202 PKOCEEDINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Nov. 2. 



at Nanaimo, so that in this locality there is no sure evidence on 

 which to base such an opinion. 



The stratification of the tertiary rocks is very regular : the strike 

 of the beds follows the general direction of the coast of Vancouver 

 Island, from N.W. to S.E. The sections on the western side of the 

 island show steep cliffs, from 150 to 200 feet high, — the regularity 

 of the planes of deposition presenting the appearance of walls of 

 Cyclopean masonry. On the eastern side the beds slope down to 

 the water with a N. to N.E. dip of 10° to 25°. The total thickness 

 of the exposed sections is from 1500 to 2000 feet. 



At Bellingham Bay, within the American Territory of Washington, 

 similar coal-bearing sandstones occur, and have been described by 

 Mr. Gibbs (Pacific Bailway Beports, vol. i. pp. 472, 473). The 

 eastern extension of these beds, north of the parallel of 49°, I hope 

 to be enabled to examine during the ensuing season. 



4. Pleistocene Deposits. — The Drift and Boulder-clay are ex- 

 tensively developed over the southern part of Vancouver Island 

 and the opposite coasts of Washington Territory and British Co- 

 lumbia. In the neighbourhood of Esquimalt and Victoria the rocks 

 are deeply scratched and grooved along the shore, and large boul- 

 ders are scattered irregularly over the surface of the country. 

 Blocks of a white syenitic granite are the largest and most numerous ; 

 angular masses, from 60 to 100 tons in weight, are of common 

 occurrence. The other rocks observed as erratics are a black cherty 

 conglomerate, similar to that described as underlying the tertiaries ; 

 dark laminated mica-slate, with well-defined garnet-crystals; horn- 

 blende-rock and largely crystalline greenstone, and, rarely and in 

 small masses, vesicular obsidian and pitch-stone. 



The following section exhibits the general character of the drift 

 at Esquimalt Harbour : — 



Black sandy and peaty ground, with broken shells 2 to 6 feet. 



Yellowish sandy clay, with casts of shells ( Cardium 1 „ , Sf , 



and My a) and a few pebbles and boulders J o ee . 



Gravel of scratched pebbles, resting on rock 2 to 3 feet. 



The rocks are grooved and scratched at the junction ; the direc- 

 tion of the glacial markings is between N.-S. and N.rT.W.-S.S.E. 

 In a well-sinking at Esquimalt Barracks, the lower gravel was 

 reached at forty-two feet, after going through a sandy blue clay 

 without shells or boulders. The section in the cliff between Albert 

 Head and Esquimalt is as follows : — 



Blue drift-clay, with boulders ; junction with rock \ na f . 



not seen , j- /u leet. 



Fine sand and gravel, passing upwards into coarse | im , 1 9n f t 



quartzose gravel J ee ' 



The results of the observations given above show the extension of 

 the lignite-bearing tertiaries to Vancouver Island, and the existence 

 of a system of cretaceous deposits underlying them ; but the problem 

 of determining the relations of the latter rocks to the underlying 

 strata will probably remain unsolved for a considerable length of time, 

 owing to the inaccessible nature of the interior of the island. 



