214 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE. 



geological appendix, is shown on the present map. On the coast 

 of the mainland, west of the isthmus, the limestone formation 

 is found resting qn the granites of Lake Wittersted. Northwest 

 from the isthmus the southwest coast of Boothia presents a 

 range of granitoid hills, running northward, hut becomes 

 fringed by a low border of limestone near Cape Isabella, and 

 this increases in width to the north, till an extensive flat lime- 

 stone region is found in the vicinity of the magnetic pole.' 



At Bellot strait a junction* occurs between the granite and 

 horizontal beds of Silurian limestone. 



1 The entire western portion of Prince of Wales island is 

 composed of Silurian limestone, which in the extreme west, at 

 Cape Acworth, becomes chalky in character and non-fossilifer- 

 ous, resembling the peculiar Silurian limestone found on the 

 west side of Boothia Felix.' 



The northern and eastern shores of Worth Somerset are of 

 limestone, usually rising from the water in precipitous cliffs. 

 These were examined at Port Leopold, where the cliffs rise sheer 

 1,000 feet from the sea. The bedding of the limestone is very 

 distinct, and the face of the cliff has been sculptured by every 

 runlet, so that between the horizontal and vertical markings the 



J O 



cliffs resemble on a gigantic scale the fluted walls of a castle. 

 Fossils were collected from the lower beds of the cliff by 

 M'Clintock, but none were collected on the present voyage. 



Islands of Group IV. 



The discovery of the Silurian limestone of the southern cliffs 

 of North Devon and Cornwallis was made by Parry, while his 

 collection of fossils was supplemented by those found by the 

 Franklin search expeditions. Our knowledge of the geology of 

 Ellesmere was, previous to the Sverdrup expedition, mainly due 

 to the work of Feilden and De Ranee in connection with the 

 British expedition of 1875-76. Mr. P. Schei, the geologist who 



