328 Canadian Record of Science. 



How such a mass of different materials became collected 

 together, whether it is in the nature of a Moraine forma- 

 tion or fragments carried by fields of ice from different 

 localities and deposited in an eddy of the glacial sea of 

 some possible Silurian Ice Age, is a question of the great- 

 est difficulty, and perhaps somewhat beyond the scope of 

 the present enquiry ; but as it is the opinion of some 

 observers that the dolomite paste which binds the con- 

 glomerate together contains volcanic ash, if this view is 

 correct, it is not impossible that there may have been at 

 this point something more of volcanic activity than on the 

 mountain itself, which, at the time the conglomerate was 

 deposited, was, as the land subsided, a small island, then 

 completely covered with water, and afterwards, doubtless 

 during the Pleistocene period, worn down to its present 

 height by the great icefields floating on the surface of 

 the glacial ocean. Then, as the elevation of the land con- 

 tinued, at the close of this period it would again become 

 an island, its cliffs broken and worn by the waves, which 

 piled up beaches of pebble and shingle around its sides 

 until at length the land arose above the water, and the 

 mountain stood out, presenting much the same appearance 

 as it does at the present time. 



Such in outline is the possible history of Mount Eoyal, 

 if this view is well founded ; but while the weight of evi- 

 dence appears to support it, the fact must always remain 

 that, with our limited information, the opposite view, 

 which holds that the mountain has at some period been 

 an active volcano, may be the true one. 



There may, however, be in the former opinion some- 

 thing reassuring to timid citizens, who ai'e perhaps dis- 

 turbed by the ancient prophecy which declared that the 

 old volcano would yet awaken from its sleep and destroy 

 the city, since, if it never has been an active volcano, 

 there should be less probability of its becoming one in the 

 future. 



