ARCTIC ISLANDS 129 



lead to the fiords of the east side of the island a short dis- 

 tance to the north of Cape Sabine, a place frequently visited by 

 the north Greenland natives. 



The Parry islands Cornwallis, Bathurst, Melville, Eglinton 

 and Prince Patrick all lie immediately north of the western 

 extension of Lancaster sound known in parts as Barrow strait, 

 Melville sound and McClure strait. These islands were first 

 discovered by Parry in 1819, but it was the diligent search 

 parties for Franklin that minutely investigated their shores, 

 making them the best known of all the Arctic islands. With the 

 exception of the southern part of Cornwallis, which is formed 

 from Silurian limestone, these islands are composed of softer 

 bedded rocks of the Devonian and Carboniferous. They possess 

 the same physical characteristics, and a general description 

 answers for all. The shore-lines are very broken, being deeply 

 <;ut by long irregular shaped bays. The land rises in cliffs from 

 400 feet to 700 feet high, to a plateau broken by many cross 

 ravines, which render travel in the interior difficult. The 

 general level of the interior is under 1,000 feet, and only rarely 

 does it rise above that altitude. In many places coal has been 

 found outcropping in the face of the cliffs of all the islands west 

 of Cornwallis. The practical impossibility of reaching these 

 coal fields precludes them from being counted among the eco- 

 nomic resources of Canada. 



The Sverdrup islands include Axel Heiberg, Amund Hinges, 

 Ellef Binges, King Christian and North Cornwall. With the 

 exception of the last named, these islands were discovered by 

 the Norwegian expedition on the Fram in 1899-1902. They 

 form a group lying to the west of Ellesmere and to the north of 

 the Parry islands. The largest, Axel Heiberg, lies close to the 

 west side of Ellesmere, and has the same physical characters 

 as those of the western side of the great island ; these are high 

 lands in the interior, composed of bedded rocks, and eruptives 

 with low, wide foreshore, where game is plentiful. 



