ARCTIC VOYAGES. 
77 
The following account of the Princess Royal Islands, making due 
allowance for the extraordinary names given to the fossils, cannot fail 
to interest the geologist:— 
“ The smaller and more northerly one, is of very limited extent; being in length 
about 500 or 600 yards, in breadth 50 yards, its average height about 100 feet, inclining 
at an angle of about 45 degrees to the eastern shore of the Strait. On close .examination 
it appears formed in irregular steps or ledges, as though, as may be readily imagined, 
from a large mass of matter in a soft state, slowly but steadily upheaved from the bed 
of the ocean, and partially falling away while emerging from the surface of the water. 
The greatest elevation is attained in the centre, where its western aspect is for a short 
distance vertical; on either side of which it inclines at a very abrupt angle to the west¬ 
ward, about 15°, so as to convey the idea (with the exception of the space I have men¬ 
tioned) of its being on the principle of an irregular double inclined plane. This little 
island is rich in fossil remains, chiefly Corallines ( Encrinites and Pentaerinites) ; the 
upper surface is composed of small stones and pebbles, with coralline ledges closely 
cemented to each other; and the rock beneath, which is composed of granulated, bitu¬ 
minous limestone, emitted an offensive odour when struck or fractured, and in some 
situations was plentifully studded with garnets. Numerous uni- and bivalve fossils, 
chiefly species of Cyathophyllum , Turbo , Buccinum , Or this, and Terebratida , were like¬ 
wise strewn on the surface, presenting good specimens of calcareous petrifaction. 
“ The second or larger island is situated about half a mile to the southward of the 
preceding, extending nearly due north and south for the extent of a mile, with a mean 
breadth of about 600 yards. It is elevated in the centre about 500 feet, from which it 
gradually decreases, but presenting throughout, except for a small space on its western 
aspect, where it is sloping, a bold and precipitous front, varying in elevation from 80 to 
400 feet. The soil (if such it can be called) is entirely composed of a sandy, scoriace- 
ous admixture of small stones and pebbles, with numerous volcanic boulders, embracing 
granite, gneiss, syenite, greenstone, fragments of basalt, &c., strewn over the surface— 
a few scanty tufts of withered moss attest the extent of its fertility during the short 
season of vegetation. 
“ The southern portion of the island appears to be one mass of fossiliferous remains of 
Zoophytes, Corallines, and a few uni- and bivalve shells, similar to those before men¬ 
tioned. These, fossils were found embedded in dark, bituminous clay or shale, of remarkable 
hardness in some places, but brittle in others, when there existed a ferruginous admixture 
of brown Hematite, of which the southern portion of the island is entirely composed. On 
advancing to the northward and towards the centre of the island, the fossils became less 
numerous, and soon disappeared, a dark laminated clay, of a dry, compressed, sooty-like 
structure, takes their place. Although there was here no distinct coal formation, yet on 
fracturing some pieces, a narrow carbonaceous line, with the coal lustre, could be dis¬ 
cerned, such as it presents in a half burnt state, and this was more marked as the land 
became more elevated, of course displaying to view a deeper stratum of the earth’s crust. 
The remainder of the outline of this island, for a portion of its western, and almost the 
entire of its eastern aspect, is composed of lime and ironstone, rising vertically, and con¬ 
taining a few fossils, extensively cpated with depositions of sulphur and iron in combi¬ 
nation, and emitting an offensive odour when fractured. The geological character of 
these islands from the specimens obtained is, therefore, associated with the Carboniferous 
era of the earth’s formation.”— Armstrong, p. 267. 
The north-western coast of Banks’ Land is composed of the same 
Carboniferous Limestone as is found in the north of Melville and Ba¬ 
thurst Islands, resting upon the coal-hearing sandstones in both cases 
The following description leaves little doubt on this point:— 
“ The Geological character of this coast line from Ballast beach to Cape Crozier, while 
it fully partook of an Arctic aspect in the highest degree, likewise presented some fea¬ 
tures of interest. The remarks formerly made with regard to the land in the vicinity of 
Ballast beach are applicable to the coast line as far as Point Colquhoun, which is the first 
