%:% : LIFE SIR WILLIAM E. LOGAN, It., LL.D., F.E.S., F.G-.S., &c. first director of the geological survey of canada. Chiefly Compiled feom his Letters, Journals and Reports. BERNARD J. HARRINGTON, B.A., Ph.D., PROFESSOR 01' MINING IN M'GILL UNIVERSITY ; LATE CHEMIST AND MINERALOGIST TO THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OP CANADA. WITH. STEEL PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. EonBon SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET. 1883 6 PREFACE. rPHE task of preparing a biography of Sir William Logan was not a self-imposed one, and was only undertaken with feelings of great delicacy. There are those who knew him longer and more intimately, and who might have done far better justice to his memory. But the work having been entrusted to me, I have endeavoured to discharge it faithfully. My aim has not been to write a eulogium or yet a lengthy criti- cism of Sir William, but rather to bring together such of his own words as will recall him to the minds and hearts of old friends, or enable those who were not privileged with his acquaintance to form for them- selves an estimate of his character and work. Canadians cannot afford to forget the name of oije who laboured so long and so earnestly to promote the interests of this his native land, and if the following pages in any way serve to keep green the memory of Sir William Logan, their compiler will feel more than repaid. We have plenty of Canadians able and willing vi. PREFACE. to work for themselves, but too few who, like Logan, are willing to work for Canada. My grateful acknowledgments are due to Professor Geikie, now Director-General of the British Geological Survey, for information incorporated in the text ; to Alexander Murray, Esq., C.M.G., Director of the Geo- logical Survey of Newfoundland, for reminiscences of Sir William ; to Dr. John Percy, F.R.S., of London, for his estimate of Sir "William's work ; to Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., for the reminiscences given on page 388 ; and to Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, who has kindly given me the benefit of his advice on a number of points about which I was in doubt. I would also express my indebtedness to Dr. Dawson, for notes on the ori- gin of coal, for the use of a number of wood-cuts, and for his article on the Quebec Group. The latter was kindly prepared by him to serve for my assistance and guidance ; but I was unwilling to mutilate it, and with his permission have given it in full as an Appen- dix (A). My sincere thanks are due to Dr. Selwyn, Sir "William's successor, for the use of note-books and of a number of wood-cuts ; to Mr. G. R. Grant, one of Sir William's executors, for his unvarying courtesy and kindness in placing at my disposal letters, jour- nals, etc. ; and, among others, to my friend Professor C. E. Moyse, of McGill College, for advice and assistance in revising the proof sheets of the earlier chapters PREFACE. vii. The information concerning the origin of the Geolo- gical Survey of Canada is chiefly derived from Scobie's' Almanac. Most of the illustrations scattered through the volume are copies of pen-and-ink sketches with which the pages of Sir William's note-books and jour- nals abound. They have been reproduced on wood by Mr. W. H. "Walker, of Montreal. The steel portrait forming the frontispiece is from a photograph by Notman, taken in 1869. It represents Sir William in his graver moments, and fails to give an idea of the humour and brightness which so often pervaded his countenance. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE BIRTH AND BOYTHOOD, 1 CHAPTER II. LIFE IN LONDON, . ..... 12 CHAPTER III. LIFE IN LONDON (Continued), 32 CHAPTER IV. COPPER-SMELTING AND COAL-1IINING, .... 52 CHAPTER V. STIGMARIA, 62 CHAPTER VI. CANADA REVISITED, 72 x. CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGE PENNSYLVANIA AND NOVA SCOTIA, . .101 CHAPTER VIII. ORIGIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SDRVET OF CANADA, . 122 CHAPTER IX. GASPE EXPLORATIONS, 1843, 143 CHAPTER X. GASPE EXPLORATIONS, 1844, 177 CHAPTER XI. EVENTS IN 1845 AND 1846, 227 CHAPTER XII. EVENTS OF 1846-53, . i . .254 CHAPTER XIII. THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 282 CHAPTER XIV. THE PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1855, AND ITS FRUITS, . 297 CHAPTER XV. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. — LAURENTIAN. — QUEBEC GROUP, 324 CONTENTS. xi. CHAPTER XVI. PAGE EXHIBITION OP 1862.—PRECARIOUS EXISTENCE OF THE SURVEY.—EOZOON CANADENSE, ... 346 CHAPTER XVII. CLOSING TEARS, 382 APPENDIX A.—THE QUEBEC GROUP. By Principal Dawson, C.M.G., F.R.S., 403 APPENDIX B.—LIST OF PAPERS, REPORTS, Ac. , . 419 LIST OP ILLUSTEATIONS. PORTRAIT OF SIR W. E. LOGAN, from a Photograph by Notman, taken in 1869, Frontispiece. WOODCUTS. PAGE ST. GABRIEL STREET CHURCH IN 1839, .... 