194 The American Geologist. March, i897 
Southern Baffin Land., on. Hi((lsoii''s Strait. On Big island, 
itnd on the main Baffin land to the north of it, evidence" of 
glacial action was found on all the hills that were visited. 
The rocks of this region are gneisses, and on the mainland 
these are very garnetiferous. Post-glacial disintegration has 
weathered these rocks very decidedly. The pre-glacial topog- 
raphy, which still forms the most striking features of the 
present land form, consists of valleys and hills which are 
mainly parallel to the strike of the rocks (about N 10''-30'^ 
Vj, magnetic). So numerous are these valleys that the sur- 
face outline is exceedingly irregular. Into some of the strike 
valleys the sea at present enters, and near the shore, drowned 
alleys and hills, completely submerged beneath the sea, form 
alternate channels and reefs, so that navigation near the shore 
is very dangerous. Several times the ship passed near some 
of these submerged hill tops, and once ran upon one. stajdng 
there until the tide went out and rose again to float her off. 
Not merely are there these large pre-glacial valleys, but 
innumerable smaller ones, also parallel to the strike. So num- 
erous are these that the surface of tiie hills is corrugated 
by ridges and minute valleys, where the hard and soft layers 
alternate. It is evident that these irregularities of minor de- 
gree are not of post-glacial origin, for the valleys are occu- 
pied mainly by ice-derived blocks of rock and by till (below 
the zone of former sea level, b}'^ sea-made deposits). The val- 
leys extend diagonally to the direction of ice motion, and hence 
were not ground out by ice erosion. They certainly repre- 
sent irregularities of pre-glacial origin, which the ice erosion 
has not been able to wear away; and, comparing the evidence 
from this with that found at Turnavik, it seems evident that 
less down-cutting was accomplished by the Baffin Land ice 
cap than by the Labrador sheet which overspread Turnavik. 
The land in the southern portion of Baffin land rises to an 
elevation of over 700 feet within a few miles of the shore, and 
the ice has covered all of the hills. It is perfectly evident at 
a glance, and can be proved without even visiting the shore, 
that notwithstanding the many irregularities in detail of sur- 
face outline, the general topography is that of smooth and 
somewhat rounded contours. The action of the ice upon the 
higher hills is also shown by the roches moutonnees wiiich 
