Jan. 1859. EAST GREENLAND. 193 



three weeks were devoted to magnetic and other observa- 

 tions at the Pendulum Islands, in 74° 32' N., where from an 

 elevation of 1800 feet he noticed on one occasion clear 

 water close along the mainland as far as could be seen, 

 although loose ice intervened ; the ice he describes as 20 

 or 30 feet thick, heavier than Davis' Strait ice, but not so 

 massive as that to the westward of Melville Island. In 

 writing to a friend, he says, "There is nothing in this voyage 

 that proves we could not have gone farther north; and I 

 think that so long as there is a continuance of land, per- 

 severance will get along it, but the main must be kept on 

 board." He met with a party of twelve Esquimaux in Gale 

 Hamke's Bay, lat. 74 3' N. ; they wore sealskin dresses, 

 possessed dogs, a kayak, and harpoon staves made of walrus 

 tusk, tipped with iron which had not been smelted, appear- 

 ing to be meteoric iron ; they were living in a tent of skins 

 supported on bones of whales and pieces of wood. Several 

 graves, and other indications of their permanent residence, 

 were met with. Foxes, hares, a bear, ptarmigan, and a few 

 antlers of reindeer, were seen. No driftwood was found, and 

 no southerly current detected. 



Scoresby visited this coast between the latitudes of 70 

 and 72-^°; he found numerous graves, ruined winter huts, and 

 other Esquimaux traces, but did not meet with people ; he 

 also obtained proofs of the existence of deer, hares, foxes, 

 bears, walruses, seals, narwhals, and whales; shot a few 

 ptarmigan, and captured the only lemming seen. Deep 

 fiords penetrate far into the land, Scoresby's Sound extend- 

 ing westward for 90 miles, and appearing to continue still 

 farther in that direction; in these fiords there was not a 

 particle of ice, the heat on shore was unexpectedly great, 

 and once (25th July) was most oppressive; vegetation was 

 proportionably abundant. 



It thus appears that there are natives and the ordinary 



o 



