SHELL-BEDS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 279 



the landward end of the dock was clear except at the base, and was 

 as shown in fig. 1. 



Fig. 1. — Section across the Landward End of the Dry Doch^ 

 Esquimault. Scale 1 inch = 40 feet. 



S.S.E. N.N.W. 



A Surface. B 



Bottom of Dock. 



a. Top soil. 



b. Boulder-clay with scratched stones : boulders most plentiful in the upper part 



of the section, where the clay has weathered to a yellowish grey ; below, it 

 is of a bluish-grey tint, and admits streaks of sandy and silty matter (c c) ; 

 shells occur scattered through the lower portion of this section and in c c. 

 d. Hard green dioritic (?) trap, with its surface everywhere beautifully striated 

 grooved, and polished. 



There was also another excellent section in the recess which 

 forms the entrance-basin on the north side of the dock, and shells 

 were more plentiful and less disturbed here than in any other part 

 of the excavation. The upper part of this section showed stony 

 Boulder-clay of the usual character ; but this seemed to pass down- 

 wards into a softer clay, which contained few stones and showed 

 traces of bedding and streaks of sand and gravel. Irregular seams 

 of shells ran through this part of the section, chiefly bivalves with 

 the valves united. 



The lengthwise sections were much obscured, but showed shelly 

 Boulder-clay resting, in places, against the sloping sides of the gully 

 on very highly glaciated surfaces, and overlain by the recent sea- 

 bottom, which rose up with a gradual slope from the dock-entrance^ 

 where it was about 20 feet below high-water mark. 



Across the mouth of the inlet, just within the construction-dam, 

 there was a deep trench which reached a lower level than any 

 other part of the excavation ; its section showed nothing but hard 

 sandy till overlain by the recent sea-bottom, here forming a bed of 

 shells two feet thick, many being bivalves of large size. The till, 

 though it did not actually contain shells, was full of little 

 cavities from which shelly matter had been removed, and which 

 could be easily identified as casts of shelLs of the same species as 

 those found in the other sections. 



The Shells. — In their general characteristics these sections did not 

 differ from many to be found along the neighbouring coast-line where 

 drifts overspread or fill up crevices in the solid rock, excepting in the 

 presence of shells. But up to this time I had not found a single 

 shell or shell- fragment in glacial l^eds, while in these sections 

 they were present in abundance ; they were most plentiful along 

 the northern side of the excavation, being most numerous in the 



Q.J.G.S. No. 167. X 



