NORTH AMERICA IN THE ICE PERIOD. 233 



from five hundred to one thousand feet high. At Polaris Bay a north- 

 ward transportation is indicated, where Dr. Bessel found numerous 

 granitic hlocks containing peculiar garnets, such as abound in south 

 Greenland, resting upon Silurian limestones. Other glaciers have 

 been mentioned farther north. Some have suggested that a series of 

 islands will be found underneath the ice. Little is known of the east- 

 ern side, because it is practically inaccessible. 



The general trend of Greenland is northwesterly. Hence the south 

 end is farther east than any part of the western coast-line. The over- 

 sight of this simple fact has led to confusion among historians and 

 statesmen. The island was discovered by Gunnibjorn in H7:i. In 983 

 Eric the Red, banished from Iceland, established a colony near the 

 south end of Greenland, on its western shore, and gave to the island 

 its name. The settlement prospered, and the indications of civilization 

 left behind by these Norsemen exist as far north as Upernavik, or as 

 far as the stoutest ships of modern times can sail without encounter- 

 ing serious risk. The population increased sufficiently to require the 

 services of a bishop, and a list of seventeen terms of clerical office, 

 from 1126 to 1406, has been preserved. A change of political rela- 

 tions led to the destruction of the commerce between Greenland and 

 Scandinavia. Deserted by their friends, pirates and the Skraellings, or 

 Esquimaux, completely exterminated the inhabitants. A record has 

 been preserved in the Icelandic annals of the murder of the very last 

 family in the fifteenth century. For some reason the Danes misunder- 

 stood the history after the removal of the restrictions upon the com- 

 merce, and many expeditions are said to have been sent out by the 

 Government in search of their old colony in east Greenland, looking 

 for it upon the coast facing Iceland rather than Baffin's Bay. It was 

 thought that the descendants of the original settlers might still be 

 found there, though for many years shut out from communication 

 with Europe ; but every ship returned baffled in its attempt to reach 

 the eastern coast. Modern antiquarians have discovered the buildings 

 erected by the Norsemen, read the inscriptions upon the churches and 

 tombstones, and, by a study of the Icelandic sagas, deciphered the 

 whole history, of which an outline has been already given. The facts 

 have also been brought out prominently by Dr. Hayes in a small book 

 describing some recent summer experiences in Greenland with a party 

 of tourists. 



All the Greenland glaciers become confluent in the interior, so 

 that it is not a typical mer de glace, but a sheet of ice, which over- 

 spreads the highest mountains. It is only near the edge that the sev- 

 eral streams manifest their independent existence. Thence the usual 

 phenomena of Alpine glaciers manifest themselves. The sub-glacial 

 streams pouring into the sea produce certain peculiarities. Immense 

 supplies of heat penetrate the ice from the sun's rays, which melt very 

 much ice and discharge muddy torrents of great size. As all water 



