II 



craggy above, but have be^n toned down by the moving 

 ice of the Glacial period and rendered somewhat monoton- 

 ous. Higher, partially snow-covered, and more im- 

 pressive peaks are occasionally seen up tributary valleys. 

 Small glaciers of the Alpine type occur at a few points, 

 but do not descend to low levels. 



The eastern boundary of the Coast range is not always 

 easy to define, as it often merges insensibly into the high 

 plateaus and mountains of the Interior. On the Skeena 

 the main range is bordered on the east by a wide depression 

 occupied north of the Skeena by the Kitsumgallum river. 

 This great trench, 4 to 5 miles (6.4 to 8 km) wide in places, 

 extends northward to the Nass and southward across the 

 Coast range, reaching the sea at the head of Kitimat arm. 

 It evidently represents an old, partially abandoned, valley 

 of erosion possibly robbed by the Skeena. 



East of the Kitsumgallum valley a second wide range 

 of high nameless mountains, mostly built of schist and 

 granite, is crossed. These connect to the south with the 

 Coast range and may be considered a spur from it. After 

 passing them the dry interior district is reached, and a 

 change in the topography is immediately noted. The 

 valleys of the Skeena and its tributaries become much 

 wider, are frequently terraced, and the relief is expressed 

 in long even ridges, or in isolated groups of high peaks 

 mostly built of upturned Jurassic and Cretaceous strata 

 surrounding granite cores. Among the prominent groups 

 are the Rochers Deboules at the confluence of the Skeena 

 and Bulkley rivers, some peaks of which reach elevations 

 of over 8,000 feet (2,438 m), and judging from their rugged 

 angular character evidently exceeded the limits of glacia- 

 tion, and the lofty Hudson Bay mountains bordering the 

 Bulkley on the southwest. 



The Skeena river, which is followed by the railway from 

 its mouth eastward through the Coast range to its junction 

 with the Bulkley, heads in some of its branches with the 

 Fraser, and like it drains a large portion of the rough 

 elevated country lying between the Coast range and the 

 Rocky mountains. It is a wide, swift flowing stream, 

 repeatedly dividing around low alluvial islands in its 

 passage through the Coast range. In its upper reaches it 

 becomes more confined and its course is interrupted by 

 numerous short boulder-strewn rapids and by occasional 

 canyons. It is ascended by river steamers to Hazelton at 



