NOTES ON MINERAL FUELS OK CANADA. — ELLS. 67 



Oil the PjK'itic coast 'the coal-lx'ariiig roeks again change 

 theircbaraeter and beloug to the Cretaceous series. Here, as 

 at \'ancouver ishind, are the large mines of Wellington, 

 Xanaimo, Coinox, and Ladysmith, in which area large seams 

 occur, some of which, as in the Wellington district, have been 

 worked exte'asively for nearly forty years. These not only sup- 

 ph' the fuels for the Pacific division of British Columbia, but 

 are shipped very largely to the cities on the American coast, as 

 far south as San Francisco. These coals are of the bitundnous 

 variety, generally of excellent quality, and well adapted for 

 coking. Further north, gn Graham island, of the Queen Char- 

 lotte group, both the anthracite, bituminous and lignite varieties 

 are found. The former, althougli exploited at intervals, for 

 nearly forty years, lias never been found sufficiently firm to be 

 mined at a profit. The alteration at this place from the lignite 

 or bituminous coal has evidently been due to heat induced by 

 pressure of the beds against the igneous rocks which forni high 

 mountains to the west, whereby the rocks and contained coals 

 have been crushed, while dikes of newer rocks have also pene- 

 trated the series. Smaller deposits of anthracite have been found 

 in the coal basin of the interior, occurring under like conditions. 



In this interior basin of Graham ishind, however, large 

 dejwsits of high grade bituminous coal occur which outcro]) at 

 several places in beds of great thickness. This part of the 

 island gives promise when opened up, of becoming one of the 

 most important coal fields of the Pacific slope. The .containing 

 rocks of both the bituminous and anthracite varieties, are of 

 (Cetaceous age, while the eastern part of the island is occupied 

 by Tertiary rocks, in which ar(^ found seams of lignite of good 

 thickness. 



Still further north, in the Yukon district, large deposits of 

 lignite have been found along the Klondike and several other 

 .streams. These have been mined to a small ext(Mit locally, and 

 will, doubtless, become important as the countrv is opened up. 



