VOYAGE TO THE BAY 17 



examine its condition. It was found to be in large cakes of 

 heavy rafted ice, too solid to penetrate at such a late date. 



Seahorse point is at the junction of the granites and 

 gneisses with the Silurian limestones. There is here a marked 

 difference between the southern limestone area and the northern 

 country, underlain by the crystalline rocks, with its typical 

 long, low, rounded hills, lying in roughly parallel ridges, and 

 separated by wide shallow valleys, dotted with lakes and ponds, 

 or filled with coarse boulder clay, with boulders scattered in 

 bewildering profusion everywhere. This land, although high 

 by contrast with the limestone country, seldom reaches an 

 elevation of 500 feet, and that only far inland. There is one 

 conspicuous peak, which rises like a great sugar loaf, far in- 

 land, its snow-capped summit of the lightest blue. 



The limestone country occupies all the southern part of 

 this great island, and also underlies the large islands of Coats 

 and Mansfield farther to the south. The same physical char- 

 acteristics prevail wherever the limestone is found. The low 

 shores are bounded by gradually deepening water, broken by 

 dangerous reefs that extend several miles from the land. The 

 country rises very slowly inland, from the shores, in a succes- 

 sion of low, broad terraces, each a few feet higher than the one 

 in front. These terraces are covered to a depth of several feet 

 by broken limestone, which affords perfect drainage, and in 

 consequence the surface is so dry that it will not even support 

 a covering of the hardy Arctic plants. This absence of vegeta- 

 tion leaves the monotonous light-yellow shingle quite unrelieved 

 by any dash of other colour, and the general view is one of dry 

 desolation, much worse than that of the hilly country. The 

 limestone region never reaches an elevation of one hundred 

 feet within walking distance of the shore. 



The ship lay-to during the night, among scattered pans of 

 ice, about five miles from the land, and in forty fathoms of 



