LAKE OF THE WOODS—GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 47 












what peaty soil supported it removed at once by fire. These hills also 
appear of light whitish and pinkish colours, even from a distance, and 
contrast remarkably with the sombre aspect of the slates to the south. 
General Distribution and Attitudes of the Rocks. . 
94. From the evidence of the foregoing detailed observations, and that 
which I have been able to collect from other sources, I am inclined to 
believe that almost the entire southern division of the Lake of the Woods, 
known as Sand-hill Lake, covers rocks of Laurentian age, with the possible 
exception of the extreme south-western part, where Upper Silurian lime- 
stone may exist. The evidence concerning this formation will be more 
fully stated in reviewing the drift deposits. The isolated area of 
Huronian, south of the North-west Angle granite, may however, as already 
mentioned, extend further southward than supposed. From Dr. Bigsby’s 
map, the extreme eastern arm of this part of the lake, south of Turtle 
Portage, appears to be much complicated, and may also probably include 
some beds of the green slate series. 
95. The general direction of strike of the Laurentian wherever it 
appears on the west side of the lake, is nearly east and west. Toward the 
extreme south of the lake, the few knolls which rise above the surface, 
show a tendency to north and south strikes, and vertical attitudes. North 
of Rainy River, these rocks run generally east and west, or east-south-east 
and west-north-west. Similar directions characterize the rocks of Bigsby 
Island, while those of the northern islands, and shore of the district of 
Shebashca, show bearings from afew degrees north of west, to north-west 
and south-east. The Laurentian rocks at the North-west Angle, and 
west of it on the road to Winnipeg, have general north-east by south- 
west, or east-north-east by west-south-west bearings. 
96. The Huronian rocks, though conforming to easterly and westerly 
directions in the vicinity of the granitic masses of the Angle, when fol- 
lowed northward, are found to take a north-north-east direction and 
nearly vertical attitude, which they retain in a general way as far as Rat 
Portage, with the important exception of the rocks in the vicinity of 
Ka-ka-ke-wabec, which, for a considerable breadth, run nearly east and 
west. The rocks for some distance southward from Rat Portage, also 
show a tendency to turn. north-east and east-north-east. The forces 
acting at right angles to these directions have been very great, and the 
rocks of this series are almost everywhere on edge ; and though probably 
repeated several times, the evidence of synclinal and anticlinal folds has 
