At^H 10 



45 



NOTES ON" THE GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS AND MODE OF 

 OCCURRENCE OF SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT 

 ECONOMICIMINERALS OF EASTERN QUEBEC. 



R. W. ELLS, LL.D., F.G.S.A. 



That part of the Province of Quebec situated to the south and east 

 of the River St. Lawrence, in which is included the portion more par- 

 ticularly styled the Eastern Townships, may be briefly stated to have a 

 length of about 470 miles from the boundary of the State of Vermont 

 to the extremity of Gasp^, with a breadth of from 100 to 120 miles 

 between Montreal and the boundaries of Maine and New Hampshire. 

 This breadth, however, gradually decreases northward until a short dis- 

 tance below Quebec it becomes less than thirty miles. Beyond this it 

 assumes greater jn-oportions, and in the peninsula of Gaspe itself, which 

 projects like a huge finger into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the distance 

 from shore to shore is not less than seventy to seventy-five miles. 



Through the interior of this area, and in most cases not far from 

 its centi'al line, a belt of hilly country, with elevations reaching in places 

 a height of 3,500 to 4,000 feet above the sea, extends, with a few inter- 

 ruptions, throughout the entire distance. These hills are known under 

 various names, as the Sutton Mountain Range to the south-west, the 

 Stoke Mountains near Sherbrooke, the Buckland Hills north of the 

 Chaudiere River, and the Notre-Dame Range which has a considerable 

 extent in Gaspe and is there further distinguished by the title of the 

 Shick-Shocks. To the south-west, in Vermont, the continuation of 

 these hills is known as the Green Mountains, the extension of which, 

 under different names, can be traced nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. 



The fertility of much of the country throughout this portion of the 

 Province is well known. Underlaid to a great extent by a broad area 

 of slaty rocks, with which is associated a considerable development of 

 limestone, their decay has produced a soil of great value to the husband- 

 man ; so that what is known as the " Eastern Townships " has long 

 enjoyed a most enviable reputation both for farming and dairying opera- 

 tions, and here are found some of the most celebrated farms and stock 

 centres of Canada. The eastern or Gaspe section has, on the other 

 hand, remained comparatively unknown ; the general impression being 



