246 ASSINNIBOINE AND SASKATCHEWAN EXPEDITION. 



The conglomerate presents the appearance of an immense 

 table of mosaic work. The pebbles and small boulders 

 enclosed in the matrix have been apparently water worn, 

 some of them, however, showed no lateral abrasion, pre- 

 serving their angles sharp, and well defined. They were 

 all ground down to one uniform polished surface. 



The imbedded boulders and pebbles varied from half an 

 inch to eighteen inches in diameter, and appeared generally 

 to lie with their flat side facing the south-west. The 

 colour of the matrix was a pale green, and of the im- 

 bedded pebbles grey, with a tint of green. A vertical 

 section of the rock exhibited the pebbles and boulders, 

 as if resting upon the extremity of the longest axis, with 

 a slight inclination to the east. 



From the summit of an abraded granite hill about 250 

 feet high, on the Winnipeg west of " the Dalles," a very 

 extensive view of the surrounding country is obtained. 

 The broad river, with its numerous deep bays, may be 

 seen stretching far to the north, and all around smooth 

 dome-shaped hills show their bare and scantily wooded 

 summits in every direction. The general surface is either 

 bare and so smooth and polished as to make walking dan- 

 gerous, or else thickly covered with cariboo moss and 

 tripe de roche. 



This general description applies to a vast area drained 

 by the Winnipeg, and on the smoothed and polished rocks 

 glacial grooves may be. easily traced for long distances; 

 sometimes also boulders are found resting upon the 

 polished surfaces. On one occasion an attempt to ascend 

 a round dome-shaped mound forming the summit of a 

 granite hill was frustrated by its beautifully polished sur- 

 face preventing a footing from being obtained. The action 

 of atmospheric agents had only succeeded in dimming its 

 beauty, but had not destroyed its smoothness. 



