100 Geographical Collectioiis. 



considerably from that of Arrowsmith, the best hitherto published.* It is 

 also remarkable, that he found no large inlets corresponding with Eriesfiord, 

 or Bredefiord ; and his description of the whole coast differs widely from the 

 former accounts of it. 



It is therefore supposed, that the colony on the eastern coast never existed, 

 or some traces of it would certainly have been met with, which, in opposi- 

 tion to a host of authorities, was asserted by M. Eggers, in a work published 

 by him in 1792. The whole of the country, or rather so much as is known 

 of it, is divided by a chain of mountains extending in a north and south 

 direction. The colony of the ancient Scandinavians, formerly established on 

 the western coast, is supposed to have been destroyed in wars with the 

 Esquimaux Indians, as the ruins of their buildings were found by Hans 

 Eggede in 1721, when it was re-colonized by the Greenland Company of 

 Bergen, in Norway. But Captain Graah found a thin population scattered 

 about between the latitudes of 60" and 65° N., whose features par- 

 took little of the Esquimaux tribe. These people had a form of head, and 

 a general appearance in their person, similar to that of northern Europeans. 

 He found them to be of a middling stature ; the women and children of fair 

 complexion, and sometimes with brown hair — features which go far to prove 

 their descent from the old Icelanders. On the other hand, they appeared 

 totally ignorant on this subject, and being to the northward of latitude 63** 

 never saw an European before, nor had they ever heard of the Danish settle- 

 ment to the southward. Although Captain Graah found them to be totally 

 ignorant of the Christian religion, he states them to be the mildest and most 

 inoffensive race of people he had ever met with. 



Corrected Latitude of Oaxaca, Mexico. — We are favoured with the fol- 

 lowing correction of the latitude of the city of Oaxaca, transmitted to the 

 Royal Geographical Society by a gentleman long resident in Mexico. 



" The city of Oaxaca is usually laid down in 16° 50' N. latitude. Its 

 real latitude, by a mean of a great many meridional observations of the sun, 

 and some altitudes of fixed stars, is 17° 3' 48" 3 N. The observations 

 were taken in a house a little south of the cathedral." 



Blunts Chart of Long Island Sound, surveyed in the years 1828, 1829, and 



1830 (From Silliman 's ^wienca/i Journal, October, 1830.) — The Messrs 



Blunt, (of New York,) father and sons, may be considered as benefactors to 

 their country. While our government, though drawing the main portion of 

 its revenues from commerce, has done comparatively little towards determi- 

 ning the character of our coast, these gentlemen have come forward, and, at 

 great expense, as well as labour, endeavoured to supply the desideratum.. 

 The harbours of Portland, Portsmouth, Newburyport, Squam, Newport, 

 New York, Georgetown, Charleston, and Savannah ; the Bahama Bank, and 

 adjoining quays ; the Nantucket Shoal, &c. have been surveyed, either wholly 

 or in part, at their expense. Information of other places has been indus- 

 triously sought, from the manuscripts of the navy department, or wherever 

 else it was to be found, and the result has been books and charts, which are 

 of invaluable service on our stormy and dangerous coast. We notice these 

 labours with the more earnestness, as they seem not to have been sufficiently 

 appreciated by the public : their worth is felt among scenes of appalling 

 interest, but these scenes are far removed from our eye ; the persons also 

 who feel it, share too little in our sympathy. The additional security given 

 to our coasting voyages may be inferred from the fact, that, since the 

 commencement of the efforts of these gentlemen, insurance on vessels in 



* Since the above notice was in the press, we have received a copy of Captain Graah's 

 Map, which, wth an extract from liis Journal, we purpose giving in an ensuing Number. 



