which we now have of the geology of the province as a whole, is such as to show that when similar means of travel and transport shall be extended to what are still the more inaccessible districts, these also will prove to be equally rich in minerals, and particularly in the precious metals, gold and silver.

"It is true that we have even in the southern part of the province to chronicle as yet merely the inception of "quartz mining," but so much has (even already) become known, and the deposits discovered in many cases carry ores of such high grade, that I feel no hesitation in stating my belief that the district is now on the verge of an era of mining activity of great importance. The establishment of mining centres in different parts of the country, will react on all other industries, and in particular will supply just that local demand for produce which is required by the somewhat scattered character of the agricultural lands.

"I must also add that in comparing the degree of settlement, cultivation and progress of the ranching industry in the portion of British Columbia here particulariy referred to, with that of these industries at the time of my previous work in the same district eleven years since, evidence is everywhere apparent of substantial progress. I was particularly struck with the fact that even in the higher and more secluded valleys settlers are now taking up land and finding that crops may be successfully grown and stock raised, where in the more easy-going early years of the province no one would have attempted either. With this particular fact in evidence, it is worth calling renewed attention to the circumstance that in the further northern parts of British Columbia, particularly in the basin of the Nechacco and its vicinity, there exist relatively extensive tracts of low cultivable land. It would appear that the time has now almost arrived when the settlement of these may be undertaken with advantage."

Cost of season's work was about $1,950.

On the seaboard of British Columbia Mr. Amos Bowman commenced field work in New Westminster District on the 1st of April, continuing to the end of August. The area delineated comprises a rectangle of a degree of latitude lying north of the 49th parallel, and three degrees of longitude lying eastward from the Gulf of Georgia to the canon of the Fraser. In this region are situated the cities of Westminster and Vancouver. It includes the delta of the Fraser, and also the much larger pleistocene delta of that stream. A considerable expanse of lignite-bearing Tertiary, and also of bituminous coal bearing rocks of Cretaceous age, occur in this region, the two series presenting a system of outliers and ranges flanking the higher coast mountains of granite.

In May and June the limits of the Tertiary were traced, first south of the Fraser, commencing at Mud Bay (Semihamoo) and thence eastward to the Chilliwack River Mountains. The same rocks were then delineated (and incidentally others) on the north side of the Fraser, especially in the vicinity of Westminster and Vancouver.

Workable beds of lignite and coal, in the older as well as in the newer series of rocks, are believed to exist, and will be developed when prospecting for them by boring, or drifting to depths beyond atmospheric influence, is undertaken. In the adjacent United States territory the same rocks have been more extensively prospected, and in several places where exploited, show every indication of the prevalence and continuance of favorable coal making conditions along the whole eastern or mainland side of the Puget Sound and Fuca Strait, from the southern extremity of the former as far northward as the valley of the Fraser-in other words, on the Westminster side of the trough as well as on the opposing Vancouver Island side. The older or Cretaceous series of rocks are extensively developed in Canadian territory in the Harrison Lake district, and in the south-eastern portions of the field described.

The quantity of Tertiary coal or lignite which may be developed by means of judicious boring operations in the vicinity of Westminster and Vancouver, can only be conjectured by the experience at Bellingham Bay, which furnished one of the earliest examples of profitable coal mining on the Pacific Coast; the basin there and its rocks being continuous, it may be fairly inferred that the coal seams are so also.

Although coal has been found in very many localities north of the international boundary-line in the Tertiary delta of the Fraser, in only two instances have attempts been made, by sinking or boring, to prove the thickness of the seams at depths where they would be uninfluenced by atmospheric weathering, and in both instances without adequate capital-at Coal Harbor (Vancouver) by a boring, and at Sumas Mountain by an incline. The results, so far as they go, are by no means discouraging.

The quality of this Tertiary coal is somewhat superior to that of Mount Diable in California, which has there served a most useful purpose.

The conditions now existing, which justify prospecting by boring operations, and mining lignite for local use, are its cheapness, and a local market greatly extended beyond that heretofore, existing which would enable it now to successfully compete for many purposes with coal transported from Vancouver Island.

Proximity to croppings of seams known and considered to be more or less promising, so as to test these at a distance from the surface, would be the first consideration in selecting sites suitable for boring operations. Otherwise located, a bore hole might be put down very widely astray, and might succeed only in testing a theory; but thus guided the bore could not fail to test the ground in association with the seam or seams in question to the depths explored.

