Sketch of the Geology of the Arctic Regions. 1 1 



Alluvial Rocks. 



Alluvial marly deposits from the snow waters passing through and 

 «ver the limestone strata in the summer, occur on the shores and in 

 the vallies; and fragments of limestone are scattered in different di- 

 rections, by the same agency ; but the limestone hills in many parts, 

 and the country generally were more or less covered with bowlders 

 of primitive rocks.* Some of diem were of very large dimensions, 

 weighing from three to fifty tons. Granite, gneiss, and sienite the 

 largest — those of talc, quartz, iron glance, actynolite, and ores, small- 

 er and less numerous. f They abound near the sea coast, gradually 

 diminishing in size and number, and at the distance of fourteen or 

 sixteen miles from the sea, they are comparatively rare and small, 

 not more than three or four inches in diameter. " The nearest known 

 fixed primitive rocks, were upwards of a hundred miles distant from 

 these remarkable bowlders." 



IV. Islands and Countries bordering on Hudson's Bay. 



The lands bordering on Hudson's Bay, and the islands which it 

 encloses are generally hilly, and are usually disposed in ranges, but 

 are not very lofty, the average being about eight hundred feet, and 

 tlie highest summits not exceeding fifteen hundred above the level 

 of tlie sea. " The vallies are narrow and rugged," and the cliffs of- 

 ten display mural fronts of more than one hundred feet in height. — 

 Wherever the shores are low, flats and shoals extend far out making 

 a shallow sea, but where the coast is rocky and precipitous the sea 

 is proportionally deep, and the shores bold. The country is covered 

 with snow and ice the greater part of the year, often exhibiting the 

 most beautiful colors and picturesque forms. The upper soil or loose 

 surface varies from two or three inches to a foot in depth, beneath 

 which the ground is frozen like the most sohd rock. In the summer, 

 a few plants obtain a brief existence in the chinks of the rocks, in 

 favorable and sheltered places. The general aspect of the country 

 indicates the primitive rock formation, and "no vestige of volcanic 

 action has any where been seen." 



The following classification of the rocks found in the islands, and 

 countries bordering on Hudson's Bay, between 60° and 69° of N. 



" Jameson's notes, &c. ' App. to Parry's tliird voyage. 



