ARCTIC VOYAGES. 
79 
wherever the wood or shells were found in its substance—revealing them. Several pieces 
of very pure anthracite were picked up in the debris; and I have no doubt, had time 
permitted, it would have been found in greater abundance. I also remarked, that in the 
broken land intervening betweeen these two Capes, the escarpment presented a dark, car¬ 
bonaceous appearance, similar to what is observed in the neighbourhood of the coal mea¬ 
sures ; and what I had previously met with in Prince Albert’s Land; but I was unable 
to make a personal examination, from the critical nature of the position we occupied. 
Hence we may infer, had time permitted a thorough exploration of the locality, that re¬ 
sults similar to those obtained in the hills near Ballast beach would have been obtained. 
From the identity, both in appearance and outline, of these two fine headlands, we may, I 
think, arrive at the analogical inference, that they are of the same geological character ; 
not only as each other, but likewise as that of Nelson’s Head, on nearly the same meri¬ 
dian, but at the southern extreme of the island.”— Armstrong , p. 448. 
We shall conclude our remarks upon the geology of Banks’ Land by 
the following description of the rocks in the neighbourhood of the Bay 
of Mercy, where the Carboniferous Limestone was observed by Dr. Arm¬ 
strong resting upon the coal-bearing sandstones of Cape Hamilton. He 
is, however, in error, in stating that the coal of this district is anthra¬ 
cite ; it is identical with the coal found all through the Parry Islands, 
and was described by us in our last article on the Arctic Voyages, in a 
quotation from Captain M‘Clintock’s “Reminiscences” (“Hat. Hist. 
Rev.,” vol. v., p. 44). 
On the 17th, I proceeded with an attendant to the hills on the opposite side of the 
bay, to direct the removal of some specimens, and complete my geological examination 
of the land. In my course I visited two small islands in the centre of the bay; they 
possessed no interest, except in affording evidence of their having been at one period 
visited by the Esquimaux, in their migration along the coast. A few large masses of 
sandstone and clay-slate were collected on their summits, and a sort of embankment 
was thrown up around them, from the pressure of ice. The larger of the two is about 
one-third of a mile in length, 800 yards broad, and about thirty feet high in its centre, 
and has been apparently upheaved from the bed of the sea. The physical aspect of 
the land partakes of the same irregular, hilly character as other localities I have else¬ 
where spoken of. The soil is sandy, but in the ravines and valleys it is mixed with al¬ 
luvium, forming a rich loam, which highly favours vegetation, and affords good pasturage 
for the hungry denizens of its wilds. Clay-slate, sandstone, clay-ironstone, calcareous 
and granitic pebbles, everywhere abound, and form the superficial covering of the land, 
with boulders of Plutonic origin scattered here and there over its surface, particularly on 
the summits of the higher lands. At the south end of the bay, and about 700 yards 
from the beach, which is flat and swampy, there is a remarkable limestone formation, 
rising almost vertically to the height of 500 feet, amidst a large collection of debris and 
huge masses of the parent rock—forming a formidable outwork at its base, resulting from 
ages of disintegration. Its character is mountain limestone, and contained fossils. The 
species were less numerous than those met with at Cape Crozier, Encrinites, Corallines, 
Terebratulse, Pecten, Cardium, Producta, and a few others. Extending inland, and in 
a north-east direction, a chain of isolated table hills are met with, possessing a like ge¬ 
neral appearance and geological character. The northern coast of Baring Island, to the 
eastward of the Bay of Mercy (Banks’ Land), is composed of a dark-brown sandstone, 
forming a chain of rather precipitous cliffs from 500 to 600 feet high, in which pieces 
of coal (Anthracite) have been found-.”— Armstrong , p. 527. 
We Lave trespassed so long on the reader’s patience, that we can only 
direct attention to some other matters of interest to the naturalist— 
especially Osborn’s additional Chapter xvn.,on the habits of the reindeer, 
