248 NOTES ON THE DAVENPORT GRAVEL BED. 
southerly, becomes strongly marked near the village of Lambton, 
where it again makes a sudden detour and sweeps westerly along the 
line of Dundas-street and continues in a direction generally parallel 
to Lake Ontario through the neighbouring townships. 
The gravel deposit already referred to, can likewise be traced over 
a. considerable area, but, unlike the terrace in its windings into the 
interior, the gravel is found only in a uniformly straight direction, 
and that. generally. parallel to Lake Ontario. The gravel is found 
over a distance of two and a half miles in a well-defined, yet low, 
narrow ridge, ayeraging only about an eighth of a mile in width, in 
height from about fifteen to twenty feet in the centre, gently rounded, 
and sloping to the level ground on each side. | : 
The terrace rises abruptly from the plain below to an elevation 
averaging from thirty to about fifty feet, and although generally 
known by the name of ‘“‘ The Davenport Ridge,” it cannot properly 
be termed a ridge, as its summit either maintains its level as a table- 
land, or gently rises towards the interior in easy undulations. 
Good sections of the gravel deposit are given in the ballast pits of 
the Northern and Grand Trunk Railways at points about half a 
mile apart, where these lines cross it at the Davenport and Carleton 
stations respectively. Both sections are so precisely similar in cha- 
racter that an illustration of one will suffice—(See Plate)—and it is 
not unreasonable to draw the inference that the same leading cha- 
racteristics, similarly displayed at these points half a mile apart, 
obtain throughout the length of the deposit. 
The terrace already referred to has frequently been noticed by 
geologists, especially where it crosses Yonge street, this point being 
easiest of access from Toronto. Sir Charles Lyell, in his “ Travels 
in America,” makes particular reference to it. He maintains that 
it marks the margin of the sea at some early period ; others, again, 
consider it the former boundary of Lake Ontario. Following up the 
latter supposition we can scarcely avoid coming to the conclusion 
that the Davenport gravel ridge, from its peculiar outline and from 
its level, must have been washed by the ancient Lake Ontario in a 
manner precisely similar to that in which the singular and similar 
formation in front of Toronto harbour is washed by the present lake. 
‘We may even venture a step farther, and advance satisfactory rea- 
sons for attributing the origin and development of the Davenport 
gravel ridge to the action of the lake at its higher level. Many 
