﻿124 
  PKOCEEDINGS 
  OP 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  [Jan. 
  20, 
  

  

  very 
  coarse 
  gneissoid 
  rock, 
  in 
  which 
  flesh-coloured 
  felspar 
  was 
  the 
  

   prevailing 
  ingredient. 
  

  

  Observers 
  in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Peninsula 
  have 
  recorded 
  

   the 
  vast 
  profusion 
  in 
  which 
  erratics 
  are 
  distributed 
  over 
  its 
  surface. 
  

   There 
  is 
  one 
  observer, 
  however, 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  another 
  branch 
  of 
  

   science, 
  who 
  has 
  left 
  a 
  most 
  interesting 
  record 
  of 
  his 
  journey 
  in 
  the 
  

   Mistassinni 
  country, 
  between 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence, 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Saguenay 
  and 
  Rupert's 
  River, 
  in 
  Hudson's 
  Bay. 
  Andre 
  Michaux, 
  

   the 
  distinguished 
  botanist, 
  traversed 
  the 
  country 
  between 
  the 
  St. 
  

   Lawrence 
  and 
  Hudson's 
  Bay 
  in 
  1792. 
  He 
  passed 
  through 
  Lake 
  

   Mistassinni 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  manuscript 
  notes, 
  which 
  were 
  first 
  printed 
  

   in 
  1861, 
  for 
  private 
  circulation, 
  at 
  Quebec, 
  a 
  brief 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  

   journey 
  is 
  given. 
  " 
  The 
  whole 
  Mistassinni 
  country," 
  says 
  Michaux, 
  

   " 
  is 
  cut 
  up 
  by 
  thousands 
  of 
  lakes, 
  and 
  covered 
  with 
  enormous 
  rocks, 
  

   piled 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  other, 
  which 
  are 
  often 
  carpeted 
  with 
  

   large 
  lichens 
  of 
  a 
  black 
  colour, 
  and 
  which 
  increase 
  the 
  sombre 
  aspect 
  

   of 
  these 
  desert 
  and 
  almost 
  uninhabitable 
  regions. 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  

   spaces 
  between 
  the 
  rocks 
  that 
  one 
  finds 
  a 
  few 
  pines 
  (Firms 
  rupestris), 
  

   which 
  attain 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  three 
  feet 
  ; 
  and 
  even 
  at 
  this 
  small 
  height 
  

   showed 
  signs 
  of 
  decay." 
  

  

  The 
  remarkable 
  absence 
  of 
  erratics 
  in 
  the 
  Moisie, 
  until 
  an 
  altitude 
  

   of 
  about 
  1000 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea 
  is 
  attained, 
  may 
  be 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  

   supposition 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  carried 
  away 
  by 
  icebergs 
  and 
  

   coast-ice 
  during 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  submergence, 
  to 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  about 
  

   1000 
  feet. 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  aware 
  that 
  any 
  traces 
  of 
  marine 
  Shells 
  or 
  

   marine 
  drift 
  have 
  been 
  recognized, 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Peninsula, 
  

   at 
  a 
  greater 
  elevation 
  than 
  1000 
  or 
  1100 
  feet. 
  In 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   St. 
  Lawrence 
  marine 
  drift 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  observed 
  higher 
  than 
  600 
  feet 
  

   above 
  the 
  sea. 
  Glacial 
  stria? 
  were 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  " 
  gneiss-terraces 
  " 
  

   at 
  the 
  " 
  Level 
  Portage," 
  700 
  to 
  1000 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea. 
  The 
  sloping 
  

   sides 
  of 
  these 
  terraces 
  are 
  polished 
  and 
  furrowed 
  by 
  glacial 
  action. 
  

   Grooves 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  deep, 
  and 
  an 
  inch 
  or 
  more 
  broad, 
  go 
  down 
  slope 
  

   and 
  over 
  level 
  continuously. 
  It 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  highest 
  

   terrace 
  here 
  that 
  the 
  first 
  large 
  boulders 
  were 
  observed. 
  

  

  The 
  entire 
  absence 
  of 
  clay, 
  and 
  the 
  extraordinary 
  profusion 
  of 
  both 
  

   worn 
  and 
  rugged 
  masses 
  of 
  rock 
  piled 
  one 
  above 
  the 
  other 
  in 
  the 
  

   valley 
  of 
  the 
  east 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Moisie 
  (fig. 
  1), 
  as 
  we 
  approach 
  the 
  

   table-land, 
  lead 
  me 
  to 
  attribute 
  their 
  origin 
  to 
  local 
  glacial 
  action, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  the 
  excavation 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  valley 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   river 
  flows. 
  Its 
  tributary, 
  the 
  Cold-water 
  River, 
  flows 
  in 
  the 
  strike 
  

   of 
  the 
  rocks 
  through 
  a 
  gorge 
  2000 
  feet 
  deep, 
  excavated 
  in 
  the 
  com- 
  

   paratively 
  soft 
  labradorite 
  of 
  the 
  Labrador 
  series*. 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Sir 
  William 
  Logan's 
  * 
  Geology 
  of 
  Canada' 
  (1863), 
  on 
  the 
  Division 
  of 
  

   the 
  Laurentian 
  Rocks 
  into 
  "two 
  formations 
  " 
  : 
  

  

  1st. 
  The 
  Labrador 
  series. 
  

  

  2nd. 
  The 
  Laurentian. 
  

   The 
  Labrador 
  series, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  recently 
  informed 
  by 
  Sir 
  William 
  Logan, 
  has 
  

   been 
  ascertained 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  rest 
  unconformably 
  upon 
  the 
  older 
  Laurentian, 
  and 
  

   will 
  be 
  distinguished 
  by 
  a 
  separate 
  colour 
  on 
  his 
  new 
  Map 
  of 
  Canada. 
  See 
  also 
  

   Mr. 
  Sterry 
  Hunt 
  on 
  the 
  Chemistry 
  of 
  Metamorphic 
  Rocks. 
  

  

  