350 



DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY" 



vein (No. 381), with thin seams of calcareous spar, and small nests of hydrated 

 brown oxide of iron. 



The ascent to the summit of the ridge above this point is composed of metamor- 

 phosed shales, for about three hundred yards, where they are overlaid by the 

 bedded trap. This last rock is heavily charged with iron, and weathers with a 

 nodular, iron-shot surface, which, when freshly scaled, is very red. 



On the northeast side of the axes, the amygdaloidal metamorphosed shales (Nos. 



378, 379, 380) again appear, overlaid by No. 383. The cells are numerous, and 

 filled with laumonite and other zeolites, and calcareous spar. About three hundred 

 yards from the greenstone dike, the trap-bed disappears beneath clay and marl 

 beds, and the shales are overlaid by a brecciated conglomerate (No. 377), which 

 contains many rounded pebbles, but is, in the main, a breccia. In the lower part, 

 it is quite as full of cells as the amygdaloid, and contains the same kinds of 

 minerals. This rock is exposed in the bed of the stream, the banks being formed 

 of red clay and marl. 



The next rock met with in ascending the river, is metamorphosed siliceo-argilla- 

 ceous slate, very hard, of a dark brown colour, and containing small siliceous 

 nodules. The upper beds are of a deep red colour, and full of minute cells, con- 

 taining a light, reddish-coloured mineral (undetermined), which gives to the rock 

 a porphyritic appearance. Between this rock and the next one, in ascending order, 

 is a bed of indurated clay, which becomes exceedingly porous when exposed to the 

 weather. Above this come beds of metamorphosed sandstone. (Nos. 375, 376, 378, 



379, 380.) 



The dip of the rocks above the greenstone ridge which forms the anticlinal axis, 

 is northwest, at an angle varying from 20° to 40°. On the lake side of the ridge 

 the dip is southeast 11° to 12°. 



In 1846, cabins were erected at the mouth of this creek, by the agent of a mining 

 company, for the purpose of securing a pre-emption claim to the veins which occur 

 here. When the effort made by the government, in 1847, to purchase these lands 

 failed, the "location" was abandoned. There are also numerous indications of 

 copper on a small creek which empties into the Lake, a short distance below the 

 mouth of Riviere des Francais. It was examined by Colonel Whittlesey in 1848, 

 who brought from it several specimens of native copper, which he represented as of 

 frequent occurrence in the amygdaloid. In his opinion, the veins met with on this 

 creek are irregular, and of little or no value. 



Just below the mouth of Riviere des Francais, No. 603 is seen for a short dis- 

 tance, enveloping fragments of No. 605, and traversed by veins of No. 606. The 

 exposure is low, and covered by marl and clay banks, fifteen feet in height, which 

 continue, and form the shore, for a distance of three and a half or four miles. It 

 is only at one or two points in this distance that the trap and underlying shale are 

 to be seen. At the first point, there is a bed of trap intercalated with the shale. 

 After turning into the next bay, No. 603 forms the shore until the large bay 

 opens. 



The large bay is bounded on its west side by a dike running north, 5° east (No. 

 607), and resembles, in all respects, No. 601, except that it is amygdaloidal, and the 



