2G REPORT OF THE 



this communication, the company returned me a very polite res- 

 olution of thanks, with a request for permission to make the 

 communication public. 



On the 9th of April, I transmitted to you, an Informal Report 

 on the progresg and results of the survey, which, while not 

 called for by the terms of the Act, was intended as an acknowl- 

 edgement of the enlightened interest which you had all along 

 manifested in the progress of this work. 



Before the close of March, I had commenced preparations for 

 the field work of 1860. On consultation with Dr. Miles, it had 

 been agreed to unite the geological and zoological parties, and 

 thus incur the expense of but a single outfit. The principal 

 part of the season's business was to be upon and near the 

 shores of the great Lakes. In these situations, where natural 

 sections are always presented down to the surface of the water r 

 rock exposures are much more frequent than in the interior. 

 By determining the points on each side of the Peninsula, where 

 the various formations intercept the lake shores, there is little 

 difficulty in tracing approximately the lines of outcrop across 

 the State. 



It was intended to prosecute, before the season was suffi- 

 ciently advanced for safe navigation in small boats upon the 

 lakes, an examination of the vaUies of the Cass and Tittiba- 

 wassee rivers. Reports which had been rife during the previous 

 season, of discoveries of coal, lead, iron, and "volcanic" rocks 

 and "craters," in the vicinity of the Cass river, excited the hope 

 that some unexpected developments might accrue from a scion 

 tine examination of that regioa; while on the other hand it was 

 hoped that the ascent of the Tittibawassee would result in 

 some revelations as to the nature and limits of the coal and 

 salt formations. On the 18th of May, Dr. Miles and Mr. White 

 set out upon the exploration sf the Cass, but the anticipated 

 survey of the Tittibawassee, by myself, was prevented bjfc 

 extreme family affliction, and death, occurring on the very day 

 that I had designated for my departure. 



Finding that a suitable boat could not be procured in the 



