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square miles, and is situated 130 miles northeast of Prince Rupert, or
about 180 miles by rail. The confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley rivers
at Hazelton lies in the northwest quadrant of the area. The district
includes the mineral claims on Ninemile, Fourmile, Glen, and Rocher
Déboulé mountains.

ACCESSIBILITY,

The Grand Trunk Pacific railway practically bisects the district in
making a 90 degree bend around the Rocher Déboulé mountains, giving
good shipping facilities to the different properties. The main trunk wagon
roads of the Skeena and Bulkley valleys run through the district and, with
branches to the various mining groups, furnish easy access to the railway.
An aerial tram is used by the Rocher De Boule Company from their
property on Rocher Déboulé mountain to the railway, a distance of 4
miles with a difference in altitude of over 5,000 feet, whereas the distance
by wagon road is 11 miles. Other properties on the mountain which
depend on roads or trails are considerably handicapped in their develop-
ment by the rugged character of the surface.

PHYSIOGRA PHY.

This district offers a striking contrast between the broad valleys of the
Skeena and Bulkley rivers and the abrupt, rugged topography of the
Rocher Déboulé group of mountains; this is well shown in Plate I.

The district lies immediately to the east of the Coast range of moun-
tains and is a continuation of the Interior Plateau country of southern
British Columbia; no indication of the plateau feature extends this far
north, but the country presents isolated groups of hills and mountains, of
various altitudes, some of which are subdued in type, whereas others are
extremely rugged; these groups are separated by broad valleys which
contain tumultuous streams, all of which are actively eroding and many
of which flow through canyons.

The main valleys have all been eroded in rocks which are very much
softer than those which form the hills; further, the cores of the hills are of
igneous rocks in small stocks and these have metamorphosed and hardened
the surrounding rocks, thus forming hard, resistant areas in a generally
soft country. The rivers worked their way around these areas, choosing
the paths of least resistance, ultimately forming the broad valleys and
leaving the isolated hills.

GLACIATION.

Valley glaciation has accentuated the topographic contrast by trun-
cating the spurs of the ridges and by filling up minor irregularities with
debris. The glaciers attained an elevation of over 5,500 feet and created,
or accentuated, a subdued topography up to that height (See Plate ITA).
Above the limits of the main glaciation is found a very rugged and serrated
topography produced by recent glaciation, and many of the small local
glaciers are still in existence, though they do not show much sign of activity.
In the Rocher Déboulé group this type of topography is exceptionally well
developed since the granodiorite lends itself to the formation of sharp
pinnacled arétes.

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