1875 OVIFAK. 17 



heathy look to the fells, Azalea procumbens, the arctic 

 poppy, the bright yellow Pedicularis and several saxi- 

 frages were common ; and in sheltered clefts of the basalt 

 ridges ferns were unfold ing their bright green fronds. 



The settlement of Lievely is built on an ice- worn 

 islet of syenite, which is separated at high tide from 

 the island of Disco by a narrow boat-channel ; the high 

 cliffs of that island protect it in a great measure from 

 the winds occurring in Davis Strait, and its climate is 

 considerably milder than that of any of the other 

 trading ports in North Greenland. Situated in a high 

 northern latitude and yet free from the presence of the 

 main pack, it is the most convenient and suitable of the 

 North Greenland ports for the transhipment of stores. 

 The neighbouring sea is encumbered with a large 

 number of icebergs which are discharged from the 

 Jacobshavn and other glaciers on the east side of the 

 bay, but no drift-ice need be dreaded after the end of 

 May, and as the sea is not frozen over until late in 

 December communication can be maintained, if neces- 

 sary, for at least six months in the year. Small ice- 

 bergs, entering through the western channel with the 

 flood tide, drift about the outer harbour, but those of 

 sufficient size to endanger a ship become stranded at 

 the edge of the shallow water before reaching the inner 

 anchorage. 



In the course of conversation with Mr. Krarup Smith, 

 he mentioned that during the previous summer an 

 Eskimo passing in his kayak under the cliffs of Ovifak, 

 had descried two pieces of stone under water, close to 

 the spot where Professor Nordenskiold discovered the 

 so-called meteoric iron-stones, which were removed in 



vol. I. c 



