BOAS] GEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION. 417 



ville Peninsula may be considered a wide basin of Silurian strata 

 bordered by granitic elevations on every side. 



Besides the configuration of the land, the extent of the land ice 

 formed during the winter is of vital importance to the inhabitants 

 of the Arctic region, because during the greater part of the year it 

 affords the only means of communication between the trihts. and 

 because in winter the seal, which constitutes the principal I'l » h I i >r t he 

 Eskimo, takes to those parts of the coast where extensive Hues are 

 formed. Therefore the state of the ice regulates the distribution of 

 the natives during the greater part of the year and must be consid- 

 ered ill studyiui;- the habits of the Eskimo. The extent of the land 

 ice priiici]iall\- depends on the configuration of the land and the 

 strenytli of the currents. On a shore exposed to a strong current 

 an extensive floe can only be formed where projecting points of land 

 form deep bays. We find the distribution of ice regulated in accord- 

 ance with this fact all around the shores of the Arctic Ocean. 



Tlie strong current setting out of Lancaster Sound and Smith 

 Sound generally prevents ice from forming under the steep cliffs of 

 the land. Sometimes the pack ice of the sounds is stopped and 

 freezes together into rough floes; a smooth plain is never formed. 

 By far the largest land floe is formed from Bylot Island to Cape Dyer 

 (Okan). In Home Bay it extends to a distance of about eighty miles 

 from the mainland. The formation of this floe is favored by a num- 

 ber of shoals which extend from the peninsulas of Cape Eglinton 

 (Aqojang), Cape Aston (Niaqonaujang), and Qivitung, for the large 

 floes drifting south are stopped by the icebergs aground on these 

 banks. The greater part of the floe is very rough, smooth ice pre- 

 vailing only in the bays. 



The strong southerly current passing throiigh the narrowest part 

 of Davis Strait between Cape Walsingham (Idjuk) and Holsteinborg 

 breaks up the ice all along the shore from Cape Dyer to Cape Wal- 

 singham, Exeter Sound alone being covered by a lai-ger floe. The 

 bay betvreen Cape Mickleham (Nuvuktirpang) and Cape Mercy is 

 well covered with ice, which extends to the islands farthest out 

 toward the sea. 



Near Cape Mercy the strong tides caused by Cumberland Sound 

 prevent the ice from consolidating in the entrance of the gulf. As 

 the sound widens greatly behind the narrow passage formed by 

 Nuvukdjua(| and Qaxodluin, the tide sets in with great force. Fcjr 

 this rrasou the iloe never extends beyond that narrow entrance. 

 Often the iiead of tlie Open water runs from Qecierten to Nuvujen, 

 and instances are known where it even reaches the line of Pujetung- 

 Umanaq. 



The southwestern shore of Cumberland Sound from Qajodluin to 

 Cape Brevoort (Qeqertuqdjuaq) is always washed by water, because 

 6 ETH 27 



