236 RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



basin in which they He. The present nucleus of the fos- 

 siliferous basin is occupied by the great lignite formation 

 of the Tertiaries on the Grand Coteau de Missouri ; and 

 so symmetrical is the arrangement in this part of the 

 north-west, that a line drawn through any part of the 

 country from the Grand Coteau de Missouri, where it 

 strikes British territory, to any point between Pembina 

 and Cumberland on the Saskatchewan, would pass over 

 proportionally extensive areas of the Tertiary, Cretaceous, 

 Devonian, Silurian, and Laurentian series. 



Besides the imposing Biding and Duck Mountains, the 

 Touchwood Hills may be enumerated as very important 

 and striking in a region whose marked characteristic is 

 that of a gently sloping plain. These hills he between 

 the head waters of the Assinniboine and the South Branch ; 

 the elevation of the highest peak, the Heart Hill, pro- 

 bably does not exceed 700 feet above the general level of 

 the great plain. The course of this range is from north- 

 east to south-west, and it forms the most prominent of 

 several ranges which he parallel to one another. 



South of the Assinniboine the Turtle Mountain is a 

 prominent and important feature. It is cut by the 49th 

 parallel. The Blue Hills of the Souris serve to destroy 

 the general sameness of the prairie level on the river after 

 which they are named ; while the Blue Hills south of the 

 Assinniboine, and east of the little Souris Eiver, offer 

 perhaps the wildest and most picturesque scenery in the 

 area here referred to. The Porcupine Hill, Thunder 

 Mountain, and Pasquia Hill, were not included within 

 the area explored. They are eminences which he between 

 the Grand Eapids of the Saskatchewan and the head 

 waters of the Assinniboine, all of them probably forming, 

 in connection with the Eiding and Duck Mountains, at a 

 former epoch, a continuation of a vast tableland, now 



