94 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETX^. [Feb. 23, 



I never saw or heard of any fossil remains of animal or vegetable 

 life in the rocks upon which the city of Quebec is placed ; a fact well 

 known as being characteristic of the lower strata of the Hudson River 

 series. The accidental minerals are fine smoke-brown and vitreous 

 rock-crystals, and various common forms of calc-spar and fluor-spar. 

 A bituminous mineral like coal is common, but small in quantity, 

 in fissures and druses ; shining and jet-black in the former situation, 

 brown and powdery in the latter. In the Museum of the Literary 

 and Historical Society of Quebec there is a block of this substance 

 of the rare size of a cubic foot. 



North shore of the St. Lawrence. — I shall now proceed to describe 

 briefly the argillaceous shales and quartzose rocks which form the 

 rest of the Quebec ridge, ending southwesterly at Cap Rouge. See 

 Map, PL VI. 



Its rocks are best seen along the shore of the St. Lawrence ; for 

 its upper surface is almost altogether covered wiXh vegetation and 

 soil. But, whenever rocks do appear, as on the road to Cap Rouge 

 by the Plains of Abraham, or by the upper St. Foi Road, they are 

 mostly red clay-slate, sometimes greenish blue, much weathered, and 

 dipping to the south-east, with moderate deviations ; thus carrying 

 these strata into the river to the north of Quebec. Flexures, both 

 so gentle as to be only wavings, and so minute as to be mere crump- 

 lings, are seen on these roads. 



A little beyond the Quebec Race-course, on the high road by 

 Marchmont, we meet with a patch of the conglomerate soon to be 

 noticed at Lauzon (No. 10 of the list in p. 97). In one of its no- 

 dules of grey limestone I observed a bivalve (Orthisl). It here also 

 contains long strips of clay-slate, placed lengthwise with the strike. 



As may best be seen on the Map, the rocks of the lofty north shore 

 of the St. Lawrence, from Quebec to C. Rouge, consist of frequent 

 alternations of gritty grey sandstone (with occasional Bivalves) and 

 red, brown, and black clay-shales. Near Quebec are intercalated 

 calcareous conglomerates and grey limestones. The strikes and dips 

 are laid down on the Map. 



In proceeding from Quebec to Cap Rouge, along the beach of the 

 St. Lawrence, — always under very lofty banks more or less preci- 

 pitous, — and starting from near Ance des Meres, we find the alumi- 

 nous limestone from thence to a road in Wolfe's Cove (which leads 

 to the Plains of Abraham above) gradually becoming paler, more 

 shaly, and less calcareous ; being at last tt'ue clay-slate. We see in- 

 terleaved (and obscured by talus) grey hmestone and calcareous con- 

 glomerate, very like those near St. Roche, and probably their pro- 

 longations. 



The whole of Wolfe's Cove rests upon this clay-shale, which is in- 

 terspersed with thin bands of sandstone, all dipping south-west at a 

 high angle. 



At Point Pizeau sandstone increases in quantity, but still the 

 greenish shale prevails, and the whole dip is more southerly. 



As we approach the middle of Sillery Cove, the cliffs by degrees 

 consist very much of fine and coarse sandstone, in thick seams parted 



