264 ON THE MINERALOGY 



of this bay, the floetz-trap disappears under the stupendous 

 glacier or ice-blink of this immense arm of the sea; and on the 

 opposite side of it, not the smallest vestige of floetz-trap is to be 

 discovered. On quitting the shore, however, towards the north, 

 the same formation occurs, at the island of Upernavik or Spring- 

 «ti Island, which is formed of basalt, with immense beds of sand- 

 stone, containing veins of brown and bituminous wood-coal. 

 Two considerable islands situated beyond the Frith, one named 

 4k Ubekjendte or Unknown Island, and the other Hasen or Hare 



Island, belong also to the floetz-trap. 

 -^- These islands, althaugh now detached, all appear to have ori- 



ginally belonged to the same mass, and to have been torn 

 asunder by the impetuosity of the sea, which, impelled by the 

 winds from every quarter, runs with a force almost beyond 

 ^ ^n belief. During such a tempest, I have myself seen the jaws 

 of the great Greenland whale, Balcena mysticetus^ thrown to a 

 distance of 200 feet inland upon the beach. 



Beyond the Bay of St James, towards the great Northern 



f ^^ Cape called Svartenhuk, the floetz-trap is interrupted, either by 



iid ^ ^^^ y-the primitive rocks, or by an immense plain covered with al- 



luvialsoil. Svartenhuk is composed of a granitic rock, with 



lar^e beds of micaceous schistus, mixed with small garnets. 



i?^^ TO 9 J In the adjacent bay, called Hytten, the floetz-trap shews itself in 



s- 



•#» 



1 



4» 



J^i^^ small hills, resting on a bed of sandstone, in which bituminous 



^'^'*' r^'^^-r wood occurs. From this point, the continent of Greenland, 



which consists of granite, stretches away to the east of north, 



- and is covered with an incredible number of small islands, 



■ called the Vrowen or Womens' Islands. The base of these 



'^*:'t islands is uniformly granite or gneiss; the last sometimes, 



though rarely, mixed with garnets. Some of the islands are 



'*^i'^**'* 4 covered with beds of the floetz formation, particularly Kakar- 



'^ " " soak, the largest of the group, 



^^^ To. 



1 1 



