THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 165 



centre of a circular hollow about 20 feet across and 3 feet deep. The 

 question often asked out here is, " What made the hollow ?" The 

 farmers mostly say it was made by the buffalo rubbing themselves 

 against the stone and and wearing out the earth in doing so, but it is 

 hard to say what the cause is. The stones are granite. 



The Eastern coal fields is a place I have not visited, but will 

 tell what I do know about them. They do not sink shafts to mine the 

 coal. The mines are in the valley of the Souris river, and they 

 simply dig in from the banks. The beds slope down in an easterly 

 direction so I am told. The coal is peculiar, and almost worthless. 

 It would be worthless in Ontario, but on the prairie the farmers are 

 glad to get it at $4.25 a ton. If exposed to a dry atmosphere above 

 freezing point for a short time, even for two days, a big block of it 

 will fall to pieces ; and when being burned in a stove it must not be 

 shook or raked out, or the whole will instantly crumble and fall 

 through the grate. It is known as slack coal, and is soft. I was 

 going to send you a sample but the heat of the house reduced it 

 almost to a powder. It is mined only during the winter, as a stock 

 of it would be only a loss to its owner, — in summer a fine hot day 

 would make it worthless. It seems to contain a large amount of 

 moisture and when this moisture is driven out of it it shrinks, and if 

 dried under a stove will curl up like wood. It shows the grain of the 

 vegetable matter plainly and pieces of it resemble charcoal made 

 from soft wood, such as pine ; and if scraped and a match put to it, 

 it burns like charcoal, and without smoke or smell. I have examined 

 lots of this coal hoping to find traces of ferns but can find only their 

 stalks and stems, although I have found pieces of resin as big as a 

 pea, which if put on a hot stove give out a very pleasant smell some- 

 what resembling ordinary resin. 



Before closing the geological part of the paper, I must say a 

 word about the far-famed Winnipeg mud. No wonder it has a 

 name ! Winnipeg is situated on a low piece of country, but well 

 drained by the rivers. The soil is known as Gumbo, and contains 

 alkali. In all parts of the country where they have a clay surface 

 soil they have an occasional piece of Gumbo from a few feet in 

 diameter up to several acres : when it is dry it is too hard to put a 

 plow in, when wet it somewhat resembles glue, but is as slippery as 

 soft soap. Trtie Winnipeg people say they can tell a stranger in the 



