Section IV, 188Y. [ 7S ] Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada. 



VII. — 77*6 Geography and Geology of Baffin Land. 



By Franz Boas, Ph. D. 



(Communicated by Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, May 25, 1887.) 



lu 1883 and 1884 I visited Cumberland Sound, and in numerous journeys by boat 

 and sledge explored its coast, the lakes of the interior, and the coasts of Davis Strait and 

 Baffin Bay as far as lat. 70° N. My surveys coA'^ered about 1,800 miles of coast. I do not 

 intend to describe in detail the country that I visited, but I shall give a sketch of the 

 geography of the whole island. The west shore of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay is formed 

 by on^ large island, which is generally called " Baffin Land," though many other names 

 are applied to parts of it. It is separated from the American Continent by the narrow 

 Fury and Hecla Strait and by Hudson Strait, and forms the north-eastern boundary of the 

 Hudson Bay basin. It is by far the largest island of the archipelago of Arctic America, 

 its longitudinal axis being 1,025 miles. It is impossible to give an exact estimate of the 

 area, which, however, cannot be less than 215,000 square miles. That is to say, Baffin 

 Land is larger than Madagascar, but a little smaller than Borneo. 



In order to understand the outlines of the coast, we have to describe the orography of 

 the island as far as our imperfect knowledge of the country permits. 



From Cape Mercy, the south point of Cumberland Peninsula, an enormous narrow 

 range of mountains stretches towards the north-west and ends at the bold cliffs of Lan- 

 caster Sound. The western declivity is a low, hilly land, which slopes down to the 

 extensive plains of Fox Basin. Separated from these mountains by Cumberland Sound, 

 we find the plateau of Nugumiut, which attains the greatest height in its south-eastern 

 portion. Still further south, the highland of Meta Incognita forms a projecting peninsula 

 between Frobisher Bay and Hudson Strait. The south-western corner of Baffin Land is 

 formed by the highland of King's Cape. Between them the laud is lower. It is worth 

 remarking that the coast at the head of Frobisher Bay and Cumberland Sound is very low, 

 while the northern and southern coasts of the bays are formed by the declivities of high- 

 lands. In Home Bay we observe the same form of coast. The mountains of Cumberland 

 Peninsula and the northern parts of Baffin Land rtm in a direction south-east by north- 

 west, but in Home Bay the coast takes a northerly direction. There we find a break in 

 the mountain ranges, and low land extends to the coast of Baffin Bay. It appeal's that this 

 formation is characteristic of the west side of the system of straits from Robeson Chan- 

 nel to Labrador. Hudson Strait, Frobisher Bay, Cumberland Sound, Home Bay, and 

 Eclipse, Lancaster, Jones and Hayes Sounds separate systems of mountains which are from 

 an orographical point of view independent of each other. Our knowledge of the geology 

 of these ranges is too slight to permit an explanation of the analogous formations occurring 

 over so wide an area. We know that the steeper declivities of Kingnait, the plateau of 



