142 HOXET31AX — 0:s' PrcE-CARBO>JlF5EOUS ROCKS Or PICToU. 



age. Oil referring to Mi*. Hartley's 'eport, T Tound thai the lime- 

 stone of thi^, qivdrcy vvas iacJudeci among the pre-carboniferous 

 rocks. I viyited the locality and examined the rocks. Through 

 the kindness of Mr. Dunn, of the D-'umraond Colliery, I was taken 

 hy railway fo the point where ihe line cuts Waters' Hill. Here*^ 

 found Lower Carboniferous gj'its underlaid b}^ olive coloured slates 

 and banded qoartzites. The hit are also os^erlaid b;^ conglome- 

 rate. The slaves and c; tiartzites exactly resemble the rocks of the 

 west ?ide of anticlinal No. 2, as seen in the brook that proceeds 

 from Blanchard's to East Branch, East River, or the ( Jlinton strata 

 that contain the new bed of Blanchard, which are continued on the 

 west side of Eraser's Afo lid tain, wdiose counterpart are ihe strata 

 which are continued at McLellan's l^Iountain, Sir W. Logan's 

 Devonian rocks. This is ceilainly striking, and show^s that Sir W. 

 Lo^an Avas ria:ht in his comoarison, althouo-h he was somewhat 

 astray in his conclusion. 



I am not aware of the consideration which induced Dr. Dawson 

 to express die opinion that the rocks of Waters' Hill are probably 

 of Devonian age, in preference to the opinion that they are probably 

 of Silurian age. I Vv^ouid now, then, in consideration of 

 the absence of the Devonian in the extensive and well developed 

 resrion to the east of the Coal Eield, and the obvious litholoo^ical 

 resemblance existino; betvv-een the rocks of the Middle Silurian series 

 of anticlinal No. 2, infer the Middle Silurian age of the pre-car- 

 boniferous rocks of Waters' Hill . Lithological , stratigraphical and 

 palasontologica] evidence, evidently favour this conclusion. Having 

 examined ihis interesting section of middle silurian rocks, I went 

 in search of the Limestone quarry. Instead of the top of the hill I 

 found it near the bottom. I had not die least difficulty in ascertain- 

 ing the geological relation and age of the Limestone. It is 

 evidently a metamorphosed Low^er Carboniferous Limestone, much 

 contorted with a beautiful manganese florescence, or flowers, as they 

 are styled by the quarry men, i-esting directly and unconformably on 

 the Middle Silurian slates. 



The strata at East River, which have been indicated as resem- 

 bling the rocks of the section, are also overlaid directly and 

 unconformably by Lower Carboniferous Limestone with associated 



