72 NOTES ON GEOLOGY AND BOTANY OF DIGBY NECK BAILEY. 



colour, and the other volcanic, embracing a variety of doleritic, 

 trachytic, and amygdaloidal rocks disposed in successive sheets 

 as the evident result of repeated lava Hows. It has been usual 

 to regard both of these groups as being of New Red sandstone or 

 Jura Trias age. But at present there is, in this region, abso- 

 lutely no proof that such is their true position, while observa- 

 tions made elsewhere, in rocks of similar character and associa- 

 tions, at least make the reference somewhat doubtful. 



By far the best opportunity for the study of the sandstones 

 is afforded by the shore section closely adjacent to the so-called 

 "sea wall," about six miles from Digby, in the settlement of 

 Rossway. At this point is exposed a series of bluffs which, both 

 by their height and colour, form a striking feature in the land- 

 scape. The section is nearly half a mile in length, gradually 

 rising with the dip of the strata from the water level at the 

 northern end to quite one hundred feet at the southern. This 

 height above the sea level is not very different from that seen 

 on the road from the town of Digby to Digby Light, and would 

 indicate that the depression in which these sandstones were 

 deposited, and which must at one time have connected the waters 

 of Annapolis Basin and St. Mary's Bay, must have had at least 

 a corresponding depth below its present level. 



In character the sandstones are not unlike those seen at 

 various points in the Annapolis valley, but they lack, as far as 

 observed, the gypsiferous aspect which is so marked a feature 

 in the sandstones which underlie the traps of Blomidon. The 

 prevailing colour is a brick-red, of light and dark shades. At 

 intervals it is interstratified with light green bands varying in 

 width from half an inch to 5 or 6 inches. The green bands 

 especially characterize the lower beds, and these are also dis- 

 tinctly more arenaceous than the beds above. On one of 

 the reefs laid bare by the tide was observed what appeared 

 to be a tree-trunk several feet in length, together with some 

 obscure branching markings, which resembled tracks, but 

 both were obscure, and nothing else of this nature could be 

 found. 



