Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/385

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of the winter frosts and summer thaws. Behind these cliffs the land rose into lofty peaks, such as I have before described. Upon the sides of these peaks the snow rested, clothing them with a uniform whiteness; but nowhere was there any evidence of mountain-*ice. Along the entire coast of Grinnell Land no glacier appears, presenting thus a striking contrast to Greenland and the land on the south side of the Channel which I discovered while crossing Smith Sound—the Ellesmere Land of Captain Inglefield.
 * stone—much broken down by the wasting influences

During this day's journey I had discovered numerous traces of the former presence of Esquimaux. They were similar to those which I had before found in Gould Bay. I also picked up some fossils at Cape Frazer and other places, which clearly exhibited the character of the rock. There were but few traces of vegetation in those places where the land had been bared of snow by the winds. A willow stem (probably, salix arctica), a single specimen of a dead saxifrage (saxifraga oppositifolia), and a tuft of dried grass (festuca ovina), were all that I found. *[Footnote: published in Silliman's Journal, for July, 1865, Prof. Meek enumerates and describes twelve species. Some of the specimens were imperfect, and their specific character could not be determined. The list is as follows:— 1. Zaphrentis Hayesii.

2. Syringopora * * * *.

3. Favosites * * * *.

4. Strophomena Rhomboidalis.

5. Strophodonta Headleyana.

6. Strophodonta Beckii.

7. Rhynchonella * * * *.

8. Cœlospira concava.

9. Spirifer * * * *.

10. Loxonema Kanei.

11. Orthoceras * * * *.

12. Illænus * * * *.

Prof. Meek makes this observation:—"From the foregoing list, it is believed that geologists will agree that the rocks at this highest locality at which fossils have ever been collected, belong to the Upper Silurian era. The most remarkable fact, however, is, that they are nearly all very closely allied to, and some of them apparently undistinguishable from species found in the Catskill shaly Limestone of the New York Lower Helderberg group."]