1855.] ISBISTER — NORTH AMERICA, ETC. 513 



Formations similar to that found on Mackenzie River extend south- 

 ward along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, as far as the 

 Saskatchewan River. Sir John Richardson gives a detailed account 

 of the various localities between these two points in which beds of 

 coal have been exposed, — all pointing to the existence of a vast coal- 

 field, skirting the base of the Rocky Mountains for a very great ex- 

 tent, and continued probably far into the Arctic Sea, where, as is 

 well known, hgnite, apparently of a similar character, has recently 

 been discovered by Captain M'^Clure in the same general line with the 

 localities above mentioned * . In the coal of Jameson Land, lying in 

 north latitude 71° (on the east side of Greenland), and in that of Mel- 

 ville Island, in latitude 75° north, Professor Jameson found plants 

 resembling those of the coal-measures of Britain ; and similar re- 

 mains have been more recently discovered by Mr. Dana in the coal- 

 fields of Oregon and Vancouver's Island. These facts are sufficient 

 of themselves, as is remarked by Sir John Richardson, to raise a 

 world of conjecture respecting the condition of the earth when these 

 ancient fossils were living plants. If the great coal-measures, con- 

 taining similar vegetable forms, were deposited at the same epoch in 

 distant localities, there must have existed when that deposition took 



a pure stone which had once been a log of wood about 6 feet in length and 4 or 5 

 in girth, the resemblance being so complete as even to deceive the eye." 



Sir Alexander M'^Kenzie traced the same formation along the upper parts of the 

 Peace River ; and it has been found by the traders of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 at several intermediate points along the same general line ; leading to the conclu- 

 sion that the formation in question is continuous and uninterrupted. 



* Similar deposits to those discovered by Capt. M'^Clure have been found in 

 the New Siberian Islands, and are thus described in Wrangell's Polar Voyages : — 

 *' Of these [speaking of the deposits of fossil wood in the New Siberian Islands] 

 Hedenstrom observes in another place, * On the southern coast of New Siberia 

 are found the remarkable Wood Hills. They are 30 fathoms high, and consist of 

 horizontal strata of sandstone, alternating with strata of bituminous beams or 

 trunks of trees. On ascending these hills, fossilized charcoal is everywhere met 

 with, covered apparently with ashes ; but, on closer examination, this ash is also 

 found to be a petrifaction, and so hard that it can scarcely be scraped off with a 

 knife. On the summit another curiosity is found, viz. a long row of beams, re- 

 sembling the former, but fixed perpendicularly in the sandstone. The ends, which 

 project from 7 to 10 inches, are for the greater part broken. The whole has the 

 appearance of a ruinous dyke.' Lieut, Anjou, who likewise examined these 

 Wood Hills, says, ' They are merely a steep declivity, 20 fathoms high, extending 

 about five wersts along the coast. In this bank, which is exposed to the sea, 

 beams or trunks of trees are found, generally in an horizontal ])Osition, but with 

 great iiTcgularity, fifty or more of them together, — the largest being about 10 

 inches in diameter. The wood is not very hard, is friable, has a black colour and 

 a sUght gloss. When laid on the fire, it does not burn \\dth a flame, but glim- 

 mers, and emits a resinous odour.' " — (Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar 

 Sea, by Admiral F. von Wrangell, of the Russian Imperial Navy, in 1820-23. 

 (Edited by E. Sabine) Introd. p. cxviii.) 



The ** charcoal " and " ashes " are no doubt the result of the spontaneous com- 

 bustion of the lignite, as is the case with the lignite deposits at Bear Lake and 

 other parts of the Hudson's Bay Territories, where they take fire on being exposed 

 to the air, and have been observed burning for the last hundred years. The 

 Wood Hills in the New Siberian Islands are in the same general line with the 

 lignite extending along the Rocky Mountains, and with the wood deposits dis- 

 covered by Capt. M'^Clure. 



