APPENDIX. (continued 2)

To the westward of the height of land, the country on the banks of Dease River is more level, and few rocks in situ were seen, until within five or six miles of Bear Lake, where the stream flows through a chasm, whose sides are composed of a soft, fine-grained red sandstone, like that which occurs in the vale of Dumfries, in Scotland. Several ravines here have their sides composed of fine sand, inclosing fragments of soft sandstone.

About three miles from the mouth of Dease River we came to a limestone formation, which has been already noticed in the account of the geological structure of the shores of Great Bear Lake.

EASTERN CHAIN OF PRIMITIVE ROCKS.

The preceding part of the paper describing the rock formations which were noticed on the route of the expedition from Great Slave Lake down the Mackenzie along the shores of the Arctic Sea, the Coppermine, Great Bear Lake, and Great Bear River, being a distance of three thousand miles, I shall, by way of supplement, mention very briefly some of the more southern deposits.

The first I have to speak of is the chain of primitive rocks to which I have alluded in page 289, as extending for a very great distance in a north-west direction, and inclining in the northern parts slightly towards the Rocky Mountain Chain. Dr. Bigsby, in his account of the geology of Lake Huron says, that "The primitive rocks on the northern shores of that lake are part of a vast chain, of which the southern portion, extending probably uninterruptedly from the north and east of Lake Winipeg, passes thence along the northern shores of Lakes Superior, Huron, and Simcoe, and after forming the granitic barrier of the Thousand Isles, at the outlet of Lake Ontario, spreads itself largely throughout the state of New York, and there joins with the Alleghanies, and their southern continuations." It is not my intention to say any thing further of the rocks in the districts of which Dr. Bigsby speaks, although in travelling from the United States to Lake Winipeg the expedition passed over them. That zealous geologist has already given, in various publications, many interesting and accurate details of the formations on the borders of the great lakes; an account of those which lie some degrees farther to the north is inserted in the second volume of the Geological Transactions,—and there are some notices of them in the Appendix to the narrative of Captain Franklin's First Journey. My object at present is, merely to trace the western boundary of the primitive rocks in their course through the more northerly parts of the American continent.

I have already quoted Sir Alexander Mackenzie's original and important remark, of the principal lakes in those quarters being interposed betwixt the primitive rocks and the secondary strata, lying to the westward of them—Lake Winipeg is an instance in point. It is a long, narrow lake, and is bounded throughout on its east side by primitive rocks, mostly granitic, whilst its more indented western shore is formed of horizontal limestone strata. The western boundary of the primitive rocks, extending on this lake about two hundred and eighty miles, has nearly a north-north-west direction. From Norway Point, at the north end of the lake, to Isle à la Crosse, a distance of four hundred and twenty miles in a straight line, the boundary has a west-north-west direction. For two hundred and forty miles from Isle à la Crosse to Athabasca Lake, the course of the primitive rocks is unknown to me; but from Athabasca Lake to M'Tavish's Bay, in Great Bear Lake, a distance of five hundred miles, their western edge runs about north-west-by-west, and is marked by the Slave River, a deep inlet on the north side of Great Slave Lake, and a chain of rivers and lakes, (including great Marten Lake,) which discharge themselves into that inlet.

Captain Franklin on his voyage crossed this primitive chain nearly at right angles to its line of direction, in proceeding from Hudson's Bay to Lake Winipeg—it was there two hundred and twenty miles wide.

The hills composing the chain are of small elevation, none of them rising much above the surrounding country. They have mostly rounded summits, and they do not form continuous ridges; but are detached from each other, by vallies of various breadth, though generally narrow, and very seldom level. The sides of the hills are steep, often precipitous. When the vallies are of considerable extent, they are almost invariably occupied by a lake, the proportion of water in this primitive district being very great; from the top of the highest hill on the Hill River, which has not a greater altitude than six hundred feet, thirty-six lakes are said to be visible. The small elevation of the chain may be inferred from an examination of the map, which shows that it is crossed by several rivers, that rise in the Rocky Mountains, the most considerable of which are the Churchill and the Saskatchewan, or Nelson River. These great streams have, for many hundred miles from their origin, the ordinary appearance of rivers, in being bounded by continuous parallel banks; but on entering the primitive district, they present chains of lake-like dilatations, which are full of islands, and have a very irregular outline. Many of the numerous arms of these expansions wind for miles through the neighbouring country, and the whole district bears a striking resemblance, in the manner in which it is intersected by water, to the coast of Norway and the adjoining part of Sweden. The successive dilatations of the rivers have scarcely any current, but are connected to each other by one or more straits, in which the water-course is more or less obstructed by rocks, and the stream is very turbulent and rapid. The most prevalent rock in the chain is gneiss; but there is also granite and mica-slate, together with numerous beds of amphibolic rocks.

