138 B. N. A. BOUNDARY COMMISSION. 

must represent one or other of its lower divisions, as from the lithological 
character of the two Upper Cretaceous groups, preserved with great 
uniformity, in the various localities south of the Line, and also in the 
most widely separated exposures on the forty-rinth parallel, it seems 
highly improbable that in a comparatively short distance to the nerthward, 
they should so change their character as to become coal-bearing. The 
known tendency of the Dakota group, would then certainly point to it 
as being the one represented. At the same time, I cannot resist the con- 
clusion, that Dr. Hector was right in supposing that some Tertiary beds 
are included in his division E., and it may even turn out that a large 
proportion, or the whole, of this group, really belongs to the base of the 
Lignite Tertiary. The subject is one not only of geological interest, but 
of great practical importance, for should it be found, that there are two 
distinct carboniferous horizons in the rocks of the North-west; the area 
over which valuable deposits of fuel are to be expected, would—as ‘Ai: 
out by Mr. Selwyn—be very largely increased. 
338. The beds referred by Dr. Hector to division E., appear to be 
extensively developed on the upper parts Of nearly all the rivers flowing 
eastward from the base of the mountains, including the Red Deer River, 
North and South Branches of the Saskatchewan, Athabaska, and North 
Pembina Rivers. Their furthest eastward appearance on the North Sas. 
katchewan, is stated to be about fifty miles below Edmonton. Mr. Selwyn 
who has examined the coal-bearing rocks of this river in 1873, inclines 
to the view that they are truly Cretaceous, and draws attention in this 
connection to the fact, that the coal series of Vancouver Island is now 
known to occur in the lower part of that formation.* 
339. Rocks of the Dakota period have not been recognised in Mani- 
toba, or in any locality along the eastern out-crop of the Cretaceous in 
British America. In the vicinity of the Line they are concealed below 
the alluvial lands of the Red River Valley, and if natural exposures are 
to be looked for at all in this region, it must be in some part of the high 
lands marking the escarpement of the Cretaceous west of the great sys- 
tem of lakes. That the occurrence and nature of these beds may not be 
an unimportant question, is shown by their character in Nebraska, where 
they contain lignites, which though not of very good quality, or great 
thickness, have been more or less used economically, on account of the 
great scarcity of fuel in that treeless region. These beds, associated 

* Report of Progress, Geol, Surv, Canada, 1873-74. p. 50, 

