16 C GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



above it; while the lower part is un strati lied and full of pebbles, with 

 some boulders. The latter comprise yellowish-grey magnesian lime- 

 Bouiders. stone of Silurian age. gneiss, and a great variety of rocks belonging to 

 the unaltered, unfossiliferous series of the east coast of Hudson's Bay, 

 which resembles the Nipigon group and which have been described in 

 my report for 18*77- Boulders of these rocks are abundant around 

 Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake and they were also observed along the Nelson 

 River. Limestone gravel became abundant a few miles below Was-kai- 

 ow-a-ka Lake. 



In approaching the Great Churchill, the river, for a number of miles, 

 is deep and smooth, and the clay banks have retired to a considerable 



River waters, distance on both sides. The water of this stream has a brownish tinge 

 and forms a striking contrast with that of the great river into which 

 it falls. The latter is bright and clear, like the St. Lawrence water, 

 and on the 3rd of August it had a temperature of 62° Eah. During 

 the few days preceding this date, the temperature of the Little 



nv. 1,11 iv Churchill averaged 63° Fah. Just below the junction or " forks " the 



Churchill River ° J 



?*A^ n ?Ji on °/-„ river is nearly a mile wide, and the land on the east side rises from 



Little Churchill J ' 



300 to 450 feet above its level. No rock appears in these high banks, 

 which are evidently composed of drift. Immediately above the forks 

 the river is much narrower, and the clay banks on both sides rise 

 steeply to a height of about 150 feet. The latitude of the north-west 

 side of the river, opposite the mouth of the Little Churchill, I found 

 to be 57° 30' 57", and the variation of the compass at this locality to 

 be about 12° 30' E. On the latter stream, at twenty miles south of the 

 junction, the variation was ascertained to be 10° 30' E., and at twenty- 

 four miles it was 11° 30' E. 



Churchill River ^ ascended the Churchill for a distance of twenty-three miles (fol- 

 " b Forks h " lowing the stream) from the mouth of the Little Churchill. In this 

 distance it averaged about one-third of a mile in width and had high 

 banks of clay on alternate sides. Numerous rapids were met with, and 

 the total rise in the above distance amounted to 173 feet, or at the rate 

 of seven and a-half feet per mile. A perpendicular fall, remarkable 

 for its great width, was reported by an old Indian whom we met at 

 Norway House to occur at no great distance further up the river. The 

 upward course of the river beyond the point which I reached, must be 

 nearly parallel to the Little Churchill, as the Indians say that in the 

 winter the vapor from the falls all along this section can be seen from 

 the latter river and Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake. The fundamental rocks are 

 exposed in the bed of the river at the rapids, and consist of coarse 

 Syenitic gneiss, greyish-red or light reddish syenitic gneiss, like that of Was-kai-ow-a-ka 

 Lake, and in some parts poryhyritic, passing into a somewhat fine- 



