaid by sands, occasionally interstratified with clay, 

 which also contain marine remains. The two are regarded as forming 

 parts of one formation, and as corresponding to the upper and lower 

 divisions of the Champlain clay of Vermont. The lower division is 

 called the Leda clay, and the upper the Saxicava sand. If a line be 

 drawn from the outlet of Lake Champlain to Ottawa, and from the 

 extremities of this, as a base, two others be carried to Quebec, there 

 will be included a very level triangular area of about 9,000 square 

 miles, for the greater part covered b}' the Champlain clays and sands. 

 The plains on either side of the St. Lawrence below Quebec are occu- 

 pied by the same formation, which is found at intervals as far down 

 as Matanne; while on the north side it covers an extensive area in 

 the valley of the Saguena^^ and around lake St. John and its tribu- 

 taries. Claj^s belonging to the lower division are found at various 

 levels from the surface of the sea to 600 feet above it, and in some 

 cases they have been observed some feet below the sea-level. The 

 river Rouge enters the Ottawa between hills of bare rock; but on its 

 western side, in the fourth range of Grenville, a bank of clay 125 feet 

 in thickness occurs, the summit of which is 405 feet above the sea. 

 Again, not far east of this river, in the rear of Grenville, and in the 

 front of Harrington, is an area of several hundred acres, underlaid by 

 stratified blue cla^', the surface of which is about 500 feet above the 

 sea. Several similiar portions of cla}' occur in that vicinity. In Gasp'e, 

 at the head of Lake Matapedia, stratified clay occurs at the height of 

 480 feet, and near the outlet of the same lake, at the height of 

 530 feet above the sea. At Bay St. Paul, on the north side of the St. 

 Lawrence, terraces occur at 130 and 360 feet above the sea. Marine 

 fossils occur throughout the strata in which these terraces are worn, 

 and still higher at 390 feet above the sea level. In the valley- of the 

 Saguena}', marine clays, generally overlaid b}' sand and gravel, are 

 found almost everj'where between Ha-ha bay and the west side of Lake 

 St. Johns; as well as between that bay and Chicontimi. Between Chi- 

 coutimi and Ha-ha ba}^ the clay is sometimes 600 feet in thickness. 

 About a half mile below the falls of Bell Riviere, marine shells occur in 

 the clay at 400 feet aboA^e the sea. 



The Saxicava sand forms a belt on the north side of the St. 



