. Narrative of discovery and adventure in the polar seas and regions [microform] : with illustrations of their climate, geology, and natural history ; and an account of the whale-fishery. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. r' 1'^ 410 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. sea, lying a little to the westward, I descended towards it from the ridge of the crater, with the expectation of finding some other kind of rock than what had yet been met with. It was found to consist only of a cliff of yellowish-gray friable earth or clay, in which crystals of augite, along with black roundish granular pieces of basalt, lay e
. Narrative of discovery and adventure in the polar seas and regions [microform] : with illustrations of their climate, geology, and natural history ; and an account of the whale-fishery. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. r' 1'^ 410 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. sea, lying a little to the westward, I descended towards it from the ridge of the crater, with the expectation of finding some other kind of rock than what had yet been met with. It was found to consist only of a cliff of yellowish-gray friable earth or clay, in which crystals of augite, along with black roundish granular pieces of basalt, lay embedded. A piece of iron, which appeared to have been derived from ironstone by a smelting pro- cess conducted in the furnace of nature, was found near the volcanic mount. Being very cumbrous, it was laid aside by our party as we ascended, and unfortunately left behind by us when we quitted the shore. The cliffs here afforded but few specimens of plants. Indeed, we tra- velled a considerable distance before we could perceive the least sign of vegetation; as we advanced, however, we met with tufts of plants in full flower, scattered widely among the volcanic rocks; but, under the last cliff we visited, the variety was greater and the speci- mens more vigorous. Among the plants we recognised rumex digynus, saxifraga tricuspidata and oppositifolia, arenaria peploides, silene acaulis, draba verna, &c. We returned to the ships at six in the evening. A fishing- party which I sent out, proving unsuccessful in the offing, approached the shore about two miles to the eastward of the place we visited, where, though the surf was very considerable and the strand very contracted, they effected a landing. They observed much drift-wood, a boat's oar, a ship's mast, and some other wrought wood, scattered along the shore. Every rock they noticed, and all the specimens they brought away, bore the same volcanic character as those I observed. Near some large fissures, which here and there occur
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, books, booksubjectnaturalhistory
