200 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



GEOLOGY OF ISLAND GROUP II. 



This group is comprised of the great island of Baffin, with 

 Bylot island lying off its northeast corner, and the many smaller 

 islands which lie as a fringe around both. 



Geological specimens from the east side of Baffin were col- 

 lected by the expedition under Ross and Parry, and were 

 described by Dr. McCulloch. They consisted of loose specimens 

 collected in two localities, and give little information. Speci- 

 mens collected by Parry on the same coast were described by 

 Koning as gneiss and micaceous quartz rock, also some ambig- 

 uous granitic compound in which hornblende seems to enter as 

 a subordinate ingredient. 



Dr. P. C. Sutherland, in 1853, describes the east coast of 

 Baffin island between Lancaster sound and Cumberland gulf 

 as follows: ' On the opposite shore (south) of Lancaster sound, 

 at Cape Walter Bathurst, the crystalline rocks are again recog- 

 nized, and from this point they occupy the whole coast south 

 to Cumberland strait and probably considerably beyond it. To 

 this, however, I believe there is one exception, at 'Cape Durban, 

 on the 6Yth parallel, where coal has been found by whalers ; and 

 also at Kingaite, two degrees to the southwest of Durban, where 

 from the appearance of the land as viewed from a distance, trap 

 may be said to occur on both sides of the inlet. Graphite is 

 found abundant and pure in several islands situated on the 65th 

 parallel of latitude, in Cumberland strait, and on the west side 

 of Davis strait.' 



C. F. Hall brought home a considerable collection of rocks 

 and minerals picked up during his explorations about Frobisher 

 bay and the southeast coast of Baffin island. These were named 

 by Prof. B. K. Emerson^ and consist of ordinary Laurentian 

 rocks, including granite, gneiss and schists. The minerals were 

 magnetite, apatite, bornite and pyrite from Frobisher and 

 Cyrus Field bays. Lower Silurian limestones were found in a 



