GEOLOGICAL AREAS OF CANADA. 97 



rouglily parallel ridges of several feet in height. The Glacial striae 

 of the country have two prevailing directions — south-west and south- 

 east respectively. The Post-Glacial deposits belong chiefly to two 

 series, as first determined by Dr. Dawson of Montreal, a lower deep- 

 sea formation, known as the " Leda Clay ;" and a succeeding deposit, 

 apparently a shallow-sea or shore-line accumulation, known as 

 " Saxicava Sand." These occur widely within the distiict, and at 

 various elevations. On the Montreal Mountain, beds of Saxicava 

 sand, for example, form a series of terraces, one of which is at an 

 altitude of nearly 500 feet above the present sea-level. Beauport, 

 below Quebec, is another locality at which these deposits are well 

 exposed ; but they occur also, and over large areas, around Murray 

 Bay, as well as on the Lower St. Maurice, and elsewhere. The more 

 recent formations of the district comprise, j)rincipally, the bog ii'on 

 ores and ochres of the St. Maurice and other localities on the north 

 shore of the St. Lawrence ; the great peat-beds of Lanoraye, Lavaltrie, 

 St. Sulpice, &c., on the same side of the river; and those of Sherrington, 

 Longueuil, and St. Domenique, with others, on the south shore. Most 

 of these peat beds overlie deposits of shell marl. 



(3.) The Appalachian District. — The tei-m " Appalachian region " 

 was first bestowed on this part of Canada by Dr. Starry Hunt. The 

 district forms, indeed, a prolongation into Eastern Canada of the 

 Appalachian region of the United States. The Appalachian chain, 

 with its tnted, contorted, and iii great part metamorphosed, system. 

 of rocks, being continued into the Orford, Sutton, and other moun- 

 tains of the Eastern Townships, and from these into the Notre Dame 

 and Schickshock ranges of the St. Lawrence and Graspe. The district 

 is essentially a Palaeozoic area, but disturbed and altered over most 

 of its extent by metamorphic agencies. It includes the section of 

 country known as the Eastern Townships, and also the peninsula of 

 Gaspe and intermediate country. It thus comprises all that portion 

 of the Province which lies east of the line of dislocation and fault, 

 referred to under the preceding district. This line of fault extends 

 from the north-east extremity of Lake Champlain in a general north- 

 easterly direction, to a short distance west of Point Levis, from whence, 

 crossing the St. Lawrence, it curves round the back of Quebec, runs 

 along the Island of Orleans, down the bed of the river to near the 

 mouth of the latter, and finally travei-ses the north coast of the 

 extremity of Gaspe. The strata along the outer edge of this line of 



