100 Part II. Chapter ı. 
are here turned up on their edges and folded. The range is 60 miles (97 km) 
wide, with an average height of 8000 feet (2450 m). Several peaks reach 
10,000 feet (3050 m). Mount Murchison and Mount Hooker are 13,500 feet 
(4100 m) and Mount Brown is 16,000 feet (4880 m). 
West of the Rocky Mountains proper, but physiographically in the above 
description included with them, and of much earlier geologic age, are three 
ranges of mountains. These ranges rise from narrow valleys. They are com- 
posed of crystalline, granites, schists and gneisses. Commencing at the east, 
they are denominated — the Purcell, the Selkirk and the Gold ranges. 
They probably do not rise much above 10,000 feet (3050 m). Mount Sir Donald 
for example is 10,645 feet (3236 m), Mount MacDonald 9440 feet (2870 m) 
and Mount Tupper 9030 feet (2745 m), all in the central Selkirk range. The 
Columbia River flows around the Selkirk range. Flowing from the Columbia 
lakes, it runs north along the eastern base of the Selkirks, where it bends 
around the head of the range in a sudden curve and flows in a diametrically 
opposite direction south between the Selkirk and Gold ranges. These ranges 
are more rounded than the Rockies, and the upheaval is more confused. The 
Selkirk range is about 8o miles (29 km) wide and enormous glaciers fill the 
upper valleys, reminding one of the mountains of Switzerland. West of the 
Gold range, the interior plateau, 100 miles (161 km) wide, intervenes and is 
bounded on the west by the Cascade range, an old system consisting of 
granite, gneiss and schists. 
The river systems of British Columbia may be described under two heads. 
The Fraser River is the chief one, 740 miles (119ı km) long. It reaches 
out in all directions and accentuates all the peculiar twists and turns of the 
river systems of the region. It flows at first northwest, then south, until at 
Hope, it bends abruptly west after a turbulent rapid course through the eastern 
mountains; when at last, it bursts its way through the Cascade range by the 
stupendous canons, which bear its name. Secondly, the Columbia River 
and its chief tributary the Kootenay perform their eccentric evolutions in the 
south-east corner of the province. 
British Columbia in addition to its system of mountains has one of the 
most remarkable sea coasts in the world, abounding in harbors and bordered 
by an archipelago of island. Vancouver Island is the largest of these. It 
is 285 miles (459 km) long and 40 to 80 miles (64—ı29 km) wide and possesses 
a mountain range, which as a backbone, runs its entire length. North of 
Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands are found. The Strait of = 
Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia are inland extensions of the Pacific 
Ocean of great importance in the future development of the country. 
The Eastern Lakes and St. Lawrence. The drainage system of the St. 
Lawrence River also comprises that of the Great lakes and is unique among 
the river systems of the world. The river and its tributaries are drowned at 
the mouths, so that the salt water of the ocean enters to form the broad Bay 
of St. Lawrence with its irregular margin. The water area narrows as Me 
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