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CHA PT ER V.
JULIANSHAAB.—SEVEEITT OP SEASON.—OLD SCANDINAVIAN EUINS.—SCENEEY OP
F IO R D . -DEPAETÜEE PEOM JULIANSHAAB. — ICE. — GALES.—BESET. — ESCAPE
FROM PACK.—TBEEIFIC HUKEICANE.-UGLY BERG.—BOULDER AND DETRITUS
LADEN BEEGS.— CAUSES OF TH EIE EAEITY. — THEIE FREQUENCY IN
HIGH AECTIC LATITUDES. — INEETIA OF MASSES OF PACK-ICE. — TALLEET
BANK A MODERN DEIFT-BED.—SUBGLACIAL VALLEYS.—THEIE MODE OF FORMATION.—
CAVEEN-EEMAINS.—EFFECTS OF TILTING OF BEEGS.—SOUNDINGS.
—SUBMERGED LAND.—A MESSAGE EEOM THE DEEP SEA-BED.—“ THE GEENA-
DIE E’S CAP.”—EEKIAVIK.—CLOSE OP THE CRUISE.
Oct. 1.—Julianshaab is situated in lat. 60° 43' north, long. 46° 1' west, at the
head of a small sheltered bay which branches off from the Igaliko, or, as it is
sometimes called, the Julianshaab Fiord. I t is one of the most important settlements
on the south coast, and constitutes the dépôt whence the oil and furs collected
in the adjacent district are annually shipped for Copenhagen.
Although but a month and a half have elapsed since the expedition left
Goodhaab for Labrador, the change in the temperature of the air and the
general aspect of the country is very marked. Already snow falls daily, and the
surface of the fiords is covered every morning with a thin layer of ice. The
Danish residents fully corroborate the statements made at Goodhaab regarding
the almost unprecedented severity of the season, and contrast it with the equally
imprecedented mildness of the last. They inform me that, although during
average seasons the belt of drift-ice effectually bars the ingress of vessels
approaching from the sea until the middle of July or beginning of August, there
is generally sufficient clear water close in shore to admit of communication by
boat between the various settlements along the coast. This year such communication
has been almost wholly suspended, and, up to the present date, the
Danish vessel which usually arrives with the annual supplies for the colony about
the period mentioned is still due.
A peculiar interest attaches to this portion of Greenland from the presence of
some old Scandinavian mins which are supposed to be those of the “ East Bygd.”
Those at the upper extremity of the Igaliko Fiord are the most extensive, and.
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according to a current tradition, mark the spot where the last remnant of the
adventurous Norsemen who colonized the country between the 9th and 14th
centuries were treacherously massacred by the Skrgelings.
Oct 2.—Today I accompanied Sir Leopold M‘Clintock in a boat-expedition
to examine the ruins, about fourteen miles distant, at the head of the fiord. The
weather could hardly have been more unpropitions, inasmuch as snow fell without
intermission, and both in going and returning we had to make way against
strong head winds. This circumstance, no doubt, imparted a more sombre
character to the fiord than it would other\vise have exhibited; yet I doubt
whether, under the most favourable conditions as to season and weather, a scene
in which there is such an absence of variety, and such vast proportions are associated
with desolation so palpable, could be viewed without engendering a sense
of profound gloom. This remark applies, however, only to the portions of the
fiord between the settlement and its eastern terminus. In the vicinity of the
ruins the scenery appeared beautiful, notwithstanding the disadvantages under
which it was seen. There the channel, instead of being overshadowed on one
side or the other by stupendous precipices, inaccessible save to the sea-gull,
spreads out into a broad lake-like expanse, with a gently sloping shore stretching
back for nearly half a mile from the water’s edge, and then terminating
at the base of the mountain-range which protects it to the north-eastward. On
this slope the ruins alluded to are situated *.
Oct 6.—At daybreak on the morning of the 3rd the ‘ Bulldog ’ left Julianshaab,
and slowly made her way through a dense body of ice which had drifted
up with the westerly wind since the previous afternoon and nearly closed the
channel. On getting out to sea the quantity of ice, both berg and pack, was
found to be much greater than it had been at any previous period since we
reached the coast; and in forcing a passage into clear water the ship received a
number of very severe collisions. In one of these, which made every timber
vibrate from stem to stern, a large piece of the cutwater, about 2 feet squai-e,
was carried away. The paddle-floats, as might be expected, also met with
* For a detailed account of these ruins, and information regarding the East and West Bygds, the
reader is referred to Captain Graah’s ‘ Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland,’
and the ‘ Historical Monuments of Greenland,’ published by the Eoyal Society of Northern .Antiquaries.