OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



345 



limestone, and some low swampy places were thinly clothed with shrivelled 1822. 

 grass and moss ; while on the northern or slaty side we could perceive no 

 signs of vegetation. On coasting the beach to return to the boat, we passed 

 the remains of two Esquimaux circles of stones apparently long forsaken, as 

 no bones were found near them, and they were partly buried in the slaty 

 beach. 



" Near the place at which Mr. Ross was stationed to observe the tides, I 

 found a most fairy-like grotto in a small cliff of black and ragged slate, 

 through which the water as it oozed had formed most brilliant icy stalactites, 

 five or six feet in length. These hung across the front of the cave in a 

 variety of fanciful forms over a small basin, which was frozen as smooth as 

 the most polished mirror. The sun shone full but powerless on the silvery 

 icicles, which formed a brilliant contrast to the deep ebon shade of the 

 cave behind them. The whole appearance of this little spot was of the 

 most delicate and novel description, and I felt that neither by pen nor pencil 

 could I do it justice. 



" The base of Amherst Island," Mr. Edwards observes, « is an argilla- 

 ceous schist of various qualities, from a very fine and soft to a compact 

 coarse variety, which answers to the greywacke schist of geologists. 

 The kinds alternate with each other, and those of intermediate quality 

 are remarkable for having the surfaces of the lamina; divided into pa- 

 rallel longitudinal beds, by narrow but deeply impressed lines, such as may 

 be seen in very coarse pastry. In some specimens these lines are inter- 

 sected by others at right angles, forming small quadrilateral and elliptic ele- 

 vations. One side only of the laminae, in some varieties, is so impressed, 

 while in others both sides are similar; in this latter case the lines on one 

 side coincide with those on the other. Flat circular depressions are also 

 seen occasionally upon the surface, but I did not notice any organic remains. 



" The more elevated ridges of the island are formed of the disintegrating 

 remains of a super-incumbent stratum of compact limestone. It is hard and 

 sonorous,, internally of a dark greyish blue colour ; externally, where ex- 

 posed to air or moisture, deeply ferruginous. It does not burn into quick 

 lime, but contains minute veins of calc-spar, and corresponds with the calc 

 of Kirwan. Worn blocks of sandstone, granite, gneiss, and other quartzose 

 rocks, are scattered, over the surface of the island." 



The observations made by Mr. Ross upon the tides, together with those 

 upon the set of the stream in the offing, are comprised in the following 

 Table :— 2 y 



