106 



TORONTO HARBOUR. 



dated 1835, gives it as Ills opinion that the Peninsula " was one 

 of the many ridges deposited at the bottom of a vast lake which 

 existed before the present Ontario and Erie were formed out of 

 its drainage," and " that it had not materially altered for a vast 

 length of time, probably not since it emerged from the waters." 



It may be thought presumptuous in me to present anything 

 in opposition to the judgment of that respected and eminent 

 gentleman; but from careful observations and measurements, and 

 a comparison of these with surveys made at different times by 

 others during the last half century, having found that the de- 

 posit both above and under water has received additions so 

 extensive, and which so closely resemble in character its older 

 portions, I may be permitted to suggest, instead of the Pen- 

 insula being a. sedimentary depos ; tion of the tertiary periods, 

 as thought by Sir R. Bonnycastle, that the whole of it belongs 

 to the present era, and that at least one of the agents of its for- 

 mation, is at this day as actively engaged in changing and 

 enlarging the outline of the deposit in question, as it has been 

 hitherto in gathering together the materials, and modelling them 

 into its present shape. 



I shall first endeavour to show- that the inferior portion or base 

 of the Peninsula has been washed from the valley of the Don by 

 that river at an early date; second, that the materials composing 

 the superior and more recently formed portions have been gradu- 

 ally transported along the shore from the eastward, and that this 

 westward progressive motion of the sand and gravel beach is now 

 the sole cause of the extension and enlargement of the Peninsula, 

 and of the danger at present threatening the entrance of the 

 Harbour. 



First — That the groundwork of the Peninsula enclosing the 

 Harbour is, or has been, a delta of the River Don. 



It is generally believed that at one time Lake Ontario stood 

 at a higher level, and covered a far greater area than it at present 

 occupies. A barrier may have then existed at its outlet, where pro- 

 bably the Thousand Islands are now seen, over the top of which 

 the primaeval St. Lawrence flowed ; this great river, rushing over 

 the barrier with tremendous velocity, would, through course of 

 time, wash away its softer parts, and leave standing those numerous 

 isolated rocks and picturesque islands which now covered with 

 foliage, adorn so mu:h the landscape of that section of the 

 country. If this be not the approved way of accounting for the 

 lowering of the level of the waters, a gradual upheaval of the 

 land generally, or even a subsidence of the ocean may be 

 brought forward ; it is unnecessary for our present purpose how- 

 ever to enter into a geological disquisition on this point, if we 

 .allow that the whole of the country bordering on Lake Ontario 

 ■was at one time submerged under the same extensive sheet of 

 water; and that the level of this great lake, or it may be this arm 

 of the ocean, was through course of time depressed, and its out- 

 hne contracted until it was reduced to the present Ontario.. 

 A supposition so strongly supported by the discovery 

 of several ancient beach lines, terraces and parallel ridges in the 

 vicinity of Toronto and other parts of the country at various but 

 corresponding levels, that it may without much difficulty be 

 admitted. 



As the land gradually emerged its appearance would be bleak 

 in the extreme; a flat or but slightly undulating surface un- 

 broken by rivers or ravines, and uncovered for a length of time 

 with vegetation ; on the ancient shallows of the great lake various 

 kinds of plants would, through course of time, take root, grow 

 up, and w'ther ; the continued reproduction and decay of which 

 would gradually coat the surface with organic matter, and thus 

 enriching the soil, enable it to produce more luxuriant vegetation. 



[1853 



Now, (prior to the settlement of thecountry,) after a lapse of many 

 centuries, we find the great hardwood forest growing over soils 

 of an argillaceous character, and the ancient sand shoals of the 

 great lake clothed with lofty pine. 



We can easily imagine the general character of the present 

 shores of Lake Ontario when they first became dry land — a vast 

 undulating plane ascending as at present from the lake into the 

 interior, but totally devoid of water channels for the surface drain- 

 age — here a bed of clay, — there a tract of sandy soil ; and as 

 it is only reasonable to suppose that rains fell in those days as at 

 present, the water produced by thtm on the surface, in flowing 

 from a higher to a lower level, would most easily wash out chan- 

 nels in the softest material ; and these little streams, collecting 

 togather in their downward course towards the lake, would form 

 the commencement of a river course. 



The newly formed rivers, having the same fall towards the 

 lake as the surface itself, their beds being but slightly under it, 

 ■would be much more rapid than they are now, and rushing 

 down with violence after thaws and heavy rains, would, propor- 

 tionally with their greater rapidity, during the first years of their 

 existence, be more effective in scooping out the sand drift, and 

 transporting it to the Lake; from year to year the water chan- 

 nels would thus grow larger and larger, and although the rivers 

 as they -were depressed, lost much of their force and rapidity, yet 

 continually undermining the banks and transporting the debris 

 downwards, would, through course of ages, form those deep 

 ravines in which many of them now flow. 



That the rivers in this section of the country have originated in 

 this manner, is inferred from the fact, that they are found almost 

 universally to flow in flat-bottomed rallies or ravines, the banks 

 of which are the abrupt terminations of the level country on 

 each side ; and that these ravines are generally found where the 

 drift is of a light and sandy nature. 



The accompanying section across the River Don, taken a little 

 above the Cemetery, will show clearly the first proposition; the 

 second also is established by the well-known character of the soil 

 of which the banks are composed. The surface of the country 

 extends for miles to the right and left of the river without any 

 material change of level, except where broken by a secondary' 

 ravine of a tributary stream. Doubtless, then, the inference is 

 correct as far as regards the Don, and that the dotted line stretch- 

 ing from bank to bank on the drawing, was the surface prior to 

 the scooping out of its channel. 



j . ■■■/ 



§81111111 



Sectiim across the Don about lg miles from Us mouth. 



a. The valley of Ihe Don about | of a mile wide, and upwards of 100 

 feel deep — the river heie is on a level wilh Lake Ontario. 



b. A tributary oftheD.m, running through Yoikville, it is cut obliquely by 

 the section and forms a junction wilh tne Don about £ a mile turtherduwn. 

 The dotted line is about 120 feet higher than the lake, and the surface 



maintains very near.y the same level lor a long distance on either side in a 

 direction parallel to the shore, wilh a gentle, slope at right angles lo it — on 

 pari of this slope the City of Toronto is built. 



Nor is the Don singular in these respects, of all the streams I 

 am acquainted with to the east and west of Toronto, the same 

 scooping out of the ravines can be shown, and generally the same 

 sandy character of the country immediately traversed, as indicated 

 by the dark green belts of pine running into the interior of the 

 country through the hardwood forest which flourishes better on 



