4378 Notices of New Books. 



" This plan comprises a nearly square section of country, having a 

 width and length of about fourteen miles. The Buckland River, 

 where it bends to the northward to fall into Eschscholtz Bay, flanks 

 the district on its inland or eastern border. From the mouth of this 

 river the coast-line trends nearly due West to Eschscholtz Bluff, and 

 forms the south side of that bay ; the shore for one-half of the way, or 

 about seven miles, between the bluff and Elephant Point, being com- 

 posed of high icy cliffs, and for the remainder of the distance, or 

 from Elephant Point to the river, the coast is low and slightly in- 

 curved. The west face of the land fronts Kotzebue Sound, and is 

 formed of slaty gneiss rocks, which terminate on the North at Esch- 

 scholtz Bluff, and ten or twelve miles to the southward the rocky emi- 

 nences, taking an inland direction, are flanked by low marshy ground. 

 A ridge of hills runs parallel to the western shore at a distance of a 

 mile and a quarter, and at their southern angle, where they bend in- 

 land, there stands still nearer the coast-line one of the loftiest bluffs, 

 ascertained to be 640 feet high. From this corner the course of the 

 range is south-easterly, the swampy country above mentioned running 

 along its base. The banks of the Buckland are also represented as 

 being high, if not hilly, and they inclose, in conjunction with the 

 range, a sloping valley or basin, drained by numerous rivulets, and 

 opening to the North on the low coast eastward of Elephant Point. 

 At the western entrance of the Buckland there is a minor display of 

 frozen mud-cliffs ; similar deposits exist also on its eastern bank, as 

 well as on the north shore of Eschscholtz Bay, likewise on various 

 points of the coast between Beering's Strait and Point Barrow ; but 

 fossils have been detected only in Eschscholtz Bay, and on the banks 

 of a few rivers that join Beering's Sea between it and Mount St. Elias. 



" The following extracts from the Narrative of Captain Beechey's 

 voyage contain a description of the cliffs by a skilful observer: — 



"< We sailed up the (Eschscholtz) bay (28th July, 1826), which 

 was extremely shallow, and landed at a deserted village on a low sandy 

 point, where Kotzebue bivouacked when he visited the place, and to 

 which I gave the name of Elephant Point, from the bones of that ani- 

 mal being found near it. The cliffs are from twenty to thirty feet in 

 height, and rise inland to a rounded range of hills between four and 

 five hundred feet high above the sea. In some places they present a 

 perpendicular front to the northward, in others a slightly inclined sur- 

 face, and are occasionally intersected by valleys and water-courses, 

 generally overgrown with low bushes. Opposite each of these valleys 

 there is a projecting flat piece of ground, consisting of the materials 



