156 



GEOLOGICAL IlEMARKS, 



April 18^8. 



night. They went away, to our great satisfaction, at an early 

 hour, and returned to the bottom of the sound, where a large 

 party of their countrymen was assembled. Their departure 

 enabled us to look round, in the vicinity of our anchorage, and 

 examine its productions, which differed in no way from those of 

 other parts of the coast. Its geological structure is, however, 

 different : the rocks are greenstone, or granite, without slate. 

 Mount Maxwell, rising immediately over the cove, is the termi- 

 nation of a rocky mountain range, whose summits are crowned 

 with snow. The verdant sides of the hill, interspersed at inter- 

 vals with large masses of bare rock, produced, from a distance, 

 rather a pleasing effect ; but, upon examination, the verdure 

 was found to consist principally of moss, or a stunted vegeta- 

 tion, covering a soft and swampy soil. The upper portions of 

 the mount are so precipitous as not to be easily reached ; and, 

 indeed, many parts rise with a perpendicular ascent for more 

 than a hundred feet. On the south side of Mount Maxwell is 

 Smyth Inlet, which contains anchorage on the north shore, 

 particularly one in Earle Cove ; but in the centre the water is 

 deep, and on that account, it is not an inviting place for a ship. 

 During Mr. Graves's absence in Smyth Harbour, I examined 

 the coast as far as Cape Edge worth, where I obtained an exten- 

 sive set of bearings- The afternoon was particularly favourable 

 for the purpose, the snow-capped mountains of the north shore 

 were perfectly distinct ; and among them was a very high one, 

 shaped like a Highland target, the peak of the mountain 

 answering to the central spike of the shield. We never after- 

 wards saw it, nor could I, on this occasion, fix its position 

 better, than by estimating its distance. The rock is chiefly 

 greenstone, accompanied by considerable masses of granite. A 

 little islet, off Dighton Cove, is composed of granite, of a 

 lamelliform structure. Mr. Graves brought me a specimen of 

 lamelliform granite attached to a mass of greenstone. 



The Indians visited us every day, their number being gene- 

 rally from twelve to sixteen, of which five or six only were 

 men, the rest were women, and children of all ages. One of the 

 latter could not have been more than three weeks old ; yet the 



