220 R. Bell — Rising of the Land around Hudson Bay. 



the Hudson's Bay Company in the months of the rivers around 

 the bay, 200 years ago, there has been an ever-increasing diffi- 

 culty in reaching these establishments from the sea. 



On the eastern side the most striking evidence of the rising 

 of the land is afforded by the numerous well-preserved and 

 conspicuous terraces cut in the till and other deposits. Near 

 the sea these may be seen at various heights, up to about 300 

 feet, but above this elevation the scarcity of soft material out 

 of which terraces might be excavated, renders this kind of evi- 

 dence less apparent than it might otherwise be, at higher levels. 



On this side of the bay, one of the best evidences that the 

 elevation of the land is still going on is furnished by the long 

 lines of driftwood which one sees in many places far above the 

 reach of the highest tides. The old beaches, on which this 

 wood is plainly seen, occur at various levels up to about thirty 

 feet above high tide, but the remains of rotten wood may be 

 detected in some localities up to nearly fifty feet, above which 

 it has disappeared from the ancient shores by long exposure 

 to the weather. This driftwood consists principally of spruce, 

 but a little white cedar and other kinds, which have been 

 brought down by the rivers, are also mixed with it. The 

 bark having been worn off by the action of the waves while 

 the trunks were still fresh, has tended to their preservation. 

 Owing principally to the salt water and the cold climate, wood 

 endures for an incredibly long time in exposed situations in 

 this region wherever it has an opportunity of drying quickly 

 after rain. Some of the wood which may still be seen upon 

 the higher levels may be upwards of 600 years old. 



It has been suggested that all this driftwood along hundreds 

 of miles of coast may have been thrown up by some extraordi- 

 narily high tide. But there are many reasons why this is quite 

 unlikely. It seems impossible that any modern tide could rise 

 to such a great height and deposit so much wood at different 

 levels all at once and in such even lines, following all the sinu- 

 osities of more than one of the raised beaches. The supposi- 

 titious extraordinary tide would necessarily be of brief duration 

 and would be accompanied by a tremendous gale blowing upon 

 the coast. This would have the effect of throwing the wood 

 in confused heaps and only into situations favorable for catch- 

 ing it, such as angles of the shore. But instead of this, we 

 find it at different levels laid longitudinally all along, as if 

 accumulated by slow degrees with moderate winds from every 

 quarter. The fact that the wood is freshest along the lower 

 lines and becomes progressively more and more decayed as we 

 ascend, and that finally only traces remain on the higher levels, 

 shows that it must have been stranded from time to time as 

 the land was rising above the sea, and we are forced to adopt 

 this obvious view of the case. 