LIMESTONE OF LAKE WINIPEG.

To the westward of the chain of primitive rocks, through a great part, if not through the whole of its course, lies an extensive horizontal deposit of limestone.

Dr. Bigsby, in the Geological Transactions, has described, in detail, the limestone of Lake Huron, and is disposed to refer "the cavernous and brecciated limestone of Michilimackinac to the magnesian breccia, which is in England connected with the red marl;" whilst the limestones of St. Joseph, and the northern isles, he considers as more resembling the well-known formation of Dudley, in Staffordshire. The limestone of Thessalon Isle, in which there occurs the remarkable species of orthoceratite which he has figured, he describes as decidedly magnesian. I observed this orthoceratite in the limestone strata of one of the isles forming the passage of La Cloche in Lake Huron. The limestone deposits of Lake Winipeg and Cape Parry exactly resemble that of La Cloche in mineralogical characters, and in containing the same orthoceratite which was also found by Captains Parry and Lyon at Igloolik.

The colour of the limestone of Lake Winipeg is very generally yellowish-white, passing into buff, on the one hand, and into ash-gray on the other. A reddish tinge is also occasionally observed. Much of it has a flat fracture, with little or no lustre, and a fine-grained arenacious structure. A great portion of it, however, is compact, and has a flat conchoidal and slightly splintery fracture. This variety passes into a beautiful china-like chert. 1001, 1014Many of the beds are full of long, narrow vesicular cavities, which are lined sometimes with calc-spar, but more frequently with minute crystals of quartz. The beds of this formation seldom exceed a foot in thickness, and are often very thin and slaty. The arenacious and cherty varieties frequently occur in the same bed; sometimes they form distinct beds. The softer kinds weather readily into a white marl, which is used by the residents to whitewash their houses. Wherever extensive surfaces of the strata were exposed, as in the channels of rivers, they were observed to be traversed by rents crossing each other at various angles. The larger rents, which were sometimes two yards or more in width, were however, generally parallel to each other for a considerable distance.

Professor Jameson enumerates terebratulæ, orthoceratites, encrinites, caryophyllitæ, and lingulæ, as the organic remains in the specimens brought home by Captain Franklin on his first expedition. Mr. Stokes and Mr. James De Carle Sowerby have examined those which we procured on the last expedition, and found amongst them terebratulites, spirifers, maclurites, and corallines. The maclurites belonging to the same species, with specimens from Lakes Erie and Huron, and also from Igloolik, are perhaps referrible to the Maclurea magna of Le Sueur. 1015 1019 Sowerby determined a shell, occurring in great abundance in the strata at Cumberland-house, about one hundred and twenty miles to the westward of Lake Winipeg, to be the Pentamerus Aylesfordii.

The extent to the westward of the limestone deposit of Lake Winipeg is not well known to me; but I have traced it as far up the Saskatchewan as Carlton House, and its breadth there is at least two hundred and eighty miles. For about one hundred miles below Carlton House, the river Saskatchewan flows betwixt banks from one to two hundred feet in height, consisting of clay or sand, and the beds of limestone are exposed in very few places. The plains in the neighbourhood of Carlton abound in small lakes, some of which are salt. The country which the Saskatchewan waters for one hundred and ninety miles before it enters Lake Winipeg, is of a different kind. It is still more flat than that about Carlton, and is so little raised above the level of the river, that in the spring-floods the whole is inundated, and in several places the river sends off branches which reunite with it after a course of many miles. In this quarter the soil is generally thin, and the limestone strata are almost every where extensively exposed. To the southward of Cumberland House, the Basquiau Hill has considerable elevation. I had not an opportunity of visiting it; but in the flat limestone strata, near its foot, there are salt springs, from which the Indians sometimes procure a considerable quantity of salt by boiling; and there are several sulphureous springs within the formation.

I observed no beds of conglomerate in it, and no sandstone associated with it; but the extensive plains which lie betwixt Carlton House and the Rocky Mountains are sandy, and beds of sandstone are said to be visible in some of the ravines.

