LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
639 
the silence of its solitude, and stood on the summit of its hills, 
as if they were the last remnants of humanity. 
During’ one of these excursions, as Mr. Light was travelling 
over a very high hill, for the purpose of tracing the heavy stream 
of water, from which the name of Cascade Beach originated^ 
and the fall of which was estimated at not less than nearly 400 
feet, he was surprised at a specimen of the cockle in its most 
perfect shape. The whole of the land in this part of the country 
is, however, nearly the same as in the vicinity of Port Bowen, 
in regard to minerals, with the exception, that at the latter place 
a greater quantity of agate and madrepore was found, but no 
cockles. North Somerset is the name of the mountains, from 
the south point of Fury Beach down to the extreme north point 
of Regent's Inlet. On the top of these mountains, there are a 
great many petrified worms, shell-fish, &c.; a piece of the horn 
of a rein-deer, as well as a piece of wood, in a petrified state, 
were also picked up ; the latter was about an inch in circum¬ 
ference. 
Here might the geologist and the antedeluvian stand and 
meditate, and wonder by what convulsion of nature, the remains 
of creatures of more temperate climes should be found imbedded 
in the rocks of a country, which may almost be considered as 
the boundary of animal life, and where their species could not 
possibly exist amidst the destructive influence of its rigorous 
climate. By what powerful agent, acting in the far-gone 
lapse of ages, was the piece of wood, which was found petrified 
in the mountains of North Somerset, carried to the place where 
it was found, at the distance, perhaps, of many thousand miles 
from the place of its growth. The disbeliever of sacred writ 
may here find something to ponder upon, and a glimpse of that 
light may shoot across his darkened soul, which guides the true 
believer to discover, in those little things, the mighty hand of 
the Lord, and to trace in them the proofs of the great and won¬ 
derful deeds, by which he has manifested his power to the sons 
of men. 
Truly has it been said, that there is no picking up a pebble 
by the brook-side, but we find all nature in connexion with it, 
