PETROLEUM IN THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES. '229 



in the depths of the forest, near no lake or stream of sufficient size 

 to mark the place. The oil issues from springs in the form of great 

 holes in the gi'ound, down which poles may be plunged as far as they 

 will reach without meeting with any resistance beyond that of the 

 slimy liquid. The Indians fill tight boxes with the partially inspis- 

 sated petroleum at these springs and haul it to Fort Simpson on 

 sleighs in winter. Here it is boiled down to a proper consistence 

 and used for pitching boats. 



In giving a general description of the geology of the McKenzie 

 River, Richardson says, " a shaly formation makes the chief part of 

 the banks and also much of the undulating valleys between the 

 elevated spurs. It is based on horizontal beds of limestone and in 

 some places of sandstone which abut against the inclined sti-ata of the 

 lofty wall-like ridges or rests partially on their edges. The shale 

 crumbles readily and often takes fire spontaneously, occasioning the 

 ruin of the bank, so that it is only by the encroachment of the river 

 carrying away the debris that the true structure is revealed." At a 

 high point below Fort Simpson, known as "The Rock by the River's 

 Side," the bituminous shales are described as having a very great 

 similarity to those at the junction of the Clear- water and Athabaska 

 Rivers. The same author describes thick beds of bituminous shale 

 as occurring on the western shores of Great Bear Lake, which dia- 

 charges westward by a comparatively short river into the McKenzie 

 River. Below the confluence of these great streams the same shale 

 is seen running down the banks of the one last mentioned, "Under- 

 lying the shale, horizontal beds of lime are exposed for' some miles 

 along the McKenzie and from them issue springs of saline sulphurous 

 waters and mineral pitch." In approaching the Artie Ocean the 

 McKenzie River is hemmed in to a width of only about one-third of 

 a mile by rocks which, from their forms, have given the locality the 

 name of " The Ramparts." Here Richardson says, " the cliiFs have 

 been denuded of the covering of shale which exists higher up the 

 stream, but the limestone of which they are chiefly formed is stained 

 with bitumen either in patches* or whole layers." 



From the foregoing it will be perceived that I have traced a highly 

 bituminous character in the rocks of the Athabaska-McKenzie 

 Valley all the way from the Clear-water branch to the Ramparts, a 

 distance of no less than one thousand miles in a straight line. The 

 continuation of the same rocks is known to extend to the northward 



