3i8 



Kilometres t ^ ie s h° re cliffs [9]. The Eocene sediments are 

 almost entirely covered with the thick deposit 

 of clay, sand, and gravel comprising the Fraser 

 River delta, built largely in post-Glacial times 

 and recently uplifted some 400 feet (120m.) 

 and cliffed during the present marine cycle, so 

 that the old delta appears conspicuously to the 

 south as the steamer sails west across the open 

 waters of the Strait of Georgia. The present 

 delta of the Fraser forms an extensive lowland, 

 only a few feet above sea level, that extends 

 south from the older, uplifted delta. 



To the west is Vancouver island. In clear 

 weather a good general view of it may be had. 

 The dark mass of the Vancouver range, composed 

 largely of metamorphic and crystalline rocks, 

 steeply surmounts the coast lowland which is 

 underlain by the less resistant sediments of the 

 Nanaimo series. Most of the summits are 

 rounded or ridge-like, but a few snow capped 

 and serrated peaks are seen crowning the whole. 



After crossing the Strait of Georgia, the 

 steamer enters Fairway channel between En- 

 trance and Gabriola islands to the south and 

 Snake island to the northwest. These islands 

 are built of the upper formations of the Nanaimo 

 series, which are here involved in a large syn- 

 cline pitching to the north. Turning south, 

 the steamer sails along a drowned valley largely 

 underlain by shales, between sandstone islands, 

 Gabriola island to the east and Newcastle and 

 Protection islands to the west. Rounding the 

 southern point of Protection island, on which 

 is seen the surface workings of the Protection 

 shaft of the Western Fuel Company's collieries, 

 the steamer enters Nanaimo harbour. Directly 

 to the west is the city of Nanaimo, 

 41 m. Nanaimo — built on the coastal lowland of sedi- 



66 km. mentary rocks of the Nanaimo 



series. In the background is Mt. Benson, 3,300 

 feet high (1,000 m.) composed of Vancouver 

 volcanics, around which the Nanaino series 

 forms a narrow fringe. 



