new red sandstone. It may in general be characterized as compact, splinty,
yellowish-grey limestone. It appears to contain a considerable portion of clay,
as most of the varieties adhere to the tongue when newly broken. Perhaps the
whole bed owes its origin to shells cemented together by argillaceous matter.
Many portions of it are almost entirely composed of bivalve shells; and even
the most compact kinds, when long exposed to the weather or to the action of
fire, shew traces of shells. It yields readily to the action of the weather, and
burns into a very white lime, but requires to be long exposed to the heat.
Its strata are in general horizontal; and where large beds of it are.exposed,
it is traversed by fissures crossing each other at right angles. When washed
by the rivers, too, it tumbles down in large cubical fragments, which soon
separate in the direction of the strata into thin layers. This is well exhibited
at the Grand Rapid near the mouth of the Saskatchawan, where there is a fine
section of it.
It may be proper here to take a general view of the extent of this formation
; and in so doing, to make a few general remarks upon the districts in
which we observed it, or through which we suspect it to extend. We obtained
specimens exactly similar to those in Lake Winipeg from Manito-baw Lake,
and were informed that it abounds much farther to the southward. In our
journey up the Saskatchawan, we traced it to the Neepewan, a distance of
three hundred miles, where it is succeeded or covered by calcareous clayey
cliffs, similar to those which preceded it on our route.
From this place to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the river flows through
a plain of fine sand. Its bed is about two hundred feet below the plain, and
it presents almost every where a regular gradation of three distinct banks,
shewing the height of the water at former periods. The channel of the river
is continually shifting, encroaching on the steep bank on one side, and forming
with its alluvia low flat points on the opposite shore.
Between the Neepewan and Carlton, the plains are interspersed with clumps
of wood; but above the latter place the dry sandy soil produces only a short
grass, which supports numerous herds of buffalo. The newer depositions beneath
the high bank contain more vegetable matter, and are covered with
willows, and occasionally with aspen trees. These plains are said to extend to
the Missouri, and to be interrupted by few hills. Two only of moderate height,
and even outline, were observed in the neighbourhood of Carlton, the limit of
our journey in this direction. The older traders relate, that many lakes have
dried' up on the plains since they first visited the country. The hollows are
annually partially filled by the melting snow, but the water filters away, or is
evaporated early in the summer. Many ponds or small lakes, however, still
remTahien .traders report that they have observed limestone in several of the
creeks that flow into the upper parts of the Saskatchawan; and it is probable
that the limestone formation not only extends through a vast portion of the
plains, but also that it runs parallel to the Rocky Mountains as far as M‘Ken-
zie’s River. Captain Franklin observed it on the Beaver River: it exists
abundantly and almost exclusively on the Clear Water and Elk Rivers; and
we found it again on the islands on the south side of Great Slave Lake. Between
this limestone and the Rocky Mountains, rocks of the coal formation
exist; beds 0f coal on fire having been known to the traders for many years on
the upper part ef the Saskatchawan and on M‘Kenzie’s River. These were the
only circumstances we could gather with regard to the western boundaries of
this formation. We touched more than once on its eastern boundary in the
course of our journey, but no where had we a good opportunity of observing its
geognostical relation to other rocks. The most singular circumstance attending
it is the entire exclusion of foreign beds. We never observed it associated
with any other rock, except perhaps on Elk River, where it appears
in contact with compact earthy marl, and slaggy mineral pitch, or bituminous
sandstone; and on the Copper-Mine River, where rolled fragments of a similar
stone were found connected with layers of dark flinty slate. The cliffs on the
west side of Lake Winipeg are from twenty to thirty feet high; and at the Grand
Rapid there is a section of it nearly sixty feet deep. It is here covered with a
very thin layer of soil, and its strata dip to the northward at an angle of 10°.
About Cumberland-House, the country is uniformly flat and swampy, but the
rock shews itself frequently above the surface. Its strata here are generally
horizontal, but on one place we observed it dipping to the northward at an
anAglbe oouft 4t0h°i.rty miles to the southward of Cumberland-House there is a round-
backed hill, named Basquiau, of considerable altitude, being visible at that
distance. It forms a long ridge with an even outline, but we had no opportunity
of examining it more nearly. There are several salt springs at its foot, 3T2