320 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
to class it posterior only to the granite, on which it in fact immedi- 
ately reposes, but with which it is never known to alternate. The 
slate and quartz rock were observed to extend round Cape St. 
Mary’s for several miles towards Yarmouth; they probably form 
most of the coast from thence towards Cape Sable. We are, howev- 
er, unable to speak positively on this point, from not having extend- 
ed our examinations so far; but, from the information we have 
received, we are led to believe that it forms the whole western 
coast of the Province, interrupted only by the granite, which 
occasionally rises through it in the interior. The white banks, 
alluded to in Des Barres’ work, are doubtless the quartz rock; 
and the white sand, also spoken of in the same work, is probably 
its disintegrated débris, formed and thrown up by the sea.* But 
we choose to leave, for the present, this part of the geologi- 
cal map uncolored, in the hope of seeing it filled up by the ob- 
servations of others, or our own, which may hereafter be renew- 
ed in this region and extended perhaps to some remoter parts 
of it. 
With the exception of the limestone referred to, veins of 
quartz sometimes crystallized, and occasional disseminations of 
* Sable Island, which has proved so often a scene of shipwreck and desolation 
to mariners, is said to be formed wholly of this frail material, which is so light as 
to be carried about and drifted into new shoals by the wind and sea of almost every 
tempest. The island is very low; and, although but a little more than a mile wide, 
it is said to extend thirty miles in length. It is remarked by Mr. Halliburton, that 
“ those who have not personally witnessed the effect of a storm upon this place, can 
form no adequate idea of its horrors. The reverberated thunder of the sea, when it 
strikes this attenuated line of sand, on a front of thirty miles, is truly appalling; 
and the vibration of the island under its mighty pressure, seems to indicate that it 
will separate and be borne away into the ocean.” History of Nova Scotia, Vol.11. 
page 226. 
