138 Report of the Brown-Harvard Expedition. 



to a beach 250 feet high. The extent of the slopes thus 

 formed must be several miles in breadth, and a mile or more 

 in upward direction. The higher rocks on this lower slope 

 are more rough, broken, and weatherworn, interspersed with 

 a great deal more of vegetation ; and some large stretches 

 exist where an abundant soil and its growths reach down 

 close to the sea. But a very large proportion of these lower 

 rocks are as smooth as if the sea had just receded from them, 

 are almost as bare of vegetation, and are tumbled together in 

 huge masses, ridge rising above ridge, of a perfect hummocky 

 shape. This part of the mountain presents a magnificently 

 impressive landscape. 



"The intervening plain, perhaps half a mile in width in 

 places, is composed of a pebbly floor covered with charac- 

 teristic Arctic vegetation. A number of small ponds lie upon 

 it. It may have been formed by sea action, thus marking the 

 upper limits of submergence ; or it may be the washings down 

 from the higher parts of the mountain. From it the final 

 peaks rise steeply. They are composed of rocks of the same 

 hummocky formation as below, but have their outlines much 

 softened, both because of the greater steepness and because 

 the sea has never risen over them to remove the glacial de- 

 posits. We found a number of long, steep snow drifts, which 

 were of assistance in climbing up. As we approached the 

 top. a rosy tinge on dark leaden clouds showed that the sun 

 was not yet set. A few gentle showers fell before we de- 

 scended. From the top the view was a wonderful one. Just 

 under the peak beyond us was a large lake, probably nearly 

 half a mile in diameter, containing an island, and with a few 

 jutting points reaching into it. In the northwest, though it 

 was already nine o'clock, the sun was just setting in a bank 



