"The main mass of the peak, like the whole of the 
Sawateh range, is composed of granite gueiss. The summit 
of the Holy Cross is covered with fragments of handed gneiss. 
The amphitheaters on all sides have been gradually excavated, 
i 
as heretofore described, and the more or less vertical sides 
show the intermediate steps very clearly. The characteristic 
feature of the Mount of the Holy Cross is the vertical face, 
nearly 3,000 feet on the side, with a cross of snow which may 
he seen at a distance of fifty to eighty miles from other 
mount a in- peaks. This is formed by a vertical fissure about 
1,500 feet high, with a sort of horizontal step, produced by 
the breaking down of the side of the mountain, on which the 
- snow is lodged and remains more or less all the year. Late 
in the summer the cross is very much diminished in size by 
the melting of the snow which has accumulated in the fissures. 
A beautiful green lake lies at the base of the peak, almost 
up to timber-line, which forms a reservoir for the waters 
from the melting snows of the high peaks. From this, one of 
the main branches of the Roches Moutonne's Creek flows down the 
mountain-side, forming several charming cascades on its way. 
The worn rocks or "sheep-backs" in the valley of the creek 
display most remarkable examples of the curious markings on 
the surface of gneiss produced by the separation of the 
different constituents of the rocks." j.'.. * , f , . 2 
d 
(TJ.S. Geological Survey of the Territories, 1870, page 74) 
' 
