FRANKLIN COUNTY. 333 



masses of the New-York system do to the northwest, we have every reason to believe tliat 

 llie succession continues, and that it is carried up at least as high upon the Canada side as 

 the loraine shales. 



In confirmation of this view, I may with propriety state, that at Bytown, the shales of 

 Loraine or Hudson river form the surface rock. What the succession is in the intermediate 

 country west of the St. Lawrence, I have been unable to determine. 



In addition to the above, I offer merely the conjecture that the loraine shales are the highest 

 rocks in this direction ; that beyond them, the series runs down to the lower limestones, and 

 finally to the potsdam sandstone. This last rock probably spreads out far to the west and 

 northwest, being one of the most extensive of our sedimentary masses. 



Drift a\d Surface Materials. 



The northern slope of Franklin is covered with a thick mantle of sand, gravel and boulders 

 intermixed. The boulders are composed of sandstone and granite or gneiss. The former 

 are angular and shghtly rounded, but the latter have their angles entirely obliterated, having 

 been subjected for a longer time to the action of the elements. The sand is often disposed 

 into ridges, but without regularity, either in their direction, or in their position with respect 

 to each other. In Dickinson, for example, the south part is rough and uneven, and is covered 

 in part with sand-hills, which are filled with boulders. Towards the north, the country slopes 

 rapidly, and soon reaches the level of the St. Lawrence, where the sand is spread evenly, 

 forming level and uninterrupted plains. Constable, Westville, Bombay, Moira, are all quite 

 level, and present extended sand-plains. Malone, Chateaugay, Dickinson and Brandon, lie 

 upon the descending side ; and the loose materials are raised more or less in ridges, hills and 

 banks. . 



In Covington, boulders of trenton limestone are quite numerous ; the fences are made fre- 

 quently of these travelled rocks ; and it is a matter of some interest to ascertain where they 

 came from. Among tliem are the two varieties of the trenton rock, the grey crj'stalline, and 

 the black and nearly compact mass ; each of them, when broken, exhale a strong bituminous 

 odor. Having become well acquainted with these loose masses, I found, on a visit to Montreal, 

 that the beds of trenton were identical with the boulders in Franklin, and particularly with 

 those which I liad previously seen at Hogansburgh ; and I have little doubt but that these 

 beds formed the parent rock, for all the boulders of hmestone in this place have been brought 

 either from Montreal or its neighborhood. The boulders of potsdam sandstone probably 

 originated in the beds of this rock immediately below, as they have been extensively broken 

 up, and left with theu: corners sharp ; while those which have travelled far, have become 

 smooth and rounded. The source of the granite cannot be determined with much certainty, 

 only we know that it must have had its origin far to the north. 



