1853.] 



TFIE VALLEY OF THE KOTTAWASAGA. 



Simeoc, witli a few isolated ligiit sjiots, indicating eleai'ances, 

 appear blue in tlie distauLC. 



As the liigli ground of Osprey tends to tl.e iioitliw.ird, it 

 terminates in a roeliv escarpment, sweeping round tluough the 

 Township of Collingwood, parallel to the shore ; its base has a 

 steep descent towaids the coast, heaxily ■i\ooded with pine, cedar, 

 birch, and liardwood. Here the Trenton Limestone crops out 

 I'ich in fossils, of wliich a variet}' and a specimen of Bituminous 

 Shale, probably of the Utica Slate, are laid on the table. 



Commencing at the southern extremity of the Valley, on the 

 dividing ridge which separates tlie drainage into Lake Huron 

 iVom that into Lake Ontario, and follo^ving the course of any of 

 the principal branches of the Nottawasaga, we pass through a 

 liigh, broken country, cut up by deep ravines, ileaching the. 

 To«■n^hil> of Essa, the hii'h ground begins to I'ecede, leav- 

 ing between a perfectly level i>lain, about 3 iniles in width, 

 through which the River flows between banks tVom 50 to 70 feet 

 high. Li approaching the north end of the Township, these 

 banks gradually fall awa}-, ani.l we enter a \ast ti'act of barren 

 land, extending westward and occupying nearly the whole of the 

 uorthern half of Tosorontio and Essa; the best portions are 

 capable only of supporting a thin growth of senibby ])ines, and 

 many thousand acres ha\e been o\errun by fires, wliich seein to 

 have destroyed such meagre vegetation as may once have struggled 

 into existence. The main highway frona Barrie to Owen Sound 

 passes through about 8 miles of this dreary v;a.<e, and all who have 

 travelled it can testify that scarcely any road can be more lonely, 

 and few landscapes couLl be more monotonous than the " burnt 

 land." Leaving this wilderness, and following the course of the 

 River, we enter at once into another equally uninhiibitable, but 

 of quite a different character, viz., the "tiooded land." Here, 

 necessarily in a canoe, and at least sheltere.l from the scorching 

 rays of the sun (to say nothing of musquitoes) by a luxuriant 

 vegetation, we glide smoothly along, and are amused by the 

 picturesque forms into which the gigantic oaks a'e twisted and 

 broken up by the herds of bears frequenting these gro\-es, in 

 certain seasons, to feed on acorns; and so stately are those noble 

 trees, that they may, even in this counti'^-, be styled England's 

 gloiy. 



The River flows for about 12 miles through the flooded land, 

 and entei's a nai'row goi'ge between banks about 60 or 70 feet 

 high. The narrowness of this outlet must account, in some 

 measure, for the annual inundations, it being insufiii.'ieiit in 

 capacity for the passage of those immense volumes of water 

 produced by the thawing of deep snows over an area of 700 or 

 800 square miles; and since the banks retain tliis height for a 

 long distance, the possibility of draining is almost precluded. 



By vefering to the Map, it will be seen that at r^ne place (he 

 River approaches within a short distance of the Lake, is deileited 

 in an easterl\- iliitJ-tion, and ultimately finds an oulli.-t, after 

 runninn' parallel to the coast about 4 miles; the whole of this 

 s]iit is cniiipo e 1 of pure sand, with a little vegital le matter mixed 

 up with the suifare ac the western end. The outlet of the River 

 is found to advance eralu:illy eastward, and the entire area is 

 thrown up in a series of caicentiic ridges, ]ieifectl_y parallel, and 

 well defined, exce]it whore broken and blown up into dunes by 

 the '.vind; these ridges are, in some ]:ilaces, so distinctly marked, 

 that they resemble the furrows of a ploughed field on a gigantic 

 scale. Seeing that the ridges have ever}' appearance of ha\ii'g 

 been washed up by the Lake, that the ponit is yoarl}' movirg 

 eastward, and that the coast is now no moi'e exposed to the pre- 

 vailing wind than formerlv, there is every reason to believe 

 that the whole of the deposit is due to the agenc}' of the wind 

 and waves. The vegetation itself tends to confirm this cpinion, 



since, at tiro bend of the River (that portion supposed to be 

 deposited first), the surface is coveied with tall red pines, while, 

 as we go eastward, these gradually diminish, both in size and 

 nundjers, until they entirely disapjiear. It is not here meant to 

 be infeired that tlie deposit has been formed since any of these 

 trees commenced to grow ; but, that pure washed sand being at 

 first unable to support any \cgetation, through course of ages 

 receives small accessions of organic matter, and grailually liecomes 

 more and more cajiable of su]'poiting trees of stronger and 

 stronger growth. 



On the south side of that part of the River described as run- 

 nino- parallel to the Lake, an upper and older sand lidgc is found, 

 from 80 to 100 feet above the Lake, and 40 or 60 feet 

 abo\e the country farther inland, its surface is cut up into sand 

 hills which although now covered with ti'ees have evidently 

 been formed by the wind at a very remote period, they have all 

 a loniT o-entle slope towards the north-weot (the prevailing wind) 

 while'the other ridge is quite precipitous — even at present the 

 roots of the trees growing on the lee side are covered with blown 

 sand, and those trunks which ha\e lain on the surface for a con- 

 siderable time are partially eo\-ered. 



An oiiinion has been held by some Geologists that Dunes can 

 only be formed on the margin of waters subject to the action of 

 the" tides, but these and other examples on the American Lakes, 

 whose waters remain constantly about the same level, show that 

 their formation must be referi-ed to other causes than the rise 

 and fill of the sea; and the discovery of these go far to confirm 

 tlie ooinion of those who hold that the wind is the sole agent of 

 their formation. 



Thei'e are appearances in various parts of tliis region which 

 lead us to infer that the waters of Lake Hui-on like those of 

 Ontario, formerly stood at higher levels than it at present occu- 

 pies, parrallel terraces and riilges of sand and gravel can be 

 ti-aced at difterent places winding round the heads of bays and 

 points of hio-hland with perfect liori2oatali;y and resembling 

 in every respect the present lake benches ; one of them particu- 

 larly strikes the attention in the Bay of Penetinguishene, at a 

 heio-ht of about 70 ft. above the level of tlie lake, it can be seen dis- 

 tinctly, on either side from the water, oi' by a spectator standing 

 on one bank, while the sun shines obliquely on the other, so as 

 to th]-ow the deeper parts of the terrace iu shadow. The aeconi- 

 iianj-ing section sketched from a cutting a little be!ow Jeft'rey's 

 ta\'ern Tu the Village of Penetanguishene, will ser\ e to show the 

 manner in which the soil has been remo\-ed from the side hill 

 and deposited in a position formerly unler water, by the con- 

 tinued mechanical action of the waves. 



The dotted Hue represents former surface ; a, waslicd out by -waves 

 and deposited at 6 ; c c, supposed former level of lake. 



Kotonly does the pecul'ar stratification ofthe lower jJart of the 

 terrace confirm the supposition that it was deposited on the shore 

 of an ancient lake, but the fact that such exca\atior.s lla^■e been 

 male in this lanl loskel pos'ition, whe.'e the w.,ves could never 

 have had much force, goes far to prove thut the Lake stool for a 

 long period at this high level. 



