CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF GUYSBOROUGII. 351 



tlie westward is occupied by gray and reddish sandstones and conglo- 

 merate, with gray shales in a few places, the whole forming a narrow 

 trough. On the southern margin of this trough, the conglomerate 

 contains pebbles of gray quartzite, micaceous flag, and blue slate, 

 precisely similar to the metamorphic rocks immediately to the south- 

 ward, and in these conglomerates and the sandstones resting on them, 

 I found a few fragments of Calamites and Lepidodendron. Fossils 

 appear, however, to be rare in this district, and I have not observed 

 in it any coal ; nor do the limestones appear, so far as I am awai-e, 

 west of Guysborough. 



With the exception of limestone and freestone for building, I am 

 not aware that this district affords any useful minerals. Galena, or 

 sulphuret of lead, is said to have been found in small quantities near 

 Guysboi'ough, and small veins of Specidar Iron traverse many of the 

 altered rocks in that vicinity. The soils of this valley, however, 

 especially on the St Mary's River, are causing it to rise rapidly in 

 importance as an agricultural district, and its scenery is in many places 

 varied and beautiful. 



Before passing to the coal-fields of Cape Breton, I may shortly 

 notice two limited patches of Carboniferous rocks occurring on the 

 margin of the metamorphic rocks on the south coast of Nova Scotia, 

 at ]\Iargavet's Bay and Chester Basin. 



At Margaret's Bay, red and gray sandstones and a bed of limestone 

 appear, though much buried under masses of granitic drift. In lime- 

 stone from this place, I have found the Terebratida sacculus, a char- 

 acteristic Lower Carboniferous shell. At Chester Basin, the Lower 

 Carboniferous rocks appear still more distinctly, and contain thick 

 beds of limestone of various qualities. One of the beds is said to be 

 a good hydraulic cement, and another, in weathering, leaves an umber 

 of a rich brown colour, which is manufactured and sold under the 

 name of Chester mineral paint. The limestone at this place contains 

 several of the shells already mentioned as characteristic of the Carbon- 

 iferous system. A small seam of coal is also stated to occvu- near 

 Chester ; but I have not seen it. 



These isolated patches are interesting, as they are evidently portions 

 of the margin of a Carboniferous district either sunk beneath the 

 Atlantic or removed by the action of its waves. 



