APPENDIX. 



NOTE A. 

 The materials of which the Peninsula beach consist are derived al- 

 most altogether from the drift clay and sand of the Tertiary epoch. 

 Precisely the same materials, as regards their mineralogical character, 

 are found to compose a very large portion of the Scarboro' cliffs. The 

 materials consist of — 



1st. Very coarse quartz sand. 



2nd. Red Felspar. 



3rd. Black magnetic oxide of iron. 



4th. Comminuted calcareous shale, derived from the breaking up of 



larger fragments found in the blue clay. 

 5th. Pebbles of quartz, syenite and various other kinds of granite, 

 such as are found in abundance in the drift sand and clay of 

 the Scarboro' cliffs. 

 6th. Water-worn and rounded fragments of shale, containing fossils 

 belonging to the Hudson River Group ; some Of these fragments 

 are four and five inches in diameter, and one inch thick. 

 The shale and pebbles constitute a very considerable proportion of 

 the materials composing the Peninsula and are found in abundance at 

 Lighthouse Point. They must have come from the East and 'travelled' 

 along the beach. The specific gravities of some of the sand materials 

 are given below, the figures will probably be conclusive as to the possi- 

 bility of such heavy substances, and of a magnitude which may well 

 confer on them the appellation of 'very coarse sand,' being transported 

 from the zvest, in the absence of powerful currents to propel them 

 through water from 30 to 90 feet deep. (Between the Humber bay and 

 the west frontier of the Peninsula : — ) 



Gneiss , 2.72 



Syenite 2.74 



Granite from 2.62 to 2.74 



&c. &c. 



Out of 40 kinds of rocks mentioned by Sir Henry de la Beche in his 

 "Researches in Theoretical Geology," only four have a specific gravity 

 less than 2.50, or two and a half times heavier than water. 



The fossils of the Lower Silurian rock found on the Peninsula are 



derived from the drift clay which reposes immediately above the rock 



itself. They may be seen, in situ, in very many situations near Toronto. 



Ice cannot have transported the Peninsula materials from the west, 



for then we should find boulders, of which none are to be seen. 



But one rational conclusion remains, which is that they have come 

 from the east. 



NOTE B. 

 The late Mr. Roy, C.E., of Toronto, paid considerable attcntton to 

 the phenomena of Toronto Harbour. He describes it as follows : "The 

 Harbour of Toronto is about 2f miles in length from the Government 

 Wharf to the Peninsula Hotel, and about 1 J miles in breadth from the 

 end of Church Street to the southern Peninsula. The water deepens 

 gradually from the North Shore. At the distance of 1000 feet from 

 t he shore it is about 15 feet deep, and at the distance of about half a 

 m ile from the shore it is 30 feet deep; further out it deepens to 33 

 fe et, and continues to maintain these depths for about a mile further, 

 w hen as we approach to the southern Peninsula, the depth suddenly 

 j eclines from twenty-eight and thirty feet water to five, six, and seven 

 f eet water. The greatest depth at the entrance is 14 J feet, and the 

 width of deep water from the Government Wharf to the buoy is about 

 800 feet." This was published in the Monthly Review, June, 1841. 



NOTE C. 

 The writer would respectfully suggest to the Harbour Commissioners 

 the propriety of a personal inspection of the Scarboro' coast from 

 the east corner of Ashbridge's Bay to Gates' Farm. The wild and ro- 

 mantic beauty of the scenery will well repay the fatigue of the trip. 

 It must be accomplished on foot, and in order to obtain a clear insight 

 into the phenomena of the coast as connected with the formation of 

 Toronto Harbour it must be commenced at the east end of Ashbridge's 

 Bay. 



The points to which the writer would respectfully direct attention are, 



1st. The nature of the beach at Ashbridge's Bay, and in many instances 

 the very regular attitude assumed by the shingle under the influence of 

 the late easterly gales. That attitude consists in the inclination of 

 each piece of shingle with respect to its neighbour, the one to the east 

 reposes as it were on the one to the west of it, and so on, as exhibited 

 in the diagram. In several instances the writer lately observed this 

 arrangement, evidently made under the influence of easterly breaking 

 waves. 



2nd. Attention is called to a remarkable remnant of an ancient beach, 

 about a mile east of Ashbridge's Bay. A fence of a cleared field is in 

 one part placed upon it. Trees of considerable growth are still re- 

 maining on it, showing its antiquity. The beach or spit has the form in- 

 dicated in the diagram. 



3rd. Natural groynes of fallen timber occur in this locality and 

 afford a good idea of the extent to which the fallen timber may pro- 

 tect the cliffs. 



4th. The configuration of the coast is especially to be noticed where 

 the first or lowest terrace approaches the Lake. It will be seen that 

 this terrace, especially when fringed with the tall pines which once 

 covered it, would serve all the purposes of a vast protecting headland ■ 

 from north-easterly and easterly gales, to the present Ashbridge's Baj', 

 and, in the writer's opinion, the first origin of the peninsula was due to 

 this protecting headland. 



5th. The enormous gullies are to be particularly noticed, their 

 recent formation, the unstable nature of the materials of which the 

 cliffs are composed, and the certainty of an immensely rapid yearly 

 increase in the quantity of material precipitated into the Lake by the 

 falling of the sides of the gullies. 



6th, The identity of the mineralogical character which exists be- 

 tween the sand of the cliffs, the beach sand, and the sand of the 

 peninsula. 



7th. The influence of the total destruction of protecting forest 

 growth on the rapid formation of gullies. 



Other subjects worthy of note are embodied in the accompanying 

 Report, and do not require to be noticed here. 



NOTE D. 



" From the experiments made by the Committee appointed by the 

 British Association, in 1836, it was found that with a depth of water 

 equal to twelve feet, waves nine inches high, and four or five feet 

 long, did not sensibly affect the water at the bottom. Waves from 

 30 to 40 feet long, oscillating at intervals of six or eight seconds, pro- 

 duced some effect, but much less than near the surface." — (See Article 

 Waves, in the Penny Cyclopedia, vol. 27). 



" The agitation of the sea is felt at different depths, in proportion 

 to the magnitude of the waves raised by the friction of the wind. 

 During heavy gales of wind, the depth at which this agitation has 

 been observed, sufficient as it was to shake up fine sediment enough to 

 discolour the water, is about 90 feet." — Geological Observer, page 112, 



"The depths at which the disturbing action of a sea wave can bo 

 felt has been estimated even so high as 500 feet on the Banks of New- 

 foundland." — Envy. Movement des Ondcs. Quoted by Sir If. de La 

 Beche. 



The writer is persuaded that the long waves of Lake Ontario, formed 

 by the friction of the wind on an expanse of water equal to 180 miles, 

 are sufficient to move sand at a depth of fifteen feet, especially on a 

 shoaling coast. The construction of groynes on a shoaling sand beach 

 is open to the objection that the proyne itself may occasion such a 

 reflex action of the waves as to bring sand from depths where it is 

 affected into deeper water, thus producing secondary shoals. 



NOTE E. 



The writer does not advance this statement as founded upon indis- 

 putable authority. He has heard it stated by persons employed in 

 collecting stone and wood from the Scarboro' coast, that blue clay is 

 found in ten or twelve feet water, outside Ashbridge's Bay, and affords 

 good anchorage ground. On questioning the fishermen in that locality, 



