47 



CHAPTER II. 



OF THE STATE OF GREENLAND, AS INSULAR, 

 OR CONTINENTAL. 



Having conducted the reader thus far along this dreary 

 coast, and this part of the subject being appropriate to our 

 purpose, I shall here beg leave to take into consideration 

 the actual state of the countries called Greenland ; chiefly 

 with a view to inquire whether that state be insular or con- 

 tinental. 



Spitzbergen, or New or East Greenland, has been 

 already determined by Lord Mulgrave to be an island. So 

 far the necessity is removed of alluding further to that 

 portion of these lands. The whale fisheries, as they are 

 called, when spoken of as the Greenland fisheries, are 

 always carried on to the westward of Spitzbergen, and 

 usually so that the vessels in that trade often have a view 

 of some part of that island in the course of the season. 

 Westward of the fishing ground, the perpetual ice presents 

 an insurmountable barrier to any attempt to explore the 

 eastern coast of West or Old Greenland above a certain 



