Kellet, who discovered this island in 1849, and landed on it under
unfavorable circumstances, describes it as an inaccessible rock. The
sides are, indeed, in general, extremely sheer and precipitous all
around, though skilled mountaineers would find many gullies and slopes
by which they might reach the summit. I first pushed on to the head of
the glacier valley, and thence along the back bone of the island to
the highest point, which I found to be about twelve hundred feet above
the level of the sea. This point is about a mile and a half from the
northwest end, and four and a half from the northeast end, thus making
the island about six miles in length. It has been cut nearly in two by
the glacial action it has undergone, the width at this lowest portion
being about half a mile, and the average width about two miles. The
entire island is a mass of granite with the exception of a patch of
metamorphic slate near the center, and no doubt owes its existence
with so considerable a height to the superior resistance this granite
offered to the degrading action of the northern ice sheet, traces of
which are here plainly shown, as well as on the shores of Siberia and
Alaska, and down through Behring Strait, southward, beyond Vancouver
Island. Traces of the subsequent partial glaciation it has been
subjected to are also manifested in glacial valleys of considerable
depth as compared with the size of the island. I noticed four of
these, besides many marginal glacial grooves around the sides. One
small remnant with feeble action still exists near the middle of the
island. I also noted several scored and polished patches on the
hardest and most enduring of the outswelling rock bosses. This little
island, standing as it does alone out in the Polar Sea, is a fine
glacial monument.