342 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY 



this grit is underlaid by thin beds of ripple-marked red sandstone (7). The pebbly 

 beds show lines of cross-lamination. Next come up fifteen feet of red shales (8), 

 resting on a thin bed of very hard, compact yellow grit ; and below the grit-bed 

 are red shales again, with thin partings of blue clay. Beyond this point, the creek 

 runs between banks of clay and red marl, which appear to have slid from the 

 upper part of the hills, and conceal the underlying rocks for the distance of nearly 

 two miles, when argillaceous slate is exposed for a short distance. This was the 

 last rock seen on the creek, and resembles that found at the Lower Falls of St. 

 Louis River. Between the last exposure of red shales and the clay slate, the bed 

 of the creek contains many very large angular fragments of greenstone, quartzite, 

 and altered slate, which appear to have been derived from the high ridge east of 

 the creek. (No. 43G.) 



The top of this ridge is composed of greenstone (No. 432, 433), and is six hun- 

 dred and ninety-one feet above the level of St. Louis River at Fond du Lac. On 

 the side of the ridge next St. Louis River, the greenstone (No. 434) passes into a 

 rock somewhat resembling quartz rock, which is jointed, but does not appear to be 

 stratified. There does not seem to be any line of demarcation between these varie- 

 ties of greenstone. In descending the ridge in the direction of Fond du Lac, two 

 hundred and thirty feet below the summit, beds of No. 435 crop out, and show 

 themselves at various points, nearly to the base of the hill. It is probably a meta- 

 morphosed sedimentary rock, and the equivalent of some of the beds on Kinechi- 

 gakwag Creek. This rock was also seen at several other points on the southeast 

 side of the ridge which bounds the north shore of St. Louis River in the direction 

 of the Lake. The beds are of great thickness, and often resemble quartz rock, 

 such as was met with in the neighbourhood of Grand Portage Bay. 



2. Kinechigakwag Creek. — This is the first stream emptying into the north shore 

 of Lake Superior, east of the long point which separates St. Louis River from the 

 Lake at its west end, for the distance of about six miles. At the junction of this 

 point with the main land, a portage-path starts, which leads to Cloquet River, and 

 is occasionally used by the Indians for the transportation of light canoes to that 

 stream. At the summit of the ridge beyond the place where this path crosses 

 Kinechigakwag Creek, the following Section begins.* 



The ascent from the Lake up to the top of the first ridge, which is five hundred 

 and thirty-two feet above the lake-level, is somewhat gradual. There is then a 

 slight descent for several hundred yards, when the country rises gradually up to 

 an elevation of five hundred and sixty-four feet, and then descends fifty-nine feet 

 into the valley of the creek. The ascent to the top of the second ridge is very 

 gentle. It is composed of greenstone, like that near Fond du Lac, of which it is a 

 continuation, and bears northeast and southwest. The highest point measured 

 was seven hundred and sixty-one feet above the Lake. These ridges, with the 

 intervening valleys, are covered with a good soil, and bear a heavy growth of sugar 

 maples, from which the Indians of the vicinity manufacture a great deal of sugar. 



* See Section from the mouth of Kinechigakwag Creek towards Cloquet River. (PI. 2 N, Sect. 3.) 



