Geological Formation of the Land. 217 



' ' Polaris " survivors of the dimensions of the floe on 

 which they drifted down to the coast of Labrador, 

 its circumference, when they started, was five miles, 

 which was reduced to twenty yards in diameter 

 before they abandoned it. Both the doctor and 

 Chester assure me, the former having actually 

 measured it, that a mile and a quarter in circumfer- 

 ence was the outside ; so that if its decrease in size 

 is exaggerated in the same proportion — in reality 

 it will not have been much reduced. I employed 

 myself this morning in examining, sorting, and 

 stowing away my geological specimens, and find 

 that the land on the east side of Navy Board Inlet 

 is composed of Silurian limestone similar to Cape 

 Hay. In addition to this limestone there are several 

 pieces of drift, some of large boulders, probably 

 transported by ice, and which consist of gneiss, 

 mica-schist, and granitic gneiss. The land about 

 Elwyn and Admiralty Inlets is composed of the 

 same Silurian limestone, which rises up precipi- 

 tously from the sea to a height of from 1,200 to 

 1,500 feet. Its striations are most distinct, though 

 very irregular, in places being nearly horizontal, in 

 others dipping towards the northward and west- 

 ward from 6° to 10°. 



In the evening it was suddenly discovered that 

 there was very little water left in the ship, so we 

 are now hauled to the wind, beating up towards our 

 old harbour, Elwyn Inlet, the weather still con- 

 tinuing as thick as pea-soup. I am not sorry we 



