James Mooney - Native Americans - 22 Books on History, Mythology, Culture & Linguistic Studies

Farther north, between Baffin Land and Greenland, North Devon and Ellesmere Land are situated. Thus Baffin Land forms a connecting link for three regions inhabited by Eskimo: the Hudson Bay Territory, Labrador, and Greenland.

The orography of the western coast of Hudson Bay is little known. Most of this coast seems to form a hilly land, consisting generally of granite. Between Wager River and Chesterfield Inlet it rises to a chain of hills of about one thousand feet in height, extending to a plateau farther north. Another chain seems to stretch in a northeasterly direction from Back River to the source of Hayes River. West of Back River Silurian strata prevail. The granite hills form a favorite haunt for the musk ox and reindeer.

Melville Peninsula consists chiefly of a chain of granite hills, sloping down to a Silurian plain in the eastern part of the peninsula. The northeastern part of Baffin Land is formed by a high chain of mountains stretching from Lancaster Sound to Cape Mercy. Long fjords and deep valleys divide them into many groups. Bylot Island, which stands high out of the sea, is separated from the mainland by Pond Bay and Eclipse Sound. The next group stretches from Pond Bay to the fjord of Anaulereë´ling. Farther to the southeast the groups are smaller, and in Home Bay they are separated by wide valleys, particularly near Eχalualuin, a large fjord on the southern side of that bay.

From this fjord an enormous highland, which I named Penny Highland, extends as far as Cumberland Sound, being terminated by the narrow valley of Pangnirtung. The eastern boundary runs through the fjords Maktartudjennaq and Narpaing to Nedluqseaq and Nudlung. In the interior it may extend to about fifteen miles east of Issortuqdjuaq, the most northern fjord of Cumberland Sound. The whole of the vast highland is covered by an ice cap sending forth numerous glaciers in every direction. In Pangnirtung and on Davis Strait they reach the level of the sea.

Penny Highland, which forms the main body of Cumberland Peninsula, has attached to it a few mountain groups of moderate extent: the peninsula of Nudlung and the highland of Eχalualuin and that of Qivitung.

Farther southeast, between the valleys of Pangnirtung and Kingnait-Padli, is situated the highland of Kingnait, with sharp peaks emerging from the ice cap which covers the lower parts of the plateau. The rest of Cumberland Peninsula is formed by the highland of Saumia, which much resembles that of Kingnait. Near Cape Mercy the ice covered highland slopes down to a hilly region, which falls abruptly to the sea.

The southern parts of this range of mountains are composed of gneiss and granite. It may be that Silurian strata occur in some places, but they have not yet been found anywhere in situ. The northern parts are too imperfectly known to enable us to form an idea of their geological character.

The mountains just described slope down to a hilly region, which farther to the west levels off to a plain. The hills are composed of granite, the plains of Silurian limestone, which extends from Prince Regent Inlet to the head of Frobisher Bay.

The peninsula between Cumberland Sound and Frobisher Bay is formed by a plateau, which slopes down gradually to the northwest. It is drained by a great river flowing into Auqardneling, a fjord on the western shore of Cumberland Sound. Near Lake Nettilling the country is very low, the level of the lake being only forty feet above that of the sea. Here the watershed between Cumberland Sound and Fox Basin closely approaches the eastern shore, coming within five miles of the head of Nettilling Fjord. It is formed by a narrow neck of land about a quarter of a mile wide and sixty-five feet above the level of the sea.

From Eskimo reports I conclude that the plateau of Nugumiut, as we may call the peninsula between Frobisher Bay and Cumberland Sound, is comparatively level. Only a single mountain south of Qasigidjen (Bear Sound) rises into the region of eternal snow.

The peninsula between Frobisher Bay and Hudson Strait is formed by a granite highland, the Meta Incognita of Queen Elizabeth. It is covered with ice and sends a few glaciers into the sea. Farther west, near Lesseps Bay and White Bear Sound, the country becomes lower. The narrow isthmus leading from Hudson Strait to Amaqdjuaq cannot be very high, as the Eskimo carry their kayaks to the lake, which I believe is about two hundred feet above the level of the sea.

Last of all I have to mention the highlands of King Cape. The rest of the land is taken up by a vast plain in which two large lakes are situated; the southern, Amaqdjuaq, empties by a short river into Lake Nettilling, whence the long and wide Koukdjuaq runs to the shallow sea. From observations made by Captain Spicer, of Groton, Conn., and information obtained from the Eskimo, we learn that the whole of the eastern part of Fox Basin is extremely shallow and that there are many low islands scattered about in those parts of the sea. The plains of Baffin Land, Fox Basin, and the eastern half of Melville Peninsula may be considered a wide basin of Silurian strata bordered by granitic elevations on every side.

Besides the configuration of the land, the extent of the land ice formed during the winter is of vital importance to the inhabitants of the Arctic region, because during the greater part of the year it affords the only means of communication between the tribes, and because in winter the seal, which constitutes the principal food of the Eskimo, takes to those parts of the coast where extensive floes are formed. Therefore the state of the ice regulates the distribution of the natives during the greater part of the year and must be considered in studying the habits of the Eskimo. The extent of the land ice principally depends on the configuration of the land and the strength of the currents. On a shore exposed to a strong current an extensive floe can only be formed where projecting points of land form deep bays. We find the distribution of ice regulated in accordance with this fact all around the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

The strong current setting out of Lancaster Sound and Smith Sound generally prevents ice from forming under the steep cliffs of the land. Sometimes the pack ice of the sounds is stopped and freezes together into rough floes; a smooth plain is never formed. By far the largest land floe is formed from Bylot Island to Cape Dyer (Okan). In Home Bay it extends to a distance of about eighty miles from the mainland. The formation of this floe is favored by a number of shoals which extend from the peninsulas of Cape Eglinton (Aqojang), Cape Aston (Niaqonaujang), and Qivitung, for the large floes drifting south are stopped by the icebergs aground on these banks. The greater part of the floe is very rough, smooth ice prevailing only in the bays.

The strong southerly current passing through the narrowest part of Davis Strait between Cape Walsingham (Idjuk) and Holsteinborg breaks up the ice all along the shore from Cape Dyer to Cape Walsingham, Exeter Sound alone being covered by a larger floe. The bay between Cape Mickleham (Nuvuktirpang) and Cape Mercy is well covered with ice, which extends to the islands farthest out toward the sea.

Near Cape Mercy the strong tides caused by Cumberland Sound prevent the ice from consolidating in the entrance of the gulf. As the sound widens greatly behind the narrow passage formed by Nuvukdjuaq and Qaχodluin, the tide sets in with great force. For this reason the floe never extends beyond that narrow entrance. Often the head of the open water runs from Qeqerten to Nuvujen, and instances are known where it even reaches the line of Pujetung-Umanaq.

The southwestern shore of Cumberland Sound from Qaχodluin to Cape Brevoort (Qeqertuqdjuaq) is always washed by water, because a strong current, which often breaks up the ice of Field and Grinnell Bay (the bays of Ukadliq and Nugumiut), sets along the coast.