﻿1861.] 



HECTOR KOCKT MOUNTAINS, ETC. 



395 



creeks, very little can be learnt of its nature at different points, as 

 slides in the banks of the gulleys are rarely seen. At Fort Ellice 

 the valley of the Assineboine is 240 feet deep, and about 100 feet of 

 that is composed of this drift-deposit resting on the Cretaceous beds. 

 In the Qu'appelle Yalley, near the Mission, a slide exposed the 

 deposits beneath the plane to the depth of 250 feet, showing it to be 

 composed of stiff sandy clay of light- red colour, with patches of blue 

 clay and gravelly beds. On the whole, the character of this level, 

 as far as regards its mineral composition, is variable and local. 

 Boulders are tolerably plentiful all over its surface, but occur in 

 greatest quantity on the sides and summits of ridges and mounds, 

 which rise in groups to the height of from 50 to 80 feet. Im- 

 mense outliers of a still higher level occur, attesting the immense 

 denudation which has taken place ; these generally rise from 1400 

 to 1600 feet above the sea, which latter is the height of this level 

 at the base of the Grand Coteau, Eagle Hills, and Thickwoocl Hills, 

 all of which form the eastern limit of the next great steppe. (8ee 

 fig. 1.) 



Fig. 1. — Section 16 miles above the Elbow of the South Saskatchewan, 

 showing the junction of the Drift and the Cretaceous clays at the 

 base of the Third Prairie-level. 



a. Drift. b. Septaria-clays (Upper Cretaceous). 



These outlying patches occur along two lines parallel to the general 

 contour of Lake Winnipeg and that of the next higher level to the west, 

 and were doubtless continuous ridges until cut through by the dif- 

 ferent river- valleys. Thus overhanging the lakes, we have the Pas, 

 Porcupine, Duck, and Biding Mounts ; and to the west, a line of which 

 the Touchwood Hills, Moose and Turtle Mountains form the prin- 

 cipal points. These have all a common character, rising gently to 

 an ill-defined table-land from the west ; while their eastern aspect 

 is extremely rugged, presenting irregularly deposed ridges of coarse 

 sandy drift highly charged with boulders. This steep escarpment 

 is generaUy densely wooded, and encloses numbers of small lakes. 



The eastern limit of the Third great Prairie-level is met with at 

 the Grand Coteau, Eagle Hills, and Thickwood Hills, and is only cut 

 through by the channels of the north and south branches of the 

 Saskatchewan ; while all the other rivers of the eastern plains, such 

 as the Souri, Assineboine, Qu'appelle, &c, have their sources short of 

 it. I have stated the prairie at the base of this third level to have 

 an elevation of 1600 feet above the sea, and a depression of the 

 continent to this extent would be sufficient to submerge the eastern 

 Laurentine axis between Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay, or at 

 least to convert it into a mere chain of islands. The eastern coast- 