The thickness of the measures desirable to be tested in the same connection will of course govern the depth of the bore in any given locality. The entire series exposed in the vicinity of Burrard Inlet is not far from 3,000 feet in thickness. But all these beds, except some unknown, possibly underlying ones, come to the surface; those exposed nearest to the Inlet being at the bottom and those nearest to Fraser River at the top of the series. A bore near Port Moody, say at the terminus of the "North Road" would test the lower series; but could reveal nothing respecting the next overlying strata, which at that place have been removed by denudation. To test these it would be necessary to go as far up the coal ravine of the "Gravel Pit" (nearly opposite the north arm of Burrard Inlet, known also as camp No. 2, and the "Italian camp," on the railway) as it would be possible to haul the boring machinery. The same rocks would be far below the surface at Burnaby Lake, and probably several thousand feet beneath the city of Westminster.

A very short incline, shaft or tunnel, might test the ground satisfactorily in one place, while a bore of several hundred feet might suffice at another; the choice being determined by the contract price. Sinking by shaft necessitating pumping of water would be undertaken only after the ground has been tested, and proved to justify that expense.

Boring for water, a question of present public interest, is quite another problem, if the water be looked for in the porous gravelly or sandy strata overlying the ccal, as at Westminster. In a bore there, for an artesian well, a depth of from one to two thousand feet would have to be attained before any coal yet found could enter into consideration at all; and at such depth, even if found in that vicinity, it could not be profitably worked.

Cretaceous coal measures already referred to, lie probably too deep in the littoral district under consideration to be reached by boring, except possibly in certain localities along the south shore of Burrard Inlet where a bore would probably go through some shore edges of the Cretaceous before reaching the underlying granite; such as opposite the valleys of the North Arm and of Pitt River, both of which may represent arms of the Cretaceous sea.

Any point between the smelting works and the terminus of the "North Road," would be suitable for a bore to search for the deep lying Cretaceous coal measures in this vicinity. That of the coal croppings on Hastings town site, half a mile west of Hastings, is as favorable as any other; and presents, in addition, the inducement of connected and interesting developments in the Tertiary series.

At Sumas Mountain, and at the Warnock-Kanaka Creek Mountain, the Tertiary coal, so far as known, lies near the botton of the series. Kanaka Creek presents a

favorable locality for test by boring in the line of the ancient valley of the Lillooet River.

Two series of coal seams come to the surface on opposite sides of the city of Vancouver. The coal measures occupy the whole of Stanley Park, and also immediately underlie the city. By means of a bora of over 400 feet put down near Granville Hotel, Vancouver, nearly twenty years ago, some lower beds of the series coming to the surface in Stanley Park have been proved to be either noncontinuous or barren. But the seams which have given Coal Harbor its name more probably escaped the investigation of the prospectors altogether, from the circumstance that the locality selected appears to have presented only strata overlying the coal. The upper coal croppings of Brewery Creek, and other localities on the south side of False Creek, do not anywhere extend to the northward of False Creek. They could be conveniently intersected by a bore on the line of the False Creek trail to Fraser River, which could be so located as to reach the coal at any desired depth below the surface.

Cost of season's exploration was $1,216.05.

Mr. R. G. McConnell, who left Ottawa on the 22nd April, 1887, and crossed from the Yukon to the Mackenzie River, where he passed the winter, as mentioned in the summary report for 1887, returned to Ottawa on the 15th of October last, and now furnishes the following statement respecting this exploration:

"I separated from Dr. G. M. Dawson at the mouth of Dease River, on the 25th June, 1887, and commenced the descent of the Liard the next day, accompanied by two white men, John McLeod and Louis Trêpanier, and a couple of Indians who had agreed to go as far as the Devil's Portage but became frightened at the first rifle and could not be induced to go farther.

"The evil reputation of this river has not been exaggerated, and it requires careful steering and hard work to navigate it with safety. It is constantly interrupted with rapids and hemmed in by narrow canons which render frequent portages necessary. The most dangerous part of the river is included between the Little Canon and Hell Gate. In this distance of about one hundred miles it has a fall of over a thousand feet, and in high water is simply one long cascade.

