CAPE BEETON ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA. 525 



The Coal-measures now form patches of what was, in all pro- 

 bability at one time, a continuous outcrop from Judique to Oheti- 

 camp. These strata resemble those described in the Sydney district, 

 and contain numerous beds of coal of excellent quality, which, how- 

 ever, have not yet been worked. The Port Hood coals, in their high 

 contents of water, from 3 to 7 per cent., resemble lignite coals, but 

 in all other respects are excellent bituminous coals. The Millstone 

 Grit of this district appears to be limited in extent, and may be re- 

 presented by some of the strata underlying the coal-beds of Port 

 Hood. 



The line between these strata and the Marine Limestone is sharply 

 marked by unconformability and the change in the conditions of 

 deposition. The general characteristics of this subdivision are 

 similar to those already noted, and its distribution may be learned 

 from the map. 



Underlying the Limestone series are numerous wide-spread areas 

 of grits, coarse sandstones, and conglomerates, with argillaceous 

 shales and a few beds of limestone. At Judique, Mabou, Broad 

 Cove, Forest Glen, Grand Etang, and Cheticamp these Measures are 

 greatly altered by the intrusion of igneous rocks. In the Judique 

 district these intrusive masses vary greatly in texture, colour, and 

 composition, but are essentially dark, massive, granular, and com- 

 pact, chloritic, dioritic, and felsitic rocks. At many places little 

 change has been produced in the sedimentary rocks at the point of 

 contact, but frequently the metamorphism has been so great that no 

 line of contact can be observed, j^t other points these strata are 

 comparatively unaltered, and at Hunter's Mountain, Whyhogomah, 

 and Lake Ainslie they hold bituminous shales with impure coal- 

 beds, show signs of petroleum, and resemble the Lower Coal-Mea- 

 sures of Plaster Cove. 



Superficial Geology. 



The superficial geology of Cape Breton does not present many 

 points of interest. There are, I believe, no moraines to mark 

 glacial action. The earth-covering varies according to the age and 

 nature of the underlying strata. The Pre-Cambrian rocks are fre- 

 quently almost bare, and their rugged and steep hill-sides afford soil 

 only for the growth of timber ; and rains following forest-fires have 

 frequently denuded large tracts of almost every trace of earth. The 

 more level tracts of the Pre-Cambrian, Silurian, and Devonian 

 measures are diversified by numerous lakes, with slow streams and 

 swamps. The soil is usually thin, clayey, or sandy, with boulders of 

 the subjacent rocks. In the brooks and intervals sands and gravels 

 are met with of recent derivation from the adjacent hills. 



In the Carboniferous districts the soils are deeper and often of 

 great fertility. The erratic boulders found over these measures are 

 derived from the neighbouring subdivisions of the felsitic and 

 syenitic series, and have seldom travelled far. In several localities 

 peat and carbonized tree-trunks have been found under these clays, 

 with remains ai^parently of Mastodon giganteus (?). There is a total 



