IMIVSit Al, AND CIJMATAr- CONMU'llONS. ] ]() 



|iiiMH Nvcstwiird u|> its slojiiiii,' siirfiU'i*, .suniioiint the soft 

 t'd^ft! of llic tliinl st('ii|ic witlidiii iinicli alUirinj^ its form, 

 iiiul liiially tcnniimU' oNcr TOO luili's fioiii its soiii'ce, iiml 

 ill ii lii'ii;lit cxcci'tliiii^' lli(! ]tr('S('iit t'liAJitioii of ilic Luurcn- 

 tiiiii axis liy •»\t'i' 2,000 feut. The (lislril)iitioii df the 

 drift ('([iially iu'_u;ali\('.s i-ilhcr of these theories, which 

 would supixise the passage of an iiiiineiisc* t^'laeier across 

 the phuiis. 



" In attrihiilin.u; the ;^lacial itheiioiiiena of the great 

 l)laiii to tlie action of tloating ice, I find myself in accord 

 with I )r. Hector, who has studied a great jiart of the 

 Itasin of the Saslvutehewan — and also, us far as 1 can 

 judge from his vei)orts, with Dr. Ifayden, who, more than 

 any oilier geologist, has had the o|)|toi'tunity of Ix-eoming 

 familiar with all parts of the Western States. 



" The glaciating agent of tlu! Laurcnitian jdateau in the 

 Lake of the Woods region, however, cannot have been 

 other than glacier ice. The rounding, .striation aiul 

 polishing of the i'o(d<s there are glacier work ; and ice- 

 bergs iloaling, witii however steady a current, cannot be 

 supposed to have ])assed over the higher n^gion of the 

 watershed to the north, and then, following the direction 

 of the stria' and gaining ever deeper water, to have borne 

 down on the subjacent rocks. The slo[)e of the axis, 

 however, is too small to account for the spontaneous 

 ilescent of ordinary glaciers. In a distance of about 30 

 miles, in the vicinity of the Lake of the Woods, the fall 

 of the general surface of the country is only about 3i feet 

 to the mile. The height of the watershed region north- 

 east of the lake has not been actually measured ; but near 

 Lac Seul, which closely corresponds with the direction 

 required by glaciati(.)n, according to Mr. Selwyn's measure- 

 ments, it cannot be over 1,400 feet. The height of land 