"The two longest portages are the Portage Brulé, two miles, and the Devil's Portage, which is four miles long and passes over a steep wooded hill 1,000 feet high. At the latter portage we were obliged to abandon our wooden boat owing to its weight and the impossibility of getting it across the portage, and rig up a small sixteen feet canvass boat with which we shot the remainder of the rapids. Escaping through Hell Gate the rapids are left behind, and from that on to near its mouth the river is free from any obstacles to navigation.

"Two days after reaching smooth water I met some Hudson Bay voyageurs going to Dease River, and I took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded of sending my men back to the coast while there was still time for them to get out the same season. After the separation I drifted down alone to Fort Liard, and obtaining there, after a short delay, a bark canoe and an Indian boatman, proceeded to Fort Simpson where I arrived on the 5th August.

"At Fort Simpson I met Mr. Cummings who had charge of the Mackenzie River district in the absence of Mr. Camsell, the chief factor, and made arrangements with him for wintering at Fort Providence, a fur trading post belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, situated on the Mackenzie River, about forty miles below Great Slave Lake. From Fort Simpson I took passage on board the Hudson Bay Company's steamer" Wrigley" to Fort Smith on Slave River, and embarking there in a bark Canoe with a couple of Indians I spent the remainder of the season on Slave River, Salt River, and Hay River, and in coasting round part of the north side of Great Slave Lake, reaching Fort Providence again about the 1st October, where I was hospitably received and treated during the winter by Mr. John Reid, the officer in charge.

"Exploratory work was necessarily suspended during the greater part of the winter, but rough traverses were made at intervals to Lake Bis-tsho, Fort Rae and

other places in the vicinity of Fort Providence, and while staying at the post the work of the preceding summer was platted and a complete set of meteorological observations recorded.

"I left Fort Providence on the 1st of May, travelling on the ice with dogs, and reached Fort Simpson on the 6th, where I remained until the river became sufficiently free from ice to allow travelling by boat.

"The river broke up on the 13th of May, but continued full of drift ice all the month. On the 28th of May, having had a boat built at Fort Simpson in the meantime, I left that post accompanied by two Indians, and spent about a month descending and examining the valley of the Mackenzie as far as the mouth of the Peel, and in ascending the latter river to Fort McPherson. Here a delay of a few days was caused by the non-arrival at the appointed time of the Mackenzie River boat, on which I depended for some supplies. The delay, was, however, utilized in making a short trip up Rat River to the mountains, and being informed that neither boats nor canoes were to be had west of the mountains, but that the one I had used on the Mackenzie might be portaged across by taking it up Rat River and down a branch of Bell River on the other side, I sent five Indians to try and take it across.

"On the 12th of July, the Mackenzie boat not having arrived, and not knowing how long it would be delayed, I decided not to lose any more time waiting for it, and started across the mountains by the summer portage, reaching Lapierre's House on the 15th. This portage is about sixty miles long, and at the summit of the range attains an elevation of 2,500 feet. The walking is difficult and wide reaches covered with Tetes des Femmes alternating, with soft moss-covered muskegs, are met with all the way across. It is crossed by Indians carrying a load of forty pounds, besides supplies for the trip, in four days.

"Leaving Lapierre's House on the 16th July, with an ex employé of the Hudson's Bay Company, whom I engaged to go to the coast with me, we reached hampart House on the 20th and Fort Yukon, at the mouth of the Porcupine, on the 24th. From this point the coast and outside communication can be reached either by descending the river to St. Michael's, or ascending it to the head of the Lewes, nearly 1,000 miles, and crossing the coast range by the Chilkoot Pass. The former is by far the easier route, as the lower Yukon possesses a strong steady current and is free from dangerous rapids, but as it lay altogether outside of Canadian territory, I decided if possible to try and ascend the stream. To do this, however, in a short square-sterned boat, proved to be a matter of no ordinary difficulty. In many places neither tracking nor poling were possible, and progression was only attainable by clinging to the overhanging branches and pulling ourselves up foot by foot. Fortunately the men worked well and we arrived at Forty-mile Creek after a laborious trip of fifteen days. At this place, which is the head-quarters of the miners on the Yukon, I had a suitable boat built, and the ascent of the upper part of the river was made without difficulty. We left Forty-mile Creek on the 14th August, and arrived at Chilkoot Pass on 15th September, Juneau on the 21st, and Victoria on the 1st October. The total distance travelled from the time I left the coast at Fort Wrangell until I rejoined it again at the head of Lynn Canal, was 4,200 miles, 3,200 miles by water and 1,000 miles on foot.

