226 



TORONTO HARBOUR— ITS FORMATION AND PRESERVATION. 



fl854 



of several small streams discharging into tlie lake east of Ash- 

 bridge's Bay, it is found that, whatever be their general direc- 

 tion inland, so soon as they intersect the sand beach, their course 

 is westward. In most cases they run parallel to the shore, 

 separated from it by a small ridge of sand, and ultimately dis- 

 charge into the Lake some distance west from the point where 

 they leave the woods. 



We have also palpable and positive proof of the westward 

 motion of the beach in the extension of the Peninsula itself in 

 that direction. Joseph Bouchette, late Surveyor-General of the 

 Province, made a survey of Toronto Harbour in 1796, a reduced 

 plan of which was published in 1815 along with his work on 

 Canada. At the date of the survey, that part of the Peninsula 

 on which the light-house is erected was then the margin of the 

 lake. Since that time, one sand ridge after another has been 

 washed up, unlil now, after a lapse of only fifty -four years, a 

 tract measuring upwards of thirty acres has been added, and 

 the Lake is now distant from the light-house about eighteen 

 chains. 



The general appearance of this recent addition to the Penin- 

 sula resembles so close!}' other older portions, and its geological 

 character is so clearly identical not only with the adjacent parts, 

 but also with the whole formation, that we may very properly 

 infer they are each and all produced by the same causes. 

 Admitting, then — and it is indisputable — that this enlargement 

 of the light-house point is due to the progressive motion of the 

 beach sand through the mechanical agency of the waves from 

 the eastward, we come to the conclusion that the whole Penin- 

 sula is the result of the same action, continued through past ages, 

 and traceable to the same eastward source. 



Arrived at this conclusion, we are now naturally led to enquire 

 whence has the abundant supply of material for so extensive a 

 deposit been obtained. About five miles east of Toronto, a high 

 bluff, known as the Scarboro' Heights, stretches along the shore 

 for several miles. The bluff is about three hundred feet high, 

 and is chiefly composed of sand, with at intervals a stratum of 

 clay. It is known by the farmers residing in the neighbourhood to 

 recede ten or twelve feet annually at the present day. Farther 

 eastward, the coast has a low aspect, and is of a soil capable of 

 providing but little of the substances of which sand and gravel 

 beaches are composed. Moreover, by contouring the country 

 bordering on this high cliff, it is found that the lines betoken a 

 former great projection lakeward, of which Fig. 9 (see plates) 

 is an ideal outline, and Fig. 16 a sectional sketch on the line 

 K L, at right angles to the shore. For these reasons, then, we are 

 induced to fix upon this point as the locality from whence has 

 been drifted the materials forming the deposit in question. 



Founded on demonstrative and probable evidence, here in 

 part set forth, I will now venture to lay before you what I 

 believe to be a correct theory of the gradual formation of that 

 singular deposit which has provided for Toronto so good a 

 harbour. 



On the subsidence of Lake Ontario from a high to its present 

 level, the land fell in easy slopes to the water's edge, and the 

 gradual, descending surface-lines were continued outward under 

 water: the abrupt terminations of the land along the boundary 

 of the lake having been formed by its encroachments through a 

 long course of ages, the promontories which formerly projected 

 have been rounded off by the destructive influence of the ele- 

 ments. The sand and clay of which they consisted, and which 

 lay between the ancient and present margins of the water, hav- 

 ing been removed to other parts, the clay carried out and strati- 



fied at the bottom of the lake, and the Band formed into new 

 deposits, kindred to the one under discussion. 



Referring to Fig. 16, we have an illustration of this as applied 

 to the Scarboro' Heights. K represents the present position of 

 the cliff, and L the supposed former shore of the lake, the point 

 of land extending from K to L, Fig. 9, having been removed by 

 the waves. 



Figs. 9, 10,11, 12, and 13 are sketches of the deposit at several 

 periods prior to and during its formation. The first shows the sup- 

 posed original outline of the lake immediately after its subsidence, 

 prior to any encroachments or changes of the shore line; the 

 second, a small spit running westerly from the Scarboro' pro- 

 montory ; the third and fourth, farther extensions of this spit, 

 and wearing away of the promontory. At this period (Fig. 12) 

 the River Don has brought down a large quantity of drift from 

 its valley, as explained in the first part of this paper, and the 

 lake deposit is now going on over the shoal water. Only a 

 small portion of the spit thrown up at this period now exists, 

 the remainder having been encroached on and moved westerly 

 as the heights at Scarboro' receded. The portion referred to is 

 a narrow ridge running landward to the west of the Don. It 

 may now be seen stretching from near the wind-mill outward, 

 and separating the marsh from the harbour. 



Fig. 13 shows still farther encroachments on the land at 

 Scarboro', the almost entire removal of the spit shown by Fig. 

 12, and the advancement of the Peninsula westward. 



Fig. 14 represents the present state of the deposit The dot- 

 ted lines are contours (explained on the plate) showing the rapid 

 progress of the shoal landward at the western boundary of the 

 Harbour. Its edge between the point of the Peninsula abovo 

 water, and the mainland, at the Q.ueen's Wharf, may be taken at 

 the ten feet water-line, within which it immediately rises, and 

 gives a depth of about four feet only along the eastern side, and 

 from six to thirty inches along its western boundary. 



Figs. 17, 18, 19, and 20 are sections across the Harbour and 

 Peninsula, on the lines G H, E F, C D, and A B, drawn on 

 Fig. 14. These show clearly, without unnecessary explanation, 

 the nature and limits of the deposit. Fig. 20 runs from the 

 foot of George Street southerly, through that point of the Nar- 

 row^ proposed for the eastern entrance to the harbour, hereafter 

 mentioned; Fig. 19 on a line parallel to the first, from the Par- 

 liament Buildings southerly; Fig. 18 from near the Queen's 

 Wharf directly across the shoal at the entrance: this, as well 

 as the last, cuts several of the many ridges of sand, with long 

 narrow ponds between, by which the upper surface of the forma- 

 tion is characterized. Fig. 1/ runs from the old French fort 

 parallel to the other sections, intersecting no portion of the 

 deposit, but passing very close to its western limit at the Light- 

 house point, in sixty feet water. The depth of water, increasing 

 as the deposit was extended westerly, accounts very satisfactorily 

 for its spreading so much towards the north. Although an equal 

 amount of sand ma}' annually have been brought forward, yet, 

 as the deposit was forced out into increasing depths of water, this 

 rate of extension westerly would in proportion be diminished, thus 

 allowing the southerly waves more and more time to act in moving 

 the deposit towards the north. 



In the manner above explained, it is argued that the Penin- 

 sula has been formed, is still undergoing great changes, and is 

 even now receiving large annual additions from the same 

 source. It seems, too, from what will short!}' be laid before you, 

 that the same natural agents which have raised up a breakwater, 

 and formed one of the most capacious harbours on the Lake, are 