The line of contact of the limestone with the primitive rocks of Lake Winipeg, is covered with water; but at the Dog's-Head, and near the north end of Beaver Lake, they are exposed within less than a mile of each other. To the southward of the Dog's-Head in Lake Winipeg, and in a few other quarters, some schistose rocks, belonging to the transition series, are interposed between the two formations.

Before quitting the formations of Lake Winipeg, I may remark, that the height of that lake above the sea is perhaps equal to that of Lake Superior, which is eight hundred feet.

LIMESTONE OF THE ELK AND SLAVE RIVERS.

The next formation I have to mention is one which appears to possess most of the characters ascribed by German geologists to the zechstein. It extends from the north side of the Methy carrying-place down the Clearwater, Elk, and Slave Rivers, and along the south shore of Great Slave Lake to the efflux of the Mackenzie. The line I have traced was the route of the expedition, and is also very nearly that of the eastern boundary of the limestone. Primitive rocks occur in Lake Mammawee, Athabasca Lake, and on the Stony River; and on several parts of the Slave River they are separated from the limestone only by the breadth of the stream. On Great Slave Lake, the Stony Island, on the north-east side of the mouth of Slave River, is composed of granite, whilst the limestone strata are exposed at Fort Resolution on the south-west side.

The limestone in this extensive tract is commonly in thin and nearly horizontal beds, and much of it exactly resembles in mineralogical characters the dolomite and chert of Lake1027, 1028 Winipeg. It is interstratified with thin beds of soft white marl; and in a few places with a marly sandstone. Extensive beds of stinkstone also occur, and many beds of limestone containing fluid bitumen in cavities. The bitumen is in such quantity, in some quarters, as to flow in streams from fissures in the rock; and in an extensive district, around Pierre au Calumet on the Elk River, slaggy mineral pitch fills the crevices in the soil, and may be collected in large quantities by digging a well.

A calcareous breccia also exists in various places, particularly on the Slave River. Springs depositing from their waters sulphur, and sulphate of lime, slightly mixed with sulphate of magnesia, muriate of soda, and iron, are common and copious. A few miles to the westward of the Slave River, there is a ridge of hills several miles long, and about two hundred feet high, having several beds of compact, grayish gypsum exposed on its sides. From the base of this hill there issue seven or eight very copious, and many smaller springs, whose waters deposit a great quantity of very fine muriate of soda by spontaneous evaporation. The collected rivulets from these springs form a stream which is, at its junction with the Slave River, sixty yards wide and eight or ten feet deep.

1020 to 1026The organic remains, in this deposit, according a list kindly furnished by Mr. Sowerby, consist of spirifers, 1029 to 1032one of which is the spirifer acuta; several new terebratulæ, of which one resembles the T. resupinata, a cirrus, some crinoidal remains, and corals.

At the union of Clearwater and Elk Rivers, the limestone beds are covered to the depth of one hundred and fifty feet with bituminous shale.

I have stated, that on Slave River this limestone formation succeeds immediately to primitive rocks, but I am not acquainted with the rocks that lie to the eastward of it on the Elk River. The traders report that there are extensive deposits of sandstone on the eastern arm of the Athabasca Lake, and, perhaps, these sandstones extend nearly to Clearwater River. Sand covers the limestone on that river to the depth of eight or nine hundred feet, and the fragments of sandstone in it are large, numerous, and not worn.

The quantity of gypsum in immediate connection with extremely copious and rich salt springs, and the great abundance of petroleum in this formation, together with the arenacious, soft, marly, and brecciated beds interstratified with the dolomite, and above all, the circumstance of the latter being by far the most common and extensive rock in the deposit, led me to think that the limestone of the Elk and Slave Rivers was equivalent to the zechstein of the continental geologists. My opinion, however, on this subject is, from a total want of practical acquaintance with the European rock formations, of little weight; and several eminent geologists are, after an examination of the organic remains and mineralogical characters of the specimens brought home, inclined to consider the formation as analogous to the carboniferous or mountain-limestone of England.

As to the limestone formation of Lake Winipeg, I have no doubt of its identity with that occurring in the islands at the passage of La Cloche, in Lake Huron, and also with that at Cape Parry and at Cape Krusenstern, on the coast of the Arctic Sea. It is probable, also, that these four deposits belong to the same epoch with the limestone of Elk and Slave Rivers, although they differ in containing little or no petroleum. It is proper to mention, however adverse it may be to the opinion I have ventured to hint at above, of these extensive horizontal deposits of limestone being referable to the zechstein, that the limestone of Lake Huron is generally considered as belonging to the mountain-limestone; and Professor Jameson, from a review of the organic remains occurring in the Lake Winipeg deposit, considered that it also belonged to that formation. The formation of Cape Lyon may be, with less danger of a mistake, referred to the transition or mountain-limestone.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Sidenotes have been placed as closely as possible to where they appeared in the original.

