414 E. S. MOORE 
Great Whale River, on the southeast coast of Hudson Bay. Its 
latitude and longitude, as indicated on the outline map, were 
determined from astronomic observations made by Mr. Howard, a 
surveyor accompanying the expedition. There would be many 
good harbors on the islands if the bays and sounds were charted. 
TOPOGRAPHY 
The main physiographic features of these islands are long, 
narrow, more or less rounded ridges separated by sounds which are 
in few places more than two or three miles wide. These linear 
features are due to the fact that the islands are made up of a folded 
series of igneous and sedimentary rocks which have weathered so 
that the sea has entered upon the land where the less resistant beds 
have been eroded away. The relief, as in most other pre-Cambrian 
regions, is not great, the highest point so far recognized being only 
450 feet above sea-level. This point is located on the large basalt 
hill near the center of Tookcarak Island. Few elevations have an 
altitude of more than 250 feet, and the land presents a worn, 
glaciated surface, in most places absolutely devoid of vegetation 
and entirely without trees. This lack of vegetation on all surfaces 
except on low, drift-covered areas seems to be due, not only to a - 
complete scouring of the rocks in Pleistocene time, thus removing 
all soil, but also to the ice which forms on these rocks during the 
severe winters of the present day. There must be considerable 
local slipping of ice over these smooth rocks when the spring thaws 
come. 
The occurrence of poorly developed gravel and bowlder beaches, 
. which seem to reach as high as the highest point on the islands, is 
an interesting relic of Pleistocene time. It is probable that the 
Belchers were completely submerged during the period following 
the ice invasion and before the uplift of the whole Labrador Penin- 
sula. 
A rather peculiar topographic feature was observed on the 
basalt hill on Tookcarak Island. On this hill piles of rock were 
found, varying from 3 to 8 feet in height and from 7 to 15 feet in 
diameter. These piles are roughly conical in shape, with a depres- 
sion in the top, and their shape first suggested a possible artificial 
