20 c 



GEOLOGICAL, SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Peat. 



Grassy spaces. 



Illustration. 



Spring ice. 



Bare sloping 

 banks. 



Marine shells 

 in the drift. 



Elevation 

 above the sea. 



other strata which I have seen. As a convenient name for present 

 purposes they might he called the Churchill quartzites. 



Peat of fair quality, and perhaps of sufficient thickness to he of 

 economic value, was noticed in several places along the route from 

 Split Lake to Fort Churchill. The following, localities may he men- 

 tioned : — Creek north of Hudson's Bay Company's post, Split Lake ; 

 outlet of Assean Lake; southern part of Was-kai-ow-a-ka Lake, hoth 

 sides ; lagoons twelve miles south of Recluse Lakes, four feet thick on 

 top of hank ; Churchill River, twenty-one miles helow the forks, 

 five feet thick on top of bank. For some distance above and below the 

 commencement of the last stretch, the woods occur only in patches in 

 an open peaty country as far as can be seen along the river. 



Among the islands further down, bouldery and grassy spaces extend 

 between those which are left dry at low water. For a distance of 

 eighteen miles before reaching the mouth of the river, open grassy 

 flats extend for a considerable but irregular breadth on either side. 

 This open country is said to resemble the barren grounds which begin 

 to the northwestward of Fort Churchill, and are represented in the 

 accompanying illustration taken from a photograph. 



The upper branches of the Churchill being in a warmer region than 

 the lower part of the river, the water rises in spring and bursts awaj T 

 the ice in the latter, while it still retains its strength. This circum- 

 stance, and the rapid nature of the river, evidently cause great packing 

 and shoving of the ice during the freshet, and this no doubt has the 

 effect of temporarily damming back the water in many places. Below 

 the junction of the Little Churchill the banks are entirely denuded of 

 timber, and have an even and uniform slope up to a height of twenty 

 or thirty, and sometimes even forty feet above the summer-level of the 

 river. The ice would also appear to extend annually to the valleys of 

 the tributary streams, preventing the growth of timber along their 

 sides for a considerable distance back from the main river. Luring the 

 summer, however, a luxuriant growth of grass and other plants springs 

 up, and covers these sloping banks in most places with a rich green. 

 Further down, after the river has expanded among the islands and the 

 banks have become lower, the effects of the spring ice are no longer 

 noticeable. 



Marine shells were first noticed in the drift at sixty miles from the 

 mouth of the river. The locality was towards the top of a bank, about 

 150 feet high, on the right side. The river at the base, from baromet- 

 rical observation, was 200 feet above the sea, so that these shells 

 probably occur at an elevation of nearly 350 feet above the same level. 

 As the bank, (which consists of pebbly grey clay with apparently a 



