GEOLOGIGAL FEATURE. 135 



ever, not free from interruption, as the primitive 

 frequently recurs, and indeed forms one of the 

 most north-easterly islands of the group ; but 

 there the rocks of this nature are by no means 

 so elevated as those of similar formation to the 

 westward. Such appears to be the general con- 

 formation of the northern face of the island. 



Wherever the rocks upon the western coast 

 have been examined, they have been found al- 

 most exclusively primitive. Mr. Scoresby, in 

 his " Arctic Regions," has given a list of some 

 specimens which he collected on this coast in 

 the vicinity of King's Bay; from which it ap- 

 pears that gneiss, mica slate, and quartz rocks, 

 principally composed the mountains of that part 

 of Spitzbergen, but he met with no true granite, 

 nor any secondary formations. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Fair Haven we found perfect gra- 

 nite, as upon Dane's Island, and on the eastern 

 side of South Gat ; but still there were no se- 

 condary rocks, which appear first about Red 

 Bay. Captain Phipps states, that he met with 

 marble upon Amsterdam Island, which dissolved 

 readily in marine acid. We were not equally 

 fortunate ; our specimens from that island were 

 red felspar and compact actinate, quartz rock 

 striped black by mica, and a coarse-grained gra- 

 ■nite. Our list of specimens from this part of 



