NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 349 



than that on the northern, and from it, on a clear day, a very extensive view of the island 

 towards the southward can he obtained. The coast on this side being much indented by 

 fjord-like inlets, the horizontal bedding of the rocks in which they are enclosed can be 

 distinguished, even at great distances, by the consequent terracing of the hillsides, which 

 is especially conspicuous on the shoulders and promontories. The heights of the ridges 

 appear to differ very little from each other, the effect produced being that of a vast table- 

 land quarried into deep indentations running down to the sea. Out of this plateau rise 

 many peaks of considerable altitude, and often so sharp and steep in outline that they 

 resemble volcanic cones. A nearer view of them, however, showed them generally to 

 consist of similar horizontally bedded rock; and it was impossible to avoid the impression 

 that they might be the remnants of a higher plateau, of which all but these peaks had 

 been removed by weathering and erosion. 



Fossil wood is found on the south side of Christma Harbour imbedded in the igneous 

 rock, and occurs in stumps and smaller branches. The colour varies from yellowish white 

 to chocolate-brown and black ; its hardness is also very variable, and even in the perfectly 

 white pieces there is still much organic matter remaining. The bark has been transformed 

 into a brown crystalline mass of greasy appearance, which effervesces with acid. The 

 inside of one rather large trunk, the core of which had probably rotted away, was entirely 

 filled up with a mass of igneous rock with elongated cavities filled with crystals. Pieces 

 of iron pyrites were occasionally observed. Parts that internally consisted of nothing but 

 trap-rock often presented on the outside the fibrous appearance of the simply silicified 

 wood ; the thickness of this rind, however, was insignificant. A species of brown coal 

 occurs on the south side of Christmas Harbour between two layers of basalt, and only 

 a few feet above the sea. It is practically of no use, being too poor to burn alone. 



Near the eastern point of Howe Island much amygdaloid was found, the geodes here 

 consisting almost exclusively of agate. The tops of the hills were thickly strewed with 

 those which, in the lapse of time, had been weathered out of the matrix. Many of these 

 presented a very striking appearance, one of the corners of the cast of the cavity having 

 been neatly planed off, and in some instances even highly polished, in others covered 

 with a natural etching of great beauty. The occurrence of these abraded faces may 

 furnish evidence of the recent prevalence of ice-action over the whole island. 



It is worthy of remark that, although amygdaloids are common along the north- 

 eastern side of the island, the nature of the geodes is different in different localities. In 

 Christmas Harbour they are almost exclusively zeolites; in Cumberland Bay those who 

 have visited it report numerous cavities in the rock filled with quartz crystals, and, 

 indeed, one of the promontories in it is called Crystal Point ; while at Howe Island the 

 silica with which the cavities were filled occurred entirely in compact masses of agate and 

 chalcedony. The cavities were usually quite full, the geodes being solid .and forming an 

 accurate cast of the cavity. Where this was not the case the interior presented a finely 



