GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



a temperature of 4° (Cent.) and dazzled by the light, which, 

 reflected from the newly-fallen snow, hurt our eyes. At a 

 height of 1,000 metres we took an observation. We now have 

 a beautiful and grand view across the remarkable canyon and 

 Nunatak — land which, during the last few days, we have dis- 

 covered across our course. It stretches like a brim of 20 to 30 

 kilometres broad from the land behind St. George Fjord, with 

 great local glaciers on one side and the inland-ice itself on the 

 other. In an enormous arch it bars our way also in the direc- 

 tion of Sherard Osborne Fjord, and we therefore give it the 

 name of the Midgard Snake. There is no way outside ; after a 

 short reconnoitring, we take a bite of the sour apple and once 

 more leave the glacier to drive down on the brim. We find a 

 fine, even ascent and immediately after a cup of tea commence 

 transporting the goods to the inland-ice. 



The land was dry and even to walk on, but barren and naked 

 as a desert ; not even a tiny river enlivened it — everything was 

 completely dried up despite the great glaciers with their inclines 

 towards the country on both sides. It was one of the so-called 

 karst landscapes where all water oozes down into the soil. 

 The vegetation was accordingly. We found a few poppies, 

 some of which were yet in bloom, small stunted grasses, mosses 

 and lichens, but no animal life. Only a wolf had a long time 

 ago left his imprint in the clay near the place where we pitched 

 our tent to cook a ration of pemmican gruel. 



After the meal three men returned to our point of descent, 

 while Koch and I continued to transport the baggage to the 

 glacier. 



On our walk we found the jaw-bone of a musk-ox, which 

 appeared to be more than a hundred years old. Close to this 

 was a fossilized piece of an octopus from the Silurian period. 

 These two proofs of former life, the musk-ox and the octopus, 

 have between them a period of probably at least ten million 

 years— a good mouthful on which to exercise active imagination. 



After twenty-four hours of toil with the transport we were 

 once more gathered by the tent, sleepy and hungry, but all in 

 good spirits and with a good conscience, knowing that in spite 

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