374 THE GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ. 



west. A mile north of Brandon the bkiff on the north side of the Assini- 

 boine rises about 140 feet above the river to 1,300 feet, approximately, 

 above the sea. It consists of till to a height of 100 feet or more; but its 

 crest and the surface thence northward for 5 miles are mostly undulating 

 gravel and sand to a thickness of 10 to 20 feet, thinly covering the till, 

 which forms the surface farther north. Eastward this bluff, eroded by the 

 Assiniboine since the deposition of this stratified gravel and sand, extends 

 along the north side of the railway by Chater and Douglas, having a 

 height of about 75 and 50 feet, respectively, at these stations, but declin- 

 ing only slightly in the elevation of its crest, which is 1,275 to 1,290 feet. 

 Delta gravel and sand, and on some portions fine silt, cover a width of 3 

 or 4 miles thence northward through the south half of townships 11 of 

 ranges 18 and 17, having an elevation at their northern limit 1,300 to 

 1,290 feet above the sea, beyond which the surface, gradually ascending 

 northward, is till. The most eastern point of this higher delta deposit is in 

 section 14, township 11, range 17. Measured thence to its western limit 

 on the north side of the Assiniboine, half way between Kemnay and 

 Alexander, its length is 24 miles. Its width north and south of Brandon is 

 about 12 miles. Through it the Assiniboine has eroded its valley, and has 

 carried it away, cutting also into the underlying till, upon a large area 

 from Brandon east to Chater and Douglas and thence south nearly to the 

 Brandon Hills. 



South of the river, at the ?ourt-house, in the southeast part of Brandon, 

 very coarse gravel and sand of this higher part of the Assiniboine delta, 

 containing waterworn cobbles up to 6 and 8 inches in diameter, form a pla- 

 teau mostly 1,270 to 1,275 feet above the sea, but rising to 1,282 feet at a 

 distance of 1 mile to the east. One and a half to 3 miles west of Brandon 

 a similar plateau varies in height from 1,290 to 1,305 feet. Between these 

 small plateaus or plains, which slope about 5 feet per mile to the east and 

 were once continuous, a former watercourse, diminishing from a half to a 

 quarter of a mile in width, passes southeast from the valley of the Assini- 

 boine through the south part of Brandon and thence continues east nearly 

 3 miles, opening in section 7 or 8, township 10, range 18, upon the broad 

 lower area eroded by the Assiniboine. The bed of this old channel is at 



