246 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 
side of baffin island, but no attempt has been made to develop 
any of the outcrops. 
molybdenite. flattened crystals of molybdenite have been 
found in many localities in the pegmatite veins penetrating the 
Laurentian rocks, but in no place has the quantity been suffi- 
cient for mining. 
There is no doubt that the combined areas of Carboniferous 
and Tertiary coals are very extensive, and that they would form 
a valuable addition to the mineral wealth of the Dominion if 
they were located in a more accessible region. Situated as they 
are in the northern Arctic islands, Where navigation is at all 
times uncertain and unusually perilous, it is very doubtful if 
they will ever prove of economic value. 
lignite. attention has been drawn to the occurrence of 
lignite of an excellent quality in the sand and clay deposits of 
Tertiary age along the northern and eastern shores of baffin 
island and on the east side of Bylot island. 
Little is known of these deposits, as the only information 
concerning them is derived from small float specimens picked 
from the beds of the streams that flow over these sands and 
clays. These lignites probably correspond to the bituminous 
coal found in the folded Tertiary rocks of the far north, and 
may prove to be quite extensive and of economic value, as the 
localities at which they have been found, although Within the 
Arctic circle, are by no means so dangerous of access as the coal 
beds of the north. 
coal.-the presence of extensive deposits of coal on the 
island north of Lancaster sound has already been mentioned in 
the discussion of the Carboniferous and Tertiary formations of 
the northern islands. The Carboniferous rocks cover all the 
Western islands of the Parry group, and extend northwesterly 
into the northwest part of Ellesmere. Parry first discovered 
coal in the cliffs at Winter harbour on Melville island, and used 
