BOAS.] GEOGRAPHK^ DESCRIPTION. 415 



Pelly Bay to Shepherd Bay, the latter from Lord Mayor Bay to 

 Spence Bay. It is separated from North Somerset by the nari'ow 

 Bellot Strait. Farther west Adelaide Peninsula and King William 

 Land form the continuation of the continent toward the western 

 extremity of Boothia, thus outlining a spacious bay sheltered from 

 the currents and the pack ice of Melville Sound and the adjoining 

 bays. The eastern sides of Boothia and North Somerset and the 

 western coasts of Melville Peninsula and Baffin Land form a gulf 

 similar to Fox Basin. 



Farther north, between Baffin Land and Greenland, North Devon 

 and EUesmere Land are situated. Thus Baffin Land forms a con- 

 necting link for three regions inhabited by Eskimo: the Hudson Bay 

 Territory, Labrador, and Greenland. 



The orography of the western coast of Hudson Bay is little known. 

 Most of this coast seems to form a hilly land, consisting generally of 

 granite. Between Wager Eiver and Chesterfield Inlet it rises to a 

 chain of hills of about one thousand feet in height, extending to a 

 plateau farther north. Another chain seems to stretch in a north- 

 easterly direction from Back River to the source of Hayes River. 

 West of Back River Silurian strata prevail. The granite hills form 

 a favorite haunt for the musk ox and reindeer. 



Melville Peninsula consists chiefly of a chain of granite hills, sloping 

 down to a Silurian plain in the eastern part of the peninsula. The 

 northeastern part of Baffin Land is formed by a high chain of mount- 

 ains stretching from Lancaster Sound to Cape Mercy. Long fjords 

 and deep valleys divide them into many groups. Bylot Island, which 

 stands high out of the sea, is separated from the mainland by Pond 

 Bay and Eclipse Sound. The next group stretches from Pond Bay 

 to the fjord of Anauleree'ling. Farther to the southeast the groups 

 are smaller, and in Home Bay they are separated by wide valleys, 

 particulaidy near E^alualuin, a large fjord on the southern side of 

 that bay. 



From this fjord an enormous highland, which I named Penny 

 Highland, extends as far as Cumberland Sound, being terminated 

 by the narrow valley of Pangnirtung. The eastern boundary runs 

 through the fjords Maktartudjennaq and Narpaing to Nedluqseaq 

 and Nudlung. In the interior it may extend to about fifteen miles 

 east of Issortuqdjuaq, the most northern fjord of Cumberland Sound. 

 The whole of the vast highland is covered by an ice cap sending forth 

 niimerous glaciers in every direction. In Pangnirtung and on Davis 

 Strait they reach the level of the sea. 



Penny Highland, which forms the main body of Cumberland Pen- 

 insula, has attached to it a few moimtain groups of moderate ex- 

 tent: the peninsula of Nudlung and the highland of E^alualuin and 

 that of Qivitiing. 



Farther southeast, between the valleys of Pangnirtung and King- 



