collected by Captain Parry. 13 



specimens the appearance of being one of tlie constituent in- 

 gredients of the rock. Other masses from Possession Bay, are 

 hornblende rock, with disseminated garnets ; greenstone, ap- 

 parently primitive, and a greenish grey sandstone more or less 

 impregnated with oxide of iron. There are a few other varieties 

 of sandstone, one of which, more or less streaked with reddish- 

 brown, has all the characters of and may possibly belong to 

 the bunt-sandstein of Werner ; especially as there are accompa- 

 nying specimens of fibrous and fletz-gypsum, whicli formation 

 is generally found with and resting upon the second or varie- 

 gated sandstone, and is often overlaid by shell limestone. 

 Of this last-mentioned variety of fletz limestone, there is a 

 specimen among those collected in the valley of Possession 

 Bay, by Mr. Fisher. This gentleman, it is observed, found 

 that valley to consist partly of basalt ; but I have not seen any 

 specimens of this rock among the fragments obtained in that 

 place. The other rocks from that quarter which have fallen 

 under my observation, are chiefly primitive, viz., granite, gneiss, 

 and some mica slate, with hornblende and quartz rock. They 

 exhibit nothing new or remarkable in their oryctognostic cha- 

 racter. The several varieties of granite differ from each other 

 only in the varying proportion of the usual component parts, 

 in their grain and colour. Both the gneiss and mica slate 

 contain small imbedded garnets, and to the latter of these may 

 be referred a micaceous mass, enclosing grains and amorphous 

 masses of noble garnet, intermixed with a yellowish white 

 substance, which seems to be compact feldspar. Another 

 substance from Possession Bay which deserves to be noticed, is 

 a variety of fibrous limestone, not inferior in lustre, when 

 polished, to the satin spar of Cumberland. 



Compared with these rock specimens from the western coast 

 of Baffin's Bay, those gathered on the coasts where Captain 

 Parry's discoveries commenced, seem to indicate a considerable 

 diflPerence in the respective geological features of those tracts. 

 The north coast of Barrow's Strait, as far westward as the 

 Polar Sea, and part of the eastern coast of Prince Regent's 

 Inlet, appear to exhibit a character belonging to those more 



