SOURCE OF ST. PETEr's RIVER. 101 



sienite were replaced by a slate, which appeared to vary 

 from a mica to a clay-slate, presenting chiefly the charac- 

 ters of the latter. It is very distinctly stratified. The strata 

 are nearly vertical. Its junction with the granite was ob- 

 served in many places ; the slate was superposed. The hills 

 which we had observed above Bonnet Lake, did not con- 

 tinue after the slate had made its appearance. A corres- 

 ponding change in the features of the stream is obsei'ved. 

 The river expands considerably, being in some places se- 

 veral miles wide ; it includes a great number of islands, 

 all of which have a solid, rocky foundation. The colour of 

 the rock is of a deep blue or black, imparting the same 

 hue to the water. The river is not deep ; its current is 

 swift, especially near the islands, but it is free from rip- 

 ples ; we observed none of the foaming rapids which cha- 

 racterize the lower part of the stream. The islands, which 

 in some places are countless, are generally small, and of a 

 form nearly square; from the vertical stratification of the 

 rock their banks are perpendicular; they generally rise 

 from ten to twenty feet above the level of the water. Their 

 surface is covered with a thick growth of trees, which are, 

 for the most part, however, small. They consist of a dwarf 

 ispecies of pitch-pine, called by the Canadians, cypress ; of 

 the spruce, juniper, tamarack, &c. ; the white birch becomes 

 more abundant; the undergrowth is very luxuriant. The 

 soil appears much better than that on the granite. In some 

 parts the rock appears covered with a ferruginous incrus- 

 tation, produced probably by the decomposition of iron 

 pyrites which abounds in it. 



A large loon flew by in the afternoon ; its screamings 

 which had of late been frequent are, by many, considered 

 as sure indications of the approach of stormy weather; we 

 heard them frequently, but had no opportunity of forming 



Vol. II. 14 