Old spellings are retained, e.g. musquitoes, felspar, Esquimaux, kaiyacks, imbedded, incloses, inclosing, inquiry, inquiries, moveable, incrusted, trowsers, bivouack, referrible, teazing. Both vallies and valleys are used interchangably and this has not altered. Names with suffixes "Mc" or "Mac" written as "M'" throughout text; this convention is retained.

"a.m." and "p.m." are shown without an internal space—spaces have been removed where they were present. Usage was inconsistent, perhaps to improve justification of text. Internal spaces have also been removed from initials such as R.N., F.R.S., K.G., &c. to improve rewrap behaviour. Decimal points were occasionally denoted by commas. This convention is replaced by standard point notation throughout.

Lengthy quotations were denoted by a leading quotation mark in the first column of each line. They are replaced with standard opening and closing quotation marks for each quoted passage.

"Dog-Rib" Indians were sometimes referred to as "Dog-rib". Usage is now "Dog-Rib" throughout.

Specific corrections made to text are listed below. Note that examples are given after a colon and are the corrected text. All other printer's errors remain.

Page Comment

14,51,79"water-proof" changed to "waterproof".

16"depot" changed to "depôt".

17"Hudsons's Bay Company" corrected to "Hudson's Bay Company". "bat-/teau" corrected to "bateau" to be consistent with rest of text. Typo was across end of line hyphen.

24"Hudson's Bay-Company" corrected to "Hudson's Bay Company".

25"was dragged by other eight men" corrected to "was dragged by another eight men".

26"Riviere" corrected to "Rivière". "Hudson" corrected to "Hudson's"

27"or" corrected to "on": "live on dried provision".

28"depend" corrected to "depends".

29"chace" corrected to "chase". Whilst both forms are acceptable for the time, both were used in the book. The change makes everything consistent. See also page 65. "of" inserted: "under the roof of our hospitable friend".

30"Winnipeg" corrected to "Winipeg" to be consistent with rest of manuscript.

32,51"northwest" corrected to "north-west" for consistency.

34"eastermost" corrected to "easternmost".

39,53,65,96,202"day-light" changed to daylight".

42"sandbanks" changed to "sand-banks" for consistency with rest of manuscript.

45"least" changed to "lest": "lest the Esquimaux should come".

48,51"rein deer" corrected to "rein-deer" twice on this page to be consistent with rest of manuscript.

52,299"lydianstone" corrected to "lydian-stone".

49"Rocky mountains" capitalised to "Rocky Mountains".

52"occurence" corrected to "occurrence".

53"chissel" changed to "chisel": "ice-chisel". Inserted comma after "ice-chisel" to correct list punctuation.

54"Cannon-shot" changed to "Cannon-Shot" for consistency in place name "Cannon-Shot Reach".

56"where-ever" across end of line changed to "wherever" twice on this page.

62"skreening" amended to "screening": "screening us from the snow".

65"bag-pipes" to "bagpipes". "chace" corrected to "chase".

70"Chepewyan" corrected to "Chipewyan". "invariable" corrected to "invariably": "the needle almost invariably remained stationary".

77"temperature in the shade +8° 5'": odd use of minutes noted. It is not immediately obvious what is intended.

80"dimunition" corrected to "diminution".

83"canvass" corrected to "canvas": "waterproof canvas".

88"aud" corrected to "and": "iron-work, knives, and beads".

92"northeast" changed to "north-east".

94"Francois" changed to "François". "westermost" changed to "westernmost".

95"36' N" changed to "36' N.".

101"mall" corrected to "small": "so small a number".

109"mases" to "masses": "the larger masses".

111"Copper-mine" to "Coppermine": "the Coppermine River". "tatoed" to "tattoed": "men being tattoed".

112,119,130,132, 172,173,190"oomiacks" changed to "oomiaks".

117"liittle" to "little": "our little friend".

122"seperated" corrected to "separated".

124"ancle" amended to "ankle".

126"Dip" made lower-case "dip" since mid-sentence.

129"British chain" changed to "British Chain" for consistency.

132"visiters" corrected to "visitors".

132,148,152,190"oomiack" corrected to "oomiak".

146"ice chissel" changed to "ice-chisel".

