TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 639 



bounded to the east by the Great Plains, which break into a series of foot-hills 

 along its base ; to the west by a remarkably straight and definite valley occupied 

 by portions of the Columbia, Kootanie, and other rivers. 



Since the early part of the century the trade of the fur companies has traversed 

 this range, chiefly by the Athabasca and Peace River Passes, but till the explorations 

 effected by the expedition under Capt. Palliser in 1858-59 nothing was known in 

 detail of the structure of the range. At the inception of explorations for the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway, Palliser's map was stiU the only one on which any reliance 

 could be placed, and it applied merely to the portion of the range south of the 

 Athabasca Pass. Diuing the progress of the railway explorations a number of 

 passes were examined, and in 1883 and 1884 that part of the range between the 

 49th parallel and latitude 51° 30" was explored and mapped in some detaU in 

 connection with the work of the Canadian Geological Survey by myself and 

 assistants. 



Access to this, the southern portion of the Rocky Mountains within Canadian 

 territory, being now readily obtained by the railway, its mineral and other resources 

 are receiving attention, while the magnificent alpine scenery which it affords is 

 beginning to attract the attention of tourists and other travellers. 



The results of the reconnaissance work so far accompUshed are here presented in 

 the form of a preliminary map, accompanied by descriptions of routes and passes, 

 and remarks on the main orographic features of the range. 



3. On the Coal-hearing BocJcs of Canada. 

 By Frank D. Adams, Geological Surveyor of Canada. 



As the coalfields of the Dominion are very extensive, the coal-bearing rocks 

 occupying in those portions of the country which have been examined geologically 

 an area of not less than 97,200 square miles, it will be best to consider the fuel 

 supply of each province separately. Nova Scotia, the most easterly of all the 

 provinces, contains probably the most important and certainly the most extensively 

 worked coal deposits in the Dominion, This coal is all bituminous, no anthracite 

 having yet been found. The measures are of Carboniferous age, and although they 

 occupy an area only amounting to about 685 square miles, yet the seams which 

 they enclose are so numerous and so thick that the quantity of coal contained in 

 this area is enormous. There are three important coal-basins in this province, 

 situated respectively in Cape Breton, Pictoii, and Cumberland Counties ; as well as 

 several others which are of less importance, or as yet undeveloped. The Cape 

 Breton coalfields form the edge of an extensive basin, the greater part of which is 

 bidden beneath the Atlantic Ocean, and rights have been taken out, covering about 

 100 square miles of submarine coal. The strata are so impervious to water that at 

 a moderate depth the submarine workings are perfectly dry. It has been estimated 

 by the Geological Survey of Canada that the seams now opened in this dis- 

 trict contain, in the areas leased for the purpose of workmg them, over 

 212,000,000 tons of coal. In composition and general characteristics the Cape 

 Breton coal is very similar to Newcastle coal, and is largely used for domestic pur- 

 poses and for gas-making. At one time it was shipped very largely to New York and 

 Boston for the latter purpose. It is also largely used as a steam coal. The Pictou 

 basin is remarkable for the great thickness of the coal-seams which occur in it, the 

 main seam in the Dalhousie pit of the Albion mines being as much as 36| feet 

 thick. The coal of the Pictou and Cumberland basins is, as a general rule, less 

 bituminous than that of Cape Breton, and belongs rather to the free-burning type. 

 In 1885 there were in operation in Nova Scotia 28 collieries, employing 4,446 

 men and boys, the total output for the year being 1,352,205 tons. The aggregate 

 sales of Nova Scotia coal for the 100 years ending 1884 was 22,290,937 tons. Of 

 late years, owing to the development of the American coalfields and the increased 

 facilities for transportation, the quantity of Nova Scotia coal sent to the United 

 States has been steadily diminishing. This loss, however, is more than compen- 

 sated by the greatly increased market in Nova Scotia itself, as well as in the 



