IN NOVA SCOTIA ELLS. 439 



wester, so well-known, and so little admired in Nova Scotia. Let 

 him turn his eyes towards the western horizon, and as far as 

 vision extends, the red sandstone supports the soil of the almost 

 level country before him, while rocks of different classes are 

 thrown up like walls on each of its sides, affording shelter from 

 southern and northern gales ; and lastly, let a glance be taken at 

 the bustling little village beneath his feet, and he will admire 

 not only the grand and beautiful spectacle before him, but also 

 the infant town below, prepared to afford him those refreshments 

 his stroll will have rendered necessary. In the neighbourhood 

 of Kentville, the new red sandstone is in contact with the old red 

 sandstone, the members of the mountain limestone and coal 

 groups being deficient. The great bed of iron, represented as 

 occupying a place throughout the whole South Mountain range, 

 has not yet been discovered south of that village ; but from the 

 occurrence of detached pieces of the ore, iron pyrites, and the 

 carbonate of iron at Beech Hill, no doubt can be entertained of 

 its uninterrupted existence, even farther eastward than that place." 

 An important feature in the history of Nova Scotian geology 

 was the visit of Sir Charles Lyell who, in 1842, made a geological 

 excursion through portions of the province. In this work he was 

 aided by Dr. Gesner and also by Sir William Dawson, the latter 

 at that time a young man of about twenty-three years of age. 

 The results of this visit of Sir Charles Lyell are given in his 

 book," Travels in North America," published in 1845. He paid 

 much attention to the group of rocks which had been classified in 

 large part by Gesner under the head of the red sandstone division, 

 and as a consequence of his examination these were separated into 

 three portions styled respectively, the upper carboniferous, the 

 productive coal measures, and the lower carboniferous or gypsif 

 erous formation. The last named was placed in its true position 

 beneath the coal measures, while the soft red sandstones, so con- 

 spicuous around the shores of Minas Basin, were regarded as an 

 upper division and regarded as probably belonging to the Trias. 

 The visit of Sir Charles Lyell was therefore important as serving 

 to determine more clearly the true horizons of this important 

 series of rocks. 



