ELLS GRAHAM ISLAND 19 B

jams removed and the shallows dredged at the worst points it would be possible
to take up light draft stern wheel boats or scows as far as the mouth of
Wilson creek, which is only a mile from the outcrop of the coal; or to the
lake itself, where the east branch of the Yakoun comes in and where bor-
ing operations should be carried on in the valley of this stream to the
north of the Robertson camp outcrops. In this way, also, machinery for
sawmills, which will be very necessary for all contemplated mining opera-
tions, can be placed on the ground in the vicinity of both camps with com-
parative ease.

GENERAL GEOLOGY.

The formations found on Graham island may be considered under four
heads :—

J. Post Tertiary: including sands, gravels, and clays, the latter often
holding marine shells and pieces of lignite.

II. Tertiary: comprising shales, sandstone and conglomerate with beds
of lignite, fossiliferous,

III. Cretaceous: shales, sandstone and conglomerate, with thin lime-
stones, and with large deposits of bituminous coal which sometimes passes
into anthracite; also fossiliferous.

IV. Igneous rocks: comprising Pre-Cretaceous and later Tertiary.

POST-TERTIARY.

The general aspect of the sands, clays, and gravels has been well describ-
ed in the Report by Dr. G. M. Dawson, 1878-79, and lists of fossils collected
from them at different points have been given. It will be necessary, there-
fore, merely to give briefly the leading features relating to the formation.

Along the east and north coasts the surface deposits of clays and sands
are best exposed. The south and west coasts are rocky and generally
rough, with high hills rising almost from the sea-shore, and the Post-Ter-
tiary deposits, if ever deposited, have been largely removed.

Along the east and north shores, which are low, rock outcrops are rarely
seen east of the entrance to Masset inlet. Along this part of the coast,
sands and gravels abound, and are frequently underlaid by a hard tough
bluish-grey clay, which at a distance resembles a hard grey sandstone, and
from the lower part of which collections of marine shells were made by
Dr, G. M. Dawson in 1878, and were determined by Dr. J. F. Whiteaves.

These beds of clay and sand are exposed at a number of places, not
only along the shore line but in the interior, Their distribution has been
wide-spread. Among places where their relations can be well studied may
be mentioned the following :—

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