﻿1381.] 



HECTOR ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 



43 



iron ; but in summer there is said to be an abundant deposit of pure 

 white salt. 



North of Salt Spring- Island the strata preserve the same strike 

 and general appearance all the way to Nanaimo, the island forming- 

 long spits of sandstone and conglomerate with precipitous shores to 

 the west. Just below the "rapids" the shales were again noticed, 

 resting on the sandstone, and both dipping to the west. At very low 

 tide a thick seam of lignite is exposed at this point and on the island 

 opposite, and to the east I found a thin seam in the sandstones. At 

 Nanaimo the sandstone country occupies a broader belt along the 

 shore of Vancouver Island than further to the south, but immediately 

 to the north the strike changes to nearly east and west on Newcastle 

 Island ; and on Fossil Point the lowest beds were seen to rest on igne- 

 ous rocks, which continued to occupy the coast for the few miles I 

 went further to the north. At the head of the Gulf of Georgia, the 

 sandstones again form the islands that crowd the narrow channel 

 that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland, and also a 

 great extent of both shores. From Comux and Valdez Inlet, which 

 are situated in this locality, some of the fossils which I have were 

 procured by Mr. McKay, of the Hudson Bay Company. Also at the 

 extreme north end of the island, at Fort Rupert, Mr. Lord, of the 

 Boundary-commission, observed the sandstones and thick beds of 

 lignite dipping out to sea. 



At many points along tbe eastern shore of the Gulf of Georgia, 

 these strata have been detected with the associated lignite-beds. 

 North of Howe's Sound the mountains closely hug the sea-coast, but 

 south of that they retire along the north shore of Burrard's Inlet to 

 the south-east, so as to be sixty miles inland where the boundary-line 

 meets them ; thus leaving a very heavily timbered track, which forms 

 the only level country in British Columbia west of the Cascade Range. 

 Most of this district is covered by shingle-terraces and other super- 

 ficial deposits which obscure the underlying strata, but from Burrard's 

 Inlet, eight miles north of the entrance to Fraser River, coal and 

 sandstones containing fossil leaves have been sent home by H. M. S. 

 " Plumper." Also on Fraser River near Fort Langley, and on its 

 tributary Pitt River, the coal has been observed, and then again at 

 Bellingham Bay, south of the boundary-line ; so that it is probable 

 that these strata underlie the greater part of this region. 



Details of the Strata at Nanaimo. — In the section, fig. 3, 

 Plate XIII., I have represented the whole beds observed at 

 Nanaimo in their probable order, but I did not see any one section 

 giving the complete sequence expressed in it. Starting from Fossil 

 Point, north of Departure Bay, we have the high promontory Ibrmed 

 of trap, resting on which are beds of greenstone-conglomerate, con- 

 sisting of spherical masses of greenstone, cemented by a felspathic 

 matrix. Over this is a tufaceous bed (with imperfectly formed 

 crystals), 5 to 6 feet in thickness, partly fused and often pierced by the 

 trap from below. Then follows a very tough green sandstone quite 

 filled with shells, for many of the specimens of which I am indebted 

 to Mr. McKay. 



2 g 2 