"The general results of the exploration have not been worked up yet, but will be given in the next report of the Survey. In the meantime it may be stated that the geographical results obtained include traverses of the Liard from Dease River to the Mackenzie, of the lower part of Hay River, and of Bell River and the Porcupine from Lapierre's House to Fort Yukon, and that over the whole route travelled in addition to the geological work, notes were taken on soils, trees, &c., and on the general capabilities of the country with regard to agriculture.

"During the past summer from two to three hundred men were engaged in working placer deposits on the Yukon and its tributaries, but owing to continued high water these proved much less remunerative than in the preceding years and the total yield of the district would probably not exceed $20,000. Mining and prospecting on the

Yukon has heretofore been confined entirely to river diggings and no attention has been paid to the extensive system of quartz veins and ledges which are found all along the river from the boundary up to White River, a distance of 150 miles, and which afford the greatest promise for the future. In the Mackenzie River valley the petroleum bearing beds were found to have a much wider distribution than expected, and although the distance from a market prevents the utilization of these at present, they will become exceedingly valuable in the future when the supply of oil from more accessible regions is diminished or exhausted."

The total amount paid during 1887 and 1888, on account of the exploration in the Yukon and Mackenzie districts, was $7,714 08, of which sum Dr. Dawson paid in 1887, in connection with his own and Mr. McConnell's explorations, $4,426.25, the balance, $3,287.83, being Mr. McConnell's expenditure for 1887 and '88.

Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, assisisted by Mr. D. B. Dowling, was engaged during the winter of 1888 in plotting and compiling the surveys of the valleys of the Assiniboine and its tributaries, and of the Duck and Riding Mountains, for the purpose of making a map of that hitherto almost unknown district. A profile map on a scale of eight miles to an inch, with 100 feet contour lines has been made and is now in the hands of the engraver, and will be published during the present winter. It will eventually form part of a larger map of north western Manitoba, the publication of which must now be delayed for a year on account of Mr. Tyrrell's illness during the past season.

During the season of 1887 a number of enterprising gentlemen of Manitoba sank an eight-inch bore hole on the banks of Vermilion River to a depth of 300 feet in the hope of obtaining a supply of petroleum. Mr. Tyrrell was then consulted and they were told that they would have to bore through Cretaceous shales to at least 420 feet below the surface, below which they would in all probability shortly strike the Devonian limestones. If petroleum was to be found, as far as there was any evidence to show, it would be in the beds immediately overlying this limestone. During the past summer the bore was sunk to a depth of 743 feet, the Devonian limestone having been struck at a depth of 422 feet, two feet below the depth stated by Mr. Tyrrell. Flows of salt water are reported from the well, but no petroleum or gas. During the summer Mr. Tyrrell was engaged in continuing the work begun in 1887 in north western Manitoba. The shores of Lakes Manitoba, Winnipegosis and small surrounding lakes were to be examined and as much of this work as possible was accomplished. The travelling in connection with the work in the west has up to the present been largely accomplished with the aid of horses and carts, but this summer most of the horses having been sold, two nineteen feet Peterboro' canoes were purchased and shipped to Westbourne where they were awaiting the party on its arrival. Mr. Tyrrell reports as follows:

"We left Ottawa on the 7th of June and proceeded at once to Winnipeg. Here & short time was spent in obtaining necessary supplies, which were at once shipped to Westbourne, whither Mr. Dowling had gone a day or two before to have all the camping outfit got ready for the summer, and if possible to obtain men. For this latter purpose, however, it was necessary to cross the lake to St. Laurent, where two canoemen were obtained.

"On the 13th June I left Winnipeg for Portage la Prairie, where Mr. W. R. Baker, General Superintendent of the Manitoba and North-Western Railway, kindly ordered a railway velocipede to be placed at my disposal. Proceeding by train westward to Minnedosa, I there obtained the velocipede and a man, and thus accompapanied examined all the cuttings on the railway between Minnedosa and Langenburg, and the material thrown out of the wells at and between the different stations.

"On this trip much useful information was collected, referring in the first place to the character, structure and mode of accumulation of the superficial deposits. The numerous small cuttings show that the surface is in part underlain by glacial till, in part by the sediment laid down in ancient lakes, and along the rivers, in