3 CLARKSTONE, from a Sepia Drawing by Logan, to face 27 STIGMARIA ROOTS OF ERECT SIGILLARIA. After Dawson, 63 SIGILLARIA, WITH STIGMARIA ROOTS. After R. Brown, 69 ISLE PERCFiE, sketched from the Steamer "Unicorn." (Logan's Journal, . 1840), . 77 INCLINED PLANE ON THE PHILADELPHIA AND BALTI- MORE RAILWAY, LOOKING DOWN TOWARDS PHILA- DELPHIA. (Logan's Journal, 1841), ... .105 AMPHIBIAN FOOTPRINTS, DISCOVERED BY LOGAN AT HORTON BLUFF, NOVA SCOTIA. After Dawson, . 117 MY TENT. (Logan's Journal, 1843), 152 LITTLE BON AMI COVE, SHOWING CLIFFS OF THE GASPF, LIMESTONE, 700 FEET HIGH. (Logan's Journal, 1843), . 157 xiv. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE SUPPOSED WORM-TRACKS FROM GASPE SANDSTONE. After 161 Logan, . ... SECTION NEAR MOUTH OF GRAND RIVER, GASPE. After Logan, . ... .168 SKETCH AT CAPE MAQUEREAU, NEAR JUNCTION OF LOWER AND UPPER SILURIAN. (Note Book, 1843), 169 NEAR CAPE CHATTE, LOWER ST. LAWRENCE. (Logan's . 187 Journal, 1844), ... VIEAV ON THE CHATTE. (Logan's Journal, 1844), . 195 PORTRAIT OF LOUIS. (Logan's Journal, 1844), . 207 PILLAR SANDSTONES OF TOURELLE, LOWER ST. LAW- RENCE. (Note Book, 1844), . 217 BEDS OF CORRUGATED LIMESTONE IN SHALE, CAPE GASP:E. (Geology of Canada, p. 392), . 220 RESTORATION BY DR. DAWSON OF PSILOPHTTON PRINCEPS, . 225 COLUMNAR TRAP IN UPPER COPPER-BEARING SERIES. (Note Book, 1846), . 248 TRACKS FROM BEAUHARNOIS. (Geology of Canada, p. 104), 273 VIEW ON THE ST. LAWRENCE, NEAR QUEBEC. (Note Book, 1854), . ... 277 PITCHER PLANT. (Logan's Journal), . 280 HAMILTON'S FARM, ON THE RIVER ROUGE. (Note Book, 1858), . 330 AN ERRATIC, sketched by Logan, . .337 CONTORTED GNEISS BANDS IN LIMESTONE. (Geology of Canada, p. 27), ........ 340 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xv. PAGE GRAPTOLITES FROM THE QUEBEC GROUP . .342 " EOZOON CANADENSE. (Dawson—The Dawn of Life,") . 366 EOZOON CANADENSE. After Dawson, 367 ROCKFIELD, SIR WILLIAM'S RESIDENCE AT "LOGAN'S FARM." From a Photograph by Henderson, . to face 380 CHAPTEE I. BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. TN the County and Parish of Stirling, not far from the -*- old Castle of that name, there lived, more than a century ago, one James Logan. He was married to Miss Margaret Edmond of the same neighbourhood, and between 1*756 and 17*72 she bore him six sons and three daughters. But death made sad inroads upon his household, taking one after another of his little ones from him, until but two sons and two daughters remained. William, the elder of the surviving sons, was born in the Parish of Stirling on the twenty-fourth of September, 1759, while Hart, the youngest of the family, was born on the twelfth of January, 1772. According to the records of the Parish of Stirling, the father was a burgess, and followed the calling of "baxter," or baker. But, like many other Scotchmen, he thought to better his fortunes in the New "World, and, taking his wife and two sons with him, sailed for America, probably about 1784. He found his way to Montreal, established a large bakery there, and, with wise forethought, purchased considerable property in — 2 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH. [1794-98. the vicinity of the city. In the last decade of the century we find him comfortably settled on his farm, his elder son managing the bakery, while the younger was carrying on a prosperous importing trade.* In the spring of 1*794, Miss Janet E. Edmond, of " Conniehill," near Stirling, niece of Mrs. James Logan, left her Scottish home, and more than one admiring suitor, for Canada. Hither she came to be married to her cousin, Mr. "William Logan. Years before they had been more than friends in the old country, and now were to be more than lovers in the new. Husband and wife, father and mother, the time-honoured sequence was theirs, and, as years rolled on, they became the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters. The third child, the subject of the present memoir, was born at Montreal on the 20th. of April, 1*798, duly "inoculated for small-pox," and christened as William Edmond Logan on the 16th. of the following month, in the quaint little Presbyterian church which still stands on St. G-abriel Street. The father seems to have fully appreciated the value * It has been frequently stated that Sir William Logan's grandfather was one of the Loyalists who, at the time of the American Eevolution, retained their allegiance to the British Crown, and that he then removed from the neighbourhood of Schenectady, New York, to Montreal. Of this, however, we have not been able to find any good evidence. Sir William's grandfather and father were both born in Scotland, and we know that the family still resided there in 1772, and also that they were living in Montreal in 1785. Shortly after returning to Scotland in 1815, Sir William's father wrote to Mr.