Ahhoui^h the existence of coal on these islands has been long known, 

 it is by no means certain by whom, or at what date, the discovery was 

 made. Openings have been made ni)on tlie anthracite seams of Grraham 

 Island at several diiicrent localities, under the auspices of the Queen 

 Charlotte Coal Mining Company-, bnt these operations do not appear to 

 have been ver}- remunerative, and they have subsequently been dis- 

 continued. 



In the snnimer of 1872, Mr. Richardson, of the Canadian G-eological 

 corps, fisited the group, and devoted nearly two weeks to as careful an 

 examination of the geology of the country near Cowgitz, as the time 

 would permit. He brought back with him an interesting collection of 

 the fossils, rocks, minerals and economic products of that region, and 

 published a somewhat detailed account of his investigations in the 

 Eeport of Progress for 1872-'73. The fossil plants collected on this 

 occasion have been submitted to Principal Dawson, who has contributed 

 some notes upon them as an appendix to the repoi't just referred to, 

 which contains also some remarks on the Cephalopoda hy Mr. Billings. 



The accompanying map has been prepared to show the distribution of 

 the Coal-Bearing rocks of the region explored, the boundaries of the 

 divisions, and the localities fi-om which the fossils were collected. An 

 arm of the sea, called Skidegate Channel, separates Moresby and 

 Graham, the two largest of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The western 

 half of Skidegate Channel is very nari'ow, but on its eastern side it 

 widens out and includes several smaller islands. The map shows the 

 central and widest part of this channel (with Maud, Lina and several 

 other small islantls), which is bounded on nearly three sides by Graham 

 Island; and its eastern opening called Skidegate Inlet. A portion of 

 Moresby Island is also seen in the lower right hand corner. 



The followuig brief account of the geology of this district is either 

 condensed from Mr. Richardson's report cited above, or is derived from 

 information directly supplied by him. 



The Coal-Bearing rocks of the area represented on the map form a 

 trough or syncline, of which only the edges are visible at the surface. 

 At its western extremity, and probai.)ly also to the eastwards, the syn- 

 cline is bounded by trappean rocks. The following divisions have been 

 proposed for these sedimentary deposits, but the thickness of each series 

 has not yet been ascertained : 



1. Lower Shales, with Coal and- Iron Ore. 



2. Coarse Conglomerates. 



3. Up^Jer Shales and Sandstones. 



