32 b 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Character of 

 the country. 



West entrance sheltered anchorage. Two miles west of Log Point, the south-western 

 branch of the channel runs off, going first southward for about a mile. 

 At this point it is blocked by the delta of a brook of some size, which 

 enters from the south-east. A bank has been formed here, which dries 

 for a width of at least a quarter of a mile at low water, and even at 

 high tide cannot have more than four feet of water on it. This passage 

 is therefore only adapted for canoes or boats, and is used by the 

 Indians when travelling between Skidegate and Port Kuper. A vessel 

 entering the north arm of Skidegate Channel from the west might 

 probably find a secure anchorage in the entrance to the south-west 

 arm just mentioned. 



The central portion of Skidegate Channel, though narrow, occupies 

 the middle of a valley of some width, and is bordered generally on both 

 sides by low wooded land, sloping gradually up to the foot of the 

 mountains, which rise to elevations between 1000 and 1500 feet. This 

 is also the case with the arm which projects northward, and a trans- 

 verse low valley connects this with that occupied by the Long Arm. 

 Beyond Log Point the channel assumes the general character of the 

 inlets of the west coast. The shores become steep and rocky, with 

 little or no beach. The trees covering the hills become scrubby in 

 appearance, and are mingled with much dead wood. Scarcely any 

 soil clothes the slopes, and entensive patches of bare rock become 

 evident among the foliage. The higher mountains are from 1500 to 

 2000 feet in height. Their summits are frequently bare, and show the 

 characteristically green tint due to a sphagneous covering of moss, and 

 small bushes, as distinguished from the usual sombre hue of the conifers. 

 The 'yellow cedar' (Cupressus Mitkatensis) becomes abundant toward 

 the west coast, but is generally of no great size. 



The distance from Lawn Hill at the entrance to Skidegate, to Eose 

 Point is forty-six miles. The coast in some respects resembles that 

 between Cumshewa and Skidegate, and is straight and open, with no 

 harbour, and scarcely even a creek or protected cove for canoes or 

 boats for long distances. The beach is gravelly, and sometimes coarsely 

 stonj^, to the Tl-ell River. Beyond this it becomes sandy, and though 

 not without some gravel, continues to hold this character to Eose 

 Point. Lawn Hill is evidently formed by an outcrop of Tertiary 

 volcanic rocks elsewhere described. For many miles northward, banks 

 of clays and sands are found along the shore, and for about seventeen 

 miles northward from the Tl-ell Eiver these frequently rise into cliffs 

 fifty to one hundred feet in height. These are generally wearing away 

 under the action of the waves, and trees and stumps may be noticed in 

 various stages of descent to the beach. In some places dense woods of 

 fine upright clear trees are thus exposed in section, and there must be 



Skidegate to 

 Eose Point. 



