arctic ISLANDS 125 
small glaciers in some of the larger valleys. These glaciers do 
not discharge icebergs. 
Prince of Wales island is separated from north Somerset by 
the narrow channel of Peel sound and Franklin strait. It is 
irregular in shape, being broken by a number of large bays. The 
greatest length, 175 miles, is from north to south, while the 
broadest part is 125 miles across. The northeast corner is occu- 
pied by crystalline rocks, the remainder being of limestone. In 
no place does the elevation of the interior plain exceed 500 
feet. 
King william island lies to the southward of Prince of Wales 
island in an angle formed by the northern coast of the continent 
and Boothia peninsula. It is described as a low barren island 
of limestone, of triangular shape, with a base seventy miles long 
on the northwest side, the other sides having each a length of 
nearly one hundred miles. The island is noted for the discovery 
on its shores of the bodies of several of the ill-fated members of 
Franklin's expedition, together with the record of Franklin's 
death and the crushing of the ships in the heavy ice off the 
northwest coast of the island. 
Victoria island is the third largest of the Arctic archi- 
pelago, its area being 74,400 square miles. Only the western 
and southern shores of this great island have been explored, and 
practically nothing is known of its interior. It is 450 miles 
long from northwest to southeast, and is over 300 miles across 
in the widest part. with the exception of a small area in the 
northwest, it is formed of Silurian limestone. The island is 
generally level, the greater part of it being well below an eleva- 
tion of 500 feet. 
Banks island is the most western of this group; it is separated 
from Victoria by the narrow Prince of wales strait. its 
greatest length from northeast to southwest is about 250 miles, 
while the average breadth is about 120 miles. The island is 
formed largely of the softer rocks of the Carboniferous, and is 
 
