GREENLAND FJORDS. 81 



What was discovered on these tours must he regarded as tlio 

 real profit of the expeditiou, and I will here confine myself to the 

 two points which have cast the chief lustre over it. First, that 

 which concerns the unknown interior of Greenland, the glaciers 

 and floating icebergs that issue thence, about which the author 

 expresses himself on occasion of having discovered a glacier on the 

 coast of Greenland, between 79° and 80° n. lat., to which he has 

 given the name of Humboldt. Secondly, a sledge expedition under- 

 taken by Morton (one of the ship's crew who it seems was steward), 

 in conjunction with Hans, a Greeulander from Fiskernajsset; whereby 

 they are said to have come to the margin of an open sea, which is 

 presumed to occupy the whole region around the North Pole, and to 

 be kept open by a branch of the Gulf-stream ; and, besides this, 

 to have discovered the most northern lands on our globe, which, 

 according to their description, are likewise laid down on the chart 

 and called " Victoria and Albert," " Washington," &c, Lands. 



As regards the first of these points, I must repeat what I have 

 explained in my work on North Greenland, 1 namely, how the 

 whole of the inner mainland, regarded from the outer land, appears 

 buried under one uniform covering of ice, which sends its branches 

 down into all deep fjords ; how these branches are pushed down 

 into the sea, and yield annually large masses of ice in the form of 

 floating icebergs or calves. The glacier discovered by Kane, which 

 he has named " the great glacier of Humboldt," and which has called 

 forth much admiration, even in well-known geographical journals, 

 has been represented as the crowning point of the discoveries made 

 by the expedition, but which is really nothing more than what 

 can be observed in the interior of most of the Greenland fjords, 

 from the southernmost to the most northern reached point. 



The reason why Kane has not had an opportunity to observe 

 these, and that the one discovered by his expedition has therefore 

 appeared to him so remarkable, lies in the simple fact, that such 

 ice formations in general lie hid behind the numerous high islands 

 and peninsulas, which almost form the outer coast of Greenland 

 towards Davis Strait, and which, with regard to snow and ice, 

 do not show any other phenomena than the higher parts of the 

 mountain chains of Europe. 



Now as the different discovery-ships, that have sailed in search 

 of the North-West Passage and of Franklin, have always rapidly 

 hurried through Davis Strait, and have only touched at one or 

 other of the Danish colonies, it is no wonder that the numerous 



Do Danske Handelsdistriktcr i Nordgionlund.' 



