vaniiisb.]  EASTERN    CANADA    AND    NEWFOUNDLAND.  247 
era]  arc  found  at  a  lower  level  than  the  Upper  Laurentian,  but  both  of 
these  would  be  true  if  the  Lower  Laurentian  were  intrusive.  The  man- 
ner in  which  the  syenite  passed  into  the  foliated  gneiss,  and  the  foliated 
gneiss  into  the  ordinary  schist  associated  with  the  elastics  at  Dallas 
brook,  appear  to  indicate  the  intrusive  character  of  the  supposed  Lower 
Laurentian  at  this  place.  It  is  very  strange  that  basal  conglomerates 
have  not  been  found  in  the  upper  series  which  bear  fragments  of  the 
underlying  one,  if  the  former  is  really  newer  and  unconformable.  The 
mterstratiiied  syenites,  diorites,  etc.,  placed  with  the  limestone  series  are, 
without  question,  igneous  rocks.  So  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
many  rocks  of  the  same  character  as  the  so-called  Lower  Laurentian 
are  igneous  and  later  than  the  clastic  series,  which  makes  it  probable 
that  much  of  this  so-called  lower  series  is  of  the  same  age.  While  all 
of  this  is  true,  as  before  remarked,  it  is  not  certain  that  a  portion  of 
the  so-called  Lower  Laurentian  may  not  be  of  greater  age  than  the 
clastic  Upper  Laurentian  rocks. 
The  gold-bearing  series  referred  to  the  Cambrian  in  southern  Nova 
Scotia  are  nowhere  found  in  contact  with  the  pre-£)ainbrian  of  northern 
Nova  Scotia  and  cape  Breton.  As  has  been  said,  we  only  know  that 
the  gold-bearing  slates  are  unconformably  below  the  Carboniferous.  The 
supposed  pre-Cambrian  rocks  of  northern  Nova  Scotia  and  cape  Breton 
are  known  only  to  be  unconformably  below  the  Cambro  Silurian.  In 
this  district  not  only  are  the  igneous  rocks  apparently  more  abundant 
than  in  southern  Nova  Scotia,  but  the  folding  is  of  a  more  intricate 
character.  So  far  as  one  can  see,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  clastic 
series  to  the  north  is  not  of  the  same  age  as  the  Atlantic  coast  gold- 
bearing  series,  being,  perhaps,  more  metamorphosed  because  of  the  fold- 
ing and  presence  of  eruptive  rocks. 
Summing  up,  it  can  only  be  said  that  all  of  the  clastic  rocks  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  cape  Breton,  so  far  as  we  have  any  positive  evidence,  may 
belong  as  high  as  Cambrian,  as  stated  by  Fletcher  in  his  later  work,  or 
may  be  of  pre-Cambrian  age  and  the  equivalent  of  certain  one  or  more 
of  the  pre-Cambrian  series. 
SECTION   VI.      NEWFOUNDLAND. 
LITERATURE. 
Jukes,06  in  1843,  divides  the  lower  formations  of  Newfoundland  in 
descending  order  into  an  upper  slate  formation,  a  lower  slate  forma- 
tion, and  a  gneiss  and  mica  slate  formation.  The  igneous  rocks  con- 
sist of  various  kinds  of  tra}),  greenstone,  serpentine,  hypersthene,  por- 
phyry, syenite,  and  granite.  The  upper  slate  formation  is  believed  to 
be  lower  than  the  coal  formation,  although  nowhere  found  in  contact 
with  it.  The  thickness  of  the  upper  slate  must  be  many  hundreds  of 
feet.  In  one  instance  beds  of  upper  slate  rest  unconformably  upon 
those  of  the  lower  slate  formation.    The  mica  slate  and  gneiss  or  quartz 
