BY A. GIBB MAITLAND, C.E., F.G.S. 2&'' 



" border of the great Palasozoic area, which extends northward 

 " and southward through the Central part of the Continent, and 

 " which terminates by a comparatively narrow prolongation in 



" the Texan region Tracing the line of such a 



" boundary, we find it extends northward through Western 

 " Texas to the southern boundary of Kansas, near the north- 

 " western corner of Indian Territory; thence north-eastward to 

 " North-eastern Kansas ; thence through Eastern Nebraska to 

 " the mouth of the Big Sioux Eiver; thence north to the Red 

 "River of the North, and down that river to its mouth, at the 

 " south end of Lake Winnipeg, and thence north-westward to 

 " the north-east corner of the district of Athabasca. The 

 " western boundary of this great ai"ea may be designated as 

 " approximately corresponding to the line of the great watershed 

 " which separates the Pacific drainage from that of the Arctic 

 " and Atlantic oceans, and as extending from the 60th parallel 

 " of north latitude to where the watershed line meets the 113th 

 " meridian in Western Montana ; thence south upon that 

 " meridian to the 33rd parallel of north latitude.* . . . . , 



So little is known of the geology of Northern Canada, that 

 the exact limits of the Cretaceous and Tertiary beds cannot be 

 defined. It may, however, be mentioned that Cretaceous strata 

 have been proved in the valley of the Mackenzie River, which 

 flows into the Arctic Ocean, between Cape Bathurst and the 

 Alaskan frontier. They occupy a large area at the head of the 

 Mackenzie, also on the north-western shores of the Great Bear 

 Lake, and are in considerable force in the country on the Arctic 

 Ocean, at the mouth of the Mackenzie, as well as along the 

 coast from Demarcation Point to the head of Franklin Bay. It 

 is possible that these beds may be continuous beneath the 

 Tertiary and Recent beds from Athabasca to the Arctic Ocean. 



Our knowledge of the geology of the water-bearing forma- 

 tions of the region above defined is more deficient than that of 

 the coastal districts ; the salient features, however, have been 

 grasped, and have been described in the writings of those 

 pioneers to whom geological science owes a debt of gratitude. 



* Correlation Papers. Cretaceous. C. A. White, pp. 141. Bulletin, No. 82, U.S.. 

 Geological Survey, Washington. By authority : 1891. 