147"and the main, that when" changed to "and the main than when" to correct typos.

148"Humphreys" changed to "Humphrys" to be consistent.

156"Capitalised start of sentence: "be killed? You are active". Added closing quotation marks after "depart instantly".

157"hair skins" changed to "hare skins" since "their dress consisting principally of hare skins" is noted on page 247.

160Degree symbol used instead of minute symbol. Correct form: "latitude 69° 34' & 69° 44' N."

163Comma changed to full-stop since it occurs at end of sentence: "white spruce trees. Our voyage amongst these".

166"Richard's" changed to "Richards'" since the governor was John Baker Richards. "island" changed to "Island": "Richards' Island".

167Comma changed to full-stop since it occurs at end of sentence: "intimidation and extortion. When the interview". "kaiyaks" changed to "kaiyacks".

173"harassing" changed to "harrassing".

174It is unclear whether these Eskimo words were meant to have oe or ae. The printer seems to have used the oe ligature indifferently for ae, as sometimes happened at this period. Cf. sertulariæ p. 179 etc. And the only such word in non-italic has ae: Narrakazzæ p. 266. At any rate, later writers certainly seem to have read them all as oe. "peechaw-ooloo" has a macron (overscore) diacritical mark on its final letter; this has been omitted.

177"ice-bergs" changed to "icebergs".

180"Wednesday 12th" changed to "Wednesday, 12th" to be consistent with other sidenotes.

184"grounded-ice" amended to "grounded ice".

185"K'Kinley" corrected to "M'Kinley": "Captain George M'Kinley".

189"sine" changed to "side".

190"ecstacy" changed to "ecstasy". "their wide boots" changed to "their wide hoods", cf. pp. 44, 110.

195"head-land" changed to "headland".

199"preservance" corrected to "perseverance". "from" changed to "form": "those which form its western shores".

200"short-voyage" changed to "short voyage". Comma changed to full-stop since it occurs at end of sentence: "south-east direction. We landed a little to the eastward".

202"head-lands" changed to "headlands".

204"closenes" corrected to "closeness".

207"lime-stone" corrected to "limestone".

208"deers-meat" corrected to "deer-meat".

211"semed" corrected to "seemed": "seemed to contain".

214"lime-stone" corrected to "limestone".

225"several of of them" changed to "several of them". Word was repeated across end of line. "dimunition" corrected to "diminution": "suffered some diminution".

226Comma changed to full-stop since it occurs at end of sentence: "on their route to Bear Lake. The ridges of hill".

227"ecstacy" corrected to "ecstasy".

230"68" changed to "66": 3 days ago they were at 67° 10', heading SW; the northernmost point of Great Bear Lake is at about 67°.

232"Thursday 24th" changed to "Thursday, 24th" to be consistent with other sidenotes. "I I therefore embarked" changed to "I therefore embarked"; repeat was across line break.

237"Krusensten" changed to "Krusenstern" since the latter is used in the rest of the text.

240"indvalids" corrected to "invalids".

244"extrordinary" corrected to "extraordinary" "Corona" corrected to "Coronæ".

245"+30.5 degrees." changed to "+30.5 degrees,".

246"re-appearance" corrected to "reappearance".

257"house" changed to "House".

261"depots" changed to "depôts".

268"sulphat" corrected to "sulphate": "crystals of sulphate of iron".

271"moses" corrected to "mosses": "is covered a foot deep, or more, by mosses".

274"off" corrected to "of": "at the bottom of the cliff".

278"sandsone" corrected to "sandstone".

279"sand-stones" corrected to "sandstones". "oscasionally" corrected to "occasionally".

280"clay-stone" to "claystone".

283"long;" changed to "long.;".

284"formation" corrected to "formations": "similar formations which occupy".

285"limetone" corrected to "limestone".

290"swells gently into a hill several feet high"; should this be "several hundred feet high"? "Horn Mountain" changed to "Horn Mountains". "sienities" changed to "sienites".

293"in some, reaches" changed to "in some reaches,". Footnote 36: "very-fine grained" changed to "very fine-grained".

295"specifind" corrected to "specified". "sphoeroidalis" corrected to "sphæroidalis". "corbrash" corrected to "cornbrash".

296Removed spurious opening quotation mark before "ramparts", thereby balancing quotation marks.

297"terrebratula" corrected to "terebratula".

303"coasted" changed to "coated".

308"othoceratites" changed to "orthoceratites".

318"Sowbery" changed to "Sowerby".