General observations as to natural conditions. 353 



was now half a metre deep, and loose and heavy into the bargain, in 

 addition to which, we had now no more food for the dogs. After a 

 while, however, we find ourselves heading at last out towards the 

 fjord, this being especially noticeable when we camp in the evening, 

 and find the altitude only 70 metres. Knud Rasmussen set out from 

 here on ski down the valley, until he could see out over the sea ice 

 and the land beyond. The river bed is here cut deeper for the last 

 part of the way, the bare rock showing through in places. 



We climbed up one of the hills to a height of about 400 metres, 

 in order to take a sample of a certain rock which stood out apart on 

 the summit; beyond this practically nothing was done in the way 

 of investigating the natural features of the country here, partly on 

 account of eye troubles (snow blindness) and partly because the snow 

 hindered our movements. 



The river divides towards its mouth into a great delta ; for the last 

 20 km. of its length it practically forms two separate channels the whole 

 w^ay, with a few anastomoses. Farther out, the difference between the 

 level of the old sea beach and the surface of the river itself amounts to 

 40 metres, and the river flows in numerous branches, cutting up the 

 bottom of the valley into a regular bastion formation. Somewhat to 

 the south of the river, and parallel with the same, lies a long, narrow 

 lake, with outflow and inflow to and from the river. Below the spot 

 where the lake water comes down, the river narrows suddenly, at the 

 same time clearing a wide, fan-shaped delta free of all obstacles. And 

 here it is that the largest river I have seen in Greenland flows out into 

 Danmarks Fjord. 



From this point we shaped our course out through the fjord. Dan- 

 marks Fjord was at this time of year of course frozen over; we were 

 all agreed, however, that the ice which lay there was some years old 

 — possibly many — this being distinctly evident from the fact that 

 the surface had commenced to assume the irregular formation which is 

 characteristic of inland ice, exhibiting, moreover very fine cracks in 

 the surface, extending but a little way down. This ice is called by the 

 Eskimos „Sikosaq" {vide infra). Farther out towards the mouth of the 

 fjord, this peculiar formation disappears. Here also, however, the ice 

 was at least over a year olâ, being more than 5.60 metres thick. We 

 were unable to measure beyond this depth, which we only reached by 

 lashing together all the poles we had. The measurement was taken at 

 a breathing hole, where the seal had come up through a crack in the 

 ice. The ice in which this crack appeared was 2.18 metres thick; 

 reckoning this as corresponding to one year, the whole thickness might 

 be taken as representing two or three at least. There are, however, 

 occasional years when the fjord is entirely ice-free, as was proved by the 

 presence of a piece of drift wood, the root of a tree, found by Knud 

 Rasmussen on the shore near the mouth of the Zigzag River. 



