so common over the North American continent. The Sphee herium 
_ with all the mineralogical characters of true bituminous coal, was found. * 


et Nie ‘ ss ope 
i bat 
Ae 

a ‘¢' ee 
} ¥ ON bi 
133'*. . “2. §. A. BOUNDARY coxnMeStON. | cy 
Ogee 
ay 




i ae » 

ik 
ae ae 





specifically the same with that previously found on the Milk River 3 110 
miles further east, and referred to 8. formosum M. & H. The Pau 
remains of are very fragmentary, but there are forms indistinguist 
from specimens of P. Trochiformis and P. Conradii. ue 
324. The occurrence of fresh-water forms so far west, while the oh if 
general tendency of the lower beds of the Tertiary is to become more 
distinctly marine westward, would either tend to show that there we ro 
important exceptions to this rule, or that the beds here represented - are” 
high up in the series. The occurrence of abundant Dinosaurian remains — oh 
in the section described in paragr aph 320, would seem to tell agai n t ; : be 
the latter conclusion, and it would appear that the question must oa 4 2: ) 
for the present an undecided one. me . 
325. Fifteen miles further west, is the St. Mary River, a tributary of os 
the Belly River. Its banks show good exposures for several miles, and — 
here the disturbance connected with the elevation of the Rocky Mountains — 
is first found to begin. The sudden nature of the break separating the © € 
nearly horizontal beds of the country further east, from the region of 
sharp and frequent flexures now entered upon, is a matter of surprise, as _ 
is also the very limited width of the belt of country much affected by ae m 
the disturbance, the St. Mary River, on the Tine, being only about A a 
twelve miles from the bare sides of the ‘outlying range of Chief es 
Mountain. ae 
326. The lowest rocks seen in the part of the river examined, were 
sandstones of greyish and yellowish tints, regularly bedded, and quite a | 
hard, with some surfaces showing ripple-marks and worm-tracks. They: 
have a south-westerly dip at an angle of 20°, and are present in con | | ame 
siderable thickness. About half a mile south of these lower beds, and ae | 
overlying the upper layers of the same sandstone zone, a bed of fuel, Bo. 





















i 















It has a thickness of about eighteen inches only, and occurs just at the | - 
level of the water in the river, by which it is partly covered. It breaks — ate 
with a clean fracture into cuboidal fragments with bright faces, and is ie e 
indistinguishable in appearance from many coals of the true Carboniferous _ 
formation. Below the coal is a foot or two of dark carbonaceous shale, 
somewhat indurated, and holding imperfect remains of plants. A similar 
shale, but only a few inches in thickness, rests upon the coal, and is — 

* I am indebted to Mr, W, A, Ashe, of the Survey party, for first calling my attention to this deposit. — E 